martes, 20 de noviembre de 2007

AIDS and work a big problem




One conflict in Africa that has taken a long time to get appropriate media attention, with regards to its severity, is that of the conflict of ordinary African people against HIV and AIDS. As many African countries have moved towards democratization, they have been rewarded with the debts of their previously unaccounted dictators, most of whom embezzled billions of dollars from their own country into private savings. Obstruction by some major pharmaceutical companies has also contributed to the hampered responses of many governments. The current and future generations are paying for this with their own lives. In 2000 the population began with 24 million Africans infected with the virus. In the absence of a medical miracle, nearly all will die before 2010. Each day, 6,000 Africans die from AIDS. Each day, an additional 11,000 are infected. The drama of the AIDS epidemic is more subtle than the older calamities that have rocked Africa. People are suffering silently in hospitals and in isolation in their own homes, and in this war the people that can help is taking care of the sick ones, waiting and making their dead the painless they can. This situation is not only worrying because of the African population, but it also slow down all the process of progress and advance of the economy in the country.

from the Ras ben Sakka, to the Cabo Agulhas




Africa is the third continent in extension, forming part of Eurafrasia, Colinda to the north with the Mediterranean Sea, the west with the Atlantic Ocean and the east with the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and Asia through the Suez Channel. Although it has a total surface of 30.272.922 kilometers square, which represents 22% of the terrestrial land, the population is of only 910.844.133 inhabitants, less of 16%. The continent is organized in 55 countries, being all of them members of the African Union, with exception of Morocco.

Most of the continent professes African traditional religions like animistic. This religion usually occurs under the appearance of universalized religions like the Islam or the Christianity. The Islam has a dominant presence in the north and outstanding in the Sahara, the Sahel, Africa Occidental and Eastern Africa. The African traditional religions have an outstanding presence in America, specially the Vudú in Haiti, the Yoruba religion and the religions of the old Kingdom of the Congo in the Caribbean and Brazil mainly.

In Africa, the life population varies according to the conditions. In North Africa or the Sahara, most of their habitants are adult and exceed the youthful population, although a progressive ageing does not occur either. In Africa, to the south of the Sahara, most of their habitants are young, although in the last decades they had experienced a growth in the adult population and a progressive aging. This occurs mainly in countries like Ethiopia and Somalia, although in South Africa also the adult population is experienced but not so common the aging. Most of the problems in this region of the continent are due to the bad feeding and lack of this food and medical resources.

The Apartheid



During most of the 20th century, South Africa was ruled by a system called Apartheid, which was based on the segregation of races. The term comes from an African word meaning "apartness". This term was introduced during the 1948 elections campaign by DF Malan's Herenigde Nasionale Party (Reunited National Party), but racial segregation had been in force for many decades in South Africa. The United Party actually gained the majority of votes in the elections of 1948. But due to the manipulation of the geographical boundaries of the country's constituencies before the election, the Herenigde Nasionale Party (HNP) managed to won the majority of constitutencies and took power. In 1951 the HNP and Africaner Party officially merged to form the National Party, which became synonymous with Apartheid. Over the decades, various forms of legislation were introduced which extended the existing segregation against Blacks and Indians. During the 1960s, racial discrimination applied to most aspects of life in South Africa and was created for blacks. The system had evolved into "Grand Apartheid". The country was rocked by the Sharpeville Massacre, the African National Congress (ANC) and Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) was banned, and the country withdrew from the British Commonwealth and declared a Republic.

Todays political issues in Africa



Now days The United Nations has welcomed the establishment of a new Government in Burundi and called on the country's leadership to persevere in consolidating peace and strengthening democracy in the small Central African country. According to a statement of the UN Integrated Office in Burundi, known by its French acronym BINUB, the members of the international community in Bujumbura have expressed satisfaction that negotiations among local political actors have resulted in a consensus leading to the new Government.
They appealed to the country's leadership, including President Pierre Nkurunziza, to persevere in strengthening democracy in Burundi, which emerged from over a decade of civil war between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority, following the signing in September 2006 of the Comprehensive Ceasefire Agreement between the Government and the Forces Nationales de Libération (Palipehutu-FNL). Also, they urged all concerned, including the Palipehutu-FNL party, to pursue the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement. The BINUB, established their successor to the UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB), supports the Government in such areas as peace consolidation and democratic governance, disarmament and reform of the security sector, as well as various human rights and development activities. All these movements are trying to make that the country succeed economically as in terms of population and life stile.

sonni ali



Sonni Ali was a West African monarch who ruled Songhai from 1464 to 1492, expanding a small kingdom along the Niger River into one of medieval Africa's greatest empires. His date of birth is unknown but it is identified that his year of death was in 1492. Ali was educated in the traditional African arts of the region and was well versed in the forms and techniques of war when he came to power in 1464 in the small kingdom of Songhai, which was centered around its capital city of Gao on the Niger River. His first major conquest occurred in the year of 1469 when the Muslim leaders of Timbuktu, one of the great cities of the Mali Empire, asked for help against the Tuareg, the nomadic desert Berbers who had occupied the city since 1433. Sonni Ali took the opportunity not only to strike decisively against the Tuareg, but also against the city itself. Timbuktu became part of Songhai Empire in 1469. An other important thing that Ali made was that he could mixed an unorthodox observance of Islam with traditional African religion, mix that no one cant made before him. He was known as a man of the people rather than the elite class of Muslim, clerics and scholars, and he is regarded as a great military commander who carried out a strategic campaign of conquest along the Niger River. But he is principally recognized by the way he controlled, in 1476, the delta region of the Niger to the west of Timbuktu, and the lakes region to the south. Regular patrols by his 'navy' kept the trade routes open and tribute paying kingdoms peaceful. This is an extremely fertile region of West Africa, and because of this it became a major producer of grain under his rule.

sábado, 10 de noviembre de 2007

Haile Selassie and rastafari



Haile Selassie was born Tafari Makonnen in Ethiopia in 1892. He married Wayzaro Menen in 1911, daughter of Emperor Menelik II. By becoming prince (Ras), Tafari became the focus of the Christian majority's approval over Menelik's grandson, Lij Yasu, because of his progressive nature and the latter's unreliable politics. He was named regent and heir to the throne in 1917, but had to wait until the death of the Empress Zauditu to assume full kingship. During the years of 1917-1928, Tafari traveled to such cities as Rome, Paris, and London to become the first Ethiopian ruler to ever go abroad. In November of 1930, Zaubitu died and Tafari was crowned emperor, the 111th emperor in the succession of King Solomon. Upon this occasion he took the name Haile Selassie, meaning "Might of the Trinity." This paper will focus on Selassie's progressive politics and attempts to modernize Ethiopia through technological advances and membership in the world community. Relevant to these topics is Ethiopia's struggle with Italy in World War II, Selassie's embracing of the League of Nations, and his popularity and attention worldwide because of his efforts towards humanitarianism and Ethiopian sovereignty.

THE AFRICAN RELIGION




Religion in Africa is multifaceted. Most Africans adhere to either Christianity or islam

. Many also practice african tradicional religions , often also in traditions of folk religion or syncretism alongside Christianity and Islam.Christianity has existed in Africa for two millennia. The Orthodox Coptic Church, today prominent in Egypt, Ethiopia and Eritrea were, according to Christian scriptures, established by the Apostle Mar approximatelcitation needed Missionary activity during the colonial period, as well as evangelism and Pentecostalism in modern times, has firmly established Christianity in Africa, particularly in central southern and eastern Africa, and around the Gulf of Guinea.there are others religions like islam, Judaism.

the Traditional religion in africa is a encompasses a wide variety traditional beliefs. Traditional religious customs are sometimes shared by many African societies, but they are usually unique to specific ethnic groups. Many African Christians and Muslims maintain some aspects of their traditional religions.