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Part Eight - Africa South of the Sahara |
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"Are you there, Africa with the bulging chest and oblong thigh? Sulking Africa, wrought of iron, in the fire, Africa of the millions of royal slaves, deported Africa, drifting continent, are you there? Slowly you vanish, you withdraw into the past, into the tales of castaways, colonial museums, the works of scholars." --Jean Genet, "Felicity, in The Blacks" (1958; tr. 1960)
WARFARE still rages unchecked in Africa. Renewed clashes in Sierra Leone and on the Ethiopian-Eritrean border are two recent examples of deadly African conflicts that have killed and displaced millions of people. The "new breed" of leaders heralded by Washington just a few years ago as the stewards of an "African Renaissance" (Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea, and Paul Kagame of Rwanda) are today all embroiled in or have just emerged from senseless wars that stretched from the Red Sea to the Atlantic. What is to be done? Why haven't the Western leaders intervened to stop this killing? An obvious answer might be that war in Africa seems to pose no clear and present danger to U.S. interests. More importantly, most African conflicts are fought within, not between, states (remember Somalia). The international norms, institutions, and political will to intervene in such hard-to-solve conflicts remain inadequate. A result of this instability is that development is often delayed within while foreign investment is withheld.
As your text explains, Sub-Saharan Africa's 624 million people presently generate a total GNP of approximately $276 billion -- less than that of South Korea. Our virtual field trip will examine the current human dimensions of development and underdevelopment in Africa South of the Sahara. Before we begin our virtual field trip we should be aware of the stereotypes and distortions with our images of Africa. As these essays suggests, Africa's nations and peoples are "often viewed through the lens of dominant media images such as hunger, famine, or refugees." Our virtual field trip will focus on the day-to-day lives of a people and its landscapes.
A TRANSITION zone between the Sahara Desert to the north and tropical forests to the south, the Sahel stretches from Mauritania and Senegal in the west to southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and parts of Somalia in the east. Our virtual tour of West, Central, and East Africa begins in Ethiopia with country information, while at the bottom of the page is a link to African music and dance that is fun and interesting in its selection of sounds and images. Our tour of Senegal and Guinea is through the artistry of United Nations photographer Evan Schneider, whose images help us understand the landscape. In Sudan our field trip takes us to many picturesque places which we can visit after reading about the current travel restrictions to the Sudan.
WE make a brief stop in
Cote d'Ivoire for a view of its capital Abidjan, and go on to Nigeria, where we visit their people and places. We stop off in Ghana for a tour 
of places, landscapes, people, flowers, and textures of this beautiful country. Next we venture to Somalia where we examine flora and fauna that inhabit the dry tropical environment. Tanzania offers landscapes we expect to see when we think of Africa and her wildlife. Our journey takes us to Kenya to meet an El Molo child in Lake Turkana, an adorned Pokot woman, Lake Baringo, and interesting pictures of Maasai children and adults. We visit the Masai Mara, Kenya's most popular game park, and we take a virtual tour of Kenya's wilds.
WE now turn our attention to the six countries of Southern Africa, including Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Our first stop is Angola. After our introduction to Mozambique, we take a tour around Namibia, Africa's undiscovered jewel. Another stop in Southern Africa is the state of South Africa, where we come in touch with its towns and cities, culture, food, entertainment, economy, history, and more.
Africa is continually rediscovering itself. Please come back often.
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