Search the archives which informs you on Zimbabwe, South Africa, Africa, it’s diaspora and on ways to help make a positive change in other peoples lives as well as their own, educates them on health, history, tourism , art, music and culture.
Sight Savers International
For someone who is blind, the gift of sight is the greatest gift of all!
I have now joint another organisation as they deal with many issues regarding not just Zimbabwe but many countries in Southern Africa.
Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) is the successor organisation to the Anti-Apartheid Movement. Since 1994 ACTSA has been campaigning with the people of southern Africa as they strive to build a better future, working for peace, democracy and development across the region. With the help of our members, ACTSA influences decision-makers in Britain and Europe on policies that affect southern Africa. It keeps the region in the public and political spotlight through lobbying, publication of reports and media work. ACTSA also inspires change and humanitarian relief through direct action in the southern African region.
ACTSA is a democratic not-for-profit organisation funded by its members and supporters. Individual members and affiliated trade unions, union branches and local groups shape our agenda and lead our campaigns. ACTSA is governed by a constitution and set of standing orders.
ACTSA has been campaigning with the people of southern Africa for over a decade. They rely on people to support their campaigns, in order that they have the maximum impact. Even small individual actions, like signing an action card or petition, can make a real difference. It really couldn't be easier to show your solidarity with the people of southern Africa.
ACTSA deals with a lot of Campaigns,HIV/Aids, Trade Justice, Peace & Democracy, Gender & the Advancement of Women.
One of the campaign’s is Dignity!Period for Zimbabwe.
A pack of sanitary towels in Zimbabwe can cost more than double the average monthly wage. As a result, many women are forced to use newspapers and dirty rags, a practice which leads to infections, for which there is little available medication. Worse still, these infections are often misconstrued as STIs, leading to social embarrassment and domestic violence.
Through lack of affordable sanitary protection, women in Zimbabwe are losing their dignity with every period. But now you can help us to give it back.
Last night i watched a Documentary called, Dispatches: Saving Africa's Witch Children as much as i wanted to switch off the TV, i could not as i knew i had to be strong for what horrific things i was about to see. I cannot believe that people can be so evil towards such young innocent children, it really has saddened me.The documentary was about so called ‘religious leaders’ in Nigeria, preying on ignorant people/brainwashing them to believe that their children are witches/wizards. These so called ‘leaders’ use Christianity teachings as a gimmick & blasphemy of Jesus name. They combine their so called Christianity beliefs with traditional beliefs. These extremists claim these so called ‘witches’ bring disease, death & destruction to their families. These extremists offer to help exorcise these children from the evil spirits/satan and cleanse them. At these deliverance ceremonies children have potions poured into their eyes plus shaken violently, dragged etc. If rituals fail the children are ostracized from community and chased away, or they get killed and abused (they get chained, beaten, murdered with machetes, poisoned, burnt, starved etc)
My heart sank when i saw a dead child brutally assaulted left on the road side, another little girl had become mentally ill as she had been put a large nail in her head, i assume affecting her brain, how she survived Lord knows. Plus two young teenage boys chained to a pole. This is slavery if you ask me, many people fought so hard to put an end to slavery, after all Africa has gone through there are still some evil people doing this to their own flesh. Plus one man who calls himself ‘the bishop’ makes his own potion of alcohol & blood and gives it to children. To me who is the real devil now, how any parent can allow their child to drink another man’s blood, when there are so many illnesses especially HIV. I am so disgusted i even feel sick. Plus he confessed on the programme of how he killed 110 people, with such arrogance on his face, why has he not been persecuted for these actions? Also a so called ‘prophetess’ Helen Ukpabio is also promoting this nasty practice by creating graphic film e.g (End of the Wicked).
These ‘blinded’ people cannot see that these extremists offer to help at a price and they live a luxurious lifestyle, expensive cars & large houses etc etc. How can a child be blamed for getting ill, or if someone dies in the family, this such a ridiculous conclusion.
This is an embarassment, it is so shameful and painful. I hope many more people will help join in the fight against this practise to protect the innocent children of Nigeria, It will be a challenge no doubt, it will also take fellow Nigerians locally & internationally to help eradicate this major issue. What was so terrible was the practises.
Thank you to Gary Foxcroft (UK Charity Stepping Stones) & CRARN (the Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network) whom are trying to Save these innocent children.
No where in the bible does it state to treat children like this, some quotes from the BIBLE:-
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:1-3 NIV)
When little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them, the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Matthew 19:13-14 NIV)
For what is really sad is you and your lying. You are twisting My words and inventing 'Messages from the Almighty' that I didn't speak." - Jeremiah 23:9-36
Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. -(Matthew 7:15-20)
Regardless if people believe in the Bible or not etc etc, we know there is a difference between good & bad.
For more information and on ways to help:
Find Out More
Stepping Stones Nigeria Room 36, D Floor
St Leonard's House
St Leonard's Gate
Lancaster LA1 1NN
Tel: 0845 3138391 (Mon-Fri 9 - 5pm)
Email: Info@steppingstonesnigeria.org Website: www.steppingstonesnigeria.org Works in partnership with local organizations in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria to build sustainable futures for some of the region's many disadvantaged children, including protecting, saving and transforming the lives of children who have been stigmatized as being 'witches'.
Child's Right and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN) Website: www.crarn.org Organisation with a firm belief in, and intent on, safeguarding the rights of a child including the issues of child abandonment, street children and stigmatization as witches and wizards.
Last night i watched a documentary on an ageing disease called Progeria. This was very traumatic for me because i felt very sorry for what i saw in the programme. I realise even more now how lucky i am for the life i have even if at times i feel a stroke of ‘bad luck’. There are so many diseases out there without a cure, main one being AIDs but because Progeria is so rare many of us do not know about it including myself till i saw the programme & ways to help support. Sometimes i feel helpless, i wish i could save the whole world but a lot is out of my reach or control, so i do help projects where i can assist. I believe it’s better to at least save one life than none at all.
Progeria (Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome/HGPS) is a condition of accelerated ageing. It was first described by Jonathan Hutchinson in 1886 & independently by Hastings Gilford. There are at least 48 known cases globally. Earliest symptoms are sclerodema (hardening or scarring of the skin) like skin condition, limited growth, alopecia (hair loss), distinctive appearance with small jaw & face and small bodies like a very elderly person. Tertiary conditions are wrinkled skin, atherosclerosis (disease affecting artery blood vessels), and cardiovascular problems. Cases where there has been more than one child affected with this birth as in Ghazouet, Algeria (2 chn ), in India was 5 chn, 2 are now deceased, Belgium (2 chn) and ini Aguacatan, Guatemala (3 chn)
However, there is no cure, but there is a scientific organisation working on ways to help fund research etc on this disease. For more information and on ways to help support this project visit The Progeria Research Foundation www.progeriaresearch.org/
Born, January 15, 1929, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Assassinated April 4, 1968(Aged 39 years). Won Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through non-violent activism inspired but Ghandhi's success.
May he rest in peace!
"I have a dream"-speech, aug. 28, 1963 *** Quote * ** I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an shameful condition. In a sense we've come to our nation's Capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our chlidren are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exhalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that; let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
The day has come that Barack Hussein Obama II has made history by becoming the 44th President of the United States, a step further to Dr Martin Luther King Jr's " I have a dream" that a person not be judged because of their race but on the content of their character. I congratulate him, not only are they celebrating in America, but globally.
He was born , 4 August 1961@ Kap'olani Medical Centre in Honolulu, Hawaii to Barack H Obama Snr from Nyang'oma, Kogela, Nyanza province in Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white American from Wichita, Kanzas. He spent his childhood in Indonesia & eventually returned to the States. He got married to Michele Obama (nee Robinson) in 1992.
Once again congratulations! and i wish you well on your term in office as President on the United States of America, may there not only be hope for America but for the rest of the World especially Africa.
Obama's Victory Speech
IF THERE is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled — Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation's next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House. And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics — you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to — it belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington — it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.
I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime — two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America — I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you — we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek — it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers — in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House — a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends ... though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn — I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world — our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down — we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security — we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright — tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of America — that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing — Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time — to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth — that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.
I have now joint another organisation as they deal with many issues regarding not just Zimbabwe but many countries in Southern Africa.
