The Invitation…

 Aren’t they beautiful? *Sigh…*

 

Sexuality and the post-conservative age?

I just read a great blog post by Isis called Rejecting My Virginity. I think every woman should read it. I especially think women coming from African/Arab and for lack of a better term conservative families and cultures should read it. Virginity is what makes or breaks a woman’s honour in so many societies. I’m not endorsing or criticizing this because it’s just the way it is.

And this is what makes me ask if we are all “post-conservative” in a sense. Things being the way they are means that we are ultimately aware of the way things are. No matter how moral, principled, religious, etc. a person thinks they are (of course this is only for God to judge) we can no longer pretend not to know about the various forms and abuses of and traditions and taboos related to sexuality in so-called conservative cultures. First of all, we do know- from our own experiences and anecdotes from our friends and family. So no use pretending. Secondly, illiteracy would probably be the strongest excuse for not knowing and most of us here in the West are literate. So we can talk about sex and culture without cringing. Although I’m known to cringe, probably because this was never brought up in my home and my parents are pretty high on the conservative factor. And thirdly, in the age of HIV/AIDS and STDs, why would we want to pretend we don’t know? People are having sex. Some are having very unsafe sex and others think they are having safe sex in order to maintain their virgin status but are not having safe sex at all and in fact are putting themselves at risk for future health problems.

I was proud to see this blogger write so in-depth and unflinchingly about the issue. It takes courage to describe this perspective. You can see from the post how political information really is. It’s all about power. Even describing sexuality is dangerous. It makes us question who we really are – as individuals and as cultures.

Thanks for this post Isis, you did a great job.

 

Persons of the Year (2006)

I’ve been meaning to designate an afroRise! Person of the Year for 2006.

I think I will dedicate to all Africans conscious of the digital divide and raising awareness about the potentially democratizing effect of the internet. So, my Persons of the Year are African Bloggers. You’re the bomb.

I realize that TIME Magazine and I are on the same page. We took the easy way out by acknowledging everybody and nobody at once. I’m just making the Time Magazine awards more particular: African netizens. Because there’s so much more for us to do!

Here’s the TIME article, which is now a month old. Here’s a snippet if you don’t want to read the whole thing:

NEW YORK (AP) – Congratulations! You are the Time magazine “Person of the Year.”

The annual honor for 2006 went to each and every one of us, as Time cited the shift from institutions to individuals – citizens of the new digital democracy, as the magazine put it. The winners this year were anyone using or creating content on the World Wide Web.

“If you choose an individual, you have to justify how that person affected millions of people,” said Richard Stengel, who took over as Time’s managing editor earlier this year. “But if you choose millions of people, you don’t have to justify it to anyone.”

Good one. At least by isolating African bloggers I’m choosing hundreds, maybe thousands. (I don’t know, is there a count?)

 

African Studies

I think African Studies in all (not just Western) universities need revitalization – Big Time!

I have been saying this since my second year of undergrad but the powers that be aren’t listening to me! And I’m not the only one ranting. Some of my friends in undergraduate and graduate studies are saying the same thing. They have approached the Big Bureaus in their universities and have gotten petitions signed (University of Toronto, University of British Columbia) but there is little update, or the procedure is so bogged in bureaucracy that by the time the student advocates are done thier undergraduate career, the newbies are unacquainted or there is little follow-up, etc. so that administration doesn’t have to deal with the issue anymore:

We need more! More studies on Africa, More relevant courses, More professors, More & deeper topics, More language courses (some are now teaching Swahili and apparently by next academic term, Somali will be taught at New College, U of T – if anyone knows where other language courses are being taught, please inform), More Study Groups, More Analysis…More More More.

There’s good reason for the revitalization (and in some cases, introduction) of African Studies in Universities. Mostly my concern is that “African studies” gets put into the category of “Area Studies” and does not get the inter- and multi-disciplinary rigour it deserves. Although some courses may include topics/articles/materials regarding the continent, it’s just not enough.

I once asked my undergraduate professor and thesis supervisor, Dr. Nibaldo Galleguillos, about why they had no African courses at McMaster University and why there is very little content regarding Africa in the courses and why there is only one course (his) on Latin America, and do you know what he said to me, “Priorities, Helen.”

Here’s to a shift in priorities: Africa is the largest refugee producing continent in the world. Millions of aid dollars, much poorly spent, go to the continent. Governance is lacking. Institutional capacity, lacking. Development agenda by corporate investors and private funders is high priority. Unemployment, in too many countries, is high. HIV/AIDS, you all know the statistics. I find that HIV/AIDS is the only area of studies in health that gives the continent a lot of attention here in the West. But that’s only my perception of course.

There was also a time when a Congolese woman had a severe case of malaria, coming back from Congo after a visit, and the media jumped on it thinking that it was the first case of Ebola in North America. They even published her name in the Washington Post. But nobody talked to the closest Congolese doctor who would have informed the media that Ebola wipes out villages and is spread through human contact, as also noted after the story broke on BBC News.

So as you can see there are real ramifications for not studying a whole continent thoroughly when the world is just getting smaller and smaller. We can describe globalization all we want but there are real life situations that prove over and over that we don’t know as much about each other as we think we do.

Here’s a list of keywords describing what I would like to see more of, and what I think needs more multidisciplinary attention. There’s so much going on in our world that people in universities are not thinking about. We need to stop keeping controversy out of the classrooms!

- African refugees, Western citizenship rights (think burning cars in France 2004, think German citizenship changes in 2004 when German born immigrants were finally granted citizenship)

-Civil Society in Africa. Why not talk about this in undergraduate political science classrooms?

-Integrated health. Traditional healing practices that are widespread and effective. How can these affect our understanding of health care in the West? How can Western technologically based health-care affect practices in Africa? Study the effects of professional transfer programs (i.e. Medicins Sans Frontiers, Sisters of St. Joseph’s are involved in Haiti and Uganda med-student transfer programs). I wrote an article interviewing two doctors who developed the program on www.afrorise.moonfruit.com. I forget the issue # but I think it was January 2004. Will double check.

-African bio-diversity, ecological systems affected by pollution, resource misallocation and political problems.

-Higher Education in Africa. Underfunded, understudied. But there is definately a resurgence in funding from the corporates, so why don’t we track this and see what will happen to those entering post-secondary university on the continent?

-We talk a lot about Brain Drain but rarely do we study it in schools. The World Bank released a 300 page study, how about reading some of that in Economics and Social Studies. Why do a Master’s degree before getting in-depth?

I’ll add more to this list as I get more and more frustrated.

 

i am african campaign.

 

all i can say is, really?

 

Happy Holidays

Have a *politically correct* Happy Holidays…
…this is an email I received…enjoy.

I really wanted to send out some sort of holiday greeting but it is so difficult in today’s world to know exactly what to say without offending someone. So with that in mind I met with my lawyer yesterday, and on her advice I want to extend this greeting to all of you:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasions of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious / secular persuasions and / or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make Canada great (not to imply that Canada is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only “CANADA” in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms: This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her /himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.

 

Demystifying Technology

Technology is a word that separates people, there are those who love it and those who hate it – rarely is a person in between these two feelings. Well I guess people have a love/hate relationship with Technology but that would require me to think more deeply about the big generalizations I’m about to make and I’m not prepared to do that.

<Begin “My Opinion” aka Gross Generalizations>

Lately I’ve been contemplating the real need for a strategic demystification of technology in underserviced communities, particularly, among black youth who are either disengaged or labelled “at-risk” in schools. I use the word “at-risk” cautiously because of course it connotes a certain risk threshold, and it labels students, chunking people into weird categories. The label is subjective of course because teachers perceive who and who is not “at-risk” and most problematically it disregards social, economic and other life circumstances that contribute to low capacity and school success/performance.

So today I had a discussion about blogging with some youth very dear to my heart. They are all extremely intelligent and critical thinkers yet they didn’t really know about/care for the idea of blogging. Blogging, or reading blogs, is an experience, it can’t really be described. The availability of different types of information in varied styles of writing is astounding in sheer magnitude but also in its effect – one cannot help become a better – more efficient, more engaged – reader. The internet should be used as a supplement to education, as it is in many context, but this critical path needs guidance and direction.

For example, I often wonder why some young people I talk to are interested in the internet insofar as it allows them to communicate with the friends they have just seen at school (MSN, Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, and other e-mail/chat servers) or read about people they don’t know or don’t like (Hi5, MySpace.com, Friendster, and other social networking sites). I am not against these types of communication and am a part of most of them but it seems to me that students focusing exclusively on these are missing out big time. The internet is more than online games and checking out when the next movie is playing. IT is more than music websites or You Tube. It is all of these things but so much more.

<IT as the Multi-versity>

Yes IT is its own MULTIversity. Unlike a UNIversity with a distinct objective of socializing students into certain subject matters, the multiversity allows students to adopt their own positions on subject matter according to their own research/project interests. Thus, smart surfing is a key asset in life.

Technology and the internet allow students to master their own way of thinking. They allow them to gather and sort information in a way that is comprehensive and makes sense to them. Your own PC is a manifestation of the way your mind works. Now if only this was taught more in school – the importance of mastering technology and internet communications technology specifically.

Kids of the information age are growing up with computers all around them, but I’m wondering if people are feeling comfortable with this environment? Do people feel in control of this experience or do they feel like passive observers of Microsoft software applications – Open, Click, Type, Save? The average person needs more accessibility and practical advice about how the internet can make our life so much easier.

This is especially true for those of us coming from communities where the digital divide is large and growing…

I know this discussion is not yet over for me…will add more to it later.

 

Eritrea Institute of Technology receives books in donation

Asmara, 18 December 2006- In continuation of their contributions to the Government’s efforts to develop higher education in the country, Eritrean nationals abroad have donated different books to the Eritrea Institute of Technology (EIT).

Accordingly, the Michigan-based Association of Eritreans and Friends (AEFM) and the Eritrean Development Fund (EDF) in the US have each donated 14,000 different university text and reference books.

Reports said that the current President of the AEFM, Prof. Eyassu Habtegaber, and Prof. Petros Geresus, Department Head of Industrial Engineering at Kettering University, visited EIT on December 12, during which they asserted that the donated books are being used properly.

The Head of the EIT, Col. Ezra Woldegabriel, commended the nationals for their gesture and called on others to take similar initiative.

It is to be noted that the Eritrea Institute of Technology has enrolled more than 6,000 students since 2004 and are now attending various degree and diploma programs.

 

Theorizing Eritreans in Cyberspace

Self-determination in the information age. It’s a critical matter and affects minority communities in all countries. We all have the issue of what to do with globalized information and ideas; or as coined by Dr. Arjun Appadurai, Ph.D “ideoscapes” and “ethnoscapes”. As a contemporary social-cultural anthropologist, Dr. Appadurai (Wiki) writes on “Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy”. (1990). I read this for a class on Global Governance and Educational Change but you can find a small excerpt on Wiki. What the heck, I’ll post it for you here:

Appadurai articulated a view of cultural activity known as the imaginary (sociology), or the social imaginary. For Appadurai the imaginary is composed of five dimensions of global cultural flow: 1) ethnoscapes; 2) mediascapes; 3) technoscapes; 4) finanscapes; 5) ideoscapes.

He describes the imaginary as: “The image, the imagined, the imaginary – these are all terms that direct us to something critical and new in global cultural processes: the imagination as a social practice. No longer mere fantasy (opium for the masses whose real work is somewhere else), no longer simple escape (from a world defined principally by more concrete purposes and structures), no longer elite pastime (thus not relevant to the lives of ordinary people), and no longer mere contemplation (irrelevant for new forms of desire and subjectivity), the imagination has become an organized field of social practices, a form of work (in the sense of both labor and culturally organized practice), and a form of negotiation between sites of agency (individuals) and globally defined fields of possibillity. This unleasing of the imagination links the play of pastiche (in some settings) to the terror and coercion of states and their competitors. The imagination is now central to all forms of agency, is itself a social fact, and is the key component of the new global order” (“Disjuncture and Difference”, Modernity at Large, 31).

Similarly, Anthropologist Dr. Victoria Bernal, Ph.D. has written extensively about the Eritrean Diaspora and Eritreans in Cyberspace. The following articles relate to the subject. Click on the link for the Full Text article:

• “Diaspora, Cyberspace and Political Imagination: the Eritrean Diapora Online.” Global Networks 6(2):161-179, 2006.

Abstract: In this article I analyse the Eritrean diaspora and its use of cyberspace to theorize the ways transnationalism and new media are associated with the rise of new forms of community, public spheres and sites of cultural production. The struggle for national independence coincided with the rise of the Internet and the Eritrean diaspora has been actively involved in the new state. Eritreans abroad use the Internet as a transnational public sphere where they produce and debate narratives of history, culture, democracy and identity. Through the web the diaspora has mobilized demonstrators, amassed funds for war, debated the formulation of the constitution, and influenced the government of Eritrea. Through their web postings, ‘Internet intellectuals’ interpret national crises, rearticulate values and construct community. Thus, the Internet is not simply about information but is also an emotion-laden and creative space. More than simply refugees or struggling workers, diasporas online may invent new forms of citizenship, community and political practices.

• “Eritrea On-line: Diaspora, Cyberspace, and the Public Sphere.” American Ethnologist 32(4):660-675, 2005.

Abstract: For Eritreans in diaspora, identities are deterritorialized, one’s most pressing communication may be with far-flung strangers in cyberspace, and one’s political engagement is centered on a distant homeland. Eritrean experiences, thus, seem to bring together various qualities that scholars have been grappling with trying to chart the implications of the infotech revolution and life on-line, in seeking to understand processes of transnationalism and globalization, and in charting the elusive construction of community in the postmodern age. Through an analysis of the social history of www.dehai.org, a website developed by Eritreans in diaspora, explore the ways that new forms of technological and geographical mobility are changing the conditions not just of capitalist production but also of knowledge production and the constitution of publics, public spheres, communities, and nations. [Keywords: cyberspace, public sphere, politics, diaspora, community, conflict, Eritrea]

• “Eritrea Goes Global: Reflections on Nationalism in a Transnational Era.” Cultural Anthropology 19(1):3-25, 2004.

Likewise, Dr. John Sorensen, Ph.D. worked with the Eritrean Relief Association in Canada; he has a background in anthropology and a PhD from the interdisciplinary Social and Political Thought Program at York University. His field research has concerned African nationalist movements, refugees and diaspora communities and repatriation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan. His books include: African Refugees: Development Aid and Repatriation (Westview), Disaster and Development in the Horn of Africa (Macmillan), Imagining Ethiopia: Struggles for History and Identity in the Horn of Africa (Rutgers University Press), Ghosts and Shadows: Construction of Identity and Community in an African Diaspora (University of Toronto Press) and Culture of Prejudice (Broadview) and he is currently writing on gender and reconstruction of the state in Eritrea, looking at the experience of the thirty-year struggle for independence and the 1998-2000 war with Ethiopia; it is largely based on interviews with women who served in the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front.

Information, Cyberspace and Good Governance

I think the relationship between information and information-management needs to be carefully studied as a subsect of good governance in Africa. I was lucky enough to meet a very bright woman by the name of Azeb Tewolde who works as Director of the Research and Documentation Centre in Eritrea.  (They are re-doing the website – should be complete January 2007 so go back and visit!) This woman is brilliant and very forward-thinking. She is one example of how the “partnership” maxim in development programming and implementation: that individuals and communities know what they need and what works best – but just need some resources and capacity-building- if adhered to by progam planners- would succeed brilliantly. Ms. Tewolde thinks that information management should be the road to development.

Information is capacity-building. Many people tend to politicize everything about Eritrean development – as though any activity is determined by and cloaked in a political affiliation. I guess this is the view that frustrates me. Politics changes, our ideas and sentiments about politicians change given fresh information and events. Our positions are guided by new knowledge. So why, in any regional context, and especially now in the information age, should we put our political allegiances before the information we have at our disposal? Get informed and then make decisions. This is the best (and in my view most responsible) way to be an agent of change in Eritrea and any other developing nation in Africa, Asia, Middle East, etc. The only position I adhere to religiously in development projects is capital “T” Transparency. Be transparent with your people – it’s only fair. The people pay tax, send remittances, pray and hope for development. And in the diaspora, there is an urgency around helping with national development but I think there needs to be a broad-based discussion (I’m scared to use the D-word, democratic) and needs assessment on how, when, why, where and with whom and what purpose this development assistance should take place. The government can lead us, the diaspora can lead us, the international community can lead us – with collaborative work this all happens simultaneously. The diaspora is a major voice in this discussion and the internet is a major tool.

 

1st Annual Aroni Awards

Aroni Awards Celebrates Inspirational People.

There are fewer things in life that are as precious as inspirational people. Inspirational people make it a personal goal not to judge others and are conscientious about this decision to be fair and accepting. Inspirational people have integrity and try, if possible, to improve another’s personal situation. Inspirational people, to me, arrive in spirits of kindness and generosity, hard work and initiative, determination and a sense of purpose in spite of the obstacles in their way. There are many things that make someone inspirational, sometimes it is the triumphs they have overcome and how they mentor others on their lessons learned.

From what I can tell Aron Y. Haile was one of those people. I didn’t know Aron personally yet I feel like I do. That is the legacy of an inspirational person. You don’t know them and yet you know them intimately. I have heard people talk about him with sparkles in their eyes and a slight smile on their lips – it’s really unmistakable how much he was loved. At the 1st Annual Aroni Awards Gala, an Awards Ceremony in his honour, I felt his spirit through the choice of words and phrases used to remember him in Toronto on Sunday December 10th, 2006.

Look out for more information on the 2nd Annual Aroni Awards and kudos to the Haile family and friends of Aron for their leadership.