Central Africa Story 3

The UN has decided to send more than 3000 troops into the C as peace keepers. They will try to settle down the Rebel forces. This happended yesterday, November 20, 08' This has mainly occured because on the 19th, Congo militia opened fired on the UN forces. The UN decided that the increase in violence would have to be stopped.

This is important because it will involve a lot of people. It is also rare for the UN to unanimously decide to sent that many troops into such a dangerous area. It is also important because this happened 10 hours ago so the information is very relevant.


http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/20/congo.un.troops/index.html?iref=newssearch

Central Africa Today

Since their independence, many Central African countries now face many political, environmental, and health issues. Many countries there have had civil wars due to political instability. Tribal wars are now more common do to the change in political boundaries. These wars cause poverty and inflation. Because of this, most of the people here make a living off of subsistence farming. These countries do however have a large potential with valuable resources such as gold, copper, cobalt, diamonds, and oil. Corrupt leaders, such as Joseph Motubu kept a lot of money meant for public projects and used military force against people who oppressed them. Other factors such as disease and malnutrition caused by corruption and food shortage further increase the problem. In the future, this will hopefully change due to discoveries of mineral deposits that could help the economy there.

The History and Culture of Central Africa

Around 2000 years ago, people began to come from Western Africa to Central Africa. Since then, there have been dramatic changes in their culture due to the European powers. Around 1000 years later, the Kongo Kingdom was started. They started trade routs that brought new technology to the rest of Africa. In the late 1400s, Europeans began to explore the Central African region. They began to purchase slaves to bring to the New World and ivory to sell in Europe. Their presence changed culture alot in this region. Now about 86% of the population here is Christian due to the European powers. The languages have changed alot to. The official language of Anlgola is Portuguese due to the Portuguese presence and the official language of Zambia and Malawi is English. Even the Democratic Republic of the Congo has the official language of French. As you can see, the culture of Central Africa has changed greatly from 1000 years ago.


http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/1/1b/350px-ColonialAfrica_1914.svg.png

Footprint

The cartoon shows how big of an impact/footprint the Europeans made on Africa. I think that the a was not in favor of the colonization. If they were in favor, that would not have made the print so big or in black and white. The bigness and the black and white make the foot look even bigger and look more sinister. To make the cartoon better, the author might consider adding a short caption.

The Scramble for Africa

The strategy we mostly used was bargaining. We would ask Belgium haters for land that we needed and in return, we would attack Belgium every turn and give conquered land to the people whose land we took. This worked quite well and it protected us from the bigger countries who were trying to take our land. We had to take into consideration. First, we would claim land that would have at least two of our resources. We traded alot and fought alot for land in Botswana and Zambia because it had all three of our resources. Then we considered how much each place was worth. We thought that Zambia was worth the most so we tried to get as much land there as possible. On the other hand, Rwanda and Uganda was almost worthless to us and we were always trying to trade it. I think that Portugal won because they got all of the resources that they needed. I think that the looser was a tie between Britain and Spain. Britain because they only got half of the Suez, they didn't get Petrol or Iron and they did a bad job killing off the French. The Spanish because they only got Copper and almost no other resources. 

Zambia Election Story

Zambia just voted in a new president, Rupiah Banda. This applies to the president and the people of Zambia. What happened was Zambia just voted in a president who promises to help fight poverty, to campaign against corruption, and to keep supporting the free market. This happened in Zambia on November 2, because the previous president died.

This is important because it affects so many people. It shows progression that the Zambians were able to vote for a president who vows to do many positive things. This only happened 11 days ago and it is of great interest to the people of that area. It is also rare for an election to occur.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/2/zambia.election.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch

Central africa's Physical Features

The physical features of Central Africa include large rivers, lush rain forests, and some of the highest mountains in Africa. The main physical features here are the Congo Basin, the Congo River, and the Zambezi River. Due to the climate, much of Central Africa is occupied by the large, dense, tropical forests of the Congo Basin. A resource that is vital to this part of Africa's economy is copper, which is mostly found in a large strip, known as the Copper Belt, that stretches from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, all the way down to northern Zambia. All of these features are necessary for life in this part of Africa.

The Truthfulness of Lester

I think that what Lester is saying can be trusted because he has interviewed a ton of people.He has also interviewed people in different position so the story isn't totally one sided. This is showed on pg. 51 when he also said that slve trading could be a happy time. Julius Lester was Jewish and it is against his religeon to lie. Also, he was a peace activist. Being so involved would give him no reason to not want to tell the truth. Also, as a photographer, his pictures can backup what he is saying. This is why I think Lester's work can be trusted.

Democratic Republic of the Congo Story

Who-UN forces, Rebels, Congolese refugees.
What-Up to a million refugees had to flee their homes
When- October 28, 08
Where-Democratic Republic of the Congo
Why- The rebels are advancing.

This news story is important because up to a million people will have to leave their homes. It is also important because with the rebels advancing, violence is soon to come. The UN is also going to have a hard time trying to bring peace to people who do not want to be peaceful. This conflict also has a very large magnitude and is affecting much of Central Africa. It is also relevant because this event only happened about a week and a half ago.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/10/28/congo.fighting/index.html#cnnSTCText

The Five Themes

The movement in this picture could be the snow being blown off of the mountain. The building' weren't always there and the materials had to be moved there.
The region is temperate because of the mountain and the pines. The sky is also quite cloudy and it is probably cold.
The human environment is the people haven't cut down the trees and now they get the title of largest forest in the United Stated that is within city limits. They also get oxygen from it.
The location is behind Forest Park and in front of Mt. Hood. It is Downtown Portland, Oregon, USA.
The place is Forest Park, Mt. Hood, and Big Pink.

Does Violence Lead to More Violence???

I think that it does. In Julius Caesar, Caesar killed Pompeii. Then the supporters of Pompeii ganged up to kill Caesar in Act 3. So Antony gets mad (Act 3 still) and kills off the people who killed Caesar(act 4 and 5). This is supported in WWII when people slowly joined the war when other people were violent to them. One example is when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor so the United States bombed them back with nuclear weapons. A lot of this is an eye for an eye. If one person/nation/faction is violent, then the people they were violent to feel that they need revenge so they fight back. Then that can go back and forth for a very long time. An even more modern event that supports that is the U.S.'s war with Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. Somebody destroyed the twin towers so the U.S. goes and kills of evil dictator Sadam Husain and alot of other Middle Easterners so they fight back too.