Digital ID: 1244174
Creator(s):
Neele & Son -- Engraver
[Map of] Africa.
Library Division:
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture / Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Item/Page/Plate Number: opp. Pg. 448 Specific Material Type: Maps Subject(s): Africa Africa -- Maps
Additional Name(s):Adams, William, M. A. -- Author
Digital ID:
1244174
NYPL Call Number:
Sc Rare 916-A Schomburg has v. 1 only




S P E C I A L S E C T I O N

AFRICA
by George Hammond

Nairobi, the new and growing hip-hop town, as some might say.

In the center of a war-torn nation of Kenya, up in the highland, lies Nairobi. Created in 1899 for people working on the Mombassa-Uganda railroad. It was built on a water hole, which is probably how they came up with the name Nairobi (nyrobi means "cool water" in Maasi).
Nairobi is becoming a huge and popular city, with a population that has grown 800% since Kenya's independence in 1965(350,000-2,818,000 in 2005), a home to the first black woman Nobel Peace Prize winner, ecologist Wangari Maathai (learn more about her in the "Facts About Africa"), and now with hip-hop dominating the air. Sadly the difference between the rich and poor is huge, just like South Africa. The poor live in slums, many with AIDS, and also with about "15,000 to 25,000 (children living on streets), many of them orphans of parents who died of AIDS-related illnesses". Kibera, a slum with about 800,000 people, is one of the largest ones. Still, Nairobi is one of Africa's newest hopes for the future.

UN Office in Nairobi

UN Common Services project in Kenya

World Health Orginazation (WHO)

UNAIDS

World Food Program (WFP)

FACTS ABOUT AFRICA
(gathered from a article in National Geographic by Charles E. Cobb, Jr. and Wangaria Maathai)

-Kenyan ecologist, and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wangari Maathai started a tree-planting campaign in 1977 to help restore the ruined forests and create jobs. The Green Belt Movement is now a, not only envirormental, but political force. She won a seat in Kenya's parliament by 98%. She also is he assistant minister of the environment.
She says, "Many issues we deal with at a national level are actually symptoms of larger problems. Instead of worrying about such symptoms, we should worry about the causes."
-149 fatalities of gold miners in South Africa in 2004.
-52 million cell phone subscribers in 2003 in Africa.
-71% of Africa's population is under 25.
-Richest nation is Mauritius, with a per capita GDP of $12,800.
-Africa's total land mass is 20% of Earth's total.
-19 nations are democratic
-Over 2,000 languages are spoken.
-Lagos, the capital of Nigeria, is the largest city, with a population of 16.9 million.
-50% of Africans live on less than $1 a day.
-There are 15 million refugees.
-The population is 900 million. 14% of world total.
-348 million Muslims
-410 million Christians
-30 million firearms in the sub-Sahara.
-Most literate nation is the Seychelles, with a 92% rate.
-Least literate nation is Burkina Faso, with a 12.8 % rate.
-With 610 people per kilometer on Mauritius, it is the densest country in Africa.

WAYS TO HELP
making a donation to any of these organizations will help save Africa.

AfriCare

CARE

Doctors Without Borders

Global Rights

Carter Center

Human Rights Watch

International Rescue committee

UN World Food Programme

-Oxfam International
-International Committee of the Red Cross
-Feed the Children
-UN High commissioner for Refugees
-UNICEF
-World Vision International