400 Years of Conflict

 

Summary- I the early 16th hundreds the white men wanted to take over more land because they thought more land meant more power. So different nations traveled to Africa to see if they take over any big parts. Some nations got together to talk and think about what things were happening and making deals on what land each nation could get. The Africans did not like it and they rebelled, they wanted to stand up for themselves. And the white men saw and thought of how funny it was because of their skin color. So the men took the Africans and sold them to other countries and men who wanted them to help around the house. This made the Africans furious and angry. The black people did not have a choice, they had to do what they were told, and if they did not listen then they would get hurt or killed. So they wanted to change this and make it so the white man and black man had the same type of control over what they did and what they want to do. 

Analysis- I agree with what the Africans had to do to get freedom, even though they should have never should have had to do this. The white men should have just left them alone. This article kind of reminded me of what the Rwandan genocide was like. They were caught and had to find a way to become free. I feel that in the end, the black people had to stand up and fight for what is right and fight for what was wrong. 

Discussion Questions- do you agree or disagree with what the Africans and what they had to do? What do you think the black people should have done before they were taken? What is the best way to figure out the problems that they had?

Climate Change is Severely Affecting Africa

 

Link to Photo: Title: Climate Change is Severely Affecting Africa Summary: The number of undernourished people in Africa has increased by 46.5% since 2012, according to the United Nations food and Agriculture Organization. This is due to climate change. Climate change causes illnesses and affects agriculture. Recently, changes in rain patterns have been making insects bite. Dengue fever, malaria, and yellow fever are easily transmitted through these changed rain patterns. Sadly, poorly governed countries have been the most affected by climate change. Studies from University of Oxfords Enviornmental change institute, show that most poorly governed countries in Africa do not have access to air conditioning. Air conditioning is very essential because humans adapt to hot weather by turning their air conditioning on. In a very hot climate like Africa you could suffer from heat stroke and die. The probability of this happening is more likely because Africa is getting hotter due to climate change. Algriculture is also effecting lifes in Africa. Over the last 8 years starvation in Africa has increased by nearly 50%. Heat waves were found to be the common issue. They can kill crops, and increase plant diseases/pests. Also, according to the United Nations food and Algriculture Organization, when rainfall patterns change food supply reduces by 50%. Food supply is lessening, but Africa found a way to help. Some governments in Africa provide farmers training on how to grow crops in extreme heat. More food is going to be saved. Analisis: All humans must adapt to survive. We adapt by doing simple things. We wear coats in the winter, and in the summer shorts or t-shirts. We grow certain types of fruit in the weather/places they do best in. Most of the world is being effected by climate change, but luckily we are finding solutions. The key to survival is to adapt. If we do not adapt, how would we survive? We wouldn't. Discussion Questions: Do you think CLimate change will be eliminated? What effects does climate change have on Africa?

"Things Fall Apart": Chinua Achebe and the languages of African literature

 

"Things Fall Apart": Chinua Achebe and the languages of African literature Summary: It talks about a book named ‘Things Fall Apart’ which takes perspective from a white person, who took part in colonizing Africa, and a black person who was experiencing being colonized. The book was written in English but some people wanted it to be published in an African language because they didn’t want the book representing their colonizers and that it could decide which languages Africa spoke since it’s an essential that children in Africa have to read. Analysis: I can agree with both sides of the argument because in some African countries, they are forced to speak their colonizers language. On the other hand, they were forced into Western culture and language so writing it in an African language could help them set their culture apart. Discussion Questions: Do you think it should be written in a European or African language and why? What is the best way to decide? Should some copies of the book be in different languages?

Post apartheid South Africa is the most unequal country

 

Post apartheid South Africa is the most unequal country

The article/video that I read explains the effects of apartheid/colonization on, comedian, Trevor Noah. He shared how his parents were in a world where “they were the ones who faced the ills,” adding that it was "a struggle I didn't even know I was a part of". His dad was a white swiss man who married a black woman, (which is punishable by a lifetime in prison) so you could say he was “born a crime.” After he became a world renown comedian in america who works on the daily show, he wrote a biography that explained what it was like to live in africa during and after an apartheid. He explains that even after the apartheid ended, the split between whites and blacks economically is bigger than ever. 

Imagine a forest with 1000 trees, and all of the trees except for 1 is stagnant (not able to grow). The 1 tree gets to grow and become rich with branches and needles but the others are trapped down below having no hope to catch up. that's what it is like in south africa. Post apartheid south africa is the most unequal country. You find virtually no whites living below the middle class. Whites have, in fact, comfortably improved their economic status in post-apartheid South Africa because their work is such a big share of the national income to the top 10%. 

Still currently africans are recovering from the apartheid and struggle because of the lack of income and the dangerous neighborhoods they live in. He shares stories about his time growing up during the recovery period from the apartheid and it shows just how much they were affected by the colonization and decisions other nations inflicted upon them. Of course it is unfair that the whites suppressed the black and colored people, but the big issue is the hole they left them in. it is practically unescapable with help. 

What are some ways we could help the recovery process from the apartheid?

Killing of White Farmer, Apartheid Comes up Again

The killing of White Farmer, Apartheid Comes up Again 

By- Ali Reinhardt 

Summary- Mr. Horner was a young, white farmer in Senekal, South Africa he was found tied to a pole on a farm, dead. Topics about apartheid and land were brought to attention once again. The suspects were apart of a ring of livestock stealing in the Eastern part of the Free State province. At the court where the case was being tested, there were 2 groups, white farmers fighting against the government for deliberately failing to protect them. The other group was part of the Economic Freedom Fighters. On a hill outside the town waved a banner of the face of the victim. Tension is very high in rural farming areas where white people own the vast majority of land and Blacks still serve as workers. White South Africans make up 9 % of the country’s 58 million citizens. At the hearing, white farmers and motorcycle riders faced off and stood nose to nose through the barbed wire. AfriForum, a large advocacy group for Afrikaners, the descendants of the white Dutch and Huguenot settlers of South Africa, has led international efforts to draw attention to their discredited claims that white farmers are being systematically forced off their land and killed in large numbers. White South Africans believe that they should be able to own farms in peace and grow their own crops. South Africans still believe that White South Africans have more power over them and wants it to stop. They get paid less and they get treated differently. Both sides are fighting for their rights but you can see that when the countries decided to colonize, they created tension with the two groups that are still here today. 

Analysis- I think this article gives a great amount of reasoning to show that the white-minority rule is still lingering in South Africa. The people of South Africa are scared and they don’t want there to be another time period where apartheid might still exist. In the text it says,”“What happened in Senekal shows just how easily the tinderbox of race hatred can be ignited,” The tension never stopped when apartheid was demolished. There is still tension and it comes from when the Dutch descended Afrikaners and the British colonized South Africa. I think that South Africans are scared because they don’t want anything like happened when apartheid was a thing. They completely took away their rights and it was unfair. They want to live their life freely and not under strict laws that don’t involve one race over another. But they can’t because there are still social injustices. If they work on White South African farms, they get paid less than the other workers.  A survey that was taken in 2017 said that white farmers controlled 70% of farms held by individual owners in South Africa. I think what the author is trying to do is say that even though it is 2020 and apartheid was banned in 1994 what the Afrikaners did will remain in South Africa for a long time. It is very clear the way that apartheid has still affected South Africans today and in the future. They still want to bring the attention that it needs. 

 Discussion Question(s)- Do you think that apartheid still exists today? How would the people of South Africa be affected if Apartheid came back today?

''For South Africa's children, coding could be the ticket to a future''

   

Summary: The main challenge in the article is that South Africa has a very poor public education system compared to the rest of the world, especially in mathematics and science. Math and science are very important subjects in school even in our lives. We are surrounded by them in our daily lives, which makes them essential parts of our existence. Africans have tried to study hard and find work, but it is very difficult due to their level of education. Finally, there is no clear solution to this problem, but there is still hope. People are trying to find new ways to help students move forward, an example of this is teaching young people to code, teachers and many other people think that teaching students to code will give them ways to identify and solve problems as well as confidence in their future so that they can acquire new skills and find decent jobs. Coding could help all students who want to learn, but it will especially help girls, as they are seen as vulnerable to exclusion and believed to be dependent on men. Educators, families, and students in South Africa hope that learning to code will improve their lives styles and the country's education system. 

 

Analysis: I agree that coding is the way of the future for kids. Coding has had a great effect on young people. It has made them learn to build machine models that could help their community and it also has lowered the number of unemployed young people in their community. I believe there are a lot of young people who really want to study but don't have the opportunities or the resources to be successful. I also think that the main reason why the education system in South Africa was so far behind compared to the rest of the world was because of the apartheid law. It kept many schools from not getting the resources they needed, and it also limited the jobs that people of color could have, among many other consequences. I feel that coding can give better education and independence to people and especially girls who normally depend on men in their lives. 

Discussion question: What changes do you think should be made to the South African education system in order to improve or be successful?

Extreme climate conditions: How Africa can adapt

 

Title: 

 Summary: In this article about how the authors think that Africa can adapt to climate change, the discussed topics on how the economy can benefit from it and what techniques can be used to stop global warming. The authors from McKinsey and Company stated that acting upon global warming was thought to boost the economy by bringing in millions of dollars. Ways that money would come in is thought to be investors and partnerships interested in the changes being made by the government as well a cost effective approaches such as techniques to adapt to global warming. Some of the methods that the article recommended was migration, irrigation systems and even soil techniques. The writers said that farmers would migrate to bigger cities to have better access to water, the benefits of this is clear. The article proves this by adding that the migration of 1 million people by 2030 has the possibility of increasing agriculture productivity by 6 percent. The rise in agriculture productivity could put more money into the economy. 

 Analysis: I agree with statements describing that doing something about global warming will benefit the economy. I believe this because, organizations or charities are usually interested in things like this as well as possibly bringing in media. I feel like this article has a really good approach, stating the issues then giving solutions that could be used.

 Discussion Questions(s): What do you think the best approach is to prevent the problem from going further?

Do you agree with the idea that this article includes?   

Five ways climate change could affect Africa

 

Summary: The article "COP 21: Five ways climate change could affect Africa" explains a few of the numerous effects that climate change has and will have on Africa. The greatest effect is water scarcity caused by long droughts. This is causing a decline in agriculture because the majority of crops cannot survive the harsh conditions. One way farmers are adapting is by finding alternative crops that can survive. For example, farmers in Southern Africa have begun to grow the more durable cassava rather than maize. Also, higher water temperatures in East Africa will lead to an increase in the mosquito population, causing more outbreaks of the deadly disease in areas that have not experienced it before. 

Personal Analysis: I feel that climate change has and will continue to have a very large impact on Africa and its people. Life in the world’s poorest continent will continue to get harder and harder. It is sad to see that this destruction was brought about by our carelessness for the environment. Soon, the majority of people in Africa won’t even have access to water, yet we still do nothing to prevent this from happening. It will soon be too late to do anything. 

Discussion Question: How do you think these effects can be prevented and mitigated?

Black Lives Matter, To Most

 

Title: In South Africa, Police Violence Isn’t Black and White

Summary: In countries where Black Lives Matter exists, such as the US, UK, and Canada, police violence is a black and white issue. Conversely, in South Africa, a country engulfed by a legacy of apartheid and racial hierarchies, for mixed race (a.k.a. colored) individuals, police violence is more nuanced/grey. In South Africa, colored people are the minority, and because of their deep history with apartheid and colonialism, they feel neglected and unseen. Apartheid forced this diverse group of mixed people into one group, known as colored. Because of this, colored people began to believe they were not Black. The colonizers of South Africa furthered the colored people’s feeling of superiority by separating the groups, furthering the idea that the Blacks were inferior. For example, being referred to as a “Bantu” in the colored community was extremely hurtful, as it was a slur meant to be used on a Black person. The author of the article shared one way the slur was used was by elders in order to get someone to behave. 

The obvious differences between the two groups was only furthered when a sixteen year old colored boy, named Nathaniel Julies, was shot dead for no apparent reason in his predominately colored neighborhood. The teenager had down syndrome, and he was killed by a Black police officer only a few feet away from his house on a walk to get a biscuit from a local store. The violent incident only furthered the hatred and frustration colored people in South Africa’s society have toward the Black majority government.

Analysis: A lot needs to be done in order for South Africa to combat this issue. In my opinion, for a country that has experienced harsh and unjust discrimination and segregation in the past, they are starting to move in the right direction. During apartheid, the colored South Africans were pawns or active participants in a system that brutally and systematically oppressed their Black brethren. I feel as though being bystanders to the apartheid laws has now allowed the Black majority to justify the killings of some colored people such as Nathaniel Julies. I believe the hatred colored people have towards the Black South Africans needs to be followed with action. The removal of apartheid laws should have been followed by the removal of colored people’s feeling of superiority. One way to combat the issue at hand is getting colored South Africans in political power. Another way to combat the issue could be teaching kids in South Africa about the Black vs. colored war that is going on. Without proper education on the subject, the country risks facing another apartheid, or even mimicking the Rwandan Genocide. 

Discussion Question: Do you think a colored South African could be successfully elected to political office despite being a minority and feeling ostracized in their own country?

Imperialism Continues to Affect Africa’s Lifestyle

 

 Summary 

Imperialism has continued to affect Africa in numerous ways. Even though Imperialism is viewed as a negative part of Africa’s history, it still led to advances in technology in Africa. For example Africa started getting better transportation like railways and railroads. They started having better communication between tribes etc. Africa’s citizens started communicating with each other more. But, this can also be viewed as a political issue. As more and more tribes converse they are mixing their certain political views and their own tribal identities and you have to add that to all the European ideas. This could bring many political problems. Another effect on imperialism in Africa was economic issues. Africa had an abundance of materials that they did not know how to use, in other words Africa’s leaders only knew how to take out its natural resources and sell it. They did not know how to price it properly. Europeans took advantage of that and Africa's economy began to crumble after independence. There were also many cultural issues in Africa. Before invasions, Africa had its own culture. It had its own identity. After invasions, their identity changed. They now had a mix of European and African cultures and a lot other cultures too. This included religion. Christianity was brought over by the Europeans so many Africans adapted to it forcefully and stuck with it. They even now lost their own religions that they used to believe. Now Africa has to re-embark to find their identity again. 

Analysis 

I almost completely agree with this article. It shows almost all the effects on Africa from imperialism and has a splendid amount of detail, but I think it should focus a bit more on how Africa’s technology has advanced and it should show a bit more on government issues in Africa. I also sort of feel that some topic were repeated, so maybe the author should just merge those topics together and expand on it. 

Questions 

How about you? Which issue do you think has the most impact on Africa today?

Destructive Flooding in East Africa

Summary: 

    Africa is known for its water shortages. But since 2016, floods have started occurring in countries like Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda which are all located in East Africa. According to a BBC News article on Flooding in East Africa, "the floods are caused by a big temperature differential between the east and west sides of the Indian Ocean."  In 2020 alone, over 6,000,000 million people have been affected by it. Sudan got hit the worst where 860,000 people were left with damaged homes and 120 people perished.  

    Africa is home to a government that doesn’t care that much about climate change. The BBC News article on The Effect of Climate Change on Africa, states that "the capacity for adaptation to climate change is low; poverty equates to reduced choice at the individual level while governance generally fails to prioritize and act on climate change."  The government in Africa worries about other issues rather than about the rapidly growing one at hand. Climate change. The uneven heating in the east and west sides of the Indian ocean was due to climate change. That caused major amounts of flooding when Africa was experiencing a water shortage. Someone needs to take charge of what is going on to help Africa end climate change and get rid of poverty. 

Analysis: 

    After reading the articles about Flooding in East Africa and The Effect of Climate Change on Africa, I feel like the African government should care more about climate change. I don’t agree with the lack of action the government has put forth to end climate change. They are putting their efforts into other causes rather than the bigger issue. Alone, climate change has affected over 6,000,000 million people in East Africa. What will happen if the government doesn’t step in soon to help? I feel that the government could start helping the countries like Sudan who have been hit the hardest and continue to support others who need help. The government could look to other countries or companies that are willing to help. We can all work together to help stop the issues of flooding caused by climate change in east Africa. By getting the government more involved, we help control the dangerous flooding in Africa. 

 Discussion Question: 

    What is the best way to deal with the flooding caused by climate change in Africa?  Do you agree or disagree with the way the Africa government is handling climate change?

Imperialism on Africa

Summary: This article explains how Africa was treated compared to other places. It explains how Africa was treated less in many ways like Religion, Social, Culture, Political, and economic ways. 

 Analysis: I agree with this article because it really shows how Africans did not have an opinion on things and had things forced on them, like for example, religion. In the article it states “Through imperialism, Christianity was brought to the continent. It completely changed the religious dynamic of the natives. Everything about their way of life including the most sacred was removed.” This shows me that this article proved that Imperialism affected Africans today and showed why they were affected. In my opinion I think that they did a good job explaining it because from what I get from this is that Africans were afraid to speak their mind because they thought that they had to stick to one belief because it was what was forced onto them.

 Discussion Questions: Do you agree or disagree that Africans are still affected today from Imperialism?

From Janitor to Nurse Practitioner.

 

The article “From Janitor to Nurse Practitioner in the Same Hospital, meet Jaines Andraes.” talks about Jainies Andres success story in her Career. Starting out as a janitor in a hospital ,Andres worked and studied her way up, soon enough becoming a nurse practitioner in the same hospital. This shows African Resilience because Jainies, an African woman worked her way up to a higher position to be able to provide for her mom financially from the medical benefits that her position now receives. She worked over a ten year period in order to have the proper qualifications to become a nurse practitioner, the work Jainies put in shows an immense amount of work effort and resilience to meet her goal of finally being able to practice medicine. I feel that this is an excellent display of African resilience because it shows a African woman working for over ten years to become qualified to study medicine and to be able to provide for her family with more financial freedom. The specific challenges Jainies faced were not directly talked about, although it can be heavily implied that it was no easy task; Especially considering that she kept her job as a janitor while putting herself through rigorous academic work. How could ones culutre be an impactful factor in a journey like this?

African scientists made better testing kits for Covid

Summary: In Nigeria, people are getting Covid a lot faster than some countries because most of them probably didn’t know that they had Covid. The test kits the country buys are expensive and it takes a long time to get results. Scientists have seen the problem and fixed it by making faster and cheaper test kits that can do almost the same as normal ones. The new kits are less than $25 and take 40 minutes to get back results. Cases have gone down after these kits were released. The World Health Organization said that they would make 120 million high-quality rapid test kits for low to medium income countries. They say it's under $5.

Analysis: I feel that if most of the people on earth learn or read about this, they can have a different perspective of Africans. They can see that they are smart people and some of them can even change the world. These testing kits also can help us stop the spreading just a little bit which can mean a lot. Since the cases in Nigeria went down once these testing kits were released, if other countries had them then the spread would decrease even more. I also feel that we are getting closer to stopping Covid everyday. Since there are so many scientists in the world trying to help.

Discussion question: Why have other scientists not tried to make cheaper and faster test kits before?

Nakku's Success

 

    In this article we learn that Justine Nakku is a young woman living in Kenya. In Kenya the unemployment rates are very high. Therefore, it is very difficult to keep some jobs. Nakku decided she was going to be her own boss. She started a farm that came to be very successful. She always kept going despite the discouraging things people would say.  

 Many people felt empowered by this article and Nakkus success. Personally, I felt this way because even though so many people were criticizing her, and telling her that she'll never make it because she was a 25 year old woman, she persisted. Nakku also became more successful than half the people that were putting her down. Nakku overcame unemployment by starting her own farm. What might you do if you were in the same position? 

Nigerian Scientists Discover New Covid-19 Test

Title - Nigerian Scientists Discover New Covid-19 Test 

Summary - Covid-19 has been an ongoing problem for many months now. It has the world more careful than ever as the virus spreads. When someone receives a symptom, they go get a Covid-19 test to see whether they are positive or negative. These are usually a decent amount of money and take hours or even days for the results. Hospitals do not give any treatment to anyone who does not for sure have the virus, causing many to have to wait for the results and get even worse. This also causes them to spread it to more people since they would not know whether or not they have the virus until they receive their results, most of the time days later. However recently, Nigerian scientists have developed a new way to test people for Covid-19 with many more benefits than the tests we have been using. This test is more affordable, allowing more people to get tested and get better. This test also provides quicker results, allowing people who do have the virus to get treated faster and causing the virus to not spread as quick. Lastly, the test is easy to use and easily transportable, allowing more people to test themselves and allowing more people who live in far and remote areas to get tested and possibly treated as well. 

Analysis - I feel that this information shows me how much the involvement of every nation can allow world-wide problems to get solved quicker. Rather than fighting to get to the top or to be the “better country”, I think that working together and everyone getting involved is the only way to solve future issues and Africa has demonstrated this. I believe that this is a huge step in solving our Covid-19 problem and our rates will soon go down since more people will get tested and treated. 

Discussion Question - What do you think that the best way to solve Covid-19 is, keep it as it is going or make changes?

The new wave of fine jewelers bringing African luxury to the world

 

Emerald earrings from Vania Leles’ Legends of Africa collection Credit: Vania Leles

Summary: 

     Diamonds, gold, and other minerals come from Africa and are sourced to world-renowned jewelry houses. Each region of Africa has its own style of jewels and across the whole continent, there is a wide history of complex jewelry craft. Miners in Africa develop unique designs and show pride through gemstones by honoring the countries the gemstones come from. African miners who source gemstones are also trained to cut and polish, allowing them to increase the value of the unique gemstones. Vania Leles, owner of a fine jewelry brand, is all about further educating customers about the origins of the gemstones as stones in Africa have been undervalued. More awareness of the beauty and value of African gemstones plays a role in the prices of the gemstones. While Africa is the source of gemstones to many jewelry houses, no Africans lead these world-renowned jewelry houses even though Africans are the ones with so many natural resources. For this reason, a new wave of home owned African jewelry houses are creating authentic, luxurious jewelry for customers all over the world. 

 Analysis: 

     I agree with how spreading awareness of the beauty and value of African gemstones is essential because the reason new home owning jewelry houses are being established is to credit the African traditions and raw materials that go into such luxurious jewelry. As current world-renowned jewelry houses have been sourced by Africa for diamonds and gemstones, some of these jewelry houses do not acknowledge the true beauty of African jewelry and Africa’s role in the jewelry industry. Africa should be honored and recognized for its raw material that contributes to such delicate jewelry pieces worn by people all over the world. This article made me realize that many jewelry pieces that I wear come from Africa’s raw materials which I never knew until now. I feel that many people do not give credit to Africa for such plentiful raw materials that contribute to the delicate and concise jewelry that is considered a luxury to many people. The new wave of fine jewelers helps spread the true African culture of jewelry all over the world to show others the beauty of the continent’s materials that make it unique from other continents. 

 Discussion question: What is the best way to spread awareness of the value and beauty of African gemstones?

Jerusalem Dance Concurs Covid

Summary: This article on Newsela explains how despite the virus in Africa, many people came together on video and in person to dance and sing to this song called Jerusalema. On September 24th, the Africa haritage holiday was celebrated through different dances, clothing and singing. The song that they are listening to and dancing to became popular in 2019 and has expanded until it has spread all around Africa. To this day, the people of Africa are seeing this song as a coping mechanism with all the stress from the current events of the world. These dances have even gotten out to youtube and have been watched over and over agian by people in other countries. Many videos show healthcare workers and hospital personnel are getting out and celebrating this holiday through dancing and singing. Not only did the people celebrate it by themselves but the president even came out and told everyone to go out and celebrate the historical holiday.

Analysis: I feel that this is a very important piece of inspiration to the world. As in the article it says that the song has even been praised by the president as a sign of a positive spirit in the world. I believe that this dance challenge with expand all the way to the Americas and it will continue to symbolize peace in this world and good prosperity. Because of this pandemic, many people aren’t  able to visit the people they love and this article explains how even though there is a pandemic, there is still a way to socialize with each other. As this virus continues to impact our schools, I also think that it is incredibly vital to socialize with our close friends, classmates, and teachers even if it is not through face to face contact. In my opinion, I think that this dance challenge has opened up the eyes of many people around the world to create peace and to bring the positive spirits and thinking to this world.

Question: Why do you think that this Jeruselema dance is such a big hit in Africa and how does that inspire people around the world to do more positive things?

Alex Zak

Africa's fight: Invasive Worms and Hunger

Summary:

Many Americans may have a view of Africa as an impoverished and underdeveloped land teeming with dangerous wildlife and diseases. But there are 54 different countries in Africa. Each of them is different, and facing a different set of problems. Some are facing the problems of poverty and underdevelopment and disease, but others are facing different problems. Better developed countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe are facing some different problems, based mainly off of human-environment interaction. Whether it be humans cutting down too many forests to build homes and cities, or South Africans building homes with thicker insulation to combat the brutally hot summers, Africans are developing new and innovative solutions to problems nature has caused for them. The most recent of these problems being the invasive species of hungry worms, fall armyworms. These countries do have the resources to find long term, satisfactory solutions to these types of problems. The “fall armyworms” have begun devastating crops across Africa. Thought to have come to Africa via commercial airlines or imported plants from South America, these small worms live short life spans, reproduce incredibly fast, and eat a ton. This last fact is the most crucial. These tiny worms are eating many of Africa’s most vital crops; maize, wheat, millet, and rice. Their main target, maize (a type of corn), is a main food source for thousands of Africans. This use it in much of their food including a very popular dish called Mieliepap. The loss of the Maize eaten by the armyworms have caused hundreds to go hungry already, and if the situation does not improve, many will starve. But People are not just standing by, they are developing new solutions to the fall armyworms. Local governments have begun spraying pesticides over fields from planes in an attempt to kill the armyworms, this could be dangerous as the full effect of the pesticides on surrounding environments is not yet known. In this way, they could be changing the environment, another key form of human-environment interaction. They are also experimenting with more natural solutions like placing birds in the fields or building ditches around the crops. When a crop field has been overrun so much that no crops are salvageable, farmers have begun burning the field to kill the armyworms. This, surprisingly, has proved effective in killing some of the armyworms. Only one thing is certain, if they cannot find a suitable solution, it will have catastrophic consequences.

Analysis:

I would like to start by saying the article was incredibly interesting and informative. I learned so much about the current situation in Africa and how the fall armyworms and subsequent food shortages have affected many African countries, their economies, and their people. I thought many of the ideas people were thinking of were very innovative and well thought out. Especially the ditches around the food plots and the pesticides being sprayed from the government planes. But I do see some issues with both of these plans. Firstly, the pesticides, I do not like the plan with the pesticides. I think it is incredibly dangerous and could destroy lots of valuable land. This is not a risk I am willing to take. Also the ditches could prevent farmers from extending the food plots. In addition the armyworms could potentially cross the ditches and feast upon the crops. This problem began with human-environment interaction, with the humans depending on the food source, and when that food source was taken away, how they would adapt. Personally I would not adapt by damaging the land anymore than it has already been. The fields have been destroyed, the surrounding trees and plants do not need to be put at risk as well. Humans can not afford to change the environment even more than the armyworms already have. I think the best solution would be to build ditches around the fields and put birds in the field to eat the armyworms. While this is happening they should do extensive tests of the pesticides and their effect on the environment. If the tests show it has no impact on other wildlife, then they should begin spraying the pesticides. My first priority is to not harm nature outside the fields and armyworms. If people begin to starve, then I think more radical steps like pesticides could be put into place. At the end of the day, the goal is to save as many human lives as possible.

Discussion Questions:

Do you agree? How would you solve the fall armyworms? How can we solve this problem without changing or damaging the environment?

Africa in need

 Title: Africa in Need

Summary:

Almost all of Africa is in poverty which means that they can’t afford or be able to access stores or distributors. That means that they have to rely on their environment in order to feed themselves and their families. People in Africa have a wide variety of human environment interaction. They cut down trees for wood and farming, they use the waters to fish and hydrate, they hunt for food and more. Many people and nations try to help people in Africa like mission trips and charity organizations. Some more examples of human environment interaction would be the building of infrastructure while still poor, does help to make living better for the people there. Also, because of the poor infrastructure, there is a lot of pollution in the lakes and waters that people rely on.

Analysis

This article is very good, it was published in 2012 however so it might not be too up to date. It was a medium size article so it didn't take too long to read. It was written by the United Nations so it is credible.

Discussion question:

How can we help to help Africa and people in need?

Why was Africa in such a state of poverty in the first place?

What are some examples of human environment interactions?

How can we spread awareness for the people in need in Africa?

Jaines Andrades becomes a Nurse Practioner

Title: From Janitor to Nurse Practitioner at the same Hospital, meet Jaines Andrades

Summary

This article is about a woman named Jaines Andrades. She went from working as a janitor to working as a nurse practitioner in the same hospital, Baystate Springfield Hospital. It started off as her being a janitor and moved from the urgent care unit to the operating room. In the operating room she often interacted with the patients and the nurses and she loved that. So she decided to go work for her bachelors degree for about 5 years. Two years later was hired as a registered nurse at Baystate. She was convinced by her colleagues to go one step further and go for a doctorate in nursing. During her time studying for the doctorate she got transferred to a new job, Baystate’s acute care unit. 3 weeks later she was hired as a nurse practitioner in the trauma surgery department at the same hospital, Baystate Springfield Hospital

Analysis

This article was very inspiring to read. It was inspiring because she was a custodian or a janitor. But she worked hard and got a job as a nurse practitioner. This really shows no matter how tough the situation looks, there is always a way to get out of it and become better. I also feel that it is quite interesting because you don't usually hear stories of people going from being a janitor to a nurse and in the same hospital. This article reminds me of stories of people starting off low and then they end up with something better than they started with

Do you agree or disagree with my personal analysis that the article was inspirational? 

African woman achieves her dream job after 10 years

 

Summary 

An African woman called Jaines Andrades wanted to become a lawyer growing up, however, when she learned the benefits of becoming a nurse during a doctor’s visit with her mom, she changed her mind. And with her desire to help people, she decided that she wanted to become a nurse full time, so she started her journey at Baystate in 2010 while at Elms College. For about five years, she worked at the hospital as a custodian before graduating from the Elms with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, and in two years, she was hired as a registered nurse at Baystate. However, her colleagues convinced her to go one step further, so she began pursuing her doctorate in nursing. She had to work for 10 years to achieve her goal while making lots of sacrifices and working really hard. Finally, Andrades was able to pursue her dreams, while also inspiring people who might feel discouraged by their past or where they come from. 

Analysis

In this article, I agree with Andrades’s quotes that say you have to work really hard to be able to achieve great things in life because it applies to everything and every situation. If we take her story, for example, you can see that she had to work for 10 years to be able to become a nurse (her dream job) and it took her a lot of hard work, determination, and effort to be able to achieve it. In her words: “It wasn’t a smooth ride, it wasn’t an easy ride, but it got done. That’s what I’m happy about.” She also had to make a lot of sacrifices along the way, but now she can stand tall, and tell people that if she can do it, so can they, which I found very motivating. 

Discussion Question(s)

- Do you agree that you can achieve great things by working hard? 

- Do you think Andrades should have become a lawyer instead of a nurse? 

- What is the best way to achieve your goals?

Desertification in Africa Will Affect the World?!

 

Title: How desertification in Africa will affect the world 

Summery: My article, “The Effects of Desertification in Africa '' talked about what is desertification, why it is an issue, and what are some possible solutions. Desertification is “A process that destroys fertile land. This can be caused by drought, overpopulation, over-farming, deforestation and climate change.” Over 6 million acres of land is being turned into desert in India, and desertification has already affected over 46% of Africa. This causes many problems, such as wildlife losing habitat, lack of natural resources, and extreme weather conditions. These could all affect humans in negative ways. The article also talked about ways scientists tried to stop desertification, such as the Great Green Wall. It is a row of trees growing across the land of Africa. The scientists also predicted desertification will still affect the world for the next 20 years. 

Analysis: This article reminded me of the Shade Balls that was introduced a while back. Those were to help unnecessary chemicals getting in the water source from the sun affecting humans. I feel like the Great Green Wall is similar to the Shade Balls just on a much Larger scale. I also feel that desertification will continue to be a major issue for more than 50 years, because the pollution of the Earth continues to grow day by day. So I don't see a way to stop desertification unless some major science improvement comes out. 

 Discussions Questions: Do you agree or disagree with my predictions on desertification? And what do you think the people should do about desertification?