Global Voices Online » Alice Backer

Mali: Presidential Election

Alice Backer — Tue, 08 May 2007 03:52:57 +0000

Mali-based French expat Mali Café deplores [Fr] that the French election eclipsed the Malian one: ” Malians went to the polls a week day for day after the first round of the French presidential election … Amadou Toumani Touré, the incumbent was elected since the first round with more than 68.5% of the vote for a participation of about 30% … Weird things happened here! Such as electoral cards delivery… One thing for sure, France inspired the Malian model… To make a longs story short, for some in the country, the election was rigged … “

Morocco: Lalla Mimouna Market

Alice Backer — Tue, 08 May 2007 03:21:35 +0000

France/Maroc à VTT posts [fr] vibrant pictures of the Souk of Lalla Mimouna and writes of the market: “When I was 15, the Souk of Lalla Mimouna took place on Fridays. Today in Morocco, souks are no longer held on Fridays. The Lalla Mimouna market takes place Saturday and is still as colorful and authentic. Except I couldn't find the tooth puller or the jar seller … “

Haiti: Bush to Scold Préval?

Alice Backer — Fri, 04 May 2007 08:25:04 +0000

Regarding an upcoming May 9 Préval visit to the White House, Collectif Haiti de Provence writes [Fr]: ”More than a week after a beneficial tour hand in hand with President Hugo Chavez … this meeting with the most powerful man on earth … could look like a call to order or caution to those who think that it is impossible to lead Haiti without having in mind the desires of our powerful neighbors.”

DRC: UDPS' Early Report Card for Kabila

Alice Backer — Fri, 04 May 2007 08:12:35 +0000

UDPS Liège posts an interview with Rachel Kabua Atwele, a Belgium-based UDPS sympathizer. She says [Fr]: “Let's not kid ourselves, dictatorship is alive and well. Those who believed in the good faith of Kabila the imposter are already having a hard time: Thérèse Nlandu, Pasteur Kuthino, the coup d'état on the majority through high-level corruption in the pro- Bemba provinces are sure signs of the stifling of the opposition by the AMP camp.”

St. Lucia, Taiwan: Friends Again

Alice Backer — Thu, 03 May 2007 03:40:25 +0000

Says French Caribbean site New Media [Fr]: “Taiwan, through the hand of its Foreign Affairs minister James Huang and his St. Lucian counterpart Rufus Bouquet, has officially signed Wednesday in Castries a treaty reestablishing diplomatic ties between the two countries. China has already stated it feels ‘offended' by the document.”

Guyane: Strange Fruit

Alice Backer — Thu, 03 May 2007 03:32:53 +0000

En Guyane posts [Fr] pictures of a mangosteen, a local fruit originating from Asia. She calls the fruit “sweet and strange”.

Guadeloupe: Celebrating May Day

Alice Backer — Tue, 01 May 2007 04:42:19 +0000

For French Labor Day, celebrated on May 1st, Convention pour une Nouvelle Guadeloupe writes [Fr]: “We … denounce the social model imposed by French authorities of the left and of the right and we … want a new model rooted in Guadeloupean values and founded mostly on the end of welfare, on responsibility, on the participation of workers in management… on union representation in all enterprises regardless of size.”

Guadeloupe: Let's Vote

Alice Backer — Tue, 01 May 2007 04:30:17 +0000

About the upcoming French presidential second round elections, Guadeloupe Attitude writes [Fr]: “Vote Saturday! Vote well! And let's roll up our sleeves Monday for the challenges that await us!”

Haiti: Happy to Be Home

Alice Backer — Tue, 01 May 2007 04:23:59 +0000

At Notedor.com, Nancy Chapoteau writes [Fr]: “After a couple of days away, I have just returned home. I received a warm welcome … I think the walls sang to celebrate my return. Where else can one be better off than home? … I refuse to believe that it is normal to surround oneself with ugliness and mediocrity under the pretext of poor luck. “

Martinique: Breakup Blues

Alice Backer — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 04:56:54 +0000

Le Blog de [Moi] had a fit of anguish [Fr] at the news that a 20 year same-sex relationship recently ended. Says the blogger: “I have a hard time with lesbian breakups … As if we owed ourselves to make it against all odd … And I can't help but think of my own couple… Can't help but look for signs.”

Gabon, Guadeloupe: Circumcision and HIV

Alice Backer — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 04:50:33 +0000

Guadeloupe Attitude posts [Fr] an article by Maité Mapangou, Executive Secretary of OPDAS-Gabon [Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS in Gabon] concluding that “circumcised or not, any man who does not protect himself is a potential agent of the spread of the virus“. The article comes in response to a recent news story alleging that circumcision might have a protective effect vis-a-vis HIV.

Eritrea: Female Genital Mutilation Outlawed

Alice Backer — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 11:04:02 +0000

Addax posts an article in English announcing the Eritrean government's decision to outlaw female genital mutilation. Adds the blogger [Fr]: “Note that this practice is now condemned by the African Charter of Human Rights in its Article 5.”

Rwanda: Commemorating a 14-Year-Old Genocide

Alice Backer — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 18:42:27 +0000

April 7th marked the 14th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide and was an official day of remembrance in Rwanda. At Pour Une Afrique Plus Ambitieuse et Volontaire Ravel Thombet wrote [Fr]: “Rwandan youth should free itself of this heavy heritage, born of human stupidity… In my upcoming book Interrogations Troublantes [Troubling Interrogations], I try to understand the why and how of this … sudden and unexplainable animosity…this avoidable genocide.”

Rwanda: Good Hotels

Alice Backer — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 18:18:19 +0000

Rwanda-based expat Guillaume posts [Fr] a guided tour of his favorite hotels and guest houses in the Rwandan cities of Kigali, Kibuye, Gisenyi, Butare and Cyangugu. It is a greatest hits list so even if you don't read French, know that the cited hotels come recommended by a knowledgeable traveler.

Guadeloupe: New Solar Energy Installation in Le Moule

Alice Backer — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 18:04:42 +0000

Guadeloupe Attitude posts [Fr] a picture of a solar installation in the town of Le Moule that should help lower carbon dioxyde emission into the island's environment. The blogger explains that the installation was inaugurated March 30th and joins a wider project encompassing 2000 square meters of solar panels in the town. The solar energy project delivers electricity to 6 schools, the local library and three municipal buildings.