Africa in 2060

Visions for Africa

What is my Africa? by Georgina Sachse

What is my Africa?

The Safaricom advert at Kenyatta Airport- ‘The better option’: I can’t believe this makes me nostalgic!

The passport check ‘what is the purpose of your stay?’- ‘Narudi nyumani. Nimefika!’: those words are music to my ears…I am returning home. I have reached. My accent changes. God this feels good. I am in Kenya!

The whiff of Diesel when I hit Nairobi, buying a pair of ‚GuccCi‘ sunglasses on Uhuru highway, squishing your way through that bouti-ya-roundi near Museum Hill as if you’re trying to make some kind of statement to that Matatu driver that YOU are rocking the anarchy of the road, a statement you seal with a wave and a smile.

Then a reminder: lock your door, put your window up…worrying? Na! pfffft- I’m freaking loving the feeling of ‘being alert’ again- now it’s up to me? Bring it on! I am unbwogable!

So much has changed? Flyovers? New cars? Traffic lights? Chinese workers everywhere?...barely a year and I feel like I missed a lifetime…

And finally-  FINALLY the dust and potholes the size of craters of Thindigs that signals the arrival at home. MOM. My strength, the master of ‘the look’ and a smile that renders any trouble into  aflimsy speck of dust.

Cûcû’s chapos

Mbuzi choma na ugali, kachumbari na sukuma- Woi!

Roast maize, Afro-style!

Mango- bloody MANGO!                                                               

Toi market

The maize man in front of school! ‘Boss’

The heat- and yes: the rain!

Going to shags- the trip!

Out of Nairobi- OUT! And Up! We’re heading to Mt. Kirinyaga! It doesn’t matter how often you’ve seen it, but the Rift Valley will remind you of you puny existence- but more than that: how the hell are those shacks not falling off that cliff? Ngai mondo!

Rice and flatland, ridiculous amounts of donkeys and speed bumps- someone was serious about STOPPING your car with those ferocious bulges…not quite there yet…

The hills, the tea, ah yes- the mirrah pick- ups rushing by at the speed of light (it’s inexplicable how that metal box can move that fast in the first place) rushing for the airport to spread the chewy goodness to the Ethiopian and Somali borders …almost there…

And finally: shags! Cousins and more cousins, uncles, aunties, family, eating maize even when you know it’s going to come back to haunt you! The heaped plate that you had better devour- or are you on a diet?

Githuguthugu- the apparent ex-Mau Mau who’s been wearing the same old suit for thirty years and lives in a cave…and has a serious thing about letting his nails grow to epic proportions, not to forget: he is immortal! He’s been the same age since I can remember and absolutely everyone knows him- ha! The kids run away from him for fear of his magic-but mostly because his hands are harder than Firestone tires.

The cow, the goats, the chicken (all I am seeing is meat! Properly conditioned Kenyan!), the mangoes, the avocados and Cûcû- my grandmother. An African woman of wisdom. She is the Marete grit in person: she gave ten children their education and defied those who tried to break her.

And looking down on us: Kirinyaga. Yes- I can believe that everything started here.

Onwards to Meru: great grandfather is waiting. Heck- I even look forward to holding back my tears and forcing a smile as I gulp the grimy, thick uji- never got the taste, never would deny a cup offered me at Nguka’s. He blesses us- touches our heads and sends us back into the world. It’s so far away!

And back to Nairobi. Back to Thindigs. Back to Maastricht. Back to the Bloemenweg. Tuonane badaye.

My Africa is family. My Afrika is Kenya. My Afrika is home, my identity, the part of me that brings me through every day! My Africa is OUR Africa - a shared joy, beauty, wisdom and strength. A determination and will. An embraced possibility amidst chaos- it can be mastered! Something I miss, but find in people and my heart. The feeling that draws people together. The feeling that reminds: live it! Know it! It is happening! 

My Africa, beautiful Poem from Maria Tenningas

The Following is a poem by another contributor, Maria Tenningas. This is her own beautiful expression of what Africa means for her. 

Rainbow Baobab, courtesy of National Geographic

My africa.


Some say the African soil is magical 
and that once it has colored the soles of your feet, 
you will never be the same again. 
Others talk of a magnetic force 
that exists from the moment 
you touch down on the continent 
that will leave a void in your soul
until you return.

I refer to Africa as my first love,
the type that only comes around once 
and the type where no distance or time 
could ever truly separate you enough to forget.
The type that shades in your dreams 
in such a way that everytime you dream, 
you are reunited
and everything feels right until dawn. 
The type where nothing 
and no one else 
could ever replace 
the way it made you feel. 


My Africa is passionate,
 Vibrant and colorful. 
My Africa showed me love for the first time 
on red soil under Boabab trees
 where chongololos curl 
and the sun sets on the horizon,
taking you to a place in your heart 
that will never be lit by any other light
 the way it does there. 


My Africa is a constant unconscious force 
behind everything I see or do, 
a spirit that is giving and kind and genuine, 
a light that guides me through dark winters
 reminding me that this light will never go out.

Sometimes, 
my Africa feels like just a distant dream
 but when I feel I’m too far in distance or in time,
 I go through the hectic, 
gray streets of this town 
and I buy myself a Savanna and somehow,
it always manages to bring me right back
to my happy place. 


Africa.----------------------

African Stories :Unity.Diversity.Strength.Flaws.Hope.Courage.Love....Africa!

Unity.
Diversity.
Strength.
Flaws.
Hope.
Courage.
Love...


Africa.


These are the  words which capture the African continent for a contributor (Christina Achomuma). The words almost seem to create a poem in their logical progression, telling the story of the African continent. A community whose unity is defined by the shared identity of Africa. The mother continent. If Darwin ever was right, then diversity does indeed lead to strength.

 In its diversity, Africa has found the strength to survive all that history has thrown its way, from centuries of oppression to war with the elements, droughts, famines and natural disasters. Even in its strength, Africa does indeed have its flaws. From the Cape all the way to Cairo and everywhere in between, Africans have hindered their own progress. This does not make Africa unique, but it does not make it right either. What we now need is hope for a better future. A hope for a better Africa where all people of all colours can pursue their lives without hindrances, whether material or political. We need courage to fight for those ideals. To be able to stand up and fight for freedoms where they are denied and to protect them where they exist. In all our diversity, as Africans, whether African by birth or African in mind and spirit, and African in being part of the human race we need to learn to love one another and unite for a better Africa. This May 25 is your chance to add the voices which shout and echo into the future; WE LOVE YOU AFRICA!!

United Africa

For contributor Anouk Vandendael, the following poem aptly captures her experience of Africa. She says "The words and images used in this clip are so beautiful and powerful and describe much more than I could possibly come up with by myself how lucky and fortunate I feel to have grown up in such a special and amazing country. Feeling very nostalgic after seeing this clip!". This is a youtube video of an adaptation of former South African President Thabo Mbeki's poem, "I Am an African". Enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIDzR9Th9do&feature=related

What is your Africa?

By Shaun Matsheza.

image credits to Emory African student association

The Dark Continent, Africa. For many people, the continent of Africa is a distant place only visited through the eyes of journalists, film makers, bloggers and facebook and Flickr posts. It is that wide, vast expanse of savannah, forest and breathtaking tropical sunsets. It is the place where lions roam free, people ride on elephant back and the best place to go on safari.For some, it a forbidding place, a jungle teeming with lurking monsters and primitive tribesmen ready to put the unlucky adventurer into a boiling pot before painting their faces and performing their tribal dance around the fire. It is the vessel of strife, a fertile place for civil wars and  famine, the epitome of all that could go wrong with the human race. Though perhaps made in jest, images like this one ,

image source obscure

tend to perpetuate the images which exist about Africa. However, for some people, Africa is home. It is not home only for those people who were born there, or those that live there. It is not only home for those people who have visited there, or those who have met people from Africa. Africa, is home to all those people who count it as home.

The diverse beauty of the African continent, its rich milieu of different vibrant cultures and its assorted climates and landscapes, mean that it has meaning in many different ways for many different people. On the 25th of May, 2011, the occasion of the 48th anniversary of the formation of the Organization of African Unity, the precursor to the African Union. We would like YOU, to tell us what YOUR africa is. What is your experience of the African continent? Was is that beautiful sunset that had you breathless in Morocco? Was it the smell of the savannah  or the distinct night sky on a night out camping? Perhaps it was the feeling of awe you felt when you stood at the Victoria Falls, the serenity of the Serengeti, the funny accent of the taxi guy in Johannesburg, the busy hustling of Lagos, the african friend in your class, that hot african girl or guy you've had your eye on, a book you read about something in Africa,the warmth of the welcome you got in that small village in Uganda, the smell of home cooking on the fire, the spellbinding dancing, the hypnotic music, the mosquitoes, the mouthwatering food, the strange food, the  little children playing on the streets, the poverty, the very feeling of being on AFRICA. Whatever it was, we want to know. Here is your opportunity to tell us what captures Africa for you. This will be a collective writing effort in which you contribute your own small piece to the conversation about this mystified continent.

image credit to madmikesamerica.com

So, how do you make a contribution? All you need to do is post a succinct snippet of something that defined your own experience of the African continent. It could be a short anecdote (preferably), a joke, a poem you came across, a quotation, a song, movie, or anything that you feel connects you to Africa. On the 25th of May, we will be celebrating Africa day, and your contributions will also make it your Africa day. Start writing, and tell us  your story. Share the African experience!  For a start, here's my own Africa.

Lobengula West (Home)

It’s a small four roomed house

Not much different than those around it

Bright maroon stoep around it

Small black band at the base. 

Anassuming, but there nonetheless

Present.

Treasure trove of many memories.

the place

the first place

Called home but worth more than four letters

Tears, joy, pain and other type monsters we face.

Memories, or narratives, 

Perhaps narrativised memory

places me in all rooms

young, bright eyed

Dad was there.

Mulberry tree 

Broken arm

Timmy and Try

The monster in the telephone pole

unfruitful avocado tree

Sweet potato farm

Bitter oranges 

Which sometimes we’d try

to sweeten with stolen sugar

I grew up here,

If I ever did.

Saw the world from a mountain’s view

High, up there

In more ways than one

Remember Mawaba 

Getting hit by Teacher Malaba

Battles on the microphone

Somewhere near Konron

Psycho4nix!

Q was here.

It’s the place of fumes and smoke

Where a man’s honor is no joke

the place of killing

But perhaps, the centre of healing?

Place I’m from, cannot denounce

Here’s a tip, help you pronounce

Think of a mat, a bell and land

Place I’m from

Mats, bells and land have no meaning

But to help you say;

This is where Shaun is born.

Mqabuko was here.

Stone is silent, But stone is strong

A house of stone can be strong

Though not violent

Perceive we seem silent

but we are not Blind

Brief message for your minute mind

What is Zimbabwe 

But us?

Zimbabwe is me

And I am Zimbabwe.

Freedom was here.

East of the west

And West of the East

Somewhere.

But where?

Place where I’m from.

I have been all man

Mother and father of them

Your future

I am.

Today freedom is born to the North

Like three wise men

The star we will follow.

We are the birth of civilization

And it’s rebirth

 The birth of Freedom

And it’s reassertion 

We are Africa

By Shaun Matsheza