African Cultures 2:00 - 3:15

In Boosaaso, Somalia, piracy has become one of the most rewarding and popular sources of income. The first 3 pages of the article reveal how the pirates hold people hostage, attack ships, and walk away with millions. Finally, the fourth page of the article reveals probably the most critical point: a corrupt government could possibly be funding the entire operation. For me, this truly struck a cord. It seems that, with the trivial amount I know about Africa, that a corrupt government seems to stand behind a large amount of issues. The article says that the jails are filled with pirates, which is not helpful in the least because nearly everyone living in Boosaaso resorts to piracy. Perhaps a government should be reformed first, and then the rest of society may follow. I realize that is not as simple as it may seem. But the end of the article says, "They [pirates] are normal people..." which leads me to believe that piracy really is the best option for survival for them.
Piracy has scared away any humanitarian groups, or imports. And the amount of exports has gone down dramatically. The government should theoretically be making a lot less money because of this. Though, somehow that is not true. The government gets a portion of money from the pirates, according to the article.
Again, an unstable government finds itself at the root of another societal dilemma. How do you reform something like that?

www.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/world/africa/31pirates.html

Today, after European talks in Brussels, Belgium announced that there will not likely be a European peacekeeping mission in Congo to help strained U.N peacekeepers waiting for reinforcements. EU has intervened previously in Congo, but will not at this time. The difficulty lies in that no country wants to lead it, despite different government leaders urging for intervention. Belgium has marked itself out of taking lead because of it’s colonial past in Congo. Other countries feel they have no troops to spare with their troops being in Afghanistan and Iraq. EU will not be sending troops to stop the violence, but will help back peace efforts, humanitarian aid, and any equipment, intelligence, or logistics needed.

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5187589/belgium-says-no-prospects-of-eu-force-in-congo/

The stark differences between Africa and the West are evident through Christine's voyage to California. She is surprised at the very basic differences between these two societies. Children speak to their parents with a blatant lack of respect, the styles of clothing are strange to her, and even the buildings reflect an opposing architectural point of view. She feels out of place here. She is continuously labeled as an "African", an inadequate label considering she never thought about herself in relation to the continent, only in relation to her country. She identifies as Ugandan, but above that, as an individual. In California, she is instead categorized and quantified by the people around her.
The story circles around Christine's search for her identity. She is unable to identify with the people in California- their culture is too foreign and she is seen as an outsider. However, when she returns to Entebbe, she is also seen as an outsider. After living in the West, she has picked up certain Western customs and become accustomed to certain things that alienate her from her homeland and her family.

Adding on to the already dismal situation in Zimbabwe, the World Health Organization reported Friday that, "294 people have died of the disease and that a total 6,072 cases had been reported between August and this Tuesday". The report goes on to state how much of this can be blamed on the lack of clean water as chemicals needed to sanitize the water have not been imported to an adequate amount recently.

Further down in this same article it briefly describes another terrible development in the health system of Zimbabwe: " Government hospitals have closed as doctors and nurses stopped reporting for duty, citing archaic equipment and poor compensation, the WHO said. Four main hospitals in Harare have stopped admitting patients because of a medicine shortage, said the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights."

Zimbabwe's future is beginning to look darker and darker, and it has become apparent that something drastic must be done in order to bring an end to the suffering there.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/21/zimbabwe.cholera/index.html

http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnJOE4AI01Y.html

The UN has called for an arms embargo on Sudan and neighboring Chad over the conflict in Darfur. The UN suggests that 300,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been driven out of their homes in Darfur while the Sudan government says that 10,000 people have been killed. Peace talks are no longer working and the only action that seems to be working is a military solution. The situation in Darfur has led to more than 20 groups claiming to represent the people, many deaths and attacks on the U.N and aid groups trying to help Darfur. Analysis of weapons found in Darfur has concluded that many weapons have come from neighboring Chad. The UN group UNAMID had to pull out because they couldn't protect themselves let alone the people in Darfur.

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article25972

Sudan and Chad are still going at in this article, each other stating that the other one supports rebel groups in their area. The article states that even newspapers in their own countries are saying that rebel groups in Sudan and Chad are backed by the opposing force. Although in 2005 freedom of the press was added to those areas, 17,000 newspapers were confiscated that reported the backing of rebel groups in Chad by Sudan.

DR Congo rebel rallies support
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7743804.stm

This article is about rebel general, Laurent Nkunda, held a rally in a football field in the newly captured town of Rutshuru. He was met with dancing and singing people and even danced with a child. Nkunda criticized the government for deploying the extra 3,000 troops from the UN, saying it would never bring peace. Though he was met with excitement, it was said that the people are unsure if they can trust this movement and was only given half-hearted applause. He and his rebels are accused of sacking houses in nearby villages and continuing to forcibly employ child soldiers in his rebel army.

UN agrees DR Congo troop increase
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7740222.stm

This article is about how the UN has decided to send in more troops to aid the fighting in the DR Congo. They have upped the number of soldiers by 3,000. This increase shows the biggest UN force of its kind. However, they do not know where the troops will come from. This is all in response to Gen Laurent Nkunda's rebel army creating a crisis situation and causing about 250,000 people to have to flee their homes. These troops are allowed to "use all means necessary" to protect the local people. Many families and children have been stranded and separated and are subject to hideous war crimes. It is a good thing that the UN has decided to attack this problem aggressively.

Congolese children forced to fight
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7724088.stm

This article is about how child soldiers are being recruited by the rebels in the DR Congo. They are being kidnapped and forced to fight alongside the rebels against the government against their will. They are now talking about how there are such huge numbers of these children as the rebels are targeting entire schools. This sounds very much like the situation with the child soldiers in the RUF.
The article also talks about the organization called Save the Children is doing all that they can to fight back. They take many of the children back and help to reintegrate them into their families. They realize that many of the children may never recover from what they have been through as a child soldier.

It won't let me upload the powerpoint since it is too large...how should i do this?

* I am just going to email Prf. Sterling.