Civil War in Congo Contunies

This article is about the civil war that has began again in Congo, that has not only affected the citizens of the country but now also the wildlife. This war has taken the lives of 5.4 million people since 1998 and now is using the Virguna National Park for its setting. This was between the Congolese Army and Rebels has continued for years but now with the recent advances by the rebels, worries the government and the people of Congo.

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Thousands flee fighting as Congo rebels seize gorilla park

• Story Highlights
• Congolese rebels seize military camp and Virunga Park's gorilla sanctuary
  
• Fighting breaks week-old cease-fire between rebels and government forces
  
• 50 park rangers fled for their lives; very rare mountain gorillas in danger
  
• Congo's war has taken 5.4 million lives since 1998; 45,000 people die every month

(CNN) -- Congolese rebels seized a major military camp and a spacious gorilla park in a renewed bout of heavy fighting that sent thousands fleeing, according to the United Nations and park officials.

The fighting comes after a tenuous week-old U.N. brokered cease-fire between rebels and government forces fell apart Sunday.

Fighting between the rebels under renegade Gen. Laurent Nkunda and Congolese army regulars in the eastern province of North Kivu of the Democratic Republic of the Congo displaced thousands of civilians, according to U.N. spokesman Michele Bonnardeaux.

The rebels also seized the headquarters of Virunga National Park in eastern Congo after intense fighting with the Congolese army, according to a statement by park officials.

The rebels have used Virunga Park as a base but have never seized its headquarters before.

The 3,000 square mile (7,800 square kilometer) park has a gorilla facility and is home to 200 of the 700 endangered mountain gorillas in existence.

"Over 50 rangers were forced to flee into the forests and abandon the park station, in fear of their lives," the park statement said.

"They have seized the entire gigantic infrastructure [of the park headquarters] which is stategically very close to the main road heading north into Goma," said park spokeswoman Samantha Newport by phone from Goma, about 40 kilometers from the fighting.

"The situation is eastern Congo is very dangerous," she said. "It's the first time they've [rebels] ever had the audacity" to take over the park. Watch as park ranger describes the violence as it explodes behind him »

Newport said the rebels have set up roadblocks so the rangers are making their way through woods south to safety.

She said the gorillas and other wildlife in the park are in danger of getting caught in the crossfire.

A park ranger described the takeover.

"When the rebels started approaching the park station we thought we were all going to be killed," said Park Ranger Bareke Sekibibi, 29, who spoke by cell phone from the forest earlier as he fled, according to the park statement.

" We are not military combatants, we are park rangers protecting Virunga's wildlife."

Although the civil war in the Congo officially ended in 2003, recent fighting in eastern Congo between government forces and rebels has caused tens of thousands to flee their homes

The conflict and humanitarian crisis in Congo have taken the lives of some 5.4 million people since 1998, and that 45,000 people continue to die there every month, according to an International Rescue Committee report in January.

Texts tackle HIV in SOUTH AFRICA

This article could not of been more dead on with our focus in class.

As we all have wished for better health, wealth, and happiness in Africa, South Africans become more diversified in their technology through the use of "texting" with cell phones. In efforts to get tested for HIV, a message is sent to the different cellphones in one of the countries that seems to have the worst problem of HIV. South African project Masilulefe will send one million free text messages a day to push people to be tested and treated. 

With about six million people in South Africa with Aids, "South Africa is the epicentre of the global HIV epidemic," said Zinny Thabethe, an HIV activist who is part of the project.

With every positive a negative is always lurking. The issue with this project is the results from the message. Based on the 5% that have gotten tested, people will only go when they are sitting on their death beds.

The intention to help is there, but it falls on the education of this nation to work on preserving life for future generations.

Check out the article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7688268.stm

This article is from the New York Times and it is dealing with the ban on international aid groups that was recently lifted in Zimbabwe. The issue was that during the last election the government believed that many aid groups were backing the opposition to the President, Robert Mugabe. The government charged the international aid groups with supplying food only to those in opposition to Mr. Mugabe. The issue comes down to whether or not the international aid groups in Zimbabwe were and are trying to help as many people as they can, or if they are promoting a political agenda. I think this is a very important issue that I had not thought about before. Idealistically, the aid provided to the poor in Zimbabwe should be kept completely separate from the politics of the country but in reality this is impossible. The hope is that now that the ban is lifted these international aid groups can continue to help people and that the Zimbabwe government will be comfortable with their presence.

---

August 30, 2008
New York Times

Zimbabwe Lifts Ban on Aid Groups, but Its Effects Linger

By CELIA W. DUGGER

JOHANNESBURG — Zimbabwe lifted an almost three-month-old ban on the work of aid groups on Friday. The government had imposed the ban because it claimed some of the groups had been backing the opposition during a bitter election season in which President Robert Mugabe was fighting for his political survival.

The suspension of the groups’ field operations deprived more than a million orphans, schoolchildren, the elderly and other impoverished Zimbabweans of food and other basic assistance, according to the nations that donated the aid.

The effects of the aid restrictions will linger. The United Nations World Food Program had planned to feed 1.7 million Zimbabweans next month, but was unable to deploy its partners on the ground, the suspended aid groups, to identify and register the needy this month.

“We will not be able to reach most of those 1.7 million people,” said Richard Lee, a spokesman for the World Food Program. “We will try to reach as many as possible, but we haven’t even begun to do the essential preparatory work.”

The groups have long said they provide aid based solely on need, not politics. But Zimbabwe’s minister of information, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, on Friday reiterated the government’s charge that some of the international aid groups had backed the opposition against Mr. Mugabe, providing food only to opposition supporters and funneling aid money into the coffers of the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change.

“During the elections they were monsters,” he said. But now, he added, “since there are no elections, we hope they will now go back to their core business.”

“I hope some have now repented,” he said.

The aid groups have challenged the government to prove its case. Asked which nongovernmental organizations had used food for political purposes, Mr. Ndlovu declined Friday to name any. “They know themselves,” he said.

The United States, which last year provided $171 million in food aid to Zimbabwe, said that it was Mr. Mugabe’s government that used food for political ends. This week, the American ambassador to Zimbabwe, James D. McGee, wrote to the social welfare minister, Nicholas Goche, demanding that the United States government be reimbursed for the theft of 20 metric tons of American-donated food. The aid had been meant for schoolchildren, but was instead confiscated by the authorities and handed out at a ruling party political rally.

In the letter, Mr. McGee also said that 170,000 schoolchildren had been denied food donated by the United States because of the ban, while 455,000 people had missed out on water, sanitation and public health programs. Mr. McGee said the government must immediately lift the restrictions and stop harassing aid workers.

“However, if you choose not to act, we will hold you personally responsible for the inhumane suffering caused by this ban,” Mr. McGee wrote.

Mr. McGee said in an interview Friday that the government’s restrictions on aid groups were a crime against Zimbabwe’s people. “This is purely politically motivated,” he said. “To talk about NGOs being politicized to get support for the opposition, it’s garbage.”

Aid officials had expected the government to end the ban after the June 27 presidential runoff, which was widely denounced as a sham. The opposition candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, dropped out days before it was held, citing state-sponsored violence against his supporters. Zimbabwean political analysts said they believed that the government instituted the ban to clear the rural areas of aid workers who could have witnessed the worst of the state-sponsored violence against the opposition.

But the ban dragged on for two more months after the runoff, prompting a plea from Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations, for restrictions to be lifted to avert what he called “a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.”

There was much speculation about why the government kept the ban in place for so long. Aid groups have been able to creep back to work in some parts of the country, but most of their field work remained suspended.

Some aid officials suspected that the aid restrictions had become a bargaining chip in power-sharing negotiations between Mr. Mugabe’s party, ZANU-PF, in office since 1980, and the opposition. Mr. Tsvangirai, has repeatedly demanded that restrictions on aid be lifted. His party wanted help for its supporters displaced by the political violence.

Mr. Mugabe’s deep suspicion of the United States and Britain, both harshly critical of him, may also have rubbed off on aid groups financed by the two nations and made him more resistant to lifting the restrictions.

What is indisputable is the suffering of Zimbabwe’s people. Unemployment stands at more than 80 percent. Inflation is running at more than 11 million percent. And the United Nations forecasts that 45 percent of Zimbabwe’s population, some 5 million people, will need food aid by the hungry season, from January to March.

Already, the United Nations has collected anecdotal accounts of people’s desperate strategies for survival. Beyond eating fewer meals, they are foraging for wild seeds and fruits. They are selling off their belongings — cows, bicycles, pots and pans — for money to buy scarce and ever more expensive food.

And their coping abilities are stretched thin, especially since this is the sixth year in which millions of them have needed food aid in a country that used to be southern Africa’s bread basket.

“We’re hearing these anecdotes widely and early in the year, and that indicates the situation in many areas is already serious,” said Mr. Lee of the World Food Program.

Economists say the government’s policies are to blame, while the government claims that Western sanctions on the country’s elite have ravaged the economy.

Fish Farming in Malawi's Dustbowl

The following article, pulled from BBC's Online News, describes how aquaculture increases food security in Malawi. Enviornmental reporter, James Morgan travels to bushland villages, west of Zomba, to grasp a better understanding of their developing, yet prosperous fish farming techniques. The article gives an in-depth description on how the communities use the few resources they posess to create rain water ponds that aid in breeding chambo (species of talapia) and mlamba (catfish). Farmers explain how the increase of fish not only pulls them away from financial strains, but is also nourishing the sick. Unlike much of the news flowing from the struggling continent, this article highlights a sign of innovation and hope.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7683748.stm

Commentary: Congolese rape victim learns to smile again

This is a commentary from CNN.com. It discusses about a young teen named Jeanne and how she is considered to be one of the "lucky ones" who was violently raped when armed rebels attacked her village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She was 15 years old when she fled her home with her uncle, but the rebels caught them and stabbed her uncle as he tried to protect her. Then they dragged her into the forest, tied her to a tree and raped her on and off for a month.

Jeanne is considered to be lucky because she found refuge. She discovered a new family in the General Referral Hospital of Panzi in Bukavu, Congo. Thousands of Congolese women are not so fortunate. Their bodies and souls have been brutalized: systematically raped by marauding rebel soldiers during a 10-year-old war; ostracized by their husbands and villages like modern-day lepers. The violated women's husbands and families often reject them. The rebels know this. By breaking the bonds of family and village, the rebels manage to rip the fabric of these tight-knit communities.
That's what they did to Jeanne.

The Editor explains her experiences when meeting the various women who were raped and while traveling to Congo on the behalf of the Enough Project and UNICEF. These organizations are advocacy groups that seeks to end crimes against humanity. These groups are one of several groups in Congo that are trying to rebuild the lives of the country's women. It funds the Panzi Hospital, which is an oasis of calm and order in a violent country.

The editor states that the women who visit the hospital risk a long and dangerous journey over congested and difficult dirt roads. On the day of her visit, she witnessed a group of them gather in the courtyard and states that their pain is evident. "A few women can barely walk or have to shuffle along with a large stick for support, as if they are very old -- and in a way, they are. All these women have been violently raped. I pass them as they wait to see the doctor. Puddles of liquid have collected under some of the women sitting on the courtyard benches. The smell of their urine hits me. I catch the movement of balled up rags nervously crammed into their laps as they try to stop the flow. I walk by with my eyes drawn downward. As I look up, I meet their eyes. They quickly look away, embarrassed that I have seen. I look away as well. "

The women's inability to control their bowels and urine comes from repeated rapes. The medical term is fistula. The walls of their uterus and bladder have been broken from repeated gang rapes by rebel soldiers, objects shoved roughly inside them and even guns fired into their vagina.
"A man with a gun can do whatever he wants," Cecile Mulolo, the psychologist at Panzi said.

The editor asks Mulolo how old is the youngest and oldest rape victim at Panzi.
"The oldest is in her 80s," she replies, "and the youngest is 16 months."

What are your thoughts on fistula? Do you consider Jeanne to be "lucky?"

What do you think about UNICEF and the Enough Project?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/10/15/congo.commentary/index.html

Mobilizing Revenue

This article is lengthy but it gives a good overview of social spending and the GDP in Africa. It proposes raising the tax base in order to reach the Millennium Developmental Goals and improve other areas. This will help to improve Africa's overall development. After reading this article and looking at the charts, what do you think needs to be done about the financial situation in African regions? 

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2008/09/gupta.htm

NATO warships arrive to deter Somali pirates

Somali welcomed seven NATO ships to their coast to help battle against the pirates in their region. The NATO ships will help with the acts of piracy that continues to threaten the region. In the past year, more than 60 ships have been attacked by these Somali pirates. Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein said "We are so delighted with the arrival of those NATO ships into our waters and they have our full consent to fight against the pirates. NATO can carry out any acts including military actions in our waters against the pirates." NATO responded to a request from the United Nations that authorized the fleet of naval vessels to help protect U.N world food program ships carrying relief suppliers to Somalia. Pirates are still holding a Ukrainian ship hostage off Somalia's coast demanding $20 million ransom. The ship was seized and is being monitored by U.S. naval ships. Hassan said the pirates are an "absolute risk" to Somalia and the rest of the world. If theses pirates are such a risk how come the government of these countries can't go out in the ocean and put a stop to them? With 60 ships being attacked in just this year alone, how come it has taken Somalia this long to get NATO ships to help with the attacks?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/10/19/somalia.nato.pirates/index.html

S. Africa U-turns on HIV/AIDS treatment

This article is from CNN.com. It discusses South Africa's new health minister and the government's new policies on HIV and AIDS. The previous health minister and former president spent 10 years denying the link between HIV and AIDS. The former health minister also spread confusion to the people by saying home remedies would cure AIDS.

An estimated 6,500 new HIV infections occur daily worldwide, and 1,000 of the infections are in South Africa. Do you think the high numbers of infections in South Africa has to do with the government's view on HIV the last 10 years? Why would a government spread false facts and deny scientific evidence when their people are suffering?

Until reading this article, I was not aware there are people who have denied the link between HIV and AIDS. Obviously, no cure can be found if the origin is unknown or questioned.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/10/13/sa.hiv.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch

New Pill Helps Fight Child Malaria

http://new.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7670765.stm

Researchers in Tanzania have created a cherry flavored pill to help save the lives of children affected by malaria.  The treatment is much easier  and effective than the bitter tasting alternatives. Although malaria has not been cured, it could help delay the development. Malaria kills more than a million people per year, especially in Sub-Sahara Africa.  Do you think this pill will be distributed effectively, as there are many problems with food aid reaching its receivers? Do you think that other countries should get involved to help distribute these drugs and fund them? Will the introduction of this drug along with many other disease fighting drugs help raise awareness of the diseases to the public, especially in outlying areas? Should the government get involved with the distribution of this drug?

100 Somalis Forced Overboard

Many Somalis have been trying to make the trip from Somalia to Yemen recently, in search of a better life.  The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has been trying to educate the Somalis on the risks involved through radio, they still believe that the freedom and relief from violence they will receive would outweigh the risks.  About 135 of 150 people making the trip last week were thrown overboard by smugglers and forced to swim 5 kilometers to land.  Only about 47 people made it back on land and the rest are missing.  We can assume they are dead in what is becoming a more and more common occurrence.  Dozens of bodies have been washed ashore and were buried immediately. 

The Gulf of Aden are becoming some of the most dangerous waters in the world due to piracy.  This year, about 23,000 migrants have attempted to reach Yemen (a number which has doubled since the previous year), and about 600 of them either died or went missing.  

This is obviously a sad situation and easy to criticize these Somalis for their taking in the voyage, but can we really blame them? 

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/10/10/Yemen.migrants.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch#cnnSTCText

Africans Taking Action in their Own Lives and Countries

Hey Everyone

I try to look at CNN a few times a day, and I came across this article about musician John Legend and his organization, the Show Me Campaign, and it also touches on what the real people are like who live in poverty in Africa as opposed to generalizing them all as poor.

I think a lot of people just think of Africans and their countries as poor and overall helpless, and we rarely stop to think about how the individuals of each country have a desire to play a part in their country's development. People in modern countries tend to look at it all as helping a third-world country and making the world a better place, but I think organizations like Legend's that focus on the individual and small groups of people trying to make a difference are extremely beneficial as well.

I'm also impressed and inspired by how positive the people of Tanzania have stayed, even the children. It is also great to hear about how people are working to pull themselves out of poverty when the rest of the world is in such economic distress, and it also sheds light on how the people of Africa are excited to be able to even make and sell their own products, and to get an education about anything at all. I think that people, especially here in our country, need to pay more attention and stop taking so much for granted, even students here at Bradley who take their educations for granted, when people in Africa are working day in and day out just to be able to feed themselves and their children.

Do you think that outside countries should help Africa as much as they do, or do you think Africa should be trying to grow and progress on its own without much help? Are stories of individuals moving to people, or do you believe poverty is still a neglected issue? And how do stories like this help open your eyes to people who have nothing, compared to us, who are college students at a fairly prestigious private university?

I included the link to both the article and to the Show Me campaign wesbite.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/10/03/john.legend.mwadawa.ruziga/index.html

www.showmecampaign.org

Healthier African Economy

So I thought this was another positive article to post. Despite that the United States' economy is in shambles, "much of Africa is doing rather nicely, in some cases recording healthier economic expansion than in the industrialized world." I was so pleasantly surprised to read this article!

The African economy is actually expected to grow 5% this year. This is due in part to the improvement of many African coutries' governments. "According to this comprehensive analysis, progress is being made across the continent against a range of key governance indicators."

I just thought that this was such a change for the better for Africa, despite a possible global recession. What are your feelings about this: Do you think this will last for Africa? Do you think this really could be the "African Renaissance" the article suggests?

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1847585,00.html

"Witch Doctors" to Blame for Mass Killings

We discussed in class a few weeks ago the issue of Africans' continuing belief in witchcraft. In my article, supposed "witch doctors" were to blame for mass killings of Albinos in Burundi and Tanzania. These Albinos were killed for their body parts. It was rumored that those in possession of these body parts would become wealthy. The murderers admitted they intended to sell these body parts for profit in Tanzania.
This article provokes many questions. How desperate must one be to sell body parts for money? How gullible and cut off from the outside world must one be to believe that witchcraft could bring about wealth? And how weak is the police system in Tanzania that 26 Albinos would be murdered in the course of just one year? And even more, is this based on the culture in Burundi and Tanzania, or the sheer desperate situation of their inhabitants?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7649420.stm

Black Rhinos!!

I thought amidst all of the negative posts, I would like to see a positive one.
Well, here it is. There have been no black rhinoceroses in Kenya in over 25
years (unless they were captive). The black rhino is known for its massive
horn, which makes it a valuable catch to a poacher. In 1970, there were an
estimated 20,000 black rhinos, now there are about 500. The good news is
that they are making a come back! This article was really interesting because
there was a BBC correspondant on hand to videotape the release process.

Is this a good sign for Kenya? Are there other African animals on the brink
of extinction?

"Black Rhinos Released in Africa"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7649043.stm

S.Africa Sticks to Target on Black Land Ownership

As we know there are many problems in Africa. Mostly what we hear about is the problems that Africa is facing. We don't always hear about positive developments in the country. I thought this was an article that showed that there are some governments in Africa that appear to be trying to help its people. 

When the apartheid ended in 1994 the governement said that by 2014 it was going to have given 30 percent of all agricultural land to the black moajority. The government has not yet reached this goal. Actually, it is very far from this goal but it is still working towards getting as close to the 30 percent as it can. It is currently at 4 percent but looking for ways t increase this number. I thought the director general in the department of land affairs made a good point when he said, "The plan may have been ambitious, but if we had no plan at all then there (would have been) no change." He makes a very good point. It is better to aim high then not to aim at all. 

The government tried but failed to pass an expropriation bill that would allow it to forcibly take land from farmers since the current way does not seem to be working. This bill was shelved but may come back up after the next election. Opposition groups protested the bill saying that it was unconstitutional. 

I think it is good that the government is trying to find a way to help the people who were negatively affected by the apartheid. The black majority has the right to have part of the agricultural land. This article shows that the government is looking to help its people. How do you think the government should go about getting them the land? Do you think that this plan will work? They probably won't make 30 percent but doed that matter? Wouldn't any percent be better than none? What are your thoughts?

Banaa: the Sudan Educational Empowerment Network

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202980.html?hpid=artslot

http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2008/09/29/Life/A.Dream.Come.True-3457680.shtml

One of my friends goes to George Washington University in Washington D.C. and she is a member of a student organization called Banaa. The students at GWU created this organization from scratch and have been working really hard to raise the money to host a scholarship student from Sudan. They focused on Sudan because of the incredible ongoing violence and destruction in the country. There have been many articles written about the group because their first scholarship student recently arrived at GWU. The student will attend GWU until he earns a degree. However the scholarship is contingent on him returning to Sudan and working to better the country. The group is looking to start other chapters at different schools and eventually set up multiple scholarship students around the country. I think this program is a great way to make a difference in Sudan. By providing education and resources to the youth of Sudan, this program creates a real possibility of change. What are your thoughts? What do you think about the condition of the scholarship? What do you think of their slogan "the Sudan Educational Empowerment Network"? Do you think it's fitting? Do you think other chapters of this group will start at other schools?