Circumspecte

Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the African Union - formerly the Organization for African Unity - and while much of the attention might have been on the Chinese-built AU headquarters in Addis Ababa where Africa's leaders gathered for the AU Summit, there was certainly a lot of coffee shop talk in Cyberville as well. One of the many discussions I participated in yesterday was the Africa on the Blog Chat (#AOTBChat) on Twitter which questioned the AU's relevance today. The AU also updated its Facebook page with a reference to a tweet by George Ayittey - the Ghanaian economist of Cheetahs vs. Hippos fame who is very outspoken regarding his opinion of Africa's leaders: "Name one crisis the African Union has been able to resolve in the past decade. Scratching your head? Always appealing to the int'l community" - George Ayittey's tweet from May 18.

Trick of fate, and this could be YOU The Simple Things There are many things we sometimes take for granted. Forget about the money, the fashionable clothes, the sleek cars, the latest tech gadget and the three-story houses. Think basic: a warm, nutritious meal, a dry shelter, knowing how to count from 1 to 10, having someone you can turn to in times of need, and being offered a chance to improve and get to know yourself.  Day of the African Child South Africa's fight against apartheid is one which is well-documented and acknowledged by many. One striking feature of that struggle is the role played by black school children in Soweto who took to the streets in 1976 in order to protest against the poor quality of their education and to demand the right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds of young boys and girls were killed by security forces and many more perished in the subsequent weeks to the march. The Day of the African Child , which falls on June 16 every year, wa...