At the foot of the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda’s Northern Province, baby gorillas were named as part of the annual gorilla naming ceremony. Traditional Rwandan music filled the air as thousands stood in awe of the graceful dancers. But the climax of the event was the creatures which are far from graceful but generate millions of dollars each year. In every gorilla naming ceremony, selected individuals are given the chance to name baby gorillas. The choices of names are proposed by the rangers on the ground who are with these animals on a daily basis. All the names carry a significant meaning. The names also reflect the circumstances surrounding the birth of the gorillas as well as their location. Among the 20 selected to name this year were prominent figures such as the President of the International Council for Tourism Partners, Prof. Geoffrey Lipman.
In this year’s ceremony the prime minister of Rwanda Pierre Damien Habumuremyi named a baby gorilla on behalf of the Rwandan people.
“The name we are giving this gorilla is a name that all Rwandans agreed upon because they voted for him as the cutest baby gorilla. We are naming him Gikundiro meaning “the beautiful one” He announced.
In total 19 gorillas born in 2011 were named including a set of twins, the first ever in the history of the gorilla naming event. Owing to the economic impact the endangered species of mountain gorillas have on Rwanda’s economy, such events are equated to a greater commitment according to John Gara, the CEO of the Rwanda Development Board which oversees the tourism industry.
“This year’s celebrations comes at a critical time when the degredetation of the eco-systems has reached alarming proportions in many parts of the world, and for us this event is always an opportunity to show our commitment towards the green path of economic growth.” Gara noted.
The success of the conservation of mountain gorillas is found in bringing on board the local community. Through tourism, Musanze district, home to these creatures has been recorded as the third most successful part of the country to combat and eradicate poverty. One resident said “We feel the impact of tourism here in Musanze, our children go to school because they built schools and we also have electricity.”
Rwanda shares the gorilla triangle of the Virunga Mountains with Uganda and the DRC but it is the only country that dedicates an entire festival to the primates. Last year, gorillas generated 9.6 million USD which was part of the 252 USD million revenues generated from the tourism industry.
The Irony however is that Rwanda's gorilla's got names, but it was hard for a visitor to find their way around in Kigali. Reason, the streets in Kigali are not marked. But this too is changing as the signs marking the streets are being propped up in different parts of the city. The exercise will continue for 2 weeks. The project aims to have all roads, avenues and streets have road signs with letters and numbers based on location and district.
And it’s not all about just naming streets. The mayor of Kigali city Fidel Ndayisaba says that the exercise will go along with the use of Google maps to further ease the identification of locations within the city. The city council will partner with American-based technology company, Google Inc to make this happen. This means that wherever anyone maybe, they can be able to access Kigali’s map on Google map and be able to trace the direction to different locations with a lot of ease.
Kigali residents have welcomed this new initiative and first time visitors are especially pleased.
Steve Nzaramba says; “I think it’s a good move, definitely need some direction in the city. Gone are the days of trying to direct somebody by naming trees and buildings and rocks, now we have specific sign posts that tell us where you are, so I think it’s a great move.”
Job Kaleu; “ I have been finding it difficult to get my way around with the streets not named. Kigali having been as clean as it is, it was lacking this basic infrastructure that is the names on the streets, so I think this is quite a useful development to have the streets named.”
The street naming exercise is also expected to boost business. Tourists and other visitors visiting Rwanda’s capital for various reasons will not have to struggle to master the appearance of trees or buildings many of which were have been used to indicate directions.
Monday, 25 June 2012
My own reggea
I sat in the hall at Ishyo Arts Centre and waited patiently for the man I had come to see, to see perform. When I saw the newsletter a day earlier, my love for reggae music was stirred and I knew I must watch Darius Rou Rou perform. Well I had ulterior motives because I knew that I would get to enjoy the show and get paid. I smiled knowingly watching the dreadlocked men moving up and down the stage setting up their sound equipment in preparation. This very day, reggae lovers across the world were also paying tribute to Bob Marley, the reggae icon.
The month of April marks the commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Although the whole country goes into a period known as the mourning week, the commemoration usually continues for 100 days which symbolizes the number of days massacres were perpetrated.
These 100 days as I came to find out, are significant for Darius Rou Rou aka Jah Bon D.
The energy and passion he unleashed on stage shocked revelers. His long dreadlocks, several years old and his over 50 years of age, one would expect a more laid back kind of a performance. Born in 1960 Darius Rurangirwa alias Jah Bon D had a first experience of the widespread hostility against the Tutsis in 1973 and later on in 1994. Because of that he is determined to spread a message of love and harmony as the people of Rwanda strive to forgive, reconcile and learn from the past.
He tells me, he was born in Muhazi, Muhazi commune at the time. “But things have changed now” he reflects. “My name that my father and my mother gave me is Darius Rurangirwa because I was born a Christian.” He adds.
I am fascinated about this wiry old man with the energy of a horse.
Q: When did you start singing?
Jah Bon D: I sing all the time, when I was a child, I was singing in the church, at school. But I started singing after 1994. In 1995, that’s when I started singing with musicians, with Ingeri band, Jean Paul Samputu was there to help me and to teach me how things go. Samputu was there, I remember.
Jean Paul Samputu is one among the most admired Rwandan artist and role model to many for the past 35 years. Darius discovered the guitar at the age of 13 in the 1970’s but at the time, reggae was not his genre of music. He however admits that he had a love for the late reggae icon Bob Marley and over time, he inspired him to venture into reggae music.
“No it was not reggae really. It was things I used to hear around like zouk and melancholic music, but I had reggae somewhere in my mind because in early 1980 when Bob Marley was there, we could listen to Bob Marley music all the time. They even used to call me Bob.” He noted.
Q: So can you say that Bob Marley is the one who inspired you into music?
A: Of course, Bob Marley is not only the king of reggae but he is also the founder. He is spiritual, like a living spirit.
After performing several songs from his new album, the music stopped, there was a hush in the crowd and a look of reflection and remembrance covered his face as he introduced his song 100 days.
His introduction is somber: “Let those who can hear tell everyone around the world, those who participated, those who had a role whoever they are. Genocide never again, My 100 days.”
And the song 100 days fills the air. Everyone is jumping up and down to the music.
After this performance, I asked him to tell me about his song 100 days, I was curious to know why he was very passionate about it.
100 days, they call it 100 days but I call it a million days. It’s a million days but we officially know 100 days because the international community accepted that is when things were done. But in the beginning, for us genocide started early in 1959 and the international community was there sometimes pushing and pushing so that things are finalized. So when I’m singing I say; I think you know, I know you know, and I’m talking to genocide like a person and I say: Remember this, in 1990 you knocked at my door and then I say now the time has come and your dirty game is over because we need no more genocide.
Darius Rurangirwa survived the genocide by a whisker. Six months before the genocide, he was abducted and jailed and later terrorized in different locations around Kigali. On the first seven days of the genocide, he witnessed the massacre of his siblings before he escaped with three bullets in his body.
He says: I know what genocide is. People wrote books, everybody has a way to transmit what he knows, so this is 100 days.
Jah Bone D says he is not a judge and only God can judge what happened in Rwanda. He notes somberly that as survivors are urged to forgive, those who were responsible for the genocide, directly or indirectly must strongly denounce that it never happens again.
Monday, 27 June 2011
Questions
This is one of my pieces where I seek to connect, where I seek to bring out the person in you. Where I provoke your alter ego, or maybe, if you wish the unseen ego, the ego that comes out when people are not looking, words that will provoke the question, who are you when people are looking? who are you when people are not looking?
Have you ever asked yourself why you act the way you act, is it because your father or mother acts the same way because they gave birth to you, because of the obvious reason that you share the same blood. I think we agree to some extent that even though we may not be the exact replica of our parents, we do have characteristics that are a mirror image of what they are.
But as you grow up and you are exposed to education and cosmopolitan societies, globalization and so on, don't you agree that somehow you change. Isn't it inevitable that people change and the change is influenced by one factor or another? Is it true the saying that you can take the villager out of the village but you can't take the village out of the villager? So what does it mean that the villager taken out of the village will change? What? Mindset and attitude or behavior and mannerisms? what of that child who has been exposed to action movies, will they make him or her violent, what about that one who peeped through a crack to spy on a pornographic film being watched by an elder sister or brother? Does it make him or her a pervert when he grows up?
What about that one who was never exposed to movies at all? What happens to them?
To a certain extent I agree the above paragraph is a-bit confusing even to me, but they are questions born out questions and the thirst to know what is behind what, then again, can you have all the answers, is it technically possible? I don’t know.
Back to who we are and what makes us who we are. For many, life experiences shape our inner beings and make us become a certain way. We all have experiences in life, some utterly unforgettable. I remember in one of the years I was in high school, I don't remember which one, even if I did I wouldn't reveal it, one pastor told us; God puts challenges and success in our way to give us experience so that we can have a story to tell.
Yeah, I am a believer.
Born to a single mother, the only life I knew till I was eight years old was that of me and my mother and the surrounding community of people I was trained to see as my brothers and sisters, What a good mother, keeping an environment where I felt secure and not alone. Then came my brother and things changed, suddenly I was not the centre of attention but this didn't bother me so much, my little brother was adorable!
Three years later and life took another spin that was the beginning of my journey called life, love, challenge, success, strength, stability.
I am a very private person so as you can see already, I’m trying to reveal as little as possible. But this is me. Who are you? Maybe the loud, obnoxious type, maybe the open one, who tells all their secrets to a friend days old, or to a friend years old?
Or maybe you are the sensitive one who cries bucketfuls when watching letters to Juliet or Titanic, and when you break up with your boyfriend, you call all your girlfriends and repeat the whole ordeal to them with a swollen teary face.
Or maybe you are the hopeless lover, who falls in love without thinking, the kind of guy who sees a girl for the first time, strive to get her number and never stop bugging her in the hope that one day she will feel this “thing” you call love that you are feeling.
Or the kind of girl who also falls head over heels, hopelessly in love and even if your boyfriend treats you like crap you still stick like glue.
Or maybe you are the kind who likes to keep to themselves and a past relationship gone bad has taught you to be cautious of what comes your way in the name of a good relationship.
Or you are the headstrong Gemini who likes someone today and tomorrow you're bored to death.
Are you the chronic liar who when you have an appointment with someone all you say is you are coming while in actual sense you're not even a mile near the supposed venue of appointment?
Are you the kind who when alone at home, you like to look at yourself in the mirror and look for the best way to smile to that new crush or just like looking at yourself to find that flaw on your body you wish you'd change. Or maybe you like to smile at the camera on your phone and apply your picture as wall paper or more so screen saver.
Are you the kind that is sweet and painfully nice to all the men in the room so that they like you, or are you the kind that thrives on attention and then pretend that you don't like attention?
Or maybe you are the kind who likes to see girls blush till they can't speak and all they do is just giggle. Or maybe you are the annoyingly slow and lazy kind that walking to the bus-stop becomes an up-hill task? I say annoyingly because slow people annoy me a great deal.
Or maybe you're the type, who can't do anything by themselves, and your mother has to accompany you to apply for your passport or ID or register for university, or you can't walk to the grocery shop if you are not "escorted"
Or maybe you are the kind who lives in the shadow of other people and instead of living your life; you live the lives of other people.
Maybe you are the kind that is too kind and generous and everybody takes advantage of your generosity, or you are the kind that speaks and everybody listens, the intelligent type, the one who oozes inspiration.
You may also be the funny type and everyone around you is always in fits laughing themselves silly, all you ever do is crack jokes and everybody knows you as such. On other you may be the kind that seeks to connect with the joker and find out what lies behind the funny jokes, shyness maybe, low self esteem....or you who wants to find out everybody's crap so that you can have a story to tell when you meet up with friends.
Or maybe, you are Mr. Charming, intelligent Mr. Charming who the girls worship and melt at the sight of your shadow.
Maybe you are painfully shy and you shake like a leaf when made the centre of attention even during your own birthday.
Or you’re the diva and every girl in town wants to be your friend because all the rich men want you to ride in their car.
As I bring out all these characteristics all of which I have seen with my very own eyes, I’d like to explain why I’m talking about this. One simple reason is that it is very important as a person to be able to look within you and deduce what defines you as a person, in the absence of friends, family or even colleagues, you as an individual with a single life, a single heart, a single soul. We all have different personalities and sometimes, we work so hard to change them because we are looking for acceptance. But do we ask ourselves where we are looking for this acceptance, is it among the right people, and in any case why would you go through the trouble of looking for acceptance among human beings.
Is it because we want to be liked, or loved or accepted into society in a certain way or accepted by certain friends. Do we still seek the same acceptance even when you are alone in your room and your favorite past time is to read a good book but when certain people are looking; your favorite past time is drinking yourself silly and dancing till the wee hours of the morning and reading a good book is automatically boring.
Is it true that in many cases, we live our lives trying to please other people? Can we? Why should we? Is it possible to have a favorite past time and enjoy it without feeling like you hurt someone because you didn't engage in what they like, and that someone subconsciously imagining that you should be doing similar things all the time just because you have a certain relationship?
A few lines above I mentioned the kind that likes to find out everybody's crap so they can have something to talk about later, are you the kind that listens to this crap?
In as much as I said we try to change to seek acceptance, think about how much energy we put in changing to seek acceptance or please people than changing to make ourselves better people?
Many times I have heard people saying "I am doing it, because so and so does it, or I am doing this and that because so and so asked me to and I’m afraid of saying no or tell them I can't or "it's my boyfriend so I will do whatever he asks" which brings me to another question, are we in relationships that make us better, stagnant, shadow-images, or worse than we initially were? Do we even need to be in a relationship to feel better or accepted?
I can go on and on about this because my brain goes on and on, but one thing I know for sure is that I have kindled your thoughts, ask yourself these same questions and maybe you might just find out who you really are, you might just find out that you have been living a lie, or you are stronger, more intelligent than you thought, or you might even find out that you have been on the right path, you know what you need to do, you have done some of it and you want to keep going. Don't be surprised to find out that you have been living a stagnant life, yeah it happens.
Asa in her song 360 degrees puts it clearly "...You don't have to go the 360 degrees, now it's time to go the 180, you don't have to climb the highest mountain, for all you're looking for is within you...."
And after everything else, treasure your experiences, your experience is one of the truest stories you can ever tell, whether good or bad. You don't have to shout them out from the roof-tops, you don't have to embark on a project to tell everyone, keep them close, treasure them, share them to inspire those born before or after you but be careful not to downplay anybody else’s experience because they too have a story to tell.
Have you ever asked yourself why you act the way you act, is it because your father or mother acts the same way because they gave birth to you, because of the obvious reason that you share the same blood. I think we agree to some extent that even though we may not be the exact replica of our parents, we do have characteristics that are a mirror image of what they are.
But as you grow up and you are exposed to education and cosmopolitan societies, globalization and so on, don't you agree that somehow you change. Isn't it inevitable that people change and the change is influenced by one factor or another? Is it true the saying that you can take the villager out of the village but you can't take the village out of the villager? So what does it mean that the villager taken out of the village will change? What? Mindset and attitude or behavior and mannerisms? what of that child who has been exposed to action movies, will they make him or her violent, what about that one who peeped through a crack to spy on a pornographic film being watched by an elder sister or brother? Does it make him or her a pervert when he grows up?
What about that one who was never exposed to movies at all? What happens to them?
To a certain extent I agree the above paragraph is a-bit confusing even to me, but they are questions born out questions and the thirst to know what is behind what, then again, can you have all the answers, is it technically possible? I don’t know.
Back to who we are and what makes us who we are. For many, life experiences shape our inner beings and make us become a certain way. We all have experiences in life, some utterly unforgettable. I remember in one of the years I was in high school, I don't remember which one, even if I did I wouldn't reveal it, one pastor told us; God puts challenges and success in our way to give us experience so that we can have a story to tell.
Yeah, I am a believer.
Born to a single mother, the only life I knew till I was eight years old was that of me and my mother and the surrounding community of people I was trained to see as my brothers and sisters, What a good mother, keeping an environment where I felt secure and not alone. Then came my brother and things changed, suddenly I was not the centre of attention but this didn't bother me so much, my little brother was adorable!
Three years later and life took another spin that was the beginning of my journey called life, love, challenge, success, strength, stability.
I am a very private person so as you can see already, I’m trying to reveal as little as possible. But this is me. Who are you? Maybe the loud, obnoxious type, maybe the open one, who tells all their secrets to a friend days old, or to a friend years old?
Or maybe you are the sensitive one who cries bucketfuls when watching letters to Juliet or Titanic, and when you break up with your boyfriend, you call all your girlfriends and repeat the whole ordeal to them with a swollen teary face.
Or maybe you are the hopeless lover, who falls in love without thinking, the kind of guy who sees a girl for the first time, strive to get her number and never stop bugging her in the hope that one day she will feel this “thing” you call love that you are feeling.
Or the kind of girl who also falls head over heels, hopelessly in love and even if your boyfriend treats you like crap you still stick like glue.
Or maybe you are the kind who likes to keep to themselves and a past relationship gone bad has taught you to be cautious of what comes your way in the name of a good relationship.
Or you are the headstrong Gemini who likes someone today and tomorrow you're bored to death.
Are you the chronic liar who when you have an appointment with someone all you say is you are coming while in actual sense you're not even a mile near the supposed venue of appointment?
Are you the kind who when alone at home, you like to look at yourself in the mirror and look for the best way to smile to that new crush or just like looking at yourself to find that flaw on your body you wish you'd change. Or maybe you like to smile at the camera on your phone and apply your picture as wall paper or more so screen saver.
Are you the kind that is sweet and painfully nice to all the men in the room so that they like you, or are you the kind that thrives on attention and then pretend that you don't like attention?
Or maybe you are the kind who likes to see girls blush till they can't speak and all they do is just giggle. Or maybe you are the annoyingly slow and lazy kind that walking to the bus-stop becomes an up-hill task? I say annoyingly because slow people annoy me a great deal.
Or maybe you're the type, who can't do anything by themselves, and your mother has to accompany you to apply for your passport or ID or register for university, or you can't walk to the grocery shop if you are not "escorted"
Or maybe you are the kind who lives in the shadow of other people and instead of living your life; you live the lives of other people.
Maybe you are the kind that is too kind and generous and everybody takes advantage of your generosity, or you are the kind that speaks and everybody listens, the intelligent type, the one who oozes inspiration.
You may also be the funny type and everyone around you is always in fits laughing themselves silly, all you ever do is crack jokes and everybody knows you as such. On other you may be the kind that seeks to connect with the joker and find out what lies behind the funny jokes, shyness maybe, low self esteem....or you who wants to find out everybody's crap so that you can have a story to tell when you meet up with friends.
Or maybe, you are Mr. Charming, intelligent Mr. Charming who the girls worship and melt at the sight of your shadow.
Maybe you are painfully shy and you shake like a leaf when made the centre of attention even during your own birthday.
Or you’re the diva and every girl in town wants to be your friend because all the rich men want you to ride in their car.
As I bring out all these characteristics all of which I have seen with my very own eyes, I’d like to explain why I’m talking about this. One simple reason is that it is very important as a person to be able to look within you and deduce what defines you as a person, in the absence of friends, family or even colleagues, you as an individual with a single life, a single heart, a single soul. We all have different personalities and sometimes, we work so hard to change them because we are looking for acceptance. But do we ask ourselves where we are looking for this acceptance, is it among the right people, and in any case why would you go through the trouble of looking for acceptance among human beings.
Is it because we want to be liked, or loved or accepted into society in a certain way or accepted by certain friends. Do we still seek the same acceptance even when you are alone in your room and your favorite past time is to read a good book but when certain people are looking; your favorite past time is drinking yourself silly and dancing till the wee hours of the morning and reading a good book is automatically boring.
Is it true that in many cases, we live our lives trying to please other people? Can we? Why should we? Is it possible to have a favorite past time and enjoy it without feeling like you hurt someone because you didn't engage in what they like, and that someone subconsciously imagining that you should be doing similar things all the time just because you have a certain relationship?
A few lines above I mentioned the kind that likes to find out everybody's crap so they can have something to talk about later, are you the kind that listens to this crap?
In as much as I said we try to change to seek acceptance, think about how much energy we put in changing to seek acceptance or please people than changing to make ourselves better people?
Many times I have heard people saying "I am doing it, because so and so does it, or I am doing this and that because so and so asked me to and I’m afraid of saying no or tell them I can't or "it's my boyfriend so I will do whatever he asks" which brings me to another question, are we in relationships that make us better, stagnant, shadow-images, or worse than we initially were? Do we even need to be in a relationship to feel better or accepted?
I can go on and on about this because my brain goes on and on, but one thing I know for sure is that I have kindled your thoughts, ask yourself these same questions and maybe you might just find out who you really are, you might just find out that you have been living a lie, or you are stronger, more intelligent than you thought, or you might even find out that you have been on the right path, you know what you need to do, you have done some of it and you want to keep going. Don't be surprised to find out that you have been living a stagnant life, yeah it happens.
Asa in her song 360 degrees puts it clearly "...You don't have to go the 360 degrees, now it's time to go the 180, you don't have to climb the highest mountain, for all you're looking for is within you...."
And after everything else, treasure your experiences, your experience is one of the truest stories you can ever tell, whether good or bad. You don't have to shout them out from the roof-tops, you don't have to embark on a project to tell everyone, keep them close, treasure them, share them to inspire those born before or after you but be careful not to downplay anybody else’s experience because they too have a story to tell.
Saturday, 25 June 2011
We know what we need to do, we just need to do it
When you put youth together in one space, you are certain to experience an extraordinary force, united, divided in opinion and resolve and so on. You are sure to experience explosive dynamism at its best.
This was the mood in Africamp 2011 held in Manzini Swaziland despite the chilly weather. Many African countries were represented, but on learning that Tunisia was also represented, it was inevitable that the expectations of many during Africamp were Tunisia’s lessons in democratic transition.
For many, Tunisia was a revolution fuelled by the ardent utilization of social networking sites. This is the weapon of the war against corrupt regimes in this day and age if you ask me.
On the first day of presentations, messages, comments and contributions from participants resounded the need for change, especially for the Swazi regime, to allow multi-party democracy and do away with the monarchy type of government.
…… “My mother was a kitchen girl; my father was a garden boy, that’s why I’m a socialist….” These are the words of a song popular amongst Swazi youth. It is one out of many that Swazi youth use to resonate their feelings and criticizing the government for oppressing its people and not promoting freedom of expression.
But in as much as there is a common need for taking responsibility and turning things around, irrespective of the fact that it may be silent, the message was that of “Things must change.” The Tunisians put it clearly “Dictators must go!”
In my opinion, I concur that change is inevitable. We all know that poor leadership translates into poor governance, un-equality, un-equal sharing of resources, corruption and in the case of Rwanda, the genocide that claimed the lives of a million innocent people. God forbid, we do not want to see another genocide in Africa. The methods used in 1994 to liberate Rwanda and stop the mass massacres may not be applicable now, but maybe this is why we have digital tools that can help us put change into motion. So the youth are lucky and what they need to do is simply put their speech into practice. The major question is that of sustainability, how we put into action all we have said in a meaningful manner.
Another important aspect that came out of Africamp is the issues of planning and setting clear, understandable strategies for change based on the fact that effective planning and strategizing is the basic ingredient of post-change eras. Democratically electing leaders who will implement these plans and strategies.
Again, democracy, as was defined in the many definitions raised is the right of citizens to vote for leaders of their choice. So this brings up the question, how significant is the power of the vote?
In African societies, we have seen leaders taking advantage of the youth with as little as a bottle of beer for a vote and or wooing the rural illiterate with a sack of maize for a vote.
This simply means that the educated youth, who have defined everything technically should also inform and educate the rural illiterate who are misled by these our leaders. One of the group discussions highlighted how difficult it is to educate our people about human rights, how difficult it is to simplify issues for the local population. This again raises the question of understanding. Youth understanding what they are advocating for whether it is the rights of the disabled, women and girls or even homosexuals and what impact it has on them. It is meaningless to come up with good concept papers and strategies that cannot be understood and implemented.
Then came HIV/AIDS, does the sound of it still make people shudder? Maybe, maybe not. One of the group exercises in form of skits played out many scenarios experienced in our daily lives. Those who still shy away from the issue of HIV/AIDS, those who have ceased to care, those who have heard enough, and those who still want to make a difference. Then again, we cannot pretend that AIDS doesn’t exist; we know full well that AIDS is wiping out the youth left, right and centre in Africa stimulated by the reckless trends youth have adopted across the continent.
All in all, after discussion, debate, song and dance, the common understanding is that youth are the catalyst of change and if we do not take the bull by the horns then lamenting will continue to be the order of the day. We need to be part of the change we want to see in our countries. We need to come back to Swaziland and hear the youth sing a different song.
http://www.idebate.org/africamp/
This was the mood in Africamp 2011 held in Manzini Swaziland despite the chilly weather. Many African countries were represented, but on learning that Tunisia was also represented, it was inevitable that the expectations of many during Africamp were Tunisia’s lessons in democratic transition.
For many, Tunisia was a revolution fuelled by the ardent utilization of social networking sites. This is the weapon of the war against corrupt regimes in this day and age if you ask me.
On the first day of presentations, messages, comments and contributions from participants resounded the need for change, especially for the Swazi regime, to allow multi-party democracy and do away with the monarchy type of government.
…… “My mother was a kitchen girl; my father was a garden boy, that’s why I’m a socialist….” These are the words of a song popular amongst Swazi youth. It is one out of many that Swazi youth use to resonate their feelings and criticizing the government for oppressing its people and not promoting freedom of expression.
But in as much as there is a common need for taking responsibility and turning things around, irrespective of the fact that it may be silent, the message was that of “Things must change.” The Tunisians put it clearly “Dictators must go!”
In my opinion, I concur that change is inevitable. We all know that poor leadership translates into poor governance, un-equality, un-equal sharing of resources, corruption and in the case of Rwanda, the genocide that claimed the lives of a million innocent people. God forbid, we do not want to see another genocide in Africa. The methods used in 1994 to liberate Rwanda and stop the mass massacres may not be applicable now, but maybe this is why we have digital tools that can help us put change into motion. So the youth are lucky and what they need to do is simply put their speech into practice. The major question is that of sustainability, how we put into action all we have said in a meaningful manner.
Another important aspect that came out of Africamp is the issues of planning and setting clear, understandable strategies for change based on the fact that effective planning and strategizing is the basic ingredient of post-change eras. Democratically electing leaders who will implement these plans and strategies.
Again, democracy, as was defined in the many definitions raised is the right of citizens to vote for leaders of their choice. So this brings up the question, how significant is the power of the vote?
In African societies, we have seen leaders taking advantage of the youth with as little as a bottle of beer for a vote and or wooing the rural illiterate with a sack of maize for a vote.
This simply means that the educated youth, who have defined everything technically should also inform and educate the rural illiterate who are misled by these our leaders. One of the group discussions highlighted how difficult it is to educate our people about human rights, how difficult it is to simplify issues for the local population. This again raises the question of understanding. Youth understanding what they are advocating for whether it is the rights of the disabled, women and girls or even homosexuals and what impact it has on them. It is meaningless to come up with good concept papers and strategies that cannot be understood and implemented.
Then came HIV/AIDS, does the sound of it still make people shudder? Maybe, maybe not. One of the group exercises in form of skits played out many scenarios experienced in our daily lives. Those who still shy away from the issue of HIV/AIDS, those who have ceased to care, those who have heard enough, and those who still want to make a difference. Then again, we cannot pretend that AIDS doesn’t exist; we know full well that AIDS is wiping out the youth left, right and centre in Africa stimulated by the reckless trends youth have adopted across the continent.
All in all, after discussion, debate, song and dance, the common understanding is that youth are the catalyst of change and if we do not take the bull by the horns then lamenting will continue to be the order of the day. We need to be part of the change we want to see in our countries. We need to come back to Swaziland and hear the youth sing a different song.
http://www.idebate.org/africamp/
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
When simple things become complex.
The other day i visited a friend and we were sitting in the living-room chatting away and catching up, it had been a while since we had seen each other and there was a lot to talk about. It was approaching lunchtime so obviously one of the topics of discussion was what to chew and consequently swallow. And chicken came up!
I am not an adent lover of chicken, truth be told, i cant stand three consequtive meals with chicken in the mix, but honestly speaking i couldn't remember the last time i had eaten chicken so chicken it is! we settled for chicken.
But this friend does not enjoy restaurant food and so restaurant chicken was obviously out of the question. The houseboy was called in from the kicthen and the friend issued instructions for him to buy a live chicken at the market and slaughter her. Sorry to use her but the houseboy came back with a hen and not a cock.
So the chicken was brought. I have a feeling now that there was some kind of hidden anticipation for the chicken, knowing that it is there waiting to be slaughtered. But the worst part came when i went to the kitchen to make a snack composed of chicken sausages and bumped into poor hen. She was calmly seated on the floor as if sitting on eggs, probably not knowing the fate awaiting her, a sharp knife on the feathery neck.
She was covered with white feathers, i wonder why the houseboy picked a hen with white feathers, maybe if he had picked a hen with black feathers i wouldn't feel sorry for the poor thing. But alas! she was so calm unlike a cock that has a premonition that it is soon going to turn into broth. One glance at her and i went ooooh! but my sympathy was shortlived, interrupted by burning sausages.
There was an episode of selective amnesia becuase she-hen was forgotten for a while when the sausages turned into a delicious sandwich. And the chat resumed, maybe with hidden anticipation of the poor "snow white wannabe" in the kitchen.
I wish i was prepared enough for the next sight i was to meet when i took back the empty snack mini-utensils to the kitchen. She-hen was in the sauce pan legs up!
I stared expressionless lest the houseboy caught me staring agape and wonder what i was up to. I walked away with a broken heart, with the right ventricle saying poor hen and the right atrium saying why am i even feeling sorry for the ex white feathred, flightless bird.
Alas! when i thought back, the first time i saw her, she was sitting calmly as if on a throne, next thing i know she was in a sauce-pan legs up with no feet!
I burst out laughing.
I was then welcomed by a perplexed, curious look and of course the most obvious explanation was that the houseboy had become funny! This prompted one question " what are you laughing at?" but i was reluctant to tell owing to the fact that i thought it would sound somewhat silly.
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