Africa's Future

With our African cultures class coming to end I figured I should make a post reflecting on our class. At the beginning of the semester I was one of those people who was in the dark. I didn't know anything about Africa. I was one of those people who referred to Africa as a whole and I didn't recognize the many different regions and countries that belonged to it. I really knew nothing about Africa. I didn't know anything about it's history or how important it was to the rest of the world, I had no idea about Africa's important involvement in the World Wars and I never realized how much Africa struggled to gain their independence. All I see and know about are the negative images and news articles I find about poverty, starvation, HIV and Aids, and their lack of clean water. This class really opened my eyes to all that Africa is.

I never knew that Africa had such a great history. Their trade routes and their resources that made the routes so successful. Europe practically thrived because of the resources it received from Africa. Gold, Salt, Iron, crops, etc., were some of the most traded item. I never knew that salt was so important to the success of the Africans and I didn't know that they didn't have it. Their farming techniques and the way that women were involved with not only the child rearing and housework, but the farming too really surprised me. Everywhere else women were seen as really a nuisance, they didn't have a purpose but to have kids and make sandwiches. In Africa they were in the main work and labor, they were in the fields and the work areas growing the food while the men were digging out the resources. Women played just as big of a part in Africa's history as the men. It's really empowering for women to hear about and see that there are other reasons for a women other than childbearing. The women of Africa had power and purpose.
 

The African environment and climate made for hardships already but the people who live their have found a way to really thrive off of the land. They have mapped out their dry and rainy seasons and know the crops to plant to really make the most of what they have. Tropical and wet climate vary throughout the continent and it affects their water supply and food productivity. The Intertropical convergence zone makes farming a very coordinated and planned out activity so they get the most out of their crops. With the habitats ranging from rainforest to deserts they really have a wide variety of resources that they have learned to use for the good. The many connecting rivers that they have make for rich soil and trading routes. With exports of metallic ores and petroleum Africa is a very important place for resources and trade.


One thing that surprised me were all the different cultures and languages that Africa embeds. There are so many unique cultures and languages all living in one area and they have learned to really live together. African culture is expressed in its arts and crafts, folklore and religion, clothing, cuisine, music and languages. The continent of Africa speaks hundreds of languages. There are many ethnic groups and tribes in Africa with their own distinct culture, norms and customs. Some of the major tribes in Africa would include Pygmies, Samburu, Senufo, Tuareg, Wolof, Yoruba, Zulu, Bemba, Afar, Anlo Ewe, Ashanti, Berber, Bambara, Amhara, Bemba, Bobo, Chewa, Dogon, Fang, Eulani, Ibos, Kikiyu, Maasai, Mandinka and Fon. Its amazing to me that all of these cultures live together in one place and interact with one another and that I had never heard of any of them before this class. It really shows how important traditions, customs and stories are to people. Language is something that is taken for granted, but we use it to do everything and language really flourishes in Africa.


Africa had such an important history. I never knew that they were enslaved by Europe and how this affected them. Europeans came in and colonized them and made them take to European ways of life and this really did have a negative affect. They were stripped of their cultures, traditions and way of life. Many believe that this hurt Africa up until today because when other countries were just beginning Africa was thriving. With it being rich in resources and techniques of farming many wondered how Africa got to be the way it is today. Colonization took their own farming and products away from them, it left them with the orders of another continent and other people who really didn't know how important Africa's resources and ways of life were to the people who lived there. I never knew that Africa played such a big part in the World Wars. Fighting for Europe and suffering in the fields because of it. So many lives were lost when they fought for someone else. The World Wars changed Africa forever. They were hit hard by depressions and they had to fight very hard for their own independence. When they received independence many didn't know how to do their own farming and productions anymore. They had forgotten their way of life.


I had no idea about any of this until this class. I really learned a lot about Africa and it is not only a place in the world anymore. I really learned about the importance of Africa and its impact on the world and the world's impact on it. Africa is a place that is rich with resources and gets a lot of negative light thrown its way. With outbreaks of HIV and AIDS people think that this is all there is to Africa. Efforts are being made and they are making progress to help the people with this disease. I recently learned about the technology growth of Africa. Cell phones are becoming very popular. Africa is growing. But this also means so is their poverty, unclean water, and lack of everyday essentials like sewage. I believe that Africa needs to invest in technology and we need to help them with it. Aid is not helping them, but learning how to fish instead of catching all of the fish for them is really going to benefit them. Africa has the potential to leap over all of the advancements of the western hemisphere today. Africa is not dead, it is just beginning.

Spring in Africa

We look around and we flower blooming, the grass is turning green, leaves are sprouting on the trees, its getting warm and everyone seems to be happier. That only means one thing. SPRING! Its springtime and everything seems to be coming to life. Spring is my favorite season and I have only seen it happen in one place. Iowa. I wondered what Spring looked like in Africa.

Spring lasts from August to mid October, so to my surprise they haven't even experienced Spring yet.

During Spring flowers bloom and its said that Spring is nowhere as beautiful as it is in South Africa. The spring season is very short and some countries do not recognize spring as one of their seasons. Like Ethiopia who has an all year round temperature and has a wet and dry season. Even if they don't recognize spring as a season there is still a time for flowers to bloom and fields to be planted. Really, spring here is a lot like it is there, it just happens at different times and may disappear or arrive more quickly. It is not as significant there as it is here, yet it is still beautiful.

A lot of people don't look at the beauty that Africa has, the land, its wildlife, it nature, its people. With the world only focusing on Africa in a negative way, spring is the start of a new year, new growth, and new hope.

Making ends Meet

Many would d drastic things to support their family, take up more than one job, sell all of their possessions, maybe even steal. But how many would sell their bodies? Refugee who,end of Africa participate in "survival sex" to help get by. They engage in sexual activities with older men in return for food, money, tuition, etc. to help support their families. This is very common among the women who are not married and not a part of a refugee camp. 

With this, increases of becoming HIV and AIDS infected happens among many women. 80% of infections occur due to unprotected intercourse. Women ages 15-19 are the most infected and make up a significant among of the women population who have the disease. Women in Southern Africa become infected with HIV or AIDS as soon as they start having sex. One factor that is considered with survival sex is that men avoid using condoms becuase a women is so young and "pure" this contributes to the spread of HIV. 

"Focusing programmes on persuading girls to abstain from sex until marriage is of little help to many young women. In some places, the main HIV risk factor for a woman is the fact that she is faithful to a husband with previous or current other sex partners. This because young women, particularly teenagers, often marry men significantly older than they are, and these men are more likely to have had other partners and therefore are more likely to have been exposed to HIV. The fact that the balance of power in many relationships is tilted in favour of men can have life-or-death implications. Women and girls often lack the power to abstain from sex or to insist on condom use—even when they suspect that the man has had other sexual partners and might be infected with HIV. The desire, or pressure, for children, on the part of either spouse, may be another reason for not using condoms. " - See more at: http://www.unfpa.org/resources/survival-strategies-put-women-risk#sthash.5WNH1xal.dpuf

Malawi and HIV/AIDS

Malawi is the poorest country in the world. Its a large agricultural country trying to make efforts to overcome the decades of underdevelopment, corruptions, and the impact of HIV and AIDS, which claims tens of thousands of lives every year.

Malawi is one of the worst hit countries by HIV and AIDS and is home to more than 1 million orphaned children by the disease. More than 10% of the population is living with HIV. An estimated 1,000,000 Malawians were living with HIV in 2013 and 48,000 Malawians died from HIV-related illnesses in the same year.3 The Malawian HIV epidemic plays a critical role in the country’s low life expectancy of just 54.8 years.

Over the last decade many efforts have been made to help this epidemic. New infections have dramatically declined from 98,000 new infections in 2005, to 34,000 new infections in 2013.5 Malawi has also witnessed a 67% reduction in children acquiring HIV, the largest country decline across sub-Saharan Africa.6

Women are more affected by HIV than men in Malawi. Almost 13% are living with HIV versus a 8% of men. There is also a higher prevalence in young people. 50% of new infections of HIV are by young people. This difference could be due to the knowledge of HIV, men may know more about it and have a better understanding of treatment and preventative actions to take.

An estimated 170,000 children are living with HIV in Malawi. There is estimated to be 530,000 orphans in Malawi as a result of AIDS Although, great reductions have been estimates as high as 67% among HIV infections, which is one of the largest decreases across Africa.
http://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/sub-saharan-africa/malawi

Timbuktu

When I was little and I was being naughty my parents always used to say "stop that or I'm goanna put you in a box and ship you all the way to Timbuktu." Well I didn't know what that was. I thought it had something to do with my dad...since his name is Tim. This comment made no sense to me. What was so awful about this Timbuktu? Why was this the place you wanted to send me when I was bad?

I have finally learned some things about Timbuktu. I have never talked about it in school before or really have ever heard anything about it, except for when I was little. I never learned anything about it until now.

Timbuktu is a city in Mali right by the Niger River. Timbuktu flourished in economic growth due to the Saharan trade routes for salt, gold, ivory and other materials. This centered the city as one of the greatest academic and commercial centers in the world. In the 15th and 16th centuries proved fertile ground for religion, the arts and sciences.

Timbuktu became a great Muslim educational center. The University of Sankore was one of the first universities of the world which was superior to all the other Islamic centers of the world. It was considered the beacon of Islamic knowledge and drew thousands of scholars from around the world. This led to the many writings of manuscripts. Soon, books became the most valuable commodity of trade. Timbuktu housed more than 700,000 manuscripts, forming a priceless written record of African History.


A very interesting thing that I found out about Timbuktu is that it is also known as the city of the 333 saints because 333 saints were laid to rest in the city. These were scholars who were celebrated for their exceptional wisdom, generosity, and scholarship. Many Muslim pilgrims traveled to Timbuktu to honor these scholars.

Tales of Timbuktu’s fabulous wealth are was one of the reasons metal-hungry Europeans came searching the west coast of Africa for riches. Before the Europeans arrived, Timbuktu had declined economically. When European travelers didn’t find the gold they were looking for and instead found how difficult it was to get there, the city’s reputation shifted from being fabled because of its gold to being fabled because of its location and mystery. Being used in this sense since at least 1863, English dictionaries now cite Timbuktu as a metaphor for any faraway place

Timbuktu is recognized as a world heritage site. Three mosques and 16 mausoleums or cemeteries were selected for World Heritage status. With inclusion came the call for protection of the buildings’ conditions, an exclusion of new construction works near the sites and measures against the encroaching sand.


If my parents said they send me off to Timbuktu now, well I wouldn't mind going there for a while. Its a very interesting place with a lot of historical background.

http://atlantablackstar.com/2014/09/04/8-facts-show-timbuktu-one-fascinating-cities-history/3/

Fang Tribe of Africa

With the completion of reading "Things Fall Apart" a story about an African tribe and culture has interested me in finding out more about the different tribes in Africa. There are many different tribes in Africa and each have their own unique characteristics.

Here is a link that explains many of the different tribes of Africa.

After reading about the many different tribes of Africa one that really interested me is the Fang Tribe.

The Fang tribe lives in the hot, humid, equatorial rainforests of Gabon. They make up 80% of the Gabonese population. The Fang are have said to have migrated from the northeast centuries ago and have settled here to farm. They are of medium height and have a strong, powerful build. They pride themselves in their physical beauty. The Fang are well known for their guardian sculptures that they attach to wooden boxes That contain bones of their ancestors. They believe that these bones contain the same power of those who they are from.


The Fang tribe lives in forest clearings. Their huts are made of branches, trees, and straw. The huts are used for sleeping and shelter of rain. Most of the day's activities are performed outside of the hut like cooking and making banana paste. The interior of the huts are small and dark and poorly aerated. There is a larger hut in the villages that is built away from the others. This hut is called the House of the Word. Here, men gather to smoke, chat, and discuss issues of the tribe. Women are forbidden to even go towards this hut. The hut houses the most important ancestral bones of the tribe, those of who founded the village.

( it was hard finding a photo of a Fang tribe hut)

The Fang men are hunters and the women are the farmers. Men only do agricultural tasks that require power like burning down some of the forest to clear or plowing the dirt to make a new plot. The women plant and tend to the crops. They also gather fruits and berries, and fish. They take care of the children and educate them while taking care of the huts. They make ceramics and fishing nets.


The Fang tribe, like the Okonkwo's people in "Things Fall Apart" practice polygamy. Each wife has their own hut where her and her sons live. The more wives a man has the more work power he has. The wives are under strict rule of her husband, his male relatives, and her mother in law.

Each tribe has a leader, it is usually that who has a relation to the ancestors that founded the village. The leader also serves as the spiritual leader and is able to communicate with the ancestors of the village. He does this by wearing masks which is important to the Fang artwork.




 Here is a link about the Fang Tribe!

Sauti Za Busara

Sauti Za Busara festival, The Sounds of Wisdom is one of the most popular festivals in Africa. It's held every year in February in Stone Town, Zanibar, Tanzania. It's a festival full of musicians, fashion shows, movie screenings and networking events. It's one of the largest music festivals held each year with hundreds of artists participating each year. 

This year it was cancelled due to lack of funding. The goal was to raise $200,000 but they only reached about $42,000. Many are heart broken over the cancelation of this culturally loved event. Many want to know where the government support, companies and organizations who care about development have disappeared to. http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/magazine/thebeat/-/1843792/3054274/-/ge3s8o/-/index.html 

https://youtu.be/RXnwR_PQJJQ