The countries of Southern Africa are closely related to each other and some of their houses though in different countries may resemble. Countries like the Republic of South Africa were colonised the longest yet have retained some of their Historic past through their houses.
My heritage is in Africa and my identity started with Africa and it is my love. My bloggs are aimed at exposing to others the hidden mystery of Africa. They aim to inspire and challenge Africans to reach out themselves inorder to understand themselves with a clear perception. My blogs also articulate the case for Africa and expose the abuse of powers without who work to ensure that Africa remains a dependant continent even though it holds most of the world's natural resources.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Traditional and Cultural East and North East African Homes
In this second part of the article, the traditional houses of the countries in East and North East Africa are examined. The countries of East and North East Africa include Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia and Sudan.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Africa's Historic past told by buildings, monuments, landmarks, and artwork part 2
In this second part of the article we look at the East and North East African countries. The countries of East and North East Africa include, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan. Ethiopia was the only country in the south of Sahara Africa that was never colonised. For this reason much of its History has been left intact.
Gondar -Ethiopia: The city of Gondar is in the north of Lake Tana, in Ethiopia. The city was founded by emperor Fasilidie about 1635 and was the capital city of Ethiopia until 1855. Emperor Fasilidie reigned from 1632-1667. He is said to have restored the power of Ethiopian Orthodox church by suppressing Roman Catholic institutions. He is credited to have mounted major building campaigns which includes a number of churches, his castle and seven stone bridges.
Read more at: http://trifter.com/africa/africas-historic-past-told-by-buildings-monuments-landmarks-and-artwork-part-two/
Africa's Historic Past told by buildings, Monuments, landmarks, art work Part 1
Africa is one continent that is misundertsood, perhaps because of distorted facts and History of the people and their land. Africa is considered to be the cradle of mankind and in my opinion what we have today is just an improvement of what Africa has had. Africans had writings that is recently being discovered and a rich culture which was passed on by oral tradition and folklore.
The African and His fight for survival
Before the 15th century, skin color was considered a natural thing and taken for granted. Around the 15th century sinister attributes were introduced to skin color. Everything white started being symbolized as European and Christian and was perceived as good and superior and everything black symbolized the African and non-Christian and was perceived as bad and inferior. The continent of Africa was also labelled the dark continent.
Due to this stigmatization, prejudice based on skin color became a justification for brutality and hatred and racism towards the African. This is where sentiments like “the black sheep”, black magic, associated with Africa emanated from. In further trying to justify the inferiority of the “black African” the area south of the Sahara is categorized as sub- Saharan Africa which according to Owen Alik Shahadah has racist overtones:
“Sub-Saharan Africa is a racist byword for “primitive”, a place which has escaped advancement. Hence, we see statements like “no written languages exist in Sub-Saharan Africa.” “Ancient Egypt was not a Sub-Saharan African civilization.” Sub-Sahara serves as an exclusion, which moves, jumps and slides around to suit negative generalization of Africa” ( Shahadah, Owen Alik, Liguistic for a New African Reality).
Read more: http://socyberty.com/society/the-african-and-his-fight-for-survival/#ixzz11q6WHZS3
Due to this stigmatization, prejudice based on skin color became a justification for brutality and hatred and racism towards the African. This is where sentiments like “the black sheep”, black magic, associated with Africa emanated from. In further trying to justify the inferiority of the “black African” the area south of the Sahara is categorized as sub- Saharan Africa which according to Owen Alik Shahadah has racist overtones:
“Sub-Saharan Africa is a racist byword for “primitive”, a place which has escaped advancement. Hence, we see statements like “no written languages exist in Sub-Saharan Africa.” “Ancient Egypt was not a Sub-Saharan African civilization.” Sub-Sahara serves as an exclusion, which moves, jumps and slides around to suit negative generalization of Africa” ( Shahadah, Owen Alik, Liguistic for a New African Reality).
Read more: http://socyberty.com/society/the-african-and-his-fight-for-survival/#ixzz11q6WHZS3
The Anti Social Disordered Somalia
For most people, their adult personality is attuned to the demands of society they grow in. Just like individuals have personalities, nations too tend to have a personality which seem to identify it and its people. How one nation perceives things and behaves may be considered by the rest of the world as a disorder. This is more so when that nations activity affect others negatively.
The rebirth of a Nation, Kenya the beloved
It is now official, Kenya has a new constitution drafted, debated and voted in wholly by Kenyans.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
The way Forward for the Media in Africa
“The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook” Proverbs 18:4.
The media is the greatest tool that the world has today in influencing ideas and opinions. It is accessible to most people in one form or another. How the news is portrayed and what becomes news is determined by the media. It also influences how people think about a particular item or event by how the news is reported. This is why the media must be careful at what it reports and how it reports. One way or another it will covey a message which may have great ramification on those reading or receiving the message.
The western media has for the most part portrayed the African continent as backwards and inferior in every aspect while glorifying the animals found in Africa. All that one reads about Africa is the perceived ignorance, poverty, and corruption of the Africans. This seems to have become the symbol of Africa and has been done so with a motive which the ignorant reader may not even recognize.
To most people in the western world poverty, disease and animals is what Africa is about which opinion is based on how news from Africa is reported. Good things happening in Africa is not news, but a continuous report about calamities, diseases and roused civil conflicts and poverty is acceptable news. The same media reports to the African a glamorized Western world; perhaps an ideal of what is good.
The idea here is to portray one as superior and the other as inferior to the other. Some of the comments that I have read on an article on Africa, from those in the Western world are despicable and full of ignorance yet it is the acceptable view. No wonder then that the African has for a long time perceived himself as inferior because of this deception while the person from the West erroneously believe he is superior.
This is why the media from localized African countries have as of necessity a duty to campaign for Africa in order to change perspective on Africa. The media has to go further and plant seeds of pride and acceptance among Africans for themselves and their culture. It should promote what is African and create a spirit of accountability by following up on issues that promote integrity and honor among Africans. The media should influence by suggestions and not just analysis.
Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/333965_the-way-forward-for-the-media-in-africa
The media is the greatest tool that the world has today in influencing ideas and opinions. It is accessible to most people in one form or another. How the news is portrayed and what becomes news is determined by the media. It also influences how people think about a particular item or event by how the news is reported. This is why the media must be careful at what it reports and how it reports. One way or another it will covey a message which may have great ramification on those reading or receiving the message.
The western media has for the most part portrayed the African continent as backwards and inferior in every aspect while glorifying the animals found in Africa. All that one reads about Africa is the perceived ignorance, poverty, and corruption of the Africans. This seems to have become the symbol of Africa and has been done so with a motive which the ignorant reader may not even recognize.
To most people in the western world poverty, disease and animals is what Africa is about which opinion is based on how news from Africa is reported. Good things happening in Africa is not news, but a continuous report about calamities, diseases and roused civil conflicts and poverty is acceptable news. The same media reports to the African a glamorized Western world; perhaps an ideal of what is good.
The idea here is to portray one as superior and the other as inferior to the other. Some of the comments that I have read on an article on Africa, from those in the Western world are despicable and full of ignorance yet it is the acceptable view. No wonder then that the African has for a long time perceived himself as inferior because of this deception while the person from the West erroneously believe he is superior.
This is why the media from localized African countries have as of necessity a duty to campaign for Africa in order to change perspective on Africa. The media has to go further and plant seeds of pride and acceptance among Africans for themselves and their culture. It should promote what is African and create a spirit of accountability by following up on issues that promote integrity and honor among Africans. The media should influence by suggestions and not just analysis.
Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/333965_the-way-forward-for-the-media-in-africa
Using children as a commodity for sex trade
"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward" Psalm 127: 3
One of the things that I can never fathom is when the world became so corrupt that we have people paying to sleep with children. Is it only me but does the thought of it make anyone else feel murderous angry just to think of it.
I set out to establish how widespread this evil is prevalent in the world and I have been surprised at what I found. With the advent of the internet and easy availability of pornography this evil has reached a scaring level for people to ignore.
My research shows that cases of child prostitution prevail in all countries because of the demand. Most of the victims come from poor families or have parents who are absent physically or emotionally. Those who willing chose to sell their bodies have a history of molestation and they feel like they have lost ownership over their body. They therefore use their body as a commodity. But the worst are those that are kidnapped and trafficked as sex slaves to foreign countries.
In Africa, my focus was on kenya for personal reasons. I found that cases of prostitution have been reported in the coastal cities of Mombasa and Malindi. Kenya is known as a tourist destination and attracts Europeans from various Europeans countries.
Kenya it seems has also become an attraction for pedophilias. There are reports of “Mzungus” (White men) paying girls as young as 9 years to have sex with them. Boys too have been sodomized by these men. All the victims come from poor families in the villages nearby.
Although there are laws against such crimes these people seem to get away with it because they take off before they are arrested. Another thing is that perhaps Kenya has not developed a branch of the police which can deal with these crimes. But now that people are talking about it maybe things will change.
Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/283422_children-as-a-commodity-of-sex-trade
One of the things that I can never fathom is when the world became so corrupt that we have people paying to sleep with children. Is it only me but does the thought of it make anyone else feel murderous angry just to think of it.
I set out to establish how widespread this evil is prevalent in the world and I have been surprised at what I found. With the advent of the internet and easy availability of pornography this evil has reached a scaring level for people to ignore.
My research shows that cases of child prostitution prevail in all countries because of the demand. Most of the victims come from poor families or have parents who are absent physically or emotionally. Those who willing chose to sell their bodies have a history of molestation and they feel like they have lost ownership over their body. They therefore use their body as a commodity. But the worst are those that are kidnapped and trafficked as sex slaves to foreign countries.
In Africa, my focus was on kenya for personal reasons. I found that cases of prostitution have been reported in the coastal cities of Mombasa and Malindi. Kenya is known as a tourist destination and attracts Europeans from various Europeans countries.
Kenya it seems has also become an attraction for pedophilias. There are reports of “Mzungus” (White men) paying girls as young as 9 years to have sex with them. Boys too have been sodomized by these men. All the victims come from poor families in the villages nearby.
Although there are laws against such crimes these people seem to get away with it because they take off before they are arrested. Another thing is that perhaps Kenya has not developed a branch of the police which can deal with these crimes. But now that people are talking about it maybe things will change.
Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/283422_children-as-a-commodity-of-sex-trade
Keny'a people , heritage and famous Historical Landscapes
Kenya is a country in the East Coast of Africa and like many African countries was once a colony of the British and attained its independence in 1963. Kenya is a republic with a parliamentary system of governance with the president as the head of state.
Kenya is divided into eight provinces for governance purposes. Nairobi the capital city of Kenya is also a province by itself. Other province are Central province with headquarters in Nyeri town, Eastern province with headquarters in Embu town, North Easter province having its headquarters in Garrisa town, The Rift Valley province with headquarters in Nakuru town, Nyanza Province with headquarters in Kisumu town, The Western province with headquarters in Kakamega town and the Coastal province having headquarters in Mombasa. Different parts of the country have interesting Historical monuments and landscapes as well as rich cultures.
1) Central Province: The Kikuyu tribe, the biggest tribe in Kenya (about 22%) is predominantly found in central province. The main activity carried on in the Central province is agricultural farming. Cash crop like Cofee and Tea are grown in central province. Some major towns in central province are Nyeri, Karatina, Thika, Kiambu, Nyahururu and Muranga.
Landmarks:
Mt Kenya: Mt Kenya is located in Nyeri town. This is one of the few places under the equator worldwide where there’s eternal ice and snow. When the first European to see Mount Kenya – J.L. Krapf from Germany in 1849, reported seeing snow on this equatorial mountain, he was ridiculed by the scientific community. The Kikuyu believed that God (Ngai) lived or could be accessed through the top of Mount Kenya. They prayed traditionally facing Mt Kenya and their homes were built facing the sacred peak which they called Kirinyanga or a place of light. Mt. Kenya National Park is home to the three peaks of Mt.Kenya namely Batian, Nelion and Lenana.
Read more and see pictures at: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/273487_famous-landmarks-and-historical-monuments-of-kenya
Kenya is divided into eight provinces for governance purposes. Nairobi the capital city of Kenya is also a province by itself. Other province are Central province with headquarters in Nyeri town, Eastern province with headquarters in Embu town, North Easter province having its headquarters in Garrisa town, The Rift Valley province with headquarters in Nakuru town, Nyanza Province with headquarters in Kisumu town, The Western province with headquarters in Kakamega town and the Coastal province having headquarters in Mombasa. Different parts of the country have interesting Historical monuments and landscapes as well as rich cultures.
1) Central Province: The Kikuyu tribe, the biggest tribe in Kenya (about 22%) is predominantly found in central province. The main activity carried on in the Central province is agricultural farming. Cash crop like Cofee and Tea are grown in central province. Some major towns in central province are Nyeri, Karatina, Thika, Kiambu, Nyahururu and Muranga.
Landmarks:
Mt Kenya: Mt Kenya is located in Nyeri town. This is one of the few places under the equator worldwide where there’s eternal ice and snow. When the first European to see Mount Kenya – J.L. Krapf from Germany in 1849, reported seeing snow on this equatorial mountain, he was ridiculed by the scientific community. The Kikuyu believed that God (Ngai) lived or could be accessed through the top of Mount Kenya. They prayed traditionally facing Mt Kenya and their homes were built facing the sacred peak which they called Kirinyanga or a place of light. Mt. Kenya National Park is home to the three peaks of Mt.Kenya namely Batian, Nelion and Lenana.
Read more and see pictures at: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/273487_famous-landmarks-and-historical-monuments-of-kenya
Traditional and cultural African dresses and clothing
Africa is a dynamic continent full of cultural diversity.
Africa is the 2nd largest continent in the world with 53 countries and over 1000 ethnicities and cultures. In the north are the Arab Africans and their fashion or traditional dress will be very similar to that in the Middle East. In East Africa we have so many variant cultures and different traditional dress some of which have been transformed into national dress. The common thing is the "shuka" in the form of Khanga or kitenge which may be worn in different ways. Most African dress is very colorful and Africans are known for the traditional jewelry worn in various ways..
North Africa
The countries of North Africa are Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and Morocco. Most of these countries practice the Muslim faith and their culture is heavily influenced by Islam. Women will mostly be veiled with long dresses that cover their body completely. The men in North Africa may also cover their faces mainly because of the environmental conditions, like dessert winds in the area. The garment used ensured they kept heat off during the day and warmed them during the night.
The fez cap: This originated in Morocco, yet was first popularized in the Ottoman Empire. The fez cap was worn by the army members, but quickly adopted by Turks and was worn by many different religious and ethnic groups in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century. It is however not very popular today.
Read more and view pictures: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/259736_traditional-and-cultural-african-dresses
Africa is the 2nd largest continent in the world with 53 countries and over 1000 ethnicities and cultures. In the north are the Arab Africans and their fashion or traditional dress will be very similar to that in the Middle East. In East Africa we have so many variant cultures and different traditional dress some of which have been transformed into national dress. The common thing is the "shuka" in the form of Khanga or kitenge which may be worn in different ways. Most African dress is very colorful and Africans are known for the traditional jewelry worn in various ways..
North Africa
The countries of North Africa are Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and Morocco. Most of these countries practice the Muslim faith and their culture is heavily influenced by Islam. Women will mostly be veiled with long dresses that cover their body completely. The men in North Africa may also cover their faces mainly because of the environmental conditions, like dessert winds in the area. The garment used ensured they kept heat off during the day and warmed them during the night.
The fez cap: This originated in Morocco, yet was first popularized in the Ottoman Empire. The fez cap was worn by the army members, but quickly adopted by Turks and was worn by many different religious and ethnic groups in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century. It is however not very popular today.
Read more and view pictures: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/259736_traditional-and-cultural-african-dresses
The enslavement of Migrant workers in the Middle East,
The Gulf States attracts migrant workers from poor nations because of the alleged opportunities created by the wealth of these nations.
Most people go to the various countries like Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to do menial jobs like construction work, driving and as domestic workers. Obviously the of the nature of jobs attracts less educated people and sadly also from poorer families. This makes it a perfect recipes for them to be abused because of a perceived ignorance of their rights or because the employer knows of their desperation.
The migrant workers report that when they get to their destination the first thing that happens is to have their passports confiscated by their employers. They are made to work under conditions that would pass as slavery. Recently a local Kenyan newspaper, The Daily Nation, reported a story of a Kenyan woman who had gone to Work in Saudi Arabia as a domestic worker. She accused her employer of throwing her out of a third floor window, breaking her legs and hands.
The woman by the name of Fatma Athman, from the Coastal city of Mombasa, returned to Kenya with broken limbs and stories of near-slavery in Saudi Arabia where she was employed as a maid last May. “She was lucky”, she said, “She landed in a swimming pool and not on the pavement”. She also says she would be subjected to a torrent of abuse for the slightest mistake; “I used to sleep for only two hours and I ate left-overs. That was really slavery,” she said in tears.
Fatma claimed the children of her employer also sexually exploited her. She says that she worked for five months, but was paid for only one. She says it was not explained to her why she was not paid for the other months. On the day her employer pushed her out of the window, she said she was hanging clothes on the line; “I heard my employer saying ‘you are better off dead, you are better dead”. She was rescued by the police who took her to the hospital. After a week in hospital, she was deported. “I left Saudi Arabia without luggage, not even my clothes. What I took is the few drugs I was given at the hospital.”
Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/249850_enslavement-of-migrant-workers-in-the-middle-east
Most people go to the various countries like Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to do menial jobs like construction work, driving and as domestic workers. Obviously the of the nature of jobs attracts less educated people and sadly also from poorer families. This makes it a perfect recipes for them to be abused because of a perceived ignorance of their rights or because the employer knows of their desperation.
The migrant workers report that when they get to their destination the first thing that happens is to have their passports confiscated by their employers. They are made to work under conditions that would pass as slavery. Recently a local Kenyan newspaper, The Daily Nation, reported a story of a Kenyan woman who had gone to Work in Saudi Arabia as a domestic worker. She accused her employer of throwing her out of a third floor window, breaking her legs and hands.
The woman by the name of Fatma Athman, from the Coastal city of Mombasa, returned to Kenya with broken limbs and stories of near-slavery in Saudi Arabia where she was employed as a maid last May. “She was lucky”, she said, “She landed in a swimming pool and not on the pavement”. She also says she would be subjected to a torrent of abuse for the slightest mistake; “I used to sleep for only two hours and I ate left-overs. That was really slavery,” she said in tears.
Fatma claimed the children of her employer also sexually exploited her. She says that she worked for five months, but was paid for only one. She says it was not explained to her why she was not paid for the other months. On the day her employer pushed her out of the window, she said she was hanging clothes on the line; “I heard my employer saying ‘you are better off dead, you are better dead”. She was rescued by the police who took her to the hospital. After a week in hospital, she was deported. “I left Saudi Arabia without luggage, not even my clothes. What I took is the few drugs I was given at the hospital.”
Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/249850_enslavement-of-migrant-workers-in-the-middle-east
The Nutricious Kenyan Foods
Kenya has over 40 ethnic tribes living in different provinces of Kenya. Traditionally the various tribes had different staple foods and/ or prepared their food differently based on cultural practices
For the Kikuyus in Central province, food used to be mainly boiled and mashed. This is the home of githeri, a mixture of maize (corn) and beans boiled together and eaten as a complete meal. At times the mixture would be mashed with potatoes. Today the githeri is sometimes fried with onions, and tomatoes. The Kikuyus other staple food is “irio” which is cooked peas mashed with potatoes. There were other food products like yams, cassava and arrow roots which were also eaten after boiling. As you can tell the Kikuyus diet was very blunt and consequently obesity was unheard of.
In the Nyanza and Western side of Kenya we have the Luos and the Baluyas. Maize was the main thing which was grounded to make flour to make ugali. Ugali is a paste like gruel made from maize flour in boiling water. Ugali is normally eaten with green leafy vegetables or fish to make a complete meal. Since the Luos live near Lake Victoria, Fish was and is a common food element. Green leafy vegetables like collard green are popular in this region. Apart from Maize, the tribes in this region also use millet flour to make ugali or porridge.
Cooked Bananas is and was staple food to most tribes in Kenya. Those in Western Kenya roasted the bananas and ate them with stew or with porridge while others, particularly in Central and Eastern province boiled and mashed them. In the Coastal province, because of the influence of Arabs, there is a lot of use of spices. Cooking with coconut is also very popular. The main dishes are fish, plantains, and rice. Rice is cooked using coconut milk and other spices to a dish called “pilau”.
The pastoralist tribes like the Maasais and Turkanas traditionally fed mainly on meat. They kept and still keep goats and cows as possession and for food. Their main diet is goat meat as well as milk and blood from the animals.
Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/237473_the-nutricious-kenyan-foods
For the Kikuyus in Central province, food used to be mainly boiled and mashed. This is the home of githeri, a mixture of maize (corn) and beans boiled together and eaten as a complete meal. At times the mixture would be mashed with potatoes. Today the githeri is sometimes fried with onions, and tomatoes. The Kikuyus other staple food is “irio” which is cooked peas mashed with potatoes. There were other food products like yams, cassava and arrow roots which were also eaten after boiling. As you can tell the Kikuyus diet was very blunt and consequently obesity was unheard of.
In the Nyanza and Western side of Kenya we have the Luos and the Baluyas. Maize was the main thing which was grounded to make flour to make ugali. Ugali is a paste like gruel made from maize flour in boiling water. Ugali is normally eaten with green leafy vegetables or fish to make a complete meal. Since the Luos live near Lake Victoria, Fish was and is a common food element. Green leafy vegetables like collard green are popular in this region. Apart from Maize, the tribes in this region also use millet flour to make ugali or porridge.
Cooked Bananas is and was staple food to most tribes in Kenya. Those in Western Kenya roasted the bananas and ate them with stew or with porridge while others, particularly in Central and Eastern province boiled and mashed them. In the Coastal province, because of the influence of Arabs, there is a lot of use of spices. Cooking with coconut is also very popular. The main dishes are fish, plantains, and rice. Rice is cooked using coconut milk and other spices to a dish called “pilau”.
The pastoralist tribes like the Maasais and Turkanas traditionally fed mainly on meat. They kept and still keep goats and cows as possession and for food. Their main diet is goat meat as well as milk and blood from the animals.
Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/237473_the-nutricious-kenyan-foods
This issue of accent and how it is used to discriminate
I come from a country where there are over 40 ethnic groups. This is not including the Indians, Arabs and Europeans who have settled in the country. English is the official language and the language of instructions in schools from Kindergarten, while Swahili is the national language.
The English spoken in my country is more British oriented since we were once a colony of Britain. The various ethnic groups all speak different “mother tongues” or languages together with English and Swahili. The average person therefore speaks at least three languages. It follows that most people have different accents when speaking another language outside their mother tongue. Some may have problems with letter “h” when it is together with “s” and may pronounce “she” as “see”. Others may have problems with letter “r” and “l” and pronounce “light” as “right” and “right” as “light” among such.
This off course is based on the fact that their tongue does a trick on them based on the first language they acquired or perhaps they think in their mother tongue hence the problem with how letters are received in the brain. We jokingly make fun of each others accents in my country of birth because the accents reveal what ethnic group one comes from. Not everyone however has this issue of mother tongue accent. Some people will speak without the common accent of their ethnicity in particular those born in the cities. They do not however speak English like the English because they are not English.
Before I came to the United States of America I never thought much about my accent when it came to speaking English. I don’t have the common accent attributed to people from my ethnic background and I learnt to speak English early on as a child. But that does not mean I speak like an English person by the very fact that I am not English. I also speak my mother tongue and three other languages. You can imagine my surprise when I came to America and I realized that even though I spoke good English some people could not “understand” me. I realized quickly enough that British English is very different from American English.
Words are pronounced and spelled differently and some words are just not used in America. I once told someone that something would be ready in a fortnight and they looked at me as if I was speaking a different language. A fortnight for those who don’t know is two weeks. I also discovered certain words are spelt missing certain vowels in American English. These are words like color and harbor which are spelt without a “u” after the “o”.
Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/216628_how-your-accents-can-be-used-to-demean-you
The English spoken in my country is more British oriented since we were once a colony of Britain. The various ethnic groups all speak different “mother tongues” or languages together with English and Swahili. The average person therefore speaks at least three languages. It follows that most people have different accents when speaking another language outside their mother tongue. Some may have problems with letter “h” when it is together with “s” and may pronounce “she” as “see”. Others may have problems with letter “r” and “l” and pronounce “light” as “right” and “right” as “light” among such.
This off course is based on the fact that their tongue does a trick on them based on the first language they acquired or perhaps they think in their mother tongue hence the problem with how letters are received in the brain. We jokingly make fun of each others accents in my country of birth because the accents reveal what ethnic group one comes from. Not everyone however has this issue of mother tongue accent. Some people will speak without the common accent of their ethnicity in particular those born in the cities. They do not however speak English like the English because they are not English.
Before I came to the United States of America I never thought much about my accent when it came to speaking English. I don’t have the common accent attributed to people from my ethnic background and I learnt to speak English early on as a child. But that does not mean I speak like an English person by the very fact that I am not English. I also speak my mother tongue and three other languages. You can imagine my surprise when I came to America and I realized that even though I spoke good English some people could not “understand” me. I realized quickly enough that British English is very different from American English.
Words are pronounced and spelled differently and some words are just not used in America. I once told someone that something would be ready in a fortnight and they looked at me as if I was speaking a different language. A fortnight for those who don’t know is two weeks. I also discovered certain words are spelt missing certain vowels in American English. These are words like color and harbor which are spelt without a “u” after the “o”.
Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/216628_how-your-accents-can-be-used-to-demean-you
Issues that Hold Africa Captive
The 19th century witnessed the colonization of Africa by the Europeans. Boundaries were drawn separating communities where none existed before.
They stripped Africa of her dignity and independence telling Africa that she was inferior and her culture was barbaric. Africa's children were forced to work for the colonialists as they watched their land grabbed by foreigners. They in effect became enslaved in their own land creating a sense of hopelessness. The degradation of the African mind was continuous as she was repeatedly told she was inferior to her white masters and her ways were savage.
The British used the system of divide and rule to govern the indigent people of the colonies they acquired. They capitalized on tribal sentiments to cause hatred and divisions among different tribal groupings. They would promote one in a particular area and another in another area causing envy and division amongst them. The French on the other hand tried to assimilate those they colonized in to the French way.
The colonialist imposed his ways on the African to change her thinking by parading the Western values as superior to the African. The African had to change her culture and learn the intruder's language as well adopting foreign names to be considered civilized in her own land. The normal thing in life is that the visitor tends to learn the way of the host in order to fit in with the host. He may contribute something of benefit to the host, which the host is at liberty to accept or reject.
The colonialists reversed the order, in that the host had to learn the ways of the visitor in order to be accepted in her own home. This is a psychological way of making one succumb to oppression. The oppressor is portrayed as a light to the oppressed and the oppressed starts believing it after some time and actually views himself as inferior to the oppressor.
Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/142065_africa-personified
They stripped Africa of her dignity and independence telling Africa that she was inferior and her culture was barbaric. Africa's children were forced to work for the colonialists as they watched their land grabbed by foreigners. They in effect became enslaved in their own land creating a sense of hopelessness. The degradation of the African mind was continuous as she was repeatedly told she was inferior to her white masters and her ways were savage.
The British used the system of divide and rule to govern the indigent people of the colonies they acquired. They capitalized on tribal sentiments to cause hatred and divisions among different tribal groupings. They would promote one in a particular area and another in another area causing envy and division amongst them. The French on the other hand tried to assimilate those they colonized in to the French way.
The colonialist imposed his ways on the African to change her thinking by parading the Western values as superior to the African. The African had to change her culture and learn the intruder's language as well adopting foreign names to be considered civilized in her own land. The normal thing in life is that the visitor tends to learn the way of the host in order to fit in with the host. He may contribute something of benefit to the host, which the host is at liberty to accept or reject.
The colonialists reversed the order, in that the host had to learn the ways of the visitor in order to be accepted in her own home. This is a psychological way of making one succumb to oppression. The oppressor is portrayed as a light to the oppressed and the oppressed starts believing it after some time and actually views himself as inferior to the oppressor.
Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/142065_africa-personified
A Different Face of Africa
The media is the greatest tool that the world has today in influencing ideas and opinions, particularly, the electronic media. The media in one form or another is accessible to most people. It determines what is news and portray the news in a way that it would like people to think.
The western media has portrayed the African continent as backwards and inferior in every aspect and the only thing worth of Africa are the animals. Most of the public in the Western world associate Africa only with poverty, disease and animals. Some think that Africa is one big jungle and that Africans live with the wild ones, like Tarzan in the famous Tarzan movie.
Contrast this view with the way the western world is portrayed to the African by the same media. Most peoples' knowledge is limited to what they read or see in the media. It is almost like there is a consensus in the Western media on how to report on Africa. Good things happening in Africa is not news, but a continuous report about calamities, diseases and poverty is acceptable news. This I believe is intentional.
As long as Africa is humiliated and portrayed as incapable of fending for herslef, then it justify her being depenedant on others. It creates an image of Africa as an inferior continent to the rest of the world and therefore incapable of managing her heritage. This, it is submitted leads to foreign occupation and a rape of Africa's resources by others on the pretence that they are "helping" Africa.
The writer who is from Africa takes it upon herself to reveal the other side of Africa that is unknown. This is done with the hope of changing thinking or perception. http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=271198&page=42 This is a link with different pictures of Kenya giving a compelete picture. The slums that the West glorifies are also in the pictures but so are the other building that are hidden to the world.
The writer is from Kenya and therefore uses more Kenya's examples as she has first hand information and experience. With this regard, the writer refers you to a world focus report of Nairobi, Kenya http://worldfocus.org/blog/2008/10/14/middle-class-sprawls-in-nairobi-kenya/1854/ which present another face of Africa.
Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/141033_a-different-face-of-africa
The western media has portrayed the African continent as backwards and inferior in every aspect and the only thing worth of Africa are the animals. Most of the public in the Western world associate Africa only with poverty, disease and animals. Some think that Africa is one big jungle and that Africans live with the wild ones, like Tarzan in the famous Tarzan movie.
Contrast this view with the way the western world is portrayed to the African by the same media. Most peoples' knowledge is limited to what they read or see in the media. It is almost like there is a consensus in the Western media on how to report on Africa. Good things happening in Africa is not news, but a continuous report about calamities, diseases and poverty is acceptable news. This I believe is intentional.
As long as Africa is humiliated and portrayed as incapable of fending for herslef, then it justify her being depenedant on others. It creates an image of Africa as an inferior continent to the rest of the world and therefore incapable of managing her heritage. This, it is submitted leads to foreign occupation and a rape of Africa's resources by others on the pretence that they are "helping" Africa.
The writer who is from Africa takes it upon herself to reveal the other side of Africa that is unknown. This is done with the hope of changing thinking or perception. http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=271198&page=42 This is a link with different pictures of Kenya giving a compelete picture. The slums that the West glorifies are also in the pictures but so are the other building that are hidden to the world.
The writer is from Kenya and therefore uses more Kenya's examples as she has first hand information and experience. With this regard, the writer refers you to a world focus report of Nairobi, Kenya http://worldfocus.org/blog/2008/10/14/middle-class-sprawls-in-nairobi-kenya/1854/ which present another face of Africa.
Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/141033_a-different-face-of-africa
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