IGIHE

Category: People

  • People with vision Impairment Worried of Negative Perceptions About Them

    {{People living with vision impairment have said they are unable to create income generating projects citing negative perceptions about them from the general public.}}

    They say their experiences show once assisted they can achieve self-reliance, the Rwanda Union of the Blind (RUB) has declared.

    ‘’The problem is that society‘s perception makes that these people do not seize opportunities or benefit sponsorships or assistance offered to other people engaged in income generating projects,’’ Said Rachel Musabyimana, RUB Communication and advocacy officer.

    Musabyimana urged local leaders to take into account income generating projects of people living with disability while there is any opportunity offered by the government or sponsors.

    ‘’Our experience shows that the blind have achieved personal economic development through agriculture and breeding, as they have generated income through cultivating groundnuts, cassava and maize and the same is seen in their breeding projects,’’ Musabyimana said.

    The Blinds’Union said this on Wednesday at Kigali during a meeting with local leaders at sector level, in the places where the cooperatives of the disabled people operate.

    Obed Rugerero with vision impairment, Musenyi sector, Bugesera district , blamed local leaders especially at cell level for not involving the blind in the government programs of fighting poverty like Vision 2020Umurenge Programme, Girinka, and shelters.

    Joyce Murebwayire in- charge of social affairs in Musenyi sector, Bugesera district noted that some people with disability do not declare themselves to local leaders, thus the leaders cannot help whom they do not know.

    Murebwayire said the families of the disabled are to blame when they keep the disabled at home without letting local leaders know.

    The health and counseling officer at National Council of Persons with Disability (NCPD) Marcel Nkurayija said the challenge becomes serious when even the disabled consider they are not able to do any Income generating activity, then mindset change is needed.

    Furthermore, Eugene Twizeyimana who represented the National Union of Disabilities’ Organisations of Rwanda (NUDOR) noted the disabled should not take anything done for them as a favor while it is their right.

    Musabyimana said RUB has financed small income generating projects of 26 cooperatives of persons with disabilities throughout the country, with a total loan of Frw10 million

    ‘’We must encourage the blind on the culture of self-reliance,’’ Musabyimana said,

    ‘’The blind and their families must bear in mind that the blind have right to property, have household, and can be self-reliant.’’ People with vision impairment complain perception of self-development inability.

  • Female Genital Mutilation: 30 million girls ‘at risk’

    {{More than 30 million girls are at risk of being subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) over the next decade, a study by Unicef has found.}}

    It said more than 125 million girls and women alive today had undergone a procedure now opposed by the majority in countries where it was practised.

    Ritual cutting of girls’ genitals is practised by some African, Middle Eastern and Asian communities in the belief it protects a woman’s virginity.

    Unicef wants action to end FGM.

    The UN Children Fund survey, described as the most comprehensive to date on the issue, found that support for FGM was declining amongst both men and women.

    FGM “is a violation of a girl’s rights to health, well-being and self-determination,” said Unicef deputy executive director Geeta Rao Gupta,

    “What is clear from this report is that legislation alone is not enough.”

    The report, ‘Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change’, was released in Washington DC.

    The study, which pulled together 20 years of data from the 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where FGM is still practised, found girls were less likely to be cut than they were some 30 years ago.

    They were three times less likely than their mothers to have been cut in Kenya and Tanzania, and rates had dropped by almost half in Benin, the Central African Republic, Iraq, Liberia and Nigeria.

    But FGM remains almost universal in Somalia, Guinea, Djibouti and Egypt and there was little discernible decline in Chad, Gambia, Mali, Senegal, Sudan or Yemen, the study found.

    However, it did find that most girls and women, and a significant number of boys and men, opposed the practice. In Chad, Guinea and Sierra Leone more men than women wanted to see an end to the practice.

    “The challenge now is to let girls and women, boys and men speak out loudly and clearly and announce they want this harmful practice abandoned,” said Ms Rao Gupta.

    The report recommends opening up the practice to greater public scrutiny so that entrenched social attitudes to it can be challenged.

    In some communities FGM, also known as female circumcision, is seen as a traditional ritual used culturally to ensure virginity and to make a woman marriageable.

    It typically involves procedures that alter or injure female genital organs and is often carried out by traditional circumcisers, who play other central roles in communities.

    The dangers of FGM include severe bleeding, problems urinating, infections, infertility and increased risk of newborn deaths in childbirth.

  • Royal Baby Celebrations

    {{The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a boy on Monday at 16:24 BST weighing 8lbs 6oz}}

    The Duke of Cambridge said they “could not be happier”

    The couple spent the night at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington

    The duchess could be discharged on Tuesday, giving the public the first glimpse of the prince

    The name of the royal couple’s son, who is third in line to the throne, has yet to be announced

    The birth will be marked later with gun salutes and the ringing of Westminster Abbey’s bells.

  • Jackie Chan to visit Madagascar for Martial arts Tournament

    {{Hong Kong movie star Jackie Chan is expected in Madagascar for an upcoming martial arts competition.}}

    The 5th edition of the kung fu wushu African Cup takes place in Antananarivo on September 5-10.

    Six Shaolins from temples in China will also give shows at the competition, according to the Malagasy federation’s head, José Ramaherison aka Master Gao.

    The global movie star Jackie Chan is a talented wushu fan.

    The visit of Mr Chan, an idol to millions of boys around the world, is highly anticipated on the island.

    The practice of Shaolin martial art rooted first on Malagasy soil in the 1990s and has recruited thousands of fans since.

    Madagascar has struggled to host the African Cup since 2009, according to Master Gao, a Chinese who teaches the martial discipline in the country.

    The dream will finally become true this year, he said.

    Officials from the Wushu African Confederation including its secretary general, Tarek Kiralla, are currently in the capital to follow-up on preparations for the tournament.

    {agencies}

  • Trayvon Martin’s parents lead rallies in US

    {{Trayvon Martin’s parents have been joined by celebrities, civil rights activists and other protesters as they led rallies in New York and Florida to show their anger at the acquittal of the neighbourhood watch volunteer who shot and killed their unarmed teenage son.}}

    Sybrina Fulton led a protest of more than 1,000 people in New York, along with veteran civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton, where she told the crowd that the picture painted of her son, Trayvon, during the trial depicted a man she did not recognise.

    “He was a child,” she said during her speech to the hundreds-strong crowd.

    “We have moved on from the verdict. Of course we’re hurting of course we’re shocked and disappointed, but that just means we have to roll up our sleeves and continue to fight.”

    Singers Jay Z and Beyonce also came out to the New York rally.

    In Miami, a crowd of hundreds singing the protest song “We Shall Overcome” joined Trayvon’s father, Tracy Martin, to demand that George Zimmerman, acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter exactly a week ago, face civil charges.
    Al Jazeera’s Cath Turner, reporting from New York, said that the Martins and other organisers had continually called for the protests to remain peaceful.

    “There is still a lot of emotion one week after the sentence was handed down. The purpose of these rallies is to pressure the Department of Justice in to bringing civil charges against George Zimmerman,” our correspondent said.

    {{Racial debate}}

    Zimmerman has always maintained he shot Trayvon in self defence.

    Critics contend Zimmerman, who is white and Hispanic, wrongly suspected Martin, 17, of being a criminal because he was black.

    Zimmerman called police to report Martin, then left his car with a loaded handgun concealed in his waistband.

    A fight ensued in which Zimmerman suffered a bloody nose and head injuries before he shot Martin once in the heart.

    Marches, under the banner of “Justice for Trayvon”, also took place at federal courthouses in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta and dozens of other cities.

    Violence at protests earlier this week led to arrests in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area.

    ‘Insult to injury’

    Speaking at the White House on Friday, President Barack Obama cautioned against violence, as he urged all Americans to try to understand the Martin case from the perspective of African-Americans.

    “There is a history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws,” he said.

    “A lot of African American boys are painted with a broad brush … If a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario … both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.”

    Beverly Bond from the mentoring group Black Girls Rock told Al Jazeera that the black community wanted people to know that this was not an isolated incident.

    “This is an injustice we have seen in our community over and over and over again. It is amazing to me that people don’t know why we’re upset,” she said.

    “The trial added insult to injury because it was like he was being put on trial for his own murder.”

    aljazeera

  • Berlusconi Associates Guilty of Procuring Prostitutes

    {{Three associates of former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi have been found guilty of procuring prostitutes for his controversial “bunga bunga” parties.}}

    Emilio Fede, Lele Mora and Nicole Minetti were given jail sentences of between five and seven years.

    Last month Mr Berlusconi was given seven years in jail for paying for sex with 17-year-old Karima El Mahroug.

    Both Mr Berlusconi and Ms Mahroug deny having had sex, and she says she has never been a prostitute.

    Ms Mahroug is one of the women that the three associates in the current trial are alleged to have procured.

    Mr Berlusconi is appealing against the earlier ruling, which also banned him from public office. He remains a free man and a member of parliament while he does so.

    Mr Berlusconi insists the alleged sex parties were actually dinners where female guests performed “burlesque” dancing.

    BBC

  • Spanish aid Workers Kidnapped in Kenya Freed

    {{Two Spanish aid workers who were kidnapped while working at the Dadaab refugee camp in eastern Kenya in October 2011, Montserrat Serra and Blanca Thiebaut, have been freed in Somalia, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have said.}}

    The two were working near the Somali border for the aid agency when they were kidnapped, in the same month that Kenya sent troops across the border into Somalia in pursuit of al-Shabaab militants.

    “Both are safe and healthy and keen to join their loved ones as soon as possible,” MSF said in a statement on Thursday.

    The agency said it was still working to return the two aid workers home, promising to offer further details on their release at a news conference on Friday.

    “MSF strongly condemns this attack on humanitarian workers who were in Dadaab offering lifesaving medical assistance to thousands of refugees,” the agency said.

    {aljazeera}

  • ‘Steadily improving’ Mandela celebrates 95th birthday

    {{Anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela is “steadily improving”, South Africa’s government said on Thursday as the former president celebrated his 95th birthday in hospital showered by tributes from around the world.}}

    Thousands of South Africans led the global outpouring of support for the man regarded as the father of the multiracial ‘Rainbow Nation” established in 1994 when he was elected its first black president at the end of apartheid.

    He has been receiving intensive treatment since June 8 for a recurring lung infection, his fourth stay in hospital in six months.

    While many carried out volunteer work on U.N.-declared Nelson Mandela Day, his daughter Zindzi led government workers in singing “Happy Birthday” to the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, one of numerous celebrations across the country.

    “His doctors have confirmed that his health is steadily improving,” President Jacob Zuma’s office said in a statement.

    “On behalf of government and all the people of South Africa, we wish Madiba a joyous 95th birthday,” it said using Mandela’s traditional clan name.

    The fragile health of Mandela, who for weeks has been in a critical condition, has served as a reminder of the mortality of the man globally admired as a symbol of struggle against injustice and of racial reconciliation.

    Many in South Africa celebrated Mandela Day with 67 minutes of public service to honor the 67 years Mandela served humanity by first fighting against white-minority rule and then consolidating racial harmony when he was president.

    His former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela called the 95th birthday “a gift to the nation”.

    “There are some prophets of doom who say the country will come to a standstill (when he dies),” she told Talk Radio 702.

    “The country will continue as it has always done. If anything, the country will solidify, come together and carry on.”

  • Global celebrations, to Mark Mandela’s 95th birthday

    {{Although critically ill and may still be confined to his Pretoria hospital bed on life-support, global celebrations and charity events will mark Nelson Mandela’s 95th birthday, according to agency reports.}}

    As parts of the activities marking the landmark event, volunteers will spend 67 minutes on hundreds of community upliftment projects – a minute for every year of his activism.

    Born July 18 in 1918 and imprisoned 46 years later, Mandela went on to lead black South Africans’ struggle for equal rights with whites.

    He was convicted of treason in 1964 and spent the next 27 years in jail.

    After his release, Mandela skillfully negotiated with the apartheid minority government to end whites-only rule.

    He became South Africa’s first black president after all-race elections in 1994 and led reconciliation in the deeply divided country.

    But his hospitalisation for a recurring lung infection and bitter infighting among his relatives have tempered the festive spirit.

    The United Nations in 2010 declared the Nobel peace laureate’s birthday Mandela Day – to encourage people around the world to do just over an hour of good deeds.

    However, a report by Agence France Presse (AFP) yesterday indicated that global celebrities have supported the campaign in memory of Mandela’s 67 years of political activism.

    “I will also be giving my 67 minutes to make the world a better place, one small step at a time,” British business magnate, Richard Branson, pledged in a recorded message.

    Tomorrow, children in schools around South Africa will start their classes singing “Happy Birthday” to the former statesman. Celebrities have committed to painting schools, handing out clothes to impoverished kids and countless similar projects.

    The inauguration of the Nelson Mandela Legacy Bridge is scheduled at the icon’s birth village, Mvezo, in the rural Eastern Cape province.

    A science-specialisation high school bearing his name is also due to be opened.

    In the United States, meanwhile, 17 cities have planned various activities Thursday.

    On Saturday, Australian city, Melbourne, will hold a concert featuring local and African artists, while a music festival later this year in Norway will promote equality in schools.

    Mandela’s peace-making spirit has won him worldwide respect.

    “Never before in history was one human being so universally acknowledged in his lifetime as the embodiment of magnanimity and reconciliation as Nelson Mandela,” archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu, himself a Nobel peace laureate, said.

  • Akon Tells Blacks in US: Let’s move to Africa, we are not safe in America

    {Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman}

    {{African born international music star, Akon has called on African Americans to move to Africa as their safety can no longer be guaranteed following the acquittal of George Zimmerman who shot and killed a black boy.}}

    The Senegalese born musician made the remarks after George Zimmerman was found not guilty by a Florida jury on Saturday night.

    The jury found Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter in a shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in February last year.

    George Zimmerman alleged that he shot the Trayvon in self defence after a confrontation with the 17-year-old who was walking home from a store that night.

    The incident captured attention across the world with thousands of people protesting due to what many saw a racially motivated shooting.

    Shortly after the verdict was delivered, Akon, born Aliaune Damala Akon Thiam posted a photo of George Zimmerman in court on Instagram and stated that African Americans will be treated better in African than in the US.

    He said: “Every African American in the United States need to move their money, family, knowledge back to Africa were [where] u will be treated like the royalty you are. You don’t deserve this treatment. This is not your country!!”

    His remarks sparked several reactions from his followers. Myjoyonline.com’s checks on his status showed that while some fans liked the comments, others felt his reaction was in bad taste.

    A fan quizzed: “And what about when OJ was not charged for Nicole’s murder? Was that a “race” victory? No!! Don’t let race play into anything. Don’t look at race!!! It’s 2013, we all need to stop seeing color!”

    Another fan also commented: “That [is] just f******g stupid @Akon African Americans have lived in America for so many years n I highly doubt this trial had anything to do with race. You [are] just like every other African American bringing in the f******g race hate into it.

    “I don’t understand why African Americans are so mad about slavery the Jews had it worse in WWII and it was more recent than slavery n I never hear them saying “it’s because he’s Jewish” so stfu n stick to making music.”

    {myjoyonline}