It's an inside job... as always

"For quite many years, Sierra Leone and other African countries received aid but it does not necessarily get us any where.  We are not looking into the future, we are not designing our own future.  Unless we have a host of young people who can think, at any given point, that here's a challenge, that here's a problem where there's an opportunity to solve it, there won't be a steady growth in national development." David Sengeh, from Sierra Leone and current Ph.D. candidate at MIT

Sengeh runs a Summer Innovation Camp in Sierra Leona "...that challenges kids to think about the toughest problems in their community and have them solve it.  Kelvin's team applied to build an FM radio station for community empowerment and people listened religiously to his radio station... it's very inspirational."  Kelvin is known as DJ Focus in his community and he calls himself this because he believes "...if you focus you can do invention perfectly."

See his story here:
http://www.thetakeaway.org/2012/dec/12/encouraging-culture-innovation/

 

Africa on the Web... cont'd

Layers of training and practice... to be consistent and to get the work done.  Not enough to amass knowledge for knowledge's sake, but to the end of entering/continuing the conversation about contemporary Africa.  Today I'm thinking about countries in Africa defining themselves for themselves.  As I look for media about what's going on in countries such as Ghana where an election just took place, and South Africa, where Mandela continues to be hospitalized, the media I'm pulling from are always outside the continent, in the UK, the US, etc.  This is part of my mission, to research what is being highlighted by Western media - but today I'm more interested in how African nations define themselves and how far reaching are their media.  This is consistent with a theme of mine today (and always) around defining ourselves for our self and the well recognized reality that we are also products of our genetics, upbringings, social cultural environments and economic realities. 

Sampling of headlines

African Nations' Headlines:
Ghanaweb.com: I Am Overwhelmed by the Victory - Prez Mahama
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/

The Guadian Nigeria: NAPTIP, Groups Want Anti-Trafficking Campaign in Rural Areas
http://ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=107286:naptip-groups-want-anti-trafficking-campaign-in-rural-areas&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

Daily Nation Kenya: Great News for Employees but a Legal Minefield for Investors
http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/smartcompany/The-ruling-that-shook-the-market/-/1226/1639980/-/1vud41z/-/index.html


North American & European Nations' Headlines:
Boston.com: S Africa Worried as Mandela Remains in the Hospital
http://www.boston.com/2012/12/10/fae-entry-cont/0J6sZtVhlO7d9qWYJ8dFOK/story.html

BBC UK: Rhino Poaching: South Africa and Vietnam Sign Deal
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20670012

Toronto Star: How South Africa's Dream Turned into a Grim Reality
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1299251--apartheid-flourishes-in-the-new-south-africa