Blogs from Africa - page 3027

History doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes. (Mark Twain) Greetings from South Africa. We are still in Johannesburg, for a week as of yesterday, and it is beautiful. We have been busily looking for opportunities and trying to talk with people, even with the internet down for 3 days and the cell phone snafus. Our phone can apparently receive international calls but not make them until we switch from a prepaid service to a contract service, which requires an address. Also, the service is spotty in this country. We plan to use Skype for international calls (phone calls over the internet), and I have been told that if you are also on the Skype network, we may be able to make calls for free. We are occasionally having translation issues, which is to be expected, even in ... read more

Some photo's taken in Uganda between 22nd and 26th September 2006 Full story to follow soon ... read more

Fotos von Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia und von Miri und Annina... read more

The following are stories of children at Vihiga Children's Home in Western Kenya, where I am volunteering for 3 months, under the auspices of Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church (Kentucky, USA). The stories are factual; surnames have been omitted. Brian's Life: Brian is 7 years old and a pupil in standard two. He and his twin brother were born to a woman and man who soon parted. The children's mother returned the babies to the father who then reconciled with his previous wife. Brian suffered from marasmus and kwashiorkor; his twin was more robust. Neither the father nor his wife accepted the children. When the boys were three years old, the father tied them outside at night in the cow stall. His plan was to let the cows stomp them to death. The cows would not harm ... read more

Today we ventured to see the famous Leptis Magna, we would have to say one of the best (if not 'THE' best) roman ruins we have seen in all our travels. Only 30% of the ruins have been excavated, with the other 70% remaining under thick vegetation, which is quite incredible. On first sight of Leptis Magna it is huge, yet to imagine that what you see is only part of the massive city right on the mediterranean is just facinating. Most of the excavation was done by Italian soldiers during their occupation and the Libyan government is now undergoing attempts to uncover and remove some of the vegetation by 2008. The cost to excavate is massive, so how long this will take and whether there is funding set aside for this will be a 'wait ... read more