Students from Morogoro Secondary School dancing during graduation ceremony
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S DAY OF BROADCASTING- 7 MARCH 2010
ALL RIGHTS ALL CHILDREN
Greetings from UNICEF.
I’m writing to you about our International Children’s Day of Broadcasting Initiative and to encourage your station to participate.You may be acquainted (or have participated) in the InternationalChildren’s Day of Broadcasting (ICDB) initiative. Launched in 1991, ICDBis an annual event where broadcasters around the world air specialprogramming by, for and about children.
In my time here at UNICEF, I haveseen so many unique interpretations of the ICDB mission and it isencouraging to see the great work that stations produce in honor ofUNICEF’s goal of getting young people on their air, both physically and insubject matter.The next ICDB will take place 7 March 2010 with the theme All Rights AllChildren.
It’s the 20th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child anda time to take stock of the rights that children have and deserve. Inessence, every aspect of a child or young person’s life is somehow relatedto one or more of the rights afforded to children.
Since the theme is sobroad, we’re hoping that is will encourage more participation andcreativity.In the past few years, we’ve been pushing the child participation aspect ofthe ICDB – getting kids to present the programs and to help in theproduction process.
We’ve had some wonderful successes with news magazine,game and variety shows.
But we still also welcome traditional programmingthat highlights the theme and presents programs for young people. There’sroom for everything on the ICDB.There are many options of what can be done during the day:
· Produce a special talk show that is hosted by youth and features short reports on different child’s rights issues
· Tailor an episode of an already existing show to focus on any issue that related to child rights
· Air interstitials that highlight the ICDB
· Donate a program that relates to child rights to the ICDB compilation that can be aired free-of-charge by broadcasters around the world
· Create a kids news show featuring reports by young people about issues they face and larger world news
· Feature children’s perspectives on adult shows or other shows airing on that dayThere are many different possibilities to embrace the ICDB – whether it’sslightly shaping a product you already have or creating a new platform forkids.
Whatever you can do to participate in this event, UNICEF would bevery grateful to have your support.
UNICEF also awards the International Children’s Day of Broadcasting Awardsto the radio and television broadcasters that best support and implementthe mission of the ICDB. Nominees are invited to New York in November forthe Awards Ceremony and associated broadcasting conference.
This year theICDB Awards went to Citizen TV (Kenya) and Rádio Justiça (Brazil).
Please contact me (kcirillo@unicef.org / +1.212.326.7506) if you have anyquestions or are interested in donating a program.
I also invite you to visit www.unicef.org/icdb for more background and links to past ICDBs and winning programs.We would love to have your station’s support for UNICEF’s effort to “Tune in to Kids” and hope that you can be part of this exciting day.
Best,
Karen Cirillo
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
LIFE AFTER FLOOD IN KILOSA,MOROGORO
A desparate young girl sitting front of home properties after the flood in Kilosa,Tanzania
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
STREET CHILD WORD CUP 2010 IN AFRICA
Street Children Team from Tanzania
Street Children from 9 countries in the world will take part in March 2010 for the first ever Street Child World Cup in Durban, South Africa. Street children from Tanzania,Brazil,India,Nicaragua,Phillipines,Ukraine,Vietnam, South Africa and United Kingdom will come together to play football and find their voices through the game they love.
The Street Child World Cup will place street children centre stage, celebrating their potential and providing a platform for them to talk about their experiences, rights and ideas. You can read more from http://streetchildworldcup.org/
Monday, November 30, 2009
ARE WE REAL SERIOUS?
Children from Kinole Primary School in Morogoro. Who cares about their education???? and who is responsible? Is it their parents,community,NGO,Sponsors or the government???
10,000 E. AFRICAN ALBINOS IN HIDING AFTER KILLING
The mistaken belief that albino body parts have
magical powers has driven thousands of Africa's albinos into hiding,
fearful of losing their lives and limbs to unscrupulous dealers who
can make up to $75,000 selling a complete dismembered set.
Mary Owido, who lacks pigment that gives color to skin, eyes and hair,
says she is only comfortable when at work or at home with her husband
and children.
"Wherever I go people start talking about me, saying that my legs and
hands can fetch a fortune in Tanzania," said Owido, 36, a mother of
six. "This kind of talk scares me. I am afraid of going out alone."
Since 2007, 44 albinos have been killed in Tanzania and 14 others have
been slain in Burundi, sparking widespread fear among albinos in East
Africa.
At least 10,000 have been displaced or gone into hiding since the
killings began, according to a report released this week by the
International Federation for the Red Cross and Crescent societies.
East Africa's latest albino murder happened in Tanzania's Mwanza
region in late October, when albino hunters beheaded 10-year-old
Gasper Elikana and chopped off his leg, the report said. The killing
left Elikana's father, who tried to defend his son, seriously injured.
Albinism is a hereditary condition, but occurs only when both parents
have albinism genes. All six of Owido's children have normal skin
color.
African albinos endure insults, discrimination and segregation
throughout their lives. They also have a high risk of contracting skin
cancer in a region where many jobs are outdoors.
Owido, a high school teacher in the western Kenyan town of Ahero, says
she was forced to transfer from a better teaching job on the Kenya-
Tanzania border town of Isebania in 2008 after an albino girl she knew
was murdered and her body parts chopped off.
The surge in the use of albino body parts as good luck charms is a
result of "a kind of marketing exercise by witch doctors," the
International Federation for the Red Cross and Crescent societies
said.
The report says the market for albino parts exists mainly in Tanzania,
where a complete set of body parts — including all limbs, genitals,
ears, tongue and nose — can sell for $75,000. Wealthy buyers use the
parts as talismans to bring them wealth and good fortune.
"Albinism is one of the most unfortunate vulnerabilities," said
International Federation for the Red Cross and Crescent societies
Secretary General Bekele Geleta. "And it needs to be addressed
immediately at an international level."
The chairman of the Albino Association of Kenya, Isaac Mwaura, called
the murders deplorable but said the killings have given albinos a
platform to raise awareness.
Almost 90 percent of albinos living in the region were raised by
single mothers, Mwaura said, because the fathers believed their wives
were having affairs with white men.
"When I was born my father said his family tree doesn't have such
children and left us," Mwaura said.
Some African communities believe that albinos are harbingers of
disaster, while others mistakenly think albinos are mentally retarded
and discourage their parents from taking them to school, saying it's a
waste of money, he said.
Due to a lack of education, many albinos are illiterate and are forced
into menial jobs, exposing them to the sun and skin cancer, he said.
Those who manage to finish school face discrimination in the work
place and are never considered for promotions.
"People are very blind to albinism but it is very visible. Now that we
have this issue in Tanzania is when people have started to talk about
albinism," Mwaura said. "Before there was a studious silence."
TOM ODULA,NAIROBI KENYA
magical powers has driven thousands of Africa's albinos into hiding,
fearful of losing their lives and limbs to unscrupulous dealers who
can make up to $75,000 selling a complete dismembered set.
Mary Owido, who lacks pigment that gives color to skin, eyes and hair,
says she is only comfortable when at work or at home with her husband
and children.
"Wherever I go people start talking about me, saying that my legs and
hands can fetch a fortune in Tanzania," said Owido, 36, a mother of
six. "This kind of talk scares me. I am afraid of going out alone."
Since 2007, 44 albinos have been killed in Tanzania and 14 others have
been slain in Burundi, sparking widespread fear among albinos in East
Africa.
At least 10,000 have been displaced or gone into hiding since the
killings began, according to a report released this week by the
International Federation for the Red Cross and Crescent societies.
East Africa's latest albino murder happened in Tanzania's Mwanza
region in late October, when albino hunters beheaded 10-year-old
Gasper Elikana and chopped off his leg, the report said. The killing
left Elikana's father, who tried to defend his son, seriously injured.
Albinism is a hereditary condition, but occurs only when both parents
have albinism genes. All six of Owido's children have normal skin
color.
African albinos endure insults, discrimination and segregation
throughout their lives. They also have a high risk of contracting skin
cancer in a region where many jobs are outdoors.
Owido, a high school teacher in the western Kenyan town of Ahero, says
she was forced to transfer from a better teaching job on the Kenya-
Tanzania border town of Isebania in 2008 after an albino girl she knew
was murdered and her body parts chopped off.
The surge in the use of albino body parts as good luck charms is a
result of "a kind of marketing exercise by witch doctors," the
International Federation for the Red Cross and Crescent societies
said.
The report says the market for albino parts exists mainly in Tanzania,
where a complete set of body parts — including all limbs, genitals,
ears, tongue and nose — can sell for $75,000. Wealthy buyers use the
parts as talismans to bring them wealth and good fortune.
"Albinism is one of the most unfortunate vulnerabilities," said
International Federation for the Red Cross and Crescent societies
Secretary General Bekele Geleta. "And it needs to be addressed
immediately at an international level."
The chairman of the Albino Association of Kenya, Isaac Mwaura, called
the murders deplorable but said the killings have given albinos a
platform to raise awareness.
Almost 90 percent of albinos living in the region were raised by
single mothers, Mwaura said, because the fathers believed their wives
were having affairs with white men.
"When I was born my father said his family tree doesn't have such
children and left us," Mwaura said.
Some African communities believe that albinos are harbingers of
disaster, while others mistakenly think albinos are mentally retarded
and discourage their parents from taking them to school, saying it's a
waste of money, he said.
Due to a lack of education, many albinos are illiterate and are forced
into menial jobs, exposing them to the sun and skin cancer, he said.
Those who manage to finish school face discrimination in the work
place and are never considered for promotions.
"People are very blind to albinism but it is very visible. Now that we
have this issue in Tanzania is when people have started to talk about
albinism," Mwaura said. "Before there was a studious silence."
TOM ODULA,NAIROBI KENYA
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