Africa, one word that says so much yet is so misunderstood, misrepresented, maligned, oversimplified and as old as time itself.

From journalists, to politicians, to academics, to travelers, to aid workers, to everyday people from all over the globe including the continent itself Africa is a place of mystery. The origin of the word Africa is still debatable and a potential future blog entry on its own. I guess it isn’t so surprising that Africa which has been and continues to be referred to as the dark continent continues to mystify people and when our “leadership” such as US President Bush refers to Africa as a country no wonder people remain confused. I am not claiming to be an expert but I think I have made an effort above and beyond that of many to better understand Africa in my travels, work and studies here.

Lets be clear Africa is a large continent home to between 50 and 61 countries (territories in some cases) depending on who you ask. Most seem to put the number at 53 or 54. The US State Department and UN have basically the same lists of 192 (193) countries of the world the only difference being Vatican City which is not part of the UN list. Two other sites to visit are Africaninformation.net (which has an interactive map) and Mbendi.co.za for more information on the countries in Africa, population of each, languages, history, etc.

Many of the current problems across Africa date back to the Berlin Conference that took place over a year’s time between November 15, 1884 and February 26, 1885. This meeting of 14 countries mainly from Europe as well as the US and Turkey came up with arbitrary borders of the 2^nd largest continent in the world based more on resources, natural boundaries such as mountains and rivers and strategic access to rivers, beaches and roads than the plethora of independent African nations, cultures, languages, religions, etc. that existed. It is no wonder that even today Africans are conflicted between loyalty to their country and their tribe/people. For more on the conference you can visit homestead.com or geography.about.com.

From my experiences mainly in Mozambique and South Africa and brief trips to Swaziland and Lesotho I find Africa to be complex, controversial, creative and colorful. It is a place I love, yearn to better understand and which can frustrate and confound me all at the same time. Not only is Africa abused, misunderstood, etc. by those who have never been here, or come as visitors but also by Africans themselves black, white, colored, Indian, etc. Often the biggest excuse for corruption, poverty, lack of education, corruption, pace of life and more that I have heard during my time in southern Africa has been “it is Africa get used to it”. This sentiment and other similar ones don’t just come from people of all races and ethnic backgrounds.

I am not one who likes to generalize or stereotype although it is often hard to avoid doing this at times. So it bothers me when people in South Africa talk about Nigerians, a group that seems to have made a bad reputation for itself here in South Africa. I find it hard to believe that all Nigerians are bad, in fact I know some Nigerians and consider them friends. Yet, the actions of a few or many Nigerians here in South Africa has made people say that all Nigerians are criminals/tsotsis, drug dealers, etc. Another problem I have when generalizing is when people say “I am going to Africa” or “I have a friend from Africa” or something similar even though this person is visiting Kenya or has a friend from Ghana. Ignorance, laziness and lack of respect seems to make people over generalize Africa and this can be very detrimental. I admit at times I say Africa when I want/can be more specific but it is usually determined by who I am talking to and the purpose of the conversation. Yet, with my up coming travels to Brasil I won’t say I am going to South America but rather Brasil. I guess this is in part because more people know Brasil then they know the Gambia, Central African Republic or Djibouti.

I want to leave you with an example of the complexity of life here in South Africa that is representative of much of the continent. If you take a group like the Zulus and spend time with them, learn about their culture, history, etc. you realize that even within this group there are subgroups. So even the mighty Zulu who defeated the Afrikaners and others and dominated this part of the world for many years have divisions. This is one reason that people say that problems are on the horizon for South Africa when within ethnic groups you still find people who can’t get along. I hope this will not be the case and that South Africa doesn’t go the way of Zimbabwe.

How can the continent that produces the least amount of the green house gases that cause climate change be feeling the effects of this change already?

An article from the Christian Science Monitor written on last week helps make an interesting link between my life and work in Africa and my upcoming time in South America. Thanks to my aunt Sarah for alerting me to this article. I have only written briefly about climate change before and encouraged you to see Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” and maybe with the recent changes in Washington, D.C. the US can actually begin being part of the solution and not just the driving force behind the problem. I hope that my work in Brasil will allow me to see the effects of global warming up close in another context and allow me to see some tangible means being used to convince people of the realities of climate change and the ways in which we can work together to combat the reasons it is happening. We must all choose to help or hurt each other.

Here is a brief section of the article which I recommend reading in its entirety.

Africans are already facing climate change

Is Darfur the first climate-change conflict? In Kenya, a UN meeting begins Monday to set new fossil-fuel emissions targets.

By Scott Baldauf | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – As delegates gather Monday in Kenya for a United Nations conference to set new targets to reduce fossil-fuel emissions after 2012, climate change is a present reality for many Africans.

In Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Chad, people are already seeing the repercussions - including war. The conflict between herders and farmers in Sudan's Darfur region, where farm and grazing lands are being lost to desert, may be a harbinger of the future conflicts.

"You have climate change and reduced rainfall and shrinking areas of arable land; and then you add population growth and you have the elements of an explosion," says Francis Kornegay, a senior analyst at the Center for Policy Studies in Johannesburg.

Click ro read: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1106/p04s01-woaf.html

Another reason why I love Mozambique and remain skeptically optimistic about the U S. Mozambique now has better press freedom than the United States.

I knew there were many reasons why I enjoyed my time in Mozambique and here is just one more to add to the list. Thanks once again to AllAfrica.com I was alerted to the new Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index for 2006 which recently was released and ranks Mozambique above the United States in terms of press freedom. The initial article I found which is simply called “Mozambique: More Press Freedom in Mozambique than in US” is worth a read. Mozambique is ranked 45 (tied with 3 other countries) and the US is 53 (tied with 3 other countries) and the list has countries such as Cuba, Eritrea, Turkmenistan and North Korea at the bottom of the rankings. Maybe Mr. Bush the US got this rating to help you remember that Africa is a continent with 53 INDIVIDUAL countries and not a country as you have said on at least one occasion. I also see the irony in Cuba’s rating as I am still interested in going there and besides my father my good friend Francisco has also expressed interested in a trip there.

The Press Freedom Index itself can be seen on the Reporters Without Borders site along with the past PFIs and other information on the state of reporting around the world. You might be interested to know that the US was ranked 17^th in 2002, the first year this index was compiled so you can see there has been quite a decline. Mozambique was ranked 70th. I feel guilty wondering if my departure from the States to live and work in Moz might not have been part of the reason that the state of press freedom declined in the States. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Or maybe it was that our president took the chance to unite our nation and country after 9/11 and decided to start invading sovereign nations, silencing the press, giving false reports and taking many more liberties with his job and responsibility.

I thought it would be good to end on a note about the United States gradual decline since 2002. I think we know what we (United States citizens) can do next Tuesday at the ballot box to start to turn this downward trend around. The article that accompanies the index says of the US: “The United States (53rd) has fallen nine places since last year, after being in 17th position in the first year of the Index, in 2002. Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the president used the pretext of “national security” to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his “war on terrorism.” The zeal of federal courts which, unlike those in 33 US states, refuse to recognise the media’s right not to reveal its sources, even threatens journalists whose investigations have no connection at all with terrorism.”

'New News' from Africa - Looking Beyond Death, Disease, Disaster and Despair---an interview with AllAfrica.com well worth reading.

“Charlayne Hunter-Gault, one of the best-known and most award-winning journalists in the United States, has focused her recent career on covering Africa. After nearly two decades as a correspondent for the Newshour on public television, she moved to Johannesburg, South Africa, working successively as Africa correspondent for National Public Radio and CNN bureau chief, before leaving CNN last year to pursue independent projects.”
From 'New News' from Africa - Looking Beyond Death, Disease, Disaster and Despair

The following are some excerpts from an interview that Hunter-Gault did recently with AllAfrica.com on the 6th of October. I would really suggest reading the article as I think it has great insight, perspective, criticism and hope. As she says in the interview I too believe that AllAfrica.com is one of the best sources of news and information on all 54 countries that make up the continent of Africa…that is right Mr. Bush it is not a country. I hope you enjoy the selections below and take the time to read the whole article and I imagine Hunter-Gault’s latest book “New News Out of Africa: Uncovering Africa's Renaissance.” is well worth reading. Click here to read the interview in its entirety.

“Why do you think that coverage of Africa in major U.S. media is so limited?

I am constantly confounded as to why American media don't find Africa an exciting place to report from and about. I think there's a perception that audience interest is limited. That's certainly not been true in my experience. I lecture on college campuses, before businesses and corporations and other venues around the country. And I always find receptivity to the 'new news' that I bring from Africa. Interest - and ignorance to be sure - because people aren't getting the information they need to understand Africa.

Reporting is dominated by the four 'd's I talk about in the book - death, disease, disaster and despair.

What do you recommend to people in newsrooms who want to bring more "new news" about Africa into the coverage?

They just have to go there. They have to be willing to go there. This is not always glamorous. Everyone wants to come to South Africa, because they can stay in nice hotels and run out to the townships and get a little bit dirty and then come back and take a nice shower in the five-star hotel.”

And near the end of the article Hunter-Gault says:

“The public is very sophisticated. I think that it's unfortunate, in America, that there is this perception that you have to dumb down information in order for people to understand it. That's a wrong perception.”

African Women: Pioneers of change?

It is a good feeling to be able to be so proud of a place where you spent many formative years and with which you really enjoy being associated. For me one such place is my undergrad Principia College, a college for Christian Scientists located on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River in Elsah, Illinois. Prin is located on a gorgeous campus with hundreds of acres that the US Air Force once wanted to commandeer to build the Air Force Academy but fortunately it was left to be preserved and conserved for more peaceful and educational purposes. I studied Mass Communications and World Perspectives at Prin and it was during my time there in the spring quarter of my senior year in 2000 that I got to take an abroad to South Africa with 20+ other students, David Winder one of my Mass Comm profs and Bente Morse, Prin’s International Student Coordinator and all around amazing lady. To see more about the abroad you can go to SA Abroad Program website. I think it is awesome that abroads dating back to 99 are still online. The 2002 trip to China, Vietnam and Tibet is worth a look as my sister Ashley was on it along with two friends who were in SA with me in 2000.

Okay so on to the reason for writing this blog I wanted to share about the Pan African Conference that will be held at Prin again this coming weekend. The topic is the subject of this blog “African Women: Pioneers of change?” and I think it should be a great day full of interesting and relevant information gathering and sharing. I think that women really hold the key to Africa’s success and it is up to the men to realize this and give women the credit and power they deserve. It has been my experience in Mozambique and South Africa that women do a lot more good for their family and friends then men. If you happen to be in the area and would like to attend just email me and I will get you in touch with the people who can hook you up with a chance to participate.

I took a weekend off from SIT last fall to go to the conference and was not disappointed. I even got the amazing opportunity of spending most of a day with Paul Rusesabagina the “hero” of Hotel Rwanda. Got to get him from the airport with a Principia employee, have lunch together and talk in the car on the way up to the college. It was an awesome opportunity and I am sure this year’s conference with some amazing speakers including Wangari Maathai who will be the keynote speaker on Saturday night will be great too. Maathai who was one of the originators of “The Green Belt Movement” in Kenya and is the first African women to win the Nobel Prize is an amazing and inspirational leader. She is on the board at SIT and I hope to meet her one day and maybe that day will be when I go to Kenya in January for the World Social Forum. Well, for a college of 550 Christian Scientists located in the rural Illinois countryside I think it is pretty awesome to have an annual event like this one that brings such high caliber of speakers and attendees together to talk about various topics related to Africa.