It’s easy to find the depressing, frustrating news about Africa. It’s more difficult to find exciting, inspiring stories about what’s going right in Africa. To sparkle up your week, here is some news to bring hope:
“People living in slums traditionally rely on vendors, who are expensive, or polluted sources to get drinking water. But the new system, where people use a smart card, is designed to provide cheaper and cleaner water.” (Read Article)
“Scroll through international news coverage of women in Nigeria and the main image that emerges is of kidnapped schoolgirls and hollow-eyed refugees, victims of Boko Haram militants. But if their plight has inspired global outrage and generated social media activism (#BringBackOurGirls) in a country with more than 85 million women, it is hardly the only storyline. And here in a humble classroom, a small group of women are literally wrenching loose gender stereotypes — one transmission replacement, oil change, or generator repair at a time.” (Read Article)
Solar panels and satellite dishes on a home in rural Malawi. #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou
“I got involved because growing up, I was made to feel ashamed of my homeland, with negative images that paint Africa as a desolate continent.” [Diana Salah, who helped to organize the #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou Twitter campaign] then added: “It’s so important to showcase the diversity and beauty of Africa and with the mainstream media not up for the task, social media was the perfect outlet.” Of course, war and poverty remain prescient issues for many on a continent of over 1 billion people. But that doesn’t mean that Africa isn’t home to so many other stories and images that desperately need to be shared.” (Read Article)
“‘[International efforts to end FGM] must be centred on working with girls and their communities to ensure that they know the risks of this human rights violation,” [Tanya Barron, chief executive of the global children’s charity Plan UK] said. “What is encouraging is that we are talking more and more about FGM. This is crucial to break the taboos around the subject and to help ensure that, in future, girls can live free from the risks it brings.”
Liberia, Sudan, and Mali are some of the African countries that still have not banned FGM. (Read Article)
Quiz! Bonus: Test your knowledge of African geography! This could be either good or bad news, depending on how you do! I got 76%. How did you do? Take the Quiz
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