TAN – The Afro News

Family Maters

“Failure” Failure.

By Jay Timms :What an awesome word. In that one word, we sum up the most intense of all of man’s fears. We describe the feeling a parent has as they look into the eyes of their hungry children and try to explain why daddy still can’t get a job, using big words like “economy” and “downturn”. Read the full story

Kids in the Spotlight

By Jessica Harbert   The Afro News Seattle  -

Kids in the Spotlight - Kenya edition:  Preparing to embark on a life changing excursion is no small feat. Especially when organizing a group of 11 people to venture into an entirely different culture to bridge language barriers and search for the human connection that in the end brings us all together. Read the full story

Battling Child Witchcraft Accusation

Development/Philosophy/Africa

By Kofi Akosah-Sarpong :The flowering of The African Century, as a material progress scheme, is also an enlightenment struggle. Most African elites have not thought about this despite their cultural obstacles wheeling around them that have asphyxiated their greater progress. And this means The African Century also embraces a critical look at the African culture that is expected to drive The African Century.

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Susan McClelland Journalist

Helena Kaufman The Afro News Vancouver  small to carry the weight of her experience and the story that results from it. Unlike many of the child victims of war, the horrors Kamara saw, the assaults on her spirit and the brutality she experienced from age 12, are now being read and discussed by young people the world over. Her book, The Bite of the Mango, was begun before she even spoke English and not long after her arrival in Canada, still in her teens. With the support and story telling skill of journalist Susan McClelland, the engaging book offers well crafted characters and plot. The twist of course, is that Mariatu Kamara is very real – as are all the details of her story. On a recent stop on a North America wide tour to promote the book, she and Susan brought the reality to her generation. The duo, now more than writer and source, and more like family than friends, spoke to three schools in the Lower Mainland. Kamara contrasts life before the war, “Things were nice before, we lived in the village. We respected and helped each other. She muses on the difference between the earthy calm of her early years and the culture she now lives in. “All we value is life. The ability to live each day. Here people take little things very seriously and it causes them anxiety. At home we learned to respect everyone and take them for who they are.”

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