I am huge football/soccer fan. I love going to matches and watching on television. I am disgusted with the coverage of the World Cup because of the vuvuzela. Why I am disgusted may surprise you.
The beginning of my disgust started last year during the Confederations Cup when Japanese broadcasters complained about the use of the vuvuzela and how it was irritating their listeners. Sepp Blatter, quite correctly, stated that it was not up to the rest of the world to impose their sporting culture and traditions on another country. Fast-forward a year to the 2010 spectacle that is taking place on the shores of the African continent for the first time. What is the focus of the coverage? The vuvuzela.
Come on! The vuvuzela is a tradition of South African football that is derived fr
om the kudu horn, despite what CNN is reporting (since when is CNN an expert on South African culture? All they have to do is ask any South Africa who grew up in a village about the vuvuzela's origins). The kudu horn was used in villages throughout Southern Africa to summon villagers to a meeting. It is loud for a reason. If one looks closely at the pictures emanating from South Africa, iterspersed throughout the plastic vuvuzelas one might see an actual kudu horn. The tradition of blowing a vuvuzela at a football match stems from the desire of the fans of one team to beckon fellow supporters.
I have heard complaints that the vuvuzela drowns out singing. I have two responses to this: First, this singing is part and parcel of football culture mainly in Europe. Like the famous quote in the Wizard of Oz, "We aren
't in Kansas anymore Dorothy." We aren't in Europe, so suck it up. Second, have you heard the "harmonizing"? Personally, I'm glad I can't hear some of this singing! Having experienced the vuvuzela noise at many football matches in South Africa including three in packed stadiums, I know what the noise level is like...and love it. I can feel a bit of ruth for fans in the stadium and understand why they leave with a headache and may complain a bit (though I question whether or not these fans regularly attended football matches before the World Cup.) What I do not understand is the complaints of fans who are watching on television. Turn the sound down or deal with it. This is the World Cup. It will all be over in a month. It will not return to South Africa during our lifetimes. Suck it up and enjoy the spectacle for what it is...an African event and a South(ern) African one in particular. At the next World Cup, the detractors can complain about South Americans setting off flares, but until then, let South(ern) Africans enjoy their time on the global stage and show you how they celebrate their football.
**By the way, as I'm writing this, I am watching a replay of Zimbabwe's recent triangular one-day international series (cricket). Zimbabwe supporters, and this was before the World Cup began, are dancing in the stand to drums and blowing their vuvuzelas.
17 June 2010
Vuvuzela
28 August 2009
Kiva Loan
Hi Blog Readers!
I just made a loan to someone in Uganda using a revolutionary new website called Kiva. You can find the link under causes I support.
You can go to Kiva's website and lend to someone across the globe who needs a loan for their business - like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent - and you get updates letting you know how the entrepreneur is going.
The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back - and Kiva's loans are managed by microfi
nance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.
I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Isiah Kakuba's Group in Uganda. They still need another $700.00 to complete their loan request of $4,750.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). Help me get this entrepreneur off the ground by clicking on the link to make a loan to Isiah Kakuba's Group too!
It's finally easy to actually do something about poverty - using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they're using it for. And most of all, I know that I'm helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.
Join me in changing the world - one loan at a time.
Thanks!
Nomadic Richard
31 May 2009
Updates
Here are some updates on my previous blogs. Delara Darabi was executed in what was a complete travesty of justice. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8030437.stm My colleague is back here at work. It is such a tragedy that he lost his wife. Jacob Zuma is still President of South Africa and the world has not ended! So relax South Africans, you will be ok. Plus the Bulls just won the Super 14! That's the last of the updates
09 May 2009
The Inauguration of Jacob Zuma
I am sitting here at the moment watching Al-Jazeera. Unlike BBC and CNN, Al-Jazeera is covering the inauguration of Jacob Zuma as the fourth President of South Africa (third elected) of post-apartheid South Africa. While I am sure my good friend Hlengani is not a man of his word, since he has not emigrated from South Africa as he promised to do if Zuma was ever elected, I am sure he, like many, are bemoaning the fact that Zuma is now leading the most influential country on the continent. While Jacob Zuma clearly does not have the pulchritude of Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, as I have watched events unfold from afar over the past few months, I have become more and more convinced that the emergence and election of Jacob Zuma is a good thing Before you throw a shoe at your computer screen hear me out on this. There are fo My belief that Zuma's election is a good thing extend beyond my own personal relationships though. The second reason I believe Zuma's election is a good thing is that he has weakened the ANC. Although I am not a South African, it should be obvious to everyone that the country needs a legitimate opposition party that is not merely a metamorphosis of an apartheid era party. This has not happened.After the 2004 election, the African National Congress received enough of the vote that it could have legitimately Though this has not occurred, the fact that during this election the ANC received less than 67% of the vote and can not change the Constitution on its own represents real progress. There is hope that legitimate multiracial opposition can emerge over the next five to ten years. The third reason I am in favor of Zuma's election is that believe it or not, I feel that Zuma's election shows the vibrancy of the young South African democracy. Thabo Mbeki sought a third term, which though technically not in violation of the Constitution, effectively tried to undermine the Constitutional stipulation that a President only serve two terms. The fact that Zuma was elected at the ANC conference in Polokwane shows that many South Africans within the ANC do understand the issues that are affecting the nation. Zuma r I personally doubt whether Jacob Zuma will be able to deliver on his promises. It would take a tremendous amount of thaumaturgy for Zuma to accomplish this goals and deliver on his promises. Yet I am willing to give him a try, since his presidency is the will of the people. I also believe that the ANC is in fact the best party to rule the country. (Though I would have voted for another party for the sake of trying to reduce the ANC to
ur reasons I feel this way. First, personally, as an American who lived in South Africa from 2002-2008, I had to endure nearly seven years of listening to South Africans denigrate Americans for electing such an incompetent nitwit as President. To be honest, I had no answer. I detested and still detest George W. Bush as a human. It will be up to history to judge him but I digress. However, as of today, I can now proudly smile at all of the South Africans who over the years derided Americans for our voting record. We have Barack Obama. You have JZ, and I do not mean the rapper! Enjoy the next five years of my derision.
an as the anti-Mbeki. While I supported Mbeki and feel that he is a visionary and has a fantastic Pan-Africanist view, Mbeki missed the boat on four critical issues: Aids, Zimbabwe, crime, and corruption. Mbeki's policies on each of these issues left a lot to be desired. His failures to effectively implement a nationwide AIDS policy to combat AIDS, statements that crime was the figment of white South Africans' minds, lack of ability to pressure Robert Mugabe into real reform, and the rampant corruption within the ANC during his term all contributed to his political demise. Zuma has portended that he plans to change these policies by tackling crime, formulating an AIDS policy, fixing government corruption, and facilitating Mugabe's removal from power. If he can achieve any of these changes, he will have achieved a great feat.
below 66%). In the meantime, Zuma will have to be re-elected in five years and if the South African public is not happy with what he achieves, he can be replaced. Despite what many say, this election proves that democracy is alive and well in South Africa. So let's all enjoy the moment of frisson when the South African national anthem is played momentarily. Nkosi sikilel' iAfrika!
28 March 2009
Mugabe, Zimbabwe, and Humanity
Robert Mugabe...a name synonomous with feckless and corrupt despotism, is at it again. According to the Times, he and his wife recently purchased a luxury apartment, valued at almost US$6m in Hong Kong. Why does this enrage me?
In addition, the President's wife, Grace Mugabe, has recently embarked on a spending spree. She reportedly spent over $80k on marble statues in Vietnam and $12k on a handbag in Singapore. All of this despite the fact that Zimbabwe is in a huge economic crisis. The country has an inflation rate gauged to be close 231m % (that's 231,000,000%), and an unemployment rate hovering above 90%.
In short, the Mugabes epitomize all that is wrong with African dictatorships. Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa as late as the 1990s. The country produced a surplus of food and supplied its neighbours with a significant quantity of their food. All of this has changed and what was once a thriving country is now bereft of food, clean water, and hope.
According to Robert Mugabe, this is all the fault of colonialism and the West. I am often outspoken about the horrors of colonialism and how a significantly high percentage of problems on the African continent stem from the colonial era. I have also argued that this era has not completely ended and that neo-colonialism is an even more sinister force than colonialism was. Mugabe argued that the white Zimbabweans, who owned most of the farms in country, came by these farms illicitly and therefore the farms could be seized and given to the "war veterans."
Personally, I agree that the land in Zimbabwe needed to be re-distributed. However, that desire to have Africa for Africans needed to be developed by meeting the needs of Africans. Mugabe's blatant land grab did not satisfy the desire of the masses for land and only served to plunge his country into a desperate state. What is little known is that Mugabe has seized many farms that were black owned as well. Many of the farms seized by Mugabe and his cronies were purchased legally, under Zimbabwean law (as opposed Rhodesian law) by people who had a vested interest in the upliftment of Zimbabwe. Sadly, the same cannot be said for Robert and Grace Mugabe.
What is really upsetting about this latest episode in Zimbabwe involving the mis-use of state funds by Robert and Grace Mugabe is that in the midst of this crisis, people are dying simply because of the government's inability to purchase water-treatment chemicals. Mugabe is pillaging the treasury of a country where over 3500 people have died because of a cholera outbreak...a preventable disease that is occuring in Zimbabwe because the country does not have enough money to buy the chemicals to treat the drinking water.
Where are the morals in this? How can Robert and Grace Mugabe wake up each morning and look in the mirror knowing that their actions, greed, and corruption are directly leading to corpses strewn around the country. This is a mot juste example of how African leaders have mis-managed their countries post colonialism, and has directly contributed to the dire poverty that currently exists on the continent. Mugabe needs to honestly look at himself and find a way to step aside and let someone with morals lead Zimbabwe back to where it was a decade ago.
07 March 2009
New 7 Natural Wonders of the World
Okay so here is your chance to help us get Africa on the map and increase tourism money to countries on the continent. There is a competition to nominate the new 7 Natural Wonders of the World. You have to vote. The competition runs through July and then finalists will be selected. Please vote. I voted for 7 sites I had been to in Lesotho, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe/Zambia (I bet everyone knows which one that would be), Mozambique, and Rwanda. Even if you have never been, vote for something in your region of Africa to help increase tourism in your region and create jobs. It only takes a few minutes. Go to: http://www.new7wonders.com/nature/en/vote_on_nominees/ . You will have to fill in your email address and confirm your vote by clicking on the email they send you. Have fun and remember to support your favorite spots in Africa. Feel free to pass this my blog site around and have as many of your friends vote as well (plus if they come through my blog, it raises the number of hits on my blog, which is always a good thing!)
Nomadic Richard
27 February 2009
On Death Row, Nigerian Draws the Hanged
I saw this article in early January. I think this is an excellent article that bears reading.
- Nomadic Richard
On death row, Nigerian draws the hanged
By KATY POWNALL Associated Press Writer
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - The doomed man's eyes stare blankly ahead as he shuffles down a dark corridor, spreading a hush through the death-row cells. The hangman pushes a black hood over the convict's head and tightens a noose around his neck. The trapdoor opens beneath his feet with a clang that reverberates around the stone walls. A gurgle, one last rattle of chains, then silence.
Through the iron bars of his cell near the gallows of this Nigerian prison, Arthur Judah Angel watched the hangman do his morbid work for almost a decade, witnessing the hangings of more than 450 of his fellow convicts. He committed their names to memory and many of their images to paper.
Now, 51 drawings that survived Angel's incarceration are attracting the attention of human rights activists and art lovers alike, allowing the artist to turn his years of horror into activism against the death penalty.
"I had to document our ugly world," said Angel, 46, who spent a total of 16 years in prison for a murder he says he didn't commit before being freed in 2000. "It was drawing that kept me going in there. It gave me a purpose."
Angel was beaten and thrown behind bars in January 1984 when he went to visit a friend who had been taken into custody at a neighborhood police station. He was 21 then and planned to begin university that year.
Five days later he was charged with murdering a policeman. Police asked for a bribe to free him, but his mother was too poor to pay, he says. So Angel was held for two years until his case went to court. After a six-day trial in which police were both the complainants and only witnesses, he was sentenced to hang.
On death row, he lived in a seven-foot-square cell with up to 13 other condemned criminals. A bucket in the corner was the toilet. At night the cellmates had to lie down side-by-side to sleep. If one wanted to turn in the night, he would have to stand and then squeeze himself back in.
The cell was one of 18 which housed over 200 condemned men in Enugu prison _ one of Nigeria's largest.A detailed pencil drawing by Angel on rough pink cardboard shows the semi-naked prisoners hunched in awkward positions. Scrawled across the grimy walls are the names of previous occupants and the dates of their execution. Angel named the drawing "Sleeping in Limbo."
"That existence is one between life and death. You don't belong to either world," Angel explains.
Condemned criminals were not allowed to keep pens or paper so Angel's first prison drawing was done on a cell wall with charcoal smuggled from the kitchen. It was a cartoon cowboy designed to cheer up his cellmates, but it also caught the eye of the wardens."They started coming to me and asking me to do drawings for them," he recalled. "I would draw cards or portraits for them and in return they would allow me a pencil and a spare piece of paper."
By night, Angel turned his artistic focus from the images he was commissioned to do, to the macabre sights around him.
The cell's concrete roof had a small hole in the center that provided a circle of light when the moon shone. Angel would jostle for position beneath the hole and squat with a sheet of paper on his knees to do his secret drawings.
Some of his pictures are scrawled on book pages, others on faded cardboard. Many are rough at the edges, slightly torn or damaged by damp. Most of these dark artworks did not survive.
The 51 that endured were smuggled out by his parents when they visited. These now provide a unique insight into daily life on death row: from the shuffling, chained and hooded figures driven by the guards' clubs toward the gallows, to the stooped heads and empty expressions of the other inmates, a captive audience at the execution."You don't know if next time it will be your time to go," Angel says. "From Monday to Friday you expect executions in the morning. When the gallows are prepared, we all got nervous. You hear the chains clanking, and the trap door banging. You see the hangman walk past the cells. Most inmates don't have the strength to eat before midday."
Angel was prepared for execution once _ fed his last meal with his legs chained _ but at the end of the day his name was removed from the list.
"I once saw 58 executed in one day," he says. "But I wasn't meant to die in there."
In October, Amnesty International asked the Nigerian government to declare a moratorium on executions, saying the country's criminal justice system was "riddled with corruption, negligence and a nearly criminal lack of resources."The London-based rights group said over half of the 736 inmates facing death were convicted on the basis of written confessions that many said were extracted under torture.
In addition, at least 80 death row inmates were sentenced with no right to appeal, Amnesty said, and others faced decades of delays on appeals because of missing case files or a lack of lawyers to represent them. The group used Angel's images to illustrate its reports and organized exhibitions of his work to further its campaign against the death penalty.
In what amounts to an acknowledgment of flaws in its criminal justice system, the government has appointed two commissions of inquiry, both of which also recommended a moratorium on death sentences.
No such action has been taken, but on Nov. 14, President Umaru Yar'Adua pardoned a man who had been on death row for 22 years and ordered the justice minister and attorney-general to review prison inmates' records and bring other "deserving cases" to his attention. It was not clear what prompted the pardon or what constituted "deserving cases."
Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, with 140 million people according to government census figures. Despite being Africa's biggest oil producer, poverty, violent crime and corruption are widespread.
Angel's luck changed when a representative of the British Council, the British government-funded cultural organization, got one of his drawings. He visited Angel on death row and organized two exhibitions of his work in Enugu town in 1993 and 1994.
The exhibitions were well attended and widely covered by the media, and soon petition drives were organized to demand Angel's release. In 1995, a prominent human rights lawyer took his case and after a series of appeals he was released in February 2000.
Angel now works as an artist and a human rights activist, painting in a small studio in a rundown suburb of Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city. He has married and has three small children.
He sells the portraits and landscapes he now paints, but his real passion remains the works depicting what he saw in prison. Rights groups from around the world have used his 51 death row works to lobby for the abolition of the death sentence, and Angel says he could never sell them."These works represent the 16 years that were taken from my life," and even if Nigeria abolishes the death penalty, the pictures "will remind the government that we mustn't go back to such a time," he says. "These are works that price tags cannot be attached to."
(Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
