Education in Africa

 Education in Africa is an ongoing uphill battle. The young men and women have a future that is very uncertain and approximately 33 million children are unable to attend school in Africa. The children affected the most are those with disabilities, orphans, HIV/AIDS positive, and those affected by natural disasters. Sexual abuse is also a concern for the children traveling to and from school. The long distance of the schools from rural areas makes it nearly impossible for those rural children to attend. On top of all the hurdles already mentioned, the cost of education is too high for a lot of families in Africa. 

Traditional education during pre-colonial Africa involved dancing, farming, wine making, cooking, herbal medicine, and carving. Telling children their history through story telling was top priority when teaching the values of their tribe/community. The papyrus contains accurate information about their system for learning. 

The colonial period was the end of traditional African education. Military and missionaries took over and focused only on cash crop production and extraction of raw materials. There was no need for education when only focused on intense labor duties. They refused to put an education system in for fear of an uprising or fear of lower cash crop production. They eventually established a very controlled education and they decided what was learned. 

When that time period passed and African countries regained independence, the education system was very behind. They tried to combine traditional and colonial education. This was the only good thing that came out of the colonial times. Only 57% of children were enrolled in school though and most were boys. This started the Millennium Development Goals in the year 2000. They were able to get rid of school fees and provide free lunches. The numbers still weren't acceptable by 2013. Then they started Sustainable Development Goals, which is in progress until 2030. 

Sources:

https://borgenproject.org/about-schools-in-africa/

Wikipedia contributors. (2021, September 14). Education in Africa. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 04:46, October 12, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Education_in_Africa&oldid=1044192692

• PENNY ENSLIN, KAI HORSTHEMKE, Philosophy of Education: Becoming Less Western, More African?, Journal of Philosophy of Education, 10.1111/1467-9752.12199, 50, 2, (177-190), (2016).
  Wiley Online Library
• • N'DRI T. ASSIE‐LUMUMBA, Cultural Foundations of the Idea and Practice of the Teaching Profession in Africa: Indigenous roots, colonial intrusion, and post‐colonial reality, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 10.1111/j.1469-5812.2011.00793.x, 44, s2, (21-36), (2012).
    Wiley Online Library

  • Wikipedia contributors. (2021, September 27). Papyrus. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 05:59, October 12, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Papyrus&oldid=1046689385

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Popular Foods in South Africa

Bobotie

This is the national dish of the country. It consists of minced meat (beef or lamb), spices, herbs, dried fruit, eggs, and milk. The name origin is from the Malayan word boemboe, which means curry spices. It is commonly served with turmeric rice (kuning). South African settlers spread the bobotie recipe to Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. Today, bobotie is offered on the everyday menu at Boma, a restaurant at Disney's Animal Kingdom. 

Curry 

When the Dutch and French settled in Cape Town, in the 17th century, their slaves introduced new traditional spices and recipes. Their slaves originated from Ceylon, Indonesia, Batavia, Java, and Madagascar. They used cinnamon, saffron, turmeric, and chilli, and combined them with the local produce. This combination created curries, which are still popular today. 

Melktert

The name of this dessert means "milk tart" or "milk pie". This comfort food is a pastry found in many bakeries consisting of milk, eggs, sugar, flour, and cinnamon. It was originally created by the Dutch settlers, and developed from mattentaart, a type of Dutch cheesecake. 

 

Braai

Braai is South Africas barbeque. They only accept it if cooked over wood or charcoal (no gas). There is one person tending to the fire, known as the "Braai master", while everyone else stands around it and drinks wine or beer. Most foods found in South Africa have meat at the center of the meal. A tradition that has stayed with African cultures to this day is to slaughter a large animal and prepare a meal for the community. This is popular at weddings, ceremonies, reunions, etc. The animals blood is said to please the ancestors, who are assumed to be gathered around the sacrificed animal. 

Sources:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/top-10-foods-try-south-africa

Wikipedia contributors. (2021, October 2). Bobotie. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:30, October 12, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bobotie&oldid=1047770238

https://www.finedininglovers.com/article/curry-traditions-across-south-africa

Wikipedia contributors. (2021, October 11). Melktert. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:51, October 12, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Melktert&oldid=1049410165

Claassens, Hester Wilhelmina. Die geskiedenis van Boerekos 1652-1806. Doctoral Thesis, Historical and Heritage Studies Department, University of Pretoria. 10 September 2003.

Wikipedia contributors. (2021, September 21). South African cuisine. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 04:07, October 12, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=South_African_cuisine&oldid=1045597248

https://bbqboy.net/things-you-must-know-about-south-african-braai/

Kenyan Wildlife Stressed By Safaris

 I stumbled upon an issue happening with safaris in Africa. A tourist stated that, while with a tour guide, them and 27 other vehicles raced across the plains to wait and watch a few cheetahs kill the nearby wildebeest. When it happened there were groups and groups of tourists taking pictures and videos of the gruesome last moments of an animals life. This is what the Maasai Mara safari has become. 

They have recently set new rules and require vehicles to be at least 82 feet away from a cat species. They also stated that only a maximum of 5 vehicles at a sighting, but this is not followed. It is almost impossible to monitor the 579 sq mile park.

The guides survive off tips. If the tourists do not see the "big five", then they do not tip. That is why the guides are rushing through the plains to catch sightings. If this continues, the animals are going to hide more, or even avoid their natural migration. A study done in 2018 showed fewer cheetah cubs in high tourist areas. The balance does not need to be thrown off with any of the animals, but especially one that's dwindling in numbers. 

Sources:

Nunis, Vivienne. BBC News. Maasai Mara safari overcrowding stresses Kenyan wildlife. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-58783025 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_five_game

https://www.maasaimarakenyapark.com/information/rules-regulations-masai-mara/

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/marketplace-africa-maasai-mara-safari-pivot-spc-intl/index.html

Herbal Medicine

 

I want to talk about a section of a book I just bought. It is an herbal remedy book and to my surprise it had a section on Africa. 

Africa has the highest amount of herbal traditions than anywhere else in the world. There was a time when natural remedies were looked down on, but has since turned around, and is more accepted.

The ancient Eqyptians had over 800 prescriptions in a text called the Ebers Papyrus. It includes traditional and spiritual remedies. This was used to develop the medical practice used today worldwide. Aloe was included multiple times, and is a well known plant used today for weight loss, diabetes, asthma, fever, inflammation, etc. Trade of herbal medicine lasted about 3,000 years and helped Arab physicians advance in the 8th century. 

There are some traditions of herbal medicine to only be involved with spirits. It is believed that sickness is from someone being possessed by spirit. If the magical herbs do not heal the person then it is thought to be because the evil was too strong. They used a divination bowl to diagnose illness by magical signs. 

There are thousands of markets in Africa selling locally grown medicinal plants. Iboga is one to help with fatigue. They discovered this by watching the gorillas eat it and become energized. Conventional Western medicine is all throughout Africa today. Only in the rural areas will you find the traditions being used regularly. Traditional herbal medicine is brought into the urban areas when the western medicine is limited. This is because the herbalists vastly outnumber the western trained doctors. 

As medical information advances some herbs are still used as they were years ago and some are under close observation due to questionable side effects or not enough information. Medicinal plants are not 100% accepted in today's society. 

Sources:

Chevallier, Andrew. Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine. New York. DK Publishing. 2016.

"Ebers Papyrus." New World Encyclopedia, . 20 Apr 2011, 17:38 UTC. 6 Oct 2021, 06:52 <https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Ebers_Papyrus&oldid=950819>.

Aloe. Natural Medicines website. Accessed at naturalmedicines.therapeuticresearch.com on October 14, 2019.

Science Museum Group. Divination bowl, Nigeria, 1880-1920. A655922Science Museum Group Collection Online. Accessed October 6, 2021. https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co107385/divination-bowl-nigeria-1880-1920-ritual-object-divination-bowl.

Tella A. The practice of traditional medicine in Africa. Niger Med J. 1979 May-Jun;9(5-6):607-12. PMID: 525052.