news article #3

East Africa has a current population of about 24 million people and it is one of the least urbanized (people living in cities) regions in the world. Major changes are expects. By the year 2030, not only will the population increase dramatically, but the about half the population will be living in cities. This is a huge change. This growth could be a huge opportunity for the countries of east Africa but it will require solid governing and strategic planning.

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east africa today

Africa today is very different than it was when it was colonized in the 1700's. For instance the economies of Tanzania and Kenya rely heavily on tourism, though Kenya also has some geothermal power to help it along. Two of the most densely populated countries (Rwanda and Burundi) have a violent history of genocide between the Tutsi and the Hutu. Sudan has a 40% population of Arab Muslims that have most of the political power and have control over the northern part of Sudan and its capitol. The group seized power though, by mass genocide of black Sudanese. Uganda is a majorly agricultural country with coffee as its major export. The countries on the horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Djibouti) have unique story too. Ethiopia was one of the two countries never colonized by a European power. Its mountains provided both shelter from attack and fertile volcanic soil for agriculture. Eritrea was part of Ethiopia until 1993 and now relies on tourism and cotton for economic support. Somalia is a dry land of chaos. There is no mayor government except for various tribes fighting over the capitol and port cities such as Mogadishu. Djibouti is a small desert country controlled by the French until 1977 causing the two official languages to be French and Arabian. There are two major ethnic groups: the Isa and the Afar. The Somali resembling Isa and the Ethiopia resembling Afar, finally made peace in 2001.

imperialism cartoon

What are the main visual elements? The main visual elements are a map of Africa and a large footprint.

What issue is this political cartoon about? This cartoon is about imperialism. I believe the large footprint has been left by the European powers that occupied Africa.

What is the cartoonist’s opinion on this issue? I think the cartoonist thinks the Europeans have crushed Africa and really changed the country.

What evidence in the cartoon supports your opinion? The large size and the depth of the footprint left on the land support my opinion. Also the cracks show how damaging the impact is.

What other techniques could the cartoonist have used to make this cartoon more persuasive? The cartoonist could have somehow connected the footprint to Europe. Maybe a made in Europe imprint could have been left in the mud so you know it is from Europe. Also, the cartoonist could have shown a flattened person or people in the footprint. That would have made cartoon more dramatic.

east africa history

Influences on East Africa included Christianity and Islam, the slave trade, the arrival of Europeans, ethnic conflict and independence.

Islam was the major religion in Egypt and Northern Africa by 700 AD. Missionaries from Egypt brought Christianity to Ethiopia. The Christian emperor, Lalibela, ruled Ethiopia in the early 1200's and built churches.

African were kidnapped, enslaved and ships by other Africans, Arabs and Europeans. Zanzibar island off east Africa became a hub of slave-trading.

By 1800's European countries had divided up most of Africa because instead of slaves they were focused on trade of goods ( gold, ivory, rubber) . Imperialism (a practice that tries to dominate other countries' government, trade, and culture) has had a large impact on east Africa. The European nations were the main users of imperialism in Africa. They forced both their language and their religion on the Africans. As a result of this, many countries' most common language and main religion are similar to the European power that controlled that area.

the scramble for africa debrief

1) What strategy did you use to claim land? We just tries to roll high on the THREE dice we got.
2) What factors did you consider in claiming land? We looked for countries that were rich with money and oil.
3) Who won the Scramble for Africa? Either Great Britain or Germany. Germany had almost all of the south but Great Britain had a strong hold in the northern latitudes.
4) Who lost in the Scramble for Africa? Us and Netherlands and Belgium. None of us had any meaningful hold on Africa.

Side note: in the recreated map, Spain has no hold in northern Africa, wile in the original, we used almost a whole round to capture the territories under France Netherlands and Portugal.

news article #2

Many children from the north-coast region of Kenya have stopped going to school because they don’t have enough food or water at home. The school timetables have changed to compensate for this. School no longer has classes in the afternoon. The government is trying to step in and implement a school feeding program and included three new districts.

I am surprised about the predicament they’re in, but understand that, in their current situation, school takes a lower priority than food and water.

east africa geography

East Africa is a land covered in a variety of different terrains. there is the mountainous country of Kenya for instance, home of Mt. Kilimanjaro. There is the Serengeti planes of Tanzania. Another natural wonder is the great rift valley, stretching through Ethiopia and Tanzania. But east Africa isn't all desert, Africa's climate is varied by location and elevation. There are great fields of growing plants around almost all of Uganda's lakes. There is even the snow caped tops of the mountains for a change of pace. Overall, don't make any assumptions about a continent.

trusting julius lester

I think we can trust at least some of Julius Lester's work. He used real interviews, he got his book published by a group of editors, he was the professor of African studies at a university, paragraphs are sighted, and he’s well known.

news article #1

Summary:
According to UNICEF in Ethiopia, there are approximately 5.4 million orphans, and more than a million children have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS.
Of those millions of children without families, only a small number of Ethiopian orphans are adopted by foreigners every year. Most kids with any sort of problem will not be adopted.
For 30 years, Ethiopia has been an adoption center for foreigners and prior to 2005, between 500 and 700 orphans were adopted by outsiders. Now the numbers have almost tripled thanks to Angelina Jolie

The Ethiopian government wants to stop international adoptions. They think they should be raised in the Ethiopian culture. Other involved think international adoptions are a good solution.

My reaction:
I didn’t realize there so many orphans in Ethiopia. I understand why the Ethiopian government wants to stop international adoptions, but, in the long run, finding homes for these kids seems like a priority. There is a lot of poverty there and I guess there is not a lot Ethiopians can do for these kids. Many there are other ways kids adopted by foreigners and learn about their culture.

5 themes of geography

This is the Eiffel tower. The five themes of geography are Location, Latitude: 48º 51' 32" North - Longitude: 002º 17' 45" East - La Tour Eiffel, Champs-De-Mars, Paris 75007, (7e) France - beside seine river, Place, good view, Human Environment Interaction, built by people - , Movement, people come to see it - materials used to build it were moved here, and Region, France.

http://www.opticianonline.net/blogs/big-optometry-blog/eiffel-tower-picture.jpg

Violence leads to more violence

The quote "Violence leads to more violence" means, where there is violence, there is more violence. In Julius Caesar, the conspirators killed Caesar (first violence) and the roman citizens then killed the conspirators (more violence). This is human nature. If somebody does violence against you, you need to do violence back at them (to 'get even').