Category Archives: AFRICA
Simpsons Carvings in Kenya
I love browsing blogs, for me there is a sense of excitement, I just never know what I’m going to find! I hope you find the same thing here.
There is so much gloom and doom about Africa in the press. Yet on the ground as it were, in Africa, life is upbeat. People try new things, they are always starting new enterprises, pushing the boundaries. I find that exciting and such a contrast to how Africa is portrayed in the press, and, to be honest, on many blogs.
One blog I particularly like reading is AfriGadget. It is one of those ‘one of a kind’ blogs that continually bring things to notice that might otherwise get overlooked. It celebrates African ingenuity. I love it! One article I read today focussed on cultural transfer. In this case ‘the Simpsons’, that eponymous American export. The cartoon that adults all over the world love.
Simpsons Carvings from Kenya
This one is not exactly AfriGadget, more like an AfriToy, but we love the story nonetheless. The video reporter Ruud Elmendorp visited the small village of Tabaaka, near Kakamega, in western province Kenya. Below is a video showing the master carvers at work, creating soapstone figures of The Simpsons characters.
The carvings are available for online purchase through the CraftVillage website.
You can watch a video about the carvers on the AfriGadget site
Study finds that older people in South Africa and Brazil get happier as they grow older
The following report is about the early findings from a study  led by Armando Barrientos from the University of Manchester and Peter Lloyd-Sherlock from the University of East Anglia on ‘Ageing, Well-being and Development: A comparative study of Brazil and South Africa’. This project is part of the New Dynamics of Ageing Programme, which is a seven-year multidisciplinary research initiative with the ultimate aim of improving quality of life of older people. The programme is a collaboration between five UK Research Councils, led by the ESRC, and includes EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC and AHRC.
Older people are happier in Brazil and South Africa
Contrary to belief, older people in South Africa and Brazil become happier as they age. New research suggests that, with the right policies in place, a developing country can significantly improve the wellbeing of its older citizens.
The average levels of wellbeing experienced by older people in South Africa and Brazil improved between 2002 and 2008, due to a combination of economic growth and enlightened social policies, according to a study from the New Dynamics of Ageing Programme, a unique collaboration between five UK Research Councils.
 “Our work contradicts many of the assumptions people have about the fate of older people in developing countries,†said Professor Armando Barrientos, Research Director at Manchester University’s Brooks World Poverty Institute. “It’s often assumed that people will become poorer and increasingly unhappy with life as they become old, but in South Africa and Brazil the opposite seems to have happened,†he said.
The research explored the factors that influence wellbeing among the elderly populations of the two countries. Brazil and South Africa were chosen because of their far-reaching social policies. “They are leading countries in their respective regions, with innovative social policies addressing poverty and vulnerability, such as child and disability benefits, low interest loans for the elderly and non-contributory pension schemes,†explained Professor Barrientos.
 This large study included a survey of around 1000 households. When the new data was compared with data collected in 2002, it suggested wellbeing had improved and that the majority of older people in the two countries felt satisfied or very satisfied with their lives. A majority of older people in each country also said they were satisfied with their relationships with other family members and with the respect they received from others.
The improvement in wellbeing was strongly influenced by economic performance and labour market conditions, but social policy also played a significant role. For low-income families, the pension income received by elderly people was essential to both their objective standard of living and their feeling that that life was getting better.
“The research has important lessons for policymakers in the developing worldâ€, says Professor Barrientos. “Populations in the developing world are growing much faster than they did in the countries that we now consider as developed†he said. “That means governments in these nations have far less time to deal with the challenge of an ageing population, and they cannot just copy the policies used in developed countries.â€
 There are lessons for the developed world too, he believes. “Many countries in the developed world have been moving towards the idea that the state should provide only a minimal pensionâ€, he said. “But our research suggests governments might want to think more carefully about the wider social value of decent state pension provision.â€
Research Councils UK (RCUK) is the strategic partnership of the UK’s seven Research Councils. They invest annually around £3 billion in research. Their focus is on excellence with impact. They nurture the highest quality research, as judged by international peer review, providing the UK with a competitive advantage. Global research requires that they sustain a diversity of funding approaches, fostering international collaborations, and providing access to the best facilities and infrastructure, and locating skilled researchers in stimulating environments. Their research achieves impact – the demonstrable contribution to society and the economy made by knowledge and skilled people. To deliver impact, researchers and businesses need to engage and collaborate with the public, business, government and charitable organisations. www.rcuk.ac.uk
Kiswahili Story Database
Kiswahili language map. Image via Wikipedia
Azuka Nzegwu, PhD (azuka@africaresource.com) writes that the Kiswahili Story Database has published the third set of stories and folktales for 2011. This collection is about Mashairi (poems). The database features folktales and stories in Kiswahili with no English translation. We intentionally use stories and folktales as it preserves the cultural nuances that often get lost in formal language instruction. This makes Kiswahili Story Database a unique and useful tool that encourages active engagement.
The database publishes quarterly. If you are interested in submitting a story to KSD or participating, please do let Azuka Nzegwu know.
Kiswahili Story Database is available by subscription to individuals and institutions. If your university is not a subscriber, you may recommend to your librarian to subscribe. If you have questions, you can email Azuka Nzegwu at azuka@africaresource.com .
Third Collection of 2011
http://www.africaknowledgeproject.org/index.php/ksd/issue/view/120
Sina Mbwembwe
Ken Walibora
Lugha Bora
Ken Walibora
Hadharini
David B Otiende
Uhayawani
David B Otiende
Zuia Sitegemee Tiba
David B Otiende
Alo Mzuri ni Nani
Shisia Wasilwa
Samba na Buyu
Shisia Wasilwa
Mbona Maringo Jameni
Shisia Wasilwa
Thanks,
Azuka Nzegwu, PhD
azuka@africaresource.com
5 Reasons STEM Education will be the Key to Ghana’s Success
Image via Wikipedia
Guest post by  Christine Kane from Internet Providers
STEM, standing for science, technology, engineering, and math, education is the key to any nation’s growth in the current economy. The trend away from manufacturing and towards science and technology cannot go unnoticed. The highest paying jobs are in those fields, and they have a desperate need for well-educated, native workers. Here are five reasons that education will lead to Ghana’s success.
- Opportunity–The need for educated workers is at an all-time high. The fields of science and technology are begging for people to come and work for them, but there’s no one available. Local businesses have to call in workers from overseas, at an incredible expense and loss to the community. Why should foreign workers get local jobs?
- Capacity – Ghana is one of the most populated countries in West Africa with a population of 24 million (U.S Department of State, 2011). Because of the country’s overreliance on low quality education in science and math, the financial growth of the economy continues to produce under capacity.
- Economy – In order for Ghana to have a knowledge-based economy, the country will have to ensure that the production, diffusion and use of the country’s technology and information are the key to its economic activities in a way to maintain financial growth and development in the country’s economy. According to George & Elizabeth (2006), “investment in knowledge refers to investment in areas such as research and development, software, education and basic science.â€
- Schools – Vocational and technical schools allow for workers to be educated even while working. This gives students the ability to make a living and still further their education, leading to a better educated workforce.
- Competition – Once Ghana has the ability to be self-sustaining in its education and employment, they will be able to compete in the world market. Competition is a huge part of survival, and only through education will Ghana reach the level to become truly competitive.
The education of workers is one of the largest indicators of financial success in a country. Only through the efforts of higher education will Ghana be freed from the oppression of foreign labor and poor business returns. The education of workers should become a priority for Ghana, and other countries like it.
This Guest post is by Christine Kane from internet providers, she is a graduate of Communication and Journalism. She enjoys writing about a wide-variety of subjects for different blogs. She can be reached via email at: Christi.Kane00 @ gmail.com.
Ghana : International land art workshop February 2012
Mural project Abetenim arts village Ghana
INTERNATIONAL LAND ART WORKSHOP:Â Call for Applications
Date: February 10-24, 2012
Venue: Abetenim Arts Village near Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana
Date: October 5-19, 2012
Venue: Sang Arts Village, Sang near Tamale in Northern Region of Ghana
International Land Art Workshop is a two-week group residency. Â It is designed to bring together creative persons such as artists, architects and engineers to create works by use of materials from the environment. Â The participants will live and work together in an Arts Village in a rural township for knowledge sharing and cross-fertilization of skills over the two-week period. Â By land art (or earthworks, environmental art) we imply: (1) Works created with materials from the environment involving air, water, earth, stone, and wood, or (2) Site-specific installation (with natural or industrial materials) within a landscape to create an aesthetic experience. Â Thus, the theme is open; but permanency of work is encouraged, ephemeral would be only if it is the most appropriate means to communicating the idea. Â The realized work may become a part of the Arts Village or sited in a public space in nearby village.
Sang arts village Ghana
Organizers will provide accommodation and food; an accepted applicant will contribute participation fee of $100 / €70 toward food.  The international participant is responsible for own travel costs and proposed project.  We suggest that participants apply for travel grants through their national art councils or other sources.
To apply, send CV, statement/sketch of your proposed work, and a sample of your existing work to info@nkafoundation.org/nkaprojects@gmx.com.  Submissions will be reviewed until space is filled.  For details on our projects go towww.nkafoundation.org.
Mali : BAMAKO SYMPOSIUM 2012 – MEDIA ARTS IN FOCUS
2010 Bamako Sympsoium, International Conference Center, Bamako
BAMAKO SYMPOSIUM 2012:Â MEDIA ARTS IN FOCUS
(4th edition of the Bamako Summer School)
DATE: July 25 to August 5, 2012
VENUE: L’Université de Bamako, Bamako, Mali
BAMAKO SYMPOSIUM 2012 will bring together artists, theorists and cultural entrepreneurs from around the world to interact and exchange dialogues on the useful and non-useful impacts of media arts on the global marketplace of ideas.
The symposium series reckons a major issue in Africa’s development is sustainability. Through the years, many developmental initiatives have continued to emerged, but failed to roll out and be sustained. With the practical acts and theoretical presentations, we aim to promote critical dialogues on the best practices around the world on how the media arts feed civilizations. Along these lines, the symposium asks: How are the media arts worldwide feeding civilizations? What are the implications for tapping the abundant local resources in Mali in the 21st century?
We define the media arts broadly to include the diversity of recording and presentation modes (such as photography, film/video arts, and the territory of digital arts created for gallery exhibition, television, newspaper, billboard, radio, Internet even architectural structures) that integrate digital technologies with traditional use of images and text to convey symbolism, codes and context contained and projected through audio-visual instruments. Â Themes of computer as a cyberspace, issues of collaboration, identity, appropriation, open source, telepresence, surveillance, corporate parody, as well as intervention and hacktivism are commonplace in media arts.
Thus, we call for proposals for theoretical presentations and practical acts such as workshops, mini-projects, and artistic interventions involving the diversity of expressions in and applications via digital arts, computer graphics, computer animation, virtual arts, Internet arts, interactive arts technologies, computer robotics, and the arts as biotechnology in society. Â We anticipate that the cross-cultural interaction and exchange on the challenges and possibilities of media arts in diverse cultures will not only lend new trends to Malian media arts, it would result to personal or professional growth of international participants.
The symposium is organized as collaboration between Balani’s Association and Nka Foundation.  Additional information such as the symposium programme, Bamako hotels and others related to the symposium will be sent to all registered participants well in advance of the conference.  For updates on the project go to www.nkafoundation.org
Interested individuals and collaborative groups should apply by submitting the abstract of your proposed paper or practical act (200 words maximum) in English or French with a brief biography (200 words maximum) of the presenter to Kadiatou DEMBELE at dembele_kadi2000@yahoo.fr, and copy the e-mail to balanise@yahoo.fr andinfo@nkafoundation.org.  The submitter should include title of the contribution and author(s) information such as name, affiliation, address, phone contact, and e-mail.  Upon acceptance, author(s) can decide to publish the full text or only the abstract in symposium proceedings.  Abstract deadline is May 2 and submissions will be accepted until space is filled.  The deadline for the full text submission is July 2, 2012.  If submitting full paper (6,000 words maximum in APA format).
Community Arts Project Residency in Ghana: CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
Dedication ceremony of Abetenim arts village
Submissions invited for a community arts project
The Nka Foundation invites submissions of creative projects throughout the year that in some way involve the communities we are a part. Our Community Arts Project Residency is a part of our ongoing projects of tapping local resources for sustainable human capital development through a focus on the arts. Thus, we have an open door to the multiplicity of expressions in the arts from around the world. Artistic persons or teams in diverse fields of the arts (visual, theatre, music, literary, film/new media, arts education, arts therapy, philosophy, cultural history, etc), and intersections of the arts with architecture/engineering are all welcome to apply for residency. Length of project residencies varies from a few weeks to several months, according to project.
COST: They provide free accommodation in an Arts Village setting. The international participants are responsible for own travel costs and proposed project. We suggest that participants apply for travel grants through their national art councils or other sources.
APPLICATION: To apply, e-mail detail on what your plan to accomplish with them, your CV, and examples of your work to info@nkafoundation.org. For detail on their projects go to www.nkafoundation.org.
Cameroon: When marking tone reduces reading fluency
There’s a useful article on Cogprints about an orthography experiment in Cameroon. You can download the pdf of the document here.
Bird, Steven (1999) When marking tone reduces fluency: an orthography experiment in Cameroon. Language and Speech 42:pp. 83-115.
The question of tone marking
Should an alphabetic orthography for a tone language include tone marks? Opinion and practice are divided along three lines: zero marking, phonemic marking and various reduced marking schemes. This paper examines the success of phonemic tone marking for Dschang, a Grassfields Bantu language which uses tone to distinguish lexical items and some grammatical constructions. Participants with a variety of ages and educational backgrounds, and having different levels of exposure to the orthography were tested on location in the Western Province of Cameroon. All but one had attended classes on tone marking. Participants read texts which were marked and unmarked for tone, then added tone marks to the unmarked texts. Analysis shows that tone marking degrades reading fluency and does not help to resolve tonally ambiguous words. Experienced writers attain an accuracy score of 83.5% in adding tone marks to a text, while inexperienced writers score a mere 53%, which is not much better than chance. The experiment raises serious doubts about the suitability of the phonemic method of marking tone for languages having widespread tone sandhi effects, and lends support to the notion that a writing system should have `fixed word images’. A critical review of other experimental work on African tone orthography lays the groundwork for the experiment, and contributes to the establishment of a uniform experimental paradigm.
Keywords: orthography design; reading experiments; African languages;
Subjects: Linguistics > Phonology Psychology > Psycholinguistics ID Code: 2173 Deposited By: Bird, Steven Deposited On: 12 April 2002
How to get a copy
Download a PDF copy of When marking tone reduces reading fluency
Suggested Books
- The Phonology of Tone: The Representation of Tonal Register (Linguistic Models)
- Literatures in African Languages: Theoretical Issues and Sample Surveys
- The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems
- Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach (Blackwell Textbooks in Linguistics)
- Tone Languages: A Technique for Determining the Number and Type of Pitch Contrasts in a Language, with Studies in Tonemic Substitution and Fusion
- Tone in Five Languages of Cameroon (Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics)
- The Theoretical Aspects of Bantu Tone (Center for the Study of Language and Information – Lecture Notes)
The Language Question in Cameroon
Multilingual Cameroon
The Language Question in Cameroon , George Echu (Yaounde/Bloomington)
Abstract
In multilingual Cameroon, 247 indigenous languages live side by side with English and French (the two official languages) and Cameroon Pidgin English (the main lingua franca). While the two official languages of colonial heritage dominate public life in the areas of education, administration, politics, mass media, publicity and literature, both the indigenous languages and Cameroon Pidgin English are relegated to the background.
This paper is a critique of language policy in Cameroon revealing that mother tongue education in the early years of primary education remains a distant cry, as the possible introduction of an indigenous language in the school system is not only considered unwanted by educational authorities but equally combated against by parents who believe that the future of their children lies in the mastery of the official languages. This persistent disregard of indigenous languages does not only alienate the Cameroonian child culturally, but further alienates the vast majority of Cameroonians who are illiterate (in English and French) since important State business is carried out in the official languages. As regards the implementation of the policy of official language bilingualism, there is clear imbalance in the use of the two official languages as French continues to be the dominant official language while English is relegated to a second place within the State. The frustration that ensues within the Anglophone community has led in recent years to the birth of Anglophone nationalism, a situation that seems to be widening the rift between the two main components of the society (Anglophones and Francophones), thereby compromising national unity.
The paper is divided into five major parts. After a brief presentation of the country, the author dwells on multilingualism and language policy since the colonial period. The third, fourth and last parts of the paper focus on the critique of language policy in Cameroon with emphasis first on the policy of official language bilingualism and bilingual education, then on the place of indigenous languages, and finally on the national language debate.
How to get a copy
Suggested Books
- The Manenguba Languages (Bantu A. 15, Mbo Cluster) of Cameroon
- Language Use in Rural Development: An African Perspective (Contributions to the Sociology of Language)
The challenge of tone languages in Cameroon
History and politics of orthography in Cameroon
Orthography and Identity in Cameroon, Bird, Steven (2001) Orthography and Identity in Cameroon. [Journal (Paginated)] (In Press)
Abstract
The tone languages of sub-Saharan Africa raise challenging questions for the design of new writing systems. Marking too much or too little tone can have grave consequences for the usability of an orthography. Orthography development, past and present, rests on a raft of sociolinguistic issues having little to do with the technical phonological concerns that usually preoccupy orthographers. Some of these issues are familiar from the spelling reforms which have taken place in European languages. However, many of the issues faced in sub-Saharan Africa are different, being concerned with the creation of new writing systems in a multi-ethnic context: residual colonial influences, the construction of new nation-states, detribalization versus culture preservation and language reclamation, and so on. Language development projects which crucially rely on creating or revising orthographies may founder if they do not attend to the various layers of identity that are indexed by orthography: whether colonial, national, ethnic, local or individual identity. In this study, I review the history and politics of orthography in Cameroon, with a focus on tone marking. The paper concludes by calling present-day orthographers to a deeper and broader understanding of orthographic issues.
How to get a copy
Full text available at Cogprints as:
PDF – Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader 168Kb
Postscript – Requires a viewer, such as GSview 1145Kb
Suggested Books
African-American emigrants to Liberia
Detailed information on 15,000+ African-American emigrants to Liberia can be found at the recently launched website:
www.liberianrepatriates.com .
While access to the site is free of charge, news users are required to register. The database includes information on birth year (where available), town/country of origin, state of origin (including “Indian Territories”), denominational affiliation, family relations among emigrants, destination in Liberia, ships on which they travelled, and year of emigration. The many features of the site can be best experienced by searching for “Hilary Teage” or “John Brown Russwurm,” for example. Their pages include genealogical links and maps showing locations where they lived, as well as other information and images. Over time, similarly detailed information will be added for as many persons in the database as possible.
Given its interactive features, www.liberianrepatriates.com offers intriguing possibilities as a teaching tool. If incorporated into historical methods seminars or state history courses, it would enable students to examine national (and even global) trends at a local level. In so doing, it would help help them concretize the life choices faced by historical actors within the constrains of their place and time. History faculty interested in incorporating the site into courses should address inquiries to cpburrowes@mac.com.
ZIMBABWE: Aid programme dramatically improves health service
HARARE, 20 September (IRIN) – Stella Moyo lost her child three months after his birth in late 2007 because her local health facility in Chivu District, some 160km southeast of Harare, lacked antibiotics to treat the infant’s throat infection.
“When I visited a clinic close to my home, I was referred to Chivu Hospital [50km away] because there were no drugs at the clinic. Unfortunately, the hospital had long run out of antibiotics and I watched as my son’s condition deteriorated, until he died,” Moyo told IRIN.
She and her husband, who survive through farming and were experiencing a lean period due to drought, could not afford to buy the drugs from a private pharmacy. They resorted instead to traditional and faith healers who proved ineffective.
At the time Zimbabwe’s health system was experiencing a critical shortage of not only drugs, but equipment and trained staff, the result of an economic meltdown characterized by hyperinflation, shortages of basic commodities and a brain drain. The impact on the country’s social services was compounded by a political crisis which saw Zimbabwe isolated by many governments, international financial institutions and donors.
Moyo, 30, vowed not to have another child after the traumatic death of her son, but is expecting her third child in a few weeks.
“I told myself that it was pointless to fall pregnant when there was no guarantee that my child would survive due to poor service at clinics or hospitals,” she said. “However, I have changed my attitude because the situation at health centres has improved.”
An elderly nurse who works at a public clinic in Warren Park, a suburb about 6km west of Harare, agreed.
“During the period of critical shortages of drugs and staff, I witnessed many children, women and other people die because they could not get vital drugs and there was no one to attend to them. Those deaths could have been avoided and, gladly, we can avoid them now,” said the nurse, who identified herself as Gogo Matilda.
She added that although there were still times when essential drugs, particularly antibiotics, ran out, patients could easily get them from other health centres and “replenishments do not take too long to come”.
Multi-donor programme
The improved availability of essential medicines in Zimbabwe’s public health sector is largely due to a multi-donor programme started in 2008 through collaboration between the government, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Zimbabwe, the European Union (EU), the UK, Australia, Canada and Ireland.
To date, the Essential Medicines Supply Programme (EMSP) has received US$52 million in funding, according to UNICEF. The money is used to buy drugs and medical supplies which are distributed to health centres by Natpharm, the supply arm of the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare.
According to a survey carried out by the EU, 80 percent of essential medicines are now available at over 80 percent of health facilities compared to only 28 percent availability of vital drugs at public health institutions in 2008.
The programme recently received a shot in the arm through a $14 million grant from the EU.
“This will go a long way to ensuring that Zimbabwe stays on the path to full recovery of the health sector, in particular to ensuring that the poor and vulnerable members of society also have access to health services,” Peter Salama, UNICEF country representative said at the grant-signing ceremony.
Salama added that the essential medicines programme had “helped reduce the disparity in availability of essential medicines between rural and urban health facilities” and had the potential to improve the system for distributing drugs and medical supplies.
“Our health delivery system is on the road to recovery [and] we hope that soon, every Zimbabwean will be able to exercise the basic human right of access to quality health care,” said Health Minister Henry Madzorera.
This report on line:Â http://www.IRINnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=93765
© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.irinnews.org/
[This item comes via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States. Reposting or reproduction, with attribution, for non-commercial purposes is permitted. Terms and conditions:http://www.irinnews.org/copyright.aspx]