DOCUMENT RESUME ED 390 738 SO 025 521 AUTHOR Wyss, Esther, Ed. TITLE Introductory Guide to Africa. INSTITUTION Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Cambridge, MA. PUB DATE (89] NOTE 258p.: Developed in conjunction with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee's "Odyssey: from Alaska to Zimbabwe" program. AVAILABLE FROMUnitarian Universalist Service Committee, 130 Prospect Street, Cambridge, MA 02139-1813. PUB TYPE Guides Classroom Use Teaching Guides (For Teacher)(052) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC11 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *African Culture; *African History; *African Studies; Cross Cultural Studies; Cultural Awareness; *Cultural Interrele.ionships; Foreign Countries; *Global Education; Intercultural Programs; *Multicultural Education; Non Western Civilization; Secondary Education; Social Studies IDENTIFIERS *Africa AESTRACT This guide seeks to be a tool for action and a resource for understanding some of the key issues concerning AfriLa today. Through a series of six sessions, participants focus on a particular theme or issue that links their community with ihe African context. The six sessions focus on:(1) "Building Connections with Africa";(2) "Culture Connections";(3) "Economic Connections"; (4) "Issue Connections" (Children and Youth, Environment, Food and Hunger, Health); (5) "The Military Connection"; and (6) "Where Do We Go from Here?" Maps, recipes, historical timelines, and contact addresses with brief descriptions of regional organizations involved in work in Africa are included. (EH) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Introductory Guide to Africa NINN 10,44U/ 10 Awk Unitarian Universalist Service Committee IF PART VENT OF EDUCATION PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS Inu ATIONAl HISOUHCIS INE OIIMAT II )TJ 4Es.4 MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER IEHIC) 1r rtt,r/1(.111 ha, two, wpt,.(1,.. ci I , th0 p10. 1-4_1,.1 ,r gill 0 t t tlt r I rr pri,rr Vrlug Irrol do, r,r,11, J!,, TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES 1,1,1,00 Ilf,11:.1 Op( ,, ' CO3W1.11 OE HI p(roolirrrII prIlic y INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC).- developed in conjunction with UUSC's Odyssey: from Alaska to Zimbabwe program 0 (r) Introductory 5uidetoAfrica Unitarian Universalist Service Committee developed in conjunction with LJI.1SC's Odyssey: from Alaska to Zimbabwe program BEST COPY AVAILABLE 3 Introductory Guide to Africa Editor: Esther Wyss Design and Production: Victoria A. Bolles Odyssey: from Alaska to Zimbabwe is a program of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee with fundirg from USA for Africa Drawings by Millard Sheets from A West African Journal by Mary Baskerville Sheets used with the author's permission. Details of works of batik art are reproduced as illustrations throughout this volume. All of the batiks were made by UUSC project partners in West Africa. The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee is an independent membership organization founded in 1939, rooted in and inspired by !iberal religious principles which affirm the supreme worth and dignity of every person, the interdependonce of all people, and each individual's right to peace, justice and freedom. Through its staff and nationwide network of volunteers, the Service Committee works for basic social change in the U.S., and for health, women's rights, economic development, and human rights in Central America, the Caribbean, India and Africa. ODUnitarian Universalist Service Committee 130 Prospect StreetCambridge, MA 02139-1813 (617) 868-6600 TABLE OF CONTENTS World Map 1 The Continent of Africa 2 Foreword 3 Introduction 4 The Unitarian Universahst Service Committee: 30 years of promoting programs in Africa 4 History of the Program 5 About the Introductory Guide to Africa 6 Objectives for the Six-Session Program 6 Acknowledgements 7 Program Overview Facilitating the Group 10 The hick-off Event 13 Session 1: Building Connections with Africa 17 Activities and Readings for Session 1 20 Mapping Exercise 21 U.S.-African Connections: Our Common Struggle 22 Africa in the U.S. Media 24 Worksheet: Our area's media coverage of Africa 25 Session 2: Culture Connections 29 Overview of the Readings for Session 2: Culture Connections 32 Session 3: Economic Connections 45 Overview of the Readings for Session 3: Economic Connections 51 Session 4: Issue Connections 68 Session 4/Issue: Children and Youth 71 Overview of the Readings for Session 4: Children and Youth 74 Session 4/Issue: Environment 93 Overview of the Readings for Session 4/Issue: Environment 95 Session 4/Issue: Food and Hunger 110 Overview of the Readings for Session 4/Issue: Food and Hunger 1 1 4 Session 4/Issue: Health 134 Overview of the Readings for Session 4/ Issue: Health 136 Session 5: The Military Connection 159 Overview of the Readings for Session 5: The Military Connection 165 Session 6: Where do we go from here? 189 Maps and Basic Data for All African Countries 207 Chronology of Key Events in African History 234 Profiles of African Regional Organizations 236 A Taste of Africa 239 Networking Within UUSC and Beyond 242 Evaluation Form 246 Bibliography 247 World Map UNITED STATES AFRICA: a continent of 51 Independent nations and 3 disputed territories Area In square kilometers (miles): 9,372,614 (3,670,245) Area In square kilometers (miles): 30,323.000 Climate: temperate (11,700,000) Capital (population): Washington, D.C. (638,432 ) Climate: tropical Capital: n/a Population: 241,960,000 Life expectancy at birth: women 78 yrs., rT n 70.4 yrs. Population: 650,000,000 Life expectancy at birth: 50 yrs. Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births): 11.2 Languager official: English: also: many others Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births): 107 Religion: 55% Protestant; 36% Roman Catholic; Languages: almost 2000 4% Jewish Religion(s): traditional Indigenous; Muslim; Christian School-age population in school: 77% School-age population in school: 44% Adult literacy rate: 76% Adult literacy rate: 46% Government type: federal republic Government type: 29 nations under military rule, 25 na- tions under other systems Independence date: July 4, 1776, from Great Britain Independence date: ranging from ancient times Hood of state: President George Bush (Ethiopia) to 1989 (anticipated for Namibia) Per capita GNP: $15,541 (1987) Head of state: n/a Natural resources: metallic and non-metallic minerals, Per capita GNP: S699 (at of Africa); $370 (siih-Sahoian petroleum. arable land Africa) Agriculture: food grains, feed crops, oil-bearing crops, Natural resources: minerals, petroleum, arable land cattle, dairy products Agriculture: food and cash craps, cattle, dairy prodi Jr: ts 1 THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA Tula /Ansi Mediterranean Sea North 1.6.04 TUNISIA Casbisoca' Atlantic MOROCCO/ klarrokoch Ocean 41017811111 Cairo ALGERIA LIBYA SAHARA EGYPT Tarnaorauet MAU Pori Sudan MAURITANIA ForoLarr aro make-hall Asadea SUDAN CAPE VERDE haboot too orgaro ERITREA e'b SENEGAL\a/-7, narfoum ZiwOor CHAD .0, 1 Uptake THE GAMBIA BLIRKINA Al Fooltir halal Chrooadoesou GUINEA GUINEA oil noun BISSAU BENIN TOGO NIGERIA Alloon000 Berbera Corbakry Freetown tyoftyGHANA\ °Addis Ababa SIERRA LEONEV COAST CENTRAL Porto-Nor Aboarovi)k, AFRICAN REPUBI IC ETHIOPIA Abian Accra LIBERIA lama .7 CAMEROON / SOMA L IA Douala Yooroilf Malabo (Eq. faunal)* / EQUATRIAL GUINEA ZAIRE KENYA SAO Tour a PRINCIPE CONGO UGANDA alotadishu S.4 hada Equator Kampolall RWANDA riale Naito& SEYCHIL IFS South fravarale Itrimabor BURUNDI Moorlsam Port buluato Poiale.Nair Gramm Atlantic ANGOLA ZANZIBAR Indian (CABINDA Ocean TANZANIA e. Wave. Ocean lumnda ANGOLA COMOROS 41 anger ZAMBIA NagW..; Ivaata MALAWI armr MOZAMBIQUE Antananani, ZIMBABWE NAMIBIA Saloom. MAIMCOSL AlE BOIS WA NA rlho Portmoil (WO H AFRICA roloar 0 MAORI/WS Gaborone h4apol I odera Vlakerwereorrs L SWAZILAND Durban SOUTH IISOTHO AFRICA Bisdrola rap. To IM1 6 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Foreword by Richard S. Scobie Executive Director, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee has been working in pzrtnership with the people of Africa for nearly 30 years. UUSC has supported community organizations involved in agriculture, health, family plant-, ng, water resource development and education in 13 African nations. Philosophies of development have changed over the years, along with the nature of the relationship between Africa and her neighbors and former colonizers to the North and West. During the great drought of the early 1970s, UUSC began to address the linkages between economic and political decisions being made in the United States and the conditions being experienced in Africa. Now, after a dozen more years of work, we are ever more convinced of the importance of these links. Our lives and societies are more intertwined than the average North American knows or can easily accept. This program of study and action is designed to help North Americans better understand the reality of modern Africa and the multiple ways in which our policies and practices have direct impact on the lives and well-being of peoples whose cultures very often pre-date our ownby centuries. It is our hope that the experience of participants using these materials will enable them toboth better understand realities of our relatedness and to be able to work more effectively for a more just world society. 'II 11 j , r-r- i. ..1/ I Introduction by Esther Wyss, Editor, National Coordinator, Odyssey: From Alaska to Zimbabwe I was 13 years old when Ifirst went to live in Ivory Coast, West Africa with my family. As a typical American teen-ager, my immediate reactions to moving to Africa were: "We'll have monkeys and lions in our backyard!" and "I won't have to go to school anymore!" At that time, years of Tarzan movies, National Geographic and Walt Disney specials, and a notion of African History that romanticized Europeans, such as Stanley, Livingstone, and Dr. Albert Schweizer, had left me with some firmly entrenched stereotypes about the so-called "Dark Continent". Even today, geographical illiteracy, lack of and/or distortion of information by the media, racial prejudice, and cultural narrow-mindedness concerning Africa continue.