Change and Challenges

“What you are is what you have been. What you’ll be is what you do now.” -Buddha


I am in a transitioning phase and this quote expresses exactly where I am. 
I have been thinking about what I want and doing a lot of what I would do this if...


And now its time to start doing. 


In terms of  writing literary work I wrote a story in May and sent it in to Small Axe journal   I entered their Literary Competition so I can't share it here. But it felt good to write something and complete a piece and to actual share it and have it critiqued. I am looking forward to the outcome of that. 


I am also writing something else but the idea keeps shifting I have been writing since December 31 2010 I want to complete it and share it with you by the end of this September. 


This is a challenge to myself I have publicly stated what I am doing and my intention and so it is up to me to deliver on my commitments.   


I also want or rather I will at the end of September create a separate space/blog to share my stories and other forms of creative expressions as they come to me. 


Tomorrow I am back to being a Researcher and I happy and grateful for that. I enjoyed my three month stint in broadcast journalism but news writing is simply not for me. 


So my challenge to myself is to complete and share my story by the end of September and to complete my  academic research paper "Positioning Grandy Nanny as a Proponent of Black Power" by December 2011. 


And Happy Emancipation Day!

UN Declares Famine in Somalia

This is according to the Agence France Presse-the  APF News Agency

The UN officially declared famine in two parts of southern Somalia Wednesday as the world slowly mobilised to save the 12 million people battling hunger in the region's worst drought in 60 years.

More than 10 million people in the Horn of Africa have been affected by the drought 

The United States urged the Al Qaeda-inspired rebels controlling the area to allow the return of the relief groups they expelled two years ago while aid groups warned many would die without urgent action and funding.

Somalia, which has been affected by almost uninterrupted conflict for 20 years and become a by-word for "failed state", is the worst affected nation but parts of Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Djibouti are also hit.

The Horn of Africa 

The United States urged neighbouring Eritrea, one of the most secretive countries in the world, to reveal the scope of its own food situation.

Famine implies that at least 20 percent of households face extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition in over 30 percent of people, and two deaths per 10,000 people every day, according to UN definition.

The Shebab expelled foreign aid groups two years ago, accusing them of being Western spies and Christian crusaders.

However, the UN last week airlifted in the first supplies since the group said it would lift restrictions on aid.

For further information on the issue visit the BBC page on the Horn of Africa drought. 

BBC's Drought in the Horn of Africa

South Sudan Profile: An Overview

The following is from the BBC with minor changes to be current, the following was originally posted BBC World News on July 8 2011: The BBC South Sudan country profile

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011 as the outcome of a 2005 peace deal that ended Africa's longest-running civil war.

An overwhelming majority of South Sudanese voted in a January 2011 referendum to secede and become Africa's first new country since Eritrea split from Ethiopia in 1993.

The new nation stands to benefit from inheriting the bulk of Sudan's oil wealth, but continuing disputes with Khartoum and a lack of economic development cloud its immediate future.

Geography

Formed from the 10 southern-most states of Sudan, South Sudan is a land of expansive grassland, swamps and tropical rain forest straddling both banks of the White Nile.

It is highly diverse ethnically and linguistically. Among the largest ethnic groups are the Dinka, Nuer and Shilluk.

Unlike the predominantly Muslim population of Sudan, the South Sudanese follow traditional religions, while a minority are Christians.

South Sudan celebration scene

History

As Sudan prepared to gain independence from joint British and Egyptian rule in 1956, southern leaders accused the new authorities in Khartoum of backing out of promises to create a federal system, and of trying to impose an Islamic and Arabic identity.

In 1955, southern army officers mutinied, sparking off a civil war between the south, led by the Anya Nya guerrilla movement, and the Sudanese government.

The conflict only ended when the Addis Ababa peace agreement of 1972 accorded the south a measure of autonomy.

But, in 1983, the south, led by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and its armed wing, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), again rose in rebellion when the Sudanese government cancelled the autonomy arrangements.

At least 1.5 million people are thought to have lost their lives and more than four million were displaced in the ensuing 22 years of guerrilla warfare. Large numbers of South Sudanese fled the fighting, either to the north or to neighbouring countries, where many remain.

The conflict finally ended with the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, under which the south was granted regional autonomy along with guaranteed representation in a national power-sharing government.

The agreement also provided for a referendum in the south on independence in 2011, in which 99% of southern Sudanese voted to split from Sudan.

Most South Sudanese sustain themselves through agriculture

Economy


Long based on subsistence agriculture, South Sudan's economy is now highly oil-dependent. While an estimated 75% of all the former Sudan's oil reserves are in South Sudan, the refineries and the pipeline to the Red Sea are in Sudan.


Under the 2005 accord, South Sudan received 50% of Sudan's oil proceeds, which provide the vast bulk of the country's budget. But that arrangement was set to expire with independence.


Despite the oil wealth, South Sudan is one of Africa's least developed countries. However, the years since the 2005 peace accord ushered in an economic revival and investment in utilities and other infrastructure.


Conflicts

Alongside the oil issue, several border disputes with Sudan continue to strain ties. The main row is over border region of Abyei, where a referendum for the residents to decide whether to join south or north has been delayed over voter eligibility.

The conflict is rooted in a dispute over land between farmers of the pro-South Sudan Dinka Ngok people and cattle-herding Misseriya Arab tribesmen.

Another source of conflict is the Nuba Mountains region of Sudan's South Kordofan state, where violence continues between the largely Christian and pro-SPLA Nuba people and northern government forces.

Inside South Sudan, several rebel forces opposed to the SPLM-dominated government have appeared, including the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA) of Peter Gadet and a force led former SPLA general George Athor. Juba says these forces are funded by Sudan, which denies the accusation.