I have just seen a short film called Moving Windmills and wanted to share it with you. It is an extremely inspirational story of a young Malawian William Kamkwmamba, who was forced to drop out of school for lack of money. But he did not discourage: when he saw a picture of a windmill in a textbook he decided to build one to power his family’s home. The film is now distributed online both via The Pangea Day Event, which has a big selection of other interesting films available too, and via William Kamkwamba’s Malawi Windmill Blog.

Moving Windmills at the Pangea Day Event web site
William Kamkwamba’s Malawi Windmill Blog

For quite a long time now I have been trying to get hold of the following novel by Mamadou Samb:

De pulpe et d’orange: Autobiographie d’une prostituée dans une ville ouest-africaine
(Enda-Editions, 1990)

It appears to be too hard even for Amazon.fr to find it. I placed an order months ago and they keep coming back with a mail saying that they are still looking for it. If you happen to have a copy of this book or know where I could find it, please come forward and help the reader in distress!

On two different occasions I have seen the Malian singer Rokia Traore perform her fantastic music, a combination of traditional Bamana heritage and modern vocals. And what a great dancer she is! Her newest album Tchamantche is now released and once again she is giving a concert in Brussels, on Saturday 14th of June at Botanique (Orangerie 20.00) – don’t miss it!

Quite recently I had the opportunity to attend the Ethiopian Good Friday service in one of the churches of Addis second year in a row. Again I was simply amazed by the tranquil atmosphere created by the praying ceremonies that were being exercised on the church yard throughout the day, accompanied by the fairly monotonous reading and singing of the priests who were in charge of the service. Spending time in Ethiopia during their Easter period is a little like entering the times described in the Bible. And it translates into more modern phenomena as well, such as fasting pizzas for instance!

I remember from my childhood that I always woke up in my bed staring straight into an icon hanging on the wall. The icon was brought into our house by an uncle who had been to Russia, and it depicted Saint George killing the dragon. In Ethiopian orthodox tradition, however, there is sometimes a third person watching over this dragon killing procedure: Saint Bula (my spelling may be incorrect). He is sitting up in a tree and looks down at the heroic action of his co-saint with jealousy, I was told. I suppose I should have a look at the Bible written in Geez to find out more about him and the reasons for jealousy. As it happens, he is not the only saint I am not so familiar with: Did you ever hear about Saint Tekle Haimanot, who spent seven years praying, standing on one leg? 

A re-visit to Marrakech after some twenty plus (!) years was well worth it. The medina has not lost any of its charm, despite the fact that busloads of tourists flood into and out of the city continuously. The famous square Jma al-Fna has become a fairly well-organized and commercial yet unescapable tourist trap but you can still be easily attracted by improvised gnawa sessions there, if you are patient enough. The best thing to do in Marrakech is to take a deep dive into the souqs and discover what’s on offer. You may also from time to time need real skills to talk your way out of the shops without buying anything, but that’s only part of the fun!  

Porcupine’s latest craft finds from these souqs include some exciting recycled stuff: tyre picture frames (see above) and pierced tin lampshades. We also bought some cute picture tiles and coin-studded shoulder bags, and more is to come soon.

Yesterday was the International Mother Language Day and the date of the official launch of the International Year of Languages. They both represent occasions for heightening awareness of and encouraging collaboration also on African languages and initiatives in the field. In that spirit, it may be useful during the International Year of Languages to list such projects on UNESCO’s register to facilitate partnerships and promote your activities. This can be done here (you will need a recent version of Adobe Reader to complete the form).

In the aftermath of Tabaski - or Eid al-Adha - we had a couple of pairs of sheep horns boiled in Dakar so that the stuff from inside the horns would come out. This was the easy part of the process and now the idea is to make some new snappy objects out of them, but preferably without the accompanying smell! Washing the inside of the horn with strong tea or beer are the suggestions we have come up with so far, but somehow I doubt the effectiveness of these methods. We already tried bleach but the horn aroma still triumphs…  How on earth did the cupper get rid of the smell of her cupping horns in the old days? Or did she? If you have any ideas - preferably based on experience - please help!

 Somewhat belatedly I’m wishing you all a very happy, inspirational and bacteria-free New Year!

I’ve been off line for the past weeks firstly because of my trip to Senegal and secondly because I fell ill upon my return home. I caught a typhoid fever, which is a life-threatening illness caused by bacteria. It is typically passed from person to person through food and drink or by drinking from contaminated water supplies. The bacteria multiply and spread to the bloodstream and cause high fever, headache and other nasty symptoms. After a week in isolation in the hospital with impressive daily doses of antibiotics and paracetamol intra vena, all the every day trivia at home and small errands here and there simply seem delightful now!

In a few hours I’m off to Yoff - actually to that very same spot that you can see in my banner. Just a quick note before I go: I’ve been trying to find information about solar energy and what it takes for a charity to install solar electricity to a small school in Senegal. I have contacted a couple of manufacturers in hope of a quote and some basic answers to what would possible be the most useful and of course less expensive solution for the needs of the school. Strangely enough, none of the manufactures cared to answer my questions so far.  Then I also asked help from an NGO in Bamako, Mali, and their local expert immediately wrote back to me. We talked over skype and he was even kind enough to send me a rough estimate on the expenses involved – all this for free. I am delighted to have talked with him and impressed by his friendliness and support. Now, what does all this say about businesses?

Why is it that the West’s attempts to help the poor fail year after year? There are no easy answers to this question, but Easterly, with a very sharp pen, suggests that the aid institutions need to step out of their traditional patterns and change their mentality from what the author calls “planners” into “searchers.”  The book opens with a terribly familiar image that I too have encountered in Ethiopia. Amaretch, a small Ethiopian girl, is too poor to go to school and carries firewood to help her family: 

Amaretch - A snapshot from The White Man’s Burden by William Easterly:  

“I am driving out of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to the countryside. An endless line of women and girls is marching in the opposite direction, into the city. They range in age from nine to fifty-nine. Each one is bent nearly double under the load of firewood. The heavy loads propel them forward almost at a trot. I think of slaves driven along by an invisible slave driver. They are carrying the firewood from miles outside of Addis Ababa, where there are eucalyptus forests, and across the denuded lands encircling the city. The women bring the wood to the main city market, where they will sell it for a couple of dollars. That will be it for their day’s income, as it takes all day for them to heft firewood into Addis and to walk back.” 

The rest of this snapshot and the entire first chapter of Easterly’s book are available online here