Many of us saw the advertisement for the movie, “Invictus” ... about the South African rugby team. The film itself is based on events that took place in South Africa not long after Nelson Mandela had been elected president of the country. In the movie, Mandela infers to the South African rugby team that if they can gain the support of non-white South Africans and succeed in the upcoming World Cup, the country will be unified and inspired.
Mandela also shares with the players a poem, “Invictus,” that had inspired him during his time in prison, helping him to “stand when all he wanted to do was lie down.” In the end, the team did win the Rugby World Cup -- and in a nation divided sharply by apartheid -- 62,000 fans of all races gathered together to celebrate.
Next month, the biggest sporting tournament ever to take place in Africa begins. The football (soccer in America) World Cup is 30 days away and much of South Africa is excited. While it is always nice if the best team wins -- it’s even nicer when the jubilation spills out of the stadium and helps change the lives of those who live in poverty.
Yes, it’s a lot to hope for, but hope is the thing which changes lives.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
The Truth shall set you free!
“Every child must go to school. Nobody is free until every child has received at least a basic education. You are free because you are educated, I am free because I am educated,” says James Kofi Annan a former child slave. Now free, Annan is rescuing victims of child trafficking in Ghana and has even built a school to help give them a better future.
Annan quit his promising job at Barclays Bank to open Challenging Heights School. Now, he buys back children from slavery and educates them at the school in Sankor, right in the middle of an area known for children being sold by their parents. At any time his school has several dozen former child slaves, mixed in with 300 other students.
“The wrong in society has to do with the impoverishment of children, exploitation of children, putting children in slavery and in child labor,” he said. “We must resolve this issue, then I can go back to my business. Otherwise we will fight and fight until every child has received this justice.”
To see a video interview of Annan’s amazing story, click on the link below.
http://cnn.com/video/?/video/international/2010/05/18/ia.fish.school.bk.b.cnn
Annan quit his promising job at Barclays Bank to open Challenging Heights School. Now, he buys back children from slavery and educates them at the school in Sankor, right in the middle of an area known for children being sold by their parents. At any time his school has several dozen former child slaves, mixed in with 300 other students.
“The wrong in society has to do with the impoverishment of children, exploitation of children, putting children in slavery and in child labor,” he said. “We must resolve this issue, then I can go back to my business. Otherwise we will fight and fight until every child has received this justice.”
To see a video interview of Annan’s amazing story, click on the link below.
http://cnn.com/video/?/video/international/2010/05/18/ia.fish.school.bk.b.cnn
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
"In Africa?"
Newspapers, new programs, magazines and Internet news sources are all filled with stories regarding the plight of those living throughout Africa. Stories range from issues concerning hunger, drought, famine, flooding, political unrest, and so on. But something that didn’t make the headlines -- at least not in a big way -- was in fact a big story: the peaceful transition of power in Africa’s most populated nation, Nigeria.
According to CNN, Goodluck Jonathan (that’s his name) was sworn in as Nigeria's acting president a few days ago just hours after it was reported that the nation’s elected leader, Umaru Yar'Adua, had died after a long illness.
U.S. President Barack Obama praised the efforts of President Yar'Adua in promoting “peace and stability in Africa through his support of Nigerian peacekeeping efforts as well as his strong criticism of undemocratic actions in the region.”
Perhaps Yar'Adua’s greatest legacy, however, is the ability of his country to continue on after his death without any sign of a planned coup d’etat or other political unrest. Many countries in other parts of the world take such things for granted. Perhaps in light of Nigeria’s accomplishment, it may soon be taken for granted in Africa as well.
According to CNN, Goodluck Jonathan (that’s his name) was sworn in as Nigeria's acting president a few days ago just hours after it was reported that the nation’s elected leader, Umaru Yar'Adua, had died after a long illness.
U.S. President Barack Obama praised the efforts of President Yar'Adua in promoting “peace and stability in Africa through his support of Nigerian peacekeeping efforts as well as his strong criticism of undemocratic actions in the region.”
Perhaps Yar'Adua’s greatest legacy, however, is the ability of his country to continue on after his death without any sign of a planned coup d’etat or other political unrest. Many countries in other parts of the world take such things for granted. Perhaps in light of Nigeria’s accomplishment, it may soon be taken for granted in Africa as well.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Re-visiting Religious Persecution ...
A few weeks ago, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life issued a report stating that a recent study showed that more than two out of three people around the world live in countries with high or very high restrictions on religion. Now, a new report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom goes even further naming more than two dozen countries engaging in what is classically described as religious persecution.
“The numbers are shocking,” the report says. “In Nigeria more than 12,000 people have been killed in a cycle of violence between Christians and Muslims stretching back more than a decade. The number of people convicted and sentenced for the killings: zero.” Not a single criminal, Muslim or Christian, has been convicted and sentenced in Nigeria's ten years of religious violence, the report claims.
The U.S. Commission did praise Nigeria's government, saying that when an USCRIF team went to the African nation in March, it found officials attentive and even grateful for its concerns. And a "concern" it is for everyone ... because the nations named in this study are not limited to Africa! The report also lists Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, India, Iran, Indonesia, Laos, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Venezuela, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka. Also mentioned are China's crackdown on Uyghur Muslims in the west of the country as well as imprisonment of Buddhists and Protestants in Vietnam. The report also criticizes the United States government itself for not doing enough to fight the problem.
The promotion of inter-religious dialogue is also a key tenet of the mission of the Missionaries of Africa. See www.missionariesofafrica.org/about/mission.html for more information.
“The numbers are shocking,” the report says. “In Nigeria more than 12,000 people have been killed in a cycle of violence between Christians and Muslims stretching back more than a decade. The number of people convicted and sentenced for the killings: zero.” Not a single criminal, Muslim or Christian, has been convicted and sentenced in Nigeria's ten years of religious violence, the report claims.
The U.S. Commission did praise Nigeria's government, saying that when an USCRIF team went to the African nation in March, it found officials attentive and even grateful for its concerns. And a "concern" it is for everyone ... because the nations named in this study are not limited to Africa! The report also lists Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, India, Iran, Indonesia, Laos, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Venezuela, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka. Also mentioned are China's crackdown on Uyghur Muslims in the west of the country as well as imprisonment of Buddhists and Protestants in Vietnam. The report also criticizes the United States government itself for not doing enough to fight the problem.
The promotion of inter-religious dialogue is also a key tenet of the mission of the Missionaries of Africa. See www.missionariesofafrica.org/about/mission.html for more information.
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