Granta: 'Over There' by Paul Theroux
From the latest issue of Granta entitled "How America Sees the World" Theroux describes an incident in Zambia forty years ago.
With Christmas approaching I went via a roundabout route to Zambia and on Christmas Eve was sitting in an almost empty and rather dirty bar outside Lusaka, talking to the only other drinkers, a man and woman.‘This is for you,’ I said, giving the man a bottle of beer. ‘And this is for your wife. Happy Christmas.’
‘Happy Christmas to you,’ the man said. ‘But she is not my wife. She is my sister. And she likes you very much.’
(via Arts & Letters Daily)
Morocco's King Mohammed VI (a.k.a. Speedy) comes under fire for neglecting the affected Rif region, home to the country's Berber minority.
Berbers, who have their own language, are considered the original inhabitants of North Africa.Abderraouf El-Hadjtouhami, a 40-year-old unemployed farm worker, bitterly criticized the government for being ill-prepared to handle the catastrophe.
"The state isn't up to the job in this region," said Mr. El-Hadjtouhami, who lost three children in the quake. "What is the King going to do? The question is: What should he have done in the past? It's easier to react when it's already happened."
Looking around yesterday I discovered a thriving community of Africa-related blogs. One of the best is A Taste Of Africa, the diary of Yvette, a development worker in the tiny nation of Somaliland which is not yet recognized the UN (or anybody apparently!).
I've only read a few of the entries but am struck by her ability to be hopeful while maintaining a healthy skepticism and sense of humour. On top of that, the comment threads reveal a thriving community of readers, many of them Somalilanders themselves, who provide support and add their own unique perspectives.
This post is awesome, she mentions in a kind of off-hand way the size of her water bill ($238) and the comments thread rises up in arms to support her! Then there's a defensive comment from the mayor's advisor which prompts another round of piling on. How does the story end? Read yesterday's post to find out.
Killing of a U.N. Observer in Congo Heightens a Mission's Fears
The UN Security Council has authorized 10 000 peacekeepers for MONUC, 5 000 of them stationed in Ituri Province where the incident mentioned occurred. According to the article, the killing has raised questions about the force strength. My first thought was of LGen Romeo Dallaire's indictment of the UN for consistently failing to provide adequate forces for UNAMIR.
Googling around I found this blog entry on the topic entitled "Trust Dallaire" which refers to an article in which Dallaire estimated 20 to 30 000 troops would be required.
Article about the filming of "Sometimes in April", a movie about the events of the Rwandan genocide whose tenth anniversary will be commemorated in April.
One of the many challenges faced is to retell the story without resurrecting the ethnic divisions which fuelled the conflict in the first place.
Since 1994 Rwanda's Tutsi-led government has sought to wipe out the ethnic labels that divided the country. In the past Rwandans were required to carry identification cards that classified them as either majority Hutu or minority Tutsi. Now even talking of the labels could land one in jail as a "divisionist."
But Mr. Peck's movie had to raise the ethnic labels that were such a part of the events of 1994. His staff recruited schoolgirls at Kigali's most exclusive private school, but most appeared to be Tutsis. Hutu girls were signed up on the streets.
"Sometimes in April" is being directed by Raoul Peck who also made the film Lumumba about Patrice Lumumba, the Congo's first post-colonial prime minister.
Flipping channels the other day, I caught a glimpse of a macabre reality TV show about a man leaving his comfortable life in London to live and starve for thirty days along with several families in Ethiopia. It turned out to be a documentary on CBC's "The Passionate Eye" called Surviving Hunger. The man, an ex-Sierra Leonean named Sorious Samura, spends the days in a small village in northern Ethiopia near Lalibela, home of the rock-hewn churches designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
One of the most striking scenes concerns Samura's attempt to convince the townsfolk that he is not to be feared during a local church meeting. It is also inspiring but tough to watch the hospitality and guarded friendliness of Samura's hosts even as they struggle to make do with next to nothing.
"His new hosts have been given grain for two months, part of the government aid package. But their allowance of 12.5 kg a month is meant to feed one person, not an entire family. The reality is that the local administrator has to try and spread aid for 1,000 among 9,000 starving people under his control."
This presents a marked contrast to the relative prosperity of Addis Ababa and surrounding areas shown in these these images from Ethiopia.
CBC Radio's Dispatches is one of the best sources of in depth reporting from Africa. This week's episode features a segment on Morocco's King Mohammed the Sixth:
"He may be the King of Morocco, but in the street some call him 'Speedy' Mohammed. Mohammed the Sixth seems to be in a hurry to reform the Islamic Kingdom he's ruled for the past five years. Make no mistake, it's still a restrictive place to live --especially for dissenters. But he is prodding his Parliament to step up the pace of reform."
Stephanie Nolen, the Globe's Africa correspondent writes from Botswana, a place that reminds her a lot of home.
"The country is gripped by a love-hate relationship with its mighty neighbour to the south (sound familiar?) Botswana's televisions are full of South African channels, its malls full of South African stores. South African companies dominate most sectors of business here. Rural Batswana have gone by the thousands to work in South Africa's mines, while many of those who make it big in business or entertainment here also go south to the bright lights of Johannesburg."