The article refers to very crucial element of the pontificate of the John Paul II, his engagement in Catholic Church matters in Africa, and his wider concern of African people. Before showing different forms of the engagement of the John Paul II, the situation of the contemporary Catholic Church in Africa was presented. The Pope expressed his interest on Africa and its citizens in many ways. During his pontificate he made 14 pilgrimages to the African continent (in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000) and visited 42 countries. On the international scene he was an advocate of African people and supported initiatives which could solve political, social and economic problems of the continent (especially military conflicts, hunger, diseases e.g. AIDS, economic injustice). In the end of article synthetic depiction of results of the engagement were characterized.
Islam as a religious term is quite unclear when we talk about its principles in Western Africa. This region is a specific example of overlapping influences, religions, cultures and ideas. Potentially, in the context of New York 2001 dramatic events, 'Africa should answer' as S. Huntington describes it in his famous work. African presence was completely surprising, when it showed its own way of treating Osama Bin-Laden and the Fundamentalist theory. Mixture of influences for ages gave this part of continent a special kind of tolerance and „ecumenical" co-existence of cultures and religions. In such conditions, Black Muslim, self-created by the natural fitting and the dialog with the local tradition, worked out its own rules and religious standards. The article tries to describe the designates of common Muslim behaviors in the context of contemporary African everyday life. As the support, the author uses the rules of five pillars of Islam: Shahada (Profession of Faith), Salat (prayers), Zakat (Giving of Alms), Sawm (Fasting during Ramadan) and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). These five practices are essential to Sunni Islam which is the base of Black Muslim. The result of the reflection is the statement of diversity and heterogeneity of the African Islam. Islam's rules, principles and duties were confronted with the power of traditional religions and cultures and this confrontation gave the African Islam a new face - totally inhomogeneous and full of local, specific solutions. While considering the character of Black Islam one should speak about its duality found between "bush" and "scholar" versions. Scientists talk about the exceptional, autonomic character of religious activities. The sources of observations and opinions are confirmed by the interviews collected during the scientific expeditions organized by Municipal Museum in Żory, where the author works.
In the article Africa's position in the achievements of the main representatives' geopolitical thought has been described. In the period until 1945 considerations about this continent as an object of expansion were preferred, it was also emphasized Africa's little significance in the context of a lack of sufficient power on the global scale. An interesting exception has been created by Halford Mackinder, who called a major part of Africa "Southern Heartland" - a territory recognized as difficult to conquest and control by sea powers. In the modern geopolitical thought more attention has been paid to marginalization of Africa, what is a consequence of the lack of essential centres of power, economic weakness, and not completely formed separate African civilisation. Another considered aspect was the main lines dividing the continent. They coincide in the high degree with the common division into North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Contemporary Africa is a very specific expanse where territories and boundaries always played major role. The shape of boundaries is one of the main problems in African countries since long time. Boundaries imposed by colonist countries often didn’t mirror the real divisions and differences on relevant territory. These days many scientists notice a huge value of boundaries and territories on African continent. One of them is Achille Mbembe - theorist of post colonialism, African issues expert and the author of some well-known political essays. According to Mbembe a boundary is not always the end, it's often just the beginning of wide-ranging consequences in behaviour of some objects of foreign affairs. Colonialism and its results are in his opinion the first factor that impacted and still does on territorial situation in Africa. The second is a regional integration that is nowadays happening in Africa. Mbembe marks out three parts of African continent and pays attention to some connections among them. In his opinion every region, every area has its use and can be domesticated even if is regarded as marginal. Africa is constantly pulling itself apart and taking on new shapes under the combined effects of demography, massive urbanisation and the economic, military and religious ambitions being pursued.
In most simple societies it is possible to find different forms of the political power. Apart from the usual exercise of the power as government of the common matters, inside these groups the politics concerns the socialization of the youths preparing them to their social functions, the confrontation and adaptation of the interests of the group and the communication of the symbols. Outside the groups the politics of the lineage authority defends the integrity of the group and regulates the relationship between different lineages of the neighbourhood. The lineage authority bases on the kinship and the territory. The author presents the dynamic structure of the lineage and different factors having influence on the power of line- age authority. First, it is the kinship and the age hierarchy which cause the continuous change in lineages through the process of segmentation and fusion. Then, it is the territory which constitutes another important element of authority because its property remains in hands of the head of the whole lineage. Next, the author exposes the role of the ancestors as warrants of the political order and in the end he shows that the marriage as a contract between two segments or lineages can be an important means of political influence. The lineage authority disposes of sufficient political instruments to wield power without any coercive means.
The problem of the Polish stereotype of Africa and its change- ability is interpreted on the basis of the research conducted among c.a. 1000 students educated in Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia (e.g. Gdańsk University, Technical University in Gdańsk). The findings of the research disclosed that young generation of Poles had revealed quite big interest towards African problems, both to the past, present and future. But their knowledge on Africa functions in images of mythos and stereotypes which are created and propagated by mass media in less extent by school education. Important function in widening knowledge on the Continent plays development of Polish contacts with African countries (employment of Poles on contracts, creation of Polish Diaspora centers and visits of Polish tourists). Among young Polish generation functions positive picture of Africa and its cultural specificity. African reality is experienced as exotic and worth to get to know. But from the point of development of Civilization, Africa comes to light as backward, poor with many pathological problems of the continent.
German politics against colonies has been significantly modified for over two centuries of its history. In the first period, from the end of the 17th to the end of 19th century, its character can be described as economical. To win the market for the products of their industry, German traders set up merchant posts. This situation changed in 19th century, when the other European countries started to set up their colonies in Africa, gaining wider and wider ground and exploiting them without scruples. Germany, to keep abreast, joined the race for the ground and profits. Up to the end of the First World War German officials and soldiers tried to make the local people subservient, treating them like the narrow-minded and primitive, and destroying their culture and tradition. However their oft-cruel practices stayed in the general trends of the attitude European countries against their colonies and aborigines.
Cardiovascular diseases are widely distributed throughout the world. In Africa they account for about 15% hospital admissions and 10 - 20% fatalities. In the tropics, cardiovascular pathology can be divided into two groups: cardiovascular diseases typical of the tropics (group I) e.g.,: Chagas heart disease, endomyocardial fibrosis and cosmopolitan cardiovascular diseases (group II) e.g.,: arterial hypertension, rheumatic fever, infective endocarditis, peri-carditis or ischemic heart disease. Nutritional deficiencies, severe anemia, parasitic diseases and primary cardiomyopathies are most commonly implicated in the pathogenesis of group I diseases.
The Mediterranean Area is a very important region at the contemporary international relations. Since 2001 the United States have established closer relations with North African countries. There are two main goals of the American foreign Policy towards Maghreb: one of the main goal of this cooperation is searching for the alternative way of supplying the United States by African gas and oil. Algeria, Libya and Nigeria are one of the biggest holders and exporters of these natural minerals. Nowadays, U.S., European countries and Russia are in rivalry for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and oil contracts with the African partners. The winner of this compete will keep control of the whole market of minerals and from the political, economic and strategic point of view will be stronger in the future. The second one is supporting by Maghreb countries U.S. counter-terrorism military operation Active Endeavour.
Introduction: Malaria is the most common tropical infectious disease caused by parasitic protozoa, affecting every year about 220 million of people with about 1-3 million deaths. It is known that every 30 seconds one African child dies from malaria. Moreover, malaria as the most common imported tropical disease is the most frequent cause of deaths. Currently, in African countries, every year, about 300-500 million people have malaria, and more than a million die from malaria. A high percentage of deaths refers to children under 5 years old, pregnant women and susceptible individuals. Materials and methods: The examination was carried out from July to September, 2011 year in 60 peoplepatients of the Out-patients Clinic f St. Francis Hospital, in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, using the questionnaire created by author.Results: As many as 96.7% of respondents answered that the best method was avoiding mosquitoes via using bed mosquito nets and protective clothing. A total of 51.7% indicated chemical substances as an effective protective method against malaria. The surveyed named repellents such as liquids, aerosols, creams and sticks. Thirty two people (53.7%) wrote that an effective protective method against malaria was to avoid mosquitoes’ incubation sites, to remove garbage frequently and to clear regularly ponds round the houses.Conclusion: Ugandan patients identified the risk factors and groups, non-key symptoms and prophylaxis against malaria. The majority of Ugandan patients indicated there was vaccine against malaria. More than half of Ugandan patients (65%) declared that a mosquito bite is the route of malaria infection, however, more than 50% of those living in rural areas thought on other routes such as, e.g. unboiled water.
In every human society, the role of history in determining the level of development cannot be ignored. History is not just an academic discipline, but also the totality of changes humanity has undergone as well as the interactions man enters into with his fellow man on the one hand and the environment on the other since the evolution of the human society. It is therefore, the sum total of these that brings about the development in the society. The history of Africa before colonial conquest is full of various attempts by the people to develop their various areas using indigenous technology, which in some cases are considered very advanced. However, over the years especially after independence, this idea seems to have completely disappeared, which in the view of the paper is due to the neglect of study and knowledge of history. This paper therefore examines the role of the neglect of history in the reality and causes of contemporary economic woes in present day African setting Data obtained from primary and secondary sources were deployed to carry out the study with an analytical and narrative historical method. Findings indicate that the neglect of man in Africa to learn from the lessons of history (both the study and interaction) is responsible for the seemingly gloomy future which the continent is presently faced with as reflected in massive brain-drain, import dependency economy, raw material production industries, and incessant strife among others. The paper concludes that a genuine sense of history, a fidelity to its revelations, courageous acceptance of its judgments and workings and its implications for both the present and future, are necessary steps in the formation of the basic architecture for building a viable Africa. The paper cannot, claim to present the entire history of the continent over the period covered from a uniform perspective. It deal with some selected developments and, in this way, aim to contribute to the presentation of a more multifaceted view especially as it relates to the socio-economic stagnation and decline of indigenous technology of the African continent from a historical point of view.
In the article the author tries to represent in a synthetic way both continuity and changes in he ways of perceiving Africa in Poland within a long period of time- since Middle Ages till now. It is pointed out that the Polish images of Africa have always belon-ged to European views on that continent. The author doesn't agree with the common opinion that there was something specific and different in the way Africa was perceived in Poland due to the fact that Poland never took part in the slave - trade and colonization and at the end of the 18th century lost its national independence itself. Particular Polish history was sometimes believed to find expres-sion in better understanding of African problems. However, every-thing that has been written on Africa by Polish authors proves that our attitudes to and stereotypes of Africa were included in the all-European pattern, although some of our outstanding countrymen (Beniowski, Conrad, Malinowski) contributed to those attitudes to some extent.
This article focuses on the new policy of China towards Africa. Over the past 50 years, Sino - African relations was based on ideological reasons, but in recent years, rather there is the growing interest of economic factors. The new strategy of five principles, designed as the guide line to cooperate with African states is to fulfil this goal. These include: mutual respect, for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence. The ultimate goal of this principle is based on diplomatic offensive to strengthen political, economic and strategic relations with African countries. This strategy is motivated by great demand of energy for the booming economy of China, which led to seek oil and other raw materials from Africa. The China - Africa cooperation Forum was established in 2000. The cooperation forum was the result of collective dialogue to promote peace and development based on mutual benefit. The second Ministerial Conference of the China - Africa cooperation Forum that was held in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), in December 2003, adopted the Action Plan (2004-2006) to be implemented within three years. The two sides have further agreed to step up their high-level exchanges and political consultations and will also jointly work on the issues of peace and security, trade cooperation, cultural exchanges and to enhance coordination in international affairs. So far, the leaders of Africa are satisfied with cooperation, which guarantees them to keep them in power; on the other hand for the vast majority of the people of Africa, the new power is not better than those of the colonial power. Recently, Chinese economic expansion is growing very fast in Africa. Traditional economic partners of the continent are worried about the situation. Competition among economic powers to retain their position may undermine the issues of human rights and democracy.
In this article I present and critically analyze the main ideas of the Nigerian thinker, Ifeanyi A. Menkiti, on the problem of African borders for the future of the African state. Menkiti appears to consider that the basic condition for the successful coexistence of the various groups of peoples (ethnic groups, tribes) occupying the states of Africa is for relations between them to rest on equitable principles. Justice, in his opinion, should involve the fair and equitable division amongst peoples of the burdens and benefits of living in a common state. To realize this ideal, he proposes the creation in Africa of morally neutral, minimalist managerial states, in which the competencies of the regional authorities would be increased at the cost of the central government. He bases his plan in part on the ideas of John Rawls, especially on his 'law of peoples'. Close analysis of Menkiti's views shows that his vision of the managerial state is only a temporary solution, which is to lead to the peaceful dismemberment of the current post-colonial model of multi-ethnic states functioning within the old colonial borders. The basic value of Menkiti's thought rests in his reversal of the usual perspective on African states, as he considers that maintaining territorial integrity or achieving unity should no longer be considered a paramount necessity.
Relations between African and European Union countries are complex and multidimensional. This paper concentrates on the development assistance to Africa by the European Economic Community/European Union from the Treaty of Rome to the Treaty of Lisbon. Changes in the relationship between Africa and the European Union resulting from the Lisbon Summit are described in the second part of the article. In the final part institutional and financial dimension of the European Union assistance to Africa is presented.
Refugees impose a variety of security, economic and environ- mental burdens on host countries, but also embody a significant flow of resources in the form of international humanitarian assistance, economic assets and human capital. This article explores the challenges and opportunities for African local communities arising from the double impact of refugee - generated resources and security problems. It argues that the potential benefit for the local peoples go beyond the burdens imposed by a mass influx. Refugee resources and security threats potentially provide long-term gains, and, by compelling the state to strengthen its grip on border areas, enable the state to „harden" its presence there. However, for host states to realize the potential of refugee resources and continue hosting refugees, they must be assisted by appropriate humanitarian programmers.
Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906-2001), eminent columnist, excellent speaker, literary critic, philosopher, culture specialist and linguist, one of the ablest African poets of the 20th century, he was one of the first to start the dialogue between Africa and Europe in the 30's. His poetry and journalism broadened a cultural sphere, and his socio-political activity laid foundations of reaching an agreement between different continents. The great African patriot, he was and will remain a man of an open world, the boundless world.
The Catholic Church is a strong player in Africa, especially due to its social, medical, educational care and charity giving to African people. Diplomacy of the Holy See is also very concerned with African problems at an international forum. First of all the cause of this involvement is the increasing community of the Catholic faithful in Africa. The paper deals with a few aspects of Catholic commitment for the better future of this marginalized continent and tries to answer the question if the Catholic Church/the Holy See is the real power in Africa. However, there is not explicit answer because of special nature of this entity.
The main objective of this paper was to present the problem of aid to Africa during the presidency of George W. Bush junior. This paper states about different types of American aid such as humanitarian, economic and military. It also focuses on innovative programs for instance The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Malaria Initiative, and Debt Relief, which the administration of George W. Bush established during his two terms. The foreign policy of the administration of George W. Bush in Africa transformed millions of lives in this continent and was the main success of the whole George W. Bush junior presidency.
Wealth and poverty in Africa are phenomena perceived in the modern world as the most drastic symptoms of social polarisation. These phenomena are defined by indicators. The following indicators have been used in this article: development index - HDI, poverty index - HPI and also gender index - GDI. However, behind the numbers there is a reality that is far more complicated. Hence, in order to see an objective picture of a society we mustn't forget that all indicators show only an average. The reality is quality of life: actual earnings, place of stay, chances for a professional and social promotion, and barriers in the access to education, welfare, and health care. The article focuses on facts that render it impossible to end poverty permanently.
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