African Youth Vibes

Are poor deals crippling your country?

2008-02-13T10:19:00.001Z

Almost every day governments in Africa sign trade and business deals with the private sector. But, many of these deals end up costing governments huge amounts of cash and do not deliver the goods.

Tanzania's former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa last week resigned after a parliamentary committee implicated him in an energy deal scandal with a US based company.The probe team questioned the cost and quality of the generators that the US Company delivered to help alleviate power shortages the country was experiencing in 2006.

In South Africa the ANC chairman Jacob Zuma is facing corruption charges in connection with a $4.8bn arms deal.

The list of dodgy expensive deals is endless. How can African governments avoid bad deals? Can tight procedures ensure better deals? Should the public be allowed to scrutinise deals before they are signed

Rape exceeding in Kenya's Political War

2008-02-01T09:45:00.000Z

Gang rape spirals in violent Kenya
By Stephanie Holmes
BBC News

Rape is on the rise in Kenya, troubled by violence which followed December's disputed elections.

Women and children are most at risk of sexual attack
Every day women turn up at the doors of Nairobi's hospitals and clinics telling the same story.
"I could not run away. They gagged my mouth and pinned me down," one woman remembers.
"After raping me they blindfolded me and led me to a nearby forest. That's where they left me."
Her experience - doctors, officials and the UN say - is echoed by hundreds of other women who have survived a spiralling number of sexual attacks.
Many are gang rapes, carried out by groups of armed men.
Staff in the Nairobi Women's Hospital - one of Kenya's leading centres for the treatment of rape and sexual violence - say they have seen double the number of cases affecting women, teenagers and girls since January.
"Since the beginning of the month, we have had 140 cases of rape and defilement," said Rahab Ngugi, patient services manager at the hospital.
"We were used to seeing an average of about four cases a day, now there is an average of between eight and 10."
Almost half of the cases at the hospital's specialised clinic are girls under the age of 18, Ms Ngugi said. One case was a two-year-old baby girl.
She knows that such a dramatic rise in numbers presenting at the clinic indicates that the reality beyond is far worse.

Tip of iceberg

Only a small percentage of women actually come to receive medical treatment and counselling in the immediate aftermath of a sexual attack, she said. It means they do not get access to the drugs which might prevent the onset of HIV.

Battles are fought on women's bodies as much as on battlefields
Kathleen Cravero, UNDP

In pictures: No safe haven
"It is the tip of the iceberg," Ms Ngugi said. "At any time of unrest, of violence, or rioting, women and children are targeted. It is revenge, it is war. People are fighting and the weakest ones get abused."
Clashes broke out across Kenya in late December after President Mwai Kibaki declared himself the winner of an election disputed by the opposition and labelled as flawed by the international community.
An estimated quarter of a million people have fled their homes to escape the unrest and some 85% of these are women and children.
Women's position of relative weakness in society is emphasised in times of conflict, Kathleen Cravero, Director of the UNDP's Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery said.

It is not so much that women are targeted in some deliberate way but their vulnerability makes them easy targets for anger, for frustration, and for people wanting to cripple or paralyse other segments of the community in which they live."
She says there is no evidence as yet that Kenya's high levels of sexual violence are ethnically motivated rather than opportunistic and criminal.
But the doubling of rape cases, she says, is "a very, very strong indicator of a serious problem" adding that the actual numbers are without doubt far higher.

Impunity
Women often have other concerns that prevent them seeking help after an attack, said Hadley Muchela, a Nairobi-based rape counsellor with NGO Liverpool VCT.
The first priority for many women is food and shelter, not reporting rape
"If there is a woman who probably saw her relatives killed, she might push her own issues of violence to the periphery.

"There will be worries about property and the death of children. Their immediate needs are temporary shelter, safety and food."
He worries that although the gangs are not yet targeting makeshift, unregulated camps and shelters - in schools, churches and community centres - the women and their children sheltering there are increasingly vulnerable.
The UN says that in the capital alone some 12,000 people are living in public buildings after being driven from their homes.
Ms Cravero agrees that these shelters should be the focus of concern.
"Many of the internally displaced are not living in formal camps. They are just gathered around a school or church. Then you have the worst-case scenario - where you don't have that level of law and order and you have people living on top of each other."
The only way to prevent the almost inevitable spike in violence towards women in times of crisis, she said, is for governments to tackle the sense of impunity.
"Before violence breaks out, and during, and after, [governments must] really push the question of impunity, make sure that people know that rape visited upon innocent women and children will be treated for what it is - a crime."

Kenya On Fire

2008-01-31T11:13:00.000Z

Our neighbouring country Kenya, is on fire, literally due to the on going political and tribal conflicts going on since December. It is sad that it has come to this...just when you think it will never happen to you..it does!! When will PEACE be a word that is literally viewed in this world?

How do people find it so easy to kill without remorse or feelings

What about the children whose parents you've killed without second thought?

These are humans, burnt to charcoal...do they really have hearts to do this to fellow humans

PEACE IN AFRICA IS NEEDED!! How do we get it?...

Charity vs. Capitalism in Africa

2008-01-09T14:20:00.000Z

Africa's best hope to fight malaria is the wide distribution of mosquito-repelling bed nets. But who best serves that need: the public sector or private interests?

Jenifa John recently spent $1 on a billowy swath of gauze that could help keep her family alive. The 22-year-old mother of two in the village of Engutoto, Tanzania, bought a mosquito-repelling bed net that will keep parasite-bearing insects away from her young children while they sleep. It's a matter of utmost concern: Before she bought the net, one of John's children was hospitalized with malaria—and fortunately survived.
All across Africa, there's new hope in the long-running battle against malaria. In the last decade, funding to control the preventable, treatable disease has increased tenfold. And now, millions of insecticide-laced nets that keep mosquitoes away from sleeping men, women, and children are making their way into a growing number of homes, helping to defeat the spread of a disease that still kills up to 3 million people a year and 3,000 children a day. Experts say Africa could need upwards of 90 million bed nets to fight back against a disease that costs the continent an estimated $12 billion per year in lost economic potential.
Who Can Best Deliver?
But while the distribution of treated bed nets is a welcome development, many health-care advocates are troubled by how slowly it's happening. Indeed, the pace of progress raises profound ideological questions over the best way to disseminate the life-saving nets—and, indeed, all sorts of assistance. On one side are believers in the traditional aid model, who say that bed nets should be given away for free by governments and nonprofits to reach the maximum number of people as quickly as possible. On the other side are backers of so-called social marketing, who argue that bringing businesses into the mix improves efficiency and adds incentives and economic benefits to doing good. Harnessing the private sector, they say, creates self-reliance—not dependence.
Both sides make valid points. Advocates of free distribution worry that selling bed nets—even at heavily subsidized prices as low as $1—puts them out of reach of poor people and slows uptake. Indeed, a recent study in Kenya found that free distribution of bed nets raises their use to 66% of the population, compared with just 7% when they are sold commercially.
Such figures have prompted some advocates to call for the abandonment of social marketing in favor of free public distribution. Leading the charge is economics professor Jeffrey Sachs, who directs the Earth Institute at Columbia University and gained renown in the 1990s advising Eastern European governments on "shock therapy" transitions to free-market economies.
"Shock Therapist" Backs Giveaways
Sachs is outraged that after seven years of effort, the goals for distributing bed nets in Africa haven't been met via social marketing programs. Take Tanzania, which is known as the "epicenter" of malaria because of the high incidence of disease there. For years, its government has subsidized sales of nets to the most vulnerable populations for prices typically between $1.50 and $3.50 each. But even now, just one-third of adults and one-quarter of children are protected by nets while they sleep.
"Tanzania is not a success story, it's a debacle," says Sachs, who flew to the East African nation last July to persuade President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete to adopt a new plan for free distribution of nets in 103 rural districts.
Despite his long history as a free-marketeer, Sachs thinks business isn't working fast enough in this case to address an urgent human crisis. So he's pushing for more direct action. "We'll distribute free nets all over Africa, and we'll do it again and again," he says. "There's no reason why markets should be able to handle this problem."
Others think Sachs and his supporters are giving up too soon on the private sector. They admit that paying even $1 for a bed net can be a hardship for people living on less than a dollar a day. But people who buy nets tend to take better care of them and use them more regularly.

Youth Vibes: I for one I am very aware of these sort of things as my own sister died of Malaria so be aware. it can kill!!

Strong women...

2007-12-20T13:52:00.001Z

Do you know who these women are??

Fatuma Binti Baraka aka Bi Kidude

Asha Rose Migiro

Gertrude Mongella

Anna Tibaijuka

At an interesting State- Life of a...

2007-12-20T11:58:00.000Z

In the South, the earth blew water
drowning the masses with its tears
In the West, the wicked blew fire
burning treasures with their rage
One started by natureand a city's neglience
another started by studpidtiy
and mere aggresiveness
In the former, we lost more lives
from those who had no hope
in the latter, we lost more goods
while the hopeful hope to live on
The former are called refugees
immigrants in their own land
the latter are called misplaced
who will find a home again
in pain and sufferinga loss is a loss
but our view of the two
is what costs us
ignorance, inactionseparation, disunity lead to repetition of our trials
over and over again

Fears over Albino deaths-is this Justice

2007-12-18T13:09:00.000Z

Tanzania’s Albino Society has accused the government of turning a blind eye to the killing of albinos, after four deaths in the past three months.

An albino spokesman said there was a belief that the condition was the result of a curse put on the family. Some witch-doctors also say they can use albino body parts in a potion to make people rich. A teacher in the northern town of Arusha has been arrested for killing his own child, who was albino.

As well as the four killings, the body of an albino has also been exhumed. It was found with its limbs cut off. The BBC’s Vicky Ntetma in Dar es Salaam says there is now fear in the albino community there. Christopher Dadenekeye from the TAS said the witch-doctors must also be arrested. Some people in Tanzania think albinos are a kind of ghost-like creature. “We need to clear out all these beliefs,” Mr Dadenekeye said. There are some 270,000 albinos among Tanzania’s population of some 35 million.

Old women with red eyes have been killed in parts of Tanzania in the past, after being accused of witchcraft but our correspondent says this is the first time that albinos have been targeted in ritual killings. TAS also wants more help for albinos and says the condition should be treated as a disability.

Computers for Africa

2007-12-13T17:05:00.000Z

BBC: In late November I returned from Nigeria with a sample of the XO laptop.
The computer, made by the One Laptop per Child charity, is a robust little machine designed to entertain and educate children while allowing them to learn by themselves.
I knew there was only one person who could review it for me.
The Nine Year-old's View
Enter Rufus Cellan-Jones. He is nine, has far more experience of games consoles than computers, and has strong views on most matters.
"Looks fun," was his only comment when I handed over the small, green and white laptop, explaining that he was the only child in Britain to have one.

I use the calculator - that can be rather useful for sums. You can even browse onto the internet. You can watch and learn stuff.
Rufus Cellan-Jones
But very quickly he was up and running.
All I did was give him the security code for our home wireless network so he could take the XO online. The rest he figured out for himself, as he explains:
Lots of fun
"I just seemed to work it out. It was rather easy. I didn't even need help." Surprise, surprise, his first discovery was a game. "I found Block Party. It's like Tetris. I'm now up to Level 7."
I thought my young games fanatic might stick there but he moved on. "Then I discovered paint. You can use pencils, change the texture, use different sizes of brush."
Even better, there was an animation programme called Etoys.
"That's my favourite.You make things. You can see tutorials and demos. Then you can make a new project. I've made a crazy UFO which you can move."
But Rufus says it isn't just about play.
"I use the calculator - that can be rather useful for sums. You can even browse onto the internet. You can watch and learn stuff. You can write things and it can also remind you which is extremely useful."
What, I asked, does a nine year old need to remind himself about? "Christmas stuff," he said, with an air of mystery.
Social networking
But the real surprise came one evening, when Rufus asked me to explain what his friends were telling him on the laptop.
I thought those imaginary childhood friends from years back must have returned.
But I went and had a look - and it was true - he appeared to be chatting online.
So how had he managed that?
"You go on "neighbourhood", then you go to the chat thing.
You go on Nigeria and you chat to them."
But why, if he was online with the children at the Nigerian school I had visited, were they sending messages in Spanish?
I decided he must be linking up with one of the South American schools taking part in the OLPC project but we still aren't sure quite how that is happening.
Still, Rufus is widening his social circle. " I have three friends. It's nice to talk to them. They don't speak much English but I can understand them." The conversation is not exactly sparkling, but Rufus has learned to say "Hola".
Not a toy
So Rufus is using his laptop to write, paint, make music, explore the internet, and talk to children from other countries.
Because it looks rather like a simple plastic toy, I had thought it might suffer the same fate as the radio-controlled dinosaur or the roller-skates he got last Christmas - enjoyed for a day or two, then ignored.
Instead, it seems to provide enduring fascination.

I had returned from Nigeria not entirely convinced that the XO laptop was quite as wonderful an educational tool as its creators claimed.
I felt that a lot of effort would be needed by hard-pressed teachers before it became more than just a distracting toy for the children to mess around with in class.
But Rufus has changed my mind.
With no help from his Dad, he has learned far more about computers than he knew a couple of weeks ago, and the XO appears to be a more creative tool than the games consoles which occupy rather too much of his time.
The One Laptop Per Child project is struggling to convince developing countries providing computers for children is as important as giving them basic facilities like water or electricity.
Unusually, Rufus does not have an opinion about that controversy, but he does have a verdict on the laptop. "It's great," he says.

Tanzania Multiple Birth surprise

2007-12-13T17:03:00.000Z

Two sets of quads, two lots of triplets and twins were born at a Tanzanian hospital, while experts in the country discussed Africa's growing population.
"Five mothers delivering a total of 16 babies at a go is a big surprise to us," Muhimbili Hospital paediatrician Augustine Massawe told the BBC.
They were all born premature, but should be able to go home with their families in two weeks, he said.
Hundreds of experts are looking at how to reduce Africa's population growth.
By 2050, sub-Saharan Africa's population may double if growth trends are not reversed.
Some 700 experts from around the world have been meeting in Arusha to discuss how Africa - which the UN estimates has a population of 850m - can cope with the knock-on effects of high population growth.
Challenges
Twenty-six-year-old Ashura Athumani, who gave birth to quads, looked healthy but exhausted after the birth.
I remember once when a parent who had four children here - their husband ran away because he was so scared
Dr Augustine Massawe
She has three other children and expressed her concerns for the health of the newborn.
In the same ward, Mariam, 25, nursed her babies and said she was over the moon to have a set of triplets.
It was not until the later stages of her pregnancy that she found out that she was carrying three babies - as in Tanzania not every woman is given an early scan.
She added that there would be financial problems ahead as she and her husband had not been prepared for more than one baby in their first year of marriage.
Dr Massawe says the parents will have to face many challenges head on in their effort to raise their new children.
"It's like a crisis in the family - imagine you've got four babies in one go," he said.
"I remember once when a parent who had four children here - their husband ran away because he was so scared."
Recently Muhimbili Hospital came in for unwanted media attention after a man died in a surgical mix-up involving two people with the same first name. One needed brain surgery, the other a knee operation.
Patients are now tagged with their name when admitted.

Outcry at Tanzanian HIV beating

2007-11-30T13:13:00.000Z

There has been an outcry in Tanzania over a woman who was badly injured by her husband after she took an HIV test which is being encouraged nationwide.

Tumaini Mbogela said her husband beat her when she returned from a voluntary counselling centre in the town of Makete where she took the HIV test. Rights activists say the attack was “uncalled for” and women do not need permission to check their HIV status. Half of the 1.6m Tanzanians living with HIV are women, recent figures show. Reports from Makete say the husband is on the run from the police. Relatives claim that he is mentally confused after the realising that the law-enforcers were looking for him.

Nationwide testing
Women’s rights activist Jostina Katunzi said 34-year-old Tamali Mbogella was responding to a nationwide drive when she went for an HIV test in Makete. “Women are so concerned about their health and she was free to go for the test - I do not think she had to consult her husband,” Ms Katunzi said.

The BBC’s John Ngahyoma in Dar es Salaam says the Makete area is one of the worst-affected regions in Tanzania with a 24% HIV prevalence rate compared to 7% nationally. When the health ministry launched a nationwide testing campaign in July, Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete was one of the first to take the HIV test.

Following the Makete case, the head of Tanzania’s Commission for Aids, Taj Liundi, has advised married couples to consult each other before going for the test. “This is an isolated case of a violent man and does not represent all men in Tanzania,” Mr Liundi said. “But we shall intensify our efforts to raise awareness of the importance of going for a test.” Mrs Mbogela has now been discharged from hospital, our correspondent says.

Quote of the day

2007-11-30T12:34:00.000Z

"HIV does not make people dangerous to know,so you can shake their hands and give them a hug,Heaven knows they need it"
Diana Princess of Wales 1 July 1961-31 August 1997.

Its not a myth its real

2007-11-30T12:03:00.000Z

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in humans,[1] and similar viruses in other species (SIV, FIV, etc.). The late stage of the condition leaves individuals susceptible to opportunistic infections and tumors. Although treatments for AIDS and HIV exist to decelerate the virus' progression, there is currently no known cure. HIV, et al., are transmitted through direct contact of a mucous membrane or the bloodstream with a bodily fluid containing HIV, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid, preseminal fluid, and breast milk.[2][3] This transmission can come in the form of anal, vaginal or oral sex, blood transfusion, contaminated hypodermic needles, exchange between mother and baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding, or other exposure to one of the above bodily fluids.

Most researchers believe that HIV originated in sub-Saharan Africa during the twentieth century;[4] it is now a pandemic, with an estimated 33.2 million people now living with the disease worldwide.[5] As of January 2006, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since it was first recognized on June 5, 1981, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history. In 2005 alone, AIDS claimed an estimated 2.4–3.3 million lives, of which more than 570,000 were children.[6] A third of these deaths are occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, retarding economic growth and destroying human capital. Antiretroviral treatment reduces both the mortality and the morbidity of HIV infection, but routine access to antiretroviral medication is not available in all countries.[7] HIV/AIDS stigma is more severe than that associated with other life-threatening conditions and extends beyond the disease itself to providers and even volunteers involved with the care of people living with HIV.
HIV/AIDS doesn't discriminate it affects people from all walks of life rich or poor,sportsmen,politicians, entertainers and mostly youths which leads to economic stagnation.So my fellow youngsters we have to change the globe and stay put in overcoming this tragic pandemic, abstain,be faithful,condomise or do go for test.
The latest figures shows that there 78000 people living with HIV in the UK

Lets stay together to eradicate the stigma, and together we shall find cure for HIV/AIDS
This is to commemorate world aids day 1st of December

Dear Mr President

2007-11-18T21:39:00.000Z

APARTHEID

2007-10-25T17:57:00.000+01:00

Apartheid flag of South African minority rule

The first recorded use of the term apartheid was in 1917 where Jan Christian Smuts was giving a speech,he went to become a prime minister two years later, Apartheid became the system of racial segregation in South Africa from 1948,National Party's triupmh in 1948 election under Daniel Francois Malan culminated to implementation of apartheid policy,legislation was passed prohibiting miscegenetion(mixed-race marriege).

The rule of apartheid dictated that people could be separated racially the main ones were Blacks,White,Coloured and Indians were separated from each other on the basis of legal classification and unequal rights.Blacks legally became citizens of Bantustans that were nominally sovereign nations.

Blacks use to live in Bantustans like this

Also minority regime imposed pass law,this stemmed from the regulation of black movements from their regions to those of white and coloured minority,black were not allowed to walk on the white streets after dark and they were compelled to carry the passes all the time imposed by white regime.

Blacks forced to carry pass wherever they go

The Group Areas Act of 1950 and Separate Amenities Act of 1953 designed to separate racial group geographically in all areas such as universities,buses,beaches,schools and hospitals.

This is how separation was

Apartheid was dismantled in series of negotiations from 1990 to 1993,culminating in democratic election which saw Nelson Mandela winning landslide victory with ANC party,Apartheid is dismantled but the scars will remain in the hearts of South Africans forever too many people lost their lives.

Aftermath of Apartheid

Qoute of the day

2007-10-19T14:50:00.000+01:00

"always struggle is titanic but success is great"

H.E Thabo V Mbeki South African President

Lucky Dube the African Reggae Legend is no more

2007-10-19T14:20:00.000+01:00

Lucky Dube 1964-2007

Today the world of reggae woke up in shock after they learn the death of Lucky Dube, Dube was caught in attempted hijacking whilst dropping off his children in family member's house around 20.00 hrs, although he tried to escape he had been fatally wounded from hijacker's attempt to steal his motor vehicle and he died instantly. Lucky leaves a great void in reggae music industry.

South African born but globally revered, Lucky was one of the continent's toured and beloved artist ever,his music touched the hearts of millions in Africa and around the World. He made 22 albums in Zulu, English and Afrikaans-many of which become record breaker with phenomenal sales around the globe. His 25 years in music suddenly ends in tragedy.

May his soul rest in PEACE, amen

Always remebered

Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere (April 13, 1922 - October 14, 1999)

2007-10-14T18:59:00.000+01:00

In honour of the Greatest, our hero and the first president of Tanzania my home, the man who accomplished a lot than many would; Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere...I have decided to state some of his greates quotes!!

“Freedom to many means immediate betterment, as if by magic. Unless I can meet at least some of these aspirations, my support will wane and my head will roll just as surely as the tickbird follows the rhino.”

“Violence is unnecessary and costly. Peace is the only way.”

"That is what our educational system has to encourage. It has to foster the social goals of living together, and working together, for the common good."

When we were at school we were taught to sing the songs of the Europeans. How many of us were taught the songs of the Wanyamwezi or of the Wahehe? Many of us have learnt to dance the rumba, or the cha cha, to rock and roll and to twist and even to dance the waltz and foxtrot. But how many of us can dance, or have even heard of the gombe sugu, the mangala, nyang umumi, kiduo, or lele mama?

"Just as water from the driest regions of the earth flows into the ocean where already there is plenty, so wealth flows from the poorest… into the hands of those… who are already wealthy"

“Must we starve our children to pay our debts?”

Black History Month

2007-10-12T17:20:00.000+01:00

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.
-- Maya Angelou "Still I rise," And Still I Rise (1978)

Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.
-- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.
-- Booker T. Washington

We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.
-- Carter Woodson on founding Negro History Week, 1926

Sports Mundial

2007-10-12T16:45:00.000+01:00

Hi Everyone, we are extending our sites and just to let you all know that we now have a sports blog just click on the link Below...and enjoy!!

http://sportsmundial.blogspot.com/

Quote of the day

2007-10-11T11:31:00.000+01:00

"..its crazy they got money for wars but they cant beat poverty"

Tupac Shakur 1971-1996

ERNESTO GUEVARA DE LASERNA aka EL CHE 1928-1967

2007-10-10T14:47:00.000+01:00

Ernesto Guevara 14 June 1928-9 October 1967

Ernesto Guevara was Argentine -born, Marxist revolutionary, political figure, leader of cuban and international guerrillas, hero and turned to be a fashion icon.

As a young man he studied medicine, and travelled all over South America bringing him into direct contact with impoverished conditions in which many people lived. His experiences and obs ervation through these trips led him to the conclusion that region's socio-economic innequalities cuold only be remedied by socialism through revolution, prompting him to intensify his study of marxism and travelled to Guatemala to learn the implemented reform there by the President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman.

In 1956 he joined Fidel Castro's revolutionary 26th of July movement which saw the end of dictator Fulgencio Batista's regime of Cuba in 1959, after a succesful revolution ha was appointed as"supreme prosecuter"overseeing the trials and executions of hundreds of suspects of war criminals in previous regime. After serving in various important posts in the new government,Guevara left Cuba in 1965 with intention of fomenting revolution in various sub saharan African nations first in Congo-Kinshasa,Algeria,Mozambique and Tanzania, he met the likes of Patrice Lumumba,Ahmed Ben Bella,Samaora Machel and Julius Nyerere, In 1967 Guevara left Dar es salaam for Bolivia he went to serve revolution there,where he was captured in a military operation supported by the CIA and U.S army special forces, Guevara was executed by Bolivian army in the town of La Higuera near Vallegrande on October 9 1967

The body of Che Guevara assessed by Bolivian Army personnel

After his death Guevara became an icon of socialist revolution movements and a cultural icon worldwide. The Alberto Korda's photo has received wide distribution and modification, appearing on t-shirt protest banners and in many other formats, The Maryland Institute College of Art called Alberto Korda's picture the most famous photo in the world and a symbol of 20th century

On the 9th of October 2007 people worldwide marked 40 years since his death, In London it was in Old Street and Walthamstow.

Hasta la victoria siempre

2007-10-09T00:26:00.000+01:00

It is a day to remember the great Arnesto Che Guevara, and I for one will not pass this opportunity to give a tribute to a man who likes not oppression of his people and the world!!

(Che by sigmund freuid)

"We cannot be sure of having something to live for unless we are willing to die for it.- Ernesto Che Guevara"
"Words that do not match deeds are unimportant. - Ernesto Che Guevara"
"Cruel leaders are replaced only to have new leaders turn cruel! - Ernesto Che Guevara"

"Our every action is a battle cry against imperialism, and a battle hymn for the people's unity against the great enemy of mankind: the United States of America. Wherever death may surprise us, let it be welcome, provided that this, our battle cry, may have reached some receptive ear, that another hand may be extended to wield our weapons, and that other men be ready to intone our funeral dirge with the staccato singing of the machine guns and new battle cries of war and victory. - Ernesto Che Guevara"
"I am not interested in dry economic socialism. We are fighting against misery, but we are also fighting against alienation. One of the fundamental objectives of Marxism is to remove interest, the factor of individual interest, and gain, from people's psychological motivations. Marx was preoccupied both with economic factors and with their repercussions on the spirit. If communism isn't interested in this too, it may be a method of distributing goods, but it will never be a revolutionary way of life. - Ernesto Che Guevara "

(Andy Warhol the greatest pop up artist representing Che the Guerilla)
"I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves. - Ernesto Che Guevara"
"There is no other definition of socialism valid for us than that of the abolition of the exploitation of man by man. - Ernesto Che Guevara"
"Each time a country is freed, we say, it is a defeat for the world imperialist system, but we must agree that real liberation or breaking away from the imperialist system is not achieved by the mere act of proclaiming independence or winning an armed victory in a revolution. Freedom is achieved when imperialist economic domination over a people is brought to an end. - Ernesto Che Guevara "

(Until victory always -- Struggle until victory forever!)
The great will always be great (June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967

Change is coming our way

2007-10-05T21:26:00.000+01:00

There's so many things to say right now
I got so much on my mind
Look at what is going down
How much higher can we climb
The system that we're living in
Depends on poverty and greed
But people don't need charity
It's justice that we need

There's disrepair
It's surrounding you
And it's worse than it's ever been
We'll overcome
Overcome the things they do
We're halfway there
Cause we know the truth
But living is another thing
We'll overcome
Overcome the things they do
Lift your voice and sing

A change is coming our way
Step by step and day by day
We'll live by all that we say
Step by step now come what may

There's war all around the world
In the name of democracy
Can't tell the rouge from the just
When they bring hypocrisy
I see my sisters on the move
Making sure we all contend
Must've lost something on the way
We reduced ourselves again

Before we go forth
We gotta take 'em back, back
So we can know what we did
Cause if we never know what happened in de past
Then we can never know, that's what it is
If we don't do it for us
We gotta do it for our kids, kids
So they don't gotta relive
See, there's so much happening, it ain't gonna get fix
With singing and rapping and we gotta take action
And turn that preach into practising
Cause what happen back then, will be right back again
But each one teach one, cause we only as fast
As the last one straggling, so help 'em out

Step by step day by day
Said it won't be long, it won't be long
Step by step come what may
I feel it coming on strong
Step by step day by day
We gonna overcome
Step by step come what may
As long as we are one

Can't tell the rogue from the just

Make Change, Bring Change

2007-10-04T21:40:00.000+01:00

(The Ambassador)

Keep a Child Alive stays in the forefront of the AIDS movement by creating important and moving ad campaigns. Each year a new campaign is launched at our annual event, the Black Ball. Last year’s “Spirit of a Child” campaign photographed by Marc Baptiste featured such celebrities as Lorraine Bracco, Cynthia Nixon, Nas, Josh Groban and others.
Coming in the fall, will be the I AM AFRICAN campaign photographed by Michael Thompson, featuring such legends as Iman, David Bowie, Sting, and including celebrities as Liv Tyler, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Sarah Jessica Parker.
(Iman, Global Ambassador)
Each and every one of us contains DNA that can be traced back to our African ancestors.

Keep A Child Alive is dedicated to providing life-saving anti-retroviral treatment to children and their families with HIV/AIDS in Africa and the developing world by directly engaging the global public in the fight against AIDS.

"They say that time changes things, but actually you have to change them yourself" - Andy Warhol

Unseen Aid: Africa

2007-10-02T13:58:00.000+01:00

African nations that bore the brunt of the continent’s worst floods in three decades face a new epidemic threat and on Friday stepped up appeals for international help.
At least 300 people in 20 countries have died in floods over the past two months, according to figures from governments, hospitals and humanitarian sources compiled by AFP. As the extent of the damage begins to emerge epidemic warnings are growing. In Rwanda, where at least 15 people died this month in flash floods, two cholera cases have been reported in flood districts, said Innocent Nyaruhirira, minister in charge of epidemics. Cholera outbreaks have already caused 68 deaths in Sudan, one of the countries worst hit by the flooding. The United Nations said up to 625,000 people could be in need of emergency aid in Sudan.
Neighbouring Uganda has also been heavily affected by the floods, with at least 400,000 people in need of assistance in eastern regions. The European Union has decided to donate some two million euros (2.8 million dollars) to Togo, Ghana and Burkina Faso, EU officials said. Besides paying for supplies, the money is also to be used to help prevent the spread of malaria. The Togo government on Friday made its own urgent appeal for food and medical aid. Twenty three people have been reported dead in the West African nation and Cooperation Minister Gilbert Bawara told AFP: “We are launching an appeal for solidarity and international aid to relieve the people hit by the floods.”
“We need food, medicines and the means to rebuild infrastructure,” Bawara said. The flooding of key roads has paralysed the delivery of aid. Ugandan Minister of State for Refugees and Disaster Preparedness Musa Ecweru said the floods had affected cross-border traffic into southern Sudan and hundreds of trucks have been forced to take a longer route to the stricken region.
The non-government organisation ActionAid has criticised the relief effort in Uganda, where close to 20 people have died since the floods began and a massive food shortage looms. “There is still very slow response on the ground especially from government, though a lot has been promised since the floods in northern and eastern Uganda have now been declared a national disaster,” it said in a statement.

The organisation warned that the crisis had caused the prices of fuel and basic food supplies to soar.
Nigeria's Red Cross announced Thursday that 64 people had died in the country in the floods and that 22,000 people have been displaced in 10 northern states in Africa's most populous nation, as well as in the Lagos area in the southwest.
Burkina Faso, one of Africa's poorest nations, has reported 33 deaths and nearly 7,500 homes destroyed.
Countries as far north as Algeria were also affected. Algerian officials said Thursday there had been 21 million euros (30 million dollars) of damage in floods last weekend alone.
And there have been warnings about the future.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the number of floods in Africa where the movement has provided relief aid had jumped from five in 2004 to 32 in 2006, which was a "worrying" eightfold increase.
By mid-September, the number of floods on the continent that mobilised Red Cross aid so far this year stood at 42.