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Monthly Archives: June 2023

Do Sanctions work?

We think of sanctions as an alternative to war.  They are also a projection of power.   States, corporations, and recently, individual citizens, are punished economically. The aim is to stop or curtail actions which are inimical to the interests or values of the sanctioning State or contrary to international law, or to both.  In the…

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Pope to WYD participants: Lisbon 2023 a chance to grow in hope.

Pope Francis has sent a video message to young people registered for World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, on 1-6 August, and urges them to prepare themselves to encounter others and grow in hope. In his video message, the Pope praised the excitement the young Catholics must feel as they prepare to travel. “I can…

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The Celebration of Marriage.

After the initiation ceremony (Anfura-la) or the passage from adolescence to youth, the young Kunama sets out to find a girl to marry. This phase is also marked by some rites, such as that of engagement (Sussa-ma). Among the Kunama, young people are free to choose the girlfriend they want and girls are equally free…

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Religious Belief among the Kunama.

When the Kunama are asked: ‘Ayshila mekobino?’, they reply: ‘Ánnala’la makobinke’ (we believe in God). The word ‘Anna’ (God) comes from the word ‘Annena’ (in Kunama it means creator). The Kunama believe in Anna (God) who created the heavens and the earth. For them, God lives far away, up there in the universe, and no…

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Aborigine Myth. The creation of the world.

A long time ago, Yhi, the goddess of the Sun, created the animals. She brought them to life by removing them from the icy depths of the earth. After that, she distributed them everywhere in the waters, on the surface of the earth or in the freedom of the heavens. But as time went by,…

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Getting out. The purification of the mother.

The life of the Kunama, from birth to old age – and even after death, is a tapestry of traditional rites and ceremonies handed down from the ancient fathers (ande) and scrupulously observed. The first of these rites is the celebration of the Isata Olà, (Gettng out), the purification of the mother after childbirth (dagosa)…

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Kenya. Savings and Credits in Cooperative.

An initiative of the Huruma Self-Help Group, it makes credit accessible to that segment of the population excluded from formal economic circuits. It all started in the Christian communities of Kariobangi, a suburb of Nairobi. In 1991 Verona Huruma Savings and Credit Cooperative (VH Sacco) was founded, an informal savings group made up of 15…

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Advocacy

Angie Torres. A refugee among refugees.

Forced to flee Colombia, she has managed to rebuild her life in Ecuador. Now she defends the human rights of migrants and in particular of…

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Baobab

Brazil. The violin's sound.

There was a man who had an only son. When the man died, the son was left all alone in the world. There were not many…

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Youth & Mission

What do Africa's youth have to say about the future…

The latest African Youth Survey from the Ichikowitz Family Foundation, a leading African foundation promoting active citizenship across the continent, provides a comprehensive look at the…

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