Good News Out of Africa

05/21/09  Print This Post Print This Post    2 Comments   Popular   Written by Julie Schwietert
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Genocide. Starving babies. HIV/AIDS. These are the images of Africa all too prevalent in the Western media.

Photo: Stig Nygaard

As New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof wrote a few weeks ago:

“Mention Africa in polite company, and those around you may grimace, shake their heads sadly and profess sympathy. Oh, all those wars! Those diseases! Those dictators!”

But as Kristof went on to say, Africa is a lot more promising and hopeful than most Westerners acknowledge. And Africans themselves are working hard to use available technologies to get good news stories about their continent out to the rest of the world.

Take sisters Chioma and Oluchi Ogwuegbu, for instance. Chioma and Oluchi recently launched a website, Celebrate Africa, where they’re documenting their journey across the continent, a trip they’ve undertaken with the mission of “changing the negative image of Africa and encourag[ing] Africans and the world to begin to see the beauty in the continent, [as well as] promote a sense of identity and unity for Africa’s people.”

Chioma, who holds a law degree, designed and facilitated a leadership program for young women before deciding to undertake the trip around Africa. On the trip, she plans to volunteer at different non-profits, learning about local problems and solutions. Oluchi, who has a degree in economics, plans to videotape as much of their trip as possible, documenting the good news stories the sisters find along the way.

The sisters plan to visit 34 countries; so far, they have been to 14 countries, including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. You can follow their trip by reading their blog.

Community Connection:

Planning your own trip around Africa? Be sure to touch base with Matador’s Africa destination experts.


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About the Author

Matador ID: collazo

Julie Schwietert is the managing editor of Matador Network. She contributed a chapter to the recently published book, The Voluntary Traveler, and is currently working on five features for Fodor's Puerto Rico, 6th Edition.

2 Comments... join the discussion!

  • Caitlin replied on May 22, 2009

    That’s great. I will have to read their blog. The concept is wonderful.

    (Report comment)

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  • Scott replied on May 27, 2009

    Thanks for this website, I have to admit before I started investigating traveling around the world my thoughts on Africa were the same. I’ll defiantly start reading their site!

    (Report comment)

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