WEST AFRICA
CAMEROON
This country has two national languages (English and French) and offers interesting
issues. Visit the page that has a collection of its
proverbs and then use the link below for other visits elsewhere outside
this Web site.
Links
http://www.cameroonconsul.com/
GHANA
The first country South of the Sahara to gain independence from Britain on
March 6, 1957, Ghana is worth visiting. The proverbs from two of its ethnic
groups are available on this page. The links below
are also useful sources of more information on the country.
Links
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/world/ghana/index.htm
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/
http://www.ghana-embassy.org/profileofgh.htm
http://www.ghana.gov.gh/
GUINEA
This country, Guinea,
gained independence from France in 1958 and has a good collection of proverbs
too.
IVORY COAST
Regarded as the "pet country" of France, the Ivory
Coast is worth visiting too because of its "rich" proverbs.
Other sources of information on this country are provided below.
Links
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/world/kenya/index.htm
http://www.kenyaembassy.com/
http://www.kenyaweb.com/
ttp://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/NEH/ke.html
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/specials/goplaces/0,12405,182117,00.html
LIBERIA
Liberia emerged as the first portion of Africa to
be resettled in by ex-slaves in 1824 to give the continent a bad image because
of the civil war that has left deep scars in the memories of the world. Beginning
on April 12, 1980 when the Americo-Liberian ruling dynasty of William Tubman
was overthrown by the indigenous Mandingo (or Mandinka) military elements
under Samuel Kanyon Doe to the insurgency of those from the Gbarnga county
under Charles Taylor and his National Patriocit Front of Liberia, this country
(founded by manumitted slaves from the United States) has not known peace.
Its proverbs are, however, worth reading. The links below provide opportunities
for further exploration of issues about this country that was said to have
gained independence (from whom, though?) in 1848.
Links
http://www.allaboutliberia.com/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/liberia/index.html
http://www.liberian-connection.com/research.htm
MALI
The history of Mali is interesting for many reasons,
the most important of which could be that it served as a major trade route
in the pre-colonial days when the Arab Berber traders from North Africa visited
the "Western Sudan" (further south) to trade with the indigenes
in such items as gold, salt, slaves, etc. It is on record that such important
trade settlements as Gao, Timbuktu, and Kumbi Saleh were frequently the nerve-center
of that Trans-Saharan trade. Mali has its own proverbs for us. Using the links
below to read more about the country's history will also shed more light on
issues.
Links
http://www.maliembassy-usa.org/
http://www.careusa.org/vft/mali/index.asp
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/globaltrek/destinations/mali.htm
MAURITANIA
Mauritania is one country that has proverbs worth
reading, if for nothing at all, to get an idea as to how a country in that
part of Africa cherishes its cultural and linguistic values.
NIGER
This country is not among the rich ones in Africa
but has its own potentials, being traversed by the River Niger, and known
to have uranium deposits. Its proverbs are enlightening. The link below also
gives us something to know about the country.
Links
http://www.geocities.com/jmayer_mac/niger.html
NIGERIA
Nigeria has had the worst case of military intervention
in politics that led to the civil war between 1967 and 1970 when the eastern
portion of the country, inhabited by the Ibos and led by Odumegwu Ojuku, attempted
seceding from the federation. That sordid past is yet to be forgotten, more
so when the military regime of Gen. Sani Abacha perpetrated human rights abuses
in the 1990s until his own sudden death.
Nigeria has produced more writers than any other single African country. Its
novelists, especially, Chinua Achebe, Emecheta Bauchi, and the 1986 Nobel
Prize laureate and poet, Wole Soyinka, are known widely for their use of proverbs
from their ethnic cultures to enrich their works. Use the links below to find
out more about Nigeria.
Links
http://www.nigeriaembassyusa.org/f_index.html
http://www.nigeria-consulate-ny.org/
SENEGAL
Leopold Sedar Senghor, one of the architects of the political ideology of
"Negritude," ruled Senegal for decades
after independence from France in 1960 before abdicating for Abdou Diof to
take over. Eventually, Abdulai Wade defeated Diouf in elections to give Senegal
a new dose of political administration. The rebel insurgency in the Casamance
Region is still a source of concern.
SIERRA LEONE
Any mention of Sierra Leone brings to mind
the insurgency of the rebel United Revolutionary Force (URF) of Corporal Foday
Sankoh that destablized this country for many years and led to a massive international
peacekeeping operation. The mayhem caused by the civil war is still haunting
the country.
EAST AFRICA
KENYA
The Mau Mau nationalist forces, led by Jomo Kenyatta, succeeded in overthrowing
British control over Kenya in 1964. The country has
a good collection of proverbs for us. The links below also give us some information
about the country.
Links
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/world/kenya/index.htm
http://www.kenyaembassy.com/
http://www.kenyaweb.com/
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/NEH/ke.html
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/specials/goplaces/0,12405,182117,00.html
SOMALIA
Somalia provides a good example of the dangers of
repressive military governments in Africa. Led for many years by Siad Barre,
this country has been plunged into a civil war since 1991. Peacekeeping efforts
by the international community failed. The wors situation occurred when the
United States was forced by unfavorable circumstances to withdraw its troops
from there after persistent attacks by the indigenes. Read the proverbs from
this country and use the links below to explore more about its history.
Links
http://www.arab.net/somalia/index.html
http://www.culturalorientation.net/somali/
SUDAN
The collection of proverbs from Sudan is worth reading.
The links below also provide interesting information about this country, which
has been torn apart by many decades of civil war.
Links
http://www.sudan.net/
http://www.arab.net/sudan/index.html
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/world/sudan/index.htm
CENTRAL AFRICA
BURUNDI/RWANDA
The Hutu-Tutsi internecine warfare that has created Africa's worst instance
of genocide makes these two countries (populated
by the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups) worth including in this collection. Use
the links below to read more about them.
Links
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/NEH/burund.html
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/NEH/rwand.html
http://www.rwandemb.org/english/country_info.html
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
The Congo Crisis of the early 1960s and the murder of the socialist-oriented
Patrice Lumumba began this country's woes. Matters were worsened by the decades-long
rule of Mobutu Sese Seko that saw a change in the country's name from Congo
Kinshasa to Zaire. The maladministration of Mobutu eventually plunged the
country into a civil war that led to his overthrow and the emergence of Laurent
Kabila who changed the country's name to the Democratic
Republic of the Congo.
MALAWI
Any mention of Malawi brings to mind the long reign
of Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who became the country's President when Britain
lost control over this territory in the Rift Valley Region.
TANZANIA
At independence from Britain in 1964, Tanzania
was led by Julius Nyerere whose version of "African Socialism" ("Ujama
na Uhuru" - "Freedom and Justice") created more problems than
the good that it had been imagined to entail. The link below provides more
information on Tanzania.
Links
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/NEH/tz.html
http://www.tanzania.go.tz/index2E.html
UGANDA
The repressive regime of Idi Amin kept Uganda in
the limelight for well over a decade until his overthrow in 1986. The Buganda
people of this country provide interesting proverbs. Use the link below to
explore other issues about Uganda.
Links
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/NEH/ug.html
SOUTHERN AFRICA
LESOTHO
MADAGASCAR
This island, which is off the eastern coast of
Southern Africa has its own array of proverbs. The link below provides opportunities
for more information on the country.
Links
http://www.careusa.org/vft/madagascar/
SOUTH AFRICA
The most wealthy country in Africa, South Africa has a rich history. After
many years of struggle against the Boer occupants, the African National Congress
under Nelson Mandela gained independence for the indigenes in 1991 and ended
the rule of the National Party (established in 1948 and known for its infamous
Apartheid Policy). The collection of its proverbs
featured in this Web site are mainly from the Zulu ethnic group. Use the links
below for more information on South Africa.
Links
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/globaltrek/destinations/southafrica.htm
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/specials/goplaces/0,12405,384364,00.html
http://www.saembassy.org
http://www.southafrica.net
http://www.gov.za/
ZIMBABWE
Until 1978, Zimbabwe
had been called Rhodesia. Led by Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwe African National
Union (ZANU) gained independence for the indigenes and did away with the colonial
administration and its apparatus. It has its own array of proverbs for us.
The link below also provides information on the country.
Links
http://www.zimembassy-usa.org/
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