HEADLINE: Ghanaian weavers promote use of Kente cloth
BYLINE: Paul Ndiho
DATE: 01/12/10
One of Ghana's best known products is Kente, a woven cloth most often associated with wealth and cultural sophistication. The colorful fabric dates back centuries and is revered for both its beauty and symbolic significance.
Kente cloth is among Arica's best known fabrics. The ceremonial cloth is identified by its dazzling, multicolored patterns of bright colors, geometric shapes and bold designs. Strips of the fabric are hand-woven on a loom and then sewn together forming large pieces of cloth.
At a workshop in southern Ghana, Owusu Fordjour is getting his materials and tools ready for weaving.
"I am just wrapping the yarns that I bought from the store and this is the first stage of kente weaving. And the reason why I am doing this is that I would like to combine all the yarns and to know the type of design that I will make."
Kente is traditionally woven primarily by men. Fordjour has been weaving for nearly three decades and learned the technique from his father. In 2003, he and some of his friends including shopkeeper Atta Pokua formed the Bonwire Best Kente Weavers and Sellers Association to help promote their work,.
"I have been selling Kente for a long time, my grandmother started this business and left it to my mother and then I took over from my mother."
Traditionally, Kente was worn by royalty and other dignitaries to mark special occasions. Today people across the country wear the fabric and Kente has been adopted as Ghana's national dress.
Kente is very expensive. So textile manufacturers are selling cheaper, printed versions of the cloth that are less durable. It is often used to make clothes, souvenirs and accessories that are popular with tourists.
Charles Frimpong, a textiles expert at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, says factory-made Kente threatens the rich history of the fabric.
"Items like footwear, earrings, bags, these were not original uses for Kente and so the printed kente has in a large measure come to reduce the importance and reverence in which Kente was."
For decades, Kente has preserved an integral part of Ghanaian culture and provided weavers and others a source of income and pride.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
FROM COVER GIRL TO SAVING MOUNTAIN GORILLAS
HEADLINE: FROM COVER GIRL TO SAVING MOUNTAIN GORILLAS
By Paul Ndiho
DATE: 01/12/10
Veronica Varekova has graced the covers of Vogue, Marie Claire and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue plus posed in ads for Victoria's Secret, Chanel and Guess. Now she's adding her voice to a social cause and using her passport to travel to Africa as a Goodwill Ambassador for the African Wildlife Foundation.
The African Wildlife Foundation announced recently that that supermodel Veronica Varekova, who has been featured on the covers of some of the most prestigious fashion magazines in the world, is their new AWF Goodwill Ambassador. Veronica will aid in efforts to raise awareness and funds to support initiatives focused on conserving large landscapes, protecting endangered species, and empowering local communities.
“I've always had this sort of humanitarian desires and seeing that they (AWF) really work with the government, with the local communities, building schools for children in Maasai Ranch, at Menyara Ranch, that to me the complexity was just something that I was just like, 'Wow. This is unbelievable. This is not just about animals'."
Africa's Heartland commonly known as the Virunga region is home to almost half of the world's remaining Mountain Gorillas. Virunga's fertile volcanic soils and high rainfall make it one of the most densely populated areas on earth, where people rely heavily on the forest for wood and charcoal. The gorillas are found in Congo, Uganda and Rwanda. Varekova tracked the mountain gorillas in Rwanda, a country that is still trying to recover from the 1994 Genocide that left an estimated 800,000 people dead.
"Rwanda today is one of the most stable countries in central Africa and I cannot say once that I was scared. Maybe in front of the large silverback (gorilla) yes. But, other than that, never. It's really well, beautifully manicured agricultural country and the people of Rwanda are so sweet. Super kind and really anxious to get forward and move on away from that horrific past that they have."
The African Wildlife Fund says that these vast areas of land are essential to conservation due to an unmatched concentration of wildlife and potential to sustain viable populations for the future. In this region, there is concern that man's closest relative is facing pressures that could drive it into extinction. Varekova says her message is to tell the locals that there are benefits in protecting mountain gorillas because they generate a lot of income and boost their countries tourism industry.
"Every time I get this question I have to go back in my memories and go to Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania which is a natural crater. It's a gigantic zoo really. It's beautiful, beautiful place. And you have all different kinds of animals there."
Conservationists say that poaching in the wildlife parks has intensified recently to the point where the wildlife has been driven from their natural habitats.
By Paul Ndiho
DATE: 01/12/10
Veronica Varekova has graced the covers of Vogue, Marie Claire and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue plus posed in ads for Victoria's Secret, Chanel and Guess. Now she's adding her voice to a social cause and using her passport to travel to Africa as a Goodwill Ambassador for the African Wildlife Foundation.
The African Wildlife Foundation announced recently that that supermodel Veronica Varekova, who has been featured on the covers of some of the most prestigious fashion magazines in the world, is their new AWF Goodwill Ambassador. Veronica will aid in efforts to raise awareness and funds to support initiatives focused on conserving large landscapes, protecting endangered species, and empowering local communities.
“I've always had this sort of humanitarian desires and seeing that they (AWF) really work with the government, with the local communities, building schools for children in Maasai Ranch, at Menyara Ranch, that to me the complexity was just something that I was just like, 'Wow. This is unbelievable. This is not just about animals'."
Africa's Heartland commonly known as the Virunga region is home to almost half of the world's remaining Mountain Gorillas. Virunga's fertile volcanic soils and high rainfall make it one of the most densely populated areas on earth, where people rely heavily on the forest for wood and charcoal. The gorillas are found in Congo, Uganda and Rwanda. Varekova tracked the mountain gorillas in Rwanda, a country that is still trying to recover from the 1994 Genocide that left an estimated 800,000 people dead.
"Rwanda today is one of the most stable countries in central Africa and I cannot say once that I was scared. Maybe in front of the large silverback (gorilla) yes. But, other than that, never. It's really well, beautifully manicured agricultural country and the people of Rwanda are so sweet. Super kind and really anxious to get forward and move on away from that horrific past that they have."
The African Wildlife Fund says that these vast areas of land are essential to conservation due to an unmatched concentration of wildlife and potential to sustain viable populations for the future. In this region, there is concern that man's closest relative is facing pressures that could drive it into extinction. Varekova says her message is to tell the locals that there are benefits in protecting mountain gorillas because they generate a lot of income and boost their countries tourism industry.
"Every time I get this question I have to go back in my memories and go to Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania which is a natural crater. It's a gigantic zoo really. It's beautiful, beautiful place. And you have all different kinds of animals there."
Conservationists say that poaching in the wildlife parks has intensified recently to the point where the wildlife has been driven from their natural habitats.
UGANDA'S ANTI- GAY BILL SPARKS DEBATE ACROSS THE WORLD
By Paul Ndiho
January 12, 2010
A anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda's parliament is receiving strong reactions on both sides of the debate. The bill criminalizes anyone who promotes homosexuality, is accomplice to, or procures another to engage in homosexuality. It also issues the death penalty to serial offenders.
Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 would sentence HIV-positive homosexuals to death for having sex, and severely punish any homosexual with up to life imprisonment. David Bahati introduced the bill to parliament, and says the legislation promotes strong family values.
"The constitution of Uganda outlaws same-sex marriage. The penal code of this country talks about unnatural behavior and there are gaps. It falls short of explaining what homosexuality is and what penalty there should be. So, on that case of the legal angle, there is a need to bridge the gaps within our legal frame works to make it very clear."
Uganda's gay community says this legislation will only formalize the persecution of gay and lesbian community. Some Ugandans demonstrated in Kampala recently in support of the bill.
There is already a law on the books in Uganda that criminalizes homosexuality. It refers to crimes committed against the order of nature. But Rick Rosendall, with the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C., says the law is archaic.
"That's right out of the old British penal code, which is no longer the case in Britain. It's no longer part of the law in Britain. But it remains the law in many former colonies including Nigeria and Uganda. And as a result there is victimization of Africans ongoing because of the legacy of colonialism."
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has come under pressure from donor countries, including the United States, to drop the proposed law, saying it violates human rights. Museveni says he opposes the death penalty provision in the proposed legislation. Rosendall says he stands with the gay people in Africa, and that they face far greater risks and threats every day.
"My own partner is an African whose parents are from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and he and other African gay activists that I have seen and gotten to know are among the most courageous people I have ever known." Rick said.
In a related development, a Malawian judge rejected a bail application by two gay men charged with public indecency after getting engaged to be married. They are believed to be the first gay couple in Malawi to start the marriage process, and pleaded not guilty to the charges last week. Homosexual acts carry a maximum prison sentence of 14 years in Malawi.
Several African countries have a law that makes homosexuality a crime. South Africa is the only African country that has legalized same-sex marriage. Again Rick Rosendall, Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C.
"Now there are a lot of people in Africa, including rulers of various countries that say that homosexuality is not indigenous to Africa, that it was imported by colonists from Europe and elsewhere and that it is un-African. Mr. Mugabe, for example, has said that many times. But in fact studies, ethnographic studies, throughout the continent of Africa have shown, have found indigenous forms of homosexuality everywhere on the continent."
The issue has spilled over to the church. African archbishops, especially Nigeria's Peter Akinola, led a schism in the Anglican Communion following the election of Gene Robinson, a gay bishop in New Hampshire. Churches in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda followed suit, principally by refusing grants from the American Episcopal Church.
Here in the U.S., many states have outlawed gay marriage, but others allow it. Around the world, there are many places where gays and lesbians can obtain civil unions, but only seven countries allow gay marriage.
January 12, 2010
A anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda's parliament is receiving strong reactions on both sides of the debate. The bill criminalizes anyone who promotes homosexuality, is accomplice to, or procures another to engage in homosexuality. It also issues the death penalty to serial offenders.
Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 would sentence HIV-positive homosexuals to death for having sex, and severely punish any homosexual with up to life imprisonment. David Bahati introduced the bill to parliament, and says the legislation promotes strong family values.
"The constitution of Uganda outlaws same-sex marriage. The penal code of this country talks about unnatural behavior and there are gaps. It falls short of explaining what homosexuality is and what penalty there should be. So, on that case of the legal angle, there is a need to bridge the gaps within our legal frame works to make it very clear."
Uganda's gay community says this legislation will only formalize the persecution of gay and lesbian community. Some Ugandans demonstrated in Kampala recently in support of the bill.
There is already a law on the books in Uganda that criminalizes homosexuality. It refers to crimes committed against the order of nature. But Rick Rosendall, with the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C., says the law is archaic.
"That's right out of the old British penal code, which is no longer the case in Britain. It's no longer part of the law in Britain. But it remains the law in many former colonies including Nigeria and Uganda. And as a result there is victimization of Africans ongoing because of the legacy of colonialism."
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has come under pressure from donor countries, including the United States, to drop the proposed law, saying it violates human rights. Museveni says he opposes the death penalty provision in the proposed legislation. Rosendall says he stands with the gay people in Africa, and that they face far greater risks and threats every day.
"My own partner is an African whose parents are from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and he and other African gay activists that I have seen and gotten to know are among the most courageous people I have ever known." Rick said.
In a related development, a Malawian judge rejected a bail application by two gay men charged with public indecency after getting engaged to be married. They are believed to be the first gay couple in Malawi to start the marriage process, and pleaded not guilty to the charges last week. Homosexual acts carry a maximum prison sentence of 14 years in Malawi.
Several African countries have a law that makes homosexuality a crime. South Africa is the only African country that has legalized same-sex marriage. Again Rick Rosendall, Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C.
"Now there are a lot of people in Africa, including rulers of various countries that say that homosexuality is not indigenous to Africa, that it was imported by colonists from Europe and elsewhere and that it is un-African. Mr. Mugabe, for example, has said that many times. But in fact studies, ethnographic studies, throughout the continent of Africa have shown, have found indigenous forms of homosexuality everywhere on the continent."
The issue has spilled over to the church. African archbishops, especially Nigeria's Peter Akinola, led a schism in the Anglican Communion following the election of Gene Robinson, a gay bishop in New Hampshire. Churches in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda followed suit, principally by refusing grants from the American Episcopal Church.
Here in the U.S., many states have outlawed gay marriage, but others allow it. Around the world, there are many places where gays and lesbians can obtain civil unions, but only seven countries allow gay marriage.
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