I saw this exciting piece over at Philanthrocapitalism about…philanthrocapitalism, of all things, in 2010. Here’s a super-good thing to put at #3: 3) Malaria will be the cause of the year, centered on the World Cup in South Africa. The Malaria No More campaign, backed by Bill Gates and a bunch of corporate sponsors including [...]
Posts Tagged ‘africa’
Poorism
January 4th, 2010
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Ode Magazine, which I once subscribed to, ran a story this past April called “Slum tours: Traveling off the beaten path” detailing the rise of what some have dubbed “poorism”, or traipsing through the slums of this planet for an alternative travel experience. Coming from Ode, I figured that this would be a hit piece [...]
Why faith? Part 2
October 23rd, 2009
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A previous post addressed the religious imperative against malaria from the standpoint of those of us in the US, UK, and Canada. So why is the Faiths Act campaign so explicit about the work of churches and mosques on the ground in sub-Saharan Africa? As it turns out, religious communities in the developing world are [...]
Settling into San Jose
October 5th, 2009
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Hafsa and I have been settling into our office within the offices of the Islamic Networks Group for a few days. The Faiths Act Fellowship officially launched last Thursday, the first day of work for the Fellows. It’s an odd feeling to know that Hafsa and I aren’t only working by ourselves; in cities across [...]
Why faith? Part 1
September 16th, 2009
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Today I leave Chicago along with twenty-eight of the other Faiths Act Fellows (my site-partner Hafsa lives in the city). I’m not flying home since home for me is only 100-odd miles west of Chicago. Tonight I’ll meet up with some of my old professors, mentors, and friends from Aurora University to play catch-up on [...]
The sheikh is my best friend
September 1st, 2009
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“The sheikh is my best friend,” shotus Father Mpinge. My site-partner Hafsa and I smile, too. The sheikh-in-question is actually the imam of the largest mosque in town. Mpinge is the parish priest of St. Francis, the largest Catholic congregation. We didn’t expect such a statement from him. As it turns out, the priest and [...]
Zanzibar is a real place
August 30th, 2009
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Note: This is my first post using QuickPress! YAY! For years I’ve heard of this mythical island out on the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania. It’s called ZANZIBAR, and it’s quite nearly as awesome as I thought it would be. Zanzibar is 99% Muslim, which is a bit of a departure from the [...]
Bed net + mosquito = malaria?
August 24th, 2009
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Asma is sitting in front of me on a hospital bed holding her son Abdalla’s hand. He’s lying down, semi-conscious, with a chloroquine drip in his arm. She’s wearing a black abaya with gold feather trim at the sleeves. She’s absolutely beautiful. Abdalla was sick – vomiting and in pain – so she took him [...]
Leprosy and “Kingdom work”
August 22nd, 2009
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For the last two weeks, one particular session for the Tanzanian portion of our training program had been in the back of my mind, waiting. The itineraries we received in London listed a “Visit to leprosarium,” and we were informed that it was, indeed, a home for those affected by leprosy. I know what you’re [...]
Making Small Talk
August 21st, 2009
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If I could choose a superpower to have whilst traveling, it would be the ability to speak fluently the major language(s) of the area that I’m visiting, and to have a solid grip on all the various cultural practices of its people. I’m skilled with languages as it is, but absorbing them takes time that [...]
