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Arsen Wenger’s end of 22 Years Reign at the Gunners

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Sunday, May 13th 2018 saw Arsen Wenger’s era in the North London while managing the Gunners coming to an end ever since he moved his way from Nagoya Grampus in Japan 22 years back.

His journey on the pitch all started with a 2-0 win at Blackburn still in 1996 and ended with a 1-0 victory at Huddersfield in 2018.

In those 22 years, Wenger led Arsenal in 1,235 games in all competitions, winning three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups, including two Doubles. His Last Goal was scored by the January Signing, Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Thierry Henry scored 228 goals for Arsenal under Wenger, more than any other player at the Club.

Arsen Wenger
Arsen Wenger was a key in building the Emirates Stadium

Out of the 1,235 games, he won 707, drawn 280 and lost 248. He has managed the most number games in the Premier League, with 828 games all with Arsenal followed by Alex Fergurson 810 all with Manchester United, Harry Rednapp 641, David Moyes 526 and Sam Allardyce 512 to mark the top. Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe currently remains the longest serving Premier League manager with over 16 years behind Wenger’s.

The French Man’s most memorable achievement in the history of Football is the stunning unbeaten season of 2003-04 that even crossed to the following season, making it 49/49 unbeatable in the League.

However, his early glory faded with time, with 11 of the 17 trophies the Gunners won under his management coming in his first 10 years in charge.

The Frenchman has also been able to take Arsenal to the Champions League back to back for the first 20 years of his management though he now leaves them in sixth, their lowest position since he arrived making them qualify to the Europa League for the second Consecutive time.

Arsenal FC
Arsenal Vs Chelsea in the FA Cup Finals 2017

In Europe there was the pain of losing the 2000 Uefa Cup final to Galatasary on penalties and defeat by Barcelona in the 2006 Champions League final, while Wenger’s Arsenal increasingly struggled against the other ‘big six’ English sides in later years. He lost the Crucial Semi-Finals of the Europa League this season to Atletico Madrid with 2 – 1 to deny being sent off by a silver ware this season. He has not won any European or the English League Trophy in all his years at Arsenal.

Wenger’s Tally Vs the Top Six EPL Clubs

Club

Played Won Drawn Lost
Man City 40 20 8 12
Manchester United 60 18 15 27
Tottenham Hot spurs 52 23 20 9
Liverpool 52 19 17 17
Chelsea 62 23 18 21

 

His Last trophy with Arsenal remains the Charity Shield that he won in August last year after beating Chelsea towards the start of the season. His boys had earlier won the FA Cup Finals in May, still by beating Chelsea who had already won the League and were vying for a double.

Meanwhile, those that witnessed Wenger’s coming to the English Football all agree that he undoubtedly changed it and his longevity will perhaps never be matched.

Brief Bio About Arsen Wenger

He was born in October 22, 1949 in Strasbourg, France and currently aged 68 Years Old. Wenger’s official wife is Annie Brosterhous that he married in 2010 and separated in 2015. He has one child, a daughter called Léa Wenger.

Arsen Wenger's Daughter
Arsen Wenger’s Daughter Lea (L)
His Famous Quotes:

At a young age winning is not the most important thing… the important thing is to develop creative and skilled players with good confidence.”

Young players need freedom of expression to develop as creative players… they should be encouraged to try skills without fear of failure.”

Merci Arsen….

7 Things You Didn’t Know About Mountain Gorillas

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Alpha Mountain Gorilla

Mountain Gorillas are one of the top world’s endangered species that are on the verge of extinction. Not to be confused, there are three major Gorilla types around the world; mountain, Lowland and Cross River. The Lowland are further divided into the Eastern Low land found in both Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo Brazzaville and the Western Lowland found in the countries of Central Western Africa. Cross River Gorillas are also found in low-lying and sub-montane forests in Central Western Africa.

The ‘mountain Gorillas’ are the most popular among tourists and researchers and in discussion for today.

The DNA of mountain gorillas in general is highly similar to that of a human, estimated to be 97% and gorillas are claimed to be our closest living relatives after the bonobo and chimpanzee.

Habitat

These rare ape species are approximated to be remaining only 1060 in the world and only found in three countries that share the Albertine Rift montane cloud forests of the Virunga Volcanoes; Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. They inhabits in areas within altitudes ranging from 2,200–4,300 metres or 7,200–14,100 ft and thus the name, mountain Gorillas.

Uganda Mountain Gorillas

Uganda boasts of being a home to more than a half of their total population, inhabited in the Mgahinga Forest and Bwindi Impenetrable forest. However, Bwindi has the most number with several Gorilla groups such as Mubare, Habinyanja, Bweza among others distributed into four main sections of Rushaga, Nkuringo, Buhoma and Ruhija Mgahinga has only one Gorilla group called Nyakagezi.

Rwanda and DR Congo Mountain Gorillas

Rwanda comes in the second place to posses the highest number of Gorillas, residing in the Virunga ranges’ Volcanoes Forest

Democratic republic of Congo has the least number of Gorillas among the three countries, found in the forests of its section of the massive Virunga ranges.

Way Of Life of the Mountain Gorillas

  • All Gorilla’s natural habitats cover tropical or subtropical forests, the reason they are only found in Africa.
  • Mountain Gorillas live in close-knit groups of 5 to 30 gorillas, headed by one supreme leader, the Silverback. The Silver back is a large, dominant male that inherits it’s name from its distinctive grey saddle pattern that grows in at its back with maturity and typically more than 12 years of age.
  • The silverback is the center of the group’s attention, making all the decisions, mediating conflicts, determining the movements of the group, leading the others to feeding sites and taking responsibility for the safety and well-being of the group or family.
  • They tend to emigrate from their natal groups with females dispersing more than males some times to other groups or create new ones once they join the mature males that have also left theirs.
  • The male mountain gorillas (black backs) that choose to stay in their natal troops, become subordinate to the silverback without permission of mating with the females till the Silver back dies for they fight for dominance between themselves.
  • Just like in humans, aggressive behaviors have also been spotted in these species though rarely lead to serious injuries. The fights may occur between female to females (common as they fight for social access to males), male to males (rare but mostly occur when the Silverback dies or grows old and weaker), male to females (rare) among others.
  • Reports say that Male Gorillas in all-male groups, tend to have friendly interactions and socialize through play, grooming and staying together though may occasionally even engage in homosexual interactions.
  • Severe aggression is rare in stable groups, but when two mountain gorilla groups meet, the two silverbacks can sometimes engage in a fight to the death, using their canines to cause deep, gaping injuries.

Physical Characteristics

  • The weight of Mountain Gorillas depends on their gender. Adult Males usually weigh around 140 to 200 kg while adult females are half as much as males at 70 to 120 kg. However, silverbacks can weigh up to 240 kg and Obese gorillas as much as 290 kg.
  • The height also depends on thir sex, with adult males being tall up to 1.6 to 1.9m with an arm span stretching from 2.2 to 2.8 m though Silverbacks can go beyond that. Females are shorter and also with smaller arm spans.
  • The mountain gorilla are the darkest of all and has the thickest hair with a dark brown eye color with a black ring framed around the iris.
  • Just like us, humans, all gorillas have individual finger prints and their leading cause of death is cardiovascular related diseases.
  • Taken to the humans side, Gorillas are mainly of Blood group O since studies have proven that their blood is not reactive to A and B monoclonal antibodies.

Reproduction

Studies and close monitoring reveals that females mature at around 10–12 years whereas males at 11–13 years. A female’s first ovulatory cycle occurs when she is six years of age that is followed by a two-year period of adolescent infertility.

The gestation period lasts 8.5 months they gorillas first give birth at 10 years of age and have four-year afterbirth intervals. Just like humans, Males can be fertile before reaching adulthood and can mate year round.

Mating/ Copulation Incitation

Once a mountain Gorilla wants to mate or copulate, it will show different signs that are also clearly understood by its opposite party.

A Female can purse its lips and slowly approach a male while making eye contact and if the male does not respond, then she will try to attract his attention by reaching towards him or slapping the ground.

On the other side, a male can also incite copulation by approaching a female and displaying at her or touching her and giving a “train grunt”.

Most weird of all regarding copulation in these endangered species, they can also do sex while facing each other, a trait considered unique to humans.

Parenting

Mother Gorillas are the primary care givers of the infants in the group that are vulnerable and dependents and stay with them for the first five months. The only role that male gorillas play for the young in the group is to socialize them to others.

However, the silver-back has a largely supportive relationship with the infants in his group. He shields them from aggression and the mother Gorilla always stay close to him. At around 18–21 months, the infants start to detach from their mothers and regularly spend time away from each other but always the mother checks on them once every two hours for suckling.

An infant, now considered a Juvenile is weaned at around the sixth year and this is when it starts to sleep in a separate nest from their mothers. The mother starts to ovulate again and eligible to become pregnant.

Lifespan

All gorillas mostly live between 35 to 40 years.

Communication

Gorillas have their ways of communications depending on which message meant to be passed. Research indicates that 25 distinct vocalizations are recognized.

Gorillas have distinct sounds for indicate the whereabouts of individual group members, during social interactions mostly when discipline is required, alarming and warnings, contentment.

Top Mountain Gorilla Fears

Mountain gorillas that have been studied appear to be naturally afraid of certain reptiles such as snakes. However, Infants, whose natural behavior is to chase anything that moves, will go out of their way to avoid chameleons and caterpillars.

Gorillas are also afraid of water and will cross streams only if they can do so without getting wet. In this, they always cross with the help of fallen logs over the stream. They also dilike rain as well as observed and noted by Dian Fossey.

Mountain Gorilla Trekking

To be able to enjoy a gorilla tracking you need to buy a permit which is issued by the countrie’s Wildlife Authority. A number of only eight people per group per day are allowed thus being necessary to book permits as early as possible.

 

Permit Fees

Gorilla Trekking Permits prices vary depending on the country that you wish to track from that you can book and purchase on your own or through a travel agency you can find and agree with on the Internet. These can organize for you a travel itinerary including booking for you the accommodation, transport, tour guide, meals and other tour activities with just a single quoted price.

Some of them can also rent cars for self drive and let you drive to your preferred destinations for any period of time despite being or not being knowledgeable of the area.

It is always advisable to book at least three months in advance to ensure that you can track on the requested date.

Uganda

Uganda Gorilla tracking permits cost US $600 per person with the intention that a portion of the fee goes to the park and gorilla conservation initiatives, helping to ensure the gorilla survival.

However, the East African residents (Locals from Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania) have a subsidized price of Uganda Shillings 250,000 (Approximately US $70) and Foreign East African Residents of US $500.

Foreign East African Residents are foreigners from countries that are not within the East African Community but have varied East African working permits.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Congo Gorilla Trekking in the Virunga only costs you US $400 per person for the foreigners and US $150 for the Locals. However, the policy of a deduction in the Gorilla trekking permits of East African Residents and Foreign East African Residents does not apply in Congo since she is not a member of the East African Community.

Rwanda

Rwanda Gorilla Permits currently costs US $1500 per person and the policies of East African Residence and Foreign East African Residence do not apply for now.

Top Mountain Gorilla Threats

There are a number of threats to the gorilla survival and these include;

Poaching

Though the number of Mountain Gorilla poaching has decreased with time due to the number of measures put up by the three countries’ tourism industries, in the past, they were not just merely hunted for bush meat. They were rather killled for their their heads, hands, and feet, which are sold to collectors.

Reports have it that Infants were being sold to zoos, researchers, and people who want them as pets and literally, the abduction of infants generally involves the loss of at least one adult, as members of a group will fight to the death to protect their young.

Habitat loss

This is another severe threat to gorilla populations. The forests where mountain gorillas live are surrounded by rapidly increasing human settlement. Through shifting agriculture, pastoral expansion and logging, villages in forest zones cause fragmentation and degradation of habitat. This leads to massive reduction in mountain gorilla population numbers as they try to confine to new places that may be with unfavorable living conditions to them.

Disease

The life of Mountain Gorillas is relatively more fragile as compared to that of humans. Groups subjected to regular visits from tourists and locals are at a continued risk of disease cross-transmission such as influenza, cholera, Tuberculosis or cough among others. With a similar genetic makeup to humans and an immune system that has not evolved to cope with human disease, this poses a serious conservation threat.

War and civil unrest

Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been politically unstable and beleaguered by war and civil unrest over the last decades though it seems to have cooled off in the former two countries. Though the Virunga side of Congo happens to be more protected from insecurities, the bigger part of Democratic Republic of Congo to date still bear evidences of Political Unrest a thing that has a negative impact on the habitat and populations of mountain gorillas.

Experience the Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Forest

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Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

Mountain gorillas are subspecies of primate animals called gorillas. Gorillas are the largest great apes left in the world which live in the tropical rain forests of Africa. Mountain gorillas derive their name from the location and nature of their habitats as these live in the mountain ranges of central east Africa of Virunga that is straddled by Rwanda, Uganda and DR.Congo and the Kigezi highlands of Uganda.

These huge primates are endangered species of animals in that if not preserved and conserved well in the forthcoming years they will get extinct. There are about 900 mountain gorillas left in the world and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park of Uganda has a half of these amazing primates that is about 420 gorilla individuals in the wild.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is located in the southwestern part of Uganda in the kigezi highlands in Kabale district. Due to the possession of mountain gorillas, this national park has become as famous in the tourism world as thousands of people around the world visit it to watch the gorillas in the wild. This wonderful biodiversity is protected and managed by the Uganda wildlife authority under the government of Uganda.

By the effort of the Uganda wildlife authority, they found a way of making people know how conserving and  meeting the mountain gorillas is beautiful and important to the world by putting up a gorilla trekking activity where people go to the park to watch and interact with the mountain gorillas in their natural environment from a close range. There are eighteen habituated mountain gorilla families in Bwindi impenetrable national park and these include;

  • Buitukura, Oruzogo Kyaguriro and the newly habuated one Bikyingi – three groups in the Ruhija area
  • Mishaya, Nshongi, Kahungye, Busingye and Bweza – five gorilla-groups inthe Rushaga area
  • Nkuringo family and recently dispensed group of Bushaho – two groups in the Nkuringo area
  • Rushegura, Mubare and Habiyanja

One might ask “what are habituated gorillas?” habituated gorillas are gorillas that are tamed so that they can tolerant the presence of mankind at a close range or in other words these are gorillas that can be watched by people who may wish to interact with the gorillas in the wild. Mountain gorillas are found in a group of 2-40 individuals in essence one can never find a gorilla on its own without a partner in the wild.

Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi

Gorilla trekking in Bwindi starts with briefing of visitors or gorilla trackers at the head quarters of the park early in the morning and then they are allocated to certain groups comprising of 8 people in accordance to the gorilla family they are going to watch on a day. It should be noted that a certain gorilla family is visited by one group of gorilla in day. These trackers are taken to the start up points where the gorilla patron leads them into the tropical rain forests of Bwindi to interact with the only left mountain gorillas in the wild.

During a trek through the forest a gorilla patron narrates stories about the mountain gorillas that mount up the excitement and also the trackers are able to see other wildlife like various bird species, trees and also monkeys. It takes the trackers 2-6 hours to reach the gorillas due to the fact gorillas are nomadic animals that keep moving from one place to another making their tracking very hard. But the long walks are all forgotten when the trackers meet the gorilla face to face since it is such an exhilarating moment.

When the trackers meet the gorillas they interact with them by observing the way they feed, play and also communicate and at times the young gorillas come close to trackers with an intention of playing with them. The trackers also take photos of these wonderful animals that are kept are memoirs. We can only give the hints of how it is like to trek the gorilla in Bwindi but the experience is unexplainable as former trackers have had outrageous remarks about gorilla trekking in Bwindi.

So for those who have never tracked the gorillas the time is now book with a local tour operator to go on a gorilla trek in Bwindi Impenetrable and have a thriller of an experience.

Winners of the 2018 Buzz Teeniez Awards (Full List)

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The 2018 Buzz Teeniez Awards happened over the weekend and saw a number of different Entertainers getting away with respective accolades at UMA show ground, Lugogo.

Having had a successful year till now musically, Fresh bwoy Fik Fameica flied higher even above all the big artists that were under his category such as the Gagamel President, Singer Bebe Cool. The ‘Kutama’ singer scooped majority of the of awards at the Event amidst cheers from the huge turn up of mostly slay teeniez.

Fik Fameica
Fik Fameica with his Awards

“I am grateful to you for voting for me, trusting me and loving my music. I also thank Buzz Teeniez organizers for

acknowledging Ugandan talent,” Fameica thanked the fans and others.

However, he was not the only winner of the day as other artists such as Vinka, Mr Moshi, Beenie Gunter also left the place with recognition. Here is the full List.

The 2018 winners of the Buzz Teeniez Awards

Teeniez Male Artist of the Year – Fik Famaica

Teeniez Female Artist of the year – Sheebah

Teeniez Hottest Riddim / Song of the year – Pon Mi

Teeniez Hottest Dance Hall Artist – Beenie Gunter

Teeniez Hottest Dance Hall Song – Pon MI

Teeniez Gospel Song of the Year – Tambula Nange by Late Mozey Radio

Teeniez Gospel Artist or Group – Levixone

Teeniez Top Hood Rapper – Fik Famaica

Teeniez Hottest Hip Song – Mafia By Fik Famaica

Teeniez Hottest Collabo of the Year – Pon Mi

Teeniez Flyest Video – Gutamiiza

Teeniez Break Through Artist – Vinka

Abryanz was also an Award winner of the day

Teeniez Hottest Beat Maker – Nessim

Teeniez Hottest Song Writer – Late Mozey RADIO

Teeniez Wickedest DJ – DJ Roja & Slick Stuart

Teeniez Hottest Celebrity Stylist – Abryanz

Teeniez Hottest makeup Artist – Fyona Kirabo

Teeniez Hottest Comedian – Mariach

Teeniez TV Station – Magic 1 HD

Teeniez Hottest TV Show – Live Wire

Teen TV Show presenter – Crystal Panda

Teeniez Hottest TV Personality
– Douglas Lwanga

Teeniez Funkiest Radio Station – Galaxy Fm

Teeniez Hottest Radio Personality – Mr Mosh

Teeniez Male Team – Namilyango Col Rugby Team

Teeniez Female Team – Kawempe Moslem Football team

Teeniez Hottest male sports Personality – OSuna Mark Namilyango College

Teeniez Hottest Female sports Personality – Nalukenge Juliet

The Buzz Teeniez Awards are catered to teen viewers to honor the biggest achievers in television, music, gospel, Dee Jays, movies, Sports, Radio and more.

Another Student from UCU Leaks own Nude Photos and Video

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When it comes to the campuser’s language, any news from the Mukono based Uganda Christian University is either about sports or nudes leak. Currently reporting, nude photos and a video of a third year Mass Communication student, identified as Lillian Rukundo Natalie are currently circulating on social media platforms around the country after alleged self leak reports.

Lillian appears in the photos almost fully nude with her boobs and nether region clearly seen by any who feels like watching. In one of the videos, she is seen touching herself for less than 10 seconds and gashes out fluids in a major squirt fraud, an action that that has attracted praise and ridicule in equal measure.

Lillian Rukundo is a model with a city modelling agency known as Crystal models and has been doing the catwalk for quite sometime and is a daughter of a top army officer identified as Muhwezi Mugyenyi.

When we contacted her, she denied the allegations of leking her own obscene material and pinned it to her ex-boyfriend since their love had knocked a dead end.

This is not the first time that such adult entertainment has come from the Church founded university since many can recall the ‘make it nasty’ recordings that arguably kicked off the nudes flow in the nation.

As according to our policy regarding posting sexual content, such materials are prohibited to be published here on any basis.

I am a visible child from Northern Uganda

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Having grown up in Northern Uganda, Lango sub region to be more specific and studied at St. Mary’s College Aboke, a school from which Joseph Kony’s rebels abducted 139 girls in ordinary level, the name Kony is not new to me.

For the 4 years that I spent in that school (1999-2002), together with other students, I remember praying the Rosary at the School Grotto on daily basis and in the process, reading out the names of the 30 girl who had remained in captivity after Sr. Rachelle an Italian Nun together with a Ugandan teacher John Bosco rescued only 109 of them.

An annual date (10th Oct) was set aside and dedicated to prayers for all the captives. All we did on that day, was pray for the girls to be realized from captivity. For all those four years, I had never heard of an organisation called “Invisible children”A (Was founded later) But all I heard, were the stories from some of the girls and children who had escaped from captivity. In 2002 alone, I could count the number of days I spent at school as we kept on going back home because of the threats and rumours from the villagers around (Abongodero and otwal areas) that the rebels wanted to abduct more girls.

#Stopkony: A joke or a wakeup call?

I had traveled to western Uganda for field work on issues of Maternal health when I first read a tweet using my mobile phones from @Natabaalo a journalist friend here in Uganda on Tuesday 06/03/2012 with the hash tag (#stopkony). For a moment, I treated it as a joke until I read many more talking about ‘Uganda’ and ‘Kony’ as topics trending worldwide on twitter. Being a social media enthusiast, I rushed to facebook to cross check and find out if a similar discussion was going on.  I was shocked to find a video shared on my wall by an old girl of St. Mary’s College Aboke (Bernadette Manisula Nagita) who works as a communications person with Invisible Children here in Uganda. This was the message that accompanied the video that has now gone Viral.

 

“Trusting you will do more than just watch….help spread the word…..” I watched the video and sent her my feeback  “So what exactly am I supposed to do with this video? Share? Not me dear.” For the first 5 minutes I had no idea what the video was about until I later on saw the old images of LRA and attentively listened.

As the discussion grew on twitter, I realised that the internet has indeed become part of everyday life and has played an increasing role in the delivery of news about issues that concern citizen. Today, a new form of internet journalism –Citizen Journalism has taken root and many ordinary citizens have learnt how to argument, report and fact-check videos like #Kony2012.

Just like @RosebellK another Journalist in Peace & Conflict here in Uganda, I have problems with this video because it not only tarnishes Ugandan’s image but also undermines the effort that different Governments and peace lovers like ArchBishop Baptist Odama of Gulu put in, to have peace talks that could bring this war to an end. It totally portrays the hopelessness of Ugandans to help themselves out of this situation and the intervention of some Americans who “care” so much about the plight of the children in Northern Uganda. I tend to think that it is a one man show video. “Invisible children might be advocating for a good Cause but used a very wrong Approach” like @jssozi put it.

I hardly doubt that the people of Northern, Eastern and West Nile regions in Uganda, the most affected by this war have any idea that a video talking about their plight has gone viral on the internet. It’s 2012 and the people of Northern and eastern Uganda are in the post conflict era and re-settling. Why doesn’t the video at least give a brief  highlight of this current situation rather than threaten the entire globe with out-dated information? Does “Invisible Children” have an idea what impression of Uganda has been portrayed to a world that still believes Idi Amin is alive and still terrorising us? What will happen to our tourism sector?  Below are some of the interesting reactions;

  • James  Akena: (PhotoJournalist in Uganda from Gulu) reacting to BBC Qn:

What will happen if Joseph Kony is not killed or captured by December 31st? My government and its military commanders gave many deadlines for capturing or killing this madman several times and they failed. Equally these young Americans trying out to become famous out of sufering of my people will surely fail as well!!! James Akena.”

  • Marcus Wagenaar(From Netherlands but working in Uganda)

“To all who have watched the video KONY 2012 that has made the rounds of the internet: Uganda is a very safe place (I live there) and was voted top 1 tourist destination for 2012 by Lonely Planet. The Lords Resistance Army (LRA) was defeated in 2006 and the Nothern region of Uganda has been stable and safe ever since. (I’ve been there twice in the last 12 months). And the most important thing: JOSEPH KONY IS NOT IN UGANDA, I repeat, he is NOT in Uganda. Please don’t let internet propaganda shape your opinion about a far away country you know nothing about.”

  • James Wire(Ugandan)

“InvisibleChildren is probably paving way for some foreign interests that want 2 monitor Uganda ‘s oil under the pretext of military aid.”

“The invisible Children effort 2 commercialise the Kony atrocities is a disgrace to us in Uganda. They must be seeking relevance. #KONY2012”

Invisible Children either has to make another video that depicts the real truth and the real issues or apologize to the people of Uganda and the VISIBLE CHILDREN affected by war for such a misrepresentation. For now, our focus is on the nodding head disease.

Original article by Maureen Agena: http://dignityinpoverty.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-am-visible-child-from-northern-uganda.html

Travel Uganda, the Pearl of Africa

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Travel Uganda, place your own ranking of the World’s Seven Wonders-U’ll be amazed!

“I’d Tell Anyone” by Juliane Okot Bitek

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I’d tell anyone who wants to help to look around in his or her own neighborhood, city, country. Find someone you think is less fortunate, however you determine fortune to be determined. Have a conversation. Chat. I bet you’ll find that much of the time no one wants to be the recipient of your pity; no one wants his or her experience to be the currency with which you deposit the soft sentiments to make sense of your privilege. Realize that the cheap clothing, shiny jewels, fast smart phones, sweet bananas, organic coffee, and a myriad of other things that you have easy access to may be the result of people having been swindled out of the rights to their land and the fruit of their labor.

I’d tell anyone to get an education that teaches you to question the essence and insistence that pictures of people from certain places be stock photos of children frozen in a miserable moment. Do they ever grow? What do they become, having had their faces provoke pity and the writing of checks to organizations that are invariably headquartered in the richest neighborhoods of those poor countries. Do the people of the frozen picture moments carry luck throughout their lives? Do they die of misery, having been the depository of such a burden; of people’s tears; of the sorrow of retired men and women who lounge in their retirement homes with their TV channels stuck on World Vision shows. For a penny a day, only a penny a day. The old men and women reach out to the table beside them. No, that’s only a glass of water — not glasses, not a checkbook, not a pen.

I’d tell anyone who wants to help to wake up and realize that helping is not a step on a ladder — you up there giving me a hand, me down there. No, I’d tell whoever asks how to help to have the manners and the understanding to realize that this is also a moment that does not need to be frozen in time. Misery takes turns. This might be the moment of mine, tomorrow yours. Tomorrow yours, and when you have a collection of ignorant but well-intentioned people who want to take pictures with your children smiling, laughing, impudent at the camera as kids everywhere are, will that be enough?

I’d tell anyone who wants to help Africa to look around and realize that Africans have people who have already looked around their neighborhoods and cities and the rest of their countries and are having conversations and working together. Exchange ideas. That worked for you? Maybe it can work for us as well. Grow a heart, a useful one and then wake up.

Juliane Okot Bitek – Acholi poet and author

(Juliane is the daughter of one Africa’s most acclaimed poets, Okot p’Bitek). Brenda lives in a rural village in the Rakai district of Uganda.

African Voices Respond to Hyper-popular Kony 2012 Viral Campaign

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(Updated with additions, March 10, 2012. Here’s a Twitter list, so you can follow all of the African writers mentioned in this post who are on Twitter.)

The internets are all a-flutter with reactions to Kony 2012, a high-velocity viral fundraising campaign created by the “rebel soul dream evangelists” at Invisible Children to “raise awareness” about Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony and child soldiers. As noted in my previous post here on Boing Boing, the project has many critics. There is a drinking game, there are epic lolpictorials, and a chorus of idiots on Facebook.

There are indications the project may be about stealth-evangelizing Christianity. The Invisible Children filmmakers have responded to some of the criticism. Media personalities and celebrities are duking it out as the campaign (and now, backlash) spreads.

But in that flood of attention, one set of voices has gone largely ignored: Africans themselves. Writers, journalists, activists; people of African descent who live and work and think about life on the continent. In this post, we’ll round up some of their replies to #Kony2012.

  • Above, a video by Rosebell Kagumire, a Ugandan multimedia journalist who works on “media, women, peace and conflict issues.” She writes, “This is me talking about the danger of portraying people with one single story and using old footage to cause hysteria when it could have been possible to get to DRC and other affected countries get a fresh perspective and also include other actors.”
  • Ethiopian writer and activist Solome Lemma writes that she is disturbed by the “dis-empowering and reductive narrative” evidenced in Invisible Children’s promotional videos: “[It] paints the people as victims, lacking agency, voice, will, or power. It calls upon an external cadre of American students to liberate them by removing the bad guy who is causing their suffering. Well, this is a misrepresentation of the reality on the ground. Fortunately, there are plenty of examples of child and youth advocates who have been fighting to address the very issues at the heart of IC’s work.” Update: Here’s another from Lemma on “Seven steps for critical reflection.” She urges those concerned about human rights in Africa to “think before you give.”
  • Musa Okwonga, a ” football writer, poet and musician of Ugandan descent,” writes in an Independent op-ed: “I understand the anger and resentment at Invisible Children’s approach, which with its paternalism has unpleasant echoes of colonialism. I will admit to being perturbed by its apparent top-down prescriptiveness, when so much diligent work is already being done at Northern Uganda’s grassroots… Watching the video, though, I was concerned at the simplicity of the approach that Invisible Children seemed to have taken.”
  • Award-winning Nigerian-American novelist and photographer Teju Cole published an inspired set of tweets today on sentimentality toward Africa by Americans. Ethan Zuckerman gathered them here, and Alexis Madrigal did the same here. “From Sachs to Kristof to Invisible Children to TED, the fastest growth industry in the US is the White Savior Industrial Complex,” Cole writes. “The white savior supports brutal policies in the morning, founds charities in the afternoon, and receives awards in the evening.” He is brilliant and you should be following him on Twitter, anyway.
  • Angelo Opi-aiya Izama, a journalist and researcher based in Kampala, Uganda, writes: “The simplicity of the ‘good versus evil,’ where good is inevitably white/western and bad is black or African, is also reminiscent of some of the worst excesses of the colonial era interventions. These campaigns don’t just lack scholarship or nuance. They are not bothered to seek it.”
  • Benin-born “Author and Africa Enthusiast” Mafoya Dossoumon focuses less on the shortcomings of “Invisible Children,” and more on the power elite within Africa. “I urge you my African brothers and sisters, and friends of Africa to direct more energy towards holding our leaders accountable. Our leaders have failed us! ”
  • TMS Ruge, the Ugandan-born co-founder of Project Diaspora is pissed. He says he wants to “bang my head against my desk” to “make the dumb-assery stop.” writes, “It is a slap in the face to so many of us who want to rise from the ashes of our tumultuous past and the noose of benevolent, paternalistic, aid-driven development memes. We, Africans, are sandwiched between our historically factual imperfections and well-intentioned, road-to-hell-building-do-gooders. It is a suffocating state of existence. To be properly heard, we must ride the coattails of self-righteous idiocy train. Even then, we have to fight for our voices to be respected.” Update: Ruge has a commentary in the New York Times: “‘Kony 2012’ Is Not a Revolution.”
  • Semhar Araia, founder of the Diaspora African Women’s Network (DAWN), is based in Minneapolis and is of Eritrean descent. DAWN “develops and supports talented women and girls of the African diaspora,” and is focused on African affairs. In an opinion piece at the Christian Science Monitor titled “Learn to Respect Africans,” Araia writes of Invisible Children: “They must be willing to use their media to amplify African voices, not simply their own. This isn’t about them.”
  • At National Geographic, a guest essay by Anywar Ricky Richard, a former child soldier of the Lord’s Resistance Army, and director of the northern Ugandan organization Friends of Orphans. Richard writes of perceptions of Invisible Children in northern Uganda, where the group has had a presence for some years, “They are not known as a peace building organization and I do not think they have experience with peace building and conflict resolution methods. I totally disagree with their approach of military action as a means to end this conflict.”
  • Dayo Olopade, a Nigerian-American journalist who is writing a book on the connection between disruptive technology and African development, wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times: “The mundane march of progress in poor countries is what ‘awareness’ campaigns often miss. And when, as in this case, success is determined by action from outside the region, cries of a new imperialism should be taken seriously. Few international NGOs working in Africa define success properly — as putting themselves out of business. Invisible Children seems no better.”
  • London-based Ida Horner “grew up in Idi Amin’s Uganda,” and says the first 20 years of her life were “marked by civil wars.” She now consults to companies that want to ethically source products from East Africa, and writes and speaks about sustainable development and issues affecting African women in poverty. Among her concerns: how will Kony 2012 fever affect tourism income, and investment, which she sees as a better solution than aid? “Uganda was voted by Lonely Planet amongst the top destinations for 2012 but has this NGO just undone the potential for Uganda’s tourism? After all the tourism industry provides a real opportunity for Ugandans to work their way out of poverty through providing services that tourists want to consume.”
  • Kampala-based “Poet, Artist, and Computer Engineer” Frank Odongka published a poem about Invisible Children, titled ” Mocking a Mocking Bird.” In an intro, he writes about how he felt immediately after seeing the video: “I was only filled with emptiness. I felt our past was being used by some external figure to attract attention to their cause; which cause is obviously not a better life for my relatives. In 2000, travelling to Kampala from the West Nile was suicide and Invisible Children didn’t realize we were invisible and holed up there. Today, more than ever, we are visible but someone suddenly feels the need to exploit our past and paint it as our present! I wrote this poem, short as it is, to reflect how I feel about it.”
  • “Let’s call Joseph Kony what he is: a narcissist, a pedophile and a terrorist,” writes Ghanaian-American blogger Malaka Gyekye Grant in a post titled Joseph Kony Is Still At Large and It’s all My Fault. “Why are we not speaking out until our voices are impossible to ignore? Here’s a better question: Why did an AFRICAN not start the Kony2012 campaign?”
  • Ethiopian-American writer Dinaw Mengestu, at the conflict journal Warscapes: “If there is one thing Invisible Children is right about, it’s that ignorance is blinding. Change has never come with a click, or a tweet; lives are not saved by bracelets. We all want solutions, but why should we think or expect an easy one exists for a twenty-year-old conflict in Uganda when we have none for the wars we’re engaged in now. ”
  • Former LRA abductee turned peacekeeper Victor Ochen is a social entrepreneur and peace builder in Uganda who founded The African Youth Initiative Network. They work to physically and psychologically rehabilitate youth affected by war. He writes at AYINET’s blog: “I agree that Kony must be stopped as soon as possible. However, it must be done in a way that avoids further civilian casualties and the loss of the lives of innocent children. Raising potentially false expectation such as arresting Kony in 2012 will not rebuild the lives of the people in northern Uganda. Rebuilding communities and rehabilitating victims is what we need. The stronger survivors become, the less Kony remains an issue. Restoration of communities devastated by Kony is a greater priority than catching or even killing him.”
  • The Guardian has published an interview with Jacob Acaye, the Ugandan former child abductee featured in the “Kony 2012” video. Acaye is now a 21-year-old law student in Kampala. He says the filmmakers wandered into a village where he and other children sought refuge; the Invisible Children representatives were looking for a child who spoke English, to feature in their film. “They could not understand what was happening. They wanted a kid who was sleeping there and who spoke English,” Acaye said. “I could understand English and I could say what was happening, so that is how I was in their film.”

Bonus Round:

  • Ethan Zuckerman is not African, but the Global Voices co-founder has done much work over the years to create platforms and networks that amplify voices from the continent, and promote thoughtful, informed dialogue on complicated issues like this one. Ethan has a great roundup of links from various African voices. And Global Voices contributor Rebekah Heacock has an extensive post here, which gathers opinions from the African blog-o-/twitter-o-sphere.

This is Our Uganda: 10 Most Beautiful Places

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This is Our Uganda! Today Uganda is a peaceful and stable country. Travellers will find a unique, nebulous of uncommercialised offerings. From the snow capped Mountains of the Moon to the mighty River Nile, primates, traditional and water safaris – Uganda is a country waiting to be discovered.

1. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one of the only three UNESCO world heritage sites in Uganda. Located in Kanungu District, Bwindi is the most popular of all Uganda’s national parks. This forested park hosts nearly half of the world population of the mountain gorillas. The population of the mountain gorillas lives in two distinct populations; one in Bwindi and the other in the Virunga mountains.

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

According to the 2012 Census that put the population of the mountain gorillas to 880 individuals, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest was found out to host 400 mountain gorillas, a rise from the 2006 Census that found out 302 gorillas. You can plan a gorilla trek in Bwindi and experience the beauty of this park that is mainly composed of a forest! In the morning hours, the forest canopy is covered with snow.

2. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is the most scenic of all Uganda’s national parks. Located in South Western Uganda, Mgahinga sits high in the clouds. The park is located in Kisoro Town, the region’s prettiest town. The Mgahinga Volcanoes offer an idyllic setting that is visible many kilometres away. These three volcanoes are Muhavura (4127m), Mount Gahinga (3474m) and Sabinyo (3669m).

Mgahinga Volcanoes Visible from Far

The Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is a great place to see the mountain gorillas. Mountain gorilla tracking in the park depends on gorilla movements across the borders. Other activities to enjoy within the park are;

  • tracking the rare golden monkeys
  • Experience the Batwa Trail and see the past life of the Batwa
  • Hiking the Virunga Volcanoes

3. Lake Bunyonyi

Lake Bunyonyi is known as the “Switzerland of Africa”. This lava dammed lake is believed to have been formed 10,000 years ago. Lake Bunyonyi is one of the most beautiful places in Africa. The park adopts its name from “birds”. The beauty of Lake Bunyonyi is characterized with a great number of islands. There are 29 islands within this relatively small lake and some of its islands are historical such as; the Akampene Island where unmarried pregnant women were left to starve to death, Bwama Island where anti-leprosy drugs were introduced, Njuyeera Sharp’s Island etc.

Lake Bunyonyi Scenery

4. The Crater Lake Region

5. Bottom of the Murchison Falls National Park

6. Kidepo Valley National Park

7. Kibale Forest

8. Ssese Islands

9. Kazinga Channel

10. Rwenzori Mountains

 

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