A different Weapon of Mass Destruction
Today we moved from Aunt Jennie's house at the Wilberforce Army barracks to the YMCA hostel in town. The homestay was fantastic, but we didn't want to bother the family any longer, as having two extra people around is a bit of a burden when there is no running water or electricity.
The YMCA hostel itself is very safe, although it may be a bit out of place - it is surrounded by a drug treatment center on one side and corrugated aluminum housing on the others. Their website may be viewed at http://www.ymca-sl.org/hostel.php.
After the move, we went with Moses to iEARN for the Day of the African Child festivities. All day there were parades through the city with hundreds of children marching in commemoration of the 1976 massacre of children in Soweto by South African police forces. NPR has a decent account of what happened over at Soweto 1976: An Audio History.
Saying Goodbye to Aunt Jennie
The YMCA hostel itself is very safe, although it may be a bit out of place - it is surrounded by a drug treatment center on one side and corrugated aluminum housing on the others. Their website may be viewed at http://www.ymca-sl.org/hostel.php.
After the move, we went with Moses to iEARN for the Day of the African Child festivities. All day there were parades through the city with hundreds of children marching in commemoration of the 1976 massacre of children in Soweto by South African police forces. NPR has a decent account of what happened over at Soweto 1976: An Audio History.
At iEARN, Andrew hosted a forum on small arms and invited Abubakarr Sheriff of SLANSA, the local organ of controlarms.org, as well as some students from Fouray Bay College. The iEARN students paid perfect attention as Abubakarr talked about issues that are usually left for college political science lectures in the US, such as human and state security, non-state actors and the international arms trade. I was amazed by their interest - I could never imagine forty students back home spending two hours listening to several people lecture on the dangers of small arms.
SLANSA is working to ratify an international small arms treaty, which, at least in theory, would limit the availability of weapons. Additionally, there is some regional ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) legislation to a similar effect being considered.
He said small arms were "West Africa's weapons of mass destruction," which given the societal collapse wrought by the unfortunately iconic AK-47 and other weapons, is a fairly accurate statement. Edward, Andrew's friend from ABC television, was there and filmed the event for broadcast. The iEARN students did a short skit and sang a song about small arms. I took some pictures while Mohamed Mbayoh of iEARN filmed it as well. He's about my age and loves to use iEARN's video camera:
After the forum we went returned to YMCA. Sara had a craving for rice and salt, so we purchased a small plastic bag of rice on the street and then almost mortally offended the owner of one of small restaurants here by putting additional salt on her rice. Later that evening we went out for dinner with Amanda at D's Bazar a few blocks away before returning to the YMCA for the evening. When the lights went on at 7, I stood mesmerized by my ability to turn them on and off. It was great. We chilled on the third floor porch with Amanda and Nick, the engineer from the US for the community center she's building, for a bit before going into bed.
SLANSA is working to ratify an international small arms treaty, which, at least in theory, would limit the availability of weapons. Additionally, there is some regional ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) legislation to a similar effect being considered.
He said small arms were "West Africa's weapons of mass destruction," which given the societal collapse wrought by the unfortunately iconic AK-47 and other weapons, is a fairly accurate statement. Edward, Andrew's friend from ABC television, was there and filmed the event for broadcast. The iEARN students did a short skit and sang a song about small arms. I took some pictures while Mohamed Mbayoh of iEARN filmed it as well. He's about my age and loves to use iEARN's video camera:
After the forum we went returned to YMCA. Sara had a craving for rice and salt, so we purchased a small plastic bag of rice on the street and then almost mortally offended the owner of one of small restaurants here by putting additional salt on her rice. Later that evening we went out for dinner with Amanda at D's Bazar a few blocks away before returning to the YMCA for the evening. When the lights went on at 7, I stood mesmerized by my ability to turn them on and off. It was great. We chilled on the third floor porch with Amanda and Nick, the engineer from the US for the community center she's building, for a bit before going into bed.
posted by Paul at
11:59 PM
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