Happy Easter

I take this time to wish all readers, a Happy Easter!

Learn Swahili

This is a new book available at Lulu.com

swahili grammar in use

by elizabeth mahenge

A book exposes simplest ways and methods of learning Swahili language as a second language. It exposes a learner to equivalent meanings which makes sense in his or her language, and then it gives a communicative translation which will help you to learn the language in a smooth way. So in a couple of days you will find yourself speaking standard Kiswahili language and you will wonder yourself how competent you are. In addition it give exercises at the end of every session along side answers at the back of the book to enable self-teaching of the Swahili.

The President and First Lady of Rwanda

photo from Bongo Celebrity Blog

Pictured are the President of Rwanda, the Honourable Paul Kagame and his wife, First lady Jeannette Kagame nee Nyiramongi.

Rwanda was the site of the horrific genocide of many Rwandans particulary of Tutsi origin. Almost 1 million people were killed as the West stood by. Today the country is prospering. We pray that the beautiful country of Rwanda never sees a genocide again.

The Race Problem in America Can't be Ignored! Today even though things are better for black people, the repercussions of slavery and the ensuing racism are still felt.

I watched parts of Senator Obama's speech on race and his Pastor yesterday. Kudos to the Senator for speaking out on what he thought was wrong. But I also give him kudos for not abandoning Pastor Wright. He has been part of his life for 20 years.

I was watching Fox News last night and was appalled at the level of hate and fear mongering that Bill O'Reilly, Greta van Susteren, and Sean Hannity were spewing. Hannity even said that in his heart Obama wa anti-semitic! How does he know what is in anyones heart? The three should have gotten out their Grand Wizard cone hats and worn them.

They accused Senator Obama of being a racist for failing to denounce his Pastor. They asked, "Is this the type of man we want to run our country".

I can't condone Pastor Wright for saying D-word America. But some of what he said is true whether we want to admit it or not. Hillary Clinton will never know what it really is to be a black man in America. When they wrote in the Constitution that "All Men are created equal" They did mean only white men were created equal. Remember women weren't even allowed to vote and blacks were considered animals. The proof is that in the slave masters holdings he listed the slaves with his horses, pigs and other property.

Then O'Reilly even had the nerve to condemn black churches and ask what's going on in them. Need I remind these bigots that Black Churches were formed because white churches wouldn't let blacks in!

Senator Obama, spoke of hearing his own white grandmother using the N-word. His father is a black African Kenyan and his mother white so in America Obama is Black! No question about that. Let's remember that in the USA it was said that if you had a drop of black blood in you then you're black! So many white looking black people were forced to 'Pass' in order to live a decent life in America.

It should be mandatory for everyone in the USA to get a DNA test and find out their real ancestry! A lot of people who think they are 'white' would find that they are black uder that old code! Even Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and Greta Van Susteren might find they had a black ancestor. I remember watching a show in which a white college professor took a DNA test. It indicated that he had a West African ancestor. He was 1/8th black. He said he went to ask his mother about it and she told him not to talk about it.

There's a lot more that I can say but for now, I am glad the Sen. Obama spoke about race. The issue needs to be addressed in this election.

The killer truck

The backwheels where the poor man met his fate
A policeman measures the distance between where he was struck and where it stopped. Note the trail of blood and flesh.
Front view of the truck
Flesh and blood was under that sheet. I almost threw up when the cop lifted it!
Where the truck stopped. The truck is registered in Maine.

This morning a Harvard University Graduate student was run over by a big rig truck on its way to Shaw's Supermarket at MIT. The incident happened at the intersection of Masscahusetts Ave. and Western Ave. The student died at 12:20pm today and has been identified as 28 year old Isaac Meyers.

I was on my way to work this morning when I came upon this horrific scene. I took the above photos. I talked to some people who witnessed what happened. They said that Meyers was in the crosswalk when the back wheels of the truck struck him and dragged him to the next crosswalk where it came to a halt only after people flagged the driver down!

The police were measuring the scene and I saw blood, human meat and bone spread on the street. People said that Meyers was still alive when he was put in the ambulance but it did not look good.

Seriously, that crosswalk where Meyers was hit is DANGEROUS! Yes, people are allowed to cross and cars are allowed to turn right at the same time. So many times I have seen impatient drivers nearly run over people. They even honk at people in the crosswalk to hurry up. They even have no pity on the elderly or those pushing baby strollers! Sometimes the cars speed in front of you or behind you. I cross there almost everyday, its a horrible crosswalk.

This is the second horrific accident in Central Square I remember over the past years. In the last one, a woman was riding her bike when the driver of a parked car opened its door. She ran into the bike door and got thrown into the path of an oncoming MBTA bus and was crushed to death. She was riding in the bike lane.

So, today I ask will it take the death of this young man, to allow people to cross the street in Central Square safely?

Rest in Peace Issac Meyers.

From ippmedia.com

US Govt eases travel conditions for Tanzanian

2008-03-11

By Lydia Shekighenda

The American Embassy in Dar es Salaam has announced the softening of conditions for Tanzanians seeking to travel to the United States. Robert Hannan, the embassy`s First Secretary and Consul, said yesterday they would now be issuing entry visas to any and all prospective travellers establishing their eligibility.

In remarks at roundtable talks with journalists, he said the embassy would provide prompt and responsive service by reducing the waiting time for visa interviews, online scheduling and application for longer visas in a bid to reduce bureaucracy.

`Our country encourages legitimate visitors and students. We are doing everything possible to help applicants fulfil their mission,`` explained the consul, adding that they were out to cut the time for waiting for interviews to two days.

Elaborating on the new arrangement, Hannan said visa applicants would be able to schedule their appointments with the embassy directly on-line. He said Tanzania had reached an agreement with the US on the extension of visa validities from three months to one year.

``Frequent travellers need to apply for new visas less often?More Tanzanians are travelling to America each year; we expect to issue over 5,000 visas this year. This is great news for both countries,`` he noted further. Hannan said the most popular

Photo from Mzee wa Sumo blog

In Tanzania, most children don't have the luxury of playing in fancy playgrounds, or with nice toys from Toys R Us. They play with empty bottles, lids, things you might consider trash. Here some Tanzanian children turn a cocunut tree trunk into a jungle jim. It looks its on the edge of a cemetary.

TODAY IS March 8th, 2008, is

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Lyrics to Helen Reddy's song (1972)

I AM WOMAN!

I am woman, hear me roar

In numbers too big to ignore

And I know too much to go back an' pretend'

cause I've heard it all before

And I've been down there on the floor

No one's ever gonna keep me down again

CHORUS

Oh yes I am wise

But it's wisdom born of pain

Yes, I've paid the price

But look how much I gained

If I have to, I can do anything

I am strong (strong)

I am invincible (invincible)

I am woman

You can bend but never break me'

cause it only serves to make me

More determined to achieve my final goal

And I come back even stronger

Not a novice any longer'

cause you've deepened

the conviction in my soul

CHORUS

I am woman watch me grow

See me standing toe to toe

As I spread my lovin' arms across the land

But I'm still an embryo

With a long long way to go

Until I make my brother understand

Oh yes I am wise

But it's wisdom born of pain

Yes, I've paid the price

But look how much I gained

If I have to I can face anything

I am strong (strong)

I am invincible (invincible)

I am woman

Oh, I am woman

I am invincible

I am strong

FADE

I am woman

I am invincible

I am strong

I am woman

BETTY NYAKU-WHAT A WOMAN!

BETTY Nyaku, a resident of Ullepi sub-county in Arua, Uganda looks after 13orphans. Frank Mugabi tells us how she has managed to build one happy familyof people from different backgrounds In the thickets of Ullepi sub-county in Arua district stood a four-year-oldboy.

The grass so high and thick the boy could not see which direction totake. "I was young and I do not remember what happened, but I have been told thatI was found crying with swollen eyes.

The people who were taking care of me left me and disappeared in the thickets as we grazed cattle," says Ronald Candia. "I had thought that was the end of the world, but God sent Maama Betty Nyaku just in time to rescue me.

She took me to her place and made me one of herchildren. She gave me food, clothing and now education." Nyaku narrates: "I had gone to collect firewood. It all felt as if some invisible power was telling me to venture further into the bush and pick aspecially reserved gift for myself."

Suddenly, Nyaku heard a child crying. She says she first ignored it,thinking if truly it was a cry then that child had to be with an adult, who was collecting wood. "The cry persisted and, although I was frightened, Imoved closer. What I saw was shocking - a little boy of about four years, all by himself in the thickets. His eyes were swollen because of crying,"she says, adding that she picked the boy and, fortunately, when she took himhome, her husband welcomed the idea of keeping the child until a relativeturned up looking for him.

That was about 10 years ago. To date, no one has turned up looking for the boy. Instead, Nyaku, who is in her late 50s, has had the number of abandoned children and orphans in her custody increase.

This turned Nyaku from being a mere housewife into a woman who struggled to sustain her family and support needy children. She named the boy Ronald Candia (Candia is Lugbara word for 'in trouble'). Nyaku later learnt that Candia had actually been abandoned by his guardians who were normadic pastoralists from western Uganda. They had been in the area to graze cattle and when the dry season set in, they moved away. "I think I had become a burden to them. My parents had died and left me in their care. Because they moved from place to place, they found it difficultto take care of me," Candia says.

He says Nyaku took him to Kati Primary School, one of the best schools in the neighbourhood. He is now in S.2 at Ullepi Secondary School. Another boy Nyaku saved is Bosco Adriko, 23. "I was only 10 years old when my father died. After his death, things athome became bad and I decided to go away. I walked to Arua town where Istayed on the streets. It was there that Mama Betty found me and took me toher home."

Nyaku says she had gone to buy seeds when she saw a boy crying helplessly."I asked him what the matter was and he told me he was an orphan and had nowhere to go." More tragedy strikes In 2005, Nyaku lost her eldest son to AIDS.

As if that was not bad enoughthe deceased's wife disappeared, leaving her six children, five of whom werealready in school. Nyaku took them in. Today, Nyaku looks after 13 orphans. In 2006, her husband Michael Edoni, who is a retired teacher and partiall yblind, was crippled in a motor accident. This left Nyaku the solebread-winner for the family.

One happy family Nyaku's home is in the remote village of Muni in Arua district. "In thishomestead, all of us live in harmony as a real family. The boys have theirown house and the girls theirs," she says. Although they are in a rural setting, the children are provided with all thebasic necessities and none of them is left wanting.

Several granaries filled with different foodstuffs are found in the backyard, a sign of food security. "She is our mother. She gives us everything and treats us like her own children," one of the children says. Stuck, but pushing on Two of the orphans completed Senior Four, but they are still at home due tolack of fees.

Fiona Anguparu, another of the orphans who is in Primary Six at Kati Primary School is afraid her future could be bleak. "I may fail to join secondary school, like my brothers, because of lack o fschool fees. So, I might never realise my dream of becoming a universityprofessor," Anguparu says. Others share the same fears. A sack of cassava for fees Nyaku says her only source of livelihood has been a five-acre piece o ffarmland. "

We grow cassava, millet and groundnuts for sale. Part of the money goes into paying school fees and buying scholastic materials," she narrates. Sometimes, the school authorities allow Nyaku to settle school dues in kind.A 40-50kg sack of cassava flour is equivalent to one term's dues. The children also sell mangoes to raise school fees.

However, sometimes they are sent away from school due to lack of school fees, which has affected their performance. "We want to study so that we can have a better life and also be able to carefor those in need as Maama Nyaku has done for us," said Bosco Adriko.

In Ullepi sub-county Nyaku is known for her big heart. The sub-county chief,Elijah Matua, said orphans and vulnerable people are a big challenge to thelocal authorities. "We have been trying to cater for these groups of people in our budget, but the lack of resources has impeded our efforts to implement the plans," Matua noted.

He commended Nyaku for taking care of the orphans despite her minimal income. "It takes a big heart to love and share with the needy and Nyaku is a good example.

"Beverley Nambozo Sengiyunva
In charge of Communication and NetworkingThe East African Sub-regional Support Initiative for The Advancement ofWomen (EASSI)
Plot 87 Bukoto-Ntinda Road
P. O. BOX 24965,
Kampala Uganda
Tel: 256-414-285163, 285194
Fax: 256-414-285306E-mail: nambozo
< title="mailto:e@eassi.org" href="mailto:e%40eassi.org">e@eassi.org> @eassi.orgeassi@eassi.org