Tag Archives: stereotypes

Blog 6: Beauty of Africa (Sudan)

Although a majority of the media’s focus on Sudan revolves around the war between the north and south, there still remains a large amount of hidden, unappreciated beauty to the country of Africa.

Amongst the northeast region of Africa, Sudan is commonly characterized as the largest country of the continent, measuring 2,505,813 sq km, 853 km of it being composed of the Red Sea. Even with the Nile river running through the country, Sudan’s deserts are destined to periodic droughts and dust storms. The mountains of the north promise enjoyable weather, getting even better by traveling south to beautiful tropical climates. Sudan has almost any type of region one may want to visit. In the north lays the desert, trailed by mountains and valleys in the center areas. Swamps and rainforests compose the south, offering any type of desire setting of terrain. Traveling to Khartoum, the National Museum takes visitors to the monumental history of ancient Egypt.

Aside from it’s natural beauty, Sudan’s oil production promised large supply, becoming a direct source of oil to a majority of bordering countries. This helps maintain a healthy economy and increasing exchange rate. Other natural resources found in Sudan consist of copper, chromium ore, petroleum, zinc, iron, silver, and gold.

Unfortunately, the amount of visitors Sudan has had in the last few decades has decreased in relation to the war between the north and south. In contrast to the conflict between the people of the north and south of Sudan to one another, the people of Sudan are very well known as being extremely warm and hospitable to any and all visitors. Residents will often invite others into their homes for food and offer plenty of food, shelter, and kindness to any visiting.

Sudan impressingly has its very own currency. The Sudanese pound replaces the pound at an exchange rate of 1 dinar for 10 pounds. Aside from the separated south, the new Sudanese pound became the official currency of the country.

Since sports isn’t a huge part of Sudanese culture, no one is aware of several successful athletes to come out of the country. Manute Bol, who in his era was the tallest basketball player in the NBA, made a huge name for himself in basketball, along Deng Gai and Luol Deng. Gai went to play for the Philadelphia 76ers, while Deng joined the Chicago Bulls.

Amongst movements, between 1960 and 1970, Sudanese woman had one of the first and most active women’s movements in Arabic and African history. The first female parliamentarian took rise in 1965, followed by the first female minister of health in 1974, the Middle East’s first female judge, cinematographer, football referee, army, and police officer.

My initial assumption about Sudan came from the very obvious knowledge that they are in war and separated from south Sudan. I constantly came across articles, current events, and history records of wars and strife from Sudan. After researching the history and facts of the country, I’ve learned how beautiful and unique the country truly is, and how much it has to offer. Although Sudan faces many negative assumptions, it is a country that still offers itself to Africa and contributes as a huge historical source for themselves.

Images (Again):

http://www.newspatrolling.com/wp-content/uploads/Sudan-Darfur2008-_piramidi-_contesto-_COSV_7.jpg

http://www.ccbnational.net/KotW/img/scenic_photos/Sudan/Sudan%20-%20towers%20of%20sudan.jpg

http://gmsudan.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Tourism-in-Sudan-1.jpg

 

The Kingdom of Kush

Looking back into the history of Sudan and it’s great people, one can’t truly appreciate the realm and privileges of the country’s being and existence without comprehending it’s establishments and rises.. The name of the country alone represents it’s beings who inhabited the land.

Unknown-1“Sudan” translated to the Arabic meaning of land of the black people. By the 6th century, the country was Christianized, then with existence dating back to c. 650, Islamization of the land arose between the eight and nineteenth century. During this time, men lived in political unity among the four-thousand mile “Valley of the Nile.” Prehistorically speaking, many evolutions of the land began extraordinarily before such era.

The Neolithic people first inhibited the land and survived on prehistoric materials. Living in villages of huts composed of mud and brick, conditions were less luxurious than expected. Food resulted from anything collected during hunting or fishing along the river. Grain was collected and agriculture rose for the people of the Nile river valley.

imagesTrade was a large aspect of the developing years of Sudan. The Egyptians would compose deals of agriculture material, such as grains, with the land of Kush for stones, incense, etc. When Egyptians began seeking a more permanent trading area, they decided for travel forts protecting the trade of gold, which was very valued to the mines in Wawat. Gold and slave trades were amongst the pharaoh’s control.

Mansa_MusaEgypt then felt more power over the area and pharaoh Ahmose arose the New Kingdom from c. 1570-1100 BC. During which time the extent of control contained Kush until the fourth cataract. The Egyptian soldiers expected devotion is exchange for respect and commitment from chiefs and kids over the pharaoh’s people.

A language was established within the community which was used in all aspects of work, socializing, and living for the people once settled into the area. The temples of hard work and time were used for the religious worship of Christianity until diminishing after the 6th century.

Although generic information concerning the history and evolution of Sudan exist amongst the Internet in scatters, there isn’t much online or physical history to the land. I strongly believe because the history of Egypt and the Nile is so widely known and recognized, the country sitting on the other side isn’t taken into consideration or mentioned. The history was never a violent once, aside from the assumed slavery and pharaoh ruling that existed in a majority of the surrounding countries at such time. I believe although somewhat generic and peaceful, the land of Sudan be more recognized for it’s beauty and graciousness to surrounding countries and rise than be left in the dust as such.

Stereotypical Biases: Black Africans

Throughout time, stereotypes have gradually transformed into epidemic ideologies. The majority of people are unaware of the truth behind myths that stereotypical behavior is based on. For example, Africans are some of many people who are usually targeted by this convention. The stereotype that affected the overall image of Africans or people from the Africa is that they are wealthy regardless of their background. Africa endured many struggles and obstacles to reach its current status. Thus, the most common stereotype about Africa is their dark skin, some of the comments that really surprised me were:

“ The continent itself calls images of Darkest Africa with jungles, savanna, diamond mines, undiscovered civilizations or creatures, elephants, lions, monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees, baboons, pythons, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, leopards, hyenas, ostriches, crocodiles, antelopes, wildebeest, etc. Usually whenever people visit Africa they almost trip over all these omnipresent animals, which they invariably always encounter at a dangerous moment. Africans are generally assumed to an entire continent full of black people. If there are whites they are always Great White Hunter or Mighty Whitey: there are no other options. Apparently all the Coloreds, Indians, Asians, and all the rest of them have vanished overnight. In addition, it’s a common stereotype that all black Africans essentially look like West Africans, with none of the variety in phenotypes found in Europe or Asia. This stereotype is especially common in the US, because it’s assumed that all Africans look like African Americans, who are mostly descended from West Africans. As a result, East and Northeast African phenotypes in particular are extremely rare in depictions of black Africans.”

It is important because it shows how people treat others differently just because of their skin color, this is definitely a negative thought since now most people will think that being black means being African which is wrong. And now Africa has the world’s attention just because of the myths about this part of the world. Although all countries show interest in Africa now yet racial stereotypes keep on wondering around it.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKOWERczykU

This video explains more about black Africans, and as said “It has gone on for many many years. We’ve all seen the ignorant remarks from ignorant and uneducated racists who say things like “Black African’s had no history”. “Black Africans had no culture”. “Black Africans had never even discovered the wheel”. “When the white man discovered black Africans they were just naked savages and cannibals living in mud huts”. But this video explains how ignorant people are when it comes to this topic and actually Africans made history not whites. One of the Pre-colonial economics that is affecting Africa is The demand for slaves rose as the European sugar plantation arose, which led to an immediate impact on the African economy by a decrease in the agricultural production. Which created the Euro African who are called “Black Africans” in Europe and “Europeans” in Africa. “The African country with the largest White African population of European descent both numerically and proportionally is South Africa, at approximately 4.6 million (9.2% of the population). Although White Africans no longer have the exclusive rule of single nations, they still hold a substantial ownership of the economy and land in specific nations”.

 

Read more: http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2006/04/maddox.aspx

 

Africa Bashing

Ayoola Openibo
September 3, 2014

The article that I choose to write about is called Ebola Death toll Passes 1900, Says WHO, I retrieved this article from BBC News. The article focuses on the reported cases of Ebola in Five countries in West Africa. The country of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and Nigeria. There have been 3,500 confirmed or probable cases in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77360000/jpg/_77360023_96c64fb0-7d62-439e-a1ae-c0cb2d934168.jpg
This issue the article is focused on not just Ebola, but mostly what measures can be enacted to yield a faster result in controlling the virus. There are many possible measures to take but the issue of ethics plays a huge role in the decision making. Many individuals in the medical field are said to meet and discuss what actions should be taken in Geneva. This is an important issue because it impacts everyone as a whole not just the countries in Africa directly affected. The first case of a British person to contract Ebola during the outbreak was discharged from the hospital after making a full recovery on September 3, 2014. Aside from that, the fear of contracting the virus has impacted the trade of rice, as sailors refuse to sail to West Africa, this is a big effect on the economy of Thailand and West Africa countries involved in import and export of rice. The issue also affects schools in Nigeria although they reversed a decision to postpone the start of school, we still see the impact in that they were going to postpone school to avoid the spread.
The article uses phrase like “outbreaks out passing efforts to control it” and talks about western cases been resolved. In my opinion this is done deliberately to say that Africa’s countries can not contain the spread of the Ebola virus. This is similar to what we discussed in class where the news portrays Africa as primitive, and unable to handle issues effectively. The article talks about how foreign medical practitioners are meeting to solve Africa uncontrolled Ebola spread. The title of the article itself sets the scene perfectly for some bashing stating that 1900 deaths as a result of Ebola occurred in Africa, but barely talks about cases outside West Africa, which I am sure exist, and even when mentioned it is down played as not being a severe case. The news source is from a British company, so there is an undoubtable bias in how the stories would be reported.
The source reports the news on Africa making it look as though nothing is being done to prevent the spread locally. I personally feel that the news reported through BBC does a bad job of explaining how this is not just an African issue, but is a world issue and if nothing is done, but playing blame games, then more of the world is about to be affected by the outspread of this virus. The western countries clearly have an effective remedy as reported with the fully recovered British infected person, so more can definitely be done.
Every time I hear something about virus spreading I immediately think there has to be someone purposely putting these things out to make income like the sci-fi movies.

Ebola In West Africa

_73961718_73958600

Medical equipment used by doctors to protect themselves from being infected with Ebola while operating on patients

The article I chose to write about is from “The Huffington Post” and the article’s title is The Ripple Effect of Ebola on Health Care in West Africa. The article was written on August 8, 2014. This article not only deals with the health problems associated with the deadly disease known as “Ebola”, but it also digs deeper and discusses the effects that it has on the health care in Sierra Leone and Liberia. There is a ripple down effect caused by Ebola, and besides the fact that the disease itself is killing people, the other destruction caused by this disease is leading to even more deaths. It is important to know these effects so more people do not die. One example of the ripple down effect is that people are afraid to go to the hospital because of the fear that they may become infected. This means that if they are showing signs of malaria or dysentery and they do not get them treated than they may die. It is possible that dysentery and malaria may be killing more people than Ebola. Another indirect effect of the virus is that it is difficult to find doctors to help because, without the proper equipment, most people are too scared to help out to actually do anything. In Liberia there are fifty-one doctors for almost four and a half million people. There is no way that those doctors can treat all those who need treatment, so the proper equipment needs to be bought so that the doctor to patient ratio is not so terribly low.

The author seems like they are writing with a concerned attitude. They use words like “urgent” and “crisis” to address the importance and use the word “we” a lot to show that the readers can make a difference and it is going to take people like themselves to help solve this problem. We have learned in class that we can help by educating ourselves about Africa. I get the sense that the author is trying to convey that Africa is a helpless country and cannot help themselves. The need for help from outside countries is also stressed throughout the article. It seems like the stereotypical article about Africa. I get that the tone is used to persuade people to help Africa, but what article isn’t about how we should help Africa? The article is written by the Huffington Post so it is slightly biased towards liberal ideas, so it probably supports foreign aid.

My personal thoughts about this is that Africa does clearly need help, but it is not entirely our responsibilities to help them. We as individuals can only do so much and the countries of Africa have to set aside their differences and unite to help. If the African countries were smarter, they would stop worrying about securing their own borders and stopping the disease from getting into their country and rather start directing their efforts into stopping the disease as a whole. It is not only the African countries doing this. All of the countries stopping their airlines from making trips to Africa and putting restrictions on incoming flights spent a heck of a lot of money to do that. That was money that could have been used to buy medical equipment for hundreds of doctors which are desperately needed in Africa. The money needs to be spent on making conditions safer for doctors so no doctors will get infected. This would lead to an increase in willingness of doctors to help the struggling country. The disease needs to be controlled and eliminated. Instead of trying to stop the spread we need to focus on simply eliminating the disease as a whole. What better way to stop a disease from spreading than to eliminate the disease completely. Africa needs help, but not just any help, we have to be smart about how we help. This includes the doctors that are helping now. They cannot try to be brave and do reckless things like operate without the utmost protection. This could lead to them contracting Ebola which would eliminate more doctors and clearly that would only worse the problem. The article ends with a quote from the World Health Organization’s Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan saying “Our collective health security depends on support for containment in support in these countries.” This is a powerful statement and sums up my opinions about this article. What she means is that if pity is not enough to get you to do something about this then your personal health being in danger should motivate you to do something.

-Austin Groff

Amnesty offered to al-Shabab members

 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29044368

Al-Shabab

African Union Soldiers

The issue being presented in this article is that the Somalia government has offered a pardon to the fighters in a Islamist group, al-Shabab, even though they are uncertain if their leader survived one of the US air strikes. The government is giving them 45 days to surrender in return of an amnesty. The group al-Shabab is refusing to tell weather or not their leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, survived during the air strike. Many people are saying that the Somalia’s government offer is an attempt to calm down the fighters and try to keep peace.

The event of the US air strike took place on Monday, September 1st , when Ahmed Godane was traveling in a convoy in the lower southern region of Somalia. It was stated that a witness saw US troops land on the site of the airstrike shortly after the damage was done. The troops were then in a gun battle with the al-Shabab and proceed to take away some of the bodies after the battle was over. No one knows if they to Godane’s body, but the US are doing a DNA tests on the bodies and it could take them awhile to complete them.

Al-Shabab

Al-Shabab

The African Union wants to take down the al-Shabab and take back control of Somalia so they are encouraging defections. The Islamic group has lost control of four of their towns in the past week leaving the African Union to keep pressing on towards their main base, Barawe. The African Union has managed to gain back some control in Somalia, but the al-Shabab still has control over a lot of territory in the rual areas enabling them to continue their bombings and assignations in Mogdaishu.

This article takes on a very optimistic tone, by keeping an open mind about the entire situation. The author of the article seems to be hopeful that the Islamic group will be stopped and that there will be justice for the people of Somalia. They use words such as “regain”, which sounds hopeful that they with get back what they are suppose to have from the al-Shabab. Words in this article are very positive and are more towards the side of the Somalia government because it is a positive thing happening in Africa. They want the African Union to take back Somalia in order to restore order in their country.

The source of my article was from BBC Africa and I believe that because they are so diverse the story is very reliable in the way it is presented. I do think the source impacts the tone and choice of words because they are a diverse company they present there stories in a way to relate people from all different walks of life

My personal thought on this article is that, I want Somalia to regain its control in its country. A strong country tends to be one that is unified and it is hard for them to do that when they have the Islamic group trying to change every move they make. I think it is important that they keep on fighting for what is there’s and continue to overrule the al-Shabab. In time they African Union will get control of its people and the Somalia government will officially be back on the right track. I loved reading this article and I never thought things like this were going on in places like Somalia. Its hard to believe that a group of people could just begin to overrule a government and create their own rules, but it is clear that in Africa it does happen. I really do hope for change in Somalia.

Airlines saving lives with trashed leather

Article source: http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/29/travel/airlines-saving-lives-with-trashed-leather/index.html?hpt=iaf_mid

In the novel, Americanah, (Ngozi Adichie, 2013) the main character thinks to herself, “To hear Nigeria and good in the same sentence was a luxury.” This is the perspective of a Nigerian woman who has been living in Princeton, New Jersey for several years. Though it is a simple statement, it holds a lot of weight. From my perspective, a Caucasian, American male and with the risk of over-assimilating myself, I would argue that her statement applies to not only Nigeria, but also to numerous African countries. Adichie’s words beg the question: When was the last time I read or heard anything positive about an African country in the mainstream US media?

The truth is that I can’t recall coming across an article that represents the diversity, complexity and beauty of any African country. Thus the reason why, upon my arrival in Africa seven months ago, I was shocked to discover the sheer magnificence of the area. As I explored Cape Town, South Africa, I couldn’t help but notice the blatant contrast between a newfound reality and an old illusion. Rather than encountering the stereotypical, impoverished, helpless Africa that our media makes the continent out to be, I was greeted by a lavish city full of a hustle and bustle that could match New York City.

These observations were not exclusive to Cape Town, but most cities I visited in South Africa. Upon returning back to the US, the question I received the most from people besides “did you see any lions?” was about poverty. More often than not, the questions addressed Africa in its entirety, rather than South Africa specifically. I have also been asked several times if I was there “to help”. I have even been told that I wasn’t in the “real Africa” because my pictures did not reflect the correct image of poverty that people expected. Though I can’t blame those who asked these questions. In fact, seven months ago, I would have asked the same questions.

Where were the questions that concerned the beauty of Cape Town or the astonishing architecture of Grahamstown? The reasoning for this is the same reason why it is a rarity for the main character in Americanah to come upon a positive statement concerning Nigeria. It is because African cultures, at different scales, lose their respective identities and complexities in the American media. They become a single character synonymous with poverty and a lack of progress— a single place that is constantly in need of help from the outside world.

A recent CNN article I came across captures the idea of media outlets reducing Africa to the vulnerable continent it is often depicted as. The article, by Daisy Carrington, is titled, “Airlines saving lives with trashed leather.” It is an interesting article that covers a cool idea: Southwest Airlines finding a useful way to directly recycle mass amounts of discarded leather seats from airplanes. The leather is going to Kenyan orphanages that in turn are making shoes to directly combat foot parasites and soccer balls, which are sold to raise funds for healthcare research in the area. The issue immediately comes into play in the first caption: “Southwest Airlines recently launched Luv Seat, an upcycling initiative that aims to repurpose 80,000 used leather seat covers. Rather than simply donating the materials, Southwest has partnered with NGOs in Africa that will use them to provide job training and health education.” This was the first text after the title in the first, non-Ebola, article I saw about Africa on the CNN website. NGO’s, Africa, donating, job training, health education. It’s this type of discourse that leads to the mythical view of helpless, homogenously impoverished Africa.

To be fair to the author, the rest of the article does a decent job of pointing out that this initiative is targeted specifically at orphanages in Kenya. Unfortunately, the specific references come after more helpless Africa discourse: “the airline started looking towards Africa for recipients of the used leather”. It is stated like it is the only obvious place for Southwest’s old leather.

Southwest’s creativity is doubtlessly commendable, but are they the heroes of the story that CNN makes them out to be? The answer is no. They are not the ones “saving lives with trashed leather” as the title proclaims. They are simply donating their trash. The people directly saving lives are the Kenyans who are making products out of the leather and spreading the resources. This is a great story about Kenyans helping Kenyans. Sadly, the story has been written in a way that gives the glory to the Southwest Airline Corporation. Told this way, the story becomes an all too familiar narrative of heroic Western superiority saving helpless Africa.

Stories told in this fashion warp our idea of an entire continent. Articles like this make it so that it is a surprise for the main character in Americanah to hear something positive about Nigeria in New Jersey. This type of discourse is the reason people ask me if I went to South Africa to “help”.

Animation Innovation In Africa

The article I found describes a new program in Dakar that brings ten students from all over Africa to learn and develop their skills in animation. It is a private school funded by the European Union to help enhance the creativity and media in present day Africa. These students are found from all parts of Africa including Senegal, Madagascar, and Congo. These students are learning about computer software and design techniques among other things. They are using techniques and mediums from other parts of the world like Asia, Europe, and even the United States. When the students graduate they will return to their home countries and only a few of the students will receive additional funding to create their own startup and continue to produce creative content.

I believe this is an important article because it finally puts Africa and its culture and people in a good light in the media. We usually see Africa in the news for negative happenings and situations but this story is quite the opposite. This article highlights the progress and innovation that’s taking place in Africa, which is something that us casual news viewers rarely see. Articles like these will start to remove stereotypes and generalizations about Africa over time.

This article is meant to give off hopeful and positive vibes to its viewers. Africa is rarely in the news for something positive, let alone media innovation. This gives us a real account of the type of development and sophistication that the country beholds. Adjovi gives an uplifting tone to the story and provides a sense of relevance, in the way that Africa isn’t technologically absent and the fact that some of their animation will eventually make its way to other parts of the globe. I believe the tone of the video is important to delivering the message.

The source of the story is BBC news Africa. BBC is one of the largest news corporations in the world and is very reliable in terms of sources and information. BBC is not very biased either, never subjecting their own political influences on their stories.

I believe that BBC does carefully choose what words and phrases to use. BBC tries to uplift the image of Africa and in doing so, must leave out words that are normally used to portray Africa. I believe they also use a hopeful tone to enhance their story and message. I believe they try to cater to the western media to change the opinions and views of Africa. They create a tone that Africa is a technologically sound country, which is contrary to many peoples’ beliefs.

This video was pretty eye opening for me. I can say I’ve been pretty ignorant when it comes to Africa and I was surprised to see this type of innovation and creativity going on in Africa. My purview has been limited to the sad and violent events that come from Africa. Watching a video like this changes my perspective of the country and makes me curious of all the developments and innovation occurring in Africa.

Embracing Animation in Africa. Perf. Laeila Adjovi. BBC News Africa, 2014. BBC News. 1 Sept. 2014. Web. 02 Sept. 2014.

LINK HERE: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29009063

Quarantine for Ebola Lifted in Liberia Slum

Quarantine for Ebola Lifted in Liberia Slum
Source from: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/30/world/africa/quarantine-for-ebola-lifted-in-liberia-slum.html?ref=world
Date: 08/31/2014

The article Quarantine for Ebola Lifted in Liberia Slum illustrates the situation of Ebola in Liberia. The government of the country announced that there would not be an Ebola quarantine on a large slum in the capital any more. Earlier, the president of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf rejected the advice of international Ebola experts and her own health officials who suggest that a large-scale quarantined by the military would not be easily handled; and the disease would spread even faster than before. Also, the quarantine would not be comprehensive because the military system was corrupted; the soldiers earned bribes from the residents to help them sneak out of West Point. The action made the people to suspect her ability of dealing with the outbreak. However, the life of quarantine made the residents released.

In the article, the author uses the word “slum” to describe the community in the capital. It will lead the readers the limited information and bias that even in the capital city, the neighborhoods are slums. It promotes the unfair impression of how Liberia is really like. The usage of this word will mislead the readers to imagine Liberia as a chaos.with hunger,famine and starvation. Also, the author describes the president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as an arrogant and ignorant person. Using the phrases like “reject international Ebola experts”,”her own health officials”, “unmanageable and could exacerbate the spread of the disease”, and “pay the bribes”, the author tries to misguide people to understand the African countries, like Liberia, that have the problem of incompetent leadership, rampant diseases, flagrant corruption problems. The impression I got from the article is absolutely stereotypical and biased.

I found this article on The New York Times, which is considered as one of the very reliable sources for research. I do believe that sources impact the tones/words a lot. Newspapers, one of the mass communication that help people to get information, have their own purpose. In many countries, newspaper publishers are governments owned. They have to write what satisfied the governments, otherwise they will be big trouble. Most of the governments would like the newspaper, or the other media mediums to disparage the rest of countries so they can look better. For example, in the China national TV news program, the first thirty minutes, the hosts will report all the good news that show the residents how prosperous the country is, and in the rest of 30 minutes, the audience will find out how miserable and chaotic the rest of world are. This is the trick of the media. They blind people’s eyes, and tell them no truth. New York Times, as a well-known USA publisher, further or less, will try their best to make USA look better than others, especially when USA tries to be “the policeman” of the globe. There must be bias happened.

Personally, I think that none of us are Liberians. We do not know what is going on there, and we do not know what is the president’s plan. The newspaper should report the news in a certain way that is neutral, and fair. The author should not judge the country by the stereotypes. I am sure that no one wants their community to be called as slum, and each coin has two sides.

Ebola: Guineans Riot in Nzerekore over Disinfectant

Ebola: Guineans Riot in Nzerekore over Disinfectant

http://www.bbc.com/new/world-africa-28984259

1 September 2014

The issue of this article was about how the residents of Nzerekore, Guinea rioted after their market place was sprayed with disinfectant to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus. The local residence feared that the spray would spread Ebola, leading to the attack on health workers and the hospital in Nzerekore. Therefore causing them to flee to nearby military bases for protection. This fear was fabricated by a rumor that the spray would help spread the Ebola virus to the locals. The article continues to talk about how the outbreak of Ebola started in Guinea and has claimed over fifteen thousand lives so far. The article then continues to go into how the local traders were not warned about the epidemic and held protest at the local hospital. Furthermore the article goes into how Senegal has confirmed its first case of Ebola, which was a Guinean citizen.

_77257455_77255649            The main issue of this article was eluded, which is Ebola has a serious issue and what can be done to prevent the spread. Anytime we as a people have an epidemic dealing with some form of disease it affects the entire world. If we look at history we will see how diseases like cholera, smallpox, tuberculosis, and the plague have spread around the world claiming many lives. These diseases all started in one location then spread like wild fire to the rest of the world, and at no fault to any one person or nation. This is the nature of diseases, and Ebola is no different.

This article was very biased against Guinea and tossed blame on the country for the outbreak. The writer states, “the current outbreak of Ebola began in Guinea, and has killed more than 1,500 people in four countries.” That statement places direct blame on the country for the outbreak and the death for the people in the neighboring countries. It also goes into how the Guinea citizen was at fault for Senegal’s first case of Ebola.

This is not only stereotypical but also a damaging article to their country and the continent of Africa. Every country in the world relies on import and export, so this article helps create a tone of fear around the world. Transactions and opportunities that normally would have been possible may have halted or damaged for good, because of fabricated fear that is created by the press. I believe by the tossing of blame, and reporting actions of a scared group of people is very damaging. The things that should be coming out of this part of the world should be positive. They should discuss the issue of the disease and the ways to prevent the spread.

In conclusion, this article was very damaging to Guinea and the neighboring countries. The writer only discusses the fear that was created from the viruses, and how the people are reacting based off of that fear. Other then targeting the domestic issues of this country in its dyer need. The writers from this organization should focus on information that can be useful to the world, because this virus affects everyone and isn’t bias to who it targets.