Rethos.com - jhr's News Feed

Toxic Work if You Can Get It

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:13:43 -0400

E-waste is piling up in Ghana. For some boys, it signals a job opportunity - but at what cost to their health?

JOY FM reporter Peter Korda recently took a trip to a dumping site to investigate a growing problem in Accra: e-waste.

The term e-waste refers to old electronics - computers, tv sets, fridges - that have stopped working and are dumped at various waste sites. The problem with e-waste is that it contains carcinogenic chemicals like lead, cadmium, and others that are poisonous to the human body and the environment. The "e-waste" buzzword has been f...

Rural Sierra Leonean Library Goes Solar

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:39:10 -0400

By Mackay Taggart with files from Joseph B. Bangura

The modern library goes beyond simply books and bookcases. It has become, thanks to the proliferation of the internet and electronic media, a way to connect and interact with the world at large.

Unfortunately the Makeni City Library is not yet a modern library, for it, like most buildings in the city, has no access to electricity. However, a private donation, a hot Saturday morning and a sheet of solar panels the size a beach towel is about to change that.

Last weekend townspeople ...

FGM and Legislation: Is It Working?

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:36:11 -0500

Experts tell JOY FM that practitioners of FGM are smuggling their children outside of Ghana for the procedure

The UN has mandated February 6th as of Zero Tolerance For FGM Day. FGM entails a partial or total removal of the clitoris from the female organ. Practitioners believe it reduces promiscuity in women, but the practice has serious health implications for victims. Under the Ghanaian constitution of 1994, FGM is considered prohibited as a "customary practice" that is considered dehumanizing and "injuri...

Residents of Accra Slum Resist Government's Resettlement Deadline

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:18:33 -0500

Residents of the Sodom and Gomorrah slum say they will need at least six months to resettle to a new site as dictated by government. Minister for Works, Water and Housing Alhaji Boniface Abubakar Saddique announced a few days ago that people in the slum would be expected to move out to the new settlement in Agyinkotoku by the end of January. But opinion leaders in the area they need more time to conduct a head count. This will help planners determine appropriate housing in the new settlement. Meanwhile, some people living in the slum have continued to build residence instead of preparing...

'Briser le silence'

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:53:44 -0500

RÃ©publique DÃ©mocratique du Congo et Rwanda - La Radio PrivÃ©e Contact FM 89.7 a donnÃ© le coup dâ€™envoi de sa campagne intitulÃ©e â€˜brisons le silenceâ€™ aujourdâ€™hui, dans le but de sensibiliser lâ€™opinion publique sur la violence sexuelle en RÃ©publique DÃ©mocratique du Congo.

Â« il est estimÃ© que plus dâ€™un demi million de femmes ont Ã©tÃ© violÃ©es durant le gÃ©nocide et personne nâ€™a sonnÃ© lâ€™alarme Â», sâ€™indigne Albert Rudatsimburwa, Directeur de Contact FM. â€œEn ce moment mÃªme nos soeurs du Congo font face Ã lâ€™horreur de ...

Sierra Leone: World's Poorest Country

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:47:18 -0500

Freetown, Sierra Leone - Another of Sunkari Conteh’s children is sick. The last time one of her children fell ill, it died.

Almost three years old, her daughter succumbed to diarrhoea because Conteh couldn’t afford to pay a Le 90,000 medical consultation fee.

“I pleaded with the doctor to wait while my husband gathered the money,” she said. “The doctor refused. I cried and yelled at him, but he didn’t listen.”

As she cried again this past Saturday, Conteh recalled that she was able to take her baby to a pharma...

Sierra Leone's Presidential Election Results

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:21:59 -0500

Freetown, Sierra Leone – “Sierra Leone has fallen from second to last position, to the bottom of the 2007 / 2008 Global Human Development Report after Mali, Niger, Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso. The Report ranks Sierra Leone at 177 out of 177 nations based on data from 2005, which indicated the Life expectancy to be 41.8 years, adult literacy 34.81, education enrolment 44.61 and the Gross Domestic Product/Capita is $806 US.” (Abu Bakarr Jalloh, Premier News)

Kim Barry Brunhuber captured these images after the Sept 17th election results were announced.

Malawiâ€™s Farmers Given Bittersweet Blessing

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:03:08 -0500

Lilongwe, MALAWI â€“ Police gunned a man down on Saturday, the most extreme of many recent incidents showing the corruption and social unrest resulting from Malawiâ€™s celebrated fertilizer subsidy program.

Eyewitnesses in Dowa, a town 50 km north of the capital Lilongwe, said the incident took place when government officials arrived to distribute fertilizer subsidy coupons and were unable to meet the demands of the crowd.

Sources told the Malawi media that 80 registered beneficiaries showed up, but only 25 coupons were available. When the cr...

Journalists for Electricity

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:02:57 -0500

Freetown, Sierra Leone – The talk of Freetown is power. The capital city has been without reliable electricity since the 1980s. Newly elected President Ernest Bai Koroma has promised power to the people for December 20, 2007. ABC TV’s Wotay Kamara takes a look at how the media has been coping.

Hunting witches in Sierra Leone

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:57:25 -0500

A number of children have been killed by witchcraft in a small village in Sierra Leone. Witch hunters have been hired to find and exorcise the witch responsible.

Greg Crompton and Abu Bakaar Jalloh Report

African Women Grab the Mic

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:53:50 -0500

Women in Sierra Leone are making their voices heard overtop dancehall, reggae, and hip-hop beats. These women are freestyling for change in the second least developed nation in the world. Sierra Leoneans are listening. The government better open their ears.

Greg Crompton and Abu Bakar Jalloh Report

The AIDS Conspiracy in Africa

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:48:48 -0500

Do you think HIV/AIDS is real? Could it all be a conspiracy theory by the developed nations to curb the population of Africa? Greg Crompton investigates why many Sierra Leoneans are questioning the validity of HIV/AIDS and how this has allowed the virus to spread at an alarming rate.

Greg Crompton and Abu Bakar Jalloh Report from Freetown