- by Edith Waringa
Africa In Western Media
Imagine Africa contributing AID for one of the richest countries on the planet, Norway? Freezing Cold kills, as much as hunger killing whenever a country does not take care of her people. If all you saw in the news about the western country Norway was the freezing people you would think that it is so all the year round. Just the same as alarming stories about Africa by western media. Africa is rich of resources and the story must be told objectively. This video is made by students at the university of Oslo with financial AID from the Norwegian government to send a message to the world that Africa should be covered objectively by western media.
This is a very enlightening piece of information to those interested in seeing Africa with the African eyes and in a positive way with emphasis of the good things in the continent.
Imagine if every person in Africa saw the “Africa for Norway” video and this was the only information they ever got about Norway. What would they think about Norway?
If we say Africa, what do you think about? Hunger, poverty, crime or AIDS? No wonder, because in fundraising campaigns and media that’s mainly what you hear about.
The pictures we usually see in fundraisers are of poor African children. Hunger and poverty is ugly, and it calls for action. But while these images can engage people in the short term, we are concerned that many people simply give up because it seems like nothing is getting better. Africa should not just be something that people either give to, or give up on.
The truth is that there are many positive developments in African countries, and we want these to become known. We need to change the simplistic explanations of problems in Africa. We need to educate ourselves on the complex issues and get more focus on how western countries have a negative impact on Africa’s development. If we want to address the problems the world is facing we need to do it based on knowledge and respect.
The video is made by The Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund (www.saih.no). With the cooperation of Operation Day’s Work (www.od.no). With funding from The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and The Norwegian Children and Youth Council (LNU). Music by Wathiq Hoosain. Lyrics by Bretton Woods (www.developingcountry.org). Video by Ikind Productions (www.ikindmedia.com) Music Producer Kurt Pienke. Full credits here:http://www.africafornorway.no/updates…
Translation:
Arabic: Rami Jawhar
Uploaders’ Comments (Edith Waringa Kamau)
All Comments (37)
Well that is true but there are also those who don’t. The ones that stay here long enough have learned to hustle. They have learned to bargain as well. There as “Mzungu who took a girl for a date and she came with her friends. He refused to pay for the friends and paid just for his date. In every country there are some corny people, it takes smart people to survive. Am not saying that it’s good to hustle tourist, it is a disgusting practice, but there are other things that are amazing.
hi edith in all honesty i am shocked at the amount of litter in kenya and slum housing and lack of maintainances of public utilities,.ok u got banks and offices and expensive hotels in kenya 400euros pernight , but will kenyans ever wake up and realise the austraila gets about 28million tourists per annum.,.stop hustling tourists,.plzzzzzz
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sorry too say i have to agree with you ,,.very much neglect by leaders,,.if you get a chance look up aquaphonics videos on yotube for the future new technology of africa,.,.
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sorry to say this to you but i wish kenyans would stop chasing tourists money,.u know its costs over 4500 euros per person for a weeks safari holiday in kenya,.and the ordinary kenyans think we muzungo are all laoaded,.
Africa is rising and we the youth will continue telling the African story…the TRUE African story.Good work and we are proud of you Edith
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Thanks so much for this. I have struggled with this for ten years and I am going to share this on facebook to see if my friends in USA agree. I first came to vermont from nairobi and wondered whether I was in the right place. I went to college to take A$P 1 and 2 and a classmate asked me whether we go to school in Africa. I am sure he did not know, but to this day I still don’t know how to answer that question. I worked hard and passed with an A, then honors in NY nursing programme. Media ???
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Very grateful for this, yes there is poverty, yes there are issues, and so are there in every country, but there also is so much beauty in Africa. we need to learn to sell that, and not misery, we need to learn to be self healing and do things for ourselves and not expect that selling a bad image should bring us money. We have so much to trade other than our poverty. we are a beautiful people. Such will inspire alot of Kenyas to tell the positive stories much as much as we do all the others
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good job Waringa, am proud of my mamaland, proud of you too. you have a great voice!
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Hello Edith Waringa Kamau, You have just summarised my passion for Africa in 9 minutes, i love it. I am passionate about positivity in Africa, follow me on twitter @stephenmachua lets join hands.
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Waringa… BigUp Girl. You are Awesome…. Keep the spririt… You are surely in a mission for Change.Thanks for representing all of us out here in da states. Bring more stuff to light. Cheers!!
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kudos Waringa, all da african students u featured are great! We should all be proud of who we are.
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is dat why jang’o men die/ are on a spree to marry kiuk women, 2 make them feel better about themselves???AFRICA is beautiful, na muache kupenda vitu za bure dats y u don’t prosper in nyanza/ western
what say you of our devastatedly devided country between the kikuyu and luos like you and western kenyans suffering vis a vis the kikuyu elite determined to rule kenya forever? Your view of africa is ddifferent from REAL AFRICANS SUFFERING EVERYDAY from hunger poverty of thought an d basic necessities. DONT LIE TO THE WORLD….WE ARE SUFFERING AND DYING IN AFRICA!!!!!!!!!
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WE, more like you, your wife and children! get your lazy ass to work
Very nice work, Edith. I’ve been to Africa many times, including Kenya, and I couldn’t agree more with your piece. Keep going with this, whether more doco’s / writing etc, there’s so much more here. Quick — and sad — story: I send clients to Kenya (and other places), and one of them, a middle-aged American woman, told me she actually had fears of being raped after she got off the plane. Unreal. Anyway looking forward to more of your work.
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Great video Edith! I have also encountered some of the misconceptions living in New York. I’m always asked whether we speak English in Kenya and where I learned to speak it so well having not grown up in the U.S.
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That said, Edith, there are number of great websites where Africans are sharing their stories on technology innovation, on business deals on great government policy. We need to give these websites more support, increased traffic, tweet about them and share them with others. We need to talk positively about our continent in our everyday conversations. We need to challenge those stereotypes every single day just as you are doing. Good stuff and godspeed!
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Edith – I admire your effort. I live both in the US and Kenya and I always get these stares from Americans when they realize that I know all about the stuff going on in the states. They marvel at my education and the fact that I went to one of the top schools in their country. I am also in an industry where we handle huge deals – a lot of Americans cannot fathom the fact that these deals are being closed in Africa. I agree – A lot of this has to do with the media’s depiction of Africa.
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I like this… I went to school in rural PA and was once asked if we had airports in Africa! I was thrown off at how much Americans don’t know about Africa! In a haste I responded that I took a canoe across the Atlantic and they believed it! In hindsight I probably did Africa a disservice but oh well…
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Edith, this is such a great piece! Reveals so many misconceptions and a real need for more stories from Africans themselves. Get it!
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I can totally relate to this I am Kenyan too and you can’t believe how many times I get asked if my christian name is my actual name or its just a name I picked up when I got to the US or if I had eaten cake or worn these types of clothes when I was in Africa. it is just ridiculous. Great video Edith!
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Yes!! Yes to having an African cable news channel!! We will tell our own stories…besides, kitanda usichokilalia hujui kunguni wake.
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