Chinese influence has grown in Africa, as have imports of all kinds products, from running shoes to instant noodles.  Bloggers as far afield as Congo and Senegal, concerned about the safety of Chinese products in their countries, are closely following the story.

Blogging from Dakar, Naomed of Le Blog Politique du Senegal penned this short satire, a play on “melamine,” the name of the chemical which was added to the fake milk.  (”Melamine” sounds very close to “mélanine,” the French word for melanin):

A ma gauche votre petit(e) dernier(e) charmant bambin normalement constitué, héritier de la jolie couleur chocolat de son papa et de sa maman.

A ma droite, un verre de lait, un honnète verre de lait semble-t-il. Que nenni ! Un verre de lait chinois, autrement dit contaminé jusqu'à la dernière molécule de caséine. Soyons honnète, tous les laits chinois ne sont pas contaminés, mais c'est un peu comme les jeux de hasard, ceux qui gagnent le plus sont ceux qui ne jouent pas.

La scène est plantée, le gamin qui bave en attendant son verre de lait et le verre de lait.

Imaginez ce qui arriverait si malencontreusement vous achetiez un lait chinois pour vos enfants. Si si, cela peut vous arrivez malgré votre vigilance, tricheurs comme ils sont, les chinois sont bien capables de marquer sur le paquet “Made in Bretagne. France”. Donc, imaginez, vous servez le verre de lait au gamin et vous quittez la pièce pour continuer à vous préparer, comme d'hab vous êtes en retard pour aller bosser.

Soudain, un hurlement venant de la bonne et du salon. Quoi-t-esse-ky-n'ya ?

A la place de votre gamin, un autre gamin qui termine son verre de lait tout en pleurant, pas vilain vilain le môme, mais enfin pas aussi joli que le vôtre.

Ca va être dur de vous habituer à sa nouvelle couleur, d'expliquer aux voisins et aux parents le pourquoi du comment. On va vous soupçonner des pires péchés pour avoir été punis comme ça. Votre vie va devenir un calvaire. Je vous plaint, sincèrement.

Y'a même des gens qui disent que, quelques fois, les gamins deviennent rouges, rouges communistes. Mais ça, je crois pas, c'est juste des menteries d'anticommunistes primaires et malveillants.

Equally tongue-in-cheek, a reader, Thomas, responds:

y'a aucun risque avec le lait au sénégal, puisqu'ici c'est pas du lait qu'on boit, c'est une poudre blanche sur laquelle on ajoute de l'eau… on m'a souvent dit que c'était du lait en poudre, mais franchement, vu le goût, j'en doute ;)

Le Blog Politique du Senegal strikes a more serious note in another post on the scandal, “Some Chinese milk for the little Blacks.”  Naomed writes that certain African countries import Chinese milk, but that “We are so used to Western products which are regulated and inspected that we forget that the rest of the world, for those who have the minimal respect for norms of security and for the consumer, looks a bit like Africa” [Fr].

Naomed continues:

Je ne veux pas dire que l'occident n'est pas avide, que le capitalisme n'y redeviendrait pas sauvage forcené si on le laissait faire. Non, mais justement, on ne le laisse pas faire. Les états ont posé des règles minimales, qu'ils font appliquer sous la pression des consommateurs/citoyens.

Nous allons chercher nos modèles chez les chinois et les indiens sans vouloir regarder leurs conditions et modes de fonctionnement. Aveuglés par un prétendu miracle économique que pour rien au monde nous ne voudrions subir, nous en occultons les pratiques.

Naomed doesn't think Africa should follow this model:

Ce miracle économique, c'est le miracle de l'esclavage, de l'exploitation forcenée, de l'irresponsabilité. C'est le miracle capitaliste.

In Congo, Forum Realisance also blogged the milk scandal story.  Munsengeshi Katata writes that the tainted milk was exported not only in Asia to places like Bangladesh, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan, but reportedly also to countries in Africa, like Burundi and Gabon.

Et curieusement, de la part des africains, pas un mot, pas des demandes rapides d´éclaircissement afin d´établir la responsabilité commerciale, d´aider les enfants touchés à se faire soigner rapidement, et endiguer les dégâts en retirant rapidement les restes de ces postes du marché. Rien. Et je dois avouer que ce silence met en colère et prouve, encore une fois, combien l´Afrique est fragile dans la défense de ses enfants et se ses intérêts ouvertement lésés…

Kuwaitism [Ar] paints the picture here:

حبيت آخذ هالفرصة لشكر بعض ممثلينا العرب –
سامويل فرانسيس (قطر)
جايمس كواليا كوكوروي (قطر)
فيلكس كيكواي كيبوري (قطر)
سلطان زمان (قطر) الإسم الأصلي أونيسفور نكونزيمانا (بوروندي)
جمال سالم (قطر) الإسم الأصلي توماس كاتيو (كينيا)
دهام بشير (قطر) الإسم الأصلي دايفيد إينياغا (كينيا)
عيسى راشد (قطر) الإسم الأصلي دانييل كيبكوسكي (كينيا)
جابر سالم (قطر) الإسم الأصلي ياني مارشوكوف (بلغاريا) – حول جنسيته بـ1,000,000 دولار عام 2000.
مبارك شامي (قطر) الإسم الأصلي ريتشارد ياتيتش (كينيا)
أحمد حسن عبدالله (قطر) الإسم الأصلي ألبرت تشيبكوروي (كينيا)
بلال منصور علي (بحرين) الإسم الأصلي جون ييكو (كينيا)
مريم يوسف جمال (بحرين) الإسم الأصلي زينيبيش تولا (أثيوبيا)
نادية الجافني (بحرين) الأصل مغربية
يوسف سعد كامل (بحرين) الأصل غريغوري كونشيلا (كينيا)
آدم اسماعيل خميس (بحرين) الأصل هوسيا كوسغي (كينيا)
حسن محبوب (بحرين) الأصل سايلاس كيروي (كينيا)
رشيد رمزي (بحرين) الأصل مغربي
ناصر سعيد (بحرين) الأصل ستيفان لورو كامار (كينيا)
طارق مبارك طاهر (بحرين) الأصل دينيس كيبكوروي سانغ (كينيا)
محمد عبدالله زكريا (بحرين) الأصل مغربي
قطر و البحرين مثلهما 11 كيني 3 مغربيين 1 بوروندي 1 أثيوبي 1 بلغاري 3 غير معروف من أفريقيا

I wanted to take this chance to thank our Arab representatives in the games:
Samuel A. Francis (Qatar) [Nigeria]
James Kwalia C'Kurui (Qatar) [Kenya]
Felix Kikwai Kibore (Qatar) [Kenya]
Sultan Zaman (Qatar) - born Onesphore Nkunzimana (Burundi)
Gamal Salem (Qatar) - born Thomas Katui (Kenya)
Daham Bashir (Qatar) - born David Nyaga (Kenya)
Essa Ismail Rashed (Qatar) - born Daniel Kipkosgei (Kenya)
Jaber Saeed Salem (Qatar) - born Yani Marchokov (Bulgaria) he changed his nationality for 1,000,000 Dollars in 2000.
Mubarak Hassan Shami (Qatar) - born Richard Yatich (Kenya)
Ahmad Hassan Abdullah (Qatar) - born Albert Chepkurui (Kenya)
Bilal Mansour Ali (Bahrain) - born John Biko (Kenya)
Jamal Maryam Yusuf (Bahrain) - born Zenebech Tola (Ethiopia)
Nadia Ejjafini (Bahrain/Morocco)
Yusuf Saad Kamel (Bahrain) - born Gregory Konchellah (Kenya)
Aadam Ismaeel Khamis (Bahrain) - born Hosea Kosgei (Kenya)
Hasan Mahboob (Bahrain) - born Silas Kirui (Kenya)
Rashid Ramzi (Bahrain/Morocco)
Nasar Sakar Saeed (Bahrain) - born Stephen Loruo Kamar (Kenya)
Tareq Mubarak Taher (Bahrain) - born Denis Kipkurui Keter (Kenya)
Mohammad Abdullah Zakaria (Bahrain/Morocco)
In brief, Qatar and Bahrain were represented by 11 Kenyans, 3 Moroccans, 1 from Burundi, 1 Ethiopian, 1 Bulgarian and 3 others.

Dr. Nabulo Mabaso, Deputy Medical Director of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Ithembalabantu “People's Hope” Clinic in Durban expresses his satisfaction that support for marginalized communities (sex workers, men who have sex with men, and indigeneous people) was emphasized by conference organizers. However, he explains that this focus should extend to other marginalized communities and even currently isolated nations:

“There is still limited access to treatment. For example, my neighboring country, Zimbabwe, it might be politically unstable, but there are people on the ground who are suffering and because of sanctions that are being imposed funders are not going to Zimbabwe. At the end of the day, it's the lives of individuals and I hope the theme of universal access is really put into practice”.

George Kanuma lives in Bujumbura and is an activist for the France-based association Africa Gay and is a member of ANSS (National Association for HIV-Positive and AIDS patients in Burundi). He is content with the renewed emphasis on MSM (Men having Sex with Men) and sex workers at the conference (fr):

However, in some French-speaking African countries, discrimination is still very strong, he explains (fr):

“Il y a certain pays comme le Cameroun ou le Sénégal qui criminalise encore l’homosexualité [..] Il y a des cas aussi comme au Ruanda, la présidente de l’association gay et lesbienne au Ruanda ne peut toujours pas quitté son pays, parce que la police de l’immigration a pris son passeport.”

A few countries, like Cameroon or Senegal, still criminalize homosexuality. [..] There are also cases like the one in Rwanda, where the president of the LGBT association cannot exit her country because the immigration police is still holding her passport.

The Fimizore project in Madagascar was one of the recipient of the 2008 UNAIDS Red Ribbon Award. Balou, a trans-gendered sexual worker and her colleague Jeannie, are members of the project and they both weighed in on their hope and concerns for the conference. Like Kanuma, they both emphasized the need to end marginalization of sexual workers if we want to effectively fight HIV/AIDS (mg):

“Ny fanilikilhina indrindra no manankana ny MSM sy ny TDS hikarakara ny fahasalamany […] Io moa dia eo ihany ny fomba-drazana antsika malagasy, raha ohatra hoe msm dia tsy tafiditra am-pasan-drazana. Raha amin’ny autorites dia mahafa-po fa raha amin’ny societe civile, mbola mila fivoarana.”

Marginalization is what prevents MSM (men having sex with men) and TDS ( sexual workers) from taking care of their health [..] There are also the walls of traditional Malagasy culture. For instance, if you are a MSM, you will not be allowed to enter the familial cemetery (when you pass away). The official authorities have made great strides but the civil society has still a long way to go (in ending marginalization).

Finally, marginalized communities in the fight against HIV/AIDS are not only products of cultural intolerance or political agendas. They are also the result of economic hardships or plain geographical locations. In this video, on The Hub, Dr. Phillip Njemanze, in Imo State, Nigeria, explains the struggle for HIV positive people in rural areas to monitor their immune system:

“In rural areas in Imo State, CD4 testing is non-existent. This means for 3.5 million people you have only two centers that can measure CD4 count in the whole state [..] The most important thing would be, to be able to move around with the test and go where the patients are.”

Lacking any stories of birth or labor, we’ll skip straight to one of our most important rites of passage – the union of two people in the ceremony of marriage. These observations of a village wedding come from Ramblings from Rhadikha in Burkina:

Not unlike in America, weddings are good times with wild and crazy dancing and acceptable public drunkenness. Unlike American weddings, everyone is invited. Those immediately involved go to the “mayor’s” house for the exchanging of vows and signing of contracts. That is the equivalent of the ceremony. No one but the bride, the groom, and their parents are expected to be interested in that part. There are no registries with china patterns and cutlery. Your gift is showing up and getting down. The party starts at sunset and ends when the roosters start cock-a-doodle-doo-ing. The bartender is someone’s underage cousin serving up home brewed millet beer in nature’s beer mug, a dried gourd. There is drumming, dancing, and chanting of the sort that one might see on the discovery channel.

Gorom-Gorom, Burkina Faso’s most northern major city (485 kilometers north of Ouagaodugou), is home to “Festicham,” an annual festival that boasts horse and camel racing and a local craft and culture exhibition. This year, Keith from Under the Acacias made it to the festival just in time:

We arrived late, during the second heats of camel races. The whole town seemed to be there, along with a couple of government ministers, accompanying police guards, and a bunch of Italians who apparently finance the whole thing. Dust filled the air, kicked up by hundreds of hooves of various sizes, and thousands of feet.

Let’s stay with Keith a little longer. After 15 years of electing to live in Gorom-Gorom without electricity, his “woodless construction” mud hut leaped directly into the 21^st century with the addition of electricity supplied from the town grid and a telephone link with an internet hook up, too.

After so many years of peace and quiet, these new additions take some time to get used to, reports Keith. After finishing his first blog post written and posted from home, he wonders whether “it might be time to leave Gorom-Gorom, and move somewhere a bit more remote…”

Stephen Davies, from Voice in the Desert, spent a little time in Ouagadougou late last year finishing up his last “tweaks” on the final installment of his children’s trilogy that takes place respectively in Oudalan Province in northern Burkina Faso (and home to Gorom-Gorom) and Niger. The first two installments include Sophie and the Yellow Cake Conspiracy and Sophie and the Locust Curse. Steven’s third book, originally titled Sophie and the Crooked General, has recently been renamed to Sophie and the Pancake Plot, he reports. The book is due out sometime in September 2008.

Because people live much closer to nature in rural Burkina Faso, death is constant companion. Charlie from Blooming Desert describes a loss from the animal world:

 “He's in a bad way, I'm afraid”, said Steve, carrying the patient across the bus station. Six hours of dust, fumes and bone-rattling on the road from Ouagadougou had clearly been too much. His head was limp, his whole body flaccid. We laid him out on the ground and a crowd gathered. Instinctively I stretched out my hand, gently laid it on his chest and prayed. As I did, he shuddered and took his last breath. It was a sad moment.

She reports that “the other seven French hens were fine and have been settling in nicely to their new accommodation.”

In a decidedly more sterile environment, Valentine from My So-Called Life in Africa explains how she dissected a frog at school. She knew she was in for a long day in Biology class when her lab partner asked to work on the largest frog of the litter:

Well, we started cutting and you know how some things are suppose to be juicy like a nice steak, and some things just aren’t? Well let me tell you this was extra juicy frog. Maybe that’s a good thing if you are French and like frog legs, but not if you are an 8th grader in biology class. After a few minutes of poking around in the frog’s leg, we found a gross white thread with a few pieces of black stuff clinging to it. I don’t even know what it’s called and don’t want to know because after having met it, I don’t ever want to again!

Finally, a Peace Corps volunteer, AKIA, traveled from Burkina Faso to Taiwan to observe her grandfather’s funeral. In AKIA-BLOG, she describes the funeral rites, which she says are a mixture of Buddhist and Taiwanese traditions:

Since he passed away, my relatives have been going to the temple to pay respects to my grandfather. Each morning, they go to bai4bai4. This involves burning incense and giving thanks or offerings and general respect paying. According to Taiwanese beliefs, he is ascending to the afterlife but he has not taken anything with him. Each morning, after paying our respects by burning incense at his soul altar, we burn paper flowers (the steps for him to reach the afterlife) and sacrificial money (money for the afterlife). Basically, my grandmother's apartment is reminiscent of a paper/origami factory.