Gotta start somewhere...

From the BBC: (to see story on BBC, click here)

Brain Gain: African migrants returning home

Africa may still be suffering from a chronic brain drain but some of the continent's elite are turning their backs on the West and taking their talents back home according to film-maker Andy Jones.

Ghana's fashion industry has lured some African professionals home

The story is as old as the hills. Man leaves village to seek riches in the big city.

In recent years, the village has been the continent of Africa, the city represented by the bright lights of Europe and America.

Any number of Africans seek to cross the ocean and make their fortunes, never to be seen again.

But when our team travelled around Africa recently to film a new TV documentary series, we found a different story. Many of the Africans I met had worked or been educated in the West and come back.

Across nine African countries and a journey of 7,000 miles from Mali to South Africa, from Ghana to Ethiopia, the story was often the same. Africans were returning from working or studying abroad either for patriotic reasons or because of the growing opportunities back home.

Fashion industry

These were educated Africans like Kofi Ansah, a Ghanaian fashion designer. Born into an artistic family, he studied fashion at Chelsea School of Art before graduating with first class honours in 1977. He spent 20 years living and working in Europe before returning to Ghana in 1992.

Mr Ansah still travels the world, and could live anywhere, but his business is growing, his family are settled and he feels like he's making a difference in Accra. "I came to help try to develop the clothing textile industry. And I thought, if we could do it right, it could help our employment situation."

Younger people want to go away maybe to university, but then come back after gaining some experience.

Mr Ansah now creates jobs for tailors and designers, models and marketers.

At one of his fashion shows, we met make-up artist Nana Amu Fleisher-Djoleto who grew up in London. Her view is that not only are more people returning, but they are coming home sooner.

"I'm finding now that younger people want to go away maybe to university, but then come back after gaining some experience. They're not working for years and coming back when they're decrepit."

Global mobility

For decades, African leaders have complained of a brain drain, losing many of their brightest and best to Western countries keen to attract highly skilled migrants.

This brain drain cannot be stopped or reversed according to Jean Phillipe Chauzy at the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). But he sees other factors at play in Africa's favour.

"The fundamental difference is new technology allowing African professionals in the West to transfer their skills and do some teaching," says Mr Chauzy.

It is a relatively new trend with digital technology allowing African academics and other professionals abroad to support African universities, schools or individuals back home to bridge the skills gap with the West.

He also sees "a pattern of mobility for people with skills" with greater global mobility allowing "countries which have the right conditions" to attract skilled professionals home either temporarily or permanently.

A recent IOM report on Ghana highlighted its "relative peace, security and political stability" and found "growing incidence of return or circular migration".

"Of the more than 1.1 million Ghanaians who left the country between 2000-2007, only 153,000 did not return either temporarily or permanently."

Commodity Exchange

For many returnees including former World Bank senior economist Eleni Gabre-Madhin, loyalty and the desire to give something back is an important motivation for returning.

Inside Ethiopia's commodities exchange

Her brainchild is the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, which began trading in 2008 and which she hopes will make a difference to the lives of millions of farmers.

"I'd spent years doing analysis and writing, but then the food crisis hit in 2003, and it made me think, OK we're talking about things, but we're not doing anything."

The new exchange, owned by the Ethiopian government and supported by the World Bank, trades in six commodities including coffee, produced by around 12 million small-scale farmers in Ethiopia.

While deals are still sealed with a traditional slap of hands, cutting edge technology ensures that all transactions are logged on computers within four seconds, with prices transmitted across the country by radio and around the world via the internet.

The farmers benefit by being guaranteed a good international market price, preventing exploitation by middlemen and they get paid within 24 hours.

The first two years have seen over $400m (£274m) worth of produce traded and despite a number of teething problems, the exchange looks set to prosper, with nearby countries such as Tanzania and Uganda now considering similar schemes.

Ms Gabre-Madhin acknowledges there have been problems but she would like to see more people joining her in making solutions work, rather than sniping from overseas.

The African brain drain with emigration outstripping immigration may be destined to continue but for those countries which can offer the security and political stability, there is a growing dividend from those who feel they owe something to their former home.

Life Update Time!

I'm aware I haven't been the best at updating this - with the infrequent internet access I do have, there is rarely time to write out an entire blog entry. In the past couple months, I led my first formation with some other PCVs and also received funding for my first project!

The formation I did with my friends Katie, Emily, and Ali came about through the Gender and Development (GAD) committee of Peace Corps Mali (on which I am my region's representative). One volunteer had the great idea of staging a 3-day long Take Our Daughters to Work Day retreat for girls in her region. The girls shadowed professional women for a day, did some fun educational games, learned skills to help them in the future, and were paired with a professional woman as a mentor. GAD helped to spread the idea to other volunteers in Mali, and soon a couple of us up in Mopti wanted to give it a try. There was one problem: we are farther out from Bamako, and thus don't have the same resources the volunteers down there have. We decided to switch it up a bit, and called it Bring Work to Our Daughters Day. Girls from Fatoma/Sassolo (my and Ali's villages), Sevare (Katie's village), and Konna (Em's village) all came to Konna for a one-day formation. We brought in professional working women from Konna and Fatoma as well. In the morning, we played some ice-breaker games and the women led a panel discussion about the importance of education and women in development. We then had lunch, followed by an afternoon of really productive group work. We put the girls and women into groups, and gave them questions to discuss, among them: What are the educational problems in Mali? How are girls treated differently from boys in school? How can we fix these gender disparities in our communities? What sustainable strategies can we start to work on? The girls gave some great answers and were really motivated to start working on educational issues in their communities -- and hopefully will continue on to high school next fall!

As for my community garden project, I finally succeeded in buying all the materials needed with the help of my neighbor, Samba, and host mom, Kumbari. Whew! It was quite the exhausting process, what with all the bargaining in three different languages at the same time (French, Fulfulde, and Bambara). Unfortunately I had to leave for the States the day before the fence was going to start being built. I really hope that my village went ahead and started - I had to leave the key to my house with them so they could have access to the materials (yes, I currently have one hectare of fencing, 10 sacks of cement, a wheelbarrow, some shovels, and 50 iron fenceposts in my house. My village decided my house was the best place for storage because I have room and I won't steal the materials. There's not a lot of breathing room). They were also going to start digging the well the day after I left. I'm incredibly nervous that it's not happening - if the well does not get built before the rains come in June/July, then it can't be build until next February because the water table will rise during rainy season. Of course my village realizes this too, it's just that they are working on many other projects right now, chief among them home repair, and my role is to kind of gently prod them along into working on this one. I'm sure it will all work out in the end though!

Islam, or, Prejudice in America

This is my first blog post for a long time made state-side. I came home for my grandfather's funeral, and will be in the States for the next week and a half. I heard he died around 8am a week ago in my village in Mali, and what followed was a blur of biking 15k, speeding to the airport 7 hours away in Bamako, walking onto a flight as the doors were closing, navigating a fire in Atlanta, and finally making it to Orlando where I met my dad at the airport. Though it was a really sad reason to come home, I have nevertheless been grateful to spend time with family and friends. Luckily (is luckily the right word?) I escaped most culture shock because of the shock of my grandpa's death. However, I have still noticed the vast cultural differences between Mali and America - how can anyone help it?

One of the most striking changes in America since I left is the overall increase in prejudice against those of Islamic faith. Perhaps it was always like this, particularly since September 11th, and I just noticed since now all of my close Malian friends and Malian host family are Muslim. I've watched the news a couple times since I've been back (the political spin on both sides of the aisle is a little overwhelming) and both conservative and liberal news networks throw the word Muslim around like a swear word. A friend of mine was shocked that President Obama had appointed three Muslims to government positions (the horror!). It has been hard to witness this prejudice, as I know so many Muslims that love America and wish with all their hearts to become American.

So to those of you who may harbor negative feelings towards Muslims - and here I am talking about the vast majority of Muslims who are peaceful, serve God, and love their neighbors of any faith - I ask, have you ever explained the events of September 11th to a Muslim who has not heard of it before? Have you ever heard the horror, outrage, and anger that he or she expresses upon hearing of 9/11 for the first time? Have you ever heard apologies from Muslims for acts they did not commit nor would ever dream of committing? Have you ever heard you, your family, and the American people blessed to heaven and back by a Muslim friend in the hopes that a horrific event like 9/11 would never again be repeated on American soil? Because all the Muslims that I count as friends and family have done all of those things upon hearing about 9/11. Granted they are all Malian, and had not heard of 9/11 before. But I think that just further emphasizes the idea that most Muslims would never even think of committing such horrendous acts. How can Americans stereotype the second largest religion in the world because of the actions of just a few, radical, and horrible people? How can that happen? And what does American society stand to lose because of such stereotyping and prejudice?

I am incredibly offended by the America I witness today. I want to give up and not claim it as my own. But that would be the wrong reaction. The right action is to be strong. To fight for the rights guaranteed by our Constitution for all citizens. I am proud to be an American citizen, and deeply love the democratic ideals of America. I want to fight for a better America, for an America that preaches love for one another first and respect for each others ideas second, however different in nature they may be.

So how about we all stop the hate and respect each others' religion and beliefs. Deal?

Islam in a Nutshell

This is taken from my study of Islam in theology courses at Xavier, as well as my general observation about the culture in which I now live. For more information check out www.religioustolerance.org or wikipedia.

Islam is a monotheistic faith (that means they believe in one god). Islam literally means 'to accept, surrender, or submit,' thus a Muslim is a person who submits his/herself to the will of God. God is called Allah, which is Arabic for God. Interesting point - Christians in Muslim countries also call God by Allah. The main book of faith for Muslims is The Qur'an. Muslims believe that Allah revealed his final message to humans through his last prophet Muhammad by way of the angel Gabriel. Islam considers prophets to be people whom Allah selected to be his messengers. Hence, the prophets are human rather than divine. Other prophets mentioned in the Qur'an include Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muslims do not consider Jesus as the Son of God, though they do highly respect him as the second-last prophet. The mosque is the Muslim place of worship. There are many sects of Islam, though two main ones are Sunni and Shi'a.

The famous mud mosque in Djenne, Mali.

In Mali, most Muslims are Sunni and Sufi. Malian Muslims converted to Islam when Muslim traders came through Timbuktu around the 1300s. 90% of Mali is Muslim; 5% Christian; 5% Animist. Malian Islam is very moderate, tolerant, and adapted to the local lifestyle and customs. For examples, most women wear African fabric head wraps once they are married, but very few wear the veil or burqa. If women don't cover their head it is not a big deal. Polygamy is practiced in Mali. In Islam, a man can have up to four wives if he is able to provide for each of them and treat them equally (some would argue that it is never possible to do that). Polygamy is currently somewhat controversial in Mali - most women do not like it, some men do not agree with it.

There are five main pillars of faith in Islam:

1. Shahadah: the creed of Islam which states in Arabic: 'I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God and Muhammad is the messenger of God. One repeats this phrase during prayer.

2. Salah: The ritual prayer which one prays five times a day. One washes oneself, then prays on a mat facing Mecca. In Mali, the prayer call is sounded via loudspeaker from the local mosque. The prayer caller says Allah akbar! which means God is great!

3. Zakat: alms-giving. Giving is based on accumulated wealth and is obligatory for all Muslims who can afford to give.

4. Sawm: fasting during the month of Ramadan. From dawn until dusk, Muslims do not eat during Ramadan. The dates for Ramadan differ each year because Islam is based on the lunat calendar. In Mali, people wake up very early in the morning to eat a large meal, fast during the day, and then have special food for dinner after dark. Break out the beans and macaroni after sunset!

5. Hajj: the pilgrimage to Mecca. Every Muslim who can afford to go to Mecca is obligated to do so once during his/her lifetime.

Some Sunni Muslims call jihad the sixth pillar of ISlam, though most Muslims refer to jihad, which means struggle, as the struggle to attain spiritual perfection rather than religious warfare. Military jihad is highly debated within the Islamic community. In Mali, jihad refers to one's personal religious faith.

I realize this is very simplified, but it's a beginning at any rate!