Hilary Clinton Speaks to the President's Forum of Young African Leaders: "Africa's future is up to Africans"

Hilary Clinton delivered a great speech during the first day of the President's Forum for Young African Leaders. It inspired me to finally start a new blog feature, AMASHIBI, (a-ma-SHI-bvi/ wi), which means words. She described the continent as a place "brimming with potential" and the fact that 60% are under the age of 25 means that there is a really opportunity for us to be leaders.  With poverty and child mortality on the decline, even though it may not seem we are not making progress due to the fact that there is a systematic focus on negativity when reporting on the continent, Africa is set  to fulfill its "promise of becoming a leader."

She said it was time to focus on the "gains" not on the challenges to help inspire people.  She commended the elections in Ghana, Botswana and SA as "models of freeness".  She quoted Obama who had said in Ghana last year that "Africa's future is up to Africans." She then acknowledged that the US needs to view its relationship with the continent differently - it needs to be partners with it, not the benevolent dictator.  She called for expanding trade agreements to be more conducive to bilateral exchange and to encourage intercontinental trade as well.  She also called for full female participation and mentioned the African Women's Entrepreneurship Program that kicked off in DC on the 26th of July and is moving to Kansas City tomorrow. She talked about needing to take climate change seriously too.

She also brought up the need to continue to educate Americans about Africa.  She talked about how when she had made a visit to the continent in the late 90s as First Lady, she realised she needed to be proactive in this regard.  This was confirmed when a reporter asked her "So what's the capital of Africa".  Oh dear! Oh dear dear dear dear...As LOLZ likes to say "Africa is not a country, its a continent." It inspired a lovely T-Shirt I know have that was made for Africa week for my undergrad's African Students Association that had a little Africa filled in solid at the front with the country bit and then large Africa that covered the back with all the boarders outlined and the continent part of the quote.  I decree that this should be an initiative the American government takes up: passing out free t-shirts to the public like the ones we had ;). Although an African American once told me she was led to believe that Africa was a country because the map was presented to her as the outline of the continent with the country borders inside and this was the same way they presented America to her with the state borders so she assumed that that what in actuality were countries were in fact states.  Quite a logical deduction when you think about it.  So the word continent has to be featured on the back in LARGE LETTERS with the outline in order for this initiative to really educate ;}.

She also touched on how we are pioneers in Information Technology.  It always blows my mind how people do not know that we had mobile phones too by the mid-90s and by the year 2000 our adoption was exponential.  My "proudly" Canadian friend told me about an aid worker's joke that plays on the fact that the difference between Manhattan and Northern Ghana is that they can get reception in the remote area in which they were stationed :). Clinton mentioned Ushaidi, meaning testimony in Swahili, an application that was originally pioneered in Kenya using google maps to alert people on their phones as to where violence was occurring during the 2008 elections.  It has now been used in Burundi, South Africa, DRC, Sudan, Namibia, India and Haiti.  She also mentioned Apps-4-Africa, an initiative to foster application development for mobile phones.  Winners are to be announced in September.  She believes that this will lead to being able to implement e-government in African countries.  We know how to use "good ideas [to] leapfrog technologies and borders."

For the amount of times she mentioned Africa holistically, you would think North Africa was represented.  You are talking to Sub-Saharan Africa, not the whole continent.  Let us be clear about that.  Still very annoyed about this.  It irked me even more when she talked about the separate entrepreneurship program aimed at Muslim countries which included Eygpt.  She made it seem like they weren't serious. I would gander they were skeptical because of US sentiment towards Islam. The only low point in what was a very inspiring speech.

African Fashion: Green, Ethical, Trendy, Not For Africans?

Fashion model Liya Kebede, who has acted in The Lord of War and The Good Shepherd, is not only a UN Goodwill Ambassador, but also an African businesswoman.  In an effort to help local artisans, she created her fashion line Lemlem in 2007 "to inspire economic independence in her native country, [Ethiopia], and to preserve the art of weaving." Here are some lovely photos of the weaving process.  However, most of the clothes are for kids and all of the items are rather pricey. It is clear that this venture is not meant for African consumption, but to appeal to elite Western consumers.

This seems to be a trend - eco-chic and/ or ethical style.  Dressing is one of the easiest ways we can express who we are and what we stand for, and it seems fashion has no intention of not jumping on the green and ethical bandwagon.

Lauren Pierce is a line by designer Lauren Bush, that boasts one-of-a-kind pieces made from sustainable textiles dyed by DRC women with ten percent of the profits going to Women for Women International to help women in post-conflict areas. The targeted demographic is the natural, confident, vanguard, humanitarian, activist woman.  She also has to have deep pockets.

Yodit Eklund, an Ethiopian-American, created the line Bantu, that offers swimwear that intends to get Africa to be thought of as producing finished products, rather than the raw materials that are of less economic value. Vanity Fair sold it to the consumers Bantu was trying to reach as a way to save Africa.   Hmmmmm  :* (that is me kissing my teeth at the simplification of how to make a difference in Africa).  However, this sentiment sort of encapsulates the novel ways a certain conscious, proactive and ethical class of Westerners are got into helping our continent nowadays.

What makes me sad is that upwardly mobile Africans are not targeted too.  There are people in the diaspora and indeed even people across Africa who can afford to help their own.  And yet they are not marketed to.  They are not encouraged to take pride in dressing in fine garb designed and created by their own.  They are not at the forefront, being the trendsetters.  At the same time, why aren't we seeking out these avenues to contribute and to show what Africa has to offer with pride? Instead we will be the ones to ask our Western friend where they got their clothing from and they get to tell this great story of how fashion is doing its part to to move Africa in a positive direction both economically and culturally.

Rape in Africa

This article on Kenyan women living in fear in the slums reminded me of something passed on to me about a new female condom that was to be passed out during the World Cup.

A South African woman has invented a female condom, called Rape-aXe, which latches onto the male assailant during process of him violating his female victim.  Some people think this is barbaric.  Others think what is the point, what is done is done, the man effectively has succeeded in raping the woman.  I think it is a way for women to at least feel confident in the fact that even if they cannot stop the act from occurring completely, when it does happen, the man does not derive any pleasure from it because of the pain that ensues once he penetrates.  Also more importantly, this means that there is concrete evidence, as he is inextricably fused to the device until he seeks medical help. Doctors can collect evidence, and they can report the incident to the appropriate authorities and this information can corroborate the woman's statement. I think more women would report their rape if they knew they had backing from at least the evidence.   A lot of the time such cases play out as a 'he said she said' fighting match. It also protects from STDs.  Its uses in high rape location such as the slums of Nairobi and the war zone in DRC cannot be denied.



This condom has the potential to empower women.  I do not think it reinforces fear.  Being able to have some control over what happens to your body is potent to me.  It reminds me of a conversation I had with BIMBO a long time ago while walking in the dark and I mentioned how it was nice to be able to walk with someone on campus after hearing about the man who was going around sexually assaulting women on his bike.  Her and her twin sister LOLZ are over 6ft.  She said to me that she never has that fear of being overpowered, she  is confident she can fight toe to toe with most dudes.  I am a pygmy not an amazon and constantly have that fear when I find myself alone at night.  I know that even though I am feisty, really if faced with such a situation, my fight would be futile, knowing that inevitably I would lose. So this device makes sense to me. Even if you cannot completely protect yourself physically, being able to stop someone from violating you and others in the process through the justice system is a huge step to deterring others who may be thinking about doing the same.  Which man wants to be marked for life with the little scars the teeth leave?! This will make them think twice before trying to get away with such abuse.  Every woman after the incident will know what he has done.  The only con I see is if a woman forgets she has the condom in and a poor dude suffers from her lapse during a consensual encounter!



Of course there will be abuse of the condom from scorned lovers and the unhinged, vengeful type.  But there are always two sides to a story.  Isn't sex supposed to be an expression of your love for someone, a way to deeply connect with another human being, and if you are lucky to be able to create the miracle of life, or a bit of fun (of course so long as you are SAFE) and yet is is used as a weapon to manipulate, to control and to traumatise just as often too?

Thanks HAYLEY for sending me the article about this.

World Refugee Day - 20th June

Saw this plea from Angelina Jolie on behalf of Refugees around the world and UNHCR.  Right now the conflict in  DRC and the ongoing crisis in Sudan are prominent but there are others all around Africa and the World who need our help.

I always wonder if money is enough.  I guess when you have no way of knowing what else to do it is the best thing...

The French Open Starts Tomorrow :) - Jo Wilfried Tsonga

I'M SO EXCITED I JUST CANNA HIDE IT :)!  Roland Garros starts tomorrow!!!!!! We have an African connection staring off play with Jo Wilfried Tsonga last on Philip Chatrier (centre court) against some German I have never heard of.  Although he plays for France, he is half Congolese (DRC).  His father moved to France in the 1970s to play handball.  He plays with the a pendant with the African continent on it :).

Check out the video below.  Definitely has some African blood, he is all about colour and matching his skin tone and looking good on court ha ha ha...