Final Project

Keeping those teeth clean is a very important part of health care and one that is often overlooked in the field of health care. The number of dentists in Africa is staggeringly low. As the field of dentistry is in my future I decided the perfect way for me to help Africa is to do dental work. While all health care in Africa has a severe problem dentistry is often overlooked because not many of the severe diseases that affect Africans are related to the oral cavity. This has resulted in a severe budget deficit allocation in areas related to oral health care.

While I have not yet been accepted to dental school, upon my travels to the schools, I have seen the active opportunities the students take to help those in need. Many of these organizations travel to places all across the world to help the under served and educate people on the benefits of clean teeth. One of the organizations that has stuck out to me is the Christian Dental Society, which is annually involved in trips to countries to provide dental health care. Upon my entrance into dental school I plan to join the organization and explain to them my beliefs and my knowledge about Africa and how I feel we can help.

Also as a dentist, the many I make which will probably be more than I need, I am going to donate to particular non-governmental organizations. The organization that I found that had me most intrigued was the Africa Foundation. Africa Foundation is an organization that seeks to address key problems that Africa face today. These things include health care, education, and Income generating programs. The organization seeks to help the continent in many ways by facing these issues, but most importantly they focus on enabling Africans to help themselves. By training Africans to be more independent that set in a cycle of growth and prosperity.

Two blogs in one, child soldiers and Rehab.

From the young ages of even 7 some children are recruited by their government s or rebel factions to train as soldiers and fight in armed conflicts. Situations like this are prevalent throughout countries in Africa and the acts committed by these groups are atrocious. The children that are used during this battles are victims of their environment. They either join or die. Those that join are often easily manipulated and the acts that these children commit are outrageous and unbelievable. We have often seen in our society what happens when children are neglected and abused and how many of them turn out. This situation with child soldiers is intensified 10 fold especially with the involvement of guns and drugs.

A report was generated by the Coalition to stop the Use of Child Soldiers and broke down the situation in many of the countries across Africa that are struggling with the problem of Child Soldiers and civil wars. The findings of this report are astonishing and some of the accounts given by the children or people who have seen what is going on are unbelievable. It is estimated approximately 500,000 child soldiers are across the world and one third of those are in Africa. While it does not take place in every country across Africa, the fact that it is taking place at all is a scary fact and one that needs to be addressed. There is no doubt that a child of a young age will do just about anything he is told to do since he doesn't typically know any better. Bring cohorts in the same group that a child can impress and that makes the situation worse as some of the children try to show off and "prove" themselves. Now this doesn't only take place with boys, girls are involved to, only to a lesser number. But when girls are involved they are often forced to marry soldiers, cook for the revel groups, and even in some cases fight in the battles.

So what is being done to stop this and help these African children get back on their feet and revive Africa? There are several organizations out there that are trying to help bring attention to what is going on and stop it as well as rehabilitate the former child soldiers. One of those programs was mentioned earlier and that is the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. This group has done a lot of research and includes many other organizations in its committee as well as input for various NGO's. The main purpose of this group was to conduct a study of various groups that were are likely to use child soldiers and present this list to the UN security council for action. Yes, I know the UN never gets anything done, but with the list compiled and brought to the attention of the world their is relief insight.

Mad Dog....

I thought Johnny Mad Dog was one of the better books we read although it was very disturbing. I found it a little easier for me to get into and was excited to continue to read it. I liked the narrative stand point throughout the novel and how you switched between the two narrators who were at the same place and point in time so we could see what was going on with both sides of the story.

The thought of these children soldiers running around a country and waging war on their own people is very upsetting. I can't even think about what a child as young as 10 understands about war and what has led his countrymen up to this point. The militias like recruiting these young children because they are easy to brainwash and manipulate. Propaganda goes over particularly well with young people and they often don't second guess it like someone older would. The coups that continually take place have obviously left the areas affected in shambles and people are not able to go on with normal lives. The military dictatorships are unstable and are only transient rises to power and are extreme subject to political corruption.

I found the Mad Dog character to be disturbingly funny, as he was an "intellectual" and "respecter of women," yet he hadn't even finished grade school and obviously had no respect for women because he raped many of them. Then in the end the intellectual was killed by the bible, which is quite different from those stories you hear from people today being saved by the bible, but I thought this ending was better. Mad Dog was a child abused by the system and while I felt sorry for him a little, he was only a child after all, he committed many crimes that were horrendous and never tried to become the true intellectual he wanted to be. I believe that is what the whole child war scenario boils down to, a lack of education.

Lao was a very interesting and charming character she was smart, strong and brave. She struggled throughout the story to survive and yet time after time she came out on top. I don't think any of us could imagine the stuff she went through but it was definitely a lot and I give her much respect for not giving up. When she was captured by Mad Dog I thought for sure she was done for, but she stood up to him and came out on top. I think that speaks to what the people of Africa and these war torn areas can do, if they can all come together they con beat this monster ravaging their country.

I was first intrigued by the similarities between Lao and Mad Dog, they both wanted to be intellectuals after all and they placed a value on education. The characters consistently bumped into each other throughout the book so it was obvious they would have a more personal point in the book. I also find my self continuing to wonder what happened to Fofo?

We don't need no water..?

Well this is obviously an understatement, water is probably the most crucial element to the existence of man. In the United States many of us take this for granted, after all I don't know of anyone who has ever not been able to find water when they need it. Almost as important as the availability of water is the cleanliness of the water.

In many areas of the world including Africa there are many places where water contains many organisms that when consumed are very harmful to the body. It is estimated that 1 billion people do not have access to safe water which amounts to about 16% of the population. The most prominent cause of water contamination is believed to be the result of human sewage and the waterborne diseases causes 1.8 million deaths each year.

In Africa alone it is estimated that out of the 700 million people only 46% have access to safe drinking water. In many of these developing countries the cause of death for 90% of children under the age of five is diarrhea related from lack of sanitation in water supplies. In sub-Saharan Africa almost 2000 children's lives are lost a day due to the causes of insufficient sanitation.

Another result from the lack of water in many areas in Africa is poor agriculture and severe drought. This has left many self sustaining communities crippled as they are not able to plant or harvest crops, which are staples to their diet. Africa has experienced multiple droughts throughout the past and has resulted in the deaths of millions of people. Droughts also affect the ability of community to raise livestock, if the animals do not have plants and such to graze on.

Bleeding the stone

This was a very interesting story although I did have a difficult time understanding how this particular novel played in to our studies in African Literature. While I did see the connection it seemed to me that there is a lot more alarming events taking place in Africa that we could learn about.

I am not saying that there is not important events taking place in this novel, however. As an avid outdoorsman I was quite disturbed by the character of Cain. Nature is a precious resource that must be protected and people like Cain are disrespectful and merciless morons.

Africa is truly one of the worlds most beautiful places and the creatures that live there are unique and beautiful like the waddan and the gazelle. I found the character of Asouf to be very admirable in the way he respected the animal and the desert. I have always wanted to move away to a desolate area of the world and live off of the land so I was able to relate to Asouf and his father and the way in which they took care of their family.

I was also happy to see that Asouf was finally able to stand up to Cain and not take him to the Waddan. At the beginning Asouf did seem quite spineless and not able to stand up for himself but he was able to develop his will and make his opinion heard.

The one thing I did notice that seemed to be a recurring theme in many of this stories about the continent of Africa is the movement of foreigners into the area and the manipulation of resources and people in the area.

....and still waiting

In 2007 Nigeria took part in a highly controversial and condemned General Election that was marred with corruption. There is much argument as to who should have been able to have run a campaign and if the country even had the technology or know how to hold an election of this magnitude. Voter fraud was rampant and bribed officials let many serious issues go unnoticed. Many members of prominent global institutions have declared that the results are not credible and should not be considered valid.

The Niger Delta has also been the focus of increasing violence and unrest in the recent past due to the growing demand for oil in foreign developed nations. While there is a "democracy" in place in the area, growing conflicts in the area has resulted in an increasing military force to help protect some of the economic interests of the country. Many Nigerians are upset because they have not seen the economic impact of the money made form the oil the country has exported and many local ethnic groups continue to feud over land rights in certain areas of the Niger Delta.

In Darfur there is a continuing conflict between governments and tribes and death tolls are estimated in the hundreds of thousands. The Sudanese government is responsible for many of these atrocities including the arrest of many journalists and activists.

There has been an effort by some in the international community to help bring an end to this but there seems to be no real end in sight. The president has been charged with crimes but the trouble has become evidence and how to go about detaining someone of that position.

Waiting....

The political system that is present in this time as described in the novel is very volatile. Greed is a center theme to the agendas of many of the Nigerian soldiers that are responsible for the many coups that take place. The people of Nigeria at this time are suffering dearly and are in need of help.

I took two different meanings from the title of the story and how they play in to what was taking place in the novel. For one man it appeared that he was waiting to for the angel of death to come and take him away. The one thing that made me wonder about this was that he was not the least bit worried that he was going to die and as a matter of fact he could have avoiding dying at the cafe by just leaving. It seems like many people at this time were very disturbed by what was going on around them and that death may not be all that bad compared to their current life experiences.

Another interpretation I took from the novel was that the people were waiting for an angel to come and save them from their horrible conditions. One that would lift them up and bring peace and prosperity to the people. Sadly to say that never happened and the people continue to suffer in regions throughout Africa today.

There were many activists seen throughout the story trying to bring an end to the corruption and bring happiness to the communities. Many people died in this struggle as the military was quick to squelch all forms of civil disobedience, and resulted in many political prisoners at the time. These reporters and activists were very important at bringing global attention to their strife and pressure on the governments to conform. The violations of human rights are widespread and evident in the novel and continue to this day.

Blessing and a Curse...or maybe just curse

Well there is not doubt that the possibility of a business in an area is a happy time for just about everyone, this does not seem to be the case for the most of Africa. The oil industry is a very lucrative business that can generate a lot of money for both a local and national economy. That is why there is no doubt that when people in Africa hear about the discovery of oil and the jobs it will create and the money it will bring in that initially became very happy. But after a few failed attempts at the process the people of Africa had realized that it was a hoax and they were receiving the short end of the stick. I found a very brief but compelling argument online about the Price of Oil in Africa and is has a short video slide depicting a village near the oil extraction sites and it explains the picture on the left.

Not only was money not brought into the area to develop much needed public services and infrastructure, it corrupted people and wound up destroying their environments and livelihoods. Business practices that had been tradition for so long now seemed obsolete and not worth time or efforts. Methods families used to feed their families such as fishing were now disrupted and ruined by environmental disasters and land takeovers.

I was shocked myself to read about this, I guess I knew it went on but I never really thought it was that bad. It has become quite obvious that the oil companies are in it for the best profit they can make and do little to help out the local communities or even reduce their footprint in the area. It really should come to no surprise to me, I am sure the fact that it is Africa has these oil companies excited because they know what they can get away with on this continent. Money has developed such a stranglehold on the small elite in power and the corruption is very far reaching. In the meantime the people of Africa suffer greatly.

I found a rather interesting article on some of the problems countries run into with highly valued natural resource called the resource curse or Paradox of Plenty. It highlights some of the problems many nations run into with natural resource exploitation, in particular in developing nations and nations with histories of instability.

Africans in WWII

During World War II many Africans joined in the battle against the axis, in particular the Italians led by Mussolini. Many of these Africans were from South Africa and were part of the South African Army. The South African Army consists of several branches including at least three Infantry Divisions and at least one armoured divisions.

Most of this membership came from alliance with British governments that colonized the area whether or not this was a happy cooperation or not remains a question due to political division within South Africa to honor the Pact of alliance with Britain or remain neutral. While they played important roles many Africans were denied high ranking positions or high profile missions due to the color of their skin. Thus for the most part people not of European descent were given largely domestic issues.

While Africa did not really need to be involved in WWII they were because of the colonization of the continent by European powers. So when European countries were attacked, their enemies also would target African colonies. There were significant losses of life for native Africans though, especially considering this was not a popular war in the eyes of the native Africans. Death numbers reached 77,000 for blacks and 46,000 for Asians and "colored."

Difficulty with Ancestor Stones

I did think Ancestor Stones was a fairly decent book but one thing I did not like about it was how many things in the book were left open to interpretation and guessing. This came up many times in the book, such as initiation for the women (female circumcision), and whether or not Serah's mother was unfaithful amongst other occasions.

It was an interesting book to read though and to see what these women went through in their lives and I think it is an understatement to say they went through a lot. From troubles in their home lives and with their families, personal struggles, and political turmoil. The war these communities were faced with were severe and devastating to families. People saw family members killed and lost to the rebel movement and child soldiers being recruited by the movement.

They appear to make some gains in their lives and experience some more setbacks as they go along. With the opportunity to vote given to the women it appeared to be progress but there are still many hurdles all Africans are faced with today especially women.

Gold, Sea Gods, and Labor Strikes

Well there was a little more drama in this portion of the book but still not much. OK so I know that the picture is not of Kasilla but, Poseidon is what I thought of when I read about the sea god capsizing the boat and killing the people of the village. Well at least the girls were happy they got their revenge on Ma Cook.

Oh and then the potential for a rebellion led by workers harvesting gold, that quickly sparked my attention, but that was sequestered rather rapidly and without much detail. Again my interest in the book began to wane.

It is obvious that the African people have continued to struggle with aspects of their lives, including religion, commerce, woman independence and economics. The lives of these communities have been forever changed and uprooted by the European presence. Women seem to suffer quite a bit through this time period, but the culture is so tightly embraced in the community and they do not want to change.

The role of women in Islam to me is brought into serious question. Women are expected to serve very subservient and non-authoritative role in the household and in the community. This was one of the most interesting parts of the book and how seriously Islam was taken by members in the community.

Ancestor Stones pt. 1

Well I am not too sure where this story is going, but it does provide an interesting look into the lives of woman of African native cultures. I do not enjoy the way the author jumps around from person to person and there seems to be no fluidity in the events of the novel. Instead the reader is left to join the stories and the characters together as needed. The African culture described in this book is receptive to the practice of polygamy and seems to focus particularly on Islam. While the author does not make any direct statements on the nature of polygamy, it is obvious that it has some demeaning nature in how it treats women.

One thing that seemed amazing to me was the amount of work that women in this culture actually do. They are the primary providers for the children and also do a substantial amount of work to provide for the husband and the good of the household while the husband seems to only provide some money for support. The women are responsible for cooking meals and also partake in the sale of handmade goods that they sale in community markets.

Women in this culture seem to be extremely subservient and are expected to not question male authority. Males are given much control over the household and the community and women are expected to follow suit. I was also shocked to see that there isn't more woman individualism and women standing up for better home lives, and any such rebellion is seen as disobedience that must be swiftly and firmly dealt with.

I am also curious as to why the author chose the title Ancestor Stones for the book considering they have not come up very much in the story at all. Maybe it is supposed to symbolize the ancestry of women and how they have gotten where they are today.

While this practice initially seemed rather weird to me and like some sort of primitive religion, the more I thought about it the more I realized we do the same thing with grave stones today!

He can't holla...

This was a very interesting book about how the effects of ignorance and lack of compassion can come back to haunt you. In the book Xala a curse is placed on a prestigious figure in African commerce as he neglects the people of his own community. When he is not able to fulfill his duties as a man his curse becomes the centerpiece for all his troubles but by the time he gets it resolved his life has changed dramatically and he has lost everything. The curse succeeds in proving a point to the main character and the oppressed get there revenge.

I thought that this book was very interesting and funny satire about the effects of European governments on post-colonial Africa. I was not quite sure where the story was going up until the last 5 pages, but that was all that was needed to prove the point of the story. In the end, the story proves that traditional customs will prevail over the capitalist system established by the European settlers. Also the neglected people in society is no one to mess with because they will cast some voodoo spell on people to prove a point.

I enjoyed the insult that was put on El Hadij in the end, being spit on by his own people which is about the lowest most disrespectful gesture one can make. So on top of now being broke, losing his wives, losing his money, losing his estates, and losing his reputation as a man, he has just been spit on by a bunch of lepers, cripples and degenerates. I guess that is what happens when you listen to Europeans.

The Struggle

The Algerian War was a long attempt at independence for the Algerian people. It was marked by many deaths, massacres, guerrilla warfare and eventually the independence of the Algerian people from France.

To the French the initial movements taken by their government was considered a "pacification," but it was far from that. A chief of police in Paris was responsible for an attack on a peaceful demonstration resulting in at least 40 deaths, the Setif massacre that killed at least 1000 Algerian demonstrators, and the Cafe wars waged on France resulting in the deaths of around 5000 lives.

The moving force in Algeria that began their struggle for independence was a group called the FLN whose political theorist was Frantz Fanon, and the MNA. I was able to find a brief clip of the FLN fighting against the French during the war on YouTube. Both of these groups engaged in violent warfare throughout Algeria in an attempt to gain independence from France. This resulted in the horrendous murders of many French living in the country at the time. Frances response was an increasing amount of countermeasures to sequester the guerrilla fighters and the leftist groups.

After many struggles and much bloodshed the French government decided in 1962 it would leave Algeria after a vote of independence, which did pass unanimously. Even after this there was still some violence carried out in Algeria by the FLN to purge it of the French citizens.

As I finished reading this I could not help but laugh at the hypocrisy of some of the European nations. We as people of the U.S. are often criticized for being war and power hungry, but in my opinion the atrocities pulled by many of these nation far outshadow some of the things the U.S. has done to other countries, after all they are the ones who colonized this country.

Underdevelopment

It is very evident that Africa has struggled to become an self-reliant country to no fault of its own. And the essay "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa," raises some very interesting points as to the reason it has not succeeded at becoming a "developed" country. Walter Rodney presents us with a very damning and controversial look at how the imperialistic countries of the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries manipulated and impoverished an entire culture.

When European countries began to colonize Africa they did so with the mind set of maintaining superiority in the eyes of the rest of the world. The easiest way for them to do this and reaps the most benefits from Africa was to exploit the nation. To me it seemed that the worst thing you can do to a country is deprive it of its' history and to deprive the rest of the world of its' history.

When Europeans came into Africa they totally disrupted and rejected the rich social and historical significance of Africa. Africa is one of if not the oldest civilizations in the world, and instead of learning about it the colonists destroyed it. I believe that there is much the world didn't and still doesn't know about the history of Africa that we should know. So instead of trying to learn about the society and cultures of the continent they manipulated and controlled it.

The first thing colonists saw when the arrived in Africa was an "inferior" culture/military force, and dollar signs. Knowing that they could control the area with brute force they decided they utilize the resources of the continent for there own benefit. This has had serious ramifications on African society that are still felt today.

To me the most serious of these deprivations to African society comes from the keystone aspect of all societies and that is education. Education is critical for the upbringing of societies all across the world and by depriving someone of education you deprive them of a livelihood.

While countries are trying to "help" Africa there always seem to be alternative motives for their help and they are still trying to gain something from the relationship. This has led to continuous troubles in Africa and these instabilities seem to not end. That is why I believe we must first focus on building a system of education on the continent so they can somehow hopefully take control of their own country.

Keep away from Africa or else....

While reading Achebe's account of his opinion about Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness I found that paragraph 56 was most intriguing to me. I thought the statement that Africa was "a carrier onto whom the master unloads his physical and moral deformities so that he may go forward, erect and immaculate," seemed to be a rather compelling argument not only for the subject at hand but for many other modern day debates. And it seemed to be something we are taught from a very young age, "mirror, mirror on the wall who is the prettiest of them all." Me of course, right I know. j/k. Anyways, I believe the world has always been obsessed with self-image and confidence problems, and one way we deal with that is to compare ourselves to those around us.


The more I thought about this the more I could see our society doing this as whole, over very ridiculous things, such as looks and fashion. And what about radical Islam, Christians are seen as vile and disgusting beings that must be wiped from the face of the earth. What about the Holocaust, people seen as different were seen as "inferior." There are many instances of this throughout history, and it makes me laugh, the desire people have to help there own self-confidence by tearing down others is quite ridiculous.

VERSUS

As for Achebe I believe he does make some rather interesting points about some of Conrad's possible motives and the way he could have stated some things differently in the book. He also makes the point of using a narrator behind a narrator so as maybe to hide is own beliefs. It did become rather obvious to me though that Conrad could have describe the setting a little differently if he really wanted to make a stand against what was actually taking place. After all I did find it rather hard to understand what points were being made and now that I have read Achebe's argument about the European comparison, I can see where he is coming from. The way Africa is referred to as the "Dark Continent" by the English is a rather absurd name to associate with a place because it is different and unknown.

Boring...

While I did feel that King Leopold's Ghost was a little to gruesome I was able to find it interesting. The author of Heart of Darkness had a very hard time keeping me interested. While there is a stance made in the book I seemed to easily get lost with the characters and their actual feelings. Anyways the book did not seem to be as interesting as King Leopold's Ghost and I was very disappointed in the characterization of what went on in Africa.

I did enjoy when Marlow went to go see the doctor I thought the questions he was asking him were quite humorous. Marlow was also able to pick up on something out of the ordinary was going on when he was getting ready to leave. It seemed to be a sort of sign about what he was about to experience. He was also able to recall what the doctor had said when he was away in Africa as he saw some of the atrocities at hand.

The story did make me begin to thank that what people experienced while in Africa would eventually have an effect on them no matter how much they tried to deny it did not bother them. And those who tried to fight it the longest it tore at them the most later on.

I also thought there was a unique contrast made when Marlow was describing the Thames there was a clear distinction about the beauty they were currently experiencing compared to what he experienced in Africa. The beauty vs. the beast.

History???!!

King Leopolds Ghost was a very different book from what I am used to reading as it was more of a text book as a novel. While I found some of the information in the book a little redundant, it was still a very compelling story. The book was a very appauling story of the atrocity that mankind is capable of inflicting on society. It really got me, as I am sure it did a lot of people, that something like this could just be passed over in the context of history. But it also got me thinking about what other significant events in the history of the world that have simply been left out or glazed over. I am sure there are many of these types of events that have occurred throughout history that many of us are unaware of especially in all the nations throughout the history of the world.

Even though these events are eye-opening and very appalling statements about human society it is good to know that ther eare still good people in the world to stand up and bring attention to these events. Although horrible people often are able to exploit others and often disguise their intentions, the good people are able to expose and overcome villains. I also enjoyed the irony that one of the people most important in the raising awareness of what was going on in Africa was a black manand I am glad he was succesful in doing so.

I found it quite funny the statues and coins that were made in honor of someone like Leopold. It seemed to me like there should be asterisks at the bottom of these monuments saying how much of a very mean person (P.C. term) this guy really was.

A Clever Game of Chess

As I read through the first part of this book i was amazed at the trickery and clever maneuvering displayed by King Leopold. At first I was rather shocked at some of the things he pulled off and I could not believe how a politician could pull something like this off. But then I thought to myself, well, he really is no different from politicians in today's government. It amazed me how this scenario been played out time and time again in our own government and how ridiculous favors are pulled off, anyways.

I must say there was quite a similarity between Leopold and Stanley. Both of whom seemed to be dealing with some kind of void in their lives that they were obsessed with filling. They both seemed to be very good candidates for a sit in on the Dr. Phil Show to explain their emptiness. But as vile as the two of them came off as they were very admirable in their determination and ability to get something accomplished.

I was able to find a somewhat humorous depiction of King Leopold on YouTube that describes his story fairly well. The harshness that one man's desire was able to inflict on so many people is not totally evident yet in the story but given the fast steps taken by the Imperial King, one is able to guess the amount of damage he is about to unleash. Very interesting how a couple of men with their deceitful language and misleading information can turn a world upside down.

One thing I did begin to question as I read the story was how accurate the information was being portrayed given the stories made by many men at the time about Africa in particular. Especially those of the delusional Stanley.

African Diaspora

The African diaspora describes the movement of people from Africa to other countries both freely and forcibly. The slave trade is largely responsible for the movement of Africans across the globe. The word diaspora is derived from the Latin word diaspairein, which means "to disperse." Colonists from Arab countries began enslaving and moving Africans all the way back to the 5th century into the Middle East and Asia.

Then in the 15th century European countries began to trade slaves first into Europe and then into the Americas across the Middle Passage. This is the result of European countries seeing the Africans as a "resource" that they could exploit and enslave when the Europeans began to settle in Africa. As a result of the Atlantic slave trade, African families and communities were destroyed and many of Africans were killed in the process. Not only were Europeans involoved but also some Africans would sell their own communities in order to trade for something of value to themselves.

The Atlantic slave trade is referred to as Maafa by Africans and African Americans, which is Swahili for "great disaster." Many people died as a result of the slave trade, either from warring kingdoms trying to sell slaves, or from the movemetn of slaves to coastal cities to the New World because of the shortage of labor.

As many European countries began to colonize Africa some tried to legitimize slavery claiming that Africans had been selling each other since long before the Europeans arrived. As this continued the Europeans established borders of Kingdoms that did not exist before their arrival. This in turn broke up some existing tribes and their interaction amongst other tribes. Europeans also carefully manuevered their way into the local legal systems and in turn chabnged many of them around in order to lessen the status of the native Africans.

Ibo Warrior

I found this image of a masked warrior on the cave path on my first visit to the village of Umuofia. When I saw it I was reminded of the night Okonkwo went after his wife and his daughter after the daughter had been taken by the priestess. The headdress on the individual did look quite sadistic and intimidating to me, as did what appears to be a machete in his right hand. I am amazed at the intricacy of the artwork and attention to detail on the mask. The mask appears to be molded to the individuals face, which I would assume is advantageous for vision and movement if this is some type of war attire.

The hair or grass that adorns the outside of the mask almost seems to work as some sort of camouflage to hide in the bushes if he was hunting prey. I would guess that the artwork and the design of the mask is meant to honor or look similar to a god in their culture. This way they are able to bring their god with them to watch over them in battle or on the hunt, as well as intimidate others.

The masked individual also seems to be wielding a cane or stick of some kind. This is probably what the Ibo people used to beat their wives and children when they spoke of a cane, and they may have also used it to block attacks from other individuals.

I found a video of an alleged war dance in Nigeria because the picture reminded me of a warrior I might expect to see in Umuofia. I thought while the dance was simple it seemed very interesting to see how the people of Africa would prepare for war.

Imperialistic Times

With the way the story first started out, I thought it would be a story of tribes fighting amongst each other, and one mans struggle to stand out in his tribe. Although the setting of the story is much different then today, I felt that I was able to relate to Okonkwo's struggles, both with his father and his struggle in the tribe. Every man has a strong desire to stand out in his community, including myself, and also a strong desire to be different from his father, and in Okonkwo's case it was not to be lazy like his father. If he achieved this he would be happy with himself and with his standing in the Igbo (Ibo) tribe.

At the beginning of the story, I often found myself thinking of how easy it would be to live in such a place at that time. But as the author made me more aware there is definitely a greater struggle to survive. While working the land may seem to many people as something primitive and easy it is not because of who you provide for. I enjoyed the way the people had certain rituals and rites that they followed closely like the planting of the yams at certain time s of year and the festivals they held.

Anyways, after reading the book I came to the conclusion that a better title for the tragedy would have been "All For Nothing." While Okonkwo lived his life the best he could, he lived it worrying about what other people in his community would think of him. In a way i felt very bad for Okonkwo because he held his community and tradition in such high regard and in the end right when he thought things were going to start to go his way it hit rock bottom. His tribe had changed and there was nothing he could do to bring it back to the way things used to be, the way he wanted it. He reminded me of many people today who spend their life working for something and not focusing on the present and enjoying themselves. He was in a constant struggle with himself and this anger was taken out on those around him.

The character that I was supposed to follow was Okonkwo's father, Unoka. And while many people regarded his father worthless, he was a happy man and enjoyed himself. He didn't spend his whole life trying to achieve something he knew he may never get which is exactly what happened in Okonkwo's case. His main fascination was for music of which he enjoyed playing his flute also called an opi, as well as other instruments such as the udu, which was a jug looking musical instrument.

As for the imperialistic white man and his religion, well maybe not the religion, because I don't think that this was REALLY an honest endeavor on their part. At this point in time the white man was really just power hungry and wanted to spread their culture, and I believe they used religion as a motive to go into other countries. Regardless I don't feel that they should be allowed to go into other countries and change their cultures around because even today I don't feel any culture is better than any other, we all have our problems and we can address them on our own.

Arabs in East Africa

Known Arab immigration into East Africa goes all the way back to 5th century B.C. Many south Arabian armies settled in the Ethiopian highlands and eventually formed the Axum Empire, which was a powerful empire at the time and is believed to be the resting pplace of the Ark of the Covenant. The empire was one of the first African empires to convert to Christianity.

Some cultures in Africa that we know today, are the result of the immigration of other cultures into an area and the intermingling of those cultures. One of those specific immigrations is the immigration of Arabs into East Africa. Probably the most notable example of this is the immigration of Arabs fleeing wars in Arabia into Africa. From this blend of Arab and African cultures the Swahili were born.

Swahili live mostly in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique according to Wikipedia and the culture is mostly the result of the Arab and African cultures, in fact, the word Swahili is derived from an Arabic word that translates to "coastal dwellers."

The religion most often followed by the Swahili is Islam, as much of their exposure from other cultures has continued to be from Arabia. The Swahili speak a native language, but has many similarities to that of Arabic language. One of the first known literary documents in Swahili was a poem called "The history of Tambuka," which was an epic story which was believed to have originated around 1700.