GHMORNINGNEWS

SOME AFRICAN COUNTRIES YOU NEVER KNOW THEY EXIT  KALENJIN You might not think you’re familiar with this tribe, but if you  follow long-distance running even at a casual level, then you  should know that the famous elite Kenyan racers who seem to win  every marathon are Kalenjins. HIMBA The Himba tribe in northern Namibia consists largely of semi-nomadic pastoralists. They are known as the “red people of Africa” due to a red paste made up of clay and butter that they paint themselves with. They are also notable for the holy fire (okuruwo) that burns 24 hours a day in honor of their ancestors. SAN BUSHMEN Probably the hardiest tribe in Africa, the San Bushmen of western Botswana are notable for being featured in the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy. They somehow manage to live in extremely dry and arid climates in which water is scarce. CHAGGA Living along the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the Cha...

Sad story: Unemployed professional Nurse now working as Kayayei in Accra as she awaits MoH posting Her hopes of taking care of patients dashed the moment she left the walls of the nursing training school in 2016 after several years of training. Homebound for two years without a job, she decided to engage in head-ferrying for survival. Fadila Ndebugre, a young nurse who was trained at the Dunkwa-On-Offin Nursing Training College in the Central Region, has had to resort to head-ferrying of loads (kayayo) for shoppers at the Madina market, for survival, as she awaits her posting by the Ministry of Health, so she can practise as a nurse – two years after leaving school. Watching Fadila Ndebugre, a trained nurse, struggling with other head potters in Accra to make a living is the moment that causes one to wonder why millions even bother to queue for enrollment into tertiary institutions in Ghana. The young nurse who has resorted to carrying wares for patrons who are unable to co...

How many years did the Roman Civilization last?   The Roman Empire existed from 27 BC to AD 1453 for a total of 1480 years. What? 1453! Yes, only Rome the city fell in AD 476. Western European historians (and people) are too focused on the impact of the Fall of Rome (the city), because that was a time of tumultuous change for them. The capital of the whole Roman Empire had already moved to Constantinople in AD 330 by Emperor Constantine. That was because the east had always been was the economic centre of the Empire. Ephesus (now in Turkey), Rome’s second largest city, was the terminus of the various Silk Trade Routes. The people of that day still called it the Roman Empire. It was still large but they gave up on Northern Europe. A revisionist German historian in the 16th century came up with the name Byzantine Empire. There was no such thing. The reasons why it lasted so long will be explored in walk 3 of my series on Rome Walks, starting with ...