Student at Katse High School Salute the Lesotho National Flag during the singing of the national anthem.

Yesterday, voters in Lesotho cast their ballots to determine who should lead the country. To prepare for the elections I wrote a piece about local vs foreign constituents that was published on Africa is a Country. On Sahel Blog my story was feature and quoted as part of the Africa Blog Roundup.

Below I will reproduce the text of the article.

Perched high above South Africa, Lesotho usually does not receive much international media attention. The little coverage it does garner often assumes readers are completely ignorant and takes great pains to emphasize dismal statistics about rates of HIV/AIDS and poverty. Of course since the last time you heard a story about Lesotho, you’ve surely forgotten how dire it is and must be reminded. In embodying banal, perfunctory reporting, some articles about Lesotho have tried to draw readers in by focusing on the recent visit to the country by the illustrious Archbishop Desmond Tutu, while others have stressed the risk of political violence during and after today’s elections. The Economist deserves special recognition for going to print with the wrong name for the political party of the incumbent Prime Minister. Kind of makes you question their expertise in intelligence. Overall, few articles have attempted to move beyond superficialities and actually delve into the complexities of the local political atmosphere and the implications of the election outcome.

Lesotho politics has been far from mundane as of late. In February of this year, the Prime Minister of Lesotho, Pakalitha Mosisili, formed a new political party called the Democratic Congress (DC), taking most members of parliament with him. With the formation of this new party, Mosisili effectively broke away from the party he had led for 15 years, the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD). In his stead, former Minister of Communications, Mothetjoa Metsing, has taken the reins of the LCD. A third major party, the All Basotho Convention (ABC), is another breakaway from the LCD led by veteran politician Tom Thabane. Following their break from LCD, the DC party’s new logo was originally to be a cross, however such allegory upset local religious groups and DC leaders eventually adopted the three-legged cooking pot instead. Further controversy was stoked when the DC party was accused of holding campaign materials owned by the LCD in 19 constituencies across the country including the capital city, Maseru and other urban areas. Lesotho’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) responded with a one-week campaign ban for the DC in the 19 offending constituencies, an order that the DC party flat out ignored without consequence.

Despite the controversies, this year’s National Assembly contest has been marked by massive voter engagement with an especially strong showing for young and first time voters. Rallies, famo music performances and to a lesser extent, social media, have been used to generate support for parties and candidates. Key issues that affect the majority of Basotho include: employment, agricultural investment, union wage negotiations, access to education and labor mobility to and from South Africa. Because no party wants to resort to forming a coalition government with their rivals, competition for voters’ allegiance has been rather intense.

While each party is representing itself as the one that can best be trusted by Basotho factory workers, farmers, civil servants and students, it’s evident that other, more clandestine constituents are being courted as well. The incumbent Prime Minister Mosisili in particular has realized the value of partnerships with foreign investors, especially South Africans and Chinese. Kenny Kunene, South Africa’s infamous “Sushi King” (who also invests in mining) has reportedly been a contributor to Mosisili’s political campaign at a time when Lesotho’s diamond mines are exhuming some of the largest stones in the world. Lesotho’s mountainous highlands have long been of strategic interest to the South African government as well, with giant dams supplying essential water to the Johannesburg area for domestic and industrial use. Chinese investors, who operate many of Lesotho’s textile factories, have benefited from being able to keep wages low on Mosisili’s watch, to the vexation of Basotho factory workers. Chinese contractors have been busy with projects across Maseru. Notably, the recently opened Ying Tao restaurant in one of Lesotho’s nicer hotels, the Lesotho Sun, has quickly become a popular meeting place for Basotho elite and Chinese businessmen.

Back outside, in the hills of Lesotho’s countryside, the image of the country’s trademark woven hat, emblazoned on waving cloth of blue white and green has kept watch over the massive campaign rallies of the political parties. At each boisterous event, homage is paid to this conical woven hat and the proud statehood it represents, during the singing of Lesotho’s national anthem, “Lesotho fatse la bontata rona”.

During the first verse of the anthem, the crowds sing with great harmony, that theirs is a country more beautiful than the others, a country to be loved. There is an allusion to the country as a body that gives birth to and nurtures its children. Yet, a question remains – after the elections, which children are to prosper most from the country’s nourishment?

Sesotho: Lesotho fatse la bontat’a rona,

Har’a mafatse le letle ke lona.

Ke moo re hlahileng,

Ke moo re holileng,

Rea le rata.

English:

Lesotho, land of our Fathers,

You are the most beautiful country of all.

You gave us birth, In you we are reared

You are dear to us.

Yesterday I was honored to have the opportunity to help the excellent media blog Africa is a Country inaugurate a new photographic feature on their website. The new weekly feature allows selected photographers with content from African countries to choose and describe their five favorite images that they've taken. It was important to me to choose images with depth that represent more than bare aesthetics and so I agonized over the perfect five. Here is how I described the theme of my images:

In my photographic work I seek to document social transformation. My images depict the intersection of various influences on people and their environments; the traditional; the contemporary; the local; and the foreign. I document how the creative amalgamation of those influences produces new social contexts that are each unique. As active participants in what could be called social remixing, the subjects of my images challenge assumptions of static, shallow, generalized culture.

In the end my five photos were these:

Go to africasacountry.com to read background information on each image. And of course visit zacharyrosen.com to see even more of my photographs from West and Southern Africa.

Indeed, this is what democracy looks like. On Saturday March 10th 2012, a rally was held at the Wisconsin State capitol in downtown Madison to mark one year since a state bill was passed by the administration of Governor Scott Walker that limited the collective bargaining rights of state workers. Citizens of all demographics came out en masse for the peaceful rally to demonstrate their disgust with Walkers arrogance in promoting divisive policies that favor corporate executives and leave school teachers high and dry.

I biked down to the protest with multiple aims:

To share my discontent for the dubious direction Walker had taken my home state.

To make up for the missing the historic Madison protests of 2011 while I was in Lesotho.

To support my parents who are both educators that saw their benefits cut as a result of Walker's policies

And to take photos of more incredible history in the making.

It has been depressing to observe Wisconsin's economic decline over the last few years, but I was proud of what I witnessed at the protest as I clicked my shutter. I hope that since the recent effort to recall Governor Walker garnered over 1 million signatures change is in the air and Wisconsin will soon move forward once again.

At least 35,000 people protested at the State Capitol on Saturday, though some reports put the figure at more than 60,000. Below are some of my photos from the event, with special attention paid the creative signs that were thrust in the air along with clenched fists in a sea of dissent. I'm usually quite selective when sharing my images, but here I figure, the more the merrier.

The lone Walker supporter, who spent most of the day standing in the shadows of much larger anti-Walker signs.

All photographs copyright of Zachary Rosen 2012

Yes, the most famous mbalax star in Senegal is indeed running for president in the country's elections to be held in February 2012. While his music plays in literally every town and village in Senegal (and The Gambia as well for that matter), we will see if he is able to bring fans of his music to the polls.

In the following video message translated from French, N'Dour says his candidacy is a result of the men and women of Senegal calling for him to run. He asks potential voters to look beyond his lack of university education because he has, through travelling, "studied at the school of the world".

N'Dour will be running against current president Abdoulaye Wade who is 85 and seeking his third term in office. In 2011 Wade angered many in the nation by trying to reduce the percentage of votes required to avoid a runoff election from 50% to 25%. After major protests, with hip hop musicians at the vanguard of those those expressing discontent, Wade backed down.

With as much name recognition as he has, N'Dour will like still have to prove that he's a qualified as a policy maker and is representative of the values the Senegalese people believe in. Senegal is a majority muslim country with some particularly conservative areas. With N'Dour's entertainment lifestyle his has garnered criticism from conservative religious leaders in the past. In response to the criticism, N'Dour produced the album Egypt which was his attempt to show that his music was in line with the teachings of Islam. The album went on to win a Grammy, but a Grammy and a Presidency are too entirely different prizes. Most likely the conservative religious leaders will be vocal about a Youssou N'Dour candidacy.

N'Dour says his run for the presidency will be to limit the dubious spending of the Wade regime, the most ostentatious edifice of which is the North Korean-built Monument of the African Renaissance that came with a price tag of $27 Million. I have actually been to the statue in Dakar and seen its incredible grandeur and I'm still rather certain it's not worth the power outages that happen all over Dakar because spotlights shine on it all night long.

I do wonder with as many connections and business interests as Youssou N'Dour has however, whether he'll be able to affect the political and economic change he has promised in the country. It will be interesting too to see how much being a celebrity translates into political support in Senegal, considering in the US, many voters cast their ballots based on political character created largely by media agencies.

For a change-oriented Senegal it may be best to go with a guy with truly revolutionary vision that is without the baggage of Senegal's elite establishment. That would be Thiat of the Keur Gui Crew, as seen in the video below.

Here's to a free fair and safe election in Senegal next month.

Thanks to the site eyecurious we have the most comprehensive list of the year's best photobooks. This list of lists was compiled by scouring the web for every single Best Photobook list available (more than 50) and then listing the books that featured on the highest number of lists. According to Eye Curious, 2011's "Best Book" is...Redheaded Peckerwood by Chriastian Patterson, which was featured on a very impressive 19 lists.

Of course as an art, what is "best" in photography is entirely subjective. Yet the fact that more than 50 lists were written this year is emblematic of that fact that there is great interest in photographic publishing. As advancing digital technology coaxes more and more of our lives online it is comforting to know that the photography book is still a viable medium. The internet is on the one hand a major competitor to physical publishing and on the other a major tool for communication and design that makes the ability to share and appreciate art much much easier.

Oh and if you didn't get your fix from the first list, another photobook list that has traditionally been very well informed is that of Photoeye Magazine, who this year asked many photo critics and photographers to share their favorites of the year.

Over at the content-rich blog Africa Is A Country, the site's posters are coming up with some end of the year "Best Of 2011" lists related to contemporary African media. Tom Devriendt, a human library of African music knowledge, has posted his list of the year's best African music videos. Now Tom, in addition to another of the blog's prolific posters Sean Jacobs, appears to me to be an indefatigable sampler of the full spectrum of African-influenced music. (How do these guys find videos before anyone else?) One of his inspirations for creating the list, he writes, is the dearth of African music videos on some of the web's top music sites. Culling from the hundreds of quality videos produced in the 55 African nations and the extensive diaspora, Tom has done a rather stellar job of putting together his top 10 music videos list.

As a connoisseur of African music videos myself and inspired by Tom/Africa Is A Country, I have also decided to curate my own list of the year's best videos emanating from African musicians. While Tom's list contains a few of my favorites, I'm going to highlight videos not mentioned by Tom.

1. Siji - Ijo

A Nigerian who has lived in Lagos, London and the United States, Siji offers up his pulsing beats as a backdrop for a dance competition in this video. The video features legit moves that appear to have catchy names like Boogalo, Pindrop, The Jerk, Fire Dance and Bata, while Siji serves as a competition judge. Making a cameo is Ade Bantu, an actor/musician who appears with Nneka in the film Relentless (one I wouldn't mind seeing). Here's a translation of the song's chorus courtesy of a commenter named "Omopupaa" on the youtube link:

E ju apa (Wave (throw) your hands)

E na ese (stretch your feet)

E mi ori (Shake your head)

E dide k'e mu 'jo jo (Get up and dance)

2. M.anifest - Suffer

Ghanaian M.anifest flows so smooth as he walks through the dusty streets of Accra. The line that always gets stuck in my head in this song is, "If you got a name like Muhammed or Mustapha/ Flyin' might be tougher/ My sympathies brother". M dot dot also appears with K'naan and Mulatu Astake on Africology's "Addis Soul Vol. 1" mixtape. Producer DJ Juls, who has also worked with FOKN BOIS on a couple of mixtapes this year has made a remix of Suffer as well.

3. Stromae - Peace or Violence

From Belgium, but with roots in Rwanda, Stromae follows his hit Alors on Danse with the brilliantly edited Peace or Violence. Both songs are off his album, "Cheese". This video weaves together seamlessly scenes which resemble each other in composition, yet convey vastly different circumstances. Fantastic use of slow motion.

Stromae - Peace or Violence clip official by Nora_Amer

4. Stella Mwangi - Lookie Lookie

A Kenyan living in Norway, Stella blew up this year after she competed in the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix Singing Contest with the song Haba Haba. Despite protests that she wasn't a real Norwegian, Haba Haba's inspirational lyrics were enough to win the hearts of a generation of young Norwegian girls as well as the contest prize, making her Norway's official entry into the 2011 Eurovision contest. Lookie Lookie on the other hand is little less wholesome. With its damn catchy rhythm, the video has Stella gettin' down and playing with her curls on a rooftop where she exhorts us to pour her a shot of Patron and make her twist and shout. This isn't the first time STL has been seen on a rooftop. Yeah, she can rap too.

5. TY Bello - The Future

Released right before the Nigerian Presidential elections in April 2011, this video is call to the Nigerian people to come together to overcome national challenges such as tribalism, corruption, poverty and insecurity. With the sincerity of her words and the moving images of Nigerians taking to the street in the name of unity (+ a cameo by Banky W), TY Bello succeeds in encouraging positive aspects of Nigerian nationalism. I'm sure MEND and Boko Haram even get a bit teary-eyed when they see this video. (Bonus points because TY Bello is also a photographer.)

6. Goldfish - We Come Together

This South African group comes together in the form of a litany of classic video games to save the lady goldfish from all kinds of evil foes that look like they come from the worlds Sonic the Hedgehog, Angry Birds, Garfield and Star Wars. Who doesn't like pixelated violence and piano samples?

7. Nneka - My Home

While Tom prefers the animated style of Nneka's Soul is Heavy video, I find her soul reveals itself heavier in My Home when she confronts the difficulties of various lifestyles across Nigeria's social strata. The video is directed by Clam Magazine founder Andy Okoroafor who also directed Nneka in his recent film "Relentless". For more Nneka watch the making of videos for her latest album Soul is Heavy. Damn that is a hot accent.

8. Lizha James - Nyandayeyo

Leave it to Moza Girl Lizha James to do it big as usual. Director DJ Marcell who produces most of the biggest videos in Mozambique and Angola delivers extravagant global imagery in this one. The video is dedicated to Angolan music producer I.V.M. beatz (creator of Windeck with Cabo Snoop) who passed away in February 2011 in a car accident.

9. Just A Band with Michel Ongaro, Jahcoozi, Gebrüder Teichmann - Away

Away is part of the expansive BLNRB project, an initiative sponsored by the Goethe-Institute that partners Kenyan and German musicians together. The video features an asian cinema introduction and gorgeous black and white cinematography set in a simple forest. A woman ruthlessly hunts down a man for an unknown item and leaves the viewer's mind littered with questions. Just A Band has had a string of impressive, conscious, creative videos with Usinibore, If I Could and of course, Kenya's best viral phenomenon Ha He. Long live Makmende!

10. Ntjam Rosie - Space of You

Netherlands-based Cameroonian Ntjam Rosie blends her smooth jazzy vocals with psychedelic visuals in this video that makes you wonder if (or wish) you are on something. The song's soothing baseline and sharp piano notes are solid companions to swirling neon particles and slow moving overlapping images of the singer in her funky threads. It's hard not to feel at peace with this song.

Honorable mentions:

Darey - Ba Ni Kidi

Fatoumata Diawara - Kanou

Zakes Bantwimi - Wasting My Time

Bonus. Stlofa featuring Mokoari Molimo oa Lesupa Tsela - Linja tsa Media

This video, straight out of the Kingdom of Lesotho, was shot in an abandoned police building in downtown Maseru by Jeremiah Mosese of Mokoari Street Films. Stlofa is one of the biggest acts in Lesotho among young people and he was one of the final 5 in this year's Lesotho Superstar singing competition (Lesotho's own American Idol style contest hosted by the legendary Tsepo Tshola, formerly of the group Sankomota.) The filmmaker, Jeremiah, is a friend of mine and he invited me to take photographs on the set of the video. Unexpectedly, I actually ended up shooting the parts of the video in which Jeremiah himself sings. The video opens with a few clips shot in Berlin that are part of Jeremiah's upcoming feature film "Red Drought" about a post-apocalyptic world in which a Union of African States gives foreign aid to a war-torn, water-scarce Europe. Look out for it soon.

For the record my favorites on the Africa Is A Country list are:

Spoek Mathambo - Control

Burkaka Som Sistema - Hangover (BaBaBa)

Blitz the Ambassador - Native Sun (short film)

Looking forward to what 2012 has to bring in the short, musical video format.

ZER

The following is a short piece I wrote on a bus ride from Maputo to Johannesburg in October 2011. It had been a long time since I wrote a short story piece such as this, but I was compelled to put pencil to notebook as I observed what unfolded before me. It was indeed one of those poignant moments that makes one hyper aware of their surroundings.

~~~~~~

A man lies down to rest under the wheels of a Greyhound bus as it pauses in evening traffic on the streets of Maputo. When the bus’s engines fire and it is propelled forward, the man is lost in a dream. The bus comes to a halt once more.

At first people are confused. “What happened?” they ask. “Why aren't we driving?” “Shit! There's a man lying in the street.” Is he dead?” “He's not moving.” “Who did this?” they exclaim.

Oily foreheads are pressed to scratched windowpanes as the bus passengers try to crane their necks for a peek at the body. “Was it our bus?” “Did our driver do this?” “Was it our combined weight that forced the life from this man?” Questions abound.

As for me, I didn't even feel the bump. Bumps are normal around here. I was engrossed in a book, One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina. Later, when I am compelled to reflect on this moment, this collection of moments, I will channel a bit of Wainaina's style.

A few brave travelers disembark into the cool evening air to get a better view. Others follow slowly. Cautiously. It becomes clear that the bus isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The traffic is still flowing beside us nonchalantly, rows of cars making their way past the scene of the accident as if this is a normal occurance. Nobody is near the body. Does that mean he's dead, I wonder? Do we know he's dead? He is dead. Eventually an orange road triangle is placed near the body to alert oncoming cars of the obstacle.

Just across from the man, a homeless lady is wrapped in a blanket on the sidewalk. She seems not to notice or care that the sidewalk is now swelling with people. Faces marked with concerned expressions. Stomachs replete with knots. Some are saying the man and this woman are, were rather, together. She cannot be bothered. Her head is under her blue striped blanket. She projects none of the concern of those hovering above her. Perhaps she is desperately trying not to address the accident. Perhaps she knows just how much premeditation preceded the accident. At this moment, for her, her pavement blanket is the safest place on earth. The man’s body has no blanket covering it. It is exposed.

The man is now referred to as a body. He has been emasculated. The ambulance takes 45 minutes to arrive. We are back on the bus now. Waiting all the while. Calls are made to loved ones. Different versions of the story are told. Some stories are presented as theories. Others are authoritative facts. We wait. Someone exclaims in frustration, “How could he do this to us? He must have been on drugs. These people!”

People begin coping in their own ways. Jokes are cracked. Takeaway dinners make early appearances. Religious texts are cradled. Reassuring words are repeated in bowed heads.

The ambulance finally takes the body away. The police take our driver away. The driver has to make a statement about the accident at the police station the knowing ones say. I confront the evening chill one more time to examine the scene. This time I am alone. There is a pungent odor in the air. I can't remember whether or not it was there the first time I went out.

Another ambulance speeds past, siren blaring, responding to a different emergency. Other peoples' perceived inconvenience. There were no sirens for our guy. No speeding. No urgency. Just obligated perfunctory duty to take care of the mess cause by these people.

I go over to where the man was lying. The orange road triangle is gone. A flattened cardboard box marks his resting place. His memorial. A splattering of blood scintillates under the streetlights. The place is abandoned now. The traffic too has died. The only one left on the scene is the mysterious blanketed woman. She is unmoving in her patterned shell. She is the street's memory.

“We the undersigned wish to express our deep sadness at the murder of Ugandan human rights defender David Kato on 26th January 2011. David’s activism began in the 1980s as an Anti-Apartheid campaigner, where he first expressed a strong passion and conviction for freedom and justice, a passion which continued throughout his life. David was a founding member of Sexual Minorities Uganda, where he first served as Board member, and until his death as Litigation and Advocacy Officer. He was also a member of Integrity Uganda, a faith-based advocacy organization.

David was a man of vision and courage. One of his major concerns was the growth of religious fundamentalism in Uganda and across the continent and how this would impact on the rights of ordinary citizens including lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered / Gender Non-Comforming and Intersex  [LGBTIQ] persons. Years later his concerns were justified when the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill backed by religious fundamentalists was outlined in 2009.  David was also an extremely brave man who had been imprisoned and beaten severely because of his sexual orientation and for speaking publicly against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

Many African political and religious leaders in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Zambia, Gambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Malawi and Botswana, have publicly maligned LGBTIQ people and in some cases directly incited violence against them whilst labeling sexual minorities as “unAfrican”.

In October 2010, the Ugandan tabloid, Rolling Stone published the names and photographs of “100 Top homos” including David Kato.   David along with two other LGBTIQ activists successfully sued the magazine on the grounds of “invasion of privacy” and most importantly,  the  judge ruled that the publication would threaten and endanger the lives of LGBTIQ persons.

The court did not only rule that the publication would threaten and endanger the lives of LGBTIQ persons but it issued a permanent injunction against Rolling Stone newspaper never to publish photos of gays in Uganda, and also never to again publish their home addresses.

Justice Kibuuka Musoke ruled that,

“Gays are also entitled to their rights. This court has found that there was infringement of some people’s confidential rights. The court hereby issues an injunction restraining Rolling Stone newspaper from future publishing of identifications of homosexuals.”

Every human being is protected under the African Charter of Peoples and Human Rights and this includes the rights of LGBTIQ persons. We ask the governments of Uganda and other African countries to stop criminalizing people on the grounds of sexual orientation and afford LGBTIQ people the same protections, freedoms and dignity, as other citizens on the continent.”

 

Alix Mukonambi,                                        Molisa Nyakale

Anengiyefa Alagoa,                                     Things I Feel Strongly About

Anthony Hebblethwaite                             African Activist

Barbra Jolie,                                                 Me I Think

Ben Amunwa,                                               Remember Ken Saro-Wiwa

Bunmi Oloruntoba,                                     A Bombastic Element

Chris Ogunlowo,                                          Aloofaa

Eccentric Yoruba,                                        Eccentric Yoruba

Exiled Soul                                                    ExiledSoul

Francisca Bagulho and Marta Lança,      Buala

Funmilayo Akinosi,                                     Finding My Path

Funmi Feyide,                                              Nigerian Curiosity

Gay Uganda,                                     Gay Uganda

Glenna Gordon,                                           Scarlett Lion

Godwyns Onwuchekwa,                            My Person

Jeremy Weate,                                            Naija Blog

Kayode Ogundamisi                                  Canary Bird

Kadija Patel                                                 Thoughtleader

Keguro Macharia,                                      Gukira

Kenne Mwikya,                                           Kenne’s Blog

Kinsi Abdullah                                            Kudu Arts

Laura Seay,                                                  Texas in Africa

Llanor Alleyne                                             Llanor Alleyne

Mark Jordahl,                                             Wild Thoughts from Uganda

Matt Temple                                                Matsuli Music

Mia Nikasimo,                                             MiaScript

Minna Salami,                                             MsAfropolitan

Mshairi,                                                        Mshairi

Ndesanjo Macha                                        Global Voices

Nyokabi Musila,                                         Sci-Cultura

Nzesylva,                                                      Nzesylva’s Blog

Olumide Abimbola,                                   Loomnie

Ory Okolloh,                                               Kenyan Pundit

Pamela Braide,                                           pdbraide

Peter Alegi,                                                  Football is Coming Home

Rethabile Masilo,                                       Poefrika

Saratu Abiola,                                             Method to Madness

Sean Jacobs,                                                Africa is a Country

Sokari Ekine,                                               Black Looks

Sonja Uwimana,                                         Africa is a Country

Spectre Speaks,                                           Spectre Speaks

TMS Ruge,                                                   Project Diaspora

Toyin Ajao                                                    StandTall

Tosin Otitoju,                                              Lifelib

Val Kalende,                                                Val Kalende

Zachary Rosen, Afro-Photo

Zackie Achmat,                                           Writing Rights

Zion Moyo,                                                  Sky, Soil and Everything in Between

Here is a little more information about David Kato

Revolution Egypt & Tunisia : Designers React: "

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North Africa is experiencing what is now called the biggest revolution in modern times as millions of protesters join in the fight against oppression, dictatorship and political domination. With that said, designers and artists are joining in protest and here is a small collection of some digital/graphic art. Please feel free to suggest some more we would love to see what you’ve found.

The Searcher

Marlena Buczek Smith

 

Mshamma

 

 

Freestylee – Michael Thompson

Power to the People – Omar Nejai

 

Z.B.A. the zombie

 

The King is Dead – Sharif Elshinnawi

 

Egypt Solidarity - Isaiah King

 

Cairo 2011 – Malachi Cameron

Dictator – Marwan Shahin

Proud to be Egyptian – Moataz Elsayed

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"

Long time no see. After a few weeks of rest I've somehow mustered the energy begin posting again. Already 2011 has been an action-packed year with public protests that have led to the overthrow of the President in Tunisia and ongoing protests in Egypt occurring on a massive scale.

I hope to share some interesting, worthwhile, enlightening content in the coming days and weeks, but first I want to start with a quick audio report from Egypt. A friend of mine that lived down the street from me growing up named Evan Hill is on the streets of Cairo reporting with Al-Jezeera. Evan studied journalism and Arabic and did a semester abroad in Cairo at American University so he is well placed to cover the exciting events with a nuanced perspective in Egypt. Below is a link to his most recent audio report hosted online on a site called AudioBoo under the profile name AJEnglish.

Listen!

UPDATE: As this post was being written Evan has posted another audio report detailing the condition on the Cairo streets. The new newest post is below:

Listen!

I'm not sure quite how recent the audio was recorded, it may be from a couple days ago, regardless the reports certainly capture the atmosphere of the captivating events. Evan speaks of check points, rallies and various types of interactions between protesters and military. Take a quick listen and transport yourself to the scene. Could be history in the making.

South African singer Lira is coming to Lesotho on the 26th just in time for my parents to check out. The fashionable singer exudes positive vibes so I'm really excited to see her live. In the meantime all I have is her video "Ixesha" (which has a fun click on the "x"). Lira's green dress in the video is also quite magical. Enjoy.

Having come across a few word visualizations in the past few months that were pleasing to the eye, I enjoyed their aesthetics without knowing where they came from. Well this morning I finally found the coded source of their beauty. The website is called Wordle and it takes blocks of text and transforms them into statistics-driven artwork. Users of the site input the text and Wordle generates a image made of colored words in which words that appear more often in the user's inputted text are displayed as larger in the visualization.

Wordle looked simple and fun so I decided to give it a try. The three images below were randomly generated by Wordle's software based on the text from my previous 20 posts on Afro-Photo There are even ways to customize the shape and color of the visualizations. Go play around with it, it's quite fun. And click on any of the images below to see them enlarged.

Wordle is a fun and statistically sound way of gauging the content of this website. According to the visualizations the most common words are:

-African

-Africa

-South (Africa)

-Google

-Village

-People

-Lesotho

-Maseru

-Images

-Video

-Gambia

Of course it's not a perfect tool to discover the main themes of a given source, but because more common words will dominate the images and reoccurring themes do produce words that are employed more often, Wordle doesn't deviate much from the truth. Examining the words listed above, all of them have, in some capacity, been representative of my writing over the last couple of months.

Wordle is part of a growing trend in which statistics and data are presented in more appealing and creative ways. Whether to allow obscure data to appeal to wider audiences or to push the boundaries of information expression, this is a trend that is really picking up momentum. There is actually a TED talk on the same subject. Truly data can be beautiful.

Two different photos of Maseru that I took, one during the day and another at night.

Maseru is a modest capital city, quite similar in population (~250,000) to my own home town of Madison, the capital of the Wisconsin. The population is set to grow substantially in coming years as laborers and families move to the city in search of work.

The chart below comes from The Economist's Daily Chart blog with data from ac recent UN Habitat report called The State of African Cities 2010. Maseru, unfortunately is not depicted in the chart. Even more unfortunate, is that upon examining the UN report, I found that growth figures for Maseru were not listed, perhaps because they were not available (The Gambia was not listed either). Too bad, because I wanted to compare Maseru to the other major African cities in terms of % of population growth from 2010 to 2025. There are, however, statistics for Maseru's access to clean water, electricity and sanitation services as well as the percentage of the urban population that lives in slums. In these areas Maseru fares rather well. With survey data from 2004, the report claims Maseru has 98.1% access to improved water, 74.7% access to improved sanitation and 33.1% access to electricity. This is compared with 82.8%, 48.8%, 28.8 respectively in fellow southern African city Maputo, Mozambique (it should be noted that Mozambique was slightly distracted with civil war from 1977-1992, though it has reemerged on the scene in recent years as an economic powerhouse). As for slums, only 35.1% of Lesotho urban-dwellers live in slums in 2005 compared with 79.5% in Mozambique and 94.1% in Central African Republic.

Another metric of urban living is the gini coeffcient, which measures income inequality. Using this metric, 0 is considered perfectly equal and 1 is considered perfectly unequal. Lower scores are thus more desirable as they represent greater equality than high scores. Lesotho's gini coefficient is not quite as impressive as it's other stats. Maseru has a recorded score of .58, though this data is rather outdated (1993). Other notable sub-Saharan African urban gini's are Johannesburg, SA with a painful .75, Lagos, Nigeria with a sad .64 and Dakar, Senegal with a less unimpressive .37.

Also on the topic of urban Africa, the website African Digital Art had a nice post showcasing photography from African cities.

Aaaand the South African literary magazine Chimurenga in partnership with the African Centre for Cities has published a collection of prose from African authors about their home towns which is called the African Cities Reader, an elegantly designed publication that I'm lucky enough to own a copy of. It's a publication that comes highly recommended, but if you are too impatient or too broke to purchase the reader, lucky you, the editors of the African Cities Reader were magnanimous enough to host it free of charge in pdf format here.

All hail the African city!

Africa’s New Trade Frontier: "

Africa’s New Trade Frontier"

China looks like a pretty huge player.

Come on US, let's represent.

After this I can say I've covered mainstream South African house pretty well here. First we have the duo Liquideep with the video for "Fairytale" featuring the lovely South African entertainment star Nonhle Thema, whose production company made the video. I have fond memories watching Nonhle years ago when she was a star VJ on the O channel and I was a simple student at the University of Dar es Salaam. So the video is quite the treat. It's a modern day, South African Cinderella story.

Second, I wish to share the humorously strange Zakes Bantwini's new hit song "Bum Bum". Zakes has been part of the house music scene for awhile and is known for being an innovator. He continues the trend in this video with a little cross-dressing. Show me your bum bum. I wanna see that bum bum.

I'll be in the village for the next week so no posts 'til next weekend. Should be a nice opportunity to get some photos. Khotso.

There is a tumblr site I follow called theafricatheynevershowyou (The Africa They Never Show You) which posts a huge number of images and stories from African countries that challenge the common, lazy misconceptions of Africa as poverty, corruption, disease-ridden/a safari of lions and zebras. The misconceptions exist because in a few places, to some degree, those things are occurring, but they don't even come close to being an accurate depiction of a continent with 53 (perhaps soon to be 54) countries and 1 billion+ people who speak 1,000+ languages.

In the spirit of theafricatheynevershowyou I want to share a few panoramic images of the Lesotho landscape that I took, which demonstrate the unique mountain terrain of a country that rarely makes international news. Each of these panoramas contains 4-10 images that were merged together using a great open source photo stitching program called Hugin. The software allows you to connect the individual photos together using overlapping points that neighboring images both share. It even adjusts the lighting to be a perfect match. Wiki-what!

Since the images are quite wide, if you want to see the larger size of any of the images, I suggest you click on them so they appear in their own window or tab.

Behold the splendor of the Mountain Kingdom...

The photographs above were taken at Ha Baroana, Metolong, Polateng and Semonkong.

All images are copyright of Zachary Elias Rosen

As part of their mission to have greater engagement with African audiences from different countries, Google has begun translating their website into African languages. The Lesotho page was recently offered in Zulu, I guess by proximity to South Africa, but there aren't many Zulu speakers here that I know of. I wondered if Sesotho, the language of nearly all Basotho (the Lesotho people), would be offered or if it is in fact too obscure for Google to care.

This morning however, when I opened up my browser, I was presented with Sesotho as the default language of www.google.ls. A pleasant surprise indeed. Not being a fluent Sesotho speaker quiet yet, I quickly reverted back to English, but it was a relief to see that native Sesotho speakers and anyone else with an interest in the "Mountain Kingdom" could click on the "I'm feeling lucky" bar in language they feel comfortable with. In this case it says KE IKUTLWA KE LE LEHLOHONOLO. Ngugi wa Thiongo would be so proud. Now we just need more Sesotho language content on the web. And I'm still waiting for Google The Gambia to be in Mandinka. But perhaps it might not be so far-fetched anymore.

My Google reader feed provided me with this gem earlier in the week. It's a video made by a Kenyan group called Kuweni Serious exhorting young people in Kenya to demand a more just, prosperous and peaceful society from their leaders. And to take responsibility as part of the movement that can bring about that change. From the group's website:

It is perhaps only when our country was set on fire that we began to see how deeply politics affects us. A few months later, we were paying hitherto-unheard-of prices for fuel, there was water rationing, and power rationing, and then food started to run out. Only then did many more of us realize that we can’t hide forever in the company of the Lil’ Wayne’s and Prison Breaks of this world. Perhaps it is only when our comfort zones were threatened that we realized that our leaders, our “Honorables” are self-obsessed, thieving, murderous idiots. Honorables, indeed.

And so we at Kuweni Serious – we’re a bunch of kids ourselves – have decided to go out there and find out: how do Kenya’s youth feel about all the chaos around us? Are we proud to be Kenyan or are we secretly wishing we could get green cards and disappear forever? Where shall we raise our own kids? Are we happy?

We intend to seek out all the young people out there who are trying to make sense of all this, the youth groups, the activists, the people who read the news and get so annoyed that they write angry status updates on Facebook, the students, the guys and girls who’ve just landed their first job and have been hit hard by the realities of the economy. We want your opinions, we want your stories. We don’t know what we’ll find, we might step on a few toes, but we’ll do our best.

The fires Kuweni Serious are referring to are the riots that took place in Kenya following their presidential elections in December 2007. Hundreds or people lost their lives in the chaos. But for what? I like how this video suggests how powerful people can be when they are informed and motivated, demanding truth and opportunity from their leaders.

The metaphor presented it that of a house. A renter doesn't have to care too much about the condition of a house. Eventually they will find another one. But the owner of a house must be invested in the house's future, as their own livelihood is tied to the house's condition. In this way, Kenyan's have their nation to care for. They are owners, not renters, there is no other Kenya to go to if their society crumbles. The same goes for Gambians, Tanzanians, American and the people of every country.

My favorite line from the video (actually the whole thing is amazing, but here's one):

It is not Obama's job to save this country. It is not the donors job. and the government has shown it's not their job either. Responsibility is not shared, it is earned. Freedom isn't given, it is taken. When we decide we want freedom, we will have to get it ourselves.

The video shows simple slow-motion shots of real Kenyans, Kenyans of different ethnic groups and different races. It was nice to see the recognition of Indian-Kenyans in the video as they too have played an important role in achieving independence for the country as well as economic growth. It is the same sentiment as that expressed by the novel Petals of Blood by legendary Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiongo. This show of diversity challenges our misconceptions and forces us to wake up to the realities of demographics and humanity.

This is truly a powerful video of exceptional quality. I look forward to seeing the future projects of Kuweni Serious and learning about how much of an impact their messages are having on Kenyan youth. I want to see this type of media coming from every country in the world, particularly those that have struggled with governance.

Knowledge is power. Strength in numbers.

The Kuweni Serious video reminds me of another video by Kenyan music group Just a Band that shares the same spirit of youth uprising with references to the post election violence of 2007-2008. The song happens to be damn catchy as well.

I want to take a little time to rep my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. Even though it has been a while since I've spent any time there I still enjoy following the happenings of my friends who are keeping it real in the Mid-West. A few friends from High School (Madison West) have been making the dance floor pretty funky with their music lately. Music that is actually rather similar to South African kwaito. I think those guys should come down here and check out the scene. So here's to Vince and Ric of the Dirty Disco Kidz. Word on the street is that it happens to be Vince's birthday today. Put your hands up.

Dirty Disco Kidz - Enclave Promo from Jordan Liebowitz on Vimeo.

While it may be snowing in the US, our summer is just beginning in Lesotho and that means as people in America are shivering, it's time for us in Lesotho to bust out the grill. I went to a great braai (barbecue) last night at a friend's house and enjoyed some grilled chicken, hotdogs and corn on the cob. My contribution was a groundnut stew with eggplant, cabbage and sweet potato to share a taste of The Gambia. This braai thing might have to become a trend. Just so everyone has an idea of what a Lesotho/South Africa braai is like check out this Skwatta Kamp video:

J. D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere est un photographe nigérian....: "

J. D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere est un photographe nigérian. Ojeikere débuta la photographie en 1950. Photographe de plateau, il est surtout reconnu pour ses portraits de coiffures mettant en lumière la sculpturalité du cheveu africain."

Here is an excellent collection of photography from The Gambia that I came across a few months ago. It is a walking tour that covers the length of the Gambia in which the photographer interviews and photographs traditional leaders known as Alikalos. This series is particularly special for me because I've been to many of the places that appear in the images. And I actually know the lady with the blue head scarf quite well as I interview her for a gender and development documentary as one of my project. The woman, whose name is Fatou, is one of the few female Alikalos in the country, yet she is still well respected. I t was an insiring experience to speak with her and see her in action. I also appreciate that the photographer's team followed cultural protocol by bringing kola nuts as a gift to each of the villages they visited. This is a gesture that is very well appreciated. By me as well.

Thanks to Kate Bomz for posting on this series so I could conveniently reblog it.

This is the story about an African...: "

This is the story about an African adventure………

In 2009, Florio & Jones walked around The Gambia, West Africa, entirely by foot, along with 3 Gambians, 2 donkeys and cart. Florio shot what are now award-winning portraits of every village chief (Alkalo) they stayed with on the expedition. Using the Gambian traditional practice of ‘Silafando’ which translates as ‘a gift to you on behalf of my journey’ - presenting the chief with kola nuts (a bitter seed, containing caffeine, that is enjoyed by African elders) . This age-old tradition ensures that all travelers are welcomed into each village and under the care of the Alkalo.

Florio’s village chief portraits have since received wide-spread accolade from the prestigious International Photography Awards (IPA/Lucie’s) ‘People Photographer of The Year’; Photo District News - cover on PDN’s August 2010 edition; finalist in PDN’s Faces Competition, 2010; honorary mention in the NYPhoto Festival Awards ‘Fine Art’ Series, 2010; expedition article commissioned by The Independent Travel Magazine, London; interview with Adventure Travel Magazine and more……..

http://www.floriophoto.com/#/projects/930km%20african%20odyssey/1"

Keeping groovy with the South African I present to you the group TEARGAS. These guys know how to make a catchy tune, usually with a solid blend of English and local languages. Another role you'll see these guys playing is style Ambassadors for the popular t-shirt company Ama Kip Kip. Here's a TEARGAS song that I just can't get out of my head.

The Bonus is a song featuring DJ Tira, a South African kwaito mixer that played in Maseru this weekend. It's sure to get your feet tapping at the very least.

Here is a stunning image from a photo collection I came across a few years ago. This has to be one of my favorite photographs ever. And it's actually one of the more tame one's from the rather erotic collection.

Amazones - Thierry Le Goues: "

Amazones - Thierry Le Goues"

So I've added a few tumblr sites to my Google reader lately. I get bombarded with images all day long now. As a man who appreciates images it's not so bad, though some of the feeds are hit and miss. Below is a HIT that describes exactly how I feel about so many things right now.

words by ~workisnotajob: "

words by ~workisnotajob"

South Africa has some high quality music that really doesn't get enough play in the US. We're talking some seriously catchy beats and compositions that either make me want to dance or learn 10 new languages, or both. I've discovered so many solid acts since coming to the Mountain Peak overlooking South Africa that is Lesotho. This week I'll share some tracks by Jozi, whose name is a shortened version of the metropolis Johannesburg. These guys really know how to blend a traditional sample with global hip hop rhythms.

The bonus today is an old song by white South African Johhny Clegg who has been uniting and inspiring people for decades. He is the founder of the first bi-racial band in South Africa. And the man does the Zulu stomp like a pro. Check it out.

I get attached. So when I heard that my host sister from the village I did my training in was getting married, I knew I had to go back there on the wedding day to help her celebrate. I didn't matter that I had only met her on one occasion on a single chilly evening, I was determined to see how Basotho tie the knot.

My sister and I had formed our sibling bond during that one chilly evening talking about life, love and work in Lesotho as she made box after box of Jello in the glow of our lantern-lit dining room. Her husband-to-be was coming the next day with an entourage to present our family with the lebola, or bride price, traditionally paid in cows, the oldest form of wealth in Lesotho. The money goes to financing the wedding ceremony and purchasing items with which to furnish the new household the couple would be staying in. The lebola was paid the next day, though it took the form of cash since both the bride and the groom are urban city dwellers. I suppose it could be easier that way for those more connected to the commercialized world, though I wonder what the ancestor would think.

I eventually had to leave the village to start work at my site in the capital, but I remained committed to experiencing the wedding of my urban sister back in the rural village. After numerous text messages from another, younger host sister attending high school in the village and a few awkward phone calls in which I had to decipher my proud and energetic host mother's rapidfire Sesotho, I had the details of the program.

When the exalted day arrived, I assembled a Peace Corps crew of volunteers that also did the their training in the same village and we set off for the taxi rank (as the open lot with all the buses is called) to try and catch a ride to our rustic destination. On the way over, we took a short detour so I could get a gift for my host family. I knew just the thing. When I was in the village, my host mother was not shy about sharing her love for “Kentucky”, which was her way of referring to the fried chicken from the several KFC franchises in the country. Forget what KFC stands for in America, in Lesotho KFC is the ultimate expression of elite indulgence, as the hip marketing and high prices give customers a sense of cosmopolitanism. Of course you can find better chicken in larger portions for half the price at local restaurants, but that's irrelevant. A KFC bag here is roughly equal to walking down the street with a Loius Vittoun handbag. And on this particular morning, we arrived to the store shortly before it had opened and there was already a sizable line. Before long, the doors were open. The line moved rapidly with American style efficiency and soon the gilded chicken was in my possession. Were were off to catch a bus.

When we reached the place where our bus to the village was supposed to be, we found that it had already gone. It was still morning and we were assured another bus was on the way so we braved the beaming sun and waited. I tried balancing the KFC bag on my head to pass the time. I was remarkably successful and a few passersby gave quizzical looks. No bus. A hawker came by selling cassette tapes of local accordion musicians, heroes of the popular Famo genre. He seemed surprised when was I actually interested, not knowing I'm on an endless quest to bolster my African music collection, the more obscure the better. I utilized my seasoned bargaining skills and ended up with two cassettes for a rather reasonable price. Still no bus. We started asking around and realized that there would indeed be another bus, but that it wouldn't be leaving until late in the afternoon.

Attending the wedding was a must so we explored our options by chatting with some girls seeking out their own bus. Through them we discovered we could take another route that would drop us a few kilometers from our destination. We jumped at the opportunity and after a quick bus ride outside of town we found ourselves walking down a dirt road headed to our village and the wedding celebration.

I could feel my skin burning under the sun as we walked, but the journey moved quickly as the surroundings became more and more familiar. Around that same hilly bend and across the that same shallow stream and we were there.

We said a quick “lumela” to the crowd of young guys at the shop amid handshakes and hugs. The guys were passing around bottles of beer in the late morning and jamming to house music on the radio. It seemed in the weeks since we had left the village not much had changed. We continued on to my former abode. There was a strange calm in the village considering a wedding was supposed to be happening. And from my experience with village celebrations I know that if there's going to be a party it might as well be huge.

Upon arrival to my old house we saw that indeed it had the potential to be a massive affair with two mammoth circus-looking tents in the yard. We greeted familiar faces enthusiastically, though we were informed that most of the family and guests were at a church in a nearby village for the ceremony and that that the celebration would be happening at home when everyone had returned. In the meantime I took the chance to explore the compound to see what kinds of preparations were being made. A collection of huge pots smoked from wood-burning fires outside of the kitchen, indicating this was to be a feast of epic proportions. All the classic dishes were to be making appearances. Inside the smoking kitchen itself were the old men, crowded around a tall blue barrel. After the appropriate greetings I quickly put it together that these gents were sampling a fresh batch of home-brewed millet beer. One man pushed his cup in my direction and I took a healthy pull in solidarity. Back outside, I closely examined a cowhide, stretched taut with wooden stakes on the lawn. Aha, I thought, so there was a cow involved in the ceremony after all, the ancestors have been appeased. Likhomo!!! Cows!!!

I suddenly began to hear automobile horns honking in the distance. It was time. There was growing excitement in the air as a caravan of vehicles made its way towards us. The intensity of the honking increased as the first of the cars came to a stop in the yard, festively adorned with with streamers of white and pink. An entire brass band emerged from one of the cars and began to blow furiously and melodically on their horns. Finally, one car came to a rest in front of the others, yet the passengers hesitated to get out. I soon understood why, as, to my amazement, a giant red carpet was produced from nowhere and unfurled, leading from the car up to the house. When the carpet was ready for action, the car doors opened, the newlyweds stepped out and the ululations began as the couple made their grand dance along the carpet. Arms flailed, leaf-filled branches were torn from trees for shaking and the horns wailed even louder.

It was quite the spectacle to witness. The village was filled with joy in seeing one of their daughters in a white wedding dress holding hands with her man, smiling ear to ear. I couldn't help but think back to the weddings I attended in my beloved Gambian village. In The Gambia, most of the weddings were arranged with the girls having little or no say in the matter. On the day of the wedding the girl would be dressed in a dark dark blue and when the time came for her to travel to her husband's house she would wail, eyes filled with tears. There was certainly an accompanying celebration with song and dance, but not everyone was usually thrilled by the girl's departure. (This is by no means representative of all Gambian weddings, but was characteristic of many of the ones I saw in my isolated village including that of my Gambian host sister.) This wedding in Lesotho, on the contrary, was a completely jovial affair. This sister was in her late 20's, quite ready for married life and had previously told me that she did love and choose her husband. Oh, how marriage is a different beast in different parts of the world.

The dancing continued as an expression of the celebratory mood for quite awhile before things calmed down a bit and the bride and groom took a seat behind a three-tiered wedding cake. While relatives and friends gave testimonies to the love of bride and groom, I fetched my bag of KFC and triumphantly presented it to host mother. As if she wasn't already excited enough, she took the special bag in delight and began to glow as she meandered around the crowd, mingling, bag prominently featured. Soon after the speeches, the band resumed and food was served. I devoured all the local favorites. Samp, maize meal, cooked chard, beets and chicken legs. Just as most people had their food, clouds and gusts of wind invaded the party bringing dust and fresh raindrops as their gifts. People ran for shelter under the tents, but the band played on, an essential organ of the party. The storm was short-lived however, as sunlight fought back and people drifted outside again. I wondered if the three-tiered cake would be a bit crunchy now with all that dust.

As the sky turned to gold we said our goodbyes and scrambled to catch a bus back to town at the edge of the village. We made our way past the shop where the young guys were still passing time with the magic B's of beer and billiards. Farewells were exchanged as we ascended the bus. I sat back and relaxed in my seat, comfortable despite the bumping and shaking caused by the rocky road.

A day well spent with family and friends. Here's to another of many great opportunities to see local culture manifest itself, enriching my experiences and my knowledge of Lesotho and the world.

In honor of Lesotho's Morija Arts and Cultural Festival that got funky this weekend I'm posting a video by the South African DJ Black Coffee who headlined the show. Black coffee knows what he's doing on the decks as he produces club friendly beats that you just want to move to. Because cigar smoke and shaking bodies look so good in slow motion, here is "Juju":

The bonus this week is another vision from the diaspora. This time its Kanye West with his epic short film "Runaway". Say what you will about the guy's personality, but besides the dialog, this video is well put together. Kanye spins an interesting tale of a gorgeous phoenix's time on earth. The phoenix is played by Selita Ebanks in a costume as striking as it is sexy. I wonder if it inspired any copycats on a night like tonight, when we all assume new identities and roam the streets. The soundtrack to the video is well produced and catchy, while the dancing boasts Nigerian choreography.

Pretty fantastic photo project. Very inspiring. I might have to have to do me one of these fancy videos at some point.

Morocco & Spain from Mike Matas on Vimeo.thesmithian:<br><br>Morocco & Spain. 4000 photos in 2 minutes. A...: "

thesmithian:

Morocco & Spain. 4000 photos in 2 minutes. A couple on the move.

via NPR

"

Keeping it regional, I am presenting another batch of South African musicians starting with DJ Cleo. I've been experiencing the night scene in Maseru and the DJs down here actually know how to kick out some funky deep house beats worth dancing to. And the local dancing is in fact rather spectacular. That's the inspiration for this tribute to "Kwaito" or South African house.

As a bonus we have fellow South African group Freshly Ground sticking it to Robert Mugabe in their new video. As a result of this song and video, they have been officially banned from playing from playing in Zimbabwe. Freshly Ground and a few other bands played in Maseru last night and I had tickets and everything but it was raining so much during the day that I left the venue early and didn't get to see them play. Apparently the rains did finally abate so they took the stage and rocked Lesotho. OF course by then I was long gone. Instead of seeing the concert I did however check out a local bar with some friends. When we arrived the lights were out, but there was still a huge crowd inside hanging out and waiting for the lights to come back on. My friends and I went up and got our respective drinks by using cell phone screens to see the money, then sat down on some beer crates and watched as a group of spirited young guys sang Sesotho songs in anticipation of the electriciy's return. A solid night after-all.

I am a huge fan of TED. TED gives a prize annually. For 2011 the prize belongs to artist JR. Can't wait to see what he'll spend the $100,000 on.

From TED:

JR exhibits his photographs in the biggest art gallery on the planet. His work is presented freely in the streets of the world, catching the attention of people who are not museum visitors. His work mixes Art and Action; it talks about commitment, freedom, identity and limit.

As he is anonymous and doesn’t explain his huge full-frame portraits of people making faces, JR leaves the space empty for an encounter between the subject/protagonist and the passer-by/ interpreter.

This is what JR is working on. Raising questions…

His personal website is JR-art.net

Africa is where music was born (animation): "

Africa is where music was born (animation)"

Channel O Tree Animation from Rudi de Wet on Vimeo.

Video from Channel O South Africa reblogged from Baobab Avenue

Sudan is set to have a major referendum in early January to decide whether it should remain a single state or if the the southern Sudanese region should break away as an independent state. The people of South Sudan have generally been unimpressed with the national government in Khartoum and it is expected that in January the majority will vote for independence.

All eyes are focusing on the country to ensure that the vote is undertaken in a free and fair manner without violence. There is however, a history of violence between the North and the South of Sudan. If the outcome of the referendum is deemed to be inauspicious to any of the militias in the country, tempers could manifest themselves with bullets. The Sudanese situation is made even more tense by the fact that largest source of income for the government comes from the oil fields located mostly in the south. On the day of the referendum, the oil-rich regions of the middle belt will cast their own vote as to which side they would prefer to be on, North or South.

The government in Khartoum, it is presumed, is not real excited about the vote. Without a long history of fair elections in Sudan and with such high stakes, we could see the vote manipulated. My biggest fear (besides renewed armed conflict) is that Khartoum will allow the vote to go ahead and even realize the creation of a Southern Sudanese state, but that the oil rich regions will somehow vote to be with the North. You will still see a South Sudan that is excited to have self-determination, but without a major chunk of the resources that could finance their growth. This may lead to more poverty and anger than already exists in high quantities today. Hopefully however, there will sufficient pressure from the international community to see the true will of the people come to life this January 2011. Let's cross our fingers for a peaceful vote.

As we wait anxiously for the referendum to occur, we can at least be entertained by a video urging Sudanese people to vote.

I want to introduce a regular feature (well see how long I can manage it) on this site that highlights the high quality, high entertainment realm of music videos from African countries. With domestic entertainment markets booming in many countries and video technology becoming more accessible, the number of well produced videos coming from Africa is sky high. It's become a favorite pastime of mine to discover music from all over the continent and now I want to share the cream of the crop. Some videos will be from classic stars that are making a name for themselves internationally and others I hope you will have never heard before. Regardless, you know with me as the curator we're gonna be keeping it sharp, sharp!

To inaugurate the video feature we'll take a look at a South African woman with an incredibly soulful voice and dedication to producing music in her native Xhosa language. Here is Simphiwe Dana. Love the voice and the Utopian African scene. Enjoy.

And as a diasporic bonus and keeping with the futuristic theme I'll bring you a funky young cat from the US, Janelle Monae. This girl's legs move in such ridiculously incredible ways and I'm really digging the hair. Freedom.

So, word on the street is that it's Blog Action Day and the theme is water. The Acumen Fund blog was kind enough to point that out. Having lived in a village for 2 years where the water table was more than 100 feet deep and open wells were the most reliable way to access the water, I want to echo the call for awareness about the challenge to provide clean water to all the earth's inhabitants in a sustainable way. The fact that water is become more scare while populations are rising rapidly is quite scary to contemplate. Thus the issue is not simply providing access and sanitation, but ensuring that strategies are employed to make water use more efficient. In the US, water comes so easy to us in most parts of the country that we don't even really think about where it comes from. Yet many aquifers in America and elsewhere are drying up. I don't wan to go on, but if nothing else I urge everyone to: (1) find out where their water comes from (if it's not already obvious) to establish a greater connection to the valuable resource and (2) think of ways to reduce water usage. Blind consumption is no longer acceptable. I'm not sure why it ever was. In a global world (it always was), what we do affects others. In the coming years it will be more important than ever to take the African philosophy of UBUNTU to heart.

"You can't exist as a human being in isolation." -Desmond Tutu

And the Blog Action Day video:

Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

Graduation weekend went down for the National University a couple weeks ago in Lesotho and I was lucky enough to be invited to a graduation party in a village outside of Maseru. I accepted the invitation immediately, excited about the chance to get out of the city and observe a community celebrating the educational achievements of one of its own.

I was traveling to the unfamiliar village by myself. After wandering around from car park to car park looking for the correct vehicle and after turning down numerous offers to be driven to my destination in a private taxi for only 50 times the normal rate, I finally found the appropriately marked car. On such a busy day as graduation day it wasn't long before the car was full, all of us squeezed beyond comfort, overflowing on to each other. Beads of sweat formed on my face in the mid-afternoon heat as the car weaved through the traffic leaving town. On the outskirts of the city we picked up some enthusiastic young guys carrying oblong paper bags. With smiles on their faces they turned back from the row in front of me and offered me a sip from their obscured bottles. I politely declined.

The car chugged on as the density of the city declined and rocky hills emerged. Eventually the conductor clicked a handful of coins in my direction, indicating it was my turn to pay. Bulky backpack on my lap, butt numb on the thin layer of foam covering the rough metal seat, I struggled to burrow into my pocket for the fare. After some delicate searching my hand finally triumphantly produced the required coinage and I passed it along to the conductor. I sighed and began staring out the window (a favorite past time of mine), determined to engage my visual memory in an attempt to internalize the route. It wasn't long however before I was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder, it was one of my drinking buddies from the row in front of me, gesturing towards the conductor. I glanced over to see the conductor holding up the larger of the coins I had given him and saying “Bad money, bad money, bring new money.” Confused, I instinctively looked back to the paper bag wielding guy, my closest friend on the bus. He too echoed the statement, “bad money, it's no good.” At that point I had my “aha moment” and finally discerned that one of the the coins I had provided to the conductor was counterfeit. He handed the imposter coin back to me and sure enough, upon close examination the silver embossed symbol of cattle was indeed scratched, revealing a copper color underneath. I wondered if the people in the vehicle thought I was trying to pull some scam. I managed to blurt out in my defense, “hey, I didn't know”, but who knows how convincing that was. I reached back into my compressed pocket and produced a replacement coin, though in the process the imposter coin dropped with a clink into the abyss of feet below.

I returned to my window and watched as the houses outside were left behind, most of them decent sized cement structures since we were still relatively close to town, with the occasional circular thatched mud hut. After awhile I began to get that feeling where you think you may have gotten on the wrong bus, the objects you've been told to look for just don't seem to be appearing. I asked my drinking friend if we had passed my stop and he was able to reassure me somehow in his mumbly voice that indeed we had not, though we would be arriving soon. True to his word, I soon found the vehicle stopped at a seemingly random spot on the road and I was ushered out. Across the street I noticed a manifestation of one of the few businesses that makes a regular profit in the villages, the public bar. Upon arrival at the bar, I asked for directions to my destination and surprisingly they were delivered promptly and rather clearly by a man who dropped and ignored his hat as he spoke. I followed the dusty paths as I had been told until I reached the modest house on the hillside with the circus-like tent in its yard.

I arrived well before the graduate's caravan from the university and so I was able to get comfortable with my surroundings. I introduced myself to the family preparing for the event and was able to practice my rusty Sesotho with a few unlucky kids. I marveled at the impossibly large pots of food and did a dance with a particularly agile grandmotherly woman wearing a traditional Seshoeshoe dress who was quite fond of sticking out her tongue at me as she shook her body. When the caravan led by the graduated young woman arrived a delightfully welcome chaos ensued. Arms were thrust into the air and the atmosphere was replete with ululations. The graduate, proud yet shy, took her place at the high table under the tent, behind what appeared to be a decorative bonzai tree. A circle formed and it was time for speeches. Her father, a professor at the university, spoke first, followed friends and family, then finally the guest of honor took the spotlight and said a few quick words. With all protocols dutifully observed the time many in the crowd had been waiting for was upon us and the massive pots of food emerged to pay their respects. Queues formed for the adults and the children, the DJ blasted his beats and fingers were well licked. Besides the occasional broken glass and plate and the untimely tumbling of the table upon which the giant bowl of buttery green beans rested, one could call the party a success. It was refreshing to observe a tented gathering where hearts were filled not with sadness, but with joy.

As the sun burned red and hung low in the sky I departed. It was not until darkness prevailed however, that I arrived home. I was satiated. I had a full belly and a satisfied mind, my cultural experience in Lesotho having been greatly enhanced over the course of the day. Sleep came easy.

Below are a few shots I took of the celebration:

Africa's interest in film is nothing new. From the Masterpieces of Sembene Ousmane of Senegal to second most productive film industry in the world in Nigeria called Nollywood, African cinema can be both artsy and accessible to the masses.

With the video recording technology getting cheaper and interest in African stories growing; on and off the continent, visual media entertainment has exploded in recent years. The usual major players are behind many of the movies (Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya), but other countries across Africa are stepping up their production quality and producing features that are entertaining and aesthetically pleasing. The FESPACO film festival held every 2 years in Burkina Faso has been a mainstay for decades now, but new festivals and awards ceremonies are now popping up as well like the African Movie Academy Awards held annually in Nigeria. As far as competing globally, South African film Tsotsi became the first African film to win an Oscar in 2005. Life, Above All is South Africa's entry for Best Foreign Film for the 2011 Oscars and it has a real chance. Other films released in the near future could be award winners as well. I'm betting Pumzi a Kenyan sci fi short, which played at Sundance this year will captivate audiences on a larger scale when it's rereleased as a full length feature. Another film about Kenya, The First Grader, a true story about an 84-year old war veteran who took advantage of free primary education in the country, is sure to be a touching tear-jerker. Even the film Inception, which I saw recently here in Maseru, has scenes in Mombasa.

Certainly film related to Africa is rising in popularity. Africa is becoming a major film locale with movies that are engaging to African audiences and those around the world. It's refreshing to see a diverse selection of African stories being told and I'm sure there will be many more to come. Film workshops like Film-Africa in Kenya are training the next generation of African Filmmakers to share their visions. Who knows, maybe someday I could work to bring more African stories to the screen.

Check out Kenyan Princess, an African film blog.

Released online, these trailers are creating a lot of buzz:

RELENTLESS from Lluís Prieto on Vimeo.

I especially can't wait to see The First Grader. And I'm quite interested to see Relentless which features the fine fro-y raspy voiced singer Nneka. Hey if anyone knows how I can get the PUMZI short let me know, I've been searching everywhere!

The Online African Renaissance

Now that I've finally emerged from my Gambian hut and settled in my Lesotho compound I have had slightly better access to the internet and can finally take in much more of all the seemingly endless amounts of interesting content, especially that which is Africa/Photography related. I've been introduced too many worthwhile sites, I can barely absorb it all. My google reader is getting overloaded . The number of feeds I follow has risen around 60% in just the last week or two. My eyes are opening to what I would consider to be the Online African Renaissance. The worldwide interest in and capacity for sharing Africa-related continent by Africans and non-Africans alike has skyrocketed. Refreshingly, much of the sentiment of this creative force is that of positivity and pride. I see this tsunami of material as representing what African societies and African people (wherever they can be found) are about in a more comprehensive way. It's a testament to struggles and to triumphs.

The spread of technology and the rise of the African consumer has caused more people to plug in and take part in this explosion of creativity. Everything from from art to fashion to technology to literature is now covered and more! I want to share some of my favorite discoveries in various realms. I'm going to break them up into separate posts to allow each of them to receive enough attention. I want to cover: film, music, literature, fashion and tech.

This is simply an introduction. I feel like I'm just barely touching the tip of the iceberg of what's out there. As the young, creative generation from Africa and beyond gets wired, as online resources get increasingly connected and as old archives of classic African cultures get digitzed, the boom of multimedia from all over the continent and the diaspora will only make Online African Renaissance stronger.

Chimurenga Magazine states, “HE NO KNOW GO KNOW.” You've been warned.

The Ultimate Sources of African Flava Flavor:

Kate Bomz

A Bombastic Element

Afrolicious

Africa is Country

One of my pet peeves about media coverage of Africa, besides its focus on war, poverty and corruption is the absurd generalization of everything from culture to indicators. I just observed a particularly irresponsible example of this phenomenon on the BBC website. In writing about emigration from some African counties to Europe the BBC attempted to present some “ key facts” about the differences in a few indicators of standards of living between Sub-Saharan African and the Eurozone. They did so by placing all Sub-Saharan African countries in the same group. Does it make sense to come up with life expectancy figures for Sub-Saharan Africa when the numbers vary from 63 years from birth in Togo to 45 years in Lesotho (World Bank 2008)? For starting a business it takes 3 days in Rwanda and 213 days in Guinea Bissau (World Bank 2009). Using general statistics for the whole region is less than inaccurate. It's seriously misleading and it works to perpetuate the other negative stereotypes already reported by the media about Africa.

In contrast to the blatant generalizations of the BBC, The Economist magazine's website published a short piece by economist Lant Pritchett as part of a series that asks various development thinkers the question, “Is Africa Poised For Steady, Rapid Growth?” Pritchett's answer is refreshing. He starts by asking “Are mammals cute?” to illustrate the silly over-simplicity of the question. He goes on to say:Take the 45 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 2000-2005 the average growth rate was 2.2%—exactly the global average—but the standard deviation among African countries was 6.1%—much higher than the global variance. This is a terrible aggregate. All knowing that country X is "African" has done for me is increase the variance—I am not sure whether it was growing very fast (as were Sierra Leone and Mozambique) or collapsing (as were Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire).

Talking about "Africa" enjoying steady, rapid growth is dangerous as in the foreseeable future there are likely to be countries with good prospects and countries in various states of disarray. Tagging the good growth countries with the same name as the bad might drag down expectations.

Another attempt to demonstrate economic progress in Africa and distinguish the lions from the laggards is a new book by Steve Radelet called Emerging Africa: How 17 Countries Are Leading the Way published by the Center for Global Development. I haven't read it so I'm not sure if its a fair representation of the economic situation and possibilities for the countries it covers, but regardless its a pragmatic approach to development in Africa. I'd say its worth a look.

Hopefully the media and the general public will soon get the idea that it's unfair an inaccurate to simply make generalizations about Africa. Perhaps the West should stop expecting people to know every detail of its history and culture while making serious generalizations (especially negative ones) about other parts of the world. Instead let's actually make the effort to learn about the diversity in different parts of the world. Especially when it comes to Africa it's time to wake up an smell the differences. Having lived in parts of East, West and now Southern Africa, I can tell you there are plenty of differences among African regions and countries. With information so readily available on the internet there is no longer an excuse for lazy generalizations.

I was reborn in early June of this year into a small village in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho. As is the custom, I was given a new name amid clapping, ululations and harmonious songs. I did not however, forget my previous names. Those will be with me forever. This time, my most recent mother christened me Mpho (silent “h”), which means gift in my new Sesotho tongue. I had found another home.

So indeed, my third year of Peace Corps service has begun.

I've found myself in Lesotho, The Kingdom in the Sky. It felt very comforting to be back in the mountains. It had been too long since I felt the strain of my calf muscles after a healthy uphill hike. Even though I was in a foreign land, I felt as though there was a familiar aura about the place. Nothing like being surrounded by jagged peaks. The rock coaxed upwards at dramatic angles.

I'm here to live. I'm here to collaborate. I'm here to learn. I'm here to pry open my mind and pour in the experiences. To take whatever comes my way and utilize it to refine myself. To evolve in a ways I don't even know yet. To receive and to give.

I arrived here in the winter, having neglected to pack a coat. I could see my breath whether I had a roof over my head or not. Frost blanketed the dry grass in the mornings. Gazing into my pit latrine, I watched urine steam on its way into the dark abyss. After taking a bucket bath with heated water my shivering frame also steamed as I scrambled to get dressed. We had gas heaters in our houses. But I wanted to acclimate. I rarely allowed the heater to produce its flames. Anyway, my host family kept warm by burning wood and corncobs. I inhaled vast amounts of think, potent smoke along with them, my eyes red and tearing. It was a gesture of solidarity. Of integration. We called it the Basotho Heater (the people of Lesotho are known as Basotho). The orange glow was soothing.

It was early to bed and early to rise. All the sights and sounds and smells and sensations were fresh and exciting. I was serenaded by the accordion and the vuvuzela. The cows ambled past my house every day. I bounced around in vehicles on roads that snaked through the rocky hills. I sampled every new flavor of chip I could find. My tongue learned new tricks. I strove to master the clicks. And after 10 weeks and countless hurdles, we swore in as volunteers in Lesotho (though I already was a volunteer from the Gambia). A couple of handshakes, a few snapshots, a massive slice of cake. Done deal.

I, like many others, couldn't control the smile on my face when I was awarded my site posting. I envisioned a different experience than the wonderfully rustic life I enjoyed in the Gambia and that's exactly what I got. I landed a gig in Maseru, the capital city. Learning to tie a tie became a priority. Tucking in my shirt, a must. I had to really start acting like I knew what I was talking about. My assignment was with Millenium Challenge Account Lesotho. And there is where I remain. The tense now requires a change.

Lesotho, I am here.

The flight from Johannesburg, South Africa to Maseru, Lesotho was spectacular as the late afternoon sun illuminated the patchwork of farms and rolling hills. All available land was seemingly utilized for crop production, right up the edges of rocky cliffs. The landscape was remarkably open. I wondered where all the trees were. The few I could see hid themselves along waterways and in small patches near villages. We flew on through the tumultuous terrain of the Mountain Kingdom, sailing past numerous villages. I was envious of how close the natural splendor hugged the villages and curious to know about the cultural secrets below.

There was an air of tranquility to the place. Not much activity could be perceived from above. Few cars dotted the few roads. I gazed through the plane window in anticipation of the capital. The mass of houses and buildings that eventually presented itself appeared less bustling than I imagined. What I saw was a sleepy mountain town in the midst of canyons and rivers ablaze with light from the setting sun. A couple of taller buildings marked the downtown area. Polygon houses the color of cement flowed out from there, each with a yard and a toilet.

We landed on the airstrip, on the outskirts of town, surrounded by maizefields. We stepped off the plane and were greeted by our breath in the air.

Lesotho, how do you do?

Here is economist Owen Barder's take on improving Aid Effectiveness. The Talk/Slideshow is about practically making foreign aid more effective by asking donors to focus on their comparative advantages. The "Paris" that Barder repeated refers to is the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness made in 2005 by donor countries that refers to improving the impact of aid. Little progress has been made by donors to depoliticize aid and to cut ineffective programs. Thus, Barder's talk, presented to officials in Ethiopia, is a timely contribution. If you are interested in how foreign aid and charity money could be better spent, this 20 min talk is worth a listen.

This is his talk:

Aid Effectiveness-Owen Barder

Owen Barder, a citizen of the UK, is the man behind aiddata.org, the podcast Development Drums and I'm sure he does other things, the guy is rather prolific. Owen blogs at Owen Abroad and lives in Ethiopia.

Okay, that's all until I get established in Lesotho. I'm sure to be enlightened. See you then.

Tomorrow I will find myself in a country called Lesotho for my 3rd year of Peace Corps. Look it up. In the meantime here is an interpretation of the word "development".

Opportunity as Development

by Zachary Rosen

Numerous people across a myriad of professions endlessly debate the meaning of “development” and the most appropriate path for arriving there. From professors to politicians to nonprofit workers to the average citizen, everyone seems to have their own opinion as to what constitutes development. Each person who is asked to explain their concept of development will use their own words, but the message they will likely convey is that development translates into a situation in which a group or individual the conditions prime for “livelihood improvement”. This is another vague term which only opens the door to even more questions about development's scope, quality and source. The following article attempts to offer an interpretation of development and livelihood improvement. I want to argue that livelihood improvement manifests itself in two ways, both of which are important for development to be achieved. The first, is the basic presence of social goods by either public or private providers in the areas of security, health, education, infrastructure, etc. The second, is the opportunity for individuals to achieve their goals in the global world we live in today.

As individual human beings, we all have the same set of simple needs wherever we happen to be. We have the need for shelter, food and water, essentially the tools we utilize to survive. In thinking about development we expand on the needs of human individuals to reflect how people organize themselves into societies and interact with each other. For the sake of survival and cohesion of the social group we need our social goods. This means in the place that we live we need to be able to lead safe, healthy lives in which we and our children possess survival skills and mobility. Government need not provide all the social goods as they are often less efficient at doing so, but it is their responsibility for creating the environment within which the social goods to be created and maintained. When these needs are satisfied we strive to achieve our desires, our personal goals.

Development doesn't end with the provision of basic needs and the arrival at a certain level of per capita income. Because of the extreme diversity of culture, climate, geography, and ecological resource endowment on this planet, it shouldn't be surprising that development has many faces. It certainly doesn't look the same in Mumbai, India or Dakar, Senegal as it does in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin in the United States of America. And that's okay. If everyplace looked and and felt the same the world would be a pretty boring place. We do, however, as individuals, have a common thread that brings us all together. We all have personal interests and dreams. Thus, I believe the true definition of development is a condition in which a person from any nation on Earth has the opportunity to achieve his or her goals.

As individuals we have to decide what prosperity and happiness mean to us and seek them out. It's not enough to take someone else's conception of wealth, you wont know what you are working towards. At the same time, when given the chance, if you don't have the motivation to seize the opportunity to seek your desires, you have nobody to blame but yourself.

As societies and nations we have to create the conditions domestically and internationally that make it possible for talented, motivated individuals to achieve their goals. Complex historical and geographic realities leave some places with more challenging conditions than others. Being born poor should never limit someone's possibilities for achieving success. If a person demonstrates determination and capability why should they be limited by finances? In addition, we should reject dependency on aid as well. What is needed is a “hand up not a hand out”. That means development aid should make people more productive without allowing dependency to endure. People need to be aware of the tools they have available to them and empowered to think big. The power of education should never be underestimated. There's so much innovation to be exhumed if the proliferation of opportunity can be realized. Everyone has a responsibility to hold governments and donors accountable for creating social goods and opportunities. If we can do that, we will be much closer to living in a developed and just world.

I wanted to post the piece I wrote for the Peace Corps health newsletter in Gambia that was published shortly after I departed. Having heard a number of volunteers vent their frustrations with the experience I wanted to share some thoughts with newer volunteers and even people looking towards the Peace Corps in the future about how to make their time worthwhile. The piece has been adapted slightly for appeal to a wider audience. I'm on my way to Lesotho next week for my third year as a Peace Corps volunteer. I hope to hit the ground running with these thoughts as my guide...

The Secret to Being a “Happy and Integrated Peace Corps Volunteer”

Relax. Nearly all of us struggle to find a sense of purpose as Peace Corps Volunteers. Our challenge is to maintain a semblance of sanity and good health while actually making a worthwhile contribution to the development of the country where we live. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I have enjoyed my service and when I leave I'm going to genuinely miss the Gambia. Because most of us wish to look back on our service as productive and beneficial, not a complete waste of time, I want to share a few strategies that I've found to be effective in making me feel good about my service.

Number one is language. Being able to communicate well with your community is essential for revealing the true opinions, attitudes and needs of the people around you. Having language skills in your toolbox helps put your mind at ease in that you can be more confident that you are not insulting people with your strange American behavior. You never know when a casual conversation will give you an idea for a new project or present an opportunity for an ad hoc, informal teaching session. From young, squirrelly children to wizened elders of bygone generations it's important to be aware of the sentiment people harbor about development issues in your community. Good communication will help exhume village ingenuity and contribute towards the sustainability of your efforts. Plus, it's comforting to know that when you make connections with people instead of them talking trash about you behind your back, you can feel more confident that they've got your back when you need them. Of course it's possible to make solid connections without amazing language skills, yet the ability to understand others' needs and preferences and for you to articulate your own certainly helps. Anyone has the power to become proficient in at least one local language during their service, but doing so takes commitment. I suggest making best use of the Peace Corps resources, writing down new words as you hear them and seeking out local language adult literacy books that tell stories and progress in difficulty. Of course just speaking the language regularly will be the best way to train your tongue and sharpen your ear. I'm far from being a social butterfly, I've even been called an outcast and I may not reply to your texts anytime soon, but yet I have been able to reach a very solid level of Mandinka. Yes, language, the nemesis of many volunteers, has greatly enriched the quality of my service. And if you get good enough you can always go back to America and open a school to teach your language and make a lot of money. Oh wait, almost nobody has ever heard of Mandinka.

Number two is legitimate counterparts. If you are having difficulty finding meaningful work, take the time to observe who is active in your community and link up with them. Nearly every village has a couple of motivated individuals who just seem to get “it”. People who aren't afraid to try new things will be the most receptive your ideas. Assisting them in their work or collaborating with them on projects you propose will ensure sustainable and simply make it more likely that quality work happens. Working with solid counterparts is also a way for you to utilize your best skills, whether artistic, technological or whatever. Good counterparts present you with a platform to really show your stuff. I've heard many volunteers saying the maxim “No change in the Gambia.” Oh, I get it, it's a pun. Funny. Except that it's not true. Almost nobody is saying that change is particularly fast here, especially social change, but let me assure you that change is happening. Imagine what the Gambia was like 20 years ago with no mobile network, few paved roads, more conservative gender roles for women, lower school enrollment etc. The Gambia has come a long way and the people you take as counterparts are the change agents that make the process happen. The same can like be said in every country where Peace Corps operates. That's why it's so important for us as Peace Corps Volunteers to share ideas with local people and expand the scope and quality of projects that we deem to be truly worthwhile. I've met many Gambians who are intelligent, innovative, respectful and want to see their country develop. Those people are out there waiting for you to partner with them.

Number three is attitude. In experiencing life in West Africa and other developing countries you have to be open minded. If you think Gambians are fatalistic, listen to many Peace Corps Volunteers. It doesn't help much to make generalizations or condemn people for their views. Try to realize how people form their perspectives and see if you can chip away at any misconceptions they may have. The process goes both ways however and it's enlightening to know that once you spend a significant time in the Gambia, you will never be able to think about Africa the way you did before. But to be enlightened you have to get out of your hut or whatever type of shelter you call home. You have to put away the 100 in 1 Disney movies DVD and the blue films and get in the dance circle. Sure, a foreign culture can be overwhelming at times and we all need a break once in awhile, but don't let the periodic escape characterize your service. Instead take difficult local circumstances to be a challenge to your American ingenuity. Know that the way we approach our community will determine how they view us and how they respond to our ideas. Personal time is important, but use that time to recharge so you can stay positive and have fun with people in your community. As Americans we come from very different backgrounds as the people in the communities we're posted in (of course even Americans are a diverse crowd) so there's plenty of learning and exchange to be done. A little cultural sensitivity with Gambians can actually be quite enjoyable if you know what I mean. Learn to appreciate the simple things such as cold water and electricity as luxuries and not rights. Life can be a struggle and my colleagues here all know it's one hell of a struggle here in the Gambia, but the struggle demonstrates our strength and gives us some damn good stories to tell.

Lastly, number four is creative release. In a stressful environment, especially one with ample free time, catharsis can soothe the soul. Personally, I'm a madman of a photographer. My cursed photographer's eyes sees inspiration everywhere. If I'm not carrying my camera I'm probably wishing I was. Writing can be enjoyable as well, except if I'm dripping sweat all over the paper. In the Gambia my views about development are changing all the time, so there's plenty to write about. I think pretty much everyone feels an urge to creatively produce from time to time. And there's no better time than now to hone your skills and get the creative juices flowing. In the Gambia there's always open mic night and the annual Peace Corps photo contest to present your genius to the world.

That's about all the advice I have to share. From one “happy and integrated” volunteer to another, I hope you can have a worthwhile experience wherever you are. Oh yeah, one more thing. Relax.

Besides Nollywood, Nigeria has developed a burgeoning pop music industry. I would say the quality of the music is on par with anywhere else in the world. Many of the music videos too have the look and feel of something that could be on MTV. Good production quality and directing are making Nigerian pop music a hot export. It helps to have a huge domestic market (150 million people) driving demand and a diaspora of enterprising Nigerians probably in every country in the world. Here a few of my favorites:

First "Do Me" by P Square

This was a major hit in the Gambia and had kids of all ages singing "Do Me".

2Face "African Queen"

This showcases the beauty and sophistication of African women. Love that shaved head.

Timaya "If 2 say"

Heard this one at the shop where I used to buy my Nollywood posters. The guy looks kind of hardcore, but he actually seems quite playful.

Bracket "Yori Yori"

Another hit with the Gambian ladies.

P Square "Danger"

Gotta love the wide angle.

Ikechukwu "Wind am well"

Nice effects and some solid shakin'.

Fela "Army Arrangement"

Still, nobody puts on a show on like Fela.

Catchy stuff, too bad MTV doesn't play music videos anymore otherwise I think these guys could catch on. These guys are making Yoruba and Igbo relevant world languages. Pay attention.

Things usually don't seem as bad in retrospect as they did were when you originally experienced them. Especially when you have so many positive memories associated with a place, you don't want the less auspicious ones taking over. Hardship, because of it's relative nature, is everywhere and manifests itself in different forms for different people. Yet there's power to be found in overcoming challenges or at least moving beyond them. There are plenty of things I experienced in the Gambia that I never want to encounter or repeat again, yet I tend to produce a little smile as I think back about them.

For anyone who has been to The Gambia feel free to comment and add to the list.

Things I wont miss:

Bumsters-These are young guys who hang out at the beach and “work out” with the hopes of finding a foreign patron to seduce or really any foreigner to hassle. While they come in a few different varieties, their unofficial uniform usually includes dreadlocks with a mesh shirt with the colors of the Jamaican flag or no shirt at all. They can be seen doing one-armed push-ups, flexing and sprinting back and forth at the beach. They try to act friendly in their broken English with phrases like “It's nice to be nice” and “Boss Lady”. They often pretend to be Rastafarians without having anyidea what that means. I understand the urge to sell things to tourists and even the fantasy of being taken to Europe or America, but what I don't understand is how a human being can make himself so unresponsive to the messages being conveyed by other people. No matter what you say to these guys they never shut up and they never go away! It doesn't matter if you've lived in their country fro two years and speak a local language flawlessly. They're like robots without real personalities programmed to annoy any Westerner they see. I grabbed a bumster by the shoulders once and explained to him my robot theory. He gave me a blank stare for awhile and then said, “Yeah man,” indicating he had no idea what a robot is.

Foolish tourists-As an American who enjoys integrating into and working in different African countries, ill-informed, insensitive, tourists are the bane of my existence. Nothing wrong with relaxing and soaking up the sun while you're on holiday, but there's no need to wear daisy dukes into town in a culturally conservative majority-Muslim country. And sure it might help to donate schools supplies to a school, but don't do it without locals giving guidance and don't toss bundles of pens/bottles/biscuits/etc. to every random kid on the street. Sadly, some tourists even buy-in to Bumsterism descirbed above. I could go on and on about the poor choices tourists make, but the general consequence is that local people start to make generalizations and/or begin to beg, harass, and at the very least, make negative assumptions about any foreigner that they see. Tourists please leave your naive, dark continent, wild animal, starving, click-language misconceptions at home, you're cramping my style.

Bad cell network-The village I was posted in seriously had some of the worst cell phone reception in the country. Of course the mobile industry has made leaps and bounds in the last few years in providing innovative services and designing cheap, accessible technology...but they didn't make it to my village yet. No that string hanging from my phone is not a fashion trend, in fact, the only ways I could get even a shred a service were by hanging my phone from select (high) locations or by climbing 20 feet up a water talk. And even then I only get service sometimes. Not being the fastest person to respond to texts or calls anyway, this actually gave me a great excuse for why I didn't get ahold of people earlier, but still, there were plenty of times when I wanted urgently to make a text/call and it just couldn't go through. Damn you Africell/Comium/Gamcel/QCell! Four GSM operators and not one with good coverage?

The heat-As much as I love sweating 24 hours a day, I'm a bit relieved to be home in America just as the hot season is getting serious with 120 degree days. Even the locals will tell you that the heat is crazy. The village I lived in was one of the furthest up-country where the heat was the most extreme. Gambians from the cooler, coastal area would routinely ask me how I could deal with the heat when even they couldn't handle it. I really have no idea, just drink a lot of water I guess and suck it up. Think of any adjective synonymous with burning and thats what it's like. Take your pick: searing, blazing, boiling, etc. It's a bit scary because no matter where you go, whether inside, outside, shade or sun you're being blasted with oven-like waves of heat. It saps your energy and soaks all your clothes with salty sweat. Riding a bike in the afternoon can be positively suicidal, but for some reason, I would end up torturing myself like that. When it's at it's peak, there's absolutely no escape from the heat.

Police checkpoints-Here's a fun little quirk in the Gambia that makes traveling fun! For whatever reason, despite the Gambia being particularly safe, with relatively few firearms, it has been deemed necessary to have checkpoints all along the main highways in the Gambia on both sides of the river...every 15 or 20 kilometers. Now when you consider the fact that I lived about 300 km from the capital, going down to the main office to take care of business was not very pleasant. Nearly every single checkpoint forces passengers to show an official ID and nearly every single car has someone who forgot to bring their ID so there's plenty of opportunity for police, customs and immigration to hassle people and waste enormous amounts of time (not all of them are ill-tempered and corrupt, but they ain't all angels either). A journey that should take maybe 5 hours ends up taking 13. And then there's the bag checks. Sometimes they look in everyone's bags, often threatening to take down the metric tons of baggage on top of the vehicles. Other times they check only certain individuals. I can't even count the number of times I've been “randomly” selected for a bag check. The whole checkpoints thing seems like it would be bad for business. And you build roads to ease transport only to slow it down with checkpoints that are for national security? I'll tell you what, I didn't feel a whole lot safer.

Lack of press freedom and freedom of speech-I'm gonna limit myself on this one, but I'm not the biggest fan of arresting of journalists for seemingly no reason and having to look over your shoulder before you open your mouth.

Village meat-People have asked me, “What did you eat over there in The Gambia?” I say, “Well, I lived with a host family and ate three meals a day with them so I ate whatever they had. The staples were rice or coos (another cereal) with peanut or leaf sauce pretty much every day. We didn't have much meat, only on special occasions.” Then they say, “Oh, that's too bad.” And I reply, “Actually, it was better that way.” Village meat is absurdly far from being appetizing. Even after the you move beyond the health condition of the animal when it died, the process isn't especially appealing. They just boil it all up and serve everything, intestines, liver, bones, fat and plenty of other unrecognizable parts, that are sure to active the gag reflex. It's a good thing peanuts also have protein, that meat was funky.

Being asked for to be taken to America or for a visa/invitation-As you can imagine, this gets old right after the first time, even when the person humorously asks to be put in your bag when you fly home. It's not as funny when the person wont let it go and was actually serious about being put in your bag. Okay, “I'll put you in my bag with the other 300 people and see if I can make it through customs.” Unfortunately, it gets sad after awhile when people who really have no skills that would be marketable in America let alone English speaking ability (or even any knowledge at all of American culture) keep asking over and over again. I've lost friends over it, but there's not much that can be done by an individual in the short term. To be fair, immigration law is rather unfair and desperately needs reform.

Toubabing-American, even-black Americans and Europeans, Asians, okay most foreigners who have been to West Africa can sympathize with the obnoxious usage of the word “Toubab” which is often translated as “stranger” or “white person” in all of the local languages. My gripe is again in the generalization of the term. The us and them mentality. The lack of distinction between the diverse peoples of the world. So the British and the French came to Africa and practiced economic and physical domination in form of colonialism, lame, I agree, but considering how globalization has propagated information and how diverse even single societies are now, the term is outdated to say the least. It's the worst when you greet someone in a local language and their only reply is “Toubab!” Even on the radio, the main form of media for rural Gambians you hear in local languages, “The Toubabs did this and the Toubabs did that.” It makes no sense for encouraging people to be aware of others cultures and for empowering people to realize that innovation can come from anywhere.

Skin infections-The Gambian heat can do strange things to one's skin in places one never thought possible. I'll leave it at that.

Beatings-I just never got used to this one and I'm proud of the fact that I was almost always quick on my feet to break up particularly savage beatings. Many parties are guilty and it's always hard to see and deal with, though especially so at schools where the teachers will tell that beatings “are how the black child learns”. Bullshit. It doesn't improve performance one bit. What it does is make kids afraid to go to school. If someone can tell me a legitimately good reason to beat their wife/child/student I'd be happy to hear it, but I haven't heard one yet.

Irregular power supply-Yeah, the Gambia is still working on implementing regular and safe power delivery. I lost two laptop chargers in a week once. And the power always seems to be off when you have a really important email to send.

Inshallah attitude-The view that “god willing” your desired outcome will occur is pretty universal and though it occurs in different intensities, it doesn't make it any less frustrating when you're trying to work with people to take responsibility for improving their livelihoods (something most people clearly want). Rural Gambian communities especially can have a little too much faith and not enough motivation to take good care of their families.

Obsession with “Babylon”-Babylon of course being the gold-paved roads of America/Europe (same thing). The economic desire to earn more for the same amount of work is actually pretty rational, however the problem comes in when the people with the dream to strike it rich in EuroAmerica don't do much of anything to invest in themselves or their children to make that goal realistic. Instead the young men travel through the deserts of the Sahara into Morocco, Algeria, Libya, or Tunisia before attempting to take small boats across the Mediterranean illegally. There are numerous pitfalls to overcome along the way including the Sahara itself, land mines, North African police, sinking ships, European immigration and more. Many actually perish in the sand and sea, but to so many young men the payoff is worth it even if you end up dong grueling work as day laborer in the construction or agriculture industries. Some even reportedly end up selling drugs. The pressure on the young men to go is rather intense as well. Even people with regular jobs in the Gambia can be considered failures when compared with successful migrants who build mammoth houses for their families. It's a sad cycle of abandoning human capital development and discrediting honorable local workers for perceived riches. This will hopefully be the subject of another post.

Lack of privacy-When you integrate fully into a community as was my goal, you really become part of the community. What that practically means is that your free time is reduced to practically zero as people come to your door at all hours of the day or night to say hello. I didn't mind as much when it was cute girls, but everyone else can be pretty annoying. The worst is when somebody come into your house, greets you and then just sits down without saying else. Nice gesture I suppose, but if you're busy and would prefer to be alone it can drive you mad. And they'll sit there for hours if you let them without picking up on any subtle hints that you want them out. In my village and it didn't matter, if my door was closed, what I was wearing, if I just got back from the bucket bath, if I had a private guest, whatever, people would continue to barge in. It had a nice community feel, truly I was honor that my community felt so comfortable with me, but can't a guy get a little privacy every once in awhile?

Content-less phone calls-Along the same lines as the scenario described above, people would regularly call me who I barely knew, greet me and say “Ansumana” (my Gambian name) and then go silent. They had obviously not planned anything beyond saying my name and I would have to awkwardly have to figure out who it was and then think of something to say. It was a mess. The worst is when they do it at night. Curse the phone companies for giving people free calling after 1am!

Ah, the memories. I hope this post isn't too much of a downer. My service in the Gambia was an immensely enlightening process and I'm grateful I got to have so many worthwhile experiences to learn from and look back on. The ups and the downs, everything.

Esther Duflo is kind of a big deal right now. At least among the Economics and Development crowd. Duflo is a French economics professor at MIT who is at the vanguard of a movement for better data in economic development research using randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Randomized controlled trials are an attempt to make real life into a laboratory with studies that include control and treatment (intervention), much as scientific medical research does. The idea is to get stronger evidence about what actually works in development. For donors, its about knowing whats going to get the most bang for their buck.

RCTs have been around for a number of years but the debate surrounding them has gotten really lively and actually quite interesting as of late. So much so that Ms. Duflo was invited to give a prestigious TEDtalk about randomization in economic research. While RCTs have pros and cons like pretty much everything, the idea of using better information when donating to social causes is important to everyone. At the very least people should be thinking about how aid groups are going to spend their money and on what type of intervention. The data is a lot stronger for some interventions than others. I suggest everyone take a look at Esther Duflo's Ted Talk here. And even if there's are points that are debatable, the average person should be enlightened by her message. She even admits that its not a magic bullet and that poverty is going to be around for a long time, but why not employ it if it provides us with useful data? If the content isn't quite up your alley, I still encourage you watch the video if for no other reason than the fact that she has a slightly humorous French accent.

If the idea of RCTs really resonates with you then I would recommend you pickup a book I just finished reading called WHAT WORKS IN DEVELOPMENT. It's a collection of essays edited by the popular economist WIlliam Easterly about the merits and drawbacks of using randomized controlled trials in development research. RCT detractors claim, among other things that there's an "external validity" problem, in other words, what appears to work in one place may or may not work elsewhere. Confounding the problem is the fact that once a certain type of intervention study is published once, there's less incentive for researchers to replicate it because its easier to simply trumpet the original findings than spending the time fundraising for and coordinating replications.

Still the debate has fascinated me as I've begun to delve deeper into the realm of more complex economic research. Who knows if these types of experiments are just a trend or not, but at least the conversation surrounding them is making people more aware about the importance of measuring results when it comes to poverty reduction efforts. Another blog hits the nail on the head with its title "Good intentions are not enough". Not every idea is a good one in development and not everything works. A flop of a concept called 1 million t-shirts is an excellent example.

The whole aid effectiveness discussion is about results and accountability. Because seeking better information about what works is something we can and should do. Better data can spur innovation in business and social enterprise. It can lead to initiatives that are more efficient at helping people to lead healthier lives and opening doors for future generations by convincing them to get an education. A great example of the freeing of data is aiddata.org.

I'm a newcomer to all these issues, but I'm enthralled and I'd like to see where this conversation goes. Now has anyone done a RCT in the Gambia?

Two years is a long time to spend in a foreign land. Thus, it's inevitable that I would come to appreciate some aspects of the Gambia's unique culture so much that I will undoubtedly miss them wherever I go. Of course there are some peculiarities of the Gambia that I will be more than happy to part from. Here are the extensive lists.

Warning: this is a bit long.

I'm sentimental, what are you going to do about it?

Things I will miss:

Mangoes-They come in all shapes and sizes. Sweet, sticky deliciousness. Cheap and plentiful. Oh, the things you can do with a ripe mango!

Riding my bike-Two years of riding my gleaming Trek through the bush and the roughest roads you'll find in the Gambia has left the beautifully elegant vessel seriously battered. But the memories we've shared. A smile always crossed my face as I weaved my bike through cows, bush fire and puddles.

Attaya-The ubiquitous, highly potent Chinese green tea to which 99% of Gambians are addicted. Brewed in a tiny kettle and served in shot glasses, usually in a series of three rounds. Poured elegantly from kettle to glass with awe-inspiring precision My host father was a regular drinker and thus I received messengers holding steaming glasses morning and night. Attaya can be found all over West Africa and is marketed in a seemingly infinite number of packaging styles, each with it's own comforting artwork. Eventually, I became an attaya collector with more than 40 brands.

Cashews-Who knew cashews had a fruit? Well attached to the nut on the tree is in fact a fruit of rather impressive juiciness. There is no way to eat a cashew fruit without getting the juice all over your pants, creating a stain that never can be removed. The trees themselves exude a subtle, yet pleasant and tasty odor that can be discerned by a passerby. The roasted nuts are a delicacy, especially roasted individually fresh from the orchard. The fruits can also be exploited to produce an acoholic brew of various degrees of toxicity. Just limit your consumption. You don't want to go blind.

Domoda (Rice with Peanut Sauce)-By far the best food item in the Gambia. My stomach was a bottomless pit for the stuff when it was prepared well.

Being a part of a family with a different racial, ethnic, and religious background than my own-The idea that a family with such a vastly different background in so many respects would not only allow me to live with them, but to genuinely accept me as part of the family (to the extent that I had decision making influence as any son would) will forever remain a compelling concept to me. It proved to me the profound tolerance of the Gambian culture and of Islam as well. You can never escape your own cultural identity, but this experiment in being part of another society was successful.

Living in a circular thatch hut-It's still hard to believe that I just spent the last two years in a mud hut shaped like a circle with grass and sticks for a roof, but somehow that was my life. The architecture style is actually quite functional in that the mud/thatch hut is substantially cooler than cement and corrugated metal. This makes a HUGE difference when the temperature is 120 degrees F. Yes, the winds blew off part of my roof in a storm (actually twice) and yes, I shared the house with a number of rats and yes, flat edged furniture doesn't quite fit against rounded walls but my house was a work of art and it served it's purpose well. Shelter.

Ramadan--I'm still not quite ready to declare myself a Muslim, but I did enjoy the challenge and the shared suffering that is the fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. No food, no water from 5:30am – 7:30pm. When everyone around you is in the same weakened condition it make the arrival of the break-fast time extra special. I love that nervous countdown, waiting for the prayer call as everyone guards their preprepared cups of tea and loaves of bread, hearts beating fast in anticipation. Then the time comes and we gorge ourselves tea, beans, porridge, rice, one massive endless meal until passing out early from a food coma. Repeat.

Gambian fashion-Batik, chia, wax, gold teeth, jujus. And then there's the fulas.

The rhythm of life-Music is everywhere in the Gambia. Anything and everything is a drum. Dancing can go until 3 or 4 am. Children and adults of all ages know how to shake it, even if they tell you they can't.

The river-The Gambia is geographically defined by it's river. From fishing to transport, the river is a hub of activity. I lived a ways from the river myself, but traveling to any town of legitimate size involved a ride on a rusty vessel across the Mighty Gambia river. Some boats had sprung leaks, some crossings involved pulling the ferry by hand with a metal cable, but the smooth waters were always a sign of life.

Jumbo-Some people bemoan the amount of artificial MSG beef flavoring utilized in Gambian cooking. But you have to admit, whatever is in that sparkling brown cube, it's addictive as hell and cheap. It has been scientifically engineered in a lab to be chemically amazing.

Mandinka language- This is the language of the village I was posted in and the language I subsequently learned. Of the languages I've studied, Spanish, French, Swahili, the way I speak Mandinka (at this moment) is the most fluent I've ever been in a second language. I was rated superior (having achieved fluency) on my exit language test. That's saying something about immersion. The sentence structure is radically different from English and besides some recent borrowed words, it's a whole new vocabulary. But damn is it fun to speak. It ties my tongue in knots, but I love it.

Kankurangs and other creatures-Though the Mandinkas don't wear carved masks in the area in which I lived they still had an incredible masquerade phenomenon that appeared from time to dime during different dancing programs and ceremonies, especially the circumcision of boys. The Mandinka mask creature is the Kankurang, whose body is covered with various kinds of organic material. The creature usually carries around a machete or two, mostly to protect the circumcision children and beat anyone it doesn't like. Some of them are for show, just to dance and sing but others are more serious. When they come out for the circumcision they roam the streets and howl. Warning people to beware. Get too close and they can chase you or beat you. Sometimes a bit of money can assuage the threat, but even cash can't be counted on. The Kankurangs have even been known to kill. Other ethnic groups have their own versions of these creatures. Some of the more interesting ones come from the Jolas in the Casamance region of southern Senegal.

Treeplanting-One activity whose importance for rural areas I recognized early on was treeplanting. I was able to involve trees in many of my projects and once they matured they were heavily utilized. It was truly amazing seeing the process of the trees growing, some of them quite quickly. It's kind of exhilarating putting your full weight on a tree that you had planted only a year before. And it's fruit tastes so much better.

Ice-When it's blazing hot the first thing that comes to mind is that I need some overly sweet neon colored juice in a bag.

Dark dark nights-Being from a moderately large city in America (Madison, WI) is a disadvantage when nightfall comes. The stars are obscured. But in the village, every single clear night provides an incredible view. And when the moon is absent, even white skin can be invisible...

Julbrew and its brother export, the best (and only) beer in the Gambia-No where else would Julbrew enjoy such fanfare, but to the captive Peace Corps audience, Julbrew is King. It makes you realize when its hot outside, anything cold can taste amazing.

West African Music that West African people actually listen to- Look these up: P square, Titi, Mamadu Yalti Gole, Jalex, Jalibaa, Youssou N'Dour. Just a taste:

Nollywood-Nigeria's film industry is well entrenched in the Gambia and Nigerians themselves are plenty. The Nigerians have their own little subculture in every major town and their lives sometimes reflect the films of their homeland. Though Nollywood (get it Nigeria + Hollywood, just like Bollywood) get assailed for being cheap, predictable, violent, having bad acting and terrible sound, the films are actually pretty damn entertaining. In the stories no good deeds require vindication, there's love affairs aplenty and a whole cast can go 6 feet under by the end. Plus, people can get cursed! The posters advertising the films are rather amazing themselves, packed with emotion and attractive women. And hey, the acting isn't that bad. Nollywood is up and coming, look out. Buy a film at the African goods store near you.

Opportunity for development analysis-Being a Peace Corps Volunteer is a perfect opportunity to observe “development” in action. Whether efforts by the government to hold workshops and build infrastructure to NGO's and international agencies hawking their agendas, PCVs have a front row seat in watch how all these groups communicate and make deals with each other, sometimes bing part of the process. As an integrated member of the community and trained in community needs assessment strategies, Peace Corps volunteers have a pretty good idea about what would benefit their community. Sadly, when organizations step in to give aid, they often do more harm than good, causing in-fighting, dependency, opportunities for theft and wasting their money on projects communities neither want nor need. Of course you see when people get community development right as well, with participation, responsibility and sustainability. More than anything, PCVs learn just how challenging “development” can be.

Generosity-The Gambia has to be one of the most welcoming place in the world. Everyone always says that about everywhere, but these guys actually walk the walk. In the Gambia you can meet anyone on the street and end up eating lunch in their home, maybe even getting a place to sleep if you need it. Gambians never want to see a visitor go or to ever be full of their food, regardless of how much the visitor ate. In my compound in my village, my host family required me to pay no rent at all and was still willing to provide me with three meals every day for 2 years! I ended up giving them 50 kilo sacks of rice from time to time but it was by no means a requirement. The only thing I was told by my host father when I first arrived was that besides the fact that god brought me to his family, he would hope that if his son was in the same situation with my family in America, that I would do the same. I certainly would.

Insulting-Teasing other family names for eating too much or caring too much about cattle is a part of life and never gets old. I'll miss being able to tell someone, “Your family eats donkey meat!” and having it being insulting/hilarious at the same time.

Outdoor bathroom-I had a pit toilet at my house no big deal. The voyeuristic part comes when the grass fence surrounding your toilet starts to fall down. Then you realize people can probably see you. Then you stop caring. And bucket baths with sun heated water feel amazing.

Food bowl-Moving beyond the sanitary concerns, there's a great communal feel about eating from a shared food bowl. Some guy always takes control and starts tossing fish to everyone whether you want it or not. And then there's eating with your hand, which after 2 years I never mastered. There's just something about feeling the oil between your fingers and why wouldn't you want to lick it off?

Exclamatory sounds-Every culture makes it's own sounds in speech, to show surprise, disgust, approval and pain. Gambians have some funny ones. I definitely started to say most of them naturally by the end.

"Wooooyiiii"

"Lailailahlai"

"Waiumbaaaa"

"Ehhehehhh"

"Maawoooo"

"Jeeeee"

Greetings-Its a greeting culture in the Gambia and while it never stops, it nice to get that recognition.

Consuming very few resources-I can't really calculate how much water or power I used while in West Africa, but I can say that it has to be a tiny fraction of what someone in America uses. I felt empowered with the minuscule impact of my bucket baths and solar panel.

Growing my own food-In a farming community I would have felt bad not making a contribution when it's such a huge part of life for so many months of the year. Thus I farmed rice and peanuts on a small plot both years during my service as well as gardening and treeplating. I did everything from plowing the field, planting the seeds, weeding by hand, harvesting, even marketing the produce. It was an enlightening way to fully experience the agrarian lifestyle that rural farmers endure West Africa.

Reading by candlelight-With that entrancing orange glow I never never bought a bulb even though my solar panel could have handled it just fine.

The African Sun-I swear it's bigger here

Good friends and counterparts-What can I say they made the experience worthwhile.