Contemporary art is a fast-growing field in Africa for young artists who want to make their voices heard. The following 8 artists use that voice to comment on social, economic, and political issues happening around them. Take a look at their art – do you recognize any pieces?
Aboudia – Cote d’Ivoire
Daloa 29 – 2014
Aboudia, born 1983 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, created this series of paintings based on his experience in 2011. He was forced to escape and take refuge in...
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This is the second in a series of posts on a study abroad in South Africa by Juliet Schear. You can read the introduction to and part 1 of the series here.
Photo credit: Joel Burt-Miller
The Disability Project – Sandanezwe, KZN
Tucked away in the sprawling mountains and grassy hills of Sandanezwe lays a hidden gem: The Sandanezwe Disability Project. The importance of the Disability Project to this closely knit rural community is analogous to the importance of water to a seedling; the...
Five Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Nollywood.
1. Nollywood is the colloquial name given to the Nigerian film industry.
Photo credit: Talawa
Although the first Nigerian films were made in the 1960’s it wasn’t until the 1990’s and 2000’s that the industry blossomed as filmmakers took advantage of digital technology and internet distribution.
2. Nollywood is bigger than Hollywood.
What what? Yep, Nigeria produces on average around 1000 films a year, putting it second place behind the biggest film industry, Bollywood, but ahead...
140 characters doesn’t seem like a lot of space to make a statement. It sounds even smaller when nearly 6,000 tweets are sent on Twitter per second. But then there’s this fact: over 300 million active users exist on Twitter. That means every tweet has the potential to reach hundreds, thousands, even millions of people! And when you think of it this way, 140 characters really matter.
Over the next few weeks, we’re going to be using Twitter to ask world...
A Seva Safari participant practicing yoga with members of the Maasai tribe in Amboseli National Park, Kenya. (Photo credit: Africa Yoga Project) By Melissa Catelli. A version of this post was originally published by Take Part. For most travelers, a Kenyan safari involves days of patiently waiting for a glimpse of lions, elephants, or an elusive leopard hiding in the bush. For native New Yorker Paige Elenson, a 2006 family safari yielded a far less conventional sighting: a group of young Kenyan...
You’ve all heard of famous inventors such Thomas Jefferson (The Great Clock), Alexander Graham Bell (telephone) and Benjamin Franklin (bifocal glasses), but do you know who Grace Hopper and Stephanie Kwolek are?
One of these women invented computer programming, without which it’s fair to say the world would be a very different place, and the other invented Kevlar, a material five times stronger than steel, currently used around the world to protect people from bullets! Now these are very important inventions,...
Amani ya Juu, peace from above, is a self-sustaining sewing and reconciliation project for marginalized women based in East Africa. Photo credit: Morgana Wingard.
There is a lot of talk around Washington these days about trade. Congress is considering several bills on trade; much of it is highly technical and difficult for non-trade experts to understand, and it’s not always clear why trade is important to development. ONE strongly supports the quick reauthorization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act...
Photo credit: Jonathan Torgovnik
We love all moms around the world! We began our Mother’s Day celebration last weekend when the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a healthy baby girl, HRH Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. There is much to celebrate, as the new royal baby has been born into a world where more and more moms and their kids are receiving important healthcare that ensures a healthy life. While progress is being made, there are still millions of women and...
By James Nardella
James Nardella is the Executive Director of Lwala Community Alliance, an indigenously founded, nonprofit health, education, and development organization that is working to increase child survival, reduce the burden of HIV, and achieve gender equity in a rural population with acute needs in western Kenya. This blog is part of a chapter in “The Mother & Child Project: Raising Our Voices for Health and Hope” book, which was compiled by Hope Through Healing Hands.
One evening in 2011,...
The power of an image should never be underestimated. But why is it sometimes so difficult to find uplifting photos?
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation teamed up with Getty Images to change this situation. Last summer, South Africa-based photojournalist Jonathan Torgovnik visited several communities throughout Kenya, Senegal and Uganda to take photograph and document women who are taking control of their health, their livelihoods and their ability to make choices for themselves and their families. Over 400 images were gathered...