More help is needed for Africa to mature

It is clear that some African countries do not have the skill to create a sustainable existence for the majority of their citizens. Some rulers are richer that the total income of all their citizens.
A solution for some of the non functional African countries may be for a fist world Nation to unite with it and govern it as if it is one of its provinces.
It is clear today that some African countries were given independence too soon

So the backlog grows

The above photograph was taken in 2007
Growing housing backlog


Here are photographs of the Westcoast rd informal Squatter camp near Blouberg Strand.
This was supposed to be a temporary arrangement in 2007.
Today, 2010, there is an ever growing hidden community of people thriving in the bush.

These people will all be demanding houses.
The fact is that whenever a municipality becomes good at housing delivery they draw homeless hopefuls from all over the African continent in hope of finding a free roof over their heads.
The more homes are built the longer the waiting list for homes grows.
The only way of solving this problem is by promising homes to people on the last voters list first. Only when that promise is filled can the next voters list be taken into account.
By implementing a global commitment to promise homes and service delivery to local voters first, the movement of people and the swamping of efficient municipalities may be contained.

Above a photograph of the same camp 2010 --- It is unclear exactly how many homeless are hidden behind the bushes.

Narrow the Gap

Narrow the gap between rich and poor.

This period of recovering from the economic slump may not be a period of increasing wages, but decreasing them from the top down. The unions should understand that, and rather become watchdogs for greedy high earning opportunists than fighting for more wages for people who already have jobs.

The fact is that a working man will never have enough money, no matter how much he earns. People will spend themselves into their comfortable state of need.

We need to decrease wages right now so that there is money to create jobs for those who have no money to support their families.



Get South Africa working should be the new purpose of the unions, today --- to have 0% unemployment for all citizens who had their names on the last voters roll.

We should aim at a 100% employment figure for all voters because they were the people who cared who would run this country and they are the people who deserve jobs first.

Our new slogan should be 100% employment for all voters by 2015.

We can only do it if we make decisions that will strengthen our economy and suppress our financial greed.

Educational needs in South Africa and other third world countries

The pavement baby

The baby in the photograph, (R), was born on the streets. His parents have no home and is living on the pavement in a Cape Town suburb.

If this baby survives to grow to school going age; what will his chances be of receiving the kind of education that will empower him to become the best he can be; or at least learn right from wrong?

LINKS
FREE EDUCATION ON A ZERO BUDGET
SHORTAGE OF SCHOOLS
THE UNIVERSITY OF HARD KNOCKS
ONE BOOK PER CHILD NOT ENOUGH
TV TO HEAL A NATION
DO NOT LOOK BACK GOING FORWARD
A VISUALIZATION OR PRAYER TO CHANGE THE WORLD
http:   SEARCH FOR SCHOOLS LABEL
A DELAYED SUCCESS IS BETTER THAN A TOTAL Failure
PONDER ON THESE THOUGHTS
CHILDREN SHOULD BE FREE TO CARVE THEIR DESTINIES
HEAL TE INNER CHILD OF AFRICA
A COUNTRY IN DEBT IS A ROAD TO SLAVERY
CHILDREN SHOULD BE FREE TO CREATE THEIR DESTINIES
2015 A YEAR FOR JUDGEMENT
DO NOT DIE FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM, LIVE IT
 
1 Education Week

2 1 GOAL Will Host Summit for Education in Cape Town on July 7, 2010

3 Thoughts on how to meet the educational need

G20 / G8 versus World cup

While we kick around soccer balls at the World Cup; blasting ears with the sound of vuvuzelas, to show our enthusiasm; 20 great world leaders are throwing their thoughts and some angry noise around to find solutions to the economic slump that is affecting the globe.

It is not only the money that suffers but the scars caused by greed may be a bigger global threat yet it is mostly not recognized by financial leaders.

Unitate

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Go to website: G20 l How to be part of the process

G20 nations see different paths for securing recovery

Thu Jun 24, 2010 11:07pm EDT

By Ka Yan Ng and Glenn Somerville

TORONTO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World leaders aimed for a common target on Thursday of securing the economic recovery, but disagreed over how best to reach it.

With two days to go before the Group of 20 summit convenes in Toronto, officials tried to downplay differences between the United States and Europe over how quickly to shift from crisis-fighting mode to budgetary belt-tightening.

"That's the delicate balance that we need to try to strike this weekend," Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said.

His U.S. counterpart, Timothy Geithner, said each country needed to decide what policy mix made sense to ensure both growth and fiscal responsibility.

"Our job is to make sure we're all sitting there together, focused on this challenge of growth and confidence because growth and confidence are paramount," he said in an interview with BBC World News America.

The G20 club of rich and emerging economies joined forces at the height of the global financial panic and poured an estimated $5 trillion into stimulus spending, emergency loans and bank guarantees, helping to ward off a global depression.

The group still has a long and difficult to-do list, including forging consensus on new rules about how much capital that banks must hold, and making sure national financial regulatory reforms do not clash on a global scale.

The cost of fighting the financial crisis and recession left gaping holes in government finances, and Greece's debt troubles have focused Europe's attention on the need to shrink budget deficits before investors lose patience. read more

Peace makers and sheep

There are those, within African societies, who are the leaders of peace and stability, then there are the sheep of society; a great majority of African citizens who have not yet developed their consciousness beyond that of their own personal needs.

We need to engender positivity and hope within our own minds; One mind at a time.

The ‘FIFA World Cup’ is a platform on which to stage our hopes and dreams for Africa.

It is only when the consciousness of the majority of thinkers swings to positive mode that the sheep will follow. The sheep of a society is like the horses that pulls the cart.

For an African society to change you need to change the unthinking masses.

When governments fail in their duty, regarding bringing peace and stability within their jurisdictions, it become crucial for the thinkers to put their doubts aside and project positivity for the sake of the unthinking masses.

Be positive during ‘The World Cup’. This may be our last chance to turn the tide of destruction at the Southern point of Africa into that of building the RAINBOW NATION.

pray that the economy be managed with justice and equality, mindful of the “needs of peoples, especially the poorest

World Economy. That the world economy may be managed according to the principles of justice and equality, taking into account the real needs of peoples, especially the poorest.

Speaking of last year’s global financial collapse, Pope Benedict said, “it was precisely from this root of covetousness that the crisis sprang” (General Audience, April 22, 2009). Economic and political solutions can go only so far to fix the economy. What is needed is a spiritual solution to a spiritual problem: prayer.

The Holy Father asks us to pray that the economy be managed with justice and equality, mindful of the “needs of peoples, especially the poorest.” It is the poorest who are most forgotten and denied their rights to what is necessary for life — food, shelter, and medical care.

Lent is a good time to pray and give alms. Can we sacrifice something so we can give something more to others?

READ MORE

Money for poverty

If money is one of the most important things needed today for charity work, what is the factor which is at present deflecting it away from making poverty history?


These words were compiled from ideas expressed in the redemptive meditation from the website: : www.lucistrust.org

Starving People eat our Herritage

When African people starve – wildlife gets eaten.

Feed the hungry to save our natural heritage.

Ignorance and greed respond to money.

Climate Change Conference a Huge Success in Disguise

20 Dec 2009


We should not consider the Climate Change Conference as a failure. It was in fact a huge success, even without reaching an anonymous agreement.

We now have a better understanding of who the major climate polluters are and what as well as who to focus on to make a difference.

If all foreign aid is coupled to some climate change initiative, much good can still be done.

We now know that, for most countries, short-term finance is more important than the survival of life on earth.

We could use this knowledge intelligently to achieve our climate change goals.

Africa and Global Warming

African country leaders no longer have the unchallenged ruler-ship.

They are responsible to the people who voted them into power.

If the majority in a country see no further than the food they can bring to the table today, we should not blame the leaders for rejecting global warming policies that will only further the poverty gap between first and third world nations.

The amount of emissions that need to be reduced should be mathematically calculated, taking into account the current abuse of fossil fuels and the population among other considerations.


It stands to reason that a country that spews 8 measuring units of CO2 into the air should reduce its output more than a developing country that spews 3 units.


There are other considerations like the amount of trees and other carbon neutralizing factors that influence the atmosphere.

In the long run we should aim to keep the air clean, using a variety of methods, like for each industry, there should be natural ways to neutralize the poisoning impact on the environment.

A power plant must be balanced by a forest for example.

No industry should have the right to poison the land, air or water.

Without the earth to live on there is no life.

Original Post

Scientific carbon reduction

The percentage of carbon reduction from countries should be scientifically

calculated across the board and not be based on empty promises.

The calculation should use the following criteria:

* Population,
* population growth,
* deforestation,
* air polution,
* water polution and
* the total current carbon footprint of the country.

Links to other websites:

* http://en.cop15.dk/
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Climate_Change_Conference_2009
* http://www.copenhagenclimatecouncil.com/
Original post from :http://sites.google.com/site/unityinafrica/the-responsibility-of-all-nations-to-reduce-the-carbon-footprint

THE UNIVERSITY OF ''HARD KNOCKS' GRADUATES?

Many Africans, who were subjected to no or inadequate schooling or learning opportunities, gathered a lifetime of experience or knowledge in their fields of interest.

Many of them could, with or without, a little training and recognition, become leaders in their fields of self-trained expertise.

Africa is loosing many of its artists, historians, conservationists and craftsmen because their skills and knowledge were never recognized.

The knowledge of African languages, plants, cures and history is being lost daily when elders retire or die without imparting their knowledge and expertise, ……. unrecognized … forgotten.

Stupid mistakes are being made into laws because of the inexperience or lack of wisdom of some people in charge.

It is time we find ways to honor those who graduated from the ‘University of Hard Knocks’.

It is time we set up a criterion for people, over fifty years of age, who became self taught experts in their fields, of interest or experience; to receive their well earned recognition.
It is time we give certificates, degrees and doctorates to people who gathered and are able to share a lifetime of wisdom or knowledge.

The elders who possess such expertise, knowledge or wisdom due to the experience of a lifetime of observation or hard work, should be aided to impart their knowledge into a thesis, either verbally or written. They should receive their recognition to the level they deserve. Literacy should not be a qualifying criterion.

The elders should be given their degrees, certificates and doctorates which would have been theirs if they lived in an era of open opportunities. This need not be a racial thing, as many elders, of all races, needed to leave school to earn an income for their families. Tertiary education in Africa has ever been, and still is, out of the reach of the majority. It is time that only the lack of will-power separates a person from his/her educational opportunities.

Many elderly have a wealth of knowledge to impart, without perhaps the ability to attend university or the know-how to share their expertise. Some of them never had any formal schooling and are therefore illiterate.

The University of Hard Knocks can go out and seek those who can add to a database of knowledge gathered by experiencing life in Africa. Such a database of knowledge and experience should be able to be tapped freely by all.

There are people sweeping floors today with more knowledge locked in their heads than the graduates who employ them.

Not all elder people deserve recognition for the way they lived. People fail at life too.
Some people spend a lifetime on self gratification, but there are many who dedicated their lives to some cause. There are those loyal long-term employees who are more able to lead their team than the young college graduate who have nothing but a signed certificate to say he can do the job.

It is time for Africa to stop keeping racism alive with BEE’s and brood over past injustices and gather it’s strengths from within its own people.
A degree from the university of hard knocks should carry the same weight as one from a modern university.

I shall give an example from the nature conservation or natural healing fields:

There are many uneducated elders who know the habitat and behavior of the animals in a specific area. They can follow its spoor without referring to a manual. They know their call. They know their habitat and what will drive them away. They know the plants in an area and how it can be used for cures. They understand what will disturb the ecosystem.

How many conservation students who graduate will be able to match their knowledge?
How many new conservation graduates even know the names of the birds or plants in the area they work in without having to refer to a manual?

That is but one area of African life. There are many similar examples in other areas.
Ex Unitate Vires 7-11-2009







Original post from HEALING THE DIVIDE

EDUCATION IN AFRICA

EDUCATION IN AFRICA




A shortage of schools, unqualified teachers, the cost of school fees and vandalism are just some of the problems facing third world countries.

With laptops costing a fraction of the salaries of teachers, students should be given hardwired interactive basic laptops to be used to aid their teaching careers.

Laptops can be designed so that they have no general commercial value but is dedicated as a teaching/learning aid. Such a computer can aid the child in his/her learning even in the absence of a teacher.

All lectures should be recorded on flash drive and made available to students who need to catch up on their studies.
Students should be able to obtain a different take on a subject from a teacher of another school or class if they had a problem following the teaching method of their own teacher.
 Slow students will then be able to review lectures from a lower grade, while those who are more intelligent can enhance their studies with lectures from a higher class.

By recording all lectures it would also make teachers more responsible to prepare for their subjects because they will never know who is going to download their lectures and teaching methods.

Free school books and laptops can be offered to the student as a ‘dept to be paid back to the country’, either by the parents or the students - once they leave school.

All students who receive bursaries should pay them back from a percentage of their salaries once they enter the job market, whether they work in South Africa or not.

Free schooling should be available to everyone, but in the long run there need to be no free schooling if the students pay back, what they owe to society, once they leave school.
This will teach students the value of responsibility from an early age.

There is a lot we can do to get South Africa educated and employed.
Educated people can in the future afford to buy their own homes and this relieves the burden on the municipalities

Educated students will be less likely to sacrifice their brains for a dope or alcohol abuse experience.

FREE EDUCATION ON A ZERO BUDGET
SHORTAGE OF SCHOOLS
THE UNIVERSITY OF HARD KNOCKS
ONE BOOK PER CHILD NOT ENOUGH
TV TO HEAL A NATION
DO NOT LOOK BACK GOING FORWARD
A VISUALIZATION OR PRAYER TO CHANGE THE WORLD
http:   SEARCH FOR SCHOOLS LABEL
A DELAYED SUCCESS IS BETTER THAN A TOTAL Failure
PONDER ON THESE THOUGHTS
CHILDREN SHOULD BE FREE TO CARVE THEIR DESTINIES
HEAL TE INNER CHILD OF AFRICA
A COUNTRY IN DEBT IS A ROAD TO SLAVERY
CHILDREN SHOULD BE FREE TO CREATE THEIR DESTINIES
2015 A YEAR FOR JUDGEMENT
DO NOT DIE FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM, LIVE IT


Original post from

Let the grassroots meet the treetops

The monthly income, of the population in South Africa, can be divided into five groups.

1. Monthly earnings of below R3, 000 per month group. (Lower income group) (Below grass roots) - The majority of citizens -
2. The R 3,000-10,000 per month group (What should be the middle class but is now the upper lower class) (the grassroots)
3. R10 -R20, 000 per month group or the upper middle class group. (The trunk)
4. The upper income group R20, 000 to R40, 000 (the branches)
5. The gluttonous group of over R40, 000 per month. (The treetop)


The aim should be to get the majority of money earners in the upper middle class and the base line for any South African the lower middle class.

A way to approach this challenge may be for the R20, 000 and over group of income earners to pay a percentage of poverty relief tax for each rand they earn over R20, 000.

This poverty relief tax should be used to

* supplement the basic pension to R3, 000 per month,
* to provide free schooling and medical care,
* and to boost the wages of the lower middle class group, so that the treetops do not tower so high above the grassroots.



Original post from: Get Africa Working