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School hope for rape victim

2005-11-21T14:00:00.000-08:00

School hope for rape victim

Mukhtar Mai hit the headlines in February 2002 as the victim of a gang rape ordered by a Pakistani tribal council in Meerwala, in southern Punjab.

School is the first step to change the world. It's always the first step that causes the most trouble, but it's the start of progress

Mukhtar Mai
Nearly three years later, she is working to improve the lives of the next generation of girls in the village with two schools she built with her compensation money.

"I didn't want to spend it on myself," she says of the $9,400 payment she received.

"If I lived a luxurious life, then what would happen to the future of the boys and girls?"

Instead, Mukhtar, who had never seen a school before she built her own, decided to fight her battle for women's rights in the classroom.

"Education will play a very, very important role in changing the minds of men," she says.

So she built the Mukhtar Mai School for Girls and the Farid Gujjar School for Boys, named after her father.

Pupils sit on wheat sacks because there are no chairs or desks. The school has no electricity, so they learn in the shade of the classrooms in summer and take classes in the bright winter sun of the courtyard when it gets colder.

Conditions are basic, but the children are happy to be stimulated and learning.

"I'm interested when I'm in school," says four-year-old Samina. "My favourite subject is... English," she says, hazarding a guess at the right answer for her target audience.

The youngest in the class is just two-years-old. "She likes it here, so we let her come in," says Mukhtar, smiling affectionately at the girl, proudly turning the pages of an alphabet book upside down on her lap.

Power struggle

But for each of the 270 pupils in school, two more of the village's children are kept away by their parents.

Mukhtar believes men are scared of being undermined by a better-educated new generation, including stronger young women.

"They think it will lose them power," she says.

Pupils sit on wheat sacks because there are no chairs or desks
For Mukhtar, the schools are an arena to fight for greater female empowerment, but they also give her a reason to live.

"Without these schools, my life would be nothing," she says.

And of the girls, to whom she teaches the Koran: "They are the only charm and light in my life."

When news of the attack against Mukhtar emerged, the international community was shocked that an act of such cruelty had taken place.

However, such attacks are not rare. It is her survival that makes Mukhtar exceptional.

During the same year, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan counted 804 cases of rape, including 434 gang rapes, reported in the media.

Articles describing women committing suicide after sexual attacks appear so often in newspapers that they are usually relegated to a single paragraph far from the front page.

Many more never come to the attention of journalists or police.

Tribal courts, known as panchayats, are effectively the only system of justice in many rural areas of Pakistan.

Individual rights invariably suffer in this ad hoc legal system, which traditionally relies on resolving disputes between whole families. This was the case for Mukhtar Mai.

It was a panchayat that found Mukhtar's younger brother, Shakoor, guilty of raping a girl from the village's powerful Mastoi clan.

False charge

It was later revealed in a conventional court that the 12-year-old had in fact been kidnapped and sexually assaulted by the same men who later made up his jury.

Her attackers were later convicted and imprisoned.

The schoolgirls are the "charm and light in my life" says Mukhtar
Mukhtar Mai was taken away to be raped by four men in revenge for her brother's supposed crime. None of the 150 men present responded to her pleas for mercy.

After the attack, Mukhtar says she was suicidal. But she decided not to take her life after more than 200 people from the village came to her house to voice their support.

With the backing of part of her community, albeit a minority, she took the rare step of pursuing the case in court.

The four men who raped her and two other members of the panchayat were given death sentences. They are currently appealing against the decision.

After their conviction, Mukhtar refused to be silenced, even when she faced threats from the rapists' supporters. She now lives under 24-hour police guard.

In spite of the resistance, she decided to continue working for other women's empowerment.

"Even if I don't succeed in my struggle," she says, "I'll keep trying until my death."

She is starting with the girls of her own village.

"School is the first step to change the world," says Mukhtar. "It's always the first step that causes the most trouble, but it's the start of progress."

METHALI ZA KISWAHILI --- SWAHILI PROVERBS

2005-10-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

Methali za kiswahili ---- Swahili proverbs

Adhabu ya kaburi aijua maiti, The touture of the grave is only known by the corpse
Akiba haiozi, A reserve will not decay
Asifuye mvuwa imemnyea. He who praises rain has been rained on.
Akili nyingi huondowa maarifa. Great wit drives away wisdom
Asiye kubali kushindwa si mshindani.He who does not admit defeat is not a sportsman
Atangaye na jua hujuwa. He wanders around by day a lot, learns a lot
Asiye kuwapo na lake halipo.If you are absent you lose your share
Avumaye baharini papa kumbe wengi wapo.Shark is the famous one in sea the but they many others
Baada ya dhiki faraja.After hardship comes relief.
Baniani mbaya kiatu chake dawa.An evil Indian but his bussiness is good.
Bendera hufuata upepo. A flag follows the direction of the wind.
Bilisi wa mtu ni mtu.The evil spirit of a man is a man.
Chamlevi huliwa na mgema.The drunkard's money is being consumed by palm-wine trapper.
Chanda chema huvikwa pete.A handsome finger gets the ring.
Chombo cha kuzama hakina usukani. A sinking vessel needs no navigation.
Chovya - chovya yamaliza buyu la asali. Constant dipping will empty goud of honey
Dalili ya mvua mawingu. Clouds are the sign of rain
Damu nzito kuliko maji.Blood is thicker than water
Dawa ya moto ni moto. the remedy of fire is fire
Dua la kuku halimpati mwewe.the curse of the fowl does not bother the kite.
Fadhila ya punda ni mateke. Gratitude of a donkey is a kick.
Fimbo ya mbali hayiuwi nyoka. A wepon which you don't have in hand wont kill a snake.
Fuata nyuki ule asali.Follow bees and you will get honey
Fumbo mfumbe mjinga mwerevu huligangua.Put a riddle to a fool a clever person will solve it
Ganda la mua la jana chungu kaona kivuno.The skin of yesteday's sugarcane is a havest to an ant.
Haba na haba hujaza kibaba.Little by little fills up the measure.
Hapana marefu yasio na mwisho.They is no distance that has no end.
Hakuna siri ya watu wawili.They is no secret between two people.
Haraka haraka haina baraka.Hurry hurry has no blessings
Hasira, hasara.Anger brings loss(Damage)
Heri kufa macho kuliko kufa moyo.It is better to lose your eyes than to lose your heart.
Heri kujikwa kidole kuliko ulimi.Better to stumble with toe than toungue.
Hiari ya shinda utumwa.Voluntary is better than force.
Hucheka kovu asiye kuwa na jeraha.He laughs at scar who has received no wound.
Ihsani (hisani)haiozi.Kindness does not go rotten.
Ikiwa hujui kufa,tazama kaburi.If you don't know death look at the grave.
Jina jema hungara gizani.A good name shines in the dark.
Jino la pembe si dawa ya pengo.An ivory tooth is not cure for the lost tooth.
Jitihadi haiondoi kudura. Effort will not counter faith.
Jogoo la shamba haliwiki mjini. The village cock does not crow in town.
Kafiri akufaye si Isilamu asiyekufa.An infidel who does you good turn is not like a Muslim who does not
Kamba hukatika pabovu. A rope parts where it is thinnest.
Kanga hazai ugenini.A guine- fowl not lay eggs on strange places
Kawaida ni kama sheria.Usage is like law
Kawia ufike.Better delay and get there.
Kazi mbaya siyo mchezo mwema.A bad job is not as wothless as a good game
Kelele za mlango haziniwasi usingizi.The creaking of the door deprives me of no sleep.
Kenda karibu na kumi.Nine is near ten.
Kiburi si maungwana.Arrogance is not gentlemanly.
Kichango kuchangizana.Everyone should contribute when collection is made.
Kidole kimoja hakivunji chawa.One finger canot kill a louse.
Kingiacho mjini si haramu.That is fashionable in town is never prohibited.
Kikulacho ki nguoni mwako.That which eats you up is in your clothing.
Kila chombo kwa wimblile.Every vessel has its own waves
Kila mlango na ufunguwo wake.Every door with its own key
Kila mtoto na koja lake.To every child his own neck ornament
Kila mwamba ngoma ,ngozi huivuta kwake.Every who streches a skin on a drum,pulls the skin own his own side.
Kila ndege huruka na mbawa zake.Every bird flies with its own wings.
Kilio huanza mfiwa ndipo wa mbali wakaingia.The beareved begins the wailing latter others join.
Kimya kingi kina mshindo mkubwa.Along silence followed by mighty noise.
Kinga na kinga ndipo moto uwakapo.One fire brand after another keeps fire burning.
Kinyozi hajinyoi.A barber does not shave himself.
Kinywa ni jumba la maneno.Mouth is the home of words.
Kipendacho moyo ni dawa.What the heart desires is medicine to it.
Kipya kinyemi ingawa kidonda. A new thing is a souce of joy even if is sore.
Kisebusebu na roho kipapo.Refusing and wanting at the same time.
Kisokula mlimwengu,sera nale.what is not eaten by a man,let the devil eat it.
Kitanda usicho kilala hujui kunguni wake.You canot know the bugs of a bed that you have not lain on.
Kivuli cha fimbo hakimfichi mtu jua.Shadow of a stick canot protect one from the sun.
Kiwi cha yule ni chema cha;hata ulimwengu uwishe. The blindnes of that one is his good fortune
Kizuri chajiuza kibaya chajitembeza.A good thing sells it self a bad one advertises it self
Konzo ya maji haifumbatiki. A handfull of water can not be grasped.
Kosa moja haliachi mke.One fault does not warrant divorce of a wife
Kozi mwandada ,kulala na njaa kupenda.A goshawk is an egg child,if sleeps hungry its his own fault.
Kuagiza kufyekeza. ie One eye of a master sees more than four of a servent.
Kuambizana kuko kusikilizana hapana.Giving advice but no one listens.
Kucha M'ngu si kilemba cheupe.The fear of God is not wearing a white turban.
Kuchamba kwingi,kuondoka na mavi.Leave well alone! You wont improve matters by going on tinkering
Kufa kufaana.Death has its advantages too ie it benifits those who inherit.
Kufa kwa jamaa, harusi.The death of not a relative is a wedding.Compared to a death of a relative
Kufa kwa mdomo,mate hutawanyika.When the head of the family dies,that family breaks up.
Kuishi kwingi ni kuona mengi. To live long is to see much.
Kujikwa si kuanguka,bali ni kwenda mbele.To stumble is not falling down but it is to go forward.
Kukopa harusi kulipa matanga.Borrowing is like a wedding ,repaying is like mourning.
Kuku havunji yai lake.A hen does not break her own eggs.
Kuku mgeni hakosi kamba mguuni.A new fowl always has string around its legs.
Kula kutamu ,kulima mavune.Eating is sweet ,digging is weariness.
Kulea mimba si kazi kazi kulea mwana.It is not hard to nurse a pregnency,but it is hard to bring up a child.
Kunako matanga kume kufa mtu.Where they is mourning someone has died.
Kunguru mwoga hukimbiza mbawa zake.The timid crow withdraws his wings from harm.
Kupanda mchongoma ,kushuka ngoma.You may climb a thorn tree,and be unable to come down.
Kupoteya njia ndiyo kujua njia.To get lost is to learn the way.
Kutoa ni moyo usambe ni utajiri.Charity is the matter of the heart not of the pocket.
Kutu kuu ni la mgeni.Old rust is for the stranger.
Kuzima koleo si mwisho wa uhunzi.Cooling the tongs is not end of forging.
Kwa mwoga huenda kicheko na kwa shujaa huenda kilio.i.e.timidity often ends in a laugh, bravado in a lament.
Kwenda mbio siyo kufika.To run is not neccessarily to arrive.
Kwenye miti hakuna wajenzi.Where there trees,there are no builders.
La kuvunda(kuvunja) halina rubani. A vessel running agroud has no captain.
La kuvunda (kuvunja)halina ubani.They is no incence for something rotting.
Lake mtu halimtapishi bali humchefusha.One's foul smelling does not sicken one self but merely disguts one.
Leo ni leo asemayo kesho ni mwongo.Today is today who says tommorrow is a liar
Liandikwalo ndiyo liwalo.That which is written by God is what is.
Lila na fila hazitangamani.Good and evil will never mix.
Lipitalo ,hupishwa .Things dont just happen by accidents
Lisemwalo lipo,ikiwa halipo laja.What is benig talked about is here,and if its not it's comming around behind.
Lisilokuwapo moyoni,halipo machoni.Out of sight out of mind.
Maafuu hapatilizwi.You dont take viengeance on silliness.
Macho hayana pazia.Eyes have no screens,they see all that is within view.
Mafahali wawili hawakai zizi moja.Two bulls do not live in the same shade.
Maiti haulizwi sanda.A dead person is not asked for a shroud.
Maji hufuata mkondo.water follows current.i.e.swim with current.
Maji huteremka bondeni,hayapandi mlima.Water flows down the valley does not climb the hill.
Maji ukiyavuliya nguo huna budi kuyaogelea.If you take of your clothes for water you must bathe.
Maji usiyoyafika hujui wingi wake.You can not know the extent of water in a pond that you have never been to.
Maji ya kifufu ni bahari ya chungu.Water in a coconut shell is like an ocean to an ant.
Maji yakija hupwa.When tide is high,it ebbs.
Mpanda ngazi hushuka.He who climbs a ladder comes down again.i.e.What goes up must come down
Maji yakimwagika hayazoleki.If water is split,it can not be gathered up.
Majumba makubwa husitiri mambo.Big houses conceal a lot.
Majuto ni mjukuu.Regrets are like a child,They come some considerable time after event.
Manahodha wengi chombo huenda mrama.With many captains,the ship does not sail properly.i.e.Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Maneno makali hayavunji mfupa.Words alone wont break bones.
Maneno mema hutowa nyoka pangoni.Pleasent words will draw the snake from its hole.
Masikini akipata matako hulia mbwata.When a poor man gets something he boasts of his new wealth.
Masikini haokoti,akiokota huambiwa kaiba.A poor man does not pick up things if does they say he stole them.
Masikini na mwanawe tajiri na mali yake.A por man with his child a rich man with his wealth.
Mavi usioyala,wayawingiani kuku? Why drive away fowls from the dung you do not eat yourself?
Mavi ya kale hayanuki.Old droppings do not stink.
Mbinu hufuata mwendo.A double jointed arm follows the leg action.i.e Like father like son.
Mbio za sakafuni huishia ukingoni.Running on the roof finishes at the edge.
Mbiu za mgambo ikilia kuna jambo.When an oxhorn of a news man is sounded,something is wrong.
Mchagua jembe si mkulima.One who selects his hoe is not real farmer.
Mchagua nazi hupata koroma.He who selects coconut with great care ends up getting a bad coconut
Mchakacho ujao,halulengwi na jiwe.You dont throw stones at an approching craclin noise in the bush wait and see what is it first
Mchama ago hanyeli,huenda akauya papo.A traveller does not make a mess where he had made a camp as he might one day come back.
Mchelea mwana kulia hulia yeye..He who fears the crying of a child,will cry himself.
Mchele moja mapishi mengi. Rice is all one but they are many ways of cooking it.
Mcheka kilema hafi bila kumpata.He who laughs at a cripple will not die without becoming himself
Mcheza hawi kiwete,ngoma yataka matao.A dancer will not become crippled for dancing calls for grace.
Mcheza kwao hutuzwa.He who dances at home will be rewarded.
Mcheza na tope humrukia.He who plays with mud will get splashed.
Mchezea zuri ,baya humfika.He who ridicules the good will be overtaken by evil.
Mchimba kisima hungia mwenyewe.He who digs a pit will fall into it himself.
Mchonga mwiko hukimbiza mkono wake.The maker of wooden spoons saves his hand from fire.
Mchovya asali hachovi mara moja.He who dips his finger into honey does not dip it once.
Mchuma janga hula na wakwao.He who earns calamity,eats it with his family.
Mchumia juani,hula kivulini.He who earns his living in the sun,eats in the shade.
Mdharau biu,hubiuka yeye.He who riducules a deformed person becomes deformed himself.
Meno ya mbwa hayaumani.The teeth of a dog do not lock together.i.e brothers do not harm one another when they fight.
Mfa maji hukamata maji.A drowning man catches at the water.
Mficha uchi hazai.One who hides private parts wont get a child.
Mfinyazi hulia gaeni.A potter eats from a potsherd.
Mfuata nyuki hakosi asali.One follows bees will never fail to get honey.
Mfukuzwa kwao hana pakwenda.He who is expled from home has no where to go
Mgaagaa na upwa hali wali mkavu.A lazy person with a nephwe does not eat dry rice.
Mganga hajigangui.A witchdoctor does not cure himself.
Mgema akisifiwa tembo hulitia maji.If the palmwine tapper is praised,he dilutes the palm-wine with water.
Mgeni ni kuku mweupe.A stranger is like a white fowl (noticeble)
Mgeni njoo mwenyeji apone.Let the guest come so that the host may benifit.
Mgonjwa haulizwi uji.A sick person is not asked for porridje.
Miye nyumba ya udongo ,sihimili vishindo I am a mud hut, I can not stand shocks.
Mjinga akierevuka mwerevu yupo mashakani.When a fool becomes enlightened,the wise man is in trouble.
Mjumbe hauawi.A messenger is not killed
Mkamatwa na ngozi ndiye mwizi.The one who is caught with the skin is the thief.
Mkamia maji hayanywi.He who fixes his mind much on water ends up not drinkink it
Mkata (masikini) hana kinyongo.A poor man has no contempt.
Mke ni nguo ,mgomba kupalilia.A wife is like clothes and banana plant needs weeding.
Mkono moja hauchinji ngombe.A single hand can not slaughter a cow.
Mkono moja haulei mwana.A single hand can not nurse a child.
Mkono mtupu haulambwi.An empty hand is not licked.
Mkono usioweza kuukata,ubusu.Kiss the hand you can not cut.
Mkosa kitoweo humangiria.One who has little relish must eat sparingly.
Mkuki kwa nguruwe mtamu,kwa mwanadamu uchungu.Its nice throw a spear to a pig,but painful when thrown to you.
Mkulima ni mmoja walaji ni wengi.The farmer is one but those who eat fruits of his labour are many.
Mla cha mwenziwe na chake huliwa.He who eats another mans food will have his own food eaten by others.
Mla cha uchungu na tamu hakosi.He who eats bitter things gets sweet things too.
Mla kuku wa mwenziwe miguu humwelekeya.He who devours his neighbour's fowl,its foot prints will give him away.
Mla mbuzi hulipa ngombe.The eater of a goat pays back a cow.
Mla mla leo mla jana kala nini?The real eater is todays eater not yesterdays.
Mla nawe hafi nawe ila mzaliwa nawe.He who eats with you will not die with you except he who was born with you.
Mlenga jiwe kundini hajui limpataye.He who who flings a stone amid a crowd,does not know the it hits.
Mlimbua nchi ni mwananchi.He who enjoys the first fruit of a country is son of that country.
Mnyamaa kadumbu.One who keeps silent,endures.
mnywa maji kwa mkono moja,Kiu yake i pale pale.He who drinks water with one hand finds out his thirst is still there.
Moja shika,si kumi nenda urudi.Take one,not that you may return with ten.
Moto hauzai moto.Fire does not beget fire in the end it begets ashes.
Mpanda farasi wawili hupasuka msamba.One who rides two horses at once will split asunder.
Mpanda ovyo hula ovyo.He who sows disorderly fashion will eat likewise.
Mpemba akipata gogo hanyii chini.If a native of pemba can get a log he does not relive himself on the ground.ie nothing but the best
Mpemba hakimbii mvua ndogo.A native of Pemba does not run away fro a small shower.
Mpiga ngumi ukuta huumiza mkonowe. He who fights with a wall will only hurt his hand.
Mpofuka ukongweni,hapotewi na njia.He who becomes blind in his old age does not lose his way.
Msafiri masikini ajapokuwa sultani.A traveller is poor,even though he being a ruler.
Msasi haogopi mwiba.A hunter is not afraid of thorns.
Msema pweke hakosi.One who talks to himself can not be wrong.Ie no one to correct him.
Mshale kwenda msituni haukupotea.If an arrow goes into a forest it is not lost.
Mshoni hachagui nguo.A tailor does not select his cloth.
Msitukane wagema na ulevi ungalipo.Do not abuse palm-wine tappers while drunkness persists.
Msitukane wakunga na uzazi ungalipo.Do not abuse midwives while child-bearing continues.
Mstahimilivu hula mbivu.A patient man will eat ripe fruits.
Mtaka cha mvunguni sharti ainame.He who requires what is under the bed must bend for it.
Mtaka nyingi nasaba hupata mwingi msiba.He who boasts of his ancestry unduly will bring plenty of trouble upon himself.
Mtaka unda haneni.He who desires to make something does not announce his intentions ,just turns them into actions.
Mtaka yote hukosa yote.He who desires all,misses all
Mtegemea nundu haachi kunona.He who likes to eat cows hump will not fail to grow fat.
Mtembezi hula miguu yake.An aimless wanderer wears away his legs.
mteuzi hashi tamaa.A connoisseur never comes to the end of desire.
Mti hauwendi ila kwa nyenzo.A log can not move save by the help of rollers.
Mtondoo haufi maji.An old man always keeps something in reserve.
Mtoto akililia wembe mpe.When a child cries for a razor give it him.i.e. Let him learn by experience.
Mtoto umleyavyo ndivyo akuavyo.As you bring up a child ,so he will be.
Mtoto wa nyoka ni nyoka.The child of a snake is a snake.
Mtu hakatai mwito,hukata aitwalo.A person does not objects to being called, he objects to what he is called for.
Mtu hujikuna ajipatiapo.A person scratches himself where his hand can reach.
Mtu huulizwa amevaani ,haulizwi amekulani.A person is asked about his dress not what he has eaten.
Mtumai cha ndugu hufa masikini.One who always depends on his brother will die poor.
Mtumi wa kunga haambiwi maana.The carrier of a secret message is not told its meaning.
Mtumikie kafiri upate mradi wako.Serve even an unbeliever to attain your own ends.
Mtupa jongoo hutupa na mti wake.If you throw a millipede you should throw away the stick you picked it up with
Mume wa mama ni baba.A husband of a mother is a father
Mungu hamfichi mnafiki.God does not concell a(hypocrite) liar.
Mvumbika changa hula mbovu.One who stores half grown fruit eats it rotten.
Mvungu mkeka.The space under the bed is like a mat.
Mvunja nchi ni mwananchi.The destroyer of a country is a citizen of that country.
Mvuvi ajuwa pweza alipo.A fisheman knows where to look for an octopus.
Mwacha asili ni mtumwa.He who renounces his ancestrey is like a slave.
Mwamba na wako hukutuma umwambiye.He who spekes ill of someone close to you in your presence sends you to tell him so.
Mwamini Mungu si mtovu.He who trusts in God lacks nothing.
Mwana mkaidi hafaidi mpaka siku ya idi.An obstinete child does not suffer save on the day of festival.
Mwana maji wa kwale kufa maji mazowea.To a seamen of Kwale,death by water is common experience.
Mwana mkuwa nawe ni mwenzio kama wewe.The child who grows up with you is your fellow.
Mwana wa kuku hafunzwi kuchakura.A chick is not taught how to scratch up the ground.
Mwana simba ni simba.The child of lion is a lion.
Mwanga mpe mtoto kulea.Give a wizard a child to bring up.
Mwangaza mbili moja humponyoka.He who is after two things at the same time,one will surely escape him
Mwanzo kokochi mwisho nazi.The begining is bud the end is coconut.
Mwanzo wa chanzo ni chane mbili.The begining of a mat-making is two slips of raffia leaf.
Mwanzo wa ngoma ni lele.The begining of a dance is" lele" i.e.just one man singing hu lalaaaa.
Mwapiza la nje hupata la ndani.One who curses someone in public,brings it on himself in private.
Mwekaji kisasi haambiwi mwerevu.He who nurses vegeance is not called wise.
Mwenda bure si mkaa bure,huenda akaokota.One who walks with no reason is not like one who sits without reason,the one who walks might pick up something.
Mwenda mbio hujikwa kidole.A person who is in too much of a hurry stubs his toe.
Mwenda tezi na omo marejeo ngamani.He who goes to the quarterdeck and forecastle will return to the hold eventualy.
Mwenye kelele hana neno.A noisy person is harmless.
Mwenye kovu usidhani kapowa.One with a scar,do not think him healed.
Mwenye kubebwa hujikaza.He who is carried on the back must cling on.
Mwenye kuchinja hachelei kuchuna.He who slaughters a beast does not hesitate about skinning it
Mwenye kuumwa na nyoka akiona jani hushtuka.One who has been bitten by a snake,when he sees grass he he gets afraid.i.e.Once bitten twice shy.
Mwenye macho haambiwi tazama.One who has eyes is not told to look(he does it himself)
Mwenye nguvu mpishe. Let a strong man pass
Mwenye njaa hana miiko. A hungry man observes no taboos.
Mwenye pupa hadiriki kula tamu. A hasty person misses the sweet things (because he cannot wait for the fruit to ripen).
Mwenye shibe hamjui mwenye njaa. A satisfied person does not know the hungry man. cf. He that is warm thinks that all are so.
Mwenye shoka hakosi kuni. He who has an axe does not lack firewood.
Mwenye tumbo ni tumbole, angafunga mkaja. She who is pregnant, is pregnant-even though she wrap herself in an 'mkaja' (i.e you don't achieve something by merely pretending you have achieved it.) (Mkaja is the cloth a woman wears round her stomach after giving birth).
Mwenzako akinyolewa wewe tia maji. When your Companion is being shaved, put water (on your head). ('Be prepared-eg. when you see a neighbouring country being invaded prepare to face the same situation yourself) cf. When your neighbour's house is on fire, take care of your own.
Mwibaji na watwana, mlifi ni mwungwana. A thief is a rogue but the one who repays is a gentleman
Mwili wa mwenzio ni kando ya mwilio. Your companion's body is beside (i.e. not a part of) your body.
Mwizi hushikwa na mwizi mwenziwe. A thief is caught by his fellow thief. cf. Set a thief to catch a thief.
Mwomba chumvi huombea chunguche. He who asks for salt does so for his own cooking pot
Mwosha hadhuru maiti. The washer of corpses does no harm to the dead.
Mwosha huoshwa.The corpse-washer is washed (in his turn). Cf. Tit for tat.
Mwosha husitiri maiti.The washer conceals the corpse (i.e gives nothing away).
Mzaha,mzaha, hutumbuka usaha. Joke, joke, discharges pus (i.e. do not dismiss even a small scratch as if it were only a joke-it may go bad) cf. A stitch in time saves nine.
Mzazi haachi ujusi. One who gives birth cannot avoid (ritual) defilement
Mzigo Wa mwenzio ni kanda Ia usufi. Your companion's burden is (no more than) a load of kapok (to you). cf. The burden is light on the shoulder of another.
Mzika pembe ndiye mzua pembe.The one who buries ivory is the one to dig it up
Mzowea kutwaa, kutoa ni vita. (For him) who is accustomed to taking giving away is a battle.
Mzowea kunyonga, kuchinja hawezi. He who is used to strangle, cannot slaughter.
Mzungu Wa kula hafundishwi mwana. The process of eating is not taught to a child.
Nahodha wengi, chombo huenda mrama. Too many captains (and) the ship rolls. cf. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Natuone ndipo twambe, kusikia Si kuona. Let us see then tell; hearing is not seeing cf. Seeing is believing.
Nazi mbovu harabu ya nzima. A rotten coconut in a heap spoils the wholesome ones. cf. A rotten apple spoils its neighbours. cf. A sickly sheep infects the whole flock.
Ndege mjanja hunaswa na tundu bovu, An artful bird can be trapped in a rotten cage.
Ndege mwigo hana mazowea. A bird that imitates others does not get used to a place.
Ndugu chungu, jirani mkungu. (Alt. Ndugu kitu.... .) A brother is (as useful as) a cooking pot, and a neighbour is (as useful as) a cooking pot lid.
Ndugu mwui afadhali kuwa naye. A bad brother is far better than no brother. cf. Blood is thicker than water.
Ndugu wakigombana, chukua jembe ukalime, wakipatana chukua kikapu ukavune. When brothers quarrel, take a hoe and go and dig; and when they make it up, take a basket and patter the crop (i.e. never interfere with a dispute between brothers except to fly and settle it amicably).
Ngoja! ngoja? huumiza matumbo. Wait a minute! wait a minute! harms the stomach
Ngoma ivumayo haidumu. A noisy drumming does not last long.
Ngoma ivumayo haikawii kupasuka. A drum that is sounded loudly will soon split cf. A pitcher that often goes to the well, is broken at last.
Ngozi ivute ili maji.Stretch hide while it is still green. cf. Strike while the iron is hot.
Nia njema ni tabibu, nia mbaya huharibu. A good purpose is like a doctor (it heals or keeps you well) and evil purpose corrupts.
Nifae na mvua nikufae na jua. Do me a favour during a rainy season and I shall do the same to you during the dry season.
Nimekula asali udogoni, utamu ungali gegoni. I ate honey in my childhood, and its sweetness is still in my tooth.
Nimekupaka wanja, wewe wanipaka pilipili. I have anointed you with kohl, do you, in return, anoint me with pepper?
Njia ya mwongo fupi.The way of a liar is short (i.e. he soon comes to grief).
Njia ya siku zote haina alama. A regular path has no signpost. cf. A used key is always bright.
Ng'ombe avunjikapo guu hurejea zizini. When a bull gets his leg broken, he is sure to go back to his yard.
Ng'ombe haelemewi na nunduye. A cow is not oppressed by its own hump.
Nta Si asali; nalikuwa nazo Si uchunga. Wax is not honey; 'I had them' (i.e. cattle) is not herding.
Nyani haoni kundule, huliona la mwenziwe. The ape does not see his own backside, he Sees his companion's.
Nyimbo ya kufunzwa haikeshi ngoma. Songs learnt from outside sources (foreign importations) are not used at a dance so long.
Nyumba usiyolala ndani huijui ila yake. You cannot know the defects of a house you have not slept in. Cf. It is the wearer who knows where the shoe pinches.
Nyumba ya udongo haihimili vishindo. A mud hut cannot withstand great shocks.
Nzi kufa juu ya kidonda Si haramu. For a fly to die on an ulcer is not bad (after all, he got what he wanted).
Pabaya pako Si pema pa mwenzako. Your own bad place is far better (so far as you are concerned) than your companion's place (which will do you no good).
Padogo pako Si pakubwa pa mwenzako. Your own small place is not like a big place of your companion. cf. A poor thing but mine own.
Painamapo ndipo painukapo. Where it slopes down is where it slopes up.
Paka akiondoka, panya hutawala. when the cat goes away, mice reign. cf. When the cat's away, the mice do play.
Paka hakubali kulala chali. A cat can never he made to lie on its back.
Paka wa nyumba haingwa. A cat belonging to the house is not chased away.
Panapo wengi hapaharibiki neno. Where there are many, nothing goes wrong. (A council of many people ensures that things are kept on the right tines.) cf. Many hands make light work.
Papo kwa papo kamba hukata jiwe. Constant rubbing of a rope will cut a stone. cf. Constant dripping wears away a stone.
Pele hupewa msi kucha. Scabics are given to him who has no fingernails (i.e. who cannot scratch himself).
Pema usijapo pema; ukipema Si pema tena. A good place you don't go to is a good place: if you go too often, it isn't a good place any longer. cf. Familiarity brings contempt; or, Outstay one's welcome.
Penye kuku wengi hapamwagwi mtama. Where there are many fowls, millet is not scattered (i.e. it is not advisable to disclose a secret in the presence of a number of people).
Penye mafundi, hapakosi wanafunzi. Where there are experts there will be no lack ot learners.
Penye mbaya wako, hapakosi mwema wako/na mwema wako hakosi. Where you have an enemy, you will also surely arid a friend.
Penye miti hakuna wajenzi. Where there are plenty of trees there are no builders.
Penye nia ipo njia. Where there's a will there's a way.
Penye urembo ndipo penye urimbo. Where there is finery, there lies the snare (Lit: birdlime).
Penye wazee haliharibiki neno. Where there are old people, nothing goes wrong.
Penye wengi pana mengi. Where there are many (present) there is much (said).
Penye wengi pana Mungu. Where there are many people, there God is
Pilipili usozila zakuwashiani? How can you be burnt by chilies which you have not eaten?
Pofu hasahau mkongoja wake. A blind person does not forget his walking stick.
Pwagu hupata pwaguzi. A thief finds another one (who is a bigger and better thief than he is). Cf. When Greek meets Greek.
Radhi ni bora kuliko mali Blessings are better than wealth,
Sahani iliyofunikwa, kilichomo kimesitirika. When a plate is covered, its contents are hidden.
Samaki mmoja akioza, huoza wote. If one fish rots, they all rot. cf. A rotten apple spoils its neighbours. A sickly sheep infects the whole flock.
Shika! Shika! na mwenyewe nyuma. Hold him! Hold him! and you yourself after him (i.e. you shouldn't expect others to do all the work).
Shimo Ia ulimi mkono haufutiki. A pit of (dug by) the tongue cannot be covered up by the hand (words are more dangerous). Cf. The pen is mightier than the sword.
Shoka lisilo mpini halichanji kuni. An axe with rio handle does not split firewood.
Si kila mwenye makucha huwa simba. Not all that have claws are lions. cf All that glitters is not gold.
Sikio halilali na njaa. An ear dots not go to bed hungry (there's always plenty of gossip).
Sikio halipwani kichwa. Alt: Sikio halipiti kichwa. The ear does not surpass the head.
Sikio Ia kufa halisikii dawa. A dying ear does not feel the medicine.
Siku njema huonekana asubuhi. A good day becomes evident in the morning.
Siku utakayokwenda uchi, ndiyo siku utakayokutana na mkweo. The day you go naked, is the day you will meet your father/mother.in-law.
Simba mwenda kimya(pole) ndiye mla nyama. The lion which moves silently is the one that eats meat.
Simbiko haisimbuki ila kwa msukosuko. A thing that is firmly fixed cannot be dislodged except with much trouble.
Sitafuga ndwele na waganga tele. I shall not suffer illness while doctors abound.
Subira ni ufunguo Wa faraja. Patience is the key to tranquility.
Subira yavuta heri, huleta kilicho mbali. Patience attracts happiness; it brings near that which is far.
Sumu ya neno ni neno. The poison for a word is a word. cf. Tit for tat.
Tamaa mbele, mauti nyuma. Desire first, death afterwards, (i.e. 'No one ever thinks of the possibIlity of death when concentrating on achieving a particular end).
Taratibu ndiyo mwendo. Slowly is indeed the way to walk. Cf. He that goes slowly goes surely, or, Hasten slowly. or, Slow but sure.
Teke Ia kuku halimwumizi mwanawe A hen's kick does not hurt her chick.
Tonga si tuwi The juice of an Immature coconut Is not like the real coconut juice.
Ucheshi wa mtoto ni anga Ia nyumba. The laughter of a child lights up the house.
Uchungu wa mwana, aujua mzazi. The Iabour of childbirth is known to the mother.
Udongo uwahi ungali maji Work the clay while it is still wet Cf. Strike while the iron is hot
Udugu wa nazi hukutania chunguni The brotherhood of coconuts is a meeting in the cook- in pot (said of people who do not cooperate until it is too late).
Ukenda kwa wenye chongo, vunja lako jicho. When you go among one-eyed people, put out your own eye. Cf. Where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise, or, When in Rome, do as the Romans do (?).
Ukiona kwako kunaungua kwa mwenzako kunateketea. If you find your own house is on fire, you may be sure that your neighbour's house is burning much more fiercely.
Ukiona neno, usiposema neno, hutapatikana na neno. If you see something and say nothing, you will have nothing to suffer for. Cf. Mind your own business, or, Hear all, see all, say nothing.
Ukiona vinaelea, vimeundwa. If you see vessels afloat, remember that they have had to be built.
Ukiona zinduna, ambari iko nyuma. If you see amber, ambergis is (not far) behind, (i.e. Where there is a jealous husband, there will be jealous wife). (Sauce for the goose . . .?)
Ukipewa shibiri usichukue pima. If you are offered a span, do not take a couple of yards. Cf. Give him an inch and he will take an ell.
Ukupigao ndio ukufunzao. What beats you is what teaches you. Cf. Spare the rod and spoil the child.
Ukistaajabu ya Mussa utaona ya Firauni. If you are astonished at Moses' deeds, you will be more astonished at Pharaoh's. Not-Moses declared himself to he a prophet, but Pharaoh declared himself to be God.
Ukitaja nyoka, shika fimbo mkononi. When you mention a snake, have a stick ready in your hand. Talk of the devil, and you'll hear the rustle of his wings.
. Ukitaka kula nguruwe, chagua aliyeno,na. If you want to eat pig, choose one which is fat. Cf. As well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. (Muslims are forbidden pork).
Ukitaka uzuri sharti udhurike. If you want beauty, you must (first) be injured
Ukuukuu wa kamba Si upya wa ukambaa. A well-worn coir-rope is better than a new rope made from raffia.
Ulimi hauna mfupa. A tongue has no bone (i.e. it can get round anything, both literally and metaphorically).
Ulimi unauma kuliko meno. The tongue hurts more than the teeth.
Ulipendalo hupati, hupata ujaliwalo. You will not necessarily get what you desire, you will get what is appointed you (by God). Cf. Man proposes, God disposes.
Ulivyoligema utalinywa. As you tapped it (palm-wine) you will (have to) drink. Cf. As you sow, so shall you reap, or, You have made your bed and now you must lie on it.
Umejigeuza pweza, unajipalia makaa? Have you changed into a cuttle-fish, (that) you heap live embers on yourself?
Umekuwa bata akili kwa watoto? Are you a duck (that) your mind is with your children?
Umekuwa jeta hubanduki? Are you a Jeta, (that) you do not move?
Umekuwa nguva, huhimili kishindo? Are you a dugong, (that) you cannot bear a wound?
Unamlaumu mwewe, kipanga yuwesha kuku. You are blaming the hawk, (while) the falcon is killing the chickens.
Ungalijua alacho nyuki, usingalionja asali. Had you known what bees eat, you would not have tasted the honey.
Ushikwapo shikamana. When you are seized, hold on yourself.
Usiache kunanua kwa kutega. Do not neglect the undoing (of a trap that has caught) for the setting (of others). cf. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Usiache mbachao kwa msala upitao. Never give up your own old mat for a better prayer mat which you see passing.
Usicheze na simba, ukamtia mkono kinywani. When you play with a lion, do not put your hand in its mouth (that would be going too far!).
Usigombe na mkwezi, nazi imeliwa na mwezi. Don't quarrel with the coconut-palm climber: the coconut has been eaten by the moon.
Usijifanye kuku mweupe. Do not pretend to be a white fowl (you're only an ordinary chap).
Usikaange mbuyu ukawaachia wenye meno watafune. Do not roast baobab kernels and leave those who have teeth chewing (them). Don't start quarrels among other people (bv telling tales).
Usile na kipofu ukamgusa rnkono. When you are eating with a blind man, do not touch his hand. (to do so will lead him to suspect that either the food is finished or you are trying to play a trick on him. In other words, with a simple person you must be very careful lest you might do something to make him suspicious of you)
Usimwamshe aliyelala utalala wewe. Do not wake one who is sleeping; you will fall asleep yourself.
Usinivishe kilemba cha ukoka. Do not put a grass turban on my head, (i.e. do not flatter me).
Usipoziba ufa utajenga ukuta. If you do not fill up a crack, you will have to build a wall. cf. A stitch in time saves nine
Usisafiriye na nyota ya mwenzio. Don't travel under another's lucky star (i.e. do not rely on someone else's good fortune).
Usisahau ubaharia kwa sababu ya unahodha. Do not forget what it is to be a sailor because of being a captain yourself.
Usitukane wagema na ulevi ungalipo. Speak no ill of palm-wine tappers as long as drinking persists
Usitukane wakunga na uzazi 'ungalipo. Speak no ill of midwives while childbirth still continues.
Usiyavuke maji usiyoweza kuyaoga. Do not cross water that is too deep for wading.

TITI LA MAMA

2005-10-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

TITI LA MAMA

Titi la mama litamu,hata likiwa la mbwa,
Kiswahili naazimu,sifayo iliyofumbwa,
Kwa wasiokufahamu,niimbe ilivyo kubwa,
Toka kama mlizamu, funika palipozibwa,
Titile mama litamu ,Jingine halishi hamu.

Lugha yangu ya utoto,hata sasa nimekua,
Tangu ulimi mzito,sasa kusema najua,
Ni sawa na manukato,moyoni mwangu na pua,
Pori bahari na mto,napita nikitumia,
Titile mama litamu,jingine halishi hamu.

TRANSLATION OF THE FIRST POEM

One's mother's breast is the sweetest
Canine it may be,
And thou,Swahili,my mother- tonque,
art still the dearest to me.
My song springs forth from a welling
heart, I offer thee my plea
That who have not known thee,
may join in hormage to thee.
One's mother's breast is the sweetest,
no other so satisfies.

The speech of my childhood ,now I am
fully grown
I realize thy beauty and have made it
all on my own
And though refreshest my spirit like the
scent of the roses blown
Through desert and o'er ocean may I
thy praises known.
One's mother's breast is the sweetest,
no other so satisfies.

By Shaban Rorbert from Jahadhmi's anthology of Swahili poetry

ABUNUWASI KAMA KADHI

2005-10-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

Abunuwasi alikuwa mshairi maarufu katika mahakama ya khalifa Haruni Rashidi. Siku moja Khalifa alimteua Abunuwasi kuwa Kadhi mkuu wa jiji, Asubuhi moja mpishi wa keki akaenda kuonana na Kadhi na kulalamika kuhusu bwana mmoja masikini. Mpishi analalamika: 'huyu ombaomba anasimama tuu karibu ya kibanda changu pale sokoni ninapo oka keki zangu tamu. ananusa tuu harufu nzuri bila kunilipa, kwahiyo mimi ninakuwa nikifanya kazi bure.'
Abunuwasi kama Kadhi mwenye busara akalifikiria swala hili kwa muda kidogo, kisha akatoa hukumu: akamwambia mpishi ''unachosema ni kweli kabisa. huyu ombaomba amefaidi harufu ya keki zako na kwa kufanya hivyo ametumia matunda ya kazi yako. Kwa hilo itabidi akulipe fidia. Nafikiri dinari mbili za dhahabu zitakuwa ni fidia inayofaa kabisa.'' Macho yampishi yakang'aa aliposikia dinari mbili, lakini masikini akalalamika: "Mungu mkubwa, mimi ni masikini, sina pesa, hata ukinitingisha hutasikia mlio wa njuga. Unaweza ukakamua maji ya matunda kwenye zabibu lililo kauka? Abunuwasi akalifikiria tena hili kwa muda alafu akasema: ikiwa wewe ni masikini, nitakulipia hii fidia toka mfukoni kwangu.' Abunuwasi akatoa sarafu mbili, mpishi akanyoosha mkono wake wa kulia kwa shauku kubwa ili apokee fidia yake.
Mara moja Abunuwasi akabadilika na kuanza kumuhoji mpishi,
Abunuwasi: Je huyu masikini alikula keki zako?
Mpishi: Hapana Mkuu
Abunuwasi: Je alizinyofoa?
Mpishi: Hapana Mkuu
Abunuwasi: Labda aliziharibu kwa kuzipumulia?
Mpishi: eeh, Hapana Mkuu
Abunuwasi: Kwa hiyo unaweza ukaziuza ama umeshaziuza?
Mpishi: Ndio Mkuu ninaweza nikaendelea kuziuza na zingine nimeshauza
Abunuwasi: Kwa hiyo basi kama huyu bwana hajala, hajanyofoa wala kuzipumulia keki zako, zaidi ya kuvuta harufu nawe basi utafidiwa na sauti. fungua masikio yako kwa makini ili nawe ufurahie sauti za dinari mbili za dhahabu. ikabidi mpishi afanye hivyo kwa sababu hii ndio ilikuwa fidia pekee ambayo angeweza kupata.

Kwa nini Tanzania inaitwa nchi masikini??

2005-10-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

Mimi kitu hichi kinanikera sana sielewi kwanini Tanzania Intaitwa nchi masikini, sisi si masikini na wale ambao wanatakiwa kuitwa masikini haitwi masikini hebu jamani tutatafanyaje kufuta hili jina la umasikini katika profile ya nchi yetu??

can Africa claim 21st Century??????

2005-10-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

Despite gains in the second half of the 1990s, SubSaharan Africa (Africa) enters the 21 st century with many of the world's poorest countries. Average income per capita is lower than at the end of the 1960s. Incomes, assets, and access to essential services are unequally distributed. And the region contains a growing share of the world's absolute poor, who have little power to influence the allocation of resources.

Moreover, many development problems have become largely confined to Africa. They include lagging primary school enrollments, high child mortality, and endemic diseases - including malaria and HIV/AIDS - that impose costs on Africa at least twice those in any other developing region. One African in five lives in countries severely disrupted by conflict. Making matters worse, Africa's place in the global economy has been eroded, with declining export shares in traditional primary products, little diversification into new lines of business, and massive capital flight and loss of skills to other regions. Now the region stands in danger of being excluded from the information revolution.

Many countries have made important economic reforms, improving macroeconomic management, liberalizing markets and trade, and widening the space for private sector activity. Where these reforms have been sustained - and underpinned by civil peace - they have raised growth and incomes and reduced poverty. Even as parts of the region are making headlines with wars and natural disasters, other parts are making headway with rising interest from domestic and foreign businesses and higher investment.

But the response has not been sufficient to overcome years of falling income or to reverse other adverse legacies from the long period of economic decline - including deteriorated capacity, weakened institutions, and inadequate infrastructure. Major changes are needed if Africans - and their children - are to claim the 21 st century. With the region's rapidly growing population, 5 percent annual growth is needed simply to keep the number of poor from rising. Halving severe poverty by 2015 will require annual growth of more than 7 percent, along with a more equitable distribution of income.

Moreover, Africa will not be able to sustain rapid growth without investing in its people. Many lack the health, education, and access to inputs needed to contribute to - and benefit from - high growth. Women are one of Africa's hidden growth reserves, providing most of the region's labor, but their productivity is hampered by widespread inequality in education and access. Thus gender equality can be a potent force for accelerated poverty reduction. And HIV/AIDS looms as a new menace, threatening to cut life expectancy by 20 years and undermine savings, growth, and the social fabric in many countries.

Africa thus faces an immense, multifaceted development challenge. But the new century offers a window of opportunity to reverse the marginalization of Africa's people - and of Africa's governments, relative to donors, in the development agenda. Political participationhas increased sharply in the past decade, paving the way for more accountable government, and there is greater consensus on the need to move away from the failed models of the past. With the end of the Cold War, Africa is no longer an ideological and strategic battleground where ``trusted allies'' receive foreign assistance regardless of their record on governance and development. Globalization and new technology, especially information technology, offer great potential for Africa, historically a sparsely populated, isolated region. Though these factors also pose risks, including that of being left further behind, these are far outweighed by the potential benefits.

Making these benefits materialize will require a ``business plan'' conceived and owned by Africans, and supported by donors through coordinated, longterm partnerships. African countries differ widely, so there is no universal formula for success. But many countries face similar issues, and can draw on positive African examples of how to address them.

Improving governance and resolving conflict is perhaps the most basic requirement for faster development. Widespread civil conflicts impose enormous costs, including on neighboring countries. Contrary to popular belief, Africa's conflicts do not stem from ethnic diversity. Rather, in a pattern found around the world, conflicts are driven by poverty, underdevelopment, and lack of economic diversification, as well as by political systems that marginalize large parts of the population. But conflicts perpetuate poverty, creating a vicious circle that can be reversed only through special development efforts - including longrun peacebuilding and political reforms. With success in these areas, countries can grow rapidly, and flight capital can return.

Countries that have made the greatest gains in political participation are also those with better economic management. Again, this conforms to a global pattern that suggests multiethnic states can grow as fast as homogeneous ones - if they sustain participatory political systems. Many countries need to develop political models that facilitate consensus building and include marginalized groups.

Development programs need to be winwin, improving the management and distribution of economic resources and contributing to more effective states. Programs should empower citizens to hold governments accountable, enable governments to respond to new demands, and enforce compliance with the economic and political rules of the game. Development efforts are starting to move in this direction, with greater beneficiary involvement in the delivery of services and more emphasis on results. But far more needs to be done to strengthen Africa's institutions - including ensuring that representative institutions, such as parliaments, play their proper role in economic and budgetary oversight.

Investing in people is also essential for accelerated poverty reduction. Many countries are caught in a trap of high fertility and mortality, low education (especially of women - less than onequarter of poor rural girls attend primary school), high dependency ratios, and low savings. In addition, greater political commitment is urgently needed to fight HIV/AIDS.

While the resources available for education and health are inadequate in some countries, many need to translate their existing commitment to human development into effective programs for delivering essential services and increasing gender equality. Africa has some of the world's strongest communities, yet services are usually provided through weak, centralized institutions that are seen as remote and ineffective by those they are supposed to serve. Deconcentrated service delivery through local communities, supported by capacity building at local levels and effective governance to ensure transparency and empower recipients, could have a major impact. With effective regional cooperation and donor support through coordinated, longterm partnerships - including for international public goods such as new vaccines - Africa could solve its human development crisis in one generation.

Increasing competitiveness and diversifying economies must be a third area of focus if Africa is to claim the new century. Job creation is slow not because of labor market rigidities (though there are exceptions) but because of the high perceived risks and costs of doing business in Africa. These need to be lowered by locking in reforms and delivering business services more efficiently - with less corruption, better infrastructure and financial services, and increased access to the information economy. Africa trails the world on every dimension of these essentials. Lowering these barriers requires new approaches, including more participation by the private sector and by local communities, a more regional approach to overcome the problems posed by small African economies, and a central government shift to regulating and facilitating services rather than providing them.

Though Africa's agriculture has responded to limited reforms, it remains backward and undercapitalized, the result of centuries of extractive policies. Recapitalizing the sector will require maintaining and improving price incentives (including by encouraging competitive input markets), channeling more public spending and foreign aid to rural communities (including for local infrastructure), and tapping into the savings potential of farmers. These changes are also needed to create incentives to reverse severe environmental degradation. Publicprivate partnerships can make a contribution, including in agricultural research and extension, where a regional approach would also help. And wider access to OECD markets for agricultural products would make a big difference - at some $300 billion, subsidies to OECD agriculture are equal to Africa's GDP.

Since the late 1960s Africa's loss of world trade has cost it almost $70 billion a year, reflecting a failure to diversify into new, dynamic products as well as a falling market share for traditional goods. Africa's trade reforms have mostly been negotiated with donors as part of adjustment programs. Reforms still need to be embedded in a development strategy that is export oriented, anchored on competitive and stable real exchange rates, and enables exporters to access imported inputs at world prices. Governments need to increase consultations with business, working to develop worldclass service standards. Here again a regional approach is vital, not only to encourage intraAfrican trade flows but perhaps more important, to provide a wider platform to encourage investment. And African countries need to work together to participate in the global negotiations that shape the world trading system. The capacity requirements for this are too great for small, poor countries.

Reducing aid dependence and strengthening partnerships will have to be a fourth component of Africa's development strategy. Africa is the world's most aiddependent and indebted region. Concessional assistance is essential if Africa is to grow rapidly while also increasing consumption to reduce poverty. Excluding private inflows, the savings gap for a typical country is about 17 percent of GDP, and other regions show that private flows cannot be sustained at more than 5 percent of GDP without risk of crisis. But aid, particularly when delivered in a weak institutional environment by large numbers of donors with fragmented projects and requirements, can weaken institutional capacity and undermine accountability.

High debt and debt service add to the problem, deterring private investment and absorbing core budget resources, making governments ever more ``cash poor'' but ``project rich,'' with a development agenda increasingly perceived as being shaped by donors. Lack of selectivity compounds the problem, channeling a lot of aid to countries with poor development policies. And with few exceptions, aid has largely been confined to national boundaries rather than used to stimulate regional and international public goods.

These problems are widely recognized, and a consensus has emerged that the primary goal of aid should be to reduce poverty. But paradoxically, aid transfers are declining just when many of the problems are being addressed. Africa enters the new century in the midst of intense debate on aid, including what could be a watershed change in its relationship with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, as well as important changes in development cooperation with the European Union and an enhanced program of debt relief. New aid relationships are being implemented in a number of countries - relationships that emphasize a holistic, countrydriven approach supported by donors on the basis of longterm partnerships, and with greater beneficiary participation and empowerment over the use of resources.

The change is in the right direction, but there is a long way to go. In a typical poor country aid transfers might equal 10 percent of GDP, yet the poorest fifth of the population disposes of only about 4 percent of GDP. It remains to be seen how well partnerships can resolve the tensions between the objectives of recipients and individual donors, and how far the behavior of donors will change to facilitate African ownership of its development agenda. It also remains to be seen how far partnerships can extend beyond assistance, to include enhanced opening of world markets to African products and services.

Can Africa's Poverty Be Beaten???

2005-10-15T17:42:00.000-07:00

Can Africa's poverty be beaten?

Can Mandela woo the West to help Africa?

Some of the world's poorest countries, particularly those in Africa, could have their debt burden cancelled under proposals agreed at a meeting in London over the weekend.

Finance ministers from the wealthiest nations, the G7, say they have agreed to work towards total debt relief of the money owed to international institutions such as the IMF, on a case-by-case basis.

The London meeting was convened to discuss what is being called the Marshall plan for Africa, similar to the US initiative to reconstruct western Europe after the devastation of World War II.

Besides debt relief, the plan seeks to redouble aid to Africa, improve terms of trade for African goods and launch programmes to help the continent meet its Millennium Development goals to reduce poverty.

Former South Africa President Nelson Mandela has come out of his retirement from public life to join the Make Poverty History campaign, a coalition of NGOs lobbying rich nations to keep their promises to help Africa overcome her plight.

The BBC's Africa Live asks: What are the implications of the proposed debt cancellation for Africa? Whose responsibility is it to lift the continent out of its grinding poverty?

Does the West owe it to the continent to help solve its development problems? Is increasing foreign aid and writing off debt the solution?

somewhere off the coast of zanzibar

2005-10-14T16:08:00.000-07:00

Somewhere Off the Coast of Zanzibar

There's a tiny new island resort with a big mission: to preserve one of the world's most spectacular shallow-water reefs. Barracudas welcome

It's hard to get an island all to yourself unless you own one, as Richard Branson does--Necker Island, in the Caribbean--or you're rich enough to empty one out when you feel like it, as Bill Gates reportedly has done at a place called Mnemba Island Lodge, an astronomically expensive resort off the coast of Zanzibar in East Africa. I thought about Bill Gates quite a lot recently while I was staying on Chumbe, a tiny island, only half a mile long and 200 yards wide, also off the coast of Zanzibar, newly opened as a resort with rates in the merely stratospheric range. Local rumor had it that Gates was at Mnemba at the same time that I was at Chumbe. I kept wondering whether he could possibly be having a better time than I was as I snorkeled around the pristine coral reef off the island's shore or lounged with my boyfriend in our eco-bungalow built from mangrove poles and thatch.

It did seem unlikely that Gates had been required, as I had been, to wade knee-deep into the ocean to board the ferry for the 40-minute journey from Zanzibar. And when, one evening, a member of the Chumbe kitchen staff apologized to my boyfriend for burning the coconut rice we were supposed to be having for dinner, I found myself thinking, I bet they're not telling that to Bill Gates over on Mnemba. I was also not sure how Gates would feel about the ecologically correct toilets in the bungalows: instead of flushing, you toss a few scoops of earth into the bowl. It occurred to me that the richest man on the planet might prefer plumbing.

Chumbe leads a double life: it's not only a luxury resort, but also an important ecological preserve, home to one of the most spectacular shallow-water coral reefs in the world. The island is densely, steamily forested, and just a very small portion, next to the glistening white beach, has been claimed for human use. During much of the last century, Chumbe's sole human inhabitant was a lighthouse keeper; the keeper's quarters are now Chumbe's educational center and dining room. The lighthouse was abandoned in the early sixties, when Tanzania's newly formed government declared the channel between Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam off-limits to unauthorized traffic. As a result, fishermen in their dugout canoes rarely entered these waters. With fishing curtailed, the reefs in the channel flourished; but in the early nineties the fishermen returned, this time with outboard motors that gave them greater ability to follow the fish. In the ensuing years, Zanzibar's population doubled and tourism boomed, which meant that the channel was fished more aggressively, causing massive deterioration of the reefs along the Zanzibar coast.

The Chumbe reef would likely be seriously degraded were it not for German expatriate Sibylle Riedmiller, who has worked for decades in Tanzania and Latin America setting up environmental programs with overseas aid organizations. After the dispiritingly frequent experience of seeing projects collapse as soon as aid money stopped flowing, Riedmiller wanted to start a self-sustaining environmental project. When she saw Chumbe's reef in the early nineties, she realized it had great potential as an educational site--if it could be kept safe from the fishing industry.

Riedmiller lobbied the Tanzanian government, and in 1994 was given the rights to manage the island as a private company. "Actually," she says, "the government was interested in a tourism project. Conservation wasn't on the political agenda at all--much less marine conservation." But since then, Tanzanian schoolchildren have visited Chumbe to learn about the reef's role in protecting fish populations, and to walk the nature trail through the forest, where they can see coconut crabs scrambling up tree trunks and climb over coral rag, or fossilized coral. Riedmiller's organization also teaches fishermen about the ways the waters provide a breeding ground for fish that will eventually turn up in their nets farther along the coast. (All the outreach in the world doesn't prevent some locals from trying their luck: one day I saw a boatload of fishermen loitering near the reef; when approached by Chumbe rangers, they claimed, implausibly, that the wind had gone out of their sails.) Under Riedmiller's guardianship, the reef has flourished: fish, representing 380 species, swim thickly around, never having known the threat of the net. Ninety percent of the varieties of coral found off East Africa live there, and I am sure the other 10 percent would set up shop if they knew about it.

For the first years after Chumbe was reincarnated as an eco-zone, it accepted day visitors only; two summers ago the island opened to overnight guests. Typically, they either arrive for a few days at the end of a safari, or come for two weeks of utter peace and quiet. (There are no phones, faxes, or e-mail facilities on Chumbe; the place tends to attract well-off professionals in finance or publishing, as well as members of the rock-musician demographic.) Guests stay in seven bungalows with high, swooping roofs that look as if they had been devised by Robinson Crusoe in emulation of the Sydney Opera House. Actually, they were built by the Chumbe staff under the direction of German architect Jan Huelsemann. (Georg Fiebig, a German architecture student whom Riedmiller brought to the island in the mid nineties, designed the prototype.) The island has no groundwater, so each bungalow must be ecologically self-sustaining: rainwater is channeled from the roof to a cistern under the floor; solar panels heat the water and provide power for electric light. There's that composting eco-toilet, too. But the bungalows are unexpectedly stylish--open and airy, with mosaic floors (ours depicted a turtle) along with mangrove-pole couches, African-print cushions, and a big hammock. Each sleeping loft, reached by ladder, contains a mattress and mosquito netting and, as a bedside table, a low wooden bench that wouldn't be out of place in Wallpaper magazine.

Perhaps because Chumbe is primarily an ecological project, there's little of the fussy servility sometimes found at more conventional hotels. The place is run by a young English couple, Mark Johnson and Nicole Talbot, along with a dozen or so rangers and other staffers. We were there during Ramadan, which meant that none of the Tanzanian rangers could go snorkeling with us--getting water on their lips would have broken their fast--and so we were accompanied by a likable college-aged Englishman named Justin Andersen, who had spent much of the past eight months in Africa underwater. Justin looked as if he hadn't combed his hair since his arrival, and he also was foul-mouthed in a way that's common among those who have attended expensive British private schools: there were "shitloads of fish" to be seen, and, although the weather might be brilliantly sunny, it was perfectly capable of "starting to piss down" at any moment. Once Justin had shown us the reef's location--about a quarter-mile from shore--we were free to browse it any time we wanted. The huge, bulbous, veined forms of coral, in meaty shades of red and yellow, with occasional, unexpected outcroppings of brilliant blue, put me in mind of nothing so much as the internal organs and vessels of the human body--but as those organs must appear to a surgeon, which is to say full of beauty and wonder and fascination, and not in the least bit squeamish-making.

Mark and Nicole treated us as though we were just casual visitors to this really cool place they had found, rather than tourists on a pricey vacation. One evening, as my boyfriend and I were eating our supper of coconut-curried fish stew and breadfruit, Nicole, who looked rather like Sarah Jessica Parker and changed out of her shorts into a sundress for dinner every evening, rushed up to our table. "There's something going on by the jetty," she said. We put down our forks and ambled over in the dark, carrying flashlights. The beach was swarming with hundreds of hermit crabs, clambering frantically over rocks and over one another, turning the shore into a seething mass of legs and shells. Mating? Migrating? Shell shedding? No one could tell us what they were doing, but it was thrilling to watch. I don't know whether there are any crabs living on Mnemba, or if there are, whether anyone would interrupt Bill Gates's dinner to tell him about them; but if not, he's the poorer for it.

2005-10-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

REACHING THE VILLAGES:
RADIO IN TANZANIA

By Don Moore
This article was originally published in The Journal of the North American Shortwave Association.

Most of Africa's many nations get little outside attention, and Tanzania is no exception. The only time it really made news was during World War I when it was the German colony of Tanganyika. With the outbreak of war, the Germans were cut off from their homeland by the British navy. Rather than surrender, a small number of German officers and several thousand African soldiers lived off the land and fought a brillant guerilla campaign against a much larger force of British and Belgian troops. Their tactics drew worldwide attention and countless news stories told of the Tanganyikan campaign. The Tanganyikan Germans were never really defeated and didn't surrender until two weeks after Germany. Tanganyika became a British territory and slipped into oblivion, overshadowed by Kenya to the north, despite Kenya's having only the population.

BROADCASTING BEGINS
Compared to other large British territories in Africa, such as Kenya, Zambia, and Nigeria, broadcasting was late coming to Tanganyika. In these other countries, broadcasting was started to serve European settlers and businessmen, but Tanganyika's European population was too small to justify a radio station. Then in 1951 a BBC official proposed establishing an experimental station "to provide experience in the production of local programmes for a native audience" (Kivikuri). The colonial government put up $30,000 and the "Dar Es Salaam Broadcasting Station" was founded. At first it only produced a single one-hour program in Swahili each week, which was replayed two more times later in the week and because the equipment was simple, it could barely be heard outside of Dar Es Salaam. But gradually hours were increased, English broadcasts added, new studio equipment and a higher shortwave transmitter purchased, and the name changed to the Tanganyika Broadcasting Service. When American journalist John Gunther visited the station in 1954, he found a professional operation totally staffed by native Africans, although the station had started "with little more equipment than a microphone and a blanket hung over a wall" (Gunther). It became such a success that it served as a model for colonial services in many other British colonies.

INDEPENDENCE
Throughout the 1950s, African countries began looking for independence, and Tanganyika was no exception. While some countries resorted to violence and riots, Tanganyika gently but firmly made its case for independence through non-violence under the leadership of Julius Nyerere and his TANU party. Slowly the British were persuaded, and in December, 1961, Tanganyika became independent President Nyerere.

A fascinating man, Nyerere was an intellectual known for, among other things, translating Shakespeare into Swahili. As a leader, he emphasized cooperation and moral values, and by his own example he appealed to his countrymen to work for the betterment of their nation above all else. While some African countries developed restrictive policies towards whites and Asians in their borders, Nyerere believed in nonracialism for all, regardless of how his people may have been treated in the past.

But what a country Nyerere had inherited! It was one of the poorest on the world's poorest continent. Life expectancy was 35, there were few schools, and most people barely survived on the food they raised themselves. The task of developing the country was made harder because 94% of Tanganyika's population lived in villages and farms. The government saw radio as their best means of linking the villages and government and motivating people to take pride in their country and to try to make it better. As Nyerere once remarked, "Others try to reach the moon, we try to reach our villages."

The island of Zanzibar, about 35 miles off the Tanganyikan coast, had been Britain's smallest African possession. But in 1963 it was granted independence. A year later the island's African majority revolted and overthrew their hereditary Arab sheik ruler. A few weeks later Zanzibar petitioned to join Tanganyika, and the new nation of Tanzania was formed. However, Zanzibar retained considerable local autonomy under the merger agreement. For example, in the early 1970s just after the Nyerere government decided not to allow television in mainland Tanzania, Zanzibar's local government contracted with a British company to set up a station on the island. The station was built without interference from the national government.

TARGET DEVELOPMENT
To reach its goals of development, Nyerere and the TANU party created a homegrown African style of non-Marxist Socialism with a heavy emphasis in cooperation and self-reliance on the local and national level. The party also set out a strict code spelling out the standards of the simple lifestyle to be expected for all government officials. With this code in place, Tanzania became one of the few African countries where government service was not a road to riches through corruption.

Radio was a key in presenting the ideas and ideals of the government to the people, but there was a problem. The TBC had been set up as in independent public service, just like the BBC, which meant the government had no control over the TBC and often had trouble getting the network to support government development projects. While debate over issues was seen as healthy as policies were being formulated, editorial criticism after policies were adopted was confusing to uneducated villagers. In 1965, Nyerere nationalized the TBC, renaming it Radio Tanzania Dar Es Salaam (RTD), and placed it under the Ministry of Information. As one official justified the takeover, "(In) America and Europe where people have ways of getting good food and shelter then this radio can be used for entertainment, but in our country where we ... are fighting a war to raise our people's standard of living we ought very much to be using radio for the benefit of all the people."

About this same time than Nyerere declared Tanzania to be a one party state. In some ways this was needless, as even with complete political freedom there had never been any major political opposition in Tanzania. But the intent was not to restrict political activity, but rather to bring people together. From our perspective, one-party democracy sounds like an oxymoron. Yet, Nyerere made it work. Every five years, TANU holds primaries and chooses at least two candidates to run for each position in the general election. The candidates frequently have opposing views, and during the election process there is always lively and free debate about the issues confronting the country. But once the election is over everyone pulls together in a way not often found in fractional multi-party politics. The voters take politics very seriously and the Tanzanian parliament has had a much higher turnover rate than, for example, the U.S. congress. While Nyerere was never opposed for reelection, he used campaigns as an excuse to travel through the countryside talking with the people about their problems.

REBUILDING A CULTURE
Nyerere knew that a nation needs more than health, education, and an economy. It also needs a culture. Colonialism in Africa had supressed native culture and tried to make the people into sort of third-rate Europeans. As one British colonial official admitted in 1955, "We ignore their tribal dances and try to give them cricket. It's awful" (Gunther). In Nyerere's words, "A country which lacks its own culture is no more than a collection of people without the spirit which makes them a nation. Of all the crimes of colonialism there is none worse than the attempt to make us believe we had no indigenous culture of our own; or that what we did have was worthless... A nation which refuses to learn from foreign cultures is nothing but a nation of idiots and lunatics... But to learn from other cultures does not mean we should abandon our own."

Like most African countries, one of the greatest problems confronting Tanzania was tribal and linguistic diversity. Over 120 languages were spoken in Tanzania, none by more than 15% of the people. Most African countries solved this problem by adopting the former colonial language, usually English or French, as their official language even though few outside of the educated elite speak these. In fact, most Africans can't even understand their country's national anthems which are usually in English or French!

To Nyerere, this was just another example of abandoning African culture for European. But obviously the government couldn't just pick one of those 120 native languages as the national language without alienating speakers of the other 119. Nor could it function with 120 official languages. The answer was to turn to Swahili. A mixture of native languages with some Arabic thrown in, Swahili was a trade language that had naturally developed over several centuries through the commerce between tribal fiefdoms and Arab merchants along East Africa's coast. Almost no one spoke Swahili as a native language, but it was widely understood along the coast and somewhat in the interior. One of the first acts of Nyerere's government was to declare Swahili the national language.

When radio was started in Dar Es Salaam, it had made sense to use Swahili because the language was understood by the merchant class up and down the coast, and they were the people wealthy enough to have receivers. As the government began broadcasting more to the interior, there were pressures to add broadcasts in some more widely spoken local dialects, but Nyerere resisted. Instead, RTD joined schools and government offices as a means of spreading Swahili throughout the nation. When English language broadcasts were dropped in 1970, Tanzania became the only African country to use only one language in its domestic radio. (English is still used in the external service.)

PROGRAMMING
Like most African radio stations, RTD faced two related problems in gaining listeners. First, its signal had to reach the people, and secondly the people had to have radios in listen. Around independence, there probably weren't more than 100,000 receivers in the entire country, mostly in the Dar Es Salaam area. On the other hand, the station couldn't be received reliably beyond the eastern coast. Even by the late 1960s, less than 30% of the population listened to RTD on a daily basis. To increase listenership in the rural interior, the government set up community listening sites around central receivers in villages. To make receivers more accessible to families, a radio factory was built in Dar Es Salaam with foreign help.

RTD may not have been very advanced technically in the late 1960s, but then neither were its programs. Over-zealous in its support of the government, the station gave over a lot of broadcasting time to long accounts of reptitive speeches by various officials. When the audience got bored and tuned out, RTD learned it had to be more entertaining. Official censorship became rare, news and talk programs began focusing more on ordinary people, and a wide variety of musical programs was added. Good programing added spice to the monotony of village life and gained RTD more listeners.

But good entertainment programing should also contribute to preserving a country's culture, and the best way to do that is through music. In the mid 1960s parliament debated a law to prohibit foreign music on Tanzanian radio. But, such dictatorial force was not in TANU's character. Instead the law provided for a gradually elimination of foreign music until today it can only be played by the direct request of a listener, and then not to exceed more than 30% of all music played. To fill its quota of Tanzanian music, RTD sent recording safaris to villages to record regional musicians. As RTD exposed Tanzania's musicians to musical styles from all areas of the country, they began to fuse the various traditions and create new styles of music. Tanzanians took pride in their native music and through this a local commercial recording industry was born. Traditional music, as a central part of Tanzanian culture, has been preserved thanks to RTD.

Entertainment helped bring the country together, but education was needed for it to progress. The government launched a major program to build schools in the villages and RTD participated with several hours of educational programs each day. But in an underdeveloped country, education can't be just for children, so in 1969 an extensive adult education program was launched. Thousands of group leaders were trained in Dar Es Salaam and a few other large towns and then sent to the villages to lead adult study groups. RTD programming provided much of the material to make the project work. Not only did the villagers learn to read and write, but they learned that they could take control of their lives. Thousands of villages organzed campaigns to eliminate mosquito breeding grounds, build latrines, and clean up the villages to make them healthier places for all. Nyerere's goal of self-reliance was bearing fruit.

Probably one of the more unusual forms of Nyerere's homegrown socialism was its use of commercial radio advertising. After all, advertising is part of business, and business and socialism don't mix. But besides helping to support RTD financially, advertising of locally-made products was seen as a way to introduce people to Tanzanian products, create a demand, and help make the country more self-reliant. In fact, some of RTD's most popular entertainment program were (and are) intentionally scheduled when they will attract audiences in nearby countries who will also hear the ads for Tanzanian-made products.

In fact, RTD also operates an external service in English aimed at nearby countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. Listenership is especially high in Uganda and Kenya. However, since the 1960s, much of RTD's external service broadcasting has been used to relay broadcasts from various African revolutionary groups. At times, as many as eight or nine different groups have had broadcasts over RTD - sometimes two or more groups for the same country! There were groups opposed to white supremicist rule in South Africa, Southwest Africa, and Rhodesia, and against Portuguese and French colonial rule in Mozambique, Angola, and the Comoros. One of the liviliest was the Voice of Fighting Angola in the early 1970s, which used its broadcast time to give city dwellers in Angola instructions on commiting sabotage and arson.

By the mid 1980s, higher-powered shortwave transmitters had given RTD a good signal across Tanzania and receivers were easily available. A special 18 month training program for announcers combined with workships by visiting BBC officials had made RTD highly professional. People now saw radio as the only part of the government reaching the entire country. But the problem now was power - rural Tanzania has no electrical service and batteries are expensive. Still, surveys of remote villages have found that 80% or more of the people now listened to RTD daily, although many limited their listening to under an hour a day on weekdays, and under two hours a day on weekends. The expanded listening on weekends includes some sports and music programs, but on weekdays, listening to the news is given priority. Although rural villagers are only marginally literate from adult ed classes, curiosity about the world and keeping up on international events has become an expectation and the symbol of an educated individual. Rural Tanzanians might just be better informed than the average American!

TIME FOR A CHANGE
By the mid 1980s, many of Nyerere's goals had been met. Almost every child was attending school and adult literacy had passed 90%. Life expectancy had almost doubled. Tanzanians were working together to improve their communities and sharing farm equipment to increase food production. And Tanzania's move to make Swahili the national language was being compared to Israel's decision to revive Hebrew. Although tribal languages continued to be the language of the home in most areas, nearly everyone understood Swahili and it was seen as a symbol of national unity.

But while the human side of Nyerere's policies had suceeded, his socialist economics had failed. Because Tanzania's economy was not producing the money needed to pay for needed economic and social development, it had developed a large trade deficit and had become the highest per-capita recipient of foreign aid and loans in tropical Africa. Some leaders would have clung to power to the last possible moment, but Nyerere stunned his nation by resigning in 1986 while still highly popular. His work, he pointed out, was done, and the country needed new leadership and new ideas to solve its economic problems. Asked what he wanted to be remembered for, Nyerere responded simply, "Trying."

TANU's one-party democracy slipped into gear and after lengthy debate and new elections the government began moving towards a free market economy. While the economy is being revitalized, broadcasting continues to be important. In 1990 a chain of mediumwave stations was opened in several interior towns, the first stations outside of Dar Es Salaam and Zanzibar island. To keep younger listeners from straying too much to foreign stations, RTD is giving more attention to sports and modern music - but Tanzanian sports and Tanzanian modern music. And the foreign service has been cut back, with less time given to revolutionary movements.

Perhaps the biggest change is yet to come in Tanzania. Mainland Tanzania has been the biggest country in the world without television, but television broadcasting will begin from Dar Es Salaam in 1995. The emphasis on the villages will continue as special mobile studios will travel the countryside producing programs in every corner of the country. Still, there are concerns that this will cause urban/rural divisions - only about 20% of the population will be within reach of the main station and its six repeaters and even once another dozen repeaters are added in a few years, less than half the population will have coverage. Clearly, radio will continue to be the media of choice in Tanzania for years to come.

History of Apartheid in South Africa

2005-10-14T15:38:00.000-07:00

The History of Apartheid in South Africa

South Africa (see map) is a country blessed with an abundance of natural resources including fertile farmlands and unique mineral resources. South African mines are world leaders in the production of diamonds and gold as well as strategic metals such as platinum. The climate is mild, reportedly resembling the San Francisco bay area weather more than anywhere in the world.

South Africa was colonized by the English and Dutch in the seventeenth century. English domination of the Dutch descendents (known as Boers or Afrikaners) resulted in the Dutch establishing the new colonies of Orange Free State and Transvaal. The discovery of diamonds in these lands around 1900 resulted in an English invasion which sparked the Boer War. Following independence from England, an uneasy power-sharing between the two groups held sway until the 1940's, when the Afrikaner National Party was able to gain a strong majority. Strategists in the National Party invented apartheid as a means to cement their control over the economic and social system. Initially, aim of the apartheid was to maintain white domination while extending racial separation. Starting in the 60's, a plan of ``Grand Apartheid'' was executed, emphasizing territorial separation and police repression.

With the enactment of apartheid laws in 1948, racial discrimination was institutionalized. Race laws touched every aspect of social life, including a prohibition of marriage between non-whites and whites, and the sanctioning of ``white-only'' jobs. In 1950, the Population Registration Act required that all South Africans be racially classified into one of three categories: white, black (African), or colored (of mixed decent). The coloured category included major subgroups of Indians and Asians. Classification into these categories was based on appearance, social acceptance, and descent. For example, a white person was defined as ``in appearance obviously a white person or generally accepted as a white person.'' A person could not be considered white if one of his or her parents were non-white. The determination that a person was ``obviously white'' would take into account ``his habits, education, and speech and deportment and demeanor.'' A black person would be of or accepted as a member of an African tribe or race, and a colored person is one that is not black or white. The Department of Home Affairs (a government bureau) was responsible for the classification of the citizenry. Non-compliance with the race laws were dealt with harshly. All blacks were required to carry ``pass books'' containing fingerprints, photo and information on access to non-black areas.

In 1951, the Bantu Authorities Act established a basis for ethnic government in African reserves, known as ``homelands.'' These homelands were independent states to which each African was assigned by the government according to the record of origin (which was frequently inaccurate). All political rights, including voting, held by an African were restricted to the designated homeland. The idea was that they would be citizens of the homeland, losing their citizenship in South Africa and any right of involvement with the South African Parliament which held complete hegemony over the homelands. From 1976 to 1981, four of these homelands were created, denationalizing nine million South Africans. The homeland administrations refused the nominal independence, maintaining pressure for political rights within the country as a whole. Nevertheless, Africans living in the homelands needed passports to enter South Africa: aliens in their own country.

In 1953, the Public Safety Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act were passed, which empowered the government to declare stringent states of emergency and increased penalties for protesting against or supporting the repeal of a law. The penalties included fines, imprisonment and whippings. In 1960, a large group of blacks in Sharpeville refused to carry their passes; the government declared a state of emergency. The emergency lasted for 156 days, leaving 69 people dead and 187 people wounded. Wielding the Public Safety Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, the white regime had no intention of changing the unjust laws of apartheid.

The penalties imposed on political protest, even non-violent protest, were severe. During the states of emergency which continued intermittently until 1989, anyone could be detained without a hearing by a low-level police official for up to six months. Thousands of individuals died in custody, frequently after gruesome acts of torture. Those who were tried were sentenced to death, banished, or imprisoned for life, like Nelson Mandela.

The apartheid policy was highly effective of achieving its goal of preferential treatment for whites, as is demonstrated by the statistics in Figure 1.

UN summit World leaders Under Heavy Fire

2005-10-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

POLITICS:
UN Summit of World Leaders Under Heavy Fire

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 14 (IPS) - The U.N. summit meeting of some 175 world leaders opened Wednesday with predictable political hoopla -- and a thunderous bang.

The political fireworks did not come from heads of government or heads of state present at the gathering, but were set off mostly by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and international relief agencies clobbering the world body.

Virtually every single NGO, most of them dedicated to monitoring the United Nations, tore apart the 35-page outcome document to be adopted by world leaders on Friday.

The summit, they warned, will turn out to be a "damp squib" because it will fall far short of expectations.

"The summit cannot be salvaged," Jim Paul, executive director of the New York-based Global Policy Forum told IPS. "The text (of the outcome document) is a bummer."

He said the document, which was meant to spell out a political and economic agenda for the 21st century, as originally envisioned by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is "weak and full of platitudes and generalities."

"Generally, it seems a step backward from the Millennium Summit of 2000" which adopted the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including halving extreme poverty and hunger and reversing the spread of AIDS and malaria. The target date to achieve those goals was 2015.

Nicola Reindorp, head of Oxfam International, was equally critical of the action plan to be adopted on Friday. "With the exception of agreeing to stop future genocides, world leaders should be embarrassed to sign it," she said.

"We wanted a bold agenda to tackle poverty, but instead we have a brochure showcasing past commitments," Reindorp told IPS.

She said "there is very little to celebrate" in the latest summit outcome document, which was approved by the General Assembly on Tuesday after several all-night marathon sessions, and will be finally endorsed by world leaders.

"The one area where governments look set to show that they are able to act boldly is on their responsibility to protect civilians (in war zones)," she added. "On the fight against poverty, the summit is in danger of falling before it has begun."

Neil Watkins, national coordinator Jubilee USA Network, said that "as the summit is underway, it is clear that world leaders are failing to provide the bold leadership needed to address the crisis of global poverty".

"This is unacceptable. Rather than backtracking, what is needed is much bolder steps," he said. Watkins also pointed out that world leaders must embrace and go well beyond the commitments made by the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised countries (the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, France, Canada, Japan and Russia) last July if the MDGs are to be met.

The pledges made by the G8 included a commitment to provide 50 billion dollars a year in aid to fight poverty by 2010.

Watkins said that a recent study found at least 62 low-income nations would require full debt cancellation -- in addition to more aid and trade justice -- as a first step towards achieving MDGs. But there is going to be no such commitment by world leaders here, he added.

"Leaders have dashed hopes and squandered opportunities," said Kumi Naidoo of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty. "And empty promises cost lives." He said that millions of campaigners around the world have expressed "disappointment and dismay" at the U.N. summit.

At a press conference Tuesday, Annan did not fail to put his own positive spin on the much-laboured outcome document.

"Obviously, we didn't get everything we wanted," he told reporters, "but with 191 member states, it's not easy to get an agreement."

While praising member states for approving his two proposals to create a new Human Rights Council and a Peacebuilding Commission, Annan was forced to admit that one of the major drawbacks of the document was in disarmament and non-proliferation.

"The big item missing is (nuclear) non-proliferation and (nuclear) disarmament. This is a real disgrace," he said. Annan was also disappointed that his proposal for a radical restructuring of the world body was shot down by member states who feared that he was trying to usurp the powers of the 191-member General Assembly, the highest policy making body at the United Nations.

As some political observers point out, Annan's plans to link the poverty alleviation agenda with peace, security and human rights were far too ambitious.

"Annan was trying to leave behind a legacy of revitalising the United Nations for the 21st century. But while trying to do all of them at the same time, he obviously failed," an Asian diplomat told IPS.

Bill Pace, executive director of the World Federalist Movement, said that it was a "gamble" to link development, security, peace and human rights reform. And it did not prove successful, he added.

The main U.N. reform crisis was not in management but in decision-making. He criticised the closed-door consensus-based negotiations (which resulted in the final outcome document) where a few governments were allowed to exercise a veto over the will of the overwhelming majority of member states.

He said that even if governments do not use voting to make decisions, they should use voting as "soundings" to determine whether governments are actually undermining negotiations. "The United Nations needs more democracy," Pace concluded.

He said the five permanent members of the Security Council, namely the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia, behave in the General Assembly as if they have veto rights and fiercely refuse to allow any consideration of peace and security issues.. And a few others, mostly military governments or permanent member wannabes, wreck the negotiations from the other side.

When the outcome document is put to a vote before world leaders late Friday, at least one delegation may abstain.

Just after the General Assembly adopted the document on Tuesday, the delegate from Venezuela said that he was "surprised" and "astonished" that the document had been provided only in English and at the last minute.

The final decision on the document, he pointed out, was taken by a core group of about 15 countries, not the 191 members of the world body.

"It was impossible to approve such an important text in that manner. Such a process ran counter to the very principles of the Organisation," he added.

On Wednesday, the New York Times squarely blamed the United States -- and specifically its "notoriously undiplomatic" Ambassador John Bolton -- for the impending failure of the summit.

The Times accused Bolton of insisting on a very long list of unilateral demands. "The predictable effect was to transform what had been a painful and difficult search for workable diplomatic compromises into a competitive exercise in political posturing."

As a result, said the Times editorial, the most tragic loss is a genuine opportunity to help the one billion people around the world who each live on less than a dollar a day.

Fair Trade and Globalization

2005-10-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

For globalism to work, America can't be afraid to act like the almighty superpower that it is....The hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fist -- McDonald's cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas, the designer of the F-15. And the hidden fist that keeps the world safe for Silicon Valley's technologies is called the United States Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.

— Thomas Friedman, What the World Needs Now, New York Times, March 28, 1999. Quoted from Backing Up Globalization with Military Might

The world is becoming more globalized, there is no doubt about that. While that sounds promising, the current form of globalization, neoliberalism, free trade and open markets are coming under much criticism. The interests of powerful nations and corporations are shaping the terms of world trade. In democratic countries, they are shaping and affecting the ability of elected leaders to make decisions in the interests of their people. Elsewhere they are promoting narrow political discourse and even supporting dictatorships and the “stability” that it brings for their interests. This is to the detriment of most people in the world, while increasingly fewer people in proportion are prospering.

The western mainstream media, hardly provides much debate, gladly allowing this economic liberalism (a largely, but not only, politically conservative stance) to be confused with the term political liberalism (to do with progressive and liberal social political issues). Margaret Thatcher's slogan of “there is no alternative” rings sharply. Perhaps there is no alternative for such prosperity for a few, but what about a more equitable and sustainable development for all?

A Primer on Neoliberalism

Global trading that allows all nations to prosper and develop fairly and equitably is probably what most people would like to see. Neoliberalism is touted as the mechanism for this. Margaret Thatcher's TINA acronym suggested that There Is No Alternative. But what is neoliberalism, anyway?

Criticisms of Current Forms of Free Trade

While internationalism and equitable global trading allowing fair development is probably what most people would like to see, the current model of corporate-led free trade and its version of globalization that has resulted, has come under criticism by many, many NGOs, developing nation governments and ordinary citizens.

The Mainstream Media and Free Trade

The mainstream media has been flooded by free trade proponents and heavily backed by those that will profit from it the most. This makes public debate more difficult.

The WTO and Free Trade

The World Trade Organization, (WTO), is the primary international body to help promote free trade, by drawing up the rules of international trade. It too has been criticized for being very opaque and not allowing enough public participation, while being very welcoming to large corporations. (That doesn't help the claims of free, open and democratic!) Criticisms have taken form in the shape of enormous protests in Seattle, in November 1999, of similar protests in Davos, Switzerland at the beginning of 2000 and there have also been increased campaigns for and against China's accession into the WTO, amongst many other issues to do with the WTO.

WTO July 2004 Package of Framework Agreements

The World Trade Organization (WTO) July 2004 Package of Agreements Framework meeting was in response to the failure of the Cancun Ministerial Meetings in September 2003. However, these trade talks also resulted in more bullying and arm-twisting tactics from the richer, more powerful countries and regions, such as the EU and US.

WTO Meeting in Cancun, Mexico

The 5th WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun, Mexico was held in mid-September, 2003. Issues similar to those raised in Doha were raised again, with the accompanying controversies. The talks collapsed because rich countries refused to finish discussion on issues raised in previous meetings. Instead, they wanted to talk about new issues. Poorer countries wanted to finish discussion on the previous issues because it impacts them the most. While the talks failed, it was the first time the developing world took a united stance against the rich countries.

WTO Meeting in Doha, Qatar

The 4th WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar was held in November 2001. But it was marred with controversy. Qatar was selected as the venue due to its repressive laws about the right to protest. Furthermore, both in the lead up to the meetings, and in the outcomes, developing countries on the whole had once again been marginalized and ignored.

Deregulation or Protectionism?

Protectionism is often referred to as being a barrier to free trade. The word seems to conjure up negative images of isolationism and subsidizing industries that could otherwise not compete fairly against others. (This can help indicate why some industries would strongly support protectionism for themselves.) Complete deregulation allows corporations to benefit but at the possible expense of people in that nation or region if that deregulation means relaxation of environmental rules, health and educational services including control of natural resources and energy. (This hints at the powerful lure that the "freeing" of trade and liberalization of access to resources from regulation has to some proponents.) Neither seems to answer the notion of fairness, though. Often those nations that promote free trade for all, want protectionism for themselves.

Some Regional Free Trade Agreements

There have been numerous regional free trade agreements. Some have been controversial, while others may be beneficial. Examples include the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), US attempts at free trade agreements with African nations and so on.

Public Protests Around The World

As more and more people around the world are being negatively affected by the current corporate-led form of globalization, there are an increasing number of protests. While most have heard of the Seattle and Washington D.C. demonstrations against the WTO and the IMF/World Bank, respectively, there have been many around the world. Media portrayal by the corporate-owned mainstream of course, has been biased against the protestors.

WTO Protests in Seattle

At the end of November 1999, Seattle saw major governments meet at a WTO ministerial meeting to discuss various trading rules. Seattle also saw free speech cracked down on in the name of free trade. Enormous public protests ensued. There were many differences in the perspectives of developing and industrialized nations on the current reality of free trade and how it affected them. It resulted in a WTO failure to agree on many issues, without adopting any resolutions. Developing countries were sidelined and one delegate even physically barred from a meeting.

General Agreement on Trade in Services

A similar agreement to the derailed Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) at the WTO has a potentially wide ramification for the poor and developing countries.

Multilateral Agreement on Investment

We had a potential nightmare in the form of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI). An almost secret agreement about investment rights and opening up nations for freer trade. However many, many people feared that this would be accompanied by grave social and environmental consequences, due to the wording of the MAI text.

superstitions translated from swahili to English

2005-10-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

SUPERSTITIONS

Kula gizani ni kula na shetani.
To eat in the dark is to eat with the devil.
This belief discourages eating In the dark, for
obvious reasons.

Kushona nguo mwilini kunaleta ufukara; tabia
hii aidha inajongeza kifo, maana inakuwa kama
mtu anajishonea sanda yake mwenyewe.
To mend a garment which is on one’s body
brings poverty: it also suggests preparing
one’s own shroud, which betokens death.

Kufagia usiku kunakimbiza baraka.
To sweep at night is to chase away blessings.
(This belief contains some truth, in that one
may sweep up and throw away something of
value unwittingly.)

Kutembea hali ya kuwa mtu amevaa kiatu
kimoja tu kunavimbisha ziwa la mama yake
mtu.
Walking about with only one shoe on causes
one’s mother’s breast to swell. (I suppose this
is simply to discourage the stupidity of going
about with only one shoe on.)

Mtu akinywa maji usiku pasi na kuufumka mtu-
ngi, usiku roho yake itaingia ndani ya mtungi na
akitokea mtu akaufunika huo mtungi wakati
huo huo, basi atakufa papo hapo.
If a man drinks water at night and leaves the
vessel uncovered, his soul will plunge into it

during the night, and if someone accidentally
puts the lid on, he will die at once.

Mtu akiona. chungu ya wadudu sisimizi ukutani
basi atafikiwa na wageni wa ghafla.
If a man sees a swarm of ants on the wall it
means that unexpected guests will arrive.

Kwenda kulala pasi na kuosha miguu, basi hiyo
miguu italazwa katika moto wa Jahannam.
If one goes to bed without washing one’s feet,
they will lie In the fires of Hell.

Mtu akilala pasipo kuosha miguu, nyayo zake
zitarambwa na shetani.
If a man goes to bed without washing his feet,
the soles of his feet will be licked by the devil.

Mtu akila bila ya kupiga Bismillahi . . basi
baraka itaondoka na mtu hataweza kushiba.
If a man eats without saying grace, there will
be no blessing, so the food will not suffice.
(This belief has a religious background. Islam
teaches its followers to allow religion to per-
meate all their daily acts: and the great
majority of the population of Zanzibar and
Pemba are Muslims.)

Mtoto mchanga akiachwa peke yake, atageuzwa
na shetani.
If a baby is left alone in a room it will be
changed by the devil for his own. at is firmly
believed that Albinos are ‘changelings’.)

Mwenye kufanya mazowea ya kukaa kizingitini
atakawia kuoa.

He who develops a habit of sitting on a door-
step will be late in getting married.

Kula wima kizingitini, mtu atapigwa dafrau na
shetani.
He who eats while standing on the door-step
will be knocked down by a devil. in tended to
discourage the habit of eating in such abnormal places.)

Kula kitu kitamu kinjianjia mtu atasibiwa na shetani.
He who eats sweet food while walking will be
possessed of a devil. (It is regarded as bad
manners to eat while walking.)

Mwenye kumcheka mkwewe hupata maradhi
ya chokea.
He who laughs at his father or mother-in-law
will develop a stye.

Kumchungulia mtu mzima aliyekaa uchi kunaleta upofu.

Looking at a grown-up person naked will
bring blindness.

Kuzaliwa na vidole sita ni mabruki.
To be born with six fingers Is to have good
fortune.

Ukiuonyesha mwezi mchanga kidole. basi utakatika kidole.
If you point at the new moon with a finger It

will get cut.
Mwenye kula miguu ya kuku atakuwa daima
katika mwendo tu
He who eats a fowl’s legs will become a wan-
derer.

Inakatazwa kunywa maji ndani ya kata pasi na
kuikung’uta.
It Is forbidden to drink water from a ladle
without vigorously shaking It first. (To ensure
that it is clean and free from Insects.)

Kupeana mkasi mikono kwa mkono kunasabibisha kuchukiana bure.
Handing over a pair of scissors to someone
directly causes hatred.

Kukaa juu ya mto kunaleta majipu matakoni.
Sitting on cushions causes boils on the but-
tocks.

Kukutana na paka mweusi usiku ni nuksi.
Meeting a black cat at night means bad luck.

Kunywa maji ya chooni kunapeleka mtu kuwa
mwongo.
Drinking water from the lavatory makes a
man a liar. (Intended to discourage so unwholesome a habit.)

Kutema mate ndani ya lindi kunaleta kuumwa
na koo.
Spitting into the cess-pit causes sore throat.

Kumbusu mtoto usingizini kunasabibisha mtoto
huyo kuwa na majivuno ukubwani mwake
Kissing a sleeping child will make It grow up
conceited.
Mwenye kuchukua Quran kichwani ataingiliwa
na wazimu
Carrying the Holy Quran on the head will
cause madness.

Kukaa kitini na kupunga miguu mbele na nyuma m kufukuza riziki.
To sit on a chair swinging one’s legs backwards and forwards will drive away one’s
daily bread.
(This is regarded as bad manners by Arabs as
it is a sign of contempt.)
Kupiga uluzi ni kuita shetani.
To whistle is to call the devil.
Ukikanyaga chakula makusudi utasibika na
maradhi ya matende.
if you tread on food deliberately you will get
elephantiasis. (This belief has a religious
background, and is based on an abhorrence
of waste.)

Mwenye kuzowea kula ndani ya chungu atapata
mvua kubwa siku ya harusi yake.
One who eats straight from a cooking-pot will
have heavy rain on his wedding day.

Mtoto mwenye kuchezea kivuli chake cha taa
atakojoa kitandani.
A child who plays with his shadow cast by a
lamp will wet his bed.
Kuuza chumvi usiku ni nuksi kwa mwenye duka.
Selling salt at night brings ill luck to the
shopkeeper. (This belief is so deep-rooted)

Introducing Yossou N'dour to you

2005-10-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

Yossou N'dour

Youssou N'Dour is one of the most celebrated African musicians in history. A renowned singer, songwriter, and composer, Youssou's mix of traditional Senegalese m'balax with eclectic influences ranging from Cuban samba to hip hop, jazz, and soul has won him an international fan base of millions. In the West, Youssou has collaborated with musicians like Peter Gabriel, Sting, Neneh Cherry, Wyclef Jean, and others. In Senegal, Youssou is a powerful cultural icon actively involved in social issues.

In 1985, Youssou organized a concert for the liberation of Nelson Mandela in Dakar's Amitié Stadium. He toured the West in the late eighties with the Amnesty International concerts. In 1998, Youssou wrote and performed the anthem for the World Cup playoffs; his live performance of this song, "La Cour des Grands," was seen by three billion fans worldwide. Last year, he was among the superstars performing at the Jubilee 2000 concert, consecrated by the Pope for the relief of Third World debt.

Youssou is also a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations, and an Ambassador to UNICEF, where he gives concerts to benefit children who are victims of AIDS. He has also been chosen as an Ambassador to the International Bureau of Work. Youssou has been awarded numerous prizes for his music, including Best African Artist in 1996, and African Artist of the Century in 1999.
Source: youssou.com

global warming

2005-10-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

global warming

the gradual increase of the temperature of the earth's lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution.

The temperature of the atmosphere near the earth's surface is warmed through a natural process called the greenhouse effect. Visible, shortwave light comes from the sun to the earth, passing unimpeded through a blanket of thermal, or greenhouse, gases composed largely of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Infrared radiation reflects off the planet's surface toward space but does not easily pass through the thermal blanket. Some of it is trapped and reflected downward, keeping the planet at an average temperature suitable to life, about 60°F (16°C).

Growth in industry, agriculture, and transportation since the Industrial Revolution has produced additional quantities of the natural greenhouse gases plus chlorofluorocarbons and other gases, augmenting the thermal blanket. It is generally accepted that this increase in the quantity of greenhouse gases is trapping more heat and increasing global temperatures, making a process that has been beneficial to life potentially disruptive and harmful. During the past century, the atmospheric temperature has risen 1.1°F (0.6°C), and sea level has risen several inches. Some projected, longer-term results of global warming include melting of polar ice, with a resulting rise in sea level and coastal flooding; disruption of drinking water supplies dependent on snow melts; profound changes in agriculture due to climate change; extinction of species as ecological niches disappear; more frequent tropical storms; and an increased incidence of tropical diseases.

Among factors that may be contributing to global warming are the burning of coal and petroleum products (sources of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone); deforestation, which increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; methane gas released in animal waste; and increased cattle production, which contributes to deforestation, methane production, and use of fossil fuels.

Much of the debate surrounding global warming has centered on the accuracy of scientific predictions concerning future warming. To predict global climatic trends, climatologists accumulate large historical databases and use them to create computerized models that simulate the earth's climate. The validity of these models has been a subject of controversy. Skeptics say that the climate is too complicated to be accurately modeled, and that there are too many unknowns. Some also question whether the observed climate changes might simply represent normal fluctuations in global temperature. Nonetheless, for some time there has been general agreement that at least part of the observed warming is the result of human activity, and that the problem needs to be addressed. In 1992, at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, over 150 nations signed a binding declaration on the need to reduce global warming.

In 1994, however, a UN scientific advisory panel, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, concluded that reductions beyond those envisioned by the treaty would be needed to avoid global warming. The following year, the advisory panel forecast a rise in global temperature of from 1.44 to 6.3°F (0.8—3.5°C) by 2100 if no action is taken to cut down on the production of greenhouse gases, and a rise of from 1 to 3.6°F (0.5—2°C) even if action is taken (because of already released gases that will persist in the atmosphere).

A UN Conference on Climate Change, held in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 resulted in an international agreement to fight global warming, which called for reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases by industrialized nations. Not all industrial countries, however, immediately signed or ratified the accord. In 2001 the G. W. Bush administration announced it would abandon the Kyoto Protocol; because the United States produces about one quarter of the world's greenhouse gases, this was regarded as a severe blow to the effort to slow global warming. Despite the American move, most other nations agreed later in the year (in Bonn, Germany, and in Marrakech, Morocco) on the details necessary to convert the agreement into a binding international treaty, which came into force in 2005 after ratification by more than 125 nations.

Improved automobile mileage, reforestation projects, energy efficiency in construction, and national support for mass transit are among relatively simpler adjustments that could significantly lower U.S. production of greenhouse gases. More aggressive adjustments include a gradual worldwide shift away from the use of fossil fuels, the elimination of chlorofluorocarbons, and the slowing of deforestation by restructuring the economies of developing nations. In 2002 the Bush administration proposed several voluntary measures for slowing the increase in, instead of reducing, emissions of greenhouses gases.

See P. Brown, Global Warming: Can Civilization Survive? (1997); T. G. Moore, Climate of Fear: Why We Shouldn't Worry about Global Warming (1998); S. G. Philander, Is the Temperature Rising?: The Uncertain Science of Global Warming (1998); K. E. Ready, GAIA Weeps: The Crisis of Global Warming (1998); G. E. Christianson, Greenhouse: The 200-Year Story of Global Warming (1999).

lasagne's out to get me

2005-10-08T08:22:00.000-07:00

Help, lasagne's out to get me
Ben Macintyre
The viral spread of conspiracy theories can have dangerous - or literally lethal - consequences

CLOSE THE DOOR while you read this, and block the keyhole to make sure we are not being watched. This is just between you and me, but I think there is something fishy going on: the conspiracy theorists are out to get us, and they are plotting to destroy common sense.

The signs are everywhere, if you look hard enough. I recently received a message from a Turkish academic claiming, in all seriousness, that the bombings in Iraq are the work of American agents seeking to foment civil war. On the same day, the new Muslim chaplain of the New York Fire Department said he did not believe the 9/11 attack was carried out by al-Qaeda hijackers, and must have been the result of a conspiracy.

Throughout the universe, everyone is still reading The Da Vinci Code, a book claiming that the Roman Catholic Church is complicit in a 2,000-year-old cover-up of Biblical proportions. There is a genuine mystery here: how does such an unspeakably bad book sell so many millions of copies? Are people actually reading it, or is someone hoarding this rubbish in secret landfill sites in a plot to eradicate the world’s trees, destroy the ozone layer, and thus boost the profits of a shadowy international consortium of sun cream manufacturers?

(Talking of ghostly patterns, I burnt a lasagne recently and when I washed the pan it left a profile silhouette of David Cameron. Spooky.)

The University of Derby has started a degree course, “Apocalyptic and Paranoid Cultures”, to study this avalanche of unrestrained theorising in a credulous age. All the world is now a grassy knoll. Were the moon landings faked? Did the White Star Line sink the Titanic for the insurance? And who killed Diana: Prince Philip, Opus Dei or Fungus the Bogeyman?

The spread of conspiracy theory arises from a combination of spectacular gullibility and corrosive scepticism. Watergate blew a fatal hole in official credibility, but the authority of major media has simultaneously eroded. The proliferation of alternative news sources on the web and the ubiquity of ever more sophisticated advertising have spread the belief that we are constantly being hoodwinked, that things are never what they seem.

Conspiracy theories follow distinct patterns. The obvious, messy answer is rejected in favour of the sinister but simple explanation; the culture of conspiracy salves disappointment and insecurity, since it blames failure and pain on the unseen, untraceable “other”. More than one fifth of all African-Americans, for example, believe that the CIA caused the Aids epidemic to destroy black communities. Almost all such theories are monological: anything that contradicts the theory can be absorbed and dismissed without undermining the basic conspiracy.

At the same time, tolerance of conspiracy theory allows fantastic speculation to occupy equal, and sometimes more space than the rational view. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the strange world of Shakespeare “authorship studies”, the pointless debate over whether the Bard was really someone else. This week saw a new candidate emerge: Sir Henry Neville now joins Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon and Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, as the supposed mystery author of the greatest works in English or any other literature.

The identity issue originated in Victorian intellectual snobbery, the assumption that a man educated at a provincial grammar school could never have amassed Shakespeare’s learning. Yet the evidence in Shakespeare’s favour remains overwhelming. Testimony from numerous contemporaries shows that the actor and playwright from Stratford wrote the plays; there is no direct evidence to suggest the authorship of anyone else. To accept that Shakespeare was an impostor requires belief in a cover-up of inconceivable complexity. There is no mystery author. Let’s get over it, and then get on with enjoying the fruits of genius.

The same lopsided debate exists in the battle between creationists and evolutionists in the US. As with Shakespeare’s authorship, most experts and scholars have reached a consensus on the origin of the species; those who believe something else challenge this and, more dangerously, insist that their views be accorded the same academic standing. On a more disturbing level, if we allow the denial of evolution in the classroom, should Holocaust-deniers be given a platform, rather than being dumped in the cesspit of pseudo-history where they belong?

Questioning accepted verities based on evidence is the mark of a healthy society; but to do so on the basis of wishful thinking, paranoia or the ingrained belief that what is self-evident cannot be true is not only a waste of time, but potentially lethal. Left unchecked, conspiracy grows viral.

The scourge of polio, for example, has revived due to a single, spreading conspiracy theory. The disease had been almost eradicated when, in 2003, a deadly rumour took root in Muslim northern Nigeria: the theory, inspired by a fundamentalist Islamic doctor, claimed that the Americans were lacing polio vaccinations with a sterilising agent that would render women infertile. Despite assurances from the World Health Organisation, some Muslims began refusing to administer the vaccine to their children. The falsehood spread to India, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. This summer, 16 countries who werer thought to have stamped out polio reported fresh outbreaks of the devastating disease.

There is less to conspiracy theory than meets the eye. Shakespeare was Shakespeare; polio vaccine works; Elvis is gone; and a David Cameron-shaped stain on the pan is a sign from God to go out and buy more Fairy Liquid. Look at anything for long enough, and you detect a pattern. For months I have been searching for the hidden meaning — or, for that matter, any meaning at all — in The Da Vinci Code. And now I have found it. “The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown” is an anagram of “Odd cheat; now binned by vicar”. Which just goes to show . . . absolutely nothing.

welcome

2005-10-08T08:11:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my little magazine... Enjoy my wisdom, gossip, tips on an eclectic mix of life's issues and what ever else pops into my mind now henceforth.