Tag: Africa

Make the Money, Change the Game

If one had to buy diesel for a car or generator, it was best to buy in the morning, prices could increase many times over by afternoon....

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Naked from the Waist Down

'No matter how well prepared you are, you can’t predict all the uncertainties.' A half-naked man proves a metaphor for travel in Africa....

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Death of a Salesman – Harare Style

In Zimbabwe... relationships are still alive, still important. They’re the only thing that carried so many through such trying times....

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Religion: The River of the World

For the majority of Zimbabweans, however, Sunday is a day of praise and worship, a day that lasts all day whether you like it or not. ...

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Tito Mojito and the Wealth of Nations

Work all day, work all night, and study into the wee hours of the morning. In a country like Zimbabwe, you do what you have to do...

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On the Right Side of the Tracks

Wait, what? We can climb on top of the trains?...

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Genocide and Its Aftermath

In two days, the world will mark the 20-year anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. Let's hope history isn't repeating in CAR....

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Shangaan Electro / The Bug : Koko

KOKO London will transform into an eclectic cocktail of deep Bass music from The Bug, combined with rapid style rhythms and soulful vocal chorus’ from Nozinja aka Shangaan electro ...

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Tinariwen : Emmaar

Emmaar is a journey narrative, a walk with the Tuareg nomads through their desert home....

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Touring Mbare Township (Part 2)

It’s a common problem I've encountered in Zimbabwe. If there’s one person there who is staunchly pro-Mugabe, he or she dominates the conversation, cowing others into quiet agreement....

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Touring Mbare Township (Part One)

Comrades in arms separated by the melanin in their skin. Sterling Carter visits the war graves of Mbare, Zimbabwe....

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Ridin’ the Rhodesian Rails

Maybe a cow on the track, or an elephant. We're certainly far enough out to see some. Sterling Carter enjoys the scenery on a rail journey through Zimbabwe....

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A False Sense of Security

Two years ago, I left the US for Europe and Africa. Upon my return, I found a nation that had traded away vaunted ideals for a false sense of security....

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Art of Peace : Artraker Award Winners

In conflict, art and creativity can counter some of the media’s shortcomings in communicating the horrors of war and oppression, and remind us of the need to turn our attention, instead, to peace....

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The People on the Bus

She didn't want to talk to anyone, in case they tried to sell her into slavery. I assured her that if she wanted to speak to me, that I would get the best price I could...

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Cashed Out, Classed Out: Harare Edition

Every once in a while, with a little luck, and no shame, you can have a killer night for less than the price of a cup of coffee...

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Democracy and Dubai Shopping Trips ; An Academic in Africa

I would suggest that the fear of violent reprisal, or the knowledge that casting your vote made no difference because the seat had already been bought would lead some to conclude that they were not...

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London Afrobeat Collective : Floradita [Gig]

All of the musicians are superb, they’re tight as hell, and they write and play great songs. And with the number of baritone sax solos on offer, I leave a very happy man. ...

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Fire in the Blood [Film]

A healthcare industry that is allowed to continue monopolising the world will see many more needless deaths, all in the name of indifference and bottom dollar...

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Salif Keita : Talé

Salif Keita 's voice is outside of time, although steeped in place(s). If you wish to call someone, he once stated, call them with music. In present-day Mali, that's got to be worth a try....

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Perps and Papers: An Academic in Africa

A lot of unhappy rumbling, and us standing around trying to look as serious and threatening as we possibly could. ...

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Moustaches and Marking: An Academic in Africa

Saharan dust that turns the air a shade of orange and covers everything (including the inside of your lungs) in a thick layer of grit. And the sunsets are amazing. ...

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Fanga & Maalem Abdullah Guinea: Fangnawa Experience

…. by the third track, the constituent elements meld into a sound that is properly danceable, and moreover, distinctive. Fangnawa Experience by Fanga & Maalem Abdullah ...

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Too Much Monkey Business

Eleven defining cultural moments featuring gorillas. SWP reports on the City of London's Great Gorilla Run ...

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Big Boys Gone Bananas* [Film]

Back in 2009 director Frederik Gertten was scheduled to premiere his latest film at the LA Film Festival. Called simply Bananas, it dealt with alleged abuses suffered by Nicaraguan workers who worked...

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Hot as Hell, But Where’s the Hottest?

"This investigation demonstrates that, because of continued improvements in meteorology and climatology, researchers can now reanalyze past weather records in much more detail and with greater...

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Childishness and Cockroaches: An Academic in Africa

Just as we were about to start, Andrew appeared on the other side of the fence, waxing wroth. Why had we broken into his field, who did we think we were, we had no permission to play there etc.,...

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Stereotypes and Swiss Interns: An Academic in Africa

You move to a country like Nigeria, and you instantly don’t want to conform to, or believe any of the stereotypes that your pinko-lefty-post-colonial-post-modern-feminist-queory-post-structuralist...

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Malaria! An Academic in Africa

I never did do the conference in the end.  I’ve spent most of the last week, including all of the weekend, feeling rough as hell.  Like having bad flu but without much in the way of a...

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Students and Strops. An Academic in Africa

'she was overtaken with flouncy teenage indignation'. DR meets the students. The students are turning out to be the usual mix of committed, disinterested, pleasant, arrogant and outright...

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