How good and how pleasant it would be, Before God and ManTo see the unification of all Rastaman, yeah As it's been said already let it be done, I tell you who we are under the sunWe are the children of the Rastaman, We are the children of the Higher Man So, Africa, Unite, Africa, Unite, Unite for the benefit of your peopleUnite for it's later than you think, Unite for the benefit of your children
Unite for it's later than you think. – Bob Marley

Its actually funny how some things just work out how they do. I was thinking about something today, this morning a friend Thabo sent me an email re-iterating my thoughts and then some, then at work today we were chatting about it at work…

What has become the most common household name thus far this year? That’s right boys and girls, the word Tsunami, u may have heard about it because I may have written about it last week J. There has been a huge ‘buzz’ about it recently. Plenty people raising money for the victims, lots of volunteers rushing out there to help out 160 000 people dead… huge disaster. First national Bank has set up an account which recently clocked R1mil, Pick n Pay have gotten onto the band wagon putting out baskets where people can drop canned food, water, bread etc for the survivors etc. So here a guy goes into Pick n Pay, buys a few cans of canned food etc. drops it in the trolley, walks out of the shop then up to him steps a beggar who just wants a loaf of bread, but mmmm sorry for u boss I am sending my stuff to Asia, not sure how its gonna get there or if its gonna be stale when it gets there but hey its going!

I guess u can see where I am going with this, there has been a huge fuss over the Asia disaster, and rightly so, but once again what about AFRICA!!!??? Damnit how many people die on the motherland daily, from famine or strife? Ivory Coast… DRC… Rwanda…But Africa as a whole may be a huge problem to tackle so I will focus on a tragedy that has been getting some airtime, but not as much urgency has been shown from the international community, as has been in Asia. I don’t hear (maybe they are doing it, but I hear nothing of it) Europe, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait or America pledging hundreds of millions of US dollars, to alleviate the plight of the many people suffering in Sudan’s Western Darfur region.

Sudan, Africas largest country, ruled by the National Islamic Front’s General Omar Al-Bashir, lies on the western shore of the Red Sea and is bordered by Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, Uganda and DRC to the south, Central African Republic, Chad and Libya to the west and Egypt to the North. How many is that 8 countries and the Red Sea border it, one big ass country. Over 28 million people live there (not quite as densely populated as Nigeria, which is about half its size). There is a diverse range of ethnic groupings which speak over 400 languages. Since independence in ’56 the country has had civil war almost continuously. The conflict is seen to be between the Arab and Muslim north and the black African (mainly Christian and animist(The belief in the existence of individual spirits that inhabit natural objects and phenomena.)) south. The conflict is insane because firstly there is the multi-ethinic part of it then there is the religion side of it, then we have the race (colour) side of it, and as if that’s not enough then there is the struggle over land and/or political power, yip I know what you are thinking, those guys are forked!!! Well I’m thinking that! J

The initial conflict was between Government and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), this conflict seems to have subsided, but, tension in the western region of Darfur has risen. This conflict is quite peculiar, because this region is home to over 30 ethnic groups, no part of the region can be said to be ethnically consistent because there has traditionally been a degree of movement and inter-marriage between these groups and social classes, resulting in a bluring of ethnic distinctions. U would think that as a result of this they would be living happily ever after, but noooo! Recently there has been increase in the tensions in the area with ethnic and racial definitions coming to the fore strongly. The tensions have been sparked due to the continuous economic and political marginalization of the region by government forces. This conflict has been further compounded by the famine and desertification of much of the land in the area that has led to a migration of a vast number of the population southwards leading to more tensions over the increasingly scarce farmland and water resources. All these tensions led to the formation of the ‘black’ led SPLM/A and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) which is seen by the government as a rebel grouping fighting against what they see as blatant injustices being committed against the people in the region, in favour of the people in Khartoum and the South. SPLM/A and JED came into prominence in Darfur during 2003, when they saw a gap in the turmoil being faced by the al-bashir regime. They launched attacks on government military bases and just started to wreak havoc in the country.

The government, countered this insurgence by the rebels through Janjaweit, a militia backed by the government. The militia in ‘retaliation’ carried out raids on communities that were suspected of harbouring or aiding these rebels in carrying out these attacks. The government basically gave the militia Carte Blanche to stop these rebels. It provided them with arms and supplies, it even went as far as providing fighter jet firepower which assisted in the militia’s raid on the communities. The humanitarian impact has been huge, civilians shot dead haphazardly, women and girls raped, families displaced and left homeless, trying to flee from the fighting…boss it’s a mess there!! And there is no end in sight, ya the UN high commissioner for human rights is on it, yes there was a 45 day cease fire in April 2004, yes there is an International Crisis Group in Brussels looking into it, but I am not sure about their urgency.

Lets bring it back to us, do we consider sending a tin of food or a bottle of water to Sudan, DRC, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, hell Ethiopia was starving for many years….mmm NO! oh wait Phuket and Khoi Phi Phi is under water gotta help. Yes I know this sounds very sarci, well durr, and I am guilty of the same thing, but what I want to understand is what is it about this Tragedy that draws our attention to it more and invokes more compassion and a willingness to help? Is it cos of the Media hype, is it cos of the fact that it was a tourist destination, is it cos it was a natural disaster? I don’t know! But whatever it is I don’t see how it can not apply right here to the motherland Africa. Bring on the media hype, natural disaster, well I don’t see how famine and drought can be man made, tourist destinations, well if we help clean up our continent, I don’t see how on earth it cant be one of the best tourist destinations in the world, whatever u want is right here on our doorsteps. I know once again just words, but hopefully they don’t fall on blind eyes. – “Researched from some websites and research papers”.

Onto something slightly different. There is a very scarce resource that we tend to abuse and its called water, u might be thinking what water, scarce, the damn earth is 90% or so covered by water. To that I say ok correct, but drinkable/useable water is a scarce resource and in the cape we are seeing the effects of our wastefulness. So I say lets be conscious of how we use our water, if u taking a shower don’t just let the water run because u can, when u brushing your teeth, don’t just let the water run…because u can…water ur garden and not ur wall and the road and driveway, washing ur car…use a bucket when not using the hosepipe. I need to learn a lot of these things, but every drop is something. U guys in Jozi are laughing at me saying but the way its raining the dams are overflowing, does that mean u should waste it? Mmm No!!

Guys if this mail doesn’t flow too nicely, forgive me cos it was started during Will and Grace and was completed now between Tender documents and Business approval papers etc. back to work I go.

Birthdays
11th My dear Pops
15th Dr Clarke
16th Miss Ann Louise
Happy birthday to u all may this year treat u well

On the 14th my good man Keith John Magill marries his lovely bride to be miss Taryn Walsh, after an adventurous 8 year relationship. Happy days. All the best, but u guys have been married since day 1…k maybe since day… J

Then on the 15th my brother from another other mother Tommie Lawson Van Staden marries his lovely Michelle, guys I wish I could make it, but as logistics would have it I cant, u guys were definitely meant to be! May it be a happy day and a blissfull union!

And that’s me signing out for the week, trust u all will have a fantabulous week, Respect!!
Y