#Women of #Africa 1929 يوم المرأة في نيجيريا -  أفريقيا 

shopcoletteclayton:

The Aba Women revolt of 1929 (Igbo women’s war of 1929)

In November of 1929, thousand of women from the eastern part of Nigeria, came together to protest against the warrant chiefs of whom they accused of diminishing the role of women in their local government and high taxes on market women. The revolt was led by village women from Calabar and Owerri.

They employed a non violent method of “sitting” or “sitting on men” to censor the accused. This was done by singing, dancing and chanting sounds all night around the warrant chiefs offices and homes until their plight was heard. By following these men around, some of them where forced to resign and as a result the position of women’s role significantly improved. They were able to achieve the following.

  • Women were able to replace the Warrant Chiefs. 
  • Women were also appointed to serve on the Native Courts. 
  • After the Women’s war, women’s movements were very strong in Ngwaland, many events in the 1930s, 40s and 50s were inspired by the Women’s War, including the Tax Protests of 1938, the Oil Mill Protests of the 1940s in Owerri and Calabar Provinces and the Tax Revolt in Aba and Onitsha in 1956 (wikipedia)
  • They were able to stop colonial masters from imposing higher taxes on market places.
  • They succeeded in taking over businesses, banks and courts runned by colonial masters. The British guards fired at the women, killing 50 and injuring 50. 

Notable women that led a the peaceful protest include;

  • Nwanyereuwa
  • Mary Okezie
  • Mary of Ogu Ndem (Mary of the Women’s War) 
  • Ihejilemebi Ibe of Umuokirika Village Ahebi Ugabe of Enugu-Ezike: “The Female Leopard” who was appointed as a Native Court Member in 1930.(wikipedia).

I just recently learnt about this incident in Nigerian History (when i think of 1929, great depression comes to mind)…and i am not sure if any of us learnt this in school in Nigeria, I sure didn’t…sad. But its stories like this that should be passed down to not only inspire us but also commemorate those that lost their lives standing for their rights…rights that impacts us till today.

The picture above is from the revolt and a list of the lives that where lost as a result of the Brit soldiers gun fire attack.

To learn more about it click here

(via dynamicafrica)

Source: facebook.com

الصومال: سنوات من الحروب و المجاعات Mogadishu, #Somalia: A one-legged boy stands with his crutches and watches American soldiers patrol along the Green Line, which was a heavily contested area during the civil war. In the 1980s a civil war erupted in Somalia when warlord factions joined together to overthrow then president Siad Barre, who finally lost power in 1991. Since then power struggles between warlords have ravaged the country with famine and violence. US and international troops entered Somalia to provide aid and presence as part of “Operation Restore Hope” in December of 1992. © Peter Turnley
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الصومال: سنوات من الحروب و المجاعات Mogadishu, #Somalia: A one-legged boy stands with his crutches and watches American soldiers patrol along the Green Line, which was a heavily contested area during the civil war. In the 1980s a civil war erupted in Somalia when warlord factions joined together to overthrow then president Siad Barre, who finally lost power in 1991. Since then power struggles between warlords have ravaged the country with famine and violence. US and international troops entered Somalia to provide aid and presence as part of “Operation Restore Hope” in December of 1992. © Peter Turnley

(via simply-war)

إنها الحشرة الناقلة للملاريا تمتص دماءنا. ما زالت أفريقيا و مصر تعاني #Malaria #Africa #Medicine Credit: Jim Gathany, CDC.Although it is preventable and curable, malaria has a devastating effect in Africa, where the disease accounts for 20 percent of all childhood deaths, according to the World Health Organization. It is present on other continents as well. A parasite carried by blood-sucking mosquitoes causes the disease, which is first characterized by fever, chills and flu-like symptoms before progressing on to more serious complications. By 1951, the disease was eliminated from the U.S. with the help of the pesticide DDT. A subsequent WHO campaign to eradicate malaria was successful only in some places, and the goal was downgraded to reducing transmission of disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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إنها الحشرة الناقلة للملاريا تمتص دماءنا. ما زالت أفريقيا و مصر تعاني #Malaria #Africa #Medicine Credit: Jim Gathany, CDC.
Although it is preventable and curable, malaria has a devastating effect in Africa, where the disease accounts for 20 percent of all childhood deaths, according to the World Health Organization. It is present on other continents as well. A parasite carried by blood-sucking mosquitoes causes the disease, which is first characterized by fever, chills and flu-like symptoms before progressing on to more serious complications. By 1951, the disease was eliminated from the U.S. with the help of the pesticide DDT. A subsequent WHO campaign to eradicate malaria was successful only in some places, and the goal was downgraded to reducing transmission of disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention.

Somalia Famine victims in Islamic Relief camps getting care Yousry El Tahawy report:

Yousry El Tahawy Islamic Relief worker in Somalia with a 13 years old boy almost dead of severe malnutrition Abd ALLAH Abd ELRAOOF and his family walked 320 KM through burning desert to find food, water, medical care and shelter .Now they are in Islamic Relief IDP camp to be taken care of.
يسري الطحاوي إدارة السفراء الإغاثة الإسلامية عبر العالم أثناء زيارة مخيم النازحين في مقديشيو الهاربين من الموت جوعا مع عبد الله عبد الرؤوف وهو طفل في 13 من عمره و يعاني من مضاعفات سوء التغذية الحاد وكان يشرف على الموت . كان هو وعائلته مشوا في الصحراء المحرقة 320 كيلو متر للوصول إلى مخيم النازحين التابع للإغاثة الإسلامية باحثين عن الغذاء والماء والرعاية الصحية والمأوى

#Somalia “I was so hungry I thought I would die” “I am pregnant and I needed food, and I needed to go to the hospital, and I couldn’t get all these in Somalia” “At one time I could not walk because my feet were swollen and had sores
Crossing to Safety: One Woman’s Story of Arriving in Dadaab from Somalia. UNFPA