Achebe on Nigeria

A short BBC interview with Achebe on Nigeria's first 50 years.

Baking Cakes in Kigali

Ah, the fascinating world of Angel Tungaraza, cake-maker extraordinaire! Although a tad like Mma Ramotswe's setting in the beginning, the book develops its individuality quickly and captures your attention. Interesting (and often funny) characters, mouth-watering cakes and stories (both happy and sad) will come your way as you read on about people and their situations and circumstances in current day Rwanda. I found the cross-cultural and language aspects particularly interesting. Angel is very endearing and Parkin shows her witty side often in this enjoyable book.

Burundi

NatGeo Picture: Burundi drummers perform during a tribal ceremony in Ninga.

From the NatGeo Guide:

Small, poor, densely populated, and landlocked, Burundi lies just south of the Equator in central Africa. From the capital, Bujumbura, on Lake Tanganyika, a great escarpment rises to fertile highlands. Agriculture employs 90 percent of the people, with most being subsistence farmers. Since independence in 1962, Burundi has been plagued by ethnic conflict between the majority Hutus and the Tutsis, who tend to dominate the government and army—but are only 14 percent of the population. A 2003 cease-fire and new government offer hope for peace.

I found this information from the World Factbook interesting:
Burundi's first democratically elected president was assassinated in October 1993 after only 100 days in office, triggering widespread ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions. More than 200,000 Burundians perished during the conflict that spanned almost a dozen years. Hundreds of thousands of Burundians were internally displaced or became refugees in neighboring countries. An internationally brokered power-sharing agreement between the Tutsi-dominated government and the Hutu rebels in 2003 paved the way for a transition process that led to an integrated defense force, established a new constitution in 2005, and elected a majority Hutu government in 2005. The new government, led by President Pierre Nkurunziza, signed a South African brokered ceasefire with the country's last rebel group in September of 2006 but still faces many challenges.

Mini Fact-File:

• Official Languages: Kirundi, French (and unofficial: Swahili)
• Independence: From Belgium in 1962
• Capital: Bujumbura
• Currency: Burundi franc

Madécasse

Malagasy chocolate maker Madécasse is transforming the chocolate business and improving communities in Madagascar. The historical practices of the global chocolate industry have negatively impacted developing countries. Currently, 85% of the world’s cocoa is grown in Africa, but less than 1% of the chocolate is made there. Madécasse is shifting chocolate production to the source in order to bridge the gap between poverty and potential in Madagascar.

Learn more about the story and watch the cool 2 min video at the bottom of the homepage.

Elephants Without Borders

That's right! Elephants sans frontières!

Picture from EWB website

I really enjoyed this BBC video about elephants thriving in Botswana. I learned about two interesting things - this wonderful organization EWB, and the existence of political refugee elephants!

EWB is gathering a lot of information and learning more and more about these majestic creatures. See this Animal Planet video that suggests that elephants have very complex intellectual processes. Founder Dr.Mike Chase has a doctorate in Elephant Ecology and loves these giants with a passion.

Rapper Museveni!

Yes, the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, after 24 years in office, is now a hip-hop star. Yes, Sevo!

1987 Archive Photo in which Rapper meets Actor

Charity: Water

A wonderful idea to donate your birthday and builds wells to provide clean drinking water to entire villages in Africa (and around the world). Watch the video here. Check out the Website.

Endangered White Rhino

"Only eight white rhinoceros are left in the world, and conservationists face a race against time to get the animals to breed in the wild again."

Here is a heartening video of Stephen Fry feeding a baby white Rhino in Kenya.

The True Size of Africa

Wow! Does this put Africa's true size in perspective or what?

Tanzanian Tribes

So wonderful to watch this BBC clip about the peaceful co-existence of multiple tribes in Tanzania. Also, some cultural insights into life in Dar es Salaam.

CNN Hero: Evans Wadongo

Picture from CNN

See how Evans Wadongo is helping rural Kenyans by bringing solar lanterns into their homes. His story is touching and his work, wonderful. Watch the video here. Vote for him here.

Africa United

I am really looking forward to watching this movie. Looks like so much fun! An inspiring story about a group of children from Rwanda who set out on a road trip from Kigali to the opening ceremony of the 2010 world cup in South Africa.

Trailer. Official Website. BBC Interview.

Hugh Masekela - Live!

Click on the concert pictures above to see them better!

Last night, I had the privilege of seeing Hugh Masekela live in concert at Carnegie Hall. It was a wonderful evening. Hugh is tremendously entertaining; it is hard to believe he is over 70, he has the energy of a 30 year old! His voice boomed strong across the auditorium and the music was divine! He has a fantastic sense of humor and he regaled us with stories and anecdotes, the best of which was about his true origins in New Orleans and his real identity, "Bo Diddley!". His friend Morris Goldberg's saxophone and flute additions were great, I really enjoyed them. By the way, Hugh can really make fun of an audience!

He danced, he sang, he joked, he played. It was fantastic! One of my favorites from his playlist last night:

Greeting in Rwanda

Here is the South Indian semi-celebrity Wilbur Sargunaraj showing us how to greet in Kinyarwanda. Entertaining and informative.

Disclaimer: Not sure if the spellings are entirely accurate.

Kidjo in concert!

The beautiful Samba Pati rendition and video

Yes, I have been that busy. But not too busy for Angelique! After my disappointment of missing her concert this spring, we drove two hours in crazy Saturday night traffic to see her perform in Westhampton. I got front row center tickets and I was overwhelmed when she sang Arouna. Ah, she is a stellar performer. She has tremendous stage presence; you can feel her energy and passion. The setting was small with limited capacity, and so the evening was more personal and enjoyable. She spoke to the audience a lot and really involved them in the show. This was my first time seeing a big African artist and I was truly excited and happy.