15 killed and 53 injured

UN peacekeeper who were staying in Democratic Republic of Congo, 15 were killed while 53 others were injured. The Democratic forces were the ones who attacked the UN peacekeepers. The Other UN peacekeepers are making it their mission to capture those who were responsible for the Peacekeepers deaths. The incident took place in North Kivu, and it seemed to have lasted for three hours. This attack has been called the worst attack in " recent history". They are searching very hard for the people who caused this pain and suffering. The are actually giving those who know anything or any one who killed and injured  the UN peacekeepers a rewards if they were to speak up.  Anonymous person said "I condemn this attack unequivocally," he said. "These deliberate attacks against UN peacekeepers are unacceptable and constitute a war crime. I call on the DRC authorities to investigate this incident and swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice. There must be no impunity for such assaults, here or anywhere else." 

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/08/africa/africa-un-peacekeepers-killed/index.html

Sex trafficking in Africa

Sandra ( not her real name ) was a prostitute once. Because she was in a lot of debt, she had to pay back her trafficker. Her trafficker helped her cross over from Nigeria. She talks about her experiences, and how her clients treated her. One horrific time, that she talks about is when she was pushed out of a two story house for not wanting to engage in their activities. They wold even try to kill her is she resisted, and lot of the times there would be more than ten men at a time. The reason why many women are trafficked into Europe for prostitution is because, there is a lot of women left on the streets due to poverty. The poverty is so bad that the women are willing to do anything just to make it. Sandra says her trafficker " took my pants, my bra, the hair from my head, the armpit, and my private parts. A " pastor" convinced her that if she traveled to Europe, that all of hr problems of poverty would be solved, but for Sandra she was tricked .  She and other girls were eventually rescued and sent back home.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/04/africa/nigeria-benin-city-sex-trafficking/index.html

Helping the LGBTQ Community one step at a time

Katlego is from Botswana and she is a Transgender women. Katlego has been receiving a lot of criticism from her fellow people, and sometimes even abuse. Her people can't seem to accept the fact that she is transgender and therefore they bully her. Katlego goes on to talk about how one day a man, started to throw bricks at her, and the bystanders watching beside her did nothing. They let the man continue to harass Katlego as they stood there. Which is just awful and cruel. Another lady by the name of Adong Judith is from Uganda, she is a straight women who has decided to help fight against discrimination for the LGBTQ community. Especially in African nations where being LGBTQ is forbidden, or looked down upon. They both have teamed up to started the very first LGBT themed theater festival. with this they want to see LGBTQ people audition for plays such as " Romeo and Juliet" in order to try and change the attitudes of homophobia people. Together they plan to make a difference in the nations one step at a time. 

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/20/africa/africa-gay-attitudes-change-minds/index.html

Picture : http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/20/africa/africa-gay-attitudes-change-minds/index.html

Marburg Outbreak

A very contagious and extremely deadly disease has spread in Uganda. Those infected with the disease have symptoms such as High fever, bleeding, vomiting, and diarrhea. Two cases have been confirmed that the cause of their death came from the Marburg disease. Two other cases were suspected that the Marburg disease was the cause of their death's. Now the cases that were confirmed that Marburg was the reason, those two people were brother and sister. It was reported that the Male had been living near a cave that contained Rousettus bats, this bats were known to be carrying the disease. So after it infected him some how it was transferred onto the sister. The disease is so contagious that even just by touching contaminated surfaces and materials can infect a human. At least up to 135 patients currently have been infected with the disease. As of right now WHO has been working with the Ugandan health authorities to help stop the disease from spreading. It has been said that the Marburg outbreak is very similar to Ebola. And that there is currently no cure for the disease.



Article : http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/31/health/marburg-virus-uganda/index.html

Kids for sale ?

A loving family of six wanted to help out children in any way that they could. They decided a good way of doing so to be adopting an orphan child. They wanted to share their love and abundance with an unfortunate child  who did not have access to any of that. They did their research and learned that there were over 3 million orphans in Uganda.  So, they decided they wanted to adopt a child from Uganda. After a little over a year, they received a little six year old orphan girl named Namata from Uganda. The agency from where they adopted her said she had been abused by her birth parents and abandoned by her family. Namata was a sweet and loving girl who never showed signs of being neglected, which astonished the family, but what surprised them the most was that she would tell the family stories about how loving her family was and about the good memories she had of them. At first they thought she was telling those stories to try and cope with her traumatic past. But they soon realized she was telling the truth, she was never an orphan, and everything that was in her paper work was a lie. They realized that they were provided with a false " orphan" who was never truly abandoned by her family, only to fulfill their wants to adopt. They learned that this has been happening a lot with families in Uganda.  They  also later found out that Namata's mother was told that the family would give Namata an education and would be cared for but not fully adopted.  Once Namata's birth mother realized what was happening she realized she would never see her daughter again, which devastated her. The family did what they thought was the right thing to do and returned Namata to her family, where she belongs. Even though they were devastated to see her leave they were happy to see her  excitement to be back with her family.

3 strangers

A man named Mohamed ( not his actual name ) was forced into joining the Boko Haram by his own friend. Before Mohamed forcefully joined the Boko Haram he owned a business fixing and selling mobile phones. But once he heard about the Boko Haram entering his village he decided to flee for  his life. But his " friend " started to convince Mohamed that the Boko Haram  was not harmful and that he should return back to the village to continue his business. Of coarse when Mohamed returned, his friend gave him only two options. Either join the Boko Haram or get killed, Mohamed had no intention of dying so  he decided to join. Mohamed told the stories of where they would run through villages and collect women so that they can be used as wife's. They had fought six battles and if they captured men who were part of the vigilante they would kill them. Mohamed feared for his life but even though he didn't agree with their actions he had no choice but to go along with it.  He was then set up as a body guard by a commander, Mohamed was in charge of taking care of the commander's wife. he had to keep an eye on her so that she wouldn't run away. Aisha was her name ( not her real name) , Aisha trusted Mohammed she could see that he wasn't into the Boko Haram. She convinced him to try to escape with her, they met up at night various times to plan their steps. But one day the commander caught them together and it seemed as if they were having an affair, so they were tied up . Luckily they both were able to free themselves and escape, on the way they found this little boy by himself and they decided to take him with them. Aisha had seen the boy before but she didn't know what had happened to his parents. All three of them surrendered to the authorities, and Mohamed said that they have been treating them very good since they have surrendered. Now it is up to the authorities if this new family of three can stay together or not.


Article : http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-41388569

Kenya Vs Plastic

Kenya has been fighting a war between plastic bags for years. But it seems that no matter how much plastic they try to limit, it doesn't seem to work. This time Kenya is going to ban plastic bags entirely, and they hope that this time is will be successful in helping out the environment. Kenya wants to join other countries such as   Rwanda, Mauritania, Eritrea, Cameroon, Guinea- Bissau, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Malawi. Their efforts in trying to ban plastic has been pretty successful especially in Rwanda. Although banning plastic would be a great outcome for the country, it wouldn't be such a great outcome for those who sell plastic bags for a living.  As of August 28 up to 1.2 million people will be left with no job. A man by the name of Jonathon Mwagangi  has been selling plastic bags for the past 15 years. And if he or others are found to be selling plastic bags they will be punished. They can face up to four years in jail or a fine of 38,000 or even both. They were given six months to get rid of their supplies, many business were wiped out including Jonathan's. I do believe that this would benefit the country a whole lot, but at the same time it is saddening to hear that many would be left without jobs.


Article and Picture :  http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/31/africa/kenya-plastic-ban/index.html