African Colours presents its first online exhibition with the theme 'African Cultures, African Colours'. The display is a rich pool of artistic and creative talent, with works of art drawn from Eritrea, Sudan, Uganda, South Africa and Kenya. Participating artists include Thom Ogonga, Kanyiva Kahare, Alex Mbugua, Maggie Otieno, Beatrice Wanjiku, Tabitha wa Mburu, Leon Kuhn, Kevin Kariuki, Fitsum Berhe, Annabelle Wanjiku, Patrick Kirono, Wilson Mwangi, Samuel Githui, Nelly Wanjiru, Veroniccah Muwonge, Mary Ogembo, Yassir Ali, Salah Ammar, Patrick Mukabi, Peterson Kamwathi, David Mwanik and Simon Muriithi.

A review of Going Home by Simao Kikamba. Visit toolbar=mweb&linkid=5&partneridB14&sku(361201 for more details.

Going Home is a story told by a political refugee living in South Africa. It investigates the life of one particular immigrant, Mpanda from Angola, and his experiences of trying to make the best of being an unemployed foreign national in South Africa. There are four parts to the narrative. Part one: Mpanda is arrested and sent to the Lindela Repatriation Centre. Part two: We learn of Mpanda's story: his return home to Angola from Zaire, his relationship with a woman called Isabel, his political involvement and embarrassment and his final decision to flee to South Africa. In Part three, we follow his life as a refugee in South Africa. Finally in Part four he is freed from detention and allowed to go back home – to Yeoville. Going home is a very moving debut novel, revealing the anguish of a man trying to survive in a country where nobody allows him to belong. Sim?o Kikamba is a leading new voice in Southern African writing.

Going Home is an assured debut and deserves to be widely read. Simao Kikamba effectively voices the all too prevalent but overlooked plight of African refugees and exiles trying to make a living in host countries where the attitude towards them is increasingly hostile and xenophobic. While the plight of exile and the notion of 'home' is a well established trope in literature, what is new here is the particularly contemporary grounding of the story and characters in South Africa, Angola and the DRC. While it may be true that the South Africa reading public has become jaded with novels depicting apartheid and its immediate aftermath, perhaps the equally bleak stories of contemporary racial discrimination will find a place soon enough, and deserve to.

That said, I do have some problems with the narration in Going Home, which I find rather wooden. This tends to underscore the bleakness of the narrative itself and makes for a harrowing read. As a reader I get a sense of how the world and experiences of the narrator look and seem, but not how they feel. Likewise, the dialogue is a little stilted. All the characters speak in the same manner and I don't get a sense of their individuality; cultural, linguistic or otherwise. Perhaps this shortcoming is as a result of the work not being sure of what it is trying to be. Is it a novel or a memoir? Perhaps the author is not sure either. In its present form, I believe it would be more effectively billed as a memoir, which would cause one to be more forgiving and less rigorous when it comes to the language.

However, these are pedantic quibbles which pale in consideration of the larger importance of this book. I found myself less inclined to criticise the writing in the second half of the book, and rather to appreciate the story. This is the strength of the book; the reader can appreciate not only the narrator's struggle to make a life as a refugee in Angola and South Africa, but also the bravery and dedication of the author in realising this book.

* Reviewed by Byron Loker. Byron Loker's debut collection of short stories will be published in 2006 by Double Storey Books in South Africa. Visit byronloker.com

Recent Pambazuka News reviews

- Resisting Racism and Xenophobia: Global Perspectives on Race, Gender and Human Rights

- The Trial and Other Stories by Ifeoma Okoye

The Program Officer will be responsible for developing, monitoring and evaluating the Foundation's West Africa programming in media, arts and culture. The program's overall goal is to promote the use of media, arts and culture as key resources for strengthening social, cultural and economic development.

Caroline shifts nervously in her chair and asks if this angle is OK. After reassurance she smiles shyly at the camera and begins to describe the impacts of fossil fuel company Sasol on her community in South Africa. "Sasol is one of the companies that are known for causing a lot of pollution in my community. People living in Sasolberg are suffering with many kinds of illnesses, respiratory and asthma," she says in a soft voice which belies the seriousness of her words. Her almost childlike voice could make you underestimate the power of this young woman. However she has been a vocal and effective community leader in the struggle against the activities of Sasol. Now she faces a new threat that comes, perversely, in the name of sustainable development.

Sasol are applying for carbon credits through the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol for a natural gas pipeline they want to build which will reduce pollution by avoiding opening a coal mine. It's a kind of climate blackmail where huge industries will only choose the better option for the environment if given huge financial rewards. Instead of the polluter paying, the polluter is compensated. But in the case of Sasol the problems don't end there. As Caroline gets into her flow, her smile disappears when she talks about the project. "I feel that Sasol should not be credited because projects in CDM should not benefit companies like Sasol that are not contributing towards sustainable development. People are sick and Sasol is not respecting the lives of the community." For her it is a betrayal of her struggle that the company that continues to damage her community is being rewarded by the international community when its core business remains unchanged.

Rhetoric and reality

The story of the Sasol CDM project does not end there but from here on the devil is in the detail. In theory the CDM sounds like a wonderful idea, making everybody with vested interests happy. The developing world theoretically gets some extra investment for renewable technology and the industrialized polluters get to carry on as usual. 'Win-win' as they say. But the reality of the emerging climate markets is far uglier than this rosy picture suggests. There are of course flaws in this logic. For one thing, CDM projects are supposed to be 'additional'. That is, the project shouldn't have been likely to happen anyway without the revenue from carbon credits. During an interview with researcher Graham Erion, a Sasol employee admitted that that wasn't the case with their project. "We would have done this project anyway" with the motivation for it was "mainly financial." Credits sold would be pure profit for the fossil fuel giant.

We begin to see why Caroline is angry. Sasol, however, is not the only fly in the CDM ointment. South Africa is full of examples of bad projects. Even WWF-accredited projects that use the best criteria (so-called 'Gold Standard') are riddled with problems, as exposed by Erion in his paper 'Low Hanging Fruit Always Rots First'.

The South Africa example is not an isolated case unique to that country. Projects all over the globe have come in for criticism lately, from HFC (a powerful greenhouse gas) projects in India to tree plantations in Ecuador. As the Centre for Science and the Environment in India state: "CDM cannot become an industry hobby-horse made for industry, by industry."

Criticism is not only coming from the Majority World. In the UK Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper warns that the UK Government is "doing accounting tricks with emissions trading." This wider critique of carbon trading schemes reflects concerns felt by African journalist Firoze Manji as he takes a seat to record his own feelings on carbon trading. As he waves his arms around frenetically, he looks mischievously into the camera exclaiming, "Imagine if you said well okay this year New York only had X number of murders and in Nairobi they had Y number of murders. So Nairobi has under-killed this year so it can sell off how many people can be killed somewhere else. I mean it's absurd." But such absurd logic is indeed what is being used to justify the global carbon trading shell game.

* You can download Graham Erion's paper free at www.carbontradewatch.org

* The filmed testimonies mentioned in the article are available online at www.raisedvoices.net and you can order a DVD or CDrom copy by contacting [email protected]

Openair Radio, the new community radio station at the School of Oriental and African Studies, launches its first ever FM broadcast on 101.4FM from 28 November – 16 December to Central London and London Borough of Camden. Webcasting is also available. OpenAir Radio is a ground-breaking initiative set up by students and alumni at the School of Oriental and African Studies in collaboration with the professional media, whilst drawing in community organisations based in the London Borough of Camden.

Published for the first time, the "Africa Yearbook 2004" is the result of a joint undertaking by the African Studies Centre (Leiden), the Institute of African Affairs (Hamburg) and the Nordic Africa Institute (Uppsala) emerging from their collaboration within the Africa-Europe Group for Interdisciplinary Studies (AEGIS). Articles on all countries of Sub Saharan Africa cover domestic political developments, foreign policy and socio-economic trends during the calendar year under review. The country cases are completed by introductory overview articles on all four sub-regions, focussing on major cross border developments and sub-regional organisations. Two more overview articles analyse continental developments and European-African relations. The length of each country article aims to reflect the appropriate relative political, economic, and/or demographic weight. A total of 49 authors from a variety of disciplines and countries with intimate local knowledge have contributed to this first volume, which seeks to establish a valid reference book for the years to come on a regular annual basis.

Published by: Weaver Press, 2005
Distributed by: African Books Collective Ltd (www.africanbookscollective.com)

Set in Zimbabwe, Chinodya’s “Chairman of Fools” tells the story of a successful academic and writer returning home after an overseas teaching position. Returning to find his family changed, but his culture and traditions the same, Farai Chari slips into a dark and frightening paranoia. Reality and hallucinations intertwine for Farai, and Chinodya does an excellent job of weaving the two together. At the same time, the book raises important social issues, questioning the relationships between men and women, the expectations placed on men, how people with mental illnesses are treated and the changes Zimbabwe is going through,

“Chairman of Fools” presents an interesting story. Farai represents middle class male chauvinism, and that his story is one of unhappiness and illness makes for a narrative that is curious. Upon his immediate return Farai finds that his wife has become more and more involved in her church, and his children are distant. His professional success has made him materially comfortable, but hasn’t made him happy, and indeed, has trapped him into a life that he must work to continue sustaining. Tradition also binds him to his wife – his family and community would never allow for him to leave. His drinking problem, combined with his wife’s newfound religious zeal, make for a strain in their relationship, and even the intervention of numerous family members has little impact.

Farai slips deeper and deeper into a scene that includes alcohol and prostitutes, and finally spins out of control with a car accident. This is the beginning of his paranoia, which eventually lands him in a mental institution – everything Farai has gone through, and his alcoholic reaction, have aggravated a mental illness – he suffers from bipolar disorder. Suffering from mood exaggerated mood swings – mania and depression, Farai can no longer hide the fact that he is at times delusional. At the mental institution he meets a number of colorful patients, each battling their own afflictions. He is crowned “Chairman of Fools,” by them, and is put in charge of their complaints regarding the day to day running of the mental ward. But he is also introduced to people so different from himself, and from this, learns some important lessons.

The book ends quietly. Life slowly, simply returns to normal, with no big changes. Balancing out his illness with medication, he is deemed well enough to return to the US to teach. Farai and his wife reconcile softly, each admitting their shortfalls. While Farai wants his wife to be someone, something else to him, she will never be this woman who he can be freely himself with. Life continues – it doesn’t get better, or worse. Farai simply gets used to it.

While clearly representing an upper-middle class socio-economic status, Chinodya’s character is one that men in general can relate to. Masculinities in Zimbabwe, and indeed, around the globe, are such that men are often put into positions of expected power, success and responsibility. Should they not meet these expectations, their masculinity can be called into question, affecting not only their own identity and self-esteem, but the ways in which they relate to their families and communities. “Chairman of Fools” is a dark, and at times depressing representation of the despair that can consume, but also demonstrates the very real effects of the pressure often put on male heads of family.

* Reviewed by Karoline Kemp, a Commonwealth of Learning Young Professional Intern with Fahamu.

The long awaited English translation of Théophile Obenga's AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY: The Pharaonic Period: 2780-330 BC is finally easily available in the United States by placing your orders with Vitabu Vya Africa Books, POB 2847, Berkeley, CA 94702., or calling 510-848-9485 At a list price of $32.50 (plus state tax --California's residents-- shipping and handling), the 671 pages volume is a bargain as the back cover presentation makes clear: "Was ancient Egypt African? A century ago, the answer from scholars with little knowledge of hieroglyphs and less of Africa was dismissive, racist: no. Today, a major intellectual shift is under way. New African scholarship, grounded in accurate multidisciplinary research and first-hand expertise in ancient Egyptian, contemporary African languages, Greek and Latin, has unearthed oral and written data clarifying Africa's history, philosophy, literature and culture from the upheavals of today all the way back to the beginnings of human society in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa, East Africa, Ethiopia, Nubia and Egypt."

It was a widely dominant perception until the early 1990's that African rulers do not vacate their office alive. But even in the brutal reality of African politics, transition takes place and different former presidents have dealt with how to maintain power and privilege very differently. With new case studies examining the post-presidential years of the iconic Mandela in South Africa, Daniel arap Moi in Kenya, Nyerere in Tanzania, Rawlings in Ghana, Charles Taylor in Liberia, as well as the experience of Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Malawi, and Nigeria, this volume examines the dilemmas which demands for presidential transitions impose upon incumbent rulers and analyses the relationships which are evolving between new regimes and their predecessors.

Part 1 [Nov 1995]

The charade is over
The masquerades
are on parade

Ribbons on heavy chests
One for every life
they have taken

The charade
- Is over
The Ogoni 9
were hung today

Injustice has triumphed
[But only for a day]

On the night of long knives
And wicked jibes
-starched uniforms and corporate suits gloated
as the bodies lay bloated

WHERE?
- they bellowed -
was the international community
when you were swallowed
by the gallows?

Could you not see
their fingers
dripping with oil
could not hold the knife
to cut you loose
from the hangman’s noose

[The charade is over]

The masquerades were on parade
in Auckland
- [and dancing
from Port Harcourt to Abuja
London to Washington
To ringing melodies
of cash registers] -
Hiding behind grotesque masks
of diplomatic disbelief
while their hearts
heaved sighs of relief
that rivers of oil
held up by the damned 9
would now flow

Part 2 [Nov 2005]

The charade is over

The masquerades
-have unmasked themselves
in the Gulf of Guinea

Today - we are united
in our songs - of defiance

We shall chant down
every BULLET and every BARRELL
Every SHELL and every TANK

Repression
has never triumphed
over free expression

Maybe in a skirmish or two
a battle or two
But in a war of words? Never!

You think
the revolution is dead
because you hung nine men?

Emerge from your corporate bunkers
from where you run your licensed bunkering
And you will see
in the eyes of their orphans
the mothers and fathers
of tomorrows revolution

-Pining for Justice
for towns and villages
reduced - to a Shell
of themselves

Amidst the intoxicated
clinking of barrels - of crude champagne
and wobbling stomachs - of your sated tankers
You cannot see
that even if you cant see the revolution
[In the burning light of flared gas]
the revolution sees you….

Rotimi Sankore copyright 95/05

The Trial and Other Stories
Ifeoma Okoye
African Heritage Press, 2005
Distributed by African Books Collective Limited

“The Trial and Other Stories” is a collection of poignant and painful narratives about widowhood in Nigeria. Written by Ifeoma Okoye, herself a widow, these stories represent a number of different situations that women find themselves in once widowed.

Okoye has managed to capture many different sides of women’s lives in her collection. Each experiences hardship, pain and suffering, but all persevere in the end, highlighting women’s capacities to struggle and triumph through adversity.

“Soul Healers” tells the story of Somadi, whose children were taken from her upon the death of her husband. Sent away from all that is familial, she is destined to live a life separate from her children, according to the traditional laws. Placing all of her trust in a taxi driver, she attempts to kidnap them from school, where she finds them hungry and uncared for by her former husband’s family. While they shy away from her at first, distrustful and afraid, they come around when she is forced to tell the taxi driver her story. And so does he, taking them to safety so that they may live together as mother and children.

In the next story, “Between Women,” Ebuka is a widow whose only daughter is being cared for by her mother-in-law. Ebuka is forced to work in the city for a family who regularly overworks and abuses her, just so she can provide financial support for her daughter. When her child falls sick and Ebuka asks for time off to bring money to the hospital, her boss, who never allows any time off, refuses. Forced to make a decision between losing her job and it’s financial security, or her daughter’s health, Ebuka chooses her daughter, running away in the early morning.

“A Strange Disease” offers a humorous solution to a serious problem. With the passing of her husband, Enu is left to fend off the advances of her late husband’s brother. Already married with two wives, selfish and demanding, Onumba does not make the ideal partner, but he won’t give up. Enu decides on a plan to make him less interested – using some white-out that a niece had left in her home, Enu paints her pubic area with it, and shows Onumba her “disease,” knowing full well that he dreads being ill. Her tactic works, and she is left to continue life free from his harassment.

In “The Voiceless Victim” a privileged woman is forced to confront her prejudices and stereotypes against homeless people, and a young, widowed mother in particular. Walking past an area where beggars frequent, she notices a young woman arguing with another beggar, and quickly dismisses her as just another lazy, homeless person. After a series of meetings, she learns that this young woman was forced into a marriage at an early age for the bride price she would get, which was needed to pay for medicine for her father. This young woman, Ebele, lost her husband and was forced into the streets to beg, having been unable to find any work. By telling this woman her story, Ebele forces her to confront these prejudices and makes her realize that Ebele is a victim of an unbalanced and unfair system.

The rest of the stories in this book continue on in the same way. Each tells a story, while at the same time allowing us insight into the realities faced by widows in Africa. Okoye has done an excellent job of allowing us to enter into the lives of diverse women, and inspires compassion and understanding.

* Reviewed by Karoline Kemp, a Commonwealth of Learning Young Professional Intern with Fahamu.

Contents include:
* Henning Melber: Editorial. African Studies: why, what for and by whom?
* John Lonsdale: African Studies, Europe & Africa

'afrika spectrum' is an inter-disciplinary refereed academic journal focusing on social science dealing with Africa, first published in 1966 by the Institute of African Affairs in Hamburg. The journal is dedicated to promote a deeper understanding of African peoples and cultures. It contains contributions of empirical and problem-oriented nature from all social science disciplines.

Burning from the Inside

Burning from the Inside is an interview documentary with several members of a Nigerian Ijaw ethnic group, of which several million are living in the oil-rich region of the Niger Delta.

Nigeria is the world's sixth largest exporter of crude oil, holds the fourth largest reserve of oil and gas and is an important supplier of oil to the US. Since the British left Nigeria in the 1960s the country has been in a state of semi-civil war, wracked by religious conflicts, and its natural resources looted by western companies, as a result of which millions of people have died.

The people interviewed in this film have all suffered horrendous violence in their struggle for independence. Some have been on death row, some raped, some kidnapped and even tortured. Off camera they are quite willing to talk but on camera they were too scared because of possible repercussions.

The project started in January 1999 and ended by September 2004, during which time the media had changed their general mood by describing the situation of 'gangs, local tribes and the oil companies in conflict' as 'armed militants and guerrillas against the government in a war zone'.

The documentary deals with all aspects of human rights from child abuse, women, the status of gays and lesbians, the environmental problems and the struggle for a common identity.

During the five years it took me to assemble this feature-documentary in "cinematic black and white", I've discovered that the infrastructure so badly needed like hospitals, roads or schools is still a figment of the imagination. The change of government with all the big words and promises failed to live up to its momentum.

Some of those featured in the film

Oronto Douglas is Nigeria's leading environmental human rights lawyer. He is deputy director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria, and has been a visiting lecturer and speaker at community-organized events, international conferences, and universities all over the world. Douglas was a member of the legal team that represented Ken Saro-Wiwa before he was executed by the Nigerian military junta in November 1995.

He received degrees in law from the University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and De Montford, Leicester, England. His articles and speeches have been published in books, journals, and magazines in Nigeria, Europe and the United States. His recent book: "Where Vultures Feast, Shell, Human Rights, and Oil in the Niger Delta" has been published by Random House. He is now the Commissioner for Information, Culture, Tourism and Strategy for Bayelsa state in Nigeria.

Chief(Captain) Samuel Owonaru (Rtd) was a chief of staff of the Niger Delta volunteer force in 1966. He was arrested and tried by the Nigerian government and sentenced to death. He was in prison waiting execution for a few months until a counter coup brought General Gowon to power and released him from jail.

Between 1967-1970 Samuel Owonaru was a captain in the Nigerian army. He fought on the side of the Federal government against the separatists for the Biafra State. He sustained a serious injury during the Civil War and was left wheelchair bound.

Sokari Ekine is a human rights activist, researcher and educationalist. She is a founding member of the Niger Delta Women for Justice, a non-governmental organisation based in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and is presently their European representative. Ms Ekine is the author of "Blood and Oil: Testimonies of Violence from Women of the Niger Delta”. She has also written a number of essays on gender violence and oil exploration in the Niger Delta.

Sokari runs her own website:

Ibiba Don Pedro is a Nigerian journalist. In 2003 she won the CNN African journalist of the year award. She also won the Reuters-IUCN media Award 2000 (English-speaking Africa) for excellence in environmental reporting in Amman, Jordan. Ibiba DonPedro completed a Master degree in Mass Communications at the University of Leicester, UK in 2002/2003. She holds a BA (Hons) degree in English from the University of Jos, Nigeria. She is currently working on a book, “Trapped in the Barrel”, an investigative exploration of the consequences of oil production on women in the oil producing communities.

Rowland Ekperi is the President of the Ijaw People's Association of Great Britain and Ireland. He has been working tirelessly over several years to ensure that the story of the Ijaw people and their fellow Niger Deltans is not forgotten.

Felix Tuodolo is President Emeritus of the Ijaw Youth Council, an organisation often accused of kidnapping oil workers and their families. He was one of the principal signatories to the famous Kaiama Declaration of December 11, 1998.

As for myself, I’m Nick Peterson a white British film-maker, writer and music composer. I have never worked on a documentary before. I have only directed thrillers, comedies and MTV style video-clips. No one wanted me to direct this documentary and no distributors wanted to back this project arguing that it was doomed from the start. Most of my friends -even African ones- urged me to stay away from African politics arguing that it is a very dangerous affair. I think they were all right up to a point. It's never easy to find the truth anywhere so I just limited the story to a portrait-interview. The narrative is driven by the text displayed on the screen and the narrator depicting the story of the struggle for independence. Eventually I had to add my own voice to it, in order to introduce the characters and to explain the situation surrounding the making of this film.

I'm glad I've kept working on this project for so long even though it seems extremely surreal to try and understand what is true and what isn't, what is real and what isn't.

Nick Peterson, October 2005.

* Nick Peterson expects the documentary to be available online within the next two months. DVDs will also be available soon. Contact Nick at [email][email protected]

The Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars Africa Program has released a new report, entitled "Challenges and Change in Uganda." This report is based on a joint Wilson Center-CSIS conference held on June 2nd, 2005, entitled "Uganda: An African 'Success' Past its Prime." This compilation includes each of the presentations given that day, updated to take account of more recent developments. The June 2nd event generated a rich and passionate discussion of recent social, economic and political trends in Uganda.

By: Deborah Fahy Bryceson and Deborah Potts

Are Africa’s most populous and economically dominant cities a force to reckon with in the twenty-first century? This book analyzes the economies of East and Southern Africa’s ‘apex’ cities, probing how they have altered structurally over time and their current sources of economic vitality and vulnerability at local, national and international levels. Case study chapters focusing on Johannesburg, Chitungwiza, Gaborone, Maputo, Dar es Salaam, Mombasa, Nairobi, Kampala and Mogadishu shed new light on contemporary African urban prospects and problems.

The African Review of Books is a space in which the books, literature and scholarship of Africa can be discussed and debated. It is a step towards bringing together, in one place, news, reviews and information relating to Africa's publishing industry and African scholarship. It aims to act as a forum and a virtual meeting point. Comparisons with other reviews of books, such as those of New York and London, the Times Literary Supplement and the Southern African Review of Books are inevitable. ARoB has a long way to go before such comparisons carry any justification. Subscribe to the ARoB newsletter and about once a month we will send you an email updating you on what's new on the site; the latest in news, reviews, events and opinions in the world of African books. Once our commercial partners are on board we will be able to offer special deals and discounts to subscribers of our newsletter. To subscribe just use the link in the menu on the left.

A high priority Initiative on Teacher Training in Africa was officially introduced at a high-level meeting of experts at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris on 19 October. “We are creating a movement together,” said UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education Peter Smith, “When it is successful, we can say that it started on this day in Paris.” Good teachers are essential to quality education. Each day, over 60 million teachers care for 1 billion children. Yet another 15-35 million more teachers are needed in order for illiteracy to be eradicated and for Education for All (EFA) by 2015 to become a reality.

Prize-winning film-maker Kim Longinotto took it as a challenge when the compere at last year's OneWorld Broadcasting Trust's Media awards ceremony said he hoped that the 2005 event would include films with positive images of Africa. "It got me thinking," recalls Longinotto. "Every film on Africa seemed to be about AIDS or refugees or war. I took it as a direct challenge." The result, Sisters In Law, will be screened at the London Film Festival on 26 and 28 October. The film follows four court cases that are handled by state prosecutor Vera Ngassa. It is billed as "incredibly moving and at times disturbing… it spectacularly encompasses courage, hope, and the possibility of change." The cases are harrowing, involving domestic violence, rape and child beating. But Florence Ayisi, a Cameroonian whom Longinotto teamed up with emphasises that the film shows strong women standing up and fighting for justice, and a judiciary that employs 280 women judges and magistrates.

This website includes several online exhibitions in the forms of photos, audio stories and journals depicting ongoing conflict in Sudan, the Congo and Chad.

Edited by: Hope Chigudu
Published by Weaver Press Ltd, 2002
Distributed by African Books Collective Ltd.

‘Composing a New Song: Stories of Empowerment from Africa’ sets out to tell the stories of five African non-governmental organizations (NGO) and the processes by which they have been able to successfully empower those communities which they serve. The focus of each organization differs, but all have in common the fact that they work within communities often neglected by mainstream development. These five organizations are using tactics or methods which differ from the conventional – they are taking African principles and values and making them work for those people who need help. They are also very self-aware organizations – each taking into account not only the issues around which their work surrounds, but also the processes by which they endeavour to meet their goals. These organizations have been incredibly reflective, and offer here a view into the realm of NGOs and their management which one does not often get.

The word ‘empowerment’ represents an excellent idea and goal for development - to give power back to the people so that they may control their own development and gain access to their rights. But in many ways it is a term that has been co-opted by large donor agencies and has been tossed around as a guarantee of funding and method of right practice. Taken back into the hands of small, local organizations, some that even shun funding for fear that it may corrupt their work, empowerment can succeed, and as ‘Composing a New Song: Stories of Empowerment from Africa’ demonstrates, the principle does indeed exist in Africa.

Dr Olaseinde Arigbede of Nigeria, founder of the Coalition for Popular Development Initiatives in Nigeria (CODOPIN), writes eloquently of his personal and professional search for an organization unrestrained by the limitations imposed by donors. He also provides an interesting insight into how empowerment can really work with the methodology employed by CODOPIN, premised around the idea that people working for development must not simply be `infallible bringers of uncommon wisdom,’ but both teachers and learners.

Tomson Dube works for Zimbabwe’s Organization of Rural Associations for Progress (ORAP), and is Academic Director of Zenzele College (an institution within ORAP). His essay is an in-depth examination of the processes by which ORAP works. The organization is different from others in that it takes the concept of empowerment extremely seriously, placing in the hands of all members the responsibility to analyse their own particular situations and challenges in order to jointly make plans to meet their needs. This is then undertaken via the philosophy of ORAP, which relies on African principles found in the Ndebele language. Primarily, this is the idea of ‘zenzele,’ which means “do it yourself,” and translates into people standing on their own.

Patrick Kiirya, Director of Uganda’s Literacy and Adult Basic Education Organization (LABE), is the only Ugandan NGO to work on issues surrounding literacy. As an organization meant to support other NGOs and community based organizations (CBO), LABE works within all of the realms necessary for them to further their goals - they collaborate with government on issues surrounding policy, offer consultancy and support services for smaller organizations in the same field, and offer participatory courses to those who wish to learn how to read. They take their objectives further in linking literacy to development. They do this practically in the courses they offer, making sure that the course material is not only relevant to the lives of those studying, but also connects the process of teaching people to read to the very issues surrounding development in their community.

Emily Sikazwe is Executive Director of Zambia’s Women for Change (WFC), an organization dedicated to meeting the needs of rural women. Through their belief that one cannot know the needs of a community without living in it, WFC has animators living in the communities in which they work for 2-3 weeks out of every month. The organization has provided a number of income generating opportunities for their communities, and in addition, utilizes the knowledge of those women whom it has trained to subsequently teach other community members. Putting this power back into the hands of the women has instigated them to make further demands, not only on WFC, but on local and national government, demonstrating that with a little assistance, empowering a community to gain the skills and confidence necessary to make positive changes is indeed possible.

Leila Sheikh, Executive Director of the Tanzania Media Women’s Association (TAMWA), represents an organization that has seen incredible shifts in its concentration. Beginning as an organization meant to use the media to sensitize communities on gender issues, and also lobby government for women’s rights, TAMWA, without losing their focus on awareness raising, has also created a Crisis Centre, in order to provide legal aid and counseling services to women and children who have survived violence. Evolving from a small collective that focused on media, the organization transformed into a larger association that works for women’s rights on all levels.

“Composing a New Song: Stories of Empowerment from Africa” is an important book for several reasons. Not only does it document the evolution of these five successful African organizations, it provides potential frameworks for other organizations looking to solidify their roles as organizations that truly wish to empower the communities in which they work. This collection of essays can thus be regarded as a tool for others in the field of African development, sharing many first hand experiences and lessons.

* Reviewed by: Karoline Kemp, Commonwealth of Learning Young Professionals Intern, Fahamu