Africa- rich soil poor land

How Europe Underdeveloped Africa was a eye opener when looking into Africa. Before studying about the continent the only image a person see is poor, Mal nourished people, living in a village. As a reader from another part of the world, you wouldn't think that Africa was rich in oil and that it wa such a profitable business. This business that makes so much money, but yet it leaves people so poor and leaves a country at war. I found some quotes from the Boston Globe newspaper www.boston.com it talks about how the oil has damaged the Africa continent.

30% of the world's newly discovered oil reserves come from Africa's West Coast. But in the serpentine creeks and boggy coast lie daunting obstacles to the promise of oil revenue, corruption, violent youth militias, and environmental catastrophes.

Resource riches could help West Africa climb out of poverty by funding better education, health care, roads, and other essential services.

Because of wars, dictatorships, and thieves Angola and other oil rich African nations have failed so far tot urn their natural wealth into better lives for their citizens.

These quotes just is an eye opener for the world that Africa does have the resources to get their people out of poverty and get them the medical attention they need. There are so many people dying of HIV/AIDS but many of these countries are sitting on a gold mine and will not share the wealth. Greed will kill thousands of people and that is sad.

King Leopold's Ghost

King Leopold's Ghost was an intresting history story of King Leopold and the mistreatment of the Africans in the Congo. There was one man that stood up to the King sort of speak and made it known that Congo was a free state. His name was George Washington Williams I found some intersted facts from Wikipedia about this man.

George washington Williams
Born October 16, 1849 and died August 2, 1891
American Civil War Veteran
He was known for the saying of King Leopold treatment "crimes against humanity"
Born in Bedfrod Springs, PA
went to Mexico to joined the Republican army
attended Howard University
1st African American to graduate from Newton
Founded the Commoner
1889 granted an informal audience a look into the actions of the King

Just knowing the actions of King Leopold was sicken. This was genocide against people that did not deserve to die. After reading so many stories that have lost their lives to greed it seems as if it will numb the soul after reading so many stories, but it doens't. Each new case is like a new family member getting killed.

Johnny Mad Dog Victim or Monster?

After reading Johnny Mad Dog, it crossed my mind whether he is a victim or just a cold blooded monster. I know that people are responsible for their actions, but after studying child soldiers can someone put the blame totally on these kids. These kids are taken from wherever they are and put into situations where they are trained to kill and do crazy acts of violence. It is like a child they grow up in a house where the parents are racist and the children are trained to behave the same way do we blame the child or the parent.

I am not taking up for Johnny I am just looking at it from a different view I am trying to see all angels of this. It is sickens me that their government does not protect the children, but instead almost promotes this and no one is held accountable. The scene I just keep replaying in my mind is the scene from Blood Diamonds where the boy is blindfolded and is told to shoot and when takes off his blindfold he has killed a man. Then when he meets up with his father his mind is so far gone that he doesn't distinguish from right or wrong.

Are these children responsible for their actions or is it the adults who take the children from their natural surroundings and turn them into monsters. I almost feel kind of sorry for him, because he was probably young got recruited and starting his life of torturing these people. What if he was never a child soldier would he be this heartless?

Final Project-Aids in Africa

My final project was to take a trip to Uganda and study AIDS in Africa. I began to become interested in AIDS when I was forced to take an AIDS test. While I was in the room with the nurse I fell apart while waiting for the result. When my test came back negative I was relieved, but I almost felt sorry for people that are too scared to get an AIDS test. It is a scary thing, and there should be a way to help people overcome their fears also provide opportunities for people to take an AIDS test.

I picked Uganda because they have had success in their AIDS prevention campaign. My trip will consist of starting her at the local high schools taking a survey and hold an assembly to talk to the students about AIDS. Then my trip will start with me getting my passport, documentations, and vaccines.

While I am in Uganda I am going to visit the hospitals and talk to some patients and hear their stories. I didn't want to come back with a bunch of numbers because they are human and they should be heard instead of being represented by a number. During my 2nd week I want to go to the organizations that help with prevention of AIDS. We are going to sit around a come up with plans that I can take back to America and ways to make Uganda's programs better.

Once I leave Uganda my plan is to start rapid AIDS testing site in high schools and at local religious organizations. These sites need to be accessible to people. Most people that do not get AIDS test is the poor. We need to take the stigma away for AIDS it is a horrible disease but it is manageable like diabetes, cancer. It is okay to take the test it is not a death sentence.

My trip will be financed by my dad. I know that sounds strange, but it is true. My dad will be willing to finance my trip. He has been to Africa and once I express interest in going he will be ready to send me there in a heartbeat.

I just asked that if anyone has not gotten an AIDS test please do and encourage others to get tested. Especially minorities. It is the number cause of death for black women. Right now black women are becoming extinct. If you go to a rapid AIDS testing site it takes 20 minutes to get your result. Be aware the nurse doing the test will ask you a lot of questions like What if you do have AIDS? How will you tell your family? It is worth it.

Johnny Mad Dog

still dream about the boy from my village who I killed. I see him in my dreams, and he is talking to me, saying I killed him for nothing, and I am crying." — Mary, a 16-year-old demobilized child soldier forced to join an armed rebel group in Central Africa


Johnny Mad Dog,
I am having a hard time reading this book and let alone the facts of a child soldier. I still can't understand why? I know the speaker touched on it because children are easy to manipulate. People do so much to children it is breaking my heart.

I was reading some information on child soldiers. One article I read on the Internet it said that they will make the young girls marry and or perform sexual acts on the men. Then while reading the book the graphic description of sexual acts makes me sick.

I can't take the heartless acts of violence that these children are faced to do. I remember in class on Tuesday someone made a comment almost like a gang. It made me think of these gangs in America let alone Michigan that are recruiting these Young boys to do some heartless acts of violence.

The gang as and he child soldiers have alot in common. These soldiers make these young men that they are family and the gangs the same way. They terrorized individuals for their own gains. Both are selfish.

This book is gut wrenching and having a daughter and nephews the same age as the young men on the book it is hard for me to read the book.

An Image of Africa

The piece Achebe wrote in response to the racism in Conrad's piece was interested. After reading the book then reading the article a reader can definitely see where the racism does exist in the novel. The question is Conrad racist?

I guess we wouldn't know that since none of us was around during his time. A person can argue that Conrad was racist, he constantly referred to the Africans a niggers and other names except by their tribe name or by their god given name. Can a person argue that this was the time that Conrad was born and raised in. It was time that Africans and African American wasn't even consider human so giving them a humane name was out of the question. If Conrad was living today in 2008, would he write a book that called Africans or African Americans nigger. Different time and different attitudes.

Let's take a child for instance. If a child from birth all they knew was violence and did not value education, working, and being upstanding citizen. They though the only way they could get things was by stealing. Do you fault the child or the environment they were raised in?

Conrad lived in a racist society and he wrote on his experiences. I am sort of neutral on this article. I can clearly see where Achebe is coming from and see all the points in the article. Is Conrad racist or is it the world he was living in?

Heart of Darkness

The Heart of Darkness Themes

I struggle so hard with this book even after reading a twice. I decided to pick out some themes that can be taught in The Heart of Darkness. As a future teacher I knew I will teach books that I do not like or just don't quite understand, but if I find something out the book that I can relate to the students I think it will help. These themes can be used in writing projects of all kinds. Here are some themes that I came up with and got some from the Internet from teachers that have taught the book.

Alienation and Loneliness
The book begins and ends with silence
The question of how silence and loneliness are seen to damaged the characters

Deception
In the book, they claim to educate the people to bring them to a new way of life, but they end up starving and murdering the people for profit.
Marlow lies to Kurtz fiancee, he told her that Kurtz died with her name on his lips.

Order and Disorder
How the characters in the book still carrying on with their lives while chaos was around them

Race and Racism
The constant reference to calling Africans "niggers", "cannibals" and "criminals"

Violence and Cruelty
The acts of inhumane violence committed on the people

One writing project I was thinking of for students is have students write a forgiveness letter to someone that maybe deceived them or was cruel to them. Or they can write a letter to someone and explain to them how they may of felt lonely or alienated. This will help students connect with a book that is difficult to read.