MBUNIFU KIJANA KUTOKA MALAWI, AFRIKA

Malawi windmill boy with big fans

By Jude Sheerin - October 1, 2009.
BBC News

The extraordinary true story of a Malawian teenager who transformed his village by building electric windmills out of junk is the subject of a new book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

Self-taught William Kamkwamba has been feted by climate change campaigners like Al Gore and business leaders the world over.

His against-all-odds achievements are all the more remarkable considering he was forced to quit school aged 14 because his family could no longer afford the $80-a-year (£50) fees.

When he returned to his parents' small plot of farmland in the central Malawian village of Masitala, his future seemed limited.

But this was not another tale of African potential thwarted by poverty.

Defence against hunger

The teenager had a dream of bringing electricity and running water to his village.

“ Many, including my mother, thought I was going crazy - people thought I was smoking marijuana ”
William Kamkwamba

And he was not prepared to wait for politicians or aid groups to do it for him.

The need for action was even greater in 2002 following one of Malawi's worst droughts, which killed thousands of people and left his family on the brink of starvation.

Unable to attend school, he kept up his education by using a local library.

Fascinated by science, his life changed one day when he picked up a tattered textbook and saw a picture of a windmill.

Mr Kamkwamba told the BBC News website: "I was very interested when I saw the windmill could make electricity and pump water.

"I thought: 'That could be a defence against hunger. Maybe I should build one for myself'."

When not helping his family farm maize, he plugged away at his prototype, working by the light of a paraffin lamp in the evenings.

But his ingenious project met blank looks in his community of about 200 people.

"Many, including my mother, thought I was going crazy," he recalls. "They had never seen a windmill before."

Shocks

Neighbours were further perplexed at the youngster spending so much time scouring rubbish tips.

“ William Kamkwamba's achievements with wind energy show what one person, with an inspired idea, can do to tackle the crisis we face ”
Al Gore

"People thought I was smoking marijuana," he said. "So I told them I was only making something for juju [magic].' Then they said: 'Ah, I see.'"

Mr Kamkwamba, who is now 22 years old, knocked together a turbine from spare bicycle parts, a tractor fan blade and an old shock absorber, and fashioned blades from plastic pipes, flattened by being held over a fire.

"I got a few electric shocks climbing that [windmill]," says Mr Kamkwamba, ruefully recalling his months of painstaking work.

The finished product - a 5-m (16-ft) tall blue-gum-tree wood tower, swaying in the breeze over Masitala - seemed little more than a quixotic tinkerer's folly.

But his neighbours' mirth turned to amazement when Mr Kamkwamba scrambled up the windmill and hooked a car light bulb to the turbine.

As the blades began to spin in the breeze, the bulb flickered to life and a crowd of astonished onlookers went wild.

Soon the whiz kid's 12-watt wonder was pumping power into his family's mud brick compound.

'Electric wind'

Out went the paraffin lanterns and in came light bulbs and a circuit breaker, made from nails and magnets off an old stereo speaker, and a light switch cobbled together from bicycle spokes and flip-flop rubber.

Before long, locals were queuing up to charge their mobile phones.

WINDS OF CHANGE

2002: Drought strikes; he leaves school; builds 5m windmill

2006: Daily Times writes article on him; he builds a 12m windmill

2007: Brings solar power to his village and installs solar pump

Mid-2008: Builds Green Machine windmill, pumping well water

Sep 2008: Attends inaugural African Leadership Academy class

Mid-2009: Builds replica of original 5m windmill

Mr Kamkwamba's story was sent hurtling through the blogosphere when a reporter from the Daily Times newspaper in Blantyre wrote an article about him in November 2006.

Meanwhile, he installed a solar-powered mechanical pump, donated by well-wishers, above a borehole, adding water storage tanks and bringing the first potable water source to the entire region around his village.

He upgraded his original windmill to 48-volts and anchored it in concrete after its wooden base was chewed away by termites.

Then he built a new windmill, dubbed the Green Machine, which turned a water pump to irrigate his family's field.

Before long, visitors were traipsing from miles around to gawp at the boy prodigy's magetsi a mphepo - "electric wind".

As the fame of his renewable energy projects grew, he was invited in mid-2007 to the prestigious Technology Entertainment Design conference in Arusha, Tanzania.

Cheetah generation

He recalls his excitement using a computer for the first time at the event.

"I had never seen the internet, it was amazing," he says. "I Googled about windmills and found so much information."

Onstage, the native Chichewa speaker recounted his story in halting English, moving hard-bitten venture capitalists and receiving a standing ovation.

A glowing front-page portrait of him followed in the Wall Street Journal.

He is now on a scholarship at the elite African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Mr Kamkwamba - who has been flown to conferences around the globe to recount his life-story - has the world at his feet, but is determined to return home after his studies.

The home-grown hero aims to finish bringing power, not just to the rest of his village, but to all Malawians, only 2% of whom have electricity.

"I want to help my country and apply the knowledge I've learned," he says. "I feel there's lots of work to be done."

Former Associated Press news agency reporter Bryan Mealer had been reporting on conflict across Africa for five years when he heard Mr Kamkwamba's story.

The incredible tale was the kind of positive story Mealer, from New York, had long hoped to cover.

The author spent a year with Mr Kamkwamba writing The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, which has just been published in the US.

Mealer says Mr Kamkwamba represents Africa's new "cheetah generation", young people, energetic and technology-hungry, who are taking control of their own destiny.

"Spending a year with William writing this book reminded me why I fell in love with Africa in the first place," says Mr Mealer, 34.

"It's the kind of tale that resonates with every human being and reminds us of our own potential."

Can it be long before the film rights to the triumph-over-adversity story are snapped up, and William Kamkwamba, the boy who dared to dream, finds himself on the big screen?

We asked for your reaction to this story. Please find a selection of your comments below.

Kudos to this lad for his perseverance. The answers to Africa's problems lie within - not from well meaning do-gooders from the West giving continual handouts. He'll go far and probably end up as prime minister of Malawi. Sue, London UK

This remarkable example shows how much of a contribution one could make by taking an initiative with a sound vision. Ziyad, Maldives

My response? I am in (joyful) tears. This is a great example of perseverance and steadfast hope despite "dire" circumstances. It also affirms the need to share education and technology, to empower people to find sustainable solutions to their circumstance. Thank you for your perseverance and positive spirit to help your own people. May people like you multiply. J. Miners, Canada

This story is splendid, it is solid. It is what the whole of Africa should hear and learn about. It will ignite a new spirit in the continent's young minds who badly need such inspiration to get Africa going. Accomplishing something out of obscurity and carving a place for yourself in history like this Malawian shows that the human potential can never be limited, thus Africa could change if this mindset is nurtured and developed. Brima Karl Samura, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Amazing triumph of the human spirit over adversity. What a remarkable and staggeringly honourable young man. I am inspired and humbled by him. I hope this fabulously positive story goes on to change the negative attitudes that have plagued Africa. Made my day! Raj, London

William's achievements portray that anyone can do anything as long as they hope to do it and don't stop at only hoping but aim at making it happen. It shows that there are possibly other intelligent kids out there in Africa but what they lack is perhaps resources or vigour that they can make great things happen. This shows that if we Africans worked together as a team, and solved problems not as individuals, we would not be bothered at all by drought and power problems, most especially in our rural areas. I hope our young generation gets to read your story William, am sure it will change many hopeless minds that have always thought 'they can't'. Tell them William, tell them, that 'YES WE CAN' Daisy, Kampala, Uganda

I love what this boy has done because he has used his own innovative ideas to power a village. I work in rural Kenya and I will definitely use this story as a case study to the youth who feel so desperate to make something of their lives but don't often have anyone to look up to that made it with little education like them. Tess Ochino, Nairobi, Kenya

He is a star for Malawi in this world of technology. This shows the potential of poor Malawi and Africa. There are many potential youths in Africa but poverty is hindering them to rise. It could have been a good idea that funds that got lost through corruption and wars were used to provide an environment for such potential intellectuals to achieve their God given dreams/capabilities. Gerald Mabveka, Lilongwe, Malawi

What a fabulous, heart warming story. Congratulations on all of your hard work. You will be an inspiration to everyone who reads or hears about your triumphs. One of my former students Leo who is from Shandong, will go to the Gobi Desert in Inner Mongolia to install wind turbines in November. David, Xi'an, Shanxi China

While not wanting to detract from this chap's achievements, I'm very surprised that this is not already common across the region. On my travels to South America, and mainly Patagonia - where there is no concept of electricity or running water outside the main towns - people have been using windmills to pump water for livestock and themselves, as well as generate electricity, for decades. One would think that it was an obvious solution for NGOs and charities working in poverty and drought stricken countries. But good luck to William: well done! Joseph, London, UK

It is amazing for a school dropout to do such a thing. It should be a lesson to all Africans that nothing is lost, no matter what the situation. So Africans should all work no matter where they find themselves. God should enlighten him to do great things. Isaac Tuffour, Effiduase-Ghana

Congratulations for publishing for once a positive story! Mr Kamkwamba was able to achieve his dream because he went to school and had the opportunity to have access to a library, but also because he believed that changes can be made. What a lesson to teach to our European youth who complain about everything, and have all the opportunities and but no will to use them positively. Burke, Brussels, Belgium

Such are the stories that Africa needs. Stories that can inspire and galvanise our youths to think big. And maybe shame our leaders to be positive in the interest of their people. Babshow, Lagos, Nigeria

Now that's inspirational and that's how you would change the world. Physically making changes and not all that political talk. Helen Lau, London

Reading this almost brought tears to my eyes. What a great story - human determination in the face of real adversity. I feel humbled. Warm regards to the young man! Brian Cockburn, Tunapuna, Trinidad & Tobago

Definitely a remarkable story. Who says one person cannot make a difference? It is certainly a story worth telling the world about as it inspires us to become the best that we can be, and never give up. My sincere congratulations to William! A young man that puts many adults to shame. Karen O'Connor, Bunbury, Australia

Amazing story, but a shame BBC has not done it justice. For all the implications Mr Kamkwamba's remarkable story raises, the article's conclusions disappoint. The "boy" who "dared to dream"? Will he get a film deal? Is this really what one takes away from Mr Kamkwamba's achievements? A severely disadvantaged young person applied his effort and abilities to address a serious problem, and greatly improved his community's quality of life. His innovation is an inspiration to millions, exemplifying the kind of home-grown sustainable development western governments and NGOs have scrambled after (and spent billions on) for years, with marginal success. Mr Kamkwamba, and others like him, need more attention, support and resources to expand their work. Not speculation on their Hollywood prospects. At the very least, they deserve more mature, respectful coverage of their stories in the future. Jessica Donovan, Kigali, Rwanda

I just wish to say that if I were ever given the opportunity to meet William Kamkwamba I would express an enormous gratitude for allowing his story to circulate the world. He serves as an inspiration to everyone, especially to our generation, the ones who are currently struggling to graduate and become what he has - an individual who has shown strength and endurance to positively influence his community as well as everyone else residing in other more technologically advanced areas of the world. Thank you Mr Kamkwamba! Natasha, Miami, FL

Our governments in Africa need to encourage these people. It is unfortunate that these people are not recognised and assisted accordingly. Imagine, I am in Malawi but I have learnt about this man through the BBC. Patrick Gondwe, Blantyre, Malawi

That is what Africa truly wants. I am very proud by the deeds of Mr Kamkwamba. He has a wonderful mind. We shouldn't expect everything from someone else to teach us. If we look inside and use our potential, it is possible we can make a difference. Wishing you success in your future endeavours! God Bless you! Anteneh Tadesse Asmamaw, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

This is a really inspirational story. So many young people get sidetracked when they find themselves in difficult life situations but this youngster has the resilience of our ancestors. He is truly a leader and a hero. Congratulations. Nadia, Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines

It's amazing to see how much talent and commitment we have in this world, it seems this world could gain more if we were to concentrate more on the less fortunate and third world countries. I believe it's the only way forward rather dealing with the politicians. Wonder how many of this kind we have out there, together we can change this world just by looking to the next person to you and offering a hand or advice if you can. Richard Mupfumba, Horley, Surrey, UK

It is indeed a great joy to see a talented young African brother having a big dream to modernise his community with water and electrical supply. Africa has a lot of talented youths but there are no resources to work on. The intelligent poor children have no seats in the classroom and our greedy politicians are only looking after their own interests. Job well done my brother, I hope many will take your steps in the love of our own people. Let Africans think positively for our way forward and stop the killing and corruption. Musa Badjie, The Gambia

After all that effort: "Before long, locals were queuing up to charge their mobile phones." Sigh - and what did they use before? Robert Cailliau, Prevessin-Moens France

It is due to his zeal and vision to help his fellow countrymen that he dared to make his dream come true. We should have more such people and the world will be a better place Lawrence Lim, Singapore

Kamkwamba's story is a story of defying impossibilities, determination and that is what the world needs!! Nkomo Dingilizwe, Zimbabwe, Harare

Truly inspirational!! I'm an engineer with years of experience so I take my hat off!! Its so nice to hear something nice happening for once! Good on him and all those who he wishes to help. Paul, Lincoln, UK

As a Malawi I feel great, and would appreciate very much if African governments can do more to support these many talented young ones. Kondwani Mpahuwa, Kanengo , Lilongwe, Malawi

Kamkwamba is a gift from God. If it wasn't so, his idea could have not materialised, through the BBC. I would like his story to be published in every African country, so that gifted teenagers like Kamkwamba will come up. Congratulations Kamkwamba, I am really proud of you. Well done, and may Lord Bless you. Esther Richard Semkuya, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

There is so much hope for Africa and this young man shows what is possible with meagre resources. We do not have to wait for corrupt governments, officials or donors to sort out, we just need to go back to basics. So proud and so challenged!! Eva, Munich, Germany

I'm living in Malawi at present. Unless you've lived here you can't possibly understand just what an amazing achievement it is! I live in a city and the electricity cuts out most nights. Katy Berry, Formby Merseyside UK

What an inspirational story! He has shown the world, especially Africa, that the development and progress of Africa lies in the hands of Africans. Africans must dig deep into their skills and talents, using them to build their communities and nations as a whole. Nothing stopped him, despite the obstacles and challenges he encountered. I am very proud of him and if he should set up a development fund I will definitely take part because it will be for a good cause. Eddie Blankson, Toelloese - Denmark

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8257153.stm

Published: 2009/10/01 17:04:14 GMT

DUNIA INAKWENDA WAPI?

Date: Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 3:26 AM

Source: Mwananchi

Date::9/22/2009 'Gongagonga' afumwa akimlawiti mme wa mtu Na Habel Chidawali, Dodoma, TAnzania. POLISI mkoani Dodoma inamshikilia kijana mmoja wa umri wa miaka 17 kwa tuhuma za kumlawiti mwanamume mwenzake kwa njia za kishirikiana. Kijana huyo mkazi wa Chali, Isanga aliyejulikana kwa jina la Maneno Ngo’nda na ambaye ni maarufu kama ‘gonga gonga”, alikamatwa majira ya saa 6:00 usuiku kwenye kijiji hicho baada ya kufumwa akifanya kitedo hicho. Kamanda wa polisi mkoani hapa, Zelothe Stephen alisema kijana huyo, ambaye aliwahi kukamatwa kwa tuhuma za kuingilia wake za watu kwa njia za kimazingara, anaonekana kuwa na uzoefu wa kazi hiyo. Kamanda Zelothe alisema kuwa mtuhumiwa alikamatwa na wananchi waliomkuta akimlawiti mwanaume mwenye umri wa miaka 30 (jina limehifadhiwa) wa kijijini hapo. Zelothe alisema tukio hilo lilitokea wakati mtu huyo alipokuwa amelala na mkewe na kwamba mtuhumiwa alimtoa kitandani na kumshusha chini na kumfanyia kitendo hicho. Kwa mujibu wa Zelothe baada ya mke wa mtu huyo kuamka na kumkosa mumewe kitandani aliwasha taa na kumkuta mtuhumiwa akiendelea na kitendo hicho ndipo alipopiga kelele kuomba msaada. Akihojiwa kuhusu tukio hilo mtuhumiwa alisema kuwa alifanya hivyo baada ya kuona amewamaliza wanawake wote wa kijiji hicho. Alisema anawaingilia kimazingira ya kishirikina bila kujitambua na kufanya nao tendo la ndoa bila wao kujua kitu ambacho alikiri kuwa amekuwa akikifanya mara kwa mara na hivyo wanawake wa hapo kijijini wote aliokuwa akiwapenda alishafanya nao mapenzi. "Nimewamaliza wanawake wote hapa kijijini, sasa naona kuwa imefika zamu ya wanaume na kwamba huyu niliyekamatwa nae alikuwa ndio mwanaume wa kwanza kufanya tendo hili," alisema Gongagonga. Kamanda huyo alisema katika kesi ya awali mtuhumiwa aliachiwa huru kutokana na kukosekana kwa ushahidi wa kuthibitisha kuwa alimuingilia bila ridhaa mwanamke mmoja kijijini hapo kwa kutumia njia ya kishirikina. Katika tukio jingine, Sipundu Mtuli, 28, aliuawa na wananchi wenye hasira na kuchomwa moto baada ya kutuhumiwa kudaiwa kuiba mbuzi. Zelothe alisema kuwa tukio hilo lilitokea mnamo tarehe 20 mwezi huu majira ya saa moja usiku katika kijiji cha Nholi wilayani Bahi.

ASTAHILI PONGEZI MBUNIFU HUYU TOKA UGANDA

Imechangiwa na Mariam Ali Ana'am toka Atlanta, Georgia. Ilitoka GLOBALATLANTA.com ATlanta, Georgia, USA.
Atlanta, 09.17.2009.

From Atlanta Hotels, Tons of Soap Heading for Africa
By David Beasley

Video Links:

Sending Soap to Africa

Helping the Global Soap Project

Derreck Kayongo arrived in the U.S. from Africa 15 years ago and was staying at a hotel in Philadelphia, when he noticed that the cleaning crew would replace the bathroom soap each day, even if the bars were only slightly used.

“I called my Dad back home and told him, ‘You wouldn’t believe what happens here. They throw away soap that is used only once,’” said Mr. Kayongo.

His father, a former soap maker in Uganda, chalked it up to America’s wealth. People there can afford to waste soap, he said.

“We laughed about it,” said Mr. Kayongo. “But the idea stuck in my head. What if we took some of this soap back home, recycled it, made brand new soap and gave it to people who didn’t have a single bar of soap?”

After years of pondering the question, Mr. Kayongo, a field coordinator for Atlanta-based relief agency CARE International, this year launched an effort to collect used bars of hotel soap and recycle them for use in refugee camps in Uganda. He sees it as a way to fight the spread of disease and allow U.S. hotels to help Africa while also reducing the amount of trash they are paying to have hauled away to landfills.

Mr. Kayongo started by speaking to a meeting of Atlanta hotel managers last April. He was surprised at how many agreed to collect their used soap for him. There are now 40 Atlanta hotels participating. Mr. Kayongo has about two tons of soap in an Alpharetta warehouse and another two tons in a friend’s basement.

He hopes to make his first shipment to Africa in October. The soap will be shipped by freighter to Kenya and trucked to Uganda, where it will be sterilized and reshaped into new bars for distribution at refugee camps where soap is scarce. Reprocessing the soap will create jobs in Africa for local workers, he said.

Mr. Kayongo and his wife, Sarah Kayongo, who is also from Uganda and works for an Atlanta translation firm, have formed a non-profit corporation, the Global Soap Project. A freight forwarding company in Green Bay, Wis., Relief Cargo, that specializes in shipping donated items from humanitarian organizations, has agreed to defray part of the $18,000 cost of the first five-ton load to Africa. The project is also seeking donations to cover expenses.

“If we can make this work, I can see setting it up in every country in Africa,” said Relief Cargo president Andrew Drescher, whose company has shipped donated items ranging from blankets to school supplies, but never raw soap.

Soap Can Save Lives

The need for soap is great in Uganda and elsewhere in Africa where poverty and many other factors often make it difficult for people to get it, said Emmanuel d’Harcourt, a medical doctor and senior health director at International Rescue Committee, which specializes in resettling refugees and improving the conditions of the camps where they live.

“We have compelling evidence that hand washing with soap is very effective in combating diarrhea and other diseases,” Dr. d’Harcourt told GlobalAtlanta. Worldwide, 2 million people annually die of diarrhea, he said. A 2004 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association estimated that the number of deaths from diarrhea in the world’s poorest areas could be cut in half with increased hand washing with soap.

Steve Luby, one of the authors of that study who now heads the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s emerging infections program in Bangladesh, sees promise in the soap project.

“It sounds to me like someone is trying to do something that is good for the world,” he told GlobalAtlanta in an e-mail interview. “I applaud this. It sounds like a better idea than discarding the soap in a landfill or doing nothing at all to address the problems of poverty or ill health.”

Poverty is the major reason there is so little soap in the poorest areas of the world, said Dr. Luby. “In Bangladesh, 70 percent of the population lives on less than $2 per person per day,” he said. “In these settings, it is very difficult for families to secure sufficient income for food, water and shelter. The population that would derive the greatest health benefits from soap is the population for whom it is least affordable.”

Bahadur Subba, an International Rescue Committee case worker in Atlanta, lived in a refugee camp in Nepal from 1992 to 2005. "We were not supplied with soap," he told GlobalAtlanta.

If families had money, they would buy soap from a local market. Those without money would use their food rations to buy soap. "People used to eat less," said Mr. Subba. "They would sell off the extra food in the local market and use the money to buy soap."

Expensive Soap, Diverted from Landfills

On a balmy August morning, Mr. Kayongo pulled his Ford Explorer up to the loading dock of Atlanta’s Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead and began transferring bars of soap from a dumpster into plastic bags to be hauled to the Alpharetta warehouse.

“This would all be in a landfill,” Mr. Kayongo said, lifting the heavy bags into his SUV.

The Ritz-Carlton room attendants collect the used bars of Bvlgari soap in separate bags for Mr. Kayongo instead of tossing them in the trash. It is expensive soap, selling new at retail for about $10 per bar.

The room attendants don’t mind the extra effort it takes to recycle the soap, said Valerie Stephens, room attendant trainer at the Ritz-Carlton. “When you’re thinking about someone else, it’s easier to do,” she said.

When the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead hotel manager, Olivia Brown, heard Mr. Kayongo speak at the hotel association meeting, she was impressed by his passion and by the chance for Ritz-Carlton to contribute to a community cause while increasing its recycling efforts.

Whether the donated soap will eventually help Africa, Ms. Brown is not sure. “If we don’t try, we won’t know,” she said.

At the Alpharetta warehouse, Mr. Kayongo opens the bags of soap, sorted by hotel, and displays them as if they were jewels. They are in different colors; yellow, bright green, white, with an assortment of scents such as lemon and sage. The more expensive the hotel, the larger, more colorful and fragrant, the bar of soap.

“The writing is still on this bar,” said Mr. Kayongo. “It’s still new soap.”

The Kayongos understand why Americans would be puzzled over why something as simple as soap would be hard to find in Africa. Yet they point to World Bank statistics that more than a billion people worldwide live on less than $1 per day.

“Having soap is really a luxury, believe it or not,” said Sarah Kayongo.

In northern Uganda, nearly 400,000 people still live in refugee camps following years of fighting between a rebel group called the Lord’s Resistance Army and government troops

Mr. Kayongo himself was once a refugee from Uganda. His family fled to Kenya following fighting during the reign of military dictator Idi Amin in the early 1970s. His father lost the soap business and a printing press but later returned to Uganda and became a member of parliament there.

With abundant donations from U.S. hotels and the need for soap so great, the Kayongos do not want to limit the project to Atlanta or to Uganda. The need is just too great, they said.

“How many hotels are in this country and how much soap are they throwing away?” Mr. Kayongo asked, preparing to collect another donation from another gleaming Atlanta hotel.

BADO WAFITINI WANAMCHOKONOA OBAMA

Hawaii again declares Obama birth certificate real
AP on Tuesday July 28, 2009



President Barack Obama gestures while speaking on the South Lawn of the White AP – President Barack Obama gestures while speaking on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, …

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By JAYMES SONG, Associated Press Writer Jaymes Song, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jul 28, 1:54 am ET

HONOLULU – State officials in Hawaii on Monday said they have once again checked and confirmed that President Barack Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen, and therefore meets a key constitutional requirement for being president.

They hoped to stem a recent surge in the number of inquiries about Obama's birthplace.

"I ... have seen the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawaii State Department of Health verifying Barack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen," Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino said in a brief statement. "I have nothing further to add to this statement or my original statement issued in October 2008 over eight months ago."

So-called "birthers" — who claim Obama is ineligible to be president because, they argue, he was actually born outside the United States — have grown more vocal recently on blogs and television news shows.

Fukino issued a similar press release Oct. 31, but was prompted to speak out again because of the renewed attention on Obama's beginnings. Hawaii's Health Department has been flooded in recent weeks with questions from individuals and several national TV news networks asking for proof that Obama was indeed born in Hawaii.

"They just keep asking over and over and over again," Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said.

The Constitution states that a person must be a "natural-born citizen" to be eligible for the presidency. Birthers contend that Obama's birth certificate is a fake, and many say he was actually born in Kenya, his father's homeland. They've challenged his citizenship in court.

One widely circulated YouTube clip of a town hall meeting showed a Republican congressman getting booed for saying Obama is a citizen. Talk show host Rush Limbaugh and CNN's Lou Dobbs have also raised the issue, and 10 Republican members of Congress co-sponsored a bill that would require future presidential candidates to provide a copy of their original birth certificate.

However, it appears Congress has moved on and has accepted Obama's island birthplace. The U.S. House on Monday unanimously approved a resolution recognizing and celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hawaii becoming the 50th state. A clause was included that reads: "Whereas the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961."

State law bars the release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who does not have a tangible interest.

However, Obama's birth certificate along with birth notices from the two Honolulu newspapers were brought forward even before he took office. But that's done nothing to shake the belief by many Obama critics that the president was born abroad.

HATUA ZA KUCHUKUA KULINDA VIINI-ASKARI

Imetoka kwa Dr. Weil.com

Your immune system is your interface with the environment, and a healthy immune system is the cornerstone of good health: it allows you to interact with germs and not get infections, with allergens and avoid allergic reactions, and with carcinogens and avoid getting cancer. Immune deficiency can be avoided with preventive measures: Maintain good oral hygiene (gum infections can use up a lot of the body's immune resources). Use antibiotics only when absolutely necessary and avoid immunosuppressive drugs unless there are no other alternatives left to consider. Cut back on sugar and stop eating polyunsaturated vegetable oils and artificially hardened fats - instead use extra-virgin olive oil and eat fresh fruits when craving something sweet. Don't forget moderate exercise - it helps keep every tissue in the body healthy and can raise levels of natural killer cells, a primary defense against cancer.

MAJADILIANO YA RASILIMALI ZA JAMHURI YA TANZANIA

The Bone of Contention still lies with the ever-expanding list of Union Matters in the First Schedule to The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, 1977.

It is now a very open secret tha the added matters after the originally agreed 11 Matters of the Union are ILLEGAL, and thus should be inoperative, as Shivji's book [(Issa G. Shivji, Pan Africanism or Pragmatism? : Lessons of the Tanganyika-Zanzibar Union, Mkuki na Nyota Publishers, 2008)] has amply revealed.

The legal fraternity and the general public who are empowered and take the trouble to follow current events in our country know fully well that the answer to all the UNION questions posed by both sides (Bara na Visiwani) lie on the PARTICIPATORY FORMULATION OF A NEW TANZANIAN CONSTITUTION.

The question is: Would the Chama cha Mapinduzi be courageous enough to emulate the Apartheid Regime of South Africa to legislate itself out of existence? That is, by allowing the participation of the Tanzanian public to contribute to the whole democratic process of writing a new Tanzanian Constitution?

BURIANI TAJUDEEN ABDUL-RAHEEM

BURIANI TAJUDEEN ABDUL-RAHEEM
>
> May 26, 2009 (MAKALA YAKE YA MWISHO)
>
> Govts discourage enterprise and penalise those fighting
> poverty
> Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem
>
>
> The irony of Africa being a very rich continent but
> Africans being some of the poorest peoples in the world is
> no longer lost to anyone. While we can argue about the
> historical, structural, attitudinal, personal and
> institutional causes of this state of affairs, the fact
> remains that majority of our peoples remain in need amidst
> plenty.
>
> Decades of aid, humanitarian intervention, prayers,
> activism, development plans, action plans, government
> declarations and so many other initiatives have not produced
> fundamental change for the poorest and weakest sections of
> our societies. Yet Africans remain one of the most
> optimistic peoples, perpetually believing that tomorrow will
> be better. It is always a miracle how majority of
> the poor, whether in our urban slums or impoverished rural
> areas, survive.
>
> Our cities' overburdened road infrastructures have
> spurned entrepreneurship in the form of shops on roads and
> legs meandering between armies of pedestrians and impatient
> vehicle drivers frustrated at the gridlock traffic.
> Similarly informal settlements have developed, several times
> the size of our capital cities with little or no
> infrastructures. Some of them like Kibera Slum in Nairobi
> are even becoming 'famous' globally for poverty
> tourism. Unfortunately, it is not the impoverished peoples
> in these settlements who are even the beneficiaries of their
> own poverty.
>
> The majority of Africans continue to survive not because of
> government but in spite of governments. They eke out a
> living to keep body and soul together, provide for their
> families, doing all kinds of dirty work with little pay or
> selling anything that is buyable; hawking all kinds of
> household wares,
> fruits, vegetables and myriad of consumer items.
>
> The concept of informal settlements in Africa is not just
> about where people live but extends to informal markets in
> all kinds of goods and services.
>
> As the son of a hardworking woman who was a 'petty
> trader', I confess to a bias in favour of these
> small entrepreneurs who do not depend on any connections
> with government officials, politicians and big business
> influence. You go to many neighbourhoods rich or poor
> and you will find these largely female entrepreneurs,
> selling food to those working on construction sites, cheap
> vegetables to other poor members of the society from their
> baskets, trays or single tables at the corners of roads and
> streets.
>
> So living in Kenya, a settler, apartheid type state in all
> but name, I find myself in solidarity with 'Mama
> Mboga'. These are women who sell vegetables from their
> trays, or traditional load carriers tied to their heads,
> carried
> on their backs.
>
> From Mama Mboga selling daily perishable vegetables, the
> ambition is to own a kiosk where you can have storage for
> more goods , stock more, put a fridge and freezer that
> can preserve perishable items. When Mama Mboga becomes a
> kiosk owner, it is a personal triumph of hope over
> adversity- a long journey from grinding poverty to
> bearable survival and foundations for permanent exit from
> poverty. The bigger the kiosk and the better stocked it is,
> the further away the owner is from poverty. Government
> policy is threatening the survival of the Mama Mbogas across
> this continent. In the name of ridding cities of illegal
> constructions, returning to the original city plans and
> 'beautifying' our cities, city councils and central
> governments are creating more poverty. Of what use is
> a 'beautiful city' inhabited by people who have lost
> their livelihoods? Would they appreciate the beauty?
>
> The Mama Mbogas are on
> the street and in kiosks because they cannot afford the
> malls and most of their clientele cannot afford the price in
> the malls.
>
> Our elite are embarrassed by the mass poverty that
> surrounds us but they are unwilling to provide leadership
> and appropriate policies to take our peoples to prosperity.
> Instead they engage in avoidance and denial mechanisms to
> pretend to visitors that 'everything is okay'.
>
> That's why they rid our capitals of beggars, hawkers,
> and other undesirables before any major
> 'international' conference, but out of sight is not
> out of mind for the Mama/Baba Mbogas in our midst. You can
> pull down their kiosks and destroy their tables but they
> will come back with new tables, under umbrellas and their
> clientele will know where to find them. By no means are
> there clients all wretched of the earth. I still call my
> favourite Mama Mboga, Mama Sarah, or her husband, Martin, to
> send me top up cards from wherever Nairobi City Council
> have forced them to.
>
>
> Dr Tajudeen, a respected Pan Africanist and Daily Monitor
> columnist, died in a car crash in Nairobi, Kenya on May 25, 2009. This column, written last week, was his last for
> Daily Monitor. May his soul rest in peace.