Strong women...

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...

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

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

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

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.