An African New Year

Tomorrow, June 21st marks this year's summer soltice. It is a celebration of the longest day of the year and the beginning of the summer.

The summer solstice means we are 4 minutes short of 15 hours of daylight. What are you going to do with those extra hours of daylight? Lets hope tommorrow is a lovely sunny day so we can use those extra hours to chill out and relax and be happy.

In Kemet (Ancient Egypt), summer soltice was the most important day of the year. The sun would be at its most powerful and the nile river would begin to rise. The people of Kemet held special ceremonies to honour the Goddesss Aset, who was said to be mourning for her dead husband Asar and that her tears caused the Nile to overflow. An Accurate prediction of the floods was such an important event for the people of Kemet, that the appearance of the star Sirius, which occurs around the time of the summer soltice, was seen as the beginning of the Egyptian New Year.

It is said that the summer soltice is a time to be happy. It is a time to get rid of the things you no longer want or causes chaos in your life. Tomorrow, celebrate being happy.

The Day of the African Child

Saturday, 16 June 2007, celebrated the Day of the African Child. Apparently, this day has been celebrated every year since 1991 and I am afraid to say, I have only just found out about it.

The Day of the African Child was first initiated by the organisation of African Unity. The day is in honour of the memory and courage of thousands of Black school children in Soweto, South Africa, in 1976, who took to the streets to protest the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language. During those two weeks of protest, over one 100 young boys and girls were killed and more than 1,000 injured.

Can anyone remember that day? I can. It's one of those painful and ugly memories that you bury somewhere deep inside until......

Each year the day is associated with a different message. This year UNICEF is drawing attention to the issue of Child trafficking.

I know this day has passed but it is never too late to learn something new or to get involved.

If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much.

- Marian Wright Edelman

Our best seeds and our dearest fields - those are our children

- Cheikh Hamidou Kane

An African Oasis

Bring the indoors, outdoors by creating your own tropical oasis in your garden. Use large sculptural African pieces and African-inspired furniture and accessories, such as cushions and textiles to complement tropical plants, flowers and foliage. Here's how:

Flooring - choose your flooring such as decking, gravel, grass or paving, all can look equally good. But, if you are looking to splash out and lay new decking, choose a hardwood like Iroko, which is made in Africa and looks stunning when laid.

Plants - This is the challenging bit, choosing plants and flowers that make you feel you are somewhere tropical. But, there is a lot of help at hand. Visit reputable garden centres and surf the web to get advice about choosing tropical plants for your garden. Remember, not all tropical plants can survive our winter months.
If, you don't already have an established garden, introduce mature plants into the area. Bamboo, grasses (green and black) ferns, yuccas's, cordylines, banana and cactus plants will all help to create a lush oasis and tropical feel.

Planters - place your plants into the many beautiful planters available from garden centres or large retail stores.

Furniture and accessories - create a stylish African-inspired outdoor space with bright wicker tables and stools. Or if you would like a more natural look there are many beautiful hardwood benches and loungers to choose from. Or, even better, use your own authentic pieces of African furniture but don't forget to take them indoors once you have finished with them.

Finally - accessorise with brightly coloured cushions, textiles and parasols. And, don't forget the lighting a perfect finish to your tropical oasis.

SPOTLIGHT ON: HIV/AIDS

May 14th to 20th was Christian Aid week. During that week we saw an interview with one of its ambassadors - R&B star Lemar.

He was talking about this recent trip to Uganda and Ethiopia, the effects on the children of the ongoing civil war in Uganda and the huge problem of HIV and AIDS, including the many children that have lost one or both parents to AIDS.

HIV/AIDS in Africa is a modern day catastrophe - arguably a current holocaust. Over 20 Million African people have already died, 28 million are HIV-positive, over 5000 die everyday. Contrary to popular belief, it is not exclusively an affliction of the poor. It affects artists and aristocrats alike. It particularly flourishes where traditional tribal loyalties have broken down.

Southern Africa is most heavily affected - countries like South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe - but other African regions don't escape. West Africa - countries like Cameroon, Cote d' Ivoire and Gabon have experienced creeping increases in infection rates. Arcoss Africa, the majority of the people living with HIV/AIDS are between the ages of 15 and 49.

It made us think again about what it is that we need to do to help alleviate the poverty and distress caused by this preventable and treatable disease. In all honesty, the problem is so huge, we have wondered both where to start and what impact we could possibly make. However, one message came through again and again when we looked into things - the situation is tragic but not hopeless.

We can help financially support prevention campaigns and the provision of treatment and care. Ideally financial support should target "grassroots" local organisations. (We thought it best not to recommend ones)

Kafele will be donating money to support "grassroots" individual groups and organisations fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. In addition, we would like to do more by donating toiletries and medical supplies to an orphanage or hospital/clinic in one or two of the African countries.

We will keep you infomed of our progress with these matters either through the website, blog or our newsletter.

Love Africa, its art and its people.

African-Inspired High-Rise Living

Has anyone heard of The Kalahari, a luxury "green" condo currently under construction on Harlem's 116th street? The exterior of the building is painted with a design from the Ndebele tribe of South Africa whilst inside the apartments boasts recycled bamboo floors and a solor heating system.

I have been following this project and I have got to say that I think it's a positive idea. If the developer's thinking is partly about instilling pride and giving the local community a sense of their heritage, I am all for it. In addition, it is also educating local people about the "green" agenda as this will undoubtly play an important role in the future way we live our lives.

If any developers in the UK are reading this, it wouldn't be a bad idea to develop something like this here in the UK.

To make the building even more authentic, I hope they don't forget to decorate it with African Art!