Dynamic Africa
Formerly, "This is Africa/fyeahAfrica".
(Profile Photo by Mama Casset)
DISCLAIMER:
I do not endorse any of the products or opinions shared on this site, nor do I claim any of the work posted here to be my own - except where stated. All posts originally made by me are credited. If no credit is given then the work is either my own/written by me or reblogged from another source.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME:
Student, 24
Based in Cape Town, South Africa
From Lagos, Nigeria
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(As an unemployed media student, all donations go into ensuring my survival in this cruel world and future projects I hope to embark on).
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(since Oct. 21th 2012)
A young man in a local bakery in Kampala, Uganda, preparing bread for the oven. (Photography by Ahmad Mahmoud)
(via amiyak)
Female boda boda cyclist rides route where few women dare: Determined. Ms Matilda Igama, a mother of seven, has been a boda boda cyclist in Adjumani for two years.
It is unusual to spot a female boda boda rider in Madi Sub-region, which covers the two districts of Moyo and Adjumani. Passengers first hesitate and some stare in disbelief when Ms Matilda Igama calls out to them to sit on her motorbike.
Ms Igama has made history by taking a bold decision to take on the business of riding a motorcycle for commercial gain, making her the “first ever female boda-boda rider” in the sub-region.
She clocked two years in the business last month and is vowing to continue doing the same. She was previously dealing in retail business in Adjumani Town but decided to cross over to transporting passengers at a fee. (Full story at Daily Monitor)
NOTABLE AFRICANS: Danieri Basammula-Ekkere Mwanga II Mukasa
Taking to the the throne at age 16, following the death of his father Muteesa I of Buganda in 1884, Mwanga ruled as the Kabaka (king) of Buganda from 1884 until 1888 and from 1889 until 1897. The 31st Kabaka of Buganda, he would eventually be captured by colonial British forces and exiled to the Seychelles where he would eventually die in 1903.
He is most notably known for his aggressive expulsion of encroaching Christian missionaries in his kingdom by ordering Christian converts to either abandon their religion or face death.
From the Daily Monitor:
Two months into his reign, and oblivious of the negative reactions from imperial powers on his action, Mwanga censured all foreign religions, labelling them dangerous and destructive to Buganda. He saw the burning to death of three Christian converts; and also ordered the capture of Alexander Mackay and two of his fellow Protestant missionaries.
Three years after ascending the throne in 1884, Mwanga had ordered the burning of 45 of his pages; 32 of the murdered converts would later gain worldwide recognition as the Uganda Martyrs.
The executions, including of Bishop James Hannington in 1885, alarmed the Protestants and Catholics, who despite their potent religious disputes, allied to dethrone Mwanga; and they did on August 2, 1888 with the help of the Muslims.
By the time of his first ouster from the throne, Mwanga had no major group to support him. The Muslims were not on his side, after he refused to convert to Islam; the Christians didn’t shield his back either—for ordering several executions; and the Traditionalists, convinced that the small pox ravaging the kingdom then was a result of neglect of traditional cultures and beliefs, had little faith in the king.
The most crucial threat to Mwanga’s reign would, however, be the Europeans, who had the same year he ascended the throne in 1884, met in Berlin, Germany, to allot Africa among themselves. Although he knew that the ‘white man’ was intent on ‘eating’ his kingdom, Mwanga was clueless about the extent of their imperial appetite and greed.
After his deposition, Mwanga was replaced by his brother Kiweewa—but just like his brother, Kiweewa refused to face the circumcision knife and the Muslims - the strongest group then, united to depose him, 40 days into his reign.
Further reading: Wikipedia*
*This source makes reference to same-sex relations that the Kabaka may have had, which is how I came to know of him (I was watching a televised debate on whether homosexuality is un-African and one of the speakers mentioned this incident). What I do not appreciate is the way in which some sources (linked source elaborates on this) have used his sexuality as something that is synonymous with evil, or the leading catalyst that led to him ordering the execution of several Christians.
Kampala, Uganda 2012 by Nema Etebar
(for more images of Kampala visit Hycide Magazine: http://www.hycide.com/)
(via typicalugandan)
Different breakdance competitions and events in Uganda. (Photographed by Ugandan photographer Kibuuka Mukisa Oscar.)
Bishop Léon-Antoine-Augustin-Siméon Livinhac, a French Catholic priest and once head of the ‘White Fathers’, a Roman Catholic missionary and evangelical organization that sought to spread the Christian Catholic religion throughout Africa, seen here with ‘converts’ in Uganda.
Bishop Livinhac “oversaw a major expansion of the missionary society that coincided with the European colonial annexation of most of Africa”. His first missionary appointment was in February 1875 in Kabylie, to the east of Algiers. Livinhac left Algiers on 21 April 1878 and reached Uganda on 17 February 1879 where he and other missionaries established a church in the Kingdom of Buganda.
The BBC World Service is hosting its first ever Festival of Science at one of Africa’s oldest universities, the University of Makerere in Kampala, Uganda.
The festival, from Sunday 24 to Thursday 28 March 2013, will showcase some of the most significant international scientific research and explore how African scientists have contributed to the global science agenda.
Scientists from around the world and Africa are attending the week-long festival in Freedom square, in the grounds of the University of Makerere, including:
- Peter Piot, Director of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and former UN AIDS chief
- Tejinder Virdee, of CERN one of the world’s leading physicists. Kenyan born Virdee led the search for the Higgs Boson particle
- Professor Justin Jonas, Dept. Physics & Electronics, Rhodes University. Jonas is working on the square Kilometre Array, Africa’s largest space project
- Dr. Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu, Ghanaian born senior robotics engineer from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California
Audiences are invited to join the BBC World Service’s flagship programmes broadcasting daily live. They will each be discussing the changing nature of scientific endeavour and exploring how African science can contribute to the global agenda. As well as questioning if Africa could become a new hub of global science.
Vera Kwakofi, BBC Africa News Editor, says; “I’m excited that the BBC is leading this conversation about science on the continent through the Festival of Science in Uganda. Our growing audiences in Africa are passionate about innovation, technology and learning. This festival will provide a unique opportunity to showcase new innovations and their potential applications in everyday life. The BBC is proud and delighted that some of Africa’s leading scientists who work on globally defining projects such as the CERN and the NASA Mars Rover projects will join us to share their experiences and help to inspire a new generation of African scientists.”
Steve Titherington, Senior Commissioning Editor, BBC World Service, says: “For us Africa is increasingly a key partner in the world of science and this festival is a chance to show that connection and build on it.”
The flagship news and current affairs programme, Newsday, will be broadcasting live every morning with Alan Kasujja anchoring the show from 0600–1130 local time (0300–0830 GMT).
Focus On Africa, presented by Audrey Brown is carrying cutting edge interviews and material from the University grounds 1800-1830, 2000-2100 local time (1500-1530 GMT, 1700-1800 GMT).
World Have Your Say, hosted by Ros Atkins will be holding live debates at 1400-1500 local time (1100-1200 GMT) from the University and surroundings, inviting university students and others to participate.
Each day there will also be a special hour long Science programme recorded with a live audience at the university 1200-1300 local time (0900-1000GMT) with scientists from Africa and abroad in discussion.
Daily themes:
- Sunday 24: Where is Science in Africa?
- Monday 25: The ‘wow factor’ – Cutting edge science in Africa
- Tuesday 26: Health in Africa – How far is African science helping fight global disease
- Wednesday 27: Agriculture – What can African science do to help feed Africa?
- Thursday 28: The Future – Can Africa become a centre for global excellence in Science?
The monthly BBC World Service Africa Debate will be recorded on Thursday 28 with a live audience asking the question: “Can Africa set the science agenda?”
These boda bodas are essentially ambulances.
Known variously as mAmbulance (mobile Ambulance) or BodAmbulance, seven re-tooled boda bodas have taken more than 4,200 emergency cases within the Mbale, Manafwa, and Bududa districts since the first run in December 2010.
(via Accessing Health Services in Uganda: Boda Boda to the Rescue! | Think Africa Press)
(via typicalugandan)
Market in Kampala, Uganda
Video profile on the life of the incredible 16-year-old Ugandan chess star Phiona Mutesi on how she discovered her love for chess, her successes so far, as well as her hopes for the future.
Artwork exhibited in Nakasero by Ugandan artist Samson Ssenkaaba aka Xenson at the Kampala Contemporary Art Festival 2012
“Today we are seeing a huge dumping phenomenon of second hand products and cheap Chinese brand name knock-offs in many African cities. Most of the second hand goods come through the sea via these containers. Inevitably the containers are the vehicles of a phenomenon that is blind to unsuspecting citizens of these third world economies who at the same time are unaware of the pending gross repercussions.
Through my art I’m trying to create an awareness of the dangers of dumping, which is now common in contemporary Africa. I strive to ask critical but emotionally sensitive questions and solicit information from the audience by highlighting this issue. In turn I believe this will stimulate a thought process and potentially perpetrate the necessary action. There is a critical question however: Can there be a seamless co-existence of technology and economic advancement without tremendous damage to the environment?
My art seeks to represent some conceptual and abstract answers to this question.”
The Northeastern plains of Uganda are home to the nomads of Karamoja; semi-pastoralist herders, whose wealth, livelihoods and status are determined by the cattle they own.
“Phiona Mutesi is the ultimate underdog…To be African is to be an underdog in the world. To be Ugandan is to be an underdog in Africa. To be from Katwe is to be an underdog in Uganda. To be a girl is to be an underdog in Katwe.”
more.
A Young Batwa Medical Student Advocates for Health Care for his People Forcefully Displaced From Their Forest in Uganda
For thousands of years the Batwa people lived in the Impenetrable Forest of Uganda. Hunters and gatherers who are often derisively referred to as pygmies, the Batwa are the original people of a lush and beautiful land where they gathered food and collected wild honey through the generations. In 1991, conservationists seeking protection for the endangered mountain gorilla of this East African country forcibly displaced the Batwa from their ancestral home, causing disruptions of such enormous proportions that, though the gorillas have been saved, it is the Batwa people who are now in danger of becoming extinct.
