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Culture January 2022

Ethiopia. Maqbasa. Name-giving.

One of the greatest feasts among the Guji – an Oromo ethnic group – is that of name-giving. Like all other great feasts, it is sealed with the sacrifice of a bull, dancing and youthful games. In speaking of the maqbasa or name-giving ceremony, we must first mention the gadaa system which divides life from…

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Herbs & Plants. Crassocephallum vitellinum – Anti-peptic ulcer plant.

It is a medicinal plant used for treatment of a number of diseases among them that of peptic ulcer disease. But also for the treatment of stomach complications, malaria and mouth infections in children. It is a flowering herbaceous plant which is widely distributed in the sub-Saharan Africa including in Burundi, Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda,…

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Bolivia. Chakana, the Andean cosmic bridge.

Andean Chakana is the symbol of the principle of relations with people and nature. It is the cosmic bridge between three communities: human, natural and supernatural. The Quechua term Chakana is composed of two words; Chaka means bridge and na is literally a syllable or a consonant but, in the Andean world, evokes a sense…

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Vietnam. The “Zeng” Art.

The Ta Oi is an ethnic group living in A Luoi a rural district of  Thua Thien-Hue province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. The women of the Ta Oi have long been renowned for the skill at weaving “zeng” – their particular type of brocade. It is not only sophisticated but is…

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Advocacy

South Africa. Nonhle Mbuthuma and Sinegugu Zukulu.

Activists Nonhle Mbuthuma and Sinegugu Zukulu have stopped destructive seismic testing for oil and gas off South Africa’s Eastern Cape, in an area known as…

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Baobab

Beautiful Kaya.

Kaya was the most beautiful girl in the village. All the boys courted her, each bringing her small gifts. There were so many invitations from her…

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Youth & Mission

Tunisia. The future in the hands of young people.

While the country is in the grip of a serious economic crisis, in the oasis city of Tozeur, the OxyJeunes youth Centre focuses on schooling and…

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