Today I am sharing a poem by the great Egyptian feminist Huda Sha’arawi. As we saw earlier, Sha’arawi’s work was immense in redefining the place of the woman in Egyptian society, and led to a new dawn for Egyptian women. This woman who influenced millions of Egyptian and Arabic women was also a poet with a great love for her country and its people. She dedicated her life for the betterment of women in the Egyptian society, and immensely loved the land of her forefathers.
The poem “A ma Patrie” was published in L’Égyptienne number 69, Mai 1931. Translated to English by Dr. Y. Afrolegends.com.
Ama Patrie
J’ai fait voeu de t’offrir tout ce qui m’appartient
O ma belle Patrie,
Mon bras, mon coeur, mon âme ainsi que tous mes biens
Sans excepter ma vie.
J’ai fait voeu de peiner, de lutter, de souffrir,
De braver l’infamie.
Sans froncer le sourcil, sans poser au martyre,
Sans même une aide amie.
J’ai juré de franchir les frontières des mers
Si ton honneur l’exige,
Afin de rehausser, aux yeux de l’univers,
Ton nom et ton prestige.
J’ai juré d’oublier les affronts des déments
Et la haine et l’insulte
Que l’envie incita, contre mon dévouement
A ta cause et ton culte.
Peu m’importe l’exil, leur courroux, la prison,
J’accepte la mort même.
Puisque leurs vils exploits n’auront jamais raison
De l’humble coeur qui t’aime.
To my Homeland
I made a wish to offer you all that I have
O my beautiful homeland,
My arm, my heart, my soul, as well as all my belongings
Not excepting my life.
I vowed to struggle, to fight, to suffer,
To brave infamy.
Without frowning, without asking for martyrdom,
Without even a friend’s help.
I have sworn to cross the borders of the seas
If your honor depends on it,
To enhance, in the eyes of the universe,
Your name and your prestige.
I have sworn to forget the offenses of the demented
And the hatred and insult
Which prompted envy, against my dedication
To your cause and your worship.
I do not care about exile, their anger, the prison,
African manatees are classed as a vulnerable species and are on the IUCN Red List. Photograph: Lucy Keith-Diagne/African Aquatic Conservation Fund
In many African countries, from Senegal down to Angola, the manatee is known as Mamy-Wata or the Sirena or a water spirit. It is a sea creature which can also be found in lakes, as well as on the ocean. There is a lot of myths surrounding the creature, and how difficult they are to find. There is also a lot of ideas surrounding their use in local medicines, with a high demand coming from Asia, to the point that they have now become endangered. This article on conservation efforts to save the manatee is from The Guardian. Enjoy!
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Once branded ‘rogue animals’, the elusive creatures were on the brink of extinction, but hope is rising for their survival
… For the past 14 years Keith-Diagne has been on a mission to protect the African manatee. There are an estimated 10,000 left, spread across 21 African countries, from the coast of Senegal down to Angola and inland to Chad. …
African manatees are classified as a vulnerable species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. They face many threats, including entanglement in fishing nets and entrapment in dams. In some countries they are heavily poached.
… The animals are so elusive that many locals know them only from myths. In countries such as Senegal, where the animals are revered as auspicious water spirits, poaching is rare. But dams still pose a major threat: the cumbersome mammals can get trapped in narrow passageways and drown.
Approximate distribution of the manatee in Africa
Keith-Diagne said local dam authorities have been receptive to her proposed modifications of the structures. Politicians have also come on board. In 2014, her husband, Tomas Diagne, also a biologist, successfully petitioned the government to set aside 275 hectares (679 acres) for an aquatic reserve. The area is now home to an estimated 100 manatees as well as hundreds of Adanson’s mud turtles – a species unique to the local lake. The couple are also helping the surrounding communities to develop an ecotourism industry.
Keith-Diagne’s conservation work has extended into other parts of Africa. With the help of a Pew Marine fellowship, she formed a network of nine biologists in Senegal, Gambia, Nigeria, Cameroon and Democratic Republic of Congo to document every manatee captured or killed over three years. The project has already identified one clear trend: Nigeria is a leader in manatee mortality.
Hunters can make up to $2,000 (£1,626) from a single catch in the country, where manatee meat is said to be beneficial for diabetics and their oil is thought to be cholesterol-free. In addition, their penises are believed to cure impotence, their ear bones to ward off bullets, and eyes believed to possess magical powers. The faeces left over in manatee intestines are dried and used to mend broken bones.
According to Nigerian myth, upon encountering a human, a manatee will tickle them until they laugh so hard they drown.
Rumours of manatees breaking fishing nets and capsizing canoes led to their classification as a “rogue animal” in the 1970s – an official classification for animals that threaten human livelihoods, such as crocodiles and hippopotami.
The manatee
… [Edem] Eniang, [a professor of wildlife resource management at the University of Uyo in Nigeria] and his team often go undercover, posing as buyers to keep tabs on poachers and document manatee killings. They visit schools to teach the importance of conservation and they run TV and radio information campaigns. Such campaigns can and have made a difference. In Cameroon, education and awareness initiatives have pushed manatee hunting to its lowest level.
Aristide Takoukam, the director of the African Marine Mammal Conservation Organisation in Cameroon, gives frequent presentations at schools and organises field trips to Lake Ossa, a wildlife reserve created in 1948.
“I want to teach them to see nature in a different way than their parents,” he says. “I want to show them that in animals, they can also find beauty.”
He also trains fishermen in how to make a living from bee farming and soap making instead of manatee hunting and with the help of an American ecotourism expert, is developing an industry around manatee sightseeing, complete with lakeside bungalows, kayaking and bird watching.
“I want to show them that a manatee is worth more alive than dead,” he says. …
In this era of lockdown, one thing is for sure: flowers are blooming! Everywhere you look, flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and now we can actually hearthemamidst the silence! Yes… people… birds’ arias have replaced the car horns, and the blasting sounds of traffic and modernity. And now, the flowers display their beauty. They always did… but it was sometimes clouded by unknown fumes or we simply had no time to see it! So today, I will share with you a bright image of a gorgeous flower… This is simply to remind you to smile at the beauty outside, even if you cannot go outside. Enjoy!
In this era of the coronavirus and social distancing, many local vendors in some countries of Africa are seeing bigger profits than ever because of the slower competition from imported products. This should be the time to encourage local economies, and rebuilt local industries. In the article below, you will be appalled to find out that Kenya was importing fish from China (which has probably been fished on African coasts anyway) when they have a fishing industry! Why not eat local products? Why are our governments allowing these imported products to be cheaper than the local ones (it is true of Senegal and countless other African countries with products from France and the EU)? Why are foreign products not taxed properly so as to allow for the local industry to grow? I know this time is short, but it is always important to start somewhere. It is important to take advantage of these uncertain times to strengthen ourselves as all other countries are doing! This article is from the BBC: Fishermen cash in as Chinese imports drop.
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Grilled fish on a charcoal stove / du poisson braise sur un rechaud a charbon
Sales of fresh fish in Kenya have risen as imports from China have dropped amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Sellers in Dunga Beach on the shores of Lake Victoria report a jump in trade of about 40% over two weeks.
“The fishermen are really now smiling at the Lake Victoria region because we are receiving more visitors. Dunga is really crowded with a lot of the residents of Kisumu coming to buy the fresh fish because people fear the Chinese boxed fish due to the coronavirus,” says Maurice Misodhi, a fisherman and leader at the Dunga Beach Management Unit.
Local fish costs about twice as frozen fish from China, of which Kenya imported more than $23m (£19m) worth in 2018.
Chinese fish used to make up about 50% of the market but this has fallen since imports stopped in November and the virus outbreak later took hold.
Before the coronavirus outbreak, local fishermen complained that cheap imports harmed local trade so much that they often resorted to eating their catch themselves or giving much of it away.
Flag of Kenya
But the scarcity of Chinese fish isn’t good news for everyone. Caroline Ochieng, a fish seller says she is struggling to make a decent profit because Chinese fish is cheaper than local lake fish.
“That is the reason we want the China fish to be in supply as well as that from our own lake – so that as we do business we don’t feel the burden.“
There are worries that local fishermen won’t be able to keep up with new demand for fresh fish. But for now at least, they are making the most of the surge in trade.
This is encouraging news, and I could not pass on it. The full article is from The Guardian!
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Numbers of African black rhinos in the wild have risen by several hundred, a rare boost in the conservation of a species driven to near extinction bypoaching.
Black rhinos are still in grave danger but the small increase – an annual rate of 2.5% over six years, has swollen the population from 4,845 in 2012 to an estimated 5,630 in 2018, giving hope that efforts put into saving the species are paying off.
The painstaking attempts to save the black rhino have included moving some individuals from established groups to new locations, increasing the species’ range and ensuring viable breeding populations, as well as protecting them through stronger law enforcement efforts. Numbers of all of the three subspecies of black rhino are now improving.
Rhinos being sedated (Source: Getty images)
“The continued slow recovery is a testament to the immense efforts made in the countries and a powerful reminder that conservation works,” said Grethel Aguilar, acting director general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which compiles the global red list of species under threat.
“[But] there is no room for complacency as poaching and illegal trade remain acute threats. It is essential that the ongoing anti-poaching measures and intensive, proactive population management continue, with support from national and international actors.”
The outlook for the other African rhino species is still troubled, according to the update to the red list published on Thursday.
White rhinos are more numerous in Africa but categorised by the IUCN as near-threatened. The outlook for them has worsened in recent years, driven by high levels of poaching in South Africa’s Kruger national park. White rhinos have larger horns than their black counterparts, making them more attractive to poachers, and they are easier to find as they prefer more open habitats.
For me, Manu Dibango is like a person with whom I grew up… well because his song “Bienvenu, Welcome to Cameroon” was played on national television endlessly when growing up. It was a special song, and it made everybody know what a beautiful country he came from, and how welcoming the people of that land were. He also had a thunderous and contagious laughter.
Emmanuel N’Djoké Dibango was born in Douala, Cameroon, on 12 December 1933. He was an outstanding saxophone and vibraphone player. He was sent early to France for high school. I remember an interview he gave about his first time in Europe. As a kid, he had never seen snow, and he was in such awe of the snow that he wanted his mother back home to see it; so he mailed her some snow… but as you might have guessed, all his mother received was a wet, all dried up, empty envelope! While in France, his studies got derailed by music, as he got introduced to the saxophone and as a results he failed his high school exams (Baccalauréat) to his father’s disappointment. However, this launched him in what became an internationally acclaimed career.
His hit song, “Soul Makossa,” came out in 1972, and propelled him to international fame. His fusion of African rhythm and sounds on the saxophone created a sort of fusion that was new, modern, and hip. The song “Soul Makossa” on the record of the same name contains the lyrics “makossa“, which means “(I) dance” in his native tongue Duala language. The song has influenced popular music hits, including Kool and the Gang‘s “Jungle Boogie.” In 1982, Michael Jackson picked up a version of a line that Dibango sang on “Soul Makossa” — which Jackson sang as “mama-se, mama-sa, ma-makossa” — on his song “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ ” from the album Thriller. Dibango sued the American megastar; Jackson settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money. In 2007, Rihanna sampled Jackson‘s version of the “Soul Makossa” line on her song “Don’t Stop the Music,” as Jackson had given her permission, but not Dibango. Two years later, Dibango sued Jackson again, as well as Rihanna in France; that time, his case failed, due to the earlier settlement.
So long to the artist… like Fela Kuti, Manu Dibango has influenced countless singers around the world, and has brought in a new generation of African saxophone players. Your saxophone filled with soulful tunes from Cameroon and Africa, will continue to fill our souls. Enjoy these very good articles on The Guardian and NPR.
In these uncertain times, I thought about sharing with you this poem by the Cameroonian author Etienne Noumé, ‘Angoisse quotidienne‘ or ‘Daily Anxiety.’ His poem was published in Anthologie de la poésie camerounaise, edited by Patrice Kayo, Le Flambeau. As you read Noumé’s poem, you will find the daily anxiety of the author mounting, as he wonders where he will flee to as hurricanes come and take away his roof, where he will flee to as the torrents sweep away his fields, when will the happy future come? His questions remain of actuality: the hurricanes coming is like wondering ‘where will you sleep, or live?’; the torrents sweeping his fields is like asking ‘where will your income, your food come from?’ the question about the future is like asking ‘when will the spring come? when will this anxiety go away? when will happiness come?’
The poem ‘Angoisse quotidienne‘ by Etienne Noumé, published in Anthologie de la poésie camerounaise, P. Kayo, Le Flambeau. The translation to English is from Dr. Y. Afrolegends.com. I chose the flower above because of all the uncertainty surrounding it, and also because in the end, the light still shines on that flower!
Enjoy the poem below, and let me know what this poem brings to mind.
In these uncertain times, I thought about sharing with you this poem by the Cameroonian author Etienne Noumé, ‘
African Heritage 