Like many African countries, São Tomé e Principe (STP) is struggling to stand on her own after being raped by colonization. “Discovered” by Portuguese navigators in the late 1400’s, STP quickly became Africa’s top sugar exporter in the 1500’s due to the colonized slave labor. Sugar cultivation eventually waned, but fortunately for the Portuguese plantation […]
There is a sense in which, particularly in the summer, all roads lead to Africa. Visitors are not just rich Americans on Safari to visit Africa’s wild life or luxuriate in the stunning and exotic beauty of Africa’s landscapes and game parks. Instead, travelers include health workers going to live in an African village, World […]
We huddled around a solitary candle, the only source of light in the dingy room. Betty, our hostess, knelt on the floor while we all sat on make-shift stools and chairs. Her children’s voices could be heard from the street and front yard as they played in the dying evening light, clearly remaining outdoors to […]
Introduction “Give a man a fish,” the saying goes, “and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will always eat.” The problem with this saying, we in South Africa have discovered, is that even when you teach a man to fish, there are still signs that say, “NO FISHING.” […]
In the year 2005 our world was no stranger to deep tragedy. Tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, tropical storms, war, and the AIDS pandemic devastated countries resulting in loss of life and livelihood. The ones who were already vulnerable were made more so because of such unexplainable acts of God. Children who already lived in poverty lost […]
TOJ: What is your take on the G8 conference this past summer? Was it successful? What are some positive results of the conference and what are your critiques of the conference? BW: Yeah, well in general I believe it was a positive outcome. Two things that we need to keep in mind, anytime you get […]
The AIDS Awareness Campaign (AAC) is a team of three American journalists, writers and photographers who began an eight-month overland journey through the heart of Africa in July 2005 to examine the impact of HIV/AIDS in rural and urban communities. Through the stories of the African people whom they meet along the way, Sean Blaschke, […]
Aspects of African Liberation Political Liberation: reflection on being true to ourselves The term “liberation” tends to be used very loosely, these days, but it can also mean something specific and be crucial and relevant to our everyday life. In this regard, I have chosen to discuss political liberation in my own country of Zimbabwe […]
New values for African nations will liberate the African people from various forms of poverty, lawlessness, dictatorships, dehumanization, diseases, and a distortion of cultural identity. However, such values must evolve naturally and independently of external pressures because they must arise from the needs of the African peoples themselves. Most of us have learned the lesson […]