When a New day comes in and find that its your Birthday; then its a remark that you have loved to live and you can still keep the hope of living nomatter what the circumstances are! Thats the start of a new year apart from the year celebrations; its a celebration that we are happy that we are come and have an impact on this world we live in! Though its a time of correction and insight that years of livelihood are running short!
So my Birthday went just fine! I woke up early morning heading for work! Before dawn; I had already logged in into my work station attending to clients; it is always fun dealing with irate, ignorant and elite or all kinds of people; not only is it a personality development experience but its also a one pattern of attaining a meaning in life; so to all who have upcoming birthdays; my advice would be to utilise it optimally giving back to what you believe in (society). Its the best thing you can ever have!
I am Grace Atuhaire, 23 year old female Journalist in Uganda with a passion in citizen journalism.
In March 2011, I was taken on as an Intern by Kess Grant at Twaweza Uganda. There I was to pilot the idea of an online Radio/Tv called Earlylife Radio. This grew to be a success and at the time I was introduced to Sam of the Uganda Radio Network. He liked the idea and gave me the project a chance to kick start from their studio but with an agreement that we were to start paying rent after a period of three months. I shared the platform with a friend from Kenya called Nohlini Akilinyi (Joined with other Kenyan Youths ). With the Ugandan friends like Verone Akakunda, Mimi Harriet, Gilbert Daniel Bwete and Allen Atutambira. These gave their free time to the radio but because to all of us it was not a priority activity. It kept on lagging behind and by the time the period of grace elapsed with URN, nothing much had been achieved.
In August, 2011, I met with Solomon Manzi, who I was acquitted to since December 2010. We got to discuss about the radio and since he was the head of the youth’s department at the Pan African Movement. He Introduce the concept to Newton, the global coordinator of the Pan African Movement. Its then that Daniel, after consulting with the Board of the Movement, the Radio was taken on to be the today Earlylife Pan African Radio.
So far, we have a studio room at the Pan African Movement secretariat offices in Kampala, a hosting website and have conducted a three day training of our volunteers who will be hosting different programs on the radio and this saw the acknowledge of media personalities, like Malcolm Webb of Aljazeera, Peter Mwesige from Africa Centre for Media Excellence and Derrick Kabisi from Talking films Africa.
Though, the radio still faces challenge of the studio equipment and account costing we have been nominated in the Young Achievers Awards 2011.. so i think we have made a great start.
About ELPA Radio:
EarlyLife Pan African Radio aims at giving a platform to the Pan African youth to contribute to their society through citizen journalism.
Its target audience; being all Pan Africanists, University going students as well as urban youths all over Africa that can access internet services on phone, wireless internet access laptops and Cyber Cafés.
Our Vision is to create an advocacy platform for youths to participate, voice issues and find solutions to problems that affect youths in different communities as a way of being part of social development.
You too can support us by clicking on the donation tab on the right side corner of our website at www.earlyliferadio.com
As we work on our programming, we welcome all youths aged between 16 to 38 to volunteer in sharing news and their experiences both Articles, Audio and video by registering on our website.
I hope this finds you well. I'm please to inform you about the official launch of the Rio+20 Global Youth Music Contest (www.glocha.info) by the International Association for Advancement of Global Challenges (IAAI). The contest was launched on the 15th September in Klagenfurt, Austria, with more than 30 youth participants attending and who already started to promote it in their regions and countries.
We recently sent out a Call for Regional and National Coordinators who will be selected around the world to work with us and support the implementation of the contest.
Could you please help us to spread the word and inform all youth part of your mailing lists and mostly those interested to use music to achieve sustainable development ? Please see attached to this email a copy of the press release of the International Preparatory Workshop and launching ceremony, a flyer as well as the concerned calls and their application forms.
We will appreciate if you can spread the word. Thank you in advance !
Kenya's Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai has died in Nairobi while undergoing cancer treatment. She was 71. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for promoting conservation, women's rights and transparent government - the first African woman to get the award. She was elected as an MP in 2002 and served as a minister in the Kenyan government for a time. Ms Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, which has planted 20-30 million trees in Africa.
Role model and heroine'
"It is with great sadness that the family of Professor Wangari Maathai announces her passing away on 25 September, 2011, at the Nairobi Hospital, after a prolonged and bravely borne struggle with cancer," the Green Belt Movement said in a statement.
"Her loved ones were with her at the time.
"Professor Maathai's departure is untimely and a very great loss to all who knew her - as a mother, relative, co-worker, colleague, role model, and heroine; or who admired her determination to make the world a more peaceful, healthier, and better place."
The organisation did not provide further details.
Ms Maathai, who was a professor of veterinary anatomy, rose to international fame for campaigns against government-backed forest clearances in Kenya in the late 1980s-90s.
Under the former government of President Daniel Arap Moi, she was arrested several times, and vilified.
In 2008, Ms Maathai was tear-gassed during a protest against the Kenyan president's plan to increase the number of ministers in the cabinet.
The BBC's Solomon Mugera met Ms Maathai a number of times.
For those who loved and admired her, she was "Wangari wetu" - our Wangari - he says. But for her enemies, she was derided as "yule mwanamke" - that woman.
In her speech accepting the Nobel prize, Ms Maathai said she hoped her own success would spur other women on to a more active role in the community.
"I hope it will encourage them to raise their voices and take more space for leadership," she said.
The President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, said she was saddened by the news.
"Africa, particularly African women, have lost a champion, a leader, an activist. We're going to miss her. We're going to miss the work she's been doing all these years on the environment, working for women's rights and women's participation," she said.
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Its time to get organised, its time to become stronger, its time to be clear, its time to speak louder, its time be wiser, its time to demand what youth want and prove what we can offer to the world...and its time to express what we think...The future is in our Hands whom shall we fear.
Secure your place with a one-time donation of $200 to register with Mzungu Volunteers. This gives you the opportunity to volunteer in any of our on-going projects in Uganda for as long as you or as short as you want. Return any time, any year, any month and continue volunteering!
For Just Only USD $120 per week!!! This donation goes towards your food and accommodation during your stay with us.No Hidden Fees!!!. We Share our Experience with you So you can Share Ours With the World!
hello every one, i want to know how you people feel about the natural calamities that are on an increase in our respective countries. recently in my country we have been experiencing mud slides which are killing people. according to you who is to blame, the government for allowing people settle in dangerous areas or the people who settle in such areas with a belief of better standards of living?
Uganda is going through a serious environmental degradation that calls for a focused and urgent intervention of different actors in order to avert the looming climate change phenomenon that is partly responsible for the current crisis.
Environmental degradation usually begins as an invisible environmental problem and gradually manifest into a strong socio-economic, political, cultural, spiritual and ethical problem with many victims. The cycle begins with poor natural resources exploitation and management, but above all, lack of respect for the rights of the commons - land, lakes, rivers, wetlands, forestry, wildlife and mineral resources. These resources have been recklessly exploited without considering their sustainability, which has a direct bearing on nature’s ability to support feature generations.
Today, unreliable climatic weather conditions, food insecurity, floods, landslides, arrant rainfall with storms and deadly lightening that has claimed a number of lives is a clear testimony that something has grossly gone wrong! There is need for a holistic governance paradigm shift to reverse this unfortunate trend.
It is true that reversal of the damages already done can be very costly, and may not be achieved in a short term. However, committed political will backed by efforts of vibrant committed citizens will be paramount.
we all have a role to play to reduce or stop the spread of hiv because in one way or another we are all affected so nomatter what you do today whether big or small that is intended to stop HIV is valuable so do something today.
He had lived a normal life until the erractic behaviour and mood swings started. Jimmy Odoki Acellam writes about how he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and how he copes with it
Growing up for me was normal. I went to Negri Primary School in Gulu and was admitted to St. Mary’s College Kisubi for O-Level and later Busoga College Mwiri for A-Level. I later left for Keele University, Staffordshire in UK to study Astrophysics and Computer Science on a scholarship.
The first year of study in the UK was so interesting, without any trouble and I enjoyed it. The second year marked what would change my life. My behaviour became erratic (irregular).
I would have rapid mood swings, spend long hours in the laboratories working out solutions and making phone calls that lasted long hours. I then turned aggressive and became threatening towards some university staff I deemed racist. Because of that, I got excluded and had to come back home.
Life was never the same. I got so argumentative with my parents and they got concerned. I no longer had a normal sleep pattern and preferred to spend more time online and on phone. I was always on the move. This got out of hand such that a family friend, Dr Amos Mwaka, recommended that I see a consultant psychiatrist.
The consultant’s diagnosis was that from the time my behaviour became abnormal, I was suffering from bipolar disorder, probably triggered by a stressful life. He put me on treatment of mood stabilisers and antidepressants. I have since then been taking this medication.
From that time, life became normal as I managed to enroll at Uganda Martyrs University and graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology. My family, friends and relatives have been understanding because they understand my condition.
Challenges of living with the condition
The greatest challenge is the cost of medication and routine visit to consultants. Bipolar disorder still has no known cure, so its patients live almost the rest of their lives on medication. Defaulting may lead to a relapse, which is much like beginning the cycle all over again. Since the drugs don’t come cheap, living on medication poses a big challenge for patients of bipolar disorder and their family members.
Also, stigma in some cases exists because some people find it difficult to understand mental illness.
For patients of bipolar disorder, before diagnosis, especially before any signs are apparent, they live normal lives. Apart from a few subtle signs like a lack of desire to go to sleep, there is very little or nothing at all to suggest presence of such a disorder. That is possibly one reason why most diagnoses of bipolar disorder are only made after certain suggestive signs, like rapid mood swings and depression.
I have known a few people who suffer from the same but are managing well and live normal lives.
Internationally, many movie stars, footballers and sports icons have been named as victims of the disorder. But in Uganda not as many diagnoses have been made, probably because of a lack of awareness.
Among the few known to me are professionals who are living a normal life and getting on well with their careers.
In a case of a friend’s mother, for instance, the family only started to suspect something was seriously wrong when she begun getting hallucinations. Before then, they had brushed off her not so often mood swings as probably a result of stress stemming from the weight of responsibilities she had to shoulder and the fact that their father was never that supportive.
All they can remember was that their mother was a “normal” woman, like every other, until her husband was retired, leaving most of the responsibilities of schooling their eight children to her.
On top of other stress issues, this addition must have had a toll on her. Warning bells were sounded when after a while she begun having disjointed talk and hallucinations. Until then, they had heard nothing about bipolar disorder. With the help of her employers, she sought medical attention.
She was then referred to Butabika Hospital where she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and immediate treatment administered.
“Mental cases, like HIV earlier in the day, still attract a lot of stigma and so it was not easy for us,” explains one of her sons. He adds that there were some friends who were very supportive as were most relatives.
“As a family, it was a very stressful period. I still remember seeing my mother in Butabika Hospital and not being able to stop the flow of tears from my eyes. I thought I had lost my mother but looking back, I should have been stronger. The medication perfectly worked for her and now she is okay,” he recounts.
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A highway through the Serengeti National Park was supposed to connect isolated areas at Lake Victoria with the region around the Kilimanjaro. In the opinion of the Tanzanian government, this was planned, in order to achieve a better development of the regions and to tap new the markets. After a long lasting protest of national and international conservationists in combination with the menace of the UNESCO to deprive the world natural heritage state, awarded in 1981, the Tanzanian government finally give in at the end of June 2011. The Serengeti National Park and its important animal migration routes will not be separated by a two-lane highway. The highway is now planned to run in the south of the park and will be integrated in already existing road sections.
Background:
In the areas of the Serengeti National Park as well as of the bordering National Park Massai Mara in Kenya, between 1.3 and 1.5 million animals annually trek hundreds of kilometres to waterholes and subsequently back to their initial pastures. This is the largest, still intact long distance migration route of wild animals in Africa. The planned road would have intersected the migration routes of the animals. The risk of collisions between animals and traffic be would have been unavoidable and fences along the road would have cut the ways of the animals. The whole construction project should would have been a great risk for the sensitive ecosystem.
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Background: The growing health risks associated with greenhouse gas emissions highlight the need for new energy policies that emphasize efficiency and low-carbon energy intensity.
Objectives: We assessed the relationships among electricity use, coal consumption, and health outcomes.
Methods: Using time-series data sets from 41 countries with varying development trajectories between 1965 and 2005, we developed an autoregressive model of life expectancy (LE) and infant mortality (IM) based on electricity consumption, coal consumption, and previous year’s LE or IM. Prediction of health impacts from the Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS) integrated air pollution emissions health impact model for coal-fired power plants was compared with the time-series model results.
Results: The time-series model predicted that increased electricity consumption was associated with reduced IM for countries that started with relatively high IM (> 100/1,000 live births) and low LE (< 57 years) in 1965, whereas LE was not significantly associated with electricity consumption regardless of IM and LE in 1965. Increasing coal consumption was associated with increased IM and reduced LE after accounting for electricity consumption. These results are consistent with results based on the GAINS model and previously published estimates of disease burdens attributable to energy-related environmental factors, including indoor and outdoor air pollution and water and sanitation.
Conclusions: Increased electricity consumption in countries with IM < 100/1,000 live births does not lead to greater health benefits, whereas coal consumption has significant detrimental health impacts.
Estimating the Global Public Health Implications of Electricity and Coal Consumption
Detox Now! available in:English (original) | French
Fabulous news!
Puma, the third largest sportswear company in the world, has leaped ahead of rivals Nike and Adidas this morning by publicly committing[1] to the elimination of all releases of hazardous chemicals from its entire product life cycle, and across its global supply chain, by the year 2020. The move comes less than two weeks into our Detox campaign, and shows the power of thousands of people challenging the industry online and in cities around the world.
The question is, who will take the Detox Challenge to the next level -- Nike or Adidas.