• On the heels of reports that Going Rogue confirms there was tension between Sarah Palin and John McCain's aides during the 2008 campaign, Ann Coulter says, "Wow, I hope she pays them back in this book, and I can't wait to read it. No, I mean, McCain — he was the media's favorite Republican. So, any criticism his side made of Palin was instantly printed, and now we finally get the payback. And I'm looking forward to it." • Palin will visit Fort Hood next month as part of her book tour for Going Rogue. She planned the visit before last week's shooting, and a representative from the base called her and said she should still make her planned appearance on December 4. • The British government has proposed a ban on people under the age of 18 using tanning beds to reduce the risk of young people developing skin cancer. It was reported today that in some areas of the U.K. up to half of all girls aged 15-17 are tanning, which doctors say significantly increases the risk of malignant melanoma. • In February, Jen Ivers will become the first female student to participate in the Mr. Yale contest. Ivers prefers to dress as a man, is openly gay, and doesn't identify as a man or a woman. Her residential college overwhelmingly voted for her to represent them, but initially the college rejected her application. Yale claims it was a miscommunication and a rep says, "It'll be really cool and unique to have her compete." • Scientists from the University of California tested the pain threshold of 25 women in various situations and found that they didn't hurt as much when their romantic partner was holding their hand, and experienced even less pain when just looking at his picture. Researchers say the person's picture brings up pleasant thoughts, but when they're actually in the room they may be upset that their partner is worried about them. They recommend patients bring loved ones' pictures to painful procedures. • Jill Berry, president of the Girls' Schools Association, says that schools should tell teenage girls that they don't need to beat themselves up if they decide to take time off from their future careers to raise children. ''They will need to realise that there may be times when they might not want to work, or they might want to take a lesser job because their priorities have changed. It is important that they leave school at 18 with their eyes open," she said. • Kirsty Moore, who became the first woman admitted to Britain's Royal Air Force display team, says she hopes her position will make girls "think that this is something they could be part of and they should go for it." • Caster Semenya says after the international controversy over her gender, "People want to stare at me now. They want to touch me. I'm supposed to be famous but I don't think I like it so much." • Oreo, the dog who was nursed back to health after her owner threw her off the roof of his six-floor Brooklyn apartment building, was killed today by lethal injection. After Oreo's owner was convicted of animal cruelty many people offered to adopt her and pay for her medical care, but the A.S.P.C.A. said she was a danger to the public because she was "unpredictably aggressive." Supporters had requested that the organization delay the euthanization and negotiate the dog's transfer to an animal sanctuary. • No African country has developed a program to give the cervical cancer vaccines to girls, even though 71,000 of the 500,000 who are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year are from Africa, and 78 percent of cases result in death. Professor Lutz Gissman, one of the researchers who discovered the virus said, "If you can persuade [African] girls to get a vaccine shot, the problem will be drastically reduced in the next 10, 20 years." • Police are hunting for a Brazilian blogger they say posted the names of 300 people who are cheating on their partner in the small rural town of Lagoa da Prata on Orkut. "This is not a very nice joke – for people to say that your boyfriend or your husband is a cuckold," says one woman whose boyfriend's name was on the list. "I don't really know what to say to people." • Police arrested a Florida man who repeatedly called 911 and made sexual comments to the dispatcher, asking to come to her house. There's a perfectly reasonable explanation: He told police that he'd run out of cell phone minutes and 911 was the only number he could call. •

In the new issue of African fashion magazine Arise, reporter Hannah Pool examines the idea that "all Africa ha[s] to offer the world was begging bowl." The article, titled "Good Will Hunting," starts off with a bang:

"When high profile celebrities get shown visiting disadvantaged areas in Africa and those images get beamed out to the rest of the world, I believe they almost do more damage than good," says Moky Makura, Nigerian-born, Johannesburg-based author, M-Net presenter and founder of the Africa our Africa blog. "We don't want to keep reinforcing the image of a helpless continent. We will only eradicate our problems when we build economies based on commerce, not charity. To do this, Africa needs to be seen as an investment destination or trading partner, not as a charity case.

Pool then delves into the conundrum facing many activists on the continent - if people are embracing the idea of "trade not aid" as a way to push forward development, who benefits from this "charitainment?" Pool elaborates:

The merging of charity and entertainment - or, as Time magazine called it, charitainment - has led to some damaging consequences. Celebrities (and their agents) have realised that being seen to care about Africa brings instant cool. About 25 years after Live Aid, A-list celebrities are forever falling out of the pages of magazines such as Hello! or OK!, tearfully waxing lyrical about how spending five minutes in an African orphanage changed their whole view on life. And thanks to Madonna and Angelina Jolie, some Western media appear to be under the impression that the best way to empty Africa's orphanages is not the eradication of poverty but mass adoption by wealthy pop stars.

"Whether it's Bono shilling for AIDS dollars, Angelina and Madonna toting their African offspring, Gwyneth [Paltrow] and David Bowie declaring they are African, or Matt Damon and George Clooney rallying for Darfur, it appears that a new generation of philanthropists have taken up the 'White Man's Burden'," says South African academic Zine Magubane on the pan-African blog Zeleza Post.

As soon as Pool mentioned Matt Damon, I immediately thought of this bit from Entourage:

"Gimme the fucking check Vince!"

At any rate, Pool drops the bomb that's been hovering over any discussion of aid and Western involvement in Africa. The idea of The White Man's Burden actually stems from a Rudyard Kipling poem of the same name. Scholars have long debated if 'White Man's Burden' is a love letter to imperialism or a satirical take-down - Kipling was an avid imperialist but was also a satirist, and his intentions with the piece aren't fully understood. However, the poem and the term have been propelled to the heights of infamy due to the application of the core concept around the globe. (Personally, I prefer Henry Labouchère's acid-tongued retort, The Brown Man's Burden - fascinating how both poems were written in 1899, but still resonate to this day).

One line from Labouchère - Let all your manifestoes/Reek with philanthropy - cuts to the quick of how a "trade not aid" movement developed on the African continent. All this "philanthropy" normally comes with strings and conditions, and it can actively undermine those looking for long term solutions to a problem. Pool, in fact, discusses the work of Dambisa Moyo, a Zambian economist whose book, Dead Aid, who argues that aid only breeds dependency:

"Aid has been, and continues to be, an unmitigated political, economic, and humanitarian disaster for most of the developing world," says Moyo. Rather than wanting to promote Africa as a place of business and opportunity, the West prefers to have Africa as its needy child. After all, imagine how scary a strong capitalist Africa would be. Moyo argues that aid keeps Africa politically and economically pliant, and that celebrities, with their passion for doing good rather than doing business, simply help maintain this status quo (whether they mean to or not).

She adds:

For some, 'glamour aid' is a non-topic. Africa needs money and fast. Getting people to focus on anything else - business opportunities, the arts or tourism, for example - is tantamount to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The fact is, celebrities raise billions of dollars for Africa, and they generate immeasurable amounts of press coverage for previously ignored causes. Who in the West had given Malawi a second thought until Madonna pitched up, bringing with her the international media and, undoubtedly, valuable donations? And wouldn't thousands of African children be without antiretroviral drugs if it wasn't for Keys and her Black Ball fundraisers in aid of Keep a Child Alive? [...]

"Africa as a continent is torn by many issues, which are beyond the people's control, including poverty, AIDS, and genocide, says [Paschorina Mortty, of events company The One Event which deals with foundations], "so the more celebrities who want to support this beautiful continent, the better. Celebrity support opens up media space and allows the issues to come to the attention of the public and policymakers. Rightly or wrongly, we live in a society where the media and public have a strong interest in celebrities." [...]

Does this interest translate into the public good, or does it just become another way to prolong a problem? In the case of Madonna, I'm not too sure. Her earlier interest stunk to high heaven with the white savior complex, and the controversy over David Banda's adoption added further fuel to the fire. After spending some more time in Malawi, she seems to have shifted out of the idea that one raises awareness by adoption and horrific images of suffering, and has shifted to promoting projects and infrastructure. The new school is a good start, and a step in the right direction. But what will Madonna do next? Will she continue learning and implementing projects that contribute to long term solutions? Or will she go back to the standard celebrity charity junket? (If her plea on the Huffington Post is any indication, we are heading back to "your one time donation" territory.)

As Pool says:

But if all celebrities do is talk, demand money and portray the same old Africa of war, famine, and poverty, should they really be congratulated? Shouldn't we challenging them to come with something new to say about Africa?

Madonna Launches Malawi School Construction [Reuters]
Raising Malawi: Will You Join Me? [Huffington Post]
Arise Magazine [Official Site]
The White Man's Burden [Wikipedia]

Related: The White Man's Burden [Modern History Sourcebook]
The Brown Man's Burden [Dan McDowell's History Projects]
Dead Aid [Amazon]

Related: Meet The Neo-Colonialists: Madonna And Vanity Fair [Racialicious]

In the July 2009 issue of Arise, an article called "The Beautiful Game" dove into the lives of rising semi-celebrities. Unfortunately, due to the cycles of Arise's distribution, this is the latest issue on the newsstands. However, the article was compelling because it is tracking a side of African culture that is normally lost in narratives about indigenous people and animal life. Life in many regions of Africa, particularly in the cities, has been thrown into hyperdrive by growth, investment, and the emergence of an African pop culture scene. "The Beautiful Game" chronicles these changes, but this isn't your ordinary Daily Mail-style puff/trash piece. It deftly reveals interesting tidbits about culture, gender, and the perception of fame.

The article starts off strong with a cheeky observation by writer Tamara Gausi, who notes:

As far as the tabloid press is concerned, the WAG title is the perserve of white girls with designer handbags that weigh more than they do. Save the occasional mention of French supermodel Noémie Lenoir, who's married to Paris St Germain midfielder Claude Makélélé, and British R & B singer Jamelia whose husband, Darren Byfield, played for Aston Villa, Sunderland and Milwall, non-white WAGs are as rare as black diamonds.

Or so it might seem. With hundreds of players from Africa signed up to top-flight European clubs, African footballers are some of the most famous sportsmen in the world. Men such as Chelsea's Didier Drogba, Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor and Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o might live the high life but they stay connected to home, and that mean attending African functions, going to African nightclubs, and dating African women.

The article also commented on the rapid spread of celebrity culture, something that has exploded in the region over the last decade.

With their jet-set lifestyles, flashy cars, and beautiful wives, footballers are not just icons but beacons of hope for young people on a continent when such riches are a fantasy for all but a few. "Most of these footballers come from very humble background," explains Ghanian sports and events manager Dennis Tawiah, "so seeing someone like Michael Essien go to the UK and become a millionaire gives people hope that they can do the same. That's why football is more than just a game."

And, just as football is seen as a way out of poverty, African WAGs are also more socially conscious than their counterparts, often taking pains to distance themselves from the WAG label entirely:

African WAGs have yet to scale the heights of fame achieved by their European counterparts, but Uche Eze [editor of the gossip blog Bella Naija] doesn't think they're far from it. "I think that the WAG scene is growing in Africa. But it's different because the famous footballers' wives here are women who have made a name for themselves in their own right, as opposed to the UK where the WAG attitude is, 'I'm dating a footballer so I'm going shopping every day, now I'm famous.' Just being famous for dating a footballer is not enough in Africa. The woman has to be doing something to capture the public's attention."

And indeed, these women do. The article features Miss Universe finalist Menaye Donkor, who co-manages her husband's brand, runs an orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS in Ghana, describes herself as "a tomboy" and rejects the shopaholic label. Or Rachel Ritfeld, the face of Akademics, model, and polyglot. Or even outspoken R & B singer Jamelia, who has nothing but disdain for women who exploit their relationships for media attention. While the article does dig into the salacious behavior of "wannabe WAGs" who are willing to take on the role of mistress in exchange for comfort, the overall feel is that African WAGs (whether they embrace the title or not) are equally as newsworthy and engaging as their European counterparts.

It is very easy to construct a narrow view about life in Africa based on the relatively grim news that comes over the wires. With the atrocities happening in Guinea, or the continuing situation in Darfur, it is very easy to lose sight of the fact that there are other stories happening everyday, and that life on the African continent is an ever evolving, ever changing narrative.

Official Site [Arise]
Official Site [Bella Naija]

Even the name of the company is mired in history and politics:

The brand gets its name from the type of footwear favoured by Ethiopian rebel fighters in the country's recent troubled past.

Africa's second most populous country after Nigeria, with nearly 80 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is also one of the continent's poorest nations, with bouts of drought, famine, the overthrow of a junta in 1991 and a bloody border war with Eritrea in the 1990s that left 80,000 dead exacerbating economic woes.

"When I was young we were at war and rebels wearing that kind of sandals with used tyre soles were giving hope to people," said the youthful shoemaker and mother of two.

The shoes, made from used tires, organic cotton, and locally sourced leather, are constructed by hand, and the factory exports hundreds of shoes and sandals daily to other parts of the continent. While SoleRebel is lightly marketing their wares, they are sold at places like Urban Outfitters and Whole Foods. In addition to employing people, Alemu also encourages her employees to adapt the skills they learn at SoleRebels to other start other businesses. Paying a fair wage is also a cornerstone of her success, with SoleRebel employees making nearly four times the country's average monthly salary.

"I noted there was a lot of talented people but no opportunity for work. I grew up in this community, I know how they suffer... When we say we want to change people's lives, we have the obligation to give them a good salary."

Ethiopian cobbler creating African Nike with tyres, fabric [The Independent]
Sole Rebel [Eco Fashion World]

Arise occupies a unique position among magazines in English-speaking Africa as it alone packages both pan-African and global content, producing a provocative blend that Ms. Jennings calls "afropolitan."

With a reported circulation of about 60,000 and averaging about 140 pages a month, the magazine is distributed to seven other African countries and around Europe and North America. In its no-expense-spared fashion shoots, clothes by African designers are paired with global brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Loewe and Ralph Lauren using popular black international models like Oluchi Onweagba and Rahma Mohamed.

In addition to the drool-worthy photography, Arise also features commentary about subcultures and current events:

A recent issue included a saucy exposé of African WAGs (the British acronym for wives and girlfriends of soccer players) that appeared alongside quirky items about Ugandan skateboarders, a multimedia prodigy from Ivory Coast and the leather-wearing biker subculture that grew up in Soweto after apartheid.

However, targeting a magazine to a global audience while focusing on the continent does require its fair share of compromises:

Arise, for example, operates out of London while Helm, an Ethiopian quarterly edited by Rahewa Yemane, is based in Washington. Although these locations help editors produce quality content, they also drive up cover prices as the finished magazines must be shipped to African newsstands. (The cover price for Arise in global distribution is £4.95, or $8; 1,255 naira in Nigeria.)

While a financier's deep pockets can be all that's needed to start a magazine, several factors - including market size, literacy and wealth - are needed to sustain it. Most of sub-Saharan Africa's statistics in these categories are poor, but they sometimes belie the real potential.

In addition, questions swirl about the income disparities inherent in creating a set of the population which has the time, money, and leisure to peruse a luxury goods magazine:

"In most sub-Saharan African countries, only 5 percent to 10 percent of the population is at the top of the income pyramid," said Sakina Balde, an analyst for Africa and the Middle East at the market research firm Euromonitor International. "While this might seem insignificant, in highly populated countries like Nigeria, for example, it represents a large number of individuals." [...]

The continent's wealth, though disproportionately concentrated, already is being spent on luxury goods by affluent Africans who shop in cities like London, Paris, Johannesburg and Dubai. Several luxury retailers and stores in London, for example, already count Nigerians among their top five spenders, trailing only Chinese, Russians, Americans and Arab tourists from the Gulf. And in Lagos, new boutiques like Temple Muse and Leila Fowler are catering to the elite locally by stocking both international and African designer labels.

Still, income disparities aside, it is encouraging to see such creatively flow from various nations underrepresented in the global fashion scene. Fashion magazines based outside the standard beauty ideal promoted by western nations are difficult to come by, and these magazines do more than just provide entertainment: they help assert a new narrative of life in other regions of the world.

Putting African Style On The Page [NY Times]

Jessica just tweeted an update on her sleeping situation:

The film, which aired on PBS last night, stars Rocky Otoo, 17, who lives in the Bronx with her mother. Her mom works in a beauty supply store and is known as Auntie Yaa. Although Rocky's a stellar student who edited her school's newspaper, starred in its musical, played basketball and has a full college scholarship, her mother thinks she's insolent and insufficiently respectful. Rocky thinks her mother is old-world and doesn't understand her.


Her father, meanwhile, has returned to Ghana to take over the chiefdom of his community. Rocky looks forward to staying with him, because she feels her father understands her better.
However, she soon clashes with her father, too, and feels out of place. It takes her a while to begin to feel at home; when she does, she begins to understand her mother a little more.


Once home, Rocky starts at a picture-perfect college that's as white as they come. (Dickinson.) She's the first person in her family to go to college, and her parting with her mom is emotional. The culture clash between her mother and the well-intentioned college orientation woman is kind of painful.

And yes, Rocky's roommate is fascinated by her hair. Which she touches.


By the time Rocky comes home for vacation, she and her mother seem to have come to an understanding. In the two years since the film was made, Rocky has apparently thrived: she's become a women's and gender studies major, is an officer of the African American Society, on the step team, and a regular contributor to a campus feminist magazine. In other words: the kids are alright. The entire film, by the way, is now online.

Related: Bronx Princess [PBS]
Full Description [PBS]
Film Update [PBS]

M. Catherine Maternowska, who's done relief work all over the world, recounts visiting a clinic in Swaziland designed specifically to treat and prevent the rampant STDs of truck drivers and the women who service them along the route. While this may sound oddly localized, there's good reason: the country, she explains, is heavily dependent on its many truckers to receive supplies, and they're a contributing factor to the fact that it has "the highest H.I.V. rate in the world: one in three people is infected." And these clinics are set up so truckers are inclined to go: they can visit and get treatment while their paperwork is processed and their vehicles are refueled.

And, of course, the sex workers, many very young, fall victim to disease, too.

I met eyes with a 16-year-old named Mbali. She was thin, with close-cropped hair and a beautiful smile. I offered her a packet of crackers, which she ripped open with her teeth. After wolfing them down, she looked at me and said, "I hate having sex." Her parents were dead; she was unable to pay her school fees, had been abused by an overburdened aunt - and now, like many of the girls, she was a runaway. Nearly one in four Swazi girls is H.I.V. positive, and Mbali is one of them. Her treatment options are limited. "I have nowhere to sleep unless I find a man," she said. "Sometimes I don't have money and food for two days. A man without a condom will pay more, so obviously I say O.K. because I need money."

While the clinic is filled with such stories, its existence is actually encouraging, as it at least acknowledges the problem and goes some small way towards preventing further spread of the epidemic. Explains an article on AllAfrica, quoting one official,

"In Swaziland, denial about AIDS is one factor that has made it almost taboo for families to admit their loved ones passed away from an AIDS-related illness. You won't find AIDS listed as the cause of death on death certificates, and so we have no official number to work with."

And considering that as recently as May, a prominent minister suggested that AIDS and HIV victims be "branded," clearly obtaining treatment is not a simple matter.

Despite its high AIDS and HIV rates, Swaziland is not a country we hear about very much in America; but in any discussion of AIDS prevention and African's women's issues, it can't be denied, and one presumes that Hillary Clinton's stated commitment to prioritizing women's health will include a nation where one in three people has AIDS, and an ever-growing population is turning to sex work. Recently, the U.S. Africa Command held a MEDFLAG program in Swaziland, a "two-week medical exercise" designed to "improve medical disaster preparedness and humanitarian assistance management." While this seems like a drop in the bucket of the nation's problems - and unlikely to address the more immediate "medical disasters" ravaging Swaziland - it's something. Private organziations like those Maternowska refers to are doing important work - but need larger support. And increasing awareness is crucial.

Truck-Stop Girls [NY Times]

Related: Swaziland: HIV/Aids Blamed For 25 Percent Job Absenteeism [AllAfrica]
Timothy Myeni apologises…Again [Swazi Observer]
U.S. Africa Command Opens MEDFLAG 09 In Swaziland [Africom]

Am I right?

And when she held this little boy...

…it reminded of me of the time Celeste Talbert went to the mall in Paramus for an ego boost.

How did she traipse around in those giant wedges? (Not like I'm one to talk about something like that.)

Here's where you can go to learn more and donate time/money to the cause.

Susan Lucci Visits Africa! [SoapNet]

Related: Frances Jones Abandoned Babies And Children [Official Site]

In a battle for who can say the most undermining thing, Joe Scarborough suggests that Bill Clinton travel to Africa on a "mission of mercy" and rescue his wife, just as he rescued Laura Ling and Euna Lee. Because getting criticized in the media for standing up for yourself (all this analysis is apropos of Clinton's comment that "my husband is not the Secretary of State, I am") is just like being captured by dictatorial regime, and being rescued by her husband is exactly what Secretary Clinton needs to help the world take her policies more seriously. But Tina Brown interrupts this already offensive suggestion to basically call Clinton fat. How is Clinton supposed to make good on her promise to make women's issues "central" to foreign policy, if the US media keeps making her looks and her husband central to her policy?

In her latest 'Domestic Disturbances' column, Times opinion writer Warner writes,

As she circles the globe in coming years, making the case for women's empowerment, starting with their basic right to be taken seriously, Clinton really has her work cut out for her. And it isn't just because the situation of women around the world is so dire, and the ocean of problems confronting them - maternal mortality, sex trafficking, domestic abuse, malnourishment, lack of education, lack of adequate medical care, just for starters - is so wide and so deep. [...] It's also because the tide of trivialization that washes over all things "Hillary" is just so powerful. That tide threatens to drown out anything of substance Clinton might attempt for a population whose problems have long been obscured in the androcentric world of diplomacy. And that's a huge pity.

Both Scarborough and Brown imply that Clinton needs to make us respect her, either by "being careful what [she says] in front of cameras" (Scarborough) or, by working out more (Brown). But why is "trivialization" our default mode? Of course, Hillary Clinton isn't our first female Secretary of State, and her current position as figure of fun may have to do with her longstanding role in the Clinton media circus. Because of her husband's indiscretions, people got used to making jokes about her personal life and appearance long before she ran for President or held a Cabinet position. But those jokes weren't acceptable then (remember all the scrutiny of her thighs?), and they're even less acceptable now that she's trying to be an ambassador for women's rights around the world.

In fact, today, Clinton will visit the African nation of Liberia, where she will meet with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first female head of state. Yesterday, she told a Nigerian talk show host,

From a moral perspective, we?re in the 21st century; all human beings, no matter what religion or ideology you reference, have the right to develop to their God-given potential. And too many women in too many parts of Africa are not being developed fully.

Will anyone pay attention to this message, much-needed not just in Africa but throughout the world? "Maybe," says Warner, "if we stop viewing everything Clinton does as entertainment."

Hillary Fights A Tide of Trivialization [NYT]
Clinton Heads To Liberia To Show Women Power [AFP]

"You want me to tell you what my husband thinks?" the Secretary of State apparently repeated. "My husband is not secretary of state, I am...If you want my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I am not going to be channeling my husband."

Clinton's visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, part of an 11-day tour of Africa, is intended, according to a spokesman quoted on NPR, to press the government for democratic reform, fight rampant corruption, and to address the virulent rape epidemic that's hit the eastern part of the country in the wake of years of conflict. According to the New York Times, Clinton took aim at illegal mining, saying she was "particularly concerned about the exploitation of natural resources." In the coming days, Clinton will meet with the country's president, visit a hospital in the capital city of Kinshasa founded by NBA player Dikembe Mutumbo, and speak with several rape victims. Her visit is significant, not least because the U.S., after its involvement in Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba's assassination, is regarded with suspicion. She addressed this in the meeting, telling one student, "I can't excuse this past and I won't try," telling the young people to ask, "will I be dragged down by the past or will I decide to do something to have a better future?"

While it's a great sentiment, it may be harder for the Congolese people to take at face value than we might wish: a devastating piece in today's Washington Post reaffirms that the heavily U.S.-backed U.N. peacekeeping efforts have exacerbated the rape problem. Says the piece, "An already staggering epidemic of rape has become markedly worse since the January deployment of tens of thousands of poorly trained, poorly paid Congolese soldiers, with people in front-line villages such as this one saying the soldiers are not so much hunting rebels as hunting women." The phenomenon, which we've addressed before - and which increasingly targets men as well as women - has forced women to self-impose a curfew to protect themselves from the 60,000 soldiers in the area. Although President Joseph Kabila has declared rhetorical war on the epidemic, the article makes it clear that the vast majority of these crimes will go unpunished by a system that looks the other way - no senior officials have been prosecuted - and that is deeply patriarchal at the best of times.

Clinton is, of course, widely regarded as a female role model - and that even she should be publicly marginalized is a worrisome indication that changing the culture's going to be a very long road. One hopes that her call to young people to "speak out to end the corruption, the violence, the conflict that for too long have eroded the opportunities across this country... Together, you can write a new chapter in Congolese history," will be heeded. According to a report on NPR, Clinton called the rape culture "truly one of mankind's greatest atrocities," something that "the entire society needs to be speaking out against this. It should be a mark of shame anywhere, in any country."

Clinton: I'm Secretary Of State, Not Bill [MSNBC]
Clinton Assails Rampant Sexual Violence In Congo [NPR]
Clinton Heads To A Congo Torn By Violence [NPR]
Clinton to Target Sexual Violence in Congo [Time]
Clinton Presses Congo On Illicit Minerals [NY Times]
Congo's Rape Epidemic Worsens During U.S.-Backed Military Operation [Washington Post]

Earlier: The Faces Of Congo's Women
War Crimes Against Women, Men, Continue Unabated Abroad

[Nairobi, August 6. Image via Getty.]

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) gestures as she stands with survivors, after laying a wreath of flowers on the site, August 6, 2009,of the bombings against the US embassy in Nairobi that killed 213 people in 1998. Clinton, who kicked off a seven-nation, 11-day tour of Africa in Nairobi two days earlier, took part in a wreath-laying ceremony where she renewed her administration's commitment to combat extremism in the region and elsewhere. AFP PHOTO/ SIMON MAINA (Photo credit should read SIMON MAINA/AFP/Getty Images)

Taylor, the first African leader to be tried for war crimes, will speak for the first time tomorrow at The Hague in The Netherlands, where the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone is trying him for 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, The New York Times reports.

Taylor is only being tried for crimes committed in Sierra Leone, which neighbors Liberia, between 1996 and 2002, where he allegedly armed and commanded rebel groups that used child soldiers, raped and disfigured civilians, and killed up to 200,000 people. However, it's believed that his policies destroyed the lives of even more people in Liberia, where he first began using bands of child soldiers as a rebel leader in the 1990s and then as president.

When Taylor lost control of the country in 2003 about 15,000 children were fighting in his government forces, and since then they've been struggling to rebuild their lives. The Guardian interviewed dozens of child soldiers who say in addition to being traumatized by they war, they aren't receiving help from the state and are shunned by their communities.

In a video interview, 18-year-old Gloria Sherman, who was 13 when she saw her father and brother brutally murdered and was forced to join the army, explains how conditions were even worse for girls, saying:

For boys they have to do what they are told. If they are told to go somewhere they have to go, but for a girl sometimes we used to be raped not just by one person sometimes two or three and after that we still had to carry weapons to the front lines so girls were maltreated more than the boys.

After two years Gloria managed to escape and went back to her village, Lofa, but she ostracized by the other villagers and labeled a "rebel wife." "They say we are bad girls because of what we did in the war and what we do now," Gloria said. "But they took me and I had no choice." Now she says she can only survive by prostituting herself, and is often paid in food, sanitary napkins, or soap.

Researchers from Plan, an international children's organization which runs support programs for former child soldiers in Liberia and Sierra Leone, found that 70% of girls and 80% of the boys who were once child soldiers are at risk for suicide and 30% have already tried to kill themselves. Gloria says:

When I close my eyes, all I can see is the war. I often think about taking my own life. It would have been better if I'd died in the war, but I am still alive and I hope one day something will be different and I will be a good person.

Ninety-one witnesses have testified about the atrocities committed in Sierra Leone since the trial began in January 2008, but in his opening statement on Monday, defense attorney Courtenay Griffiths said Taylor wasn't responsible, AFP reports. Griffiths said, "Taylor was not an African Napoleon bent on taking over the sub-region. He had a front line role in the conflict as a broker of peace." Taylor's testimony is expected to last for six to eight weeks and there probably won't be a final verdict for another year.

War Crimes Trial To Hear From Ex-Liberia President [The New York Times]
Agony Without End For Liberia's Child Soldiers [The Guardian]
Video: Girl Soldiers: Charles Taylor's Legacy [The Guardian]
Liberia's Taylor 'Was Peace Broker': Lawyer [AFP]

While there are many, many ensembles to be seen, here are just a few — a small sampling of the fashion coming from different countries on the African continent.

A pretty party dress for daytime.
Designer: Odio Mimonet (Nigeria)

Amazing hue, interesting stitching and shape.
Designer: Odio Mimonet (Nigeria)

Traditional… with a twist.
Designer : Ituen Basi (Nigeria)

Simultaneously regal and summery.
Designer : Sika Designs (Ghana)

Love the sheer layers (and the bare feet!).
Designer : Nkwo (Nigeria)

Prim and proper, yet playful.
Designer : Christie Brown (Ghana)

Red-carpet-ready!
Designer : Nkwo (Nigeria)

Fluid and effortless.
Designer : David Tlale (South Africa)

Love. Love! Vibrant color, flirty skirt.
Designer : JewelbyLisa (Nigeria)

Shimmer + lace = gorgeous.
Designer : Tiffany Amber (Nigeria)

Irresistible, elegant gray — and how about that fierce body language?
Designer : Thula Sindi (South Africa)

An interesting take on the LBD.
Designer : Helen Asrat (Ethiopia)

That collar! That skirt! Drama! So unique it seems one-of-a -kind.
Designer : Helen Asrat (Ethiopia)

Not sure about the sleeves, but yes on quirky polka-dots.
Designer : Lanre da Silva (Nigeria)

Mad for plaid.
Designer : Lanre da Silva (Nigeria)

Absolutely gorgeous color, and whatever's happening at the shoulder with the feathers? Love it.
Designer : Gloria Wavamunno (Uganda)

More feathers, more pretty.
Designer : Gloria Wavamunno

Desconstructed, architectural, chic.
Designer : Sandra Muendane (Mozambique)

Playing with shape — and drape.
Designer : Sandra Muendane (Mozambique)

Like an elfin costume from a fashiony fairy-tale.
Designer : Vesselina (South Africa)

Couldn't you see this on a Hollywood A-lister? Paging Halle or Charlize…
Designer : Vesselina (South Africa)

All photos by Simon Deiner / SDR Photo, courtesy of Africa Fashion International
Africa Fashion International [Official Site]
Arise African Fashion Week Schedule

[Koute, Ivory Coast. June 4. Image via Getty]

TO GO WITH AFP STORY IN FRENCH BY CHRISTOPHE KOFFI —- The last survivor of her generation, Salomee Agoua Djoman (C), 107 years old and dean of the village of Koute is pictured near Abidjan on June 4, 2009. Djoman is an anomoly in a country where life expectancy in recent years is estimated at 51 years old. She has four children, 42 grandchildren, 33 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren, the most recent of whom was born just 45 days ago. AFP PHOTO/ISSOUF SANOGO (Photo credit should read ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images)

We mentioned earlier that efforts to increase the number of girls' football teams in Uganda are being met with resistance. Many traditionalists in the neighboring country of Kenya were also hostile to the idea when Unicef launched the Ukunda Queens football team in the Islamic province of Kwale, according to The Times of London. "Starting a girls' football league seemed like a crazy idea at first," said Roselyn Mutemi-Wangahu, the team's coordinator, "We had to reach those girls. They don't stay in school or go to organised groups. Their parents keep them at home," she explained. "We had to bring them together to raise their confidence and teach them about HIV. Here, the one thing that brings everyone together is soccer."

Girls in Kwale have some of the lowest levels of education in Kenya, and traditional views toward women are especially oppressive there. In the province, girls are not allowed to speak to their fathers directly, may be sent back to their parents if they refuse to have sex with their husband, and are often beaten. Teenage girls are seven times more likely to contract HIV than boys of the same age, and the "treatments" make matters even worse. Witchdoctors in Kwale encourage people to have sex with HIV-infected patients, and some believe girls should sleep with their father and uncles to "make them fat and strong" and "open the door to other men."

Initially locals were hostile to the idea of a girls' football league. Anisa Kombo, 23, who is on the Ukunda Queens said that older men used to harass them during their early matches. She said:

When they saw us playing they cursed us. Some Muslim leaders said that we were being led into prostitution. Other boys and girls called us lesbians. Here the idea is that the woman stays in the kitchen. A girl may never set foot in school and can be married off at 12.

But eventually, people started to accept the league because the girls on the team were receiving HIV/AIDS education. A local man said, "According to our traditions, what they are doing is wrong but if it's about HIV, it's acceptable."

After the foundation of the Ukunda Queens, football league district chairmen Mohamed Said Mwakulola says he started going door to door trying to persuade more parents to let their daughters join teams. "It took three years, one step at a time," he says, explaining that in some cases it took more than a year to build a full team. The league, which is part of Unicef's Kick Aids project, has expanded, and now there are thousands of women's teams in Kenya. "There has been a change in our community in letting the girls play football - and it gives me hope," said Mwakulola.

Kenyan Women United In Freedom And Football [The Times of London]

Earlier: Kicking Old Habits

Village leaders have called for all people living in the Tillabery region of Niger to end the practice, reports CNN. "We have decided to definitively put an end to female genital mutilation in our villages and to continue sensitizing neighboring villages so they also give up the practice," said N. Babobou Pana, leader of one of the villages.

According to UNICEF, the rate of FGM among women ages 15 to 49 in Niger has decreased by half, from 5 per cent in 1998 to 2.2 per cent in 2006. However the statistics conceal how prevalent the practice is in certain regions and ethnic groups, where the rate may be higher than 65 percent. The Tillabery region has one of the highest rates of FGM.

Between 100 to 140 million girls and women across the world have undergone FGM, according to World Health Organization statistics. It is most widely practiced in Africa, where about 92 million girls above the age of 10 have been mutilated. 28 countries in Africa perform FGM, and as shown in the graphic below from the World Health Organization, rates vary widely by region.

While FGM is most prevalent in Africa, it is also widely practiced in some regions of Asia and the Middle East. WADI, a German nongovernmental group that advocates against female circumcision, has been studying the problem in Iraqi Kurdistan since 2004 and found that more than 60 percent of women in the region underwent the procedure, according to the group Stop FGM in Kurdistan. However, in some areas the rate is as high as nearly 100 percent.

A bill banning FGM was submitted to Kurdistan's Regional Parliament in April 2007 and according to a female MP and a doctor who have been campaigning against the practice, it is expected to pass soon. But many women are still being mutilated. One of the latest victims is Iraqi Kurdish four-year-old Shwen, who is pictured above screaming during her circumcision in Suleimaniyah earlier this week.

[Graphic via WHO.]

African Villages Denounce Female Genital Mutilation [CNN]
Turning Former Practitioners Against Female Genital Mutilation In Niger [UNICEF]
Female Genital Mutilation: Prevalence And Age [World Health Organization]
FGM In Kurdistan [Stop FGM Kurdistan]
The Atlantic: Face of the Day [Andrew Sullivan]

Earlier: Womanhood Brings Pain To Kurdish Girls