GT:Africa .:. Pre-Burkina Faso

3rd Stop
Planned Attendance: August 20th - August 23rd, 2007

One of the lesser known countries I'll be visiting, Burkina Faso is home to some of the most fun-to-say names in Africa. I'll hit at least two of them in Ouagadougou (Wah-ga-do-goo) and Bobo-Dioulasso in my few days here. I have a feeling I'm going to wish I had more time here, but alas, I want to get a full two weeks in Ghana.

After the French arrived in the second half of the 19th century, they could never really figure out what to do with this land. Upon arrival, they broke up the structured, traditional Mossi states and threw the entire country into the Colonie du Haut Sénégal-Niger. In 1919, they broke it out as a separate colony which they dubbed Upper Volta. In 1932, for "purely commercial reasons" (according to Lonely Planet), the French sliced it up and grafted more than half onto Côte d'Ivoire and the rest onto Mali and Niger. Then, after WWII, it became Upper Volta once again. Throughout its command of Upper Volta, the French consistently elected to focus on its other colonies and did little to develop Burkina opting to treat it as a "repository for forced labour" (Lonely Planet).

After gaining its independence in 1960, Upper Volta saw a few ineffective, autocratic leaders
and no less than five coups before 1983. The last, in 1982, was the most notable and lead by an ambitious left-wing military star - a Captain Thomas Sankara, also called Thom Sank. In 1984, Sankara renamed the country Burkina Faso which means 'Land of the Incorruptable' and immediately went to work to promote self-relianace in rural areas. He was determined to stamp out government excess; made Renault 5s the official car of the president and ministers, cut government salaries by 25%. In 1985, he even dismissed most of his cabinet and sent them to work on agricultural co-ops.

In one 15-day blitz, his government vaccinated 60% of Burkina's childrend against measles, meningitis and yellow fever. Sankara's government sent representatives from each village for training as paramedics. From 1983 to 1986, more than 350 communities built schools using their own labor - an effort which saw education of school-age children rise by a third, albeit to 22%. Sankara's government kept accurate financial records, kept debt financing to a minimum and enabled Burkina to be one of the few African nations who's per capita GNP increased during the 1980s.

Not everyone appreciated the steps Sankara took for Burkina. While endeared by ordinary Burkinabés, those with other vested interests including trade unions, landlords and the USA and France were less enthused. Sankara's mandate that all rents be handed directly to the government (and his statements calling rich people 'thieves') did not help his longevity. In 1987, a group of junior officers seized power and took Sankara to the outskirts of town and shot him. His grave resides in the rubbish-strewn outskirts of Ouaga and remains a place of discreet pilgrimage.

His successor, a former friend named Blaise Compaoré, unsuccessfully attempted to discredit Sankara with a "rectification" campaign. In power since 1987, Compaoré has been victorious in questionable elections with low turnouts. That of late 1991 was particularly suspicious when the leader of the opposition was assassinated a few weeks after the election. Furthermore, Compaoré has been accused of involvement in the trade of illegal diamonds and of meddling in the conflicts of Sierra Lione and Côte d'Ivoire.

And yet despite this unpleasantness, Burkina is quite stable. I wonder what I'll find when I hit the ground.

The Stats:

Land Area: 274,200 sq km (about the same size as Colorado)
Average Temp: 22 / 31 (Low/High, Ouagadougou in August)
Average Humidity: 81 / 67 (am/pm, Ouagadougou in August)
Precipitation: 277mm (Ouagadougou in August)

Population: 14,326,203 (July 2007, est.)
Infant Mortality: 89.79 deaths per 1,000 live births
Life Expectancy: 49.21 years
Fertility Rate: 6.41 children born per woman
Literacy: 21.8% overall, 29.4% / 15.2% (Male/Female, 2003)
HIV/AIDS Prevalence: 4.2% (300,000 living with, 2003)
Infectious Diseases: Hep A, Typhoid, Malaria, H5N1 (remote)

Major Religion(s): Muslim - 50%, Indigenous beliefs - 40%
Official Language(s): French
GDP per capita: $1,300 (2006, est.)
Occupation Distribution: 90% Agriculture, 10% Services (2000, est.)
Unemployment: Unknown
Pop. below poverty line: 45% (2003, est.)

Sources: Lonely Planet West Africa, CIA World Factbook

GT:Africa .:. Pre-Mali

2nd Stop
Planned Attendance: August 2nd - August 20th, 2007

Mali is full of ancient history. Rock paintings and carvings in the regions around Gao and Timbuktu suggest that northern Mali has been inhabited since 50,000 B.C. when the Sahara was fertile grassland with an abundance of wildlife. Fast-forwarding to the 6th century A.D. sees a lucrative trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt and slaves; all of which contributed to the rise of Mali's three great empires - The Empire of Ghana, Mali and Songhaï.

The Empire of Ghana (not the country) offers legendary tales of riches in the form of gold. It is rumored that the streets were paved in it and that the emperor of Ghana routinely tied his horse to a nugget of pure gold. The Empire of Mali saw the peak of the trans-Saharan trade and the development of major financial and cultural centers including Timbuktu. Islam is embraced. Later, the Empire of Songhaï sees emperors travel to Mecca with 300,000 gold pieces and the creation of a professional army and civil service. What is today known as Mali was at the center of all three empires.

Invaded by the French in 1880 and set up as a cheap source of cash crops like cotton and rice, Mali became a shadow of its former glory. Gaining independence on August 5th, 1960, Mali saw 20 years of government mismanagement, frequent droughts, and from 1970 to 1990 five coup attempts.

In 1990, a group of nomads called the Tuareg began to fight back against the Malian forces in Gao. The Tuareg uprising, as it is known brought about (through a number of events) the election of Alpha Oumar Konaré in June of 1992. Konaré quickly implemented reparations to the Tuareg, appointed opposition members to his cabinet and even stepped down from power in 2002 to allow for elections.

The Stats:

Land Area: 1.22 million sq km (just under twice the size of Texas)
Average Temp: 22 / 31 (Low/High, Bamako in August)
Average Humidity: 94 / 73 (am/pm, Bamako in August)
Precipitation: 348mm (Bamako in August)

Population: 11,995,402 (July 2007, est.)
Infant Mortality: 105.65 deaths per 1,000 live births
Life Expectancy: 49.51 years
Fertility Rate: 7.38 children born per woman
Literacy: 46.4% overall, 53.5% / 39.6% (Male/Female, 2003)
HIV/AIDS Prevalence: 1.9% (140,000 living with, 2003)
Infectious Diseases: Hep A, Typhoid, Malaria

Major Religion(s): Muslim - 90%
Official Language(s): French, Bambara
GDP per capita: $1,300 (2006, est.)
Occupation Distribution: 80% Agriculture, 20% Services (2001, est.)
Unemployment: 14.6% (2001, est.)
Pop. below poverty line: 64% (2001, est.)

Sources: Lonely Planet West Africa, CIA World Factbook, Wikipedia

GT:Africa .:. Pre-Senegal

1st Stop
Planned Attendance: July 29th - August 2nd, 2007

From the 8th the 16th century, Senegal was part of the great empires of Ghana (not the country), Mali and Songhaï and was the first section of Africa to be reached by Europeans as Portugese explorers entered the mouth of the Senegal River in 1443. The next year, they settled near present-day Dakar on Île de Gorée where they set up a vital trading base. By the 16th century, the Dutch and French had also found their way to Senegal in search of their piece of the lucrative trade in gold, ivory and slaves.

After the slave trade was banned in 1815, the French powers forced locals to grow groundnuts (peanuts). After nearly 400 years of French rule, a marabout (Muslim holy man) known as El Hajj Omar Tall who has established a vast empire with Segou (today in Mali) as its center began to clash with French forces. Defeated in 1864, his followers continued in his footsteps setting off the Marabout Wars which lasted another three decades.

In 1884-85, the Berlin Conference saw the division of much of Africa amongst the colonial powers. Not surprisingly, Senegal was allocated to France. In 1887, France granted many Senegalese limited French citizenship. This opened the door to election to the French national assembly in Paris, an opportunity first taken advantage of by Blaise Diagne in 1914. A shrewd teacher and writer named Léopold Sédar Senghor was elected as Senegal's representative to the French national assembly. Senghor made secret deals with the marabouts in order to attain their support and prepare for the push for independence which was earned on June 20th, 1960.

The Stats:

Land Area: 192,000 sq km (about the size of South Dakota)
Average Temp: 24 / 31 (Low/High, Dakar in July)
Average Humidity: 84 / 66 (am/pm, Dakar in July)

Population: 12,521,851 (July 2007, est.)
Infant Mortality: 60.15 deaths per 1,000 live births
Life Expectancy: 56.69 years
Fertility Rate: 5 children born per woman
Literacy: 39.3% overall, 51.1% / 29.2% (Male/Female, 2003)
HIV/AIDS Prevalence: 0.8% (44,000 living with, 2003)
Infectious Diseases: Hep A, Typhoid, Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever, Malaria

Major Religion(s): Muslim - 95%
Official Language(s): French, Wolof
GDP per capita: $1,800 (2006, est.)
Occupation Distribution: 77% Agriculture, 23% Services (1990, est.)
Unemployment: 48% (2001, est.)
Pop. below poverty line: 54% (2001, est.)

Sources: Lonely Planet West Africa, CIA World Factbook

"Sicko" brings the pain

I like Michael Moore's movies. I don't agree with his points all of the time and I don't think that he offers many viable solutions to some of our nation's many problems, but that's not his job. That's the job of the politicians and the elected representatives of your hometown and state. Watching Sicko will make you realize how woefully inadequate a job they're doing for you and your family.

Moore's latest sees him take a layman's perspective and simple curiosity to investigate how different societies approach health care. From a couple in their 50s who had to move in with their daughter and her family in Colorado Springs after they exhausted their life savings paying for care for the husband through 3 heart attacks to a French mother who has a government paid helper come and assist her with cleaning, cooking and laundry - at no cost to her.

While it's easy to see how & why pundits attack Moore (he feigns being surprised a lot - undoubtedly for effect), it's undeniable that America handles the care of its citizens in very different way to the rest of the civilized world. If you can't pay, you'll very likely get worse care, if any at all.

The film also, in brief, brings to light the fact that insurance companies have come to rule health care in America. If the amount of detail in how this came to happen were represented by the Sahara, we get about two dumptrucks full; and yet, it paints the picture. Starting with Kaiser Permanente, medical care became a for-profit business with patient care being only one of the major concerns. Over time, patient care has taken a back seat to growth and rising profits; with many neglected customers left dying with letters denying their claims for benefit. While I'm not dying, I feel this personally. In January 2006, I ruptured my left ACL and medial meniscus while playing indoor soccer. Luckily, I was insured and the whole episode including surgery and rehab cost me about $600 out of pocket. Even at hundreds of dollars, I felt relieved. When I applied for and got new insurance in October 2006, I was told that coverage for ACL injuries would not be covered as it was a pre-existing condition. They did not specify which knee. Should I be injured again, I have no doubt I'll have to fight in order to be cared for.

For his effort in making the film, Moore's being investigated by the U.S. Treasury department due to part of the film being made in Cuba. Strict regulations are still in place regarding travel to Cuba and what one may and may not do while on the island. Moore went to the main hospital in Havana and arranged treatment for 3 9/11 rescue workers. Later, they were received at a firehouse where all its members stood at attention in honor of their service.

I've been to Cuba. I've listened to Castro speak, at length, about Cuba's relationship with the U.S. and how he would love to have diplomatic relations with his neighbor to the North. I've sat, spoken with, eaten with, drank with and enjoyed time with Cubans and can say with confidence that they mean us no ill. They are no threat and yet for 45 years, our government has forbidden us from interacting with these people. It is our shame, as Americans, to bear for not having engaged our representatives to end the embargo.

Sicko brings to light one of a few 800lb gorillas lurking in American society and in a brief fashion, illustrates the implications of our attitudes toward and systems of health. The resulting impression is frightening, astonishing, shameful, and unacceptable.

For too long, corporate profits have come before care for the people; for too long the few have chosen what the many will be allowed.

We, the people, shall endure it no more.

Sicko opens in cinemas nationwide on June 29th.