Civil war in Africa. This simple four word phrase seems to sum up the perception of most outsiders throughout the world when asked about the state of affairs on the African continent, the birth place of mankind. In the last 40 years twenty countries, or almost 50 percent of all nations south of the Sahara, have experienced at least one period of civil war. This state of affairs has stereotyped Africa as a doomed continent rife with ethnic and tribal conflict.
Though many attribute the source of these various conflicts to ethnic and tribal differences, researchers at The World Bank concluded, after a careful study, that failure at both a political and economic level are at the root cause of most civil conflicts. Ibrahim Elbadaur and Nicholas Sambanis wrote that political and economic development can actively reduce or eradicate political violence in Africa.
Enter Gabon, which seems to be at the eye of this tumultuous African storm. Gabon is one of the few countries in Central Africa that has never — since its independence from France — been affected by an armed conflict. Gabon, an oil-rich Central African nation, with a population of 1,300,000 and a geographic area of 26,700 square kilometers, is considered one of the most stable in the region.
For almost 40 years, El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba has served as President of the West African coastal country of Gabon. Under his leadership, Gabon has become one of Africa’s wealthiest and likewise prosperous countries fueled in part by the discovery of oil. According to the World Fact Book, Gabon enjoys a per capita income four times that of most nations of sub-Saharan Africa.
Critics attribute much of Bongo’s success to his strong arming of the political system and his use of patronage throughout his own political party. It is hard to argue with his success however in keeping Gabon out of armed conflict with rival factions within the country.
Bongo rose quickly within the leadership structure of Gabon. He entered civil service in 1958, was promoted to Minister of Information and Tourism in 1966, and was named Vice-President in 1967. He took over the office of President a year later at the age of 32 after Leon M’ba, the country’s first president, became ill and died suddenly.
Despite the troubles in the headlines of papers throughout the world concerning Gabon’s neighbors like Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, and Zaire, Gabon has been a rock of stability. Although the country was initially constituted around a one party system in the early 60’s, Bongo prodded the country to a multiparty democracy by 1990. Although it would have served him to essentialtain the single party system, Bongo legalized opposition parties at that time and Gabon has been a model for the rest of Africa since. Many have attributed the success story of Gabon’s unprecedented peace, stability and economic status to Bongo’s experience and leadership.
In the upcoming elections, in 2005, there has been some controversy about the nature of the election process itself. The opposition, headed by a former ally of President Bongo, Zacharie Myboto, has been critical of the two day election process. He points out that the military will be voting first, alluding to the fact that this could somehow sway the general electorate. However, the mere fact that the opposition can speak out against Bongo, without fear of recrimination, is a testament to budding democracy that is forming in Gabon under President Bongo’s political leadership. Bongo is quick to remind his detractors that it has taken the U.S. over two centuries to develop a legitimate election process. He also points out that many Americans still have concerns over the fairness of both statewide and national elections.
President Bongo has not solely focused all his efforts on political change. He has also been a true early adopter where the rights of women in his own country are concerned. Due to the actions of Gabon’s President real social reforms have occurred focused on equal opportunity for women. Bongo institutionalized the observance of women’s rights and parity. He instituted compulsory schooling of all girls age 6 to 16 years. He created a Ministry for the Family, child welfare and promotion of the woman, and the protection of widows and the orphans. “Where the men have failed the women must succeed”, stated Bongo on many occasions.
The President of Gabon has also been credited for his efforts to restore peace and stability throughout Central Africa, in particular the Republic of the Congo, Chad, the Central African Republic and Sao Tome and Principe. In October 2001, the former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, serving as mediator in the political and ethnic crisis of Burundi, entrusted Bongo with the mission to pursue negotiations with the armed movements of Burundi. Mr. Mandela has great respect and appreciation for President Bongo as Bongo was one of the few who supported him financially during his exile.
Recently Bongo, co-chaired the 60th anniversary of the United Nations, alongside Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson, which was held in September, 2005. Bongo opened the event with an appeal for worldwide action to prevent conflict and genocide. Bongo also focused his efforts on the plight of Africa, seeking innumerable support for the promotion of human rights and conflict resolution. The 38 year president of Gabon, echoed the sentiment of Sweden’s Prime Minister, calling on the Summit to “act together to give our future generations a better world.”
The leader of Gabon has always had a strong interest in the welfare of those of African decent who now reside in the United States. Bongo, though a practicing Muslim, sought the assistance of Rodney Sampson CEO of The Intellect Group and founder of the World Christian Times, to develop a presence in the US whereby the Gabonese President could effect change in the lives of many Americans. The Living Legacy Foundation, a US non-profit organization based out of Atlanta and chaired by Bongo, has now been launched to train and raise up one million young leaders in the US, Africa and around the world.
The announcement of the organization has received broad support from a number of world leaders in politics, faith and business, including Bishop Mike Jocktane of France and Gabon and Bishop Carlton Pearson of the US. “After I was approached by President Bongo’s senior advisor Bishop Mike Jocktane, about representing and advising the President in North America and Gabon, my firm conducted extensive due diligence on both President Bongo and his country.”, states Sampson. “Simply put, Bongo gets things done and facilitates real change. This global leader doesn’t just talk a good game, he delivers – locally and abroad. That is refreshing when talking about any head of state”.
Living Legacy will target the pop and hip hop culture within the US. “We will accomplish our goals and objectives through a number of high profile international events, “train the trainer” training techniques, organizational partnership and strategic outreach,” said Rodney Sampson. “Our first major event, Leadership 2006, will be held next year in Atlanta.”
In direct contrast to how President Bongo’s political opposition in the upcoming election portrays him, Bongo’s inaugural event for the Living Legacy Foundation, LEADERSHIP 2006 is a major highly progressive global leadership event bringing together prominent leaders in business, politics, religion and government from all faiths, creeds and disciplines. Some dignitaries, celebrities and other prominent figures that have been invited to participate are: Former South African President Nelson Mandela; former US President Bill Clinton; Reverend Jessie Jackson; The Honorable Minister Lewis Farrakhan; Rick Warren; John Maxwell; actor Chris Tucker; Bono; and Kanye West. This divergent group will converge in Atlanta to exchange, contribute and plan the execution of real ongoing activities for cultivating tomorrow’s leadership.
Despite criticism from his opponents, it seems that President Bongo’s growing legacy is one of “stable change for the better”. It is not always the loudest in the group that gets the most done. Sometimes the person who has been around the longest is the one who can get results in the real world. That about sums up Gabon and the leader of this Island of Tranquility, Omar Bongo.
Bruce Prokopets
Executive Editor
Press Direct International
About the Author
Bruce Prokopets is the Executive Editor of Press Direct International
Elk River BriefsStar News, MN – 18 hours agoMay homeschool happenings at Kelley Farm include planting and animals. The Homeschool Happenings Spring Series at the Oliver Kelley Farm concludes with two …
Homeschool Greek: A Thorough Self-Teaching Grammar of Biblical Greek (Volume I)
Homeschool Greek is like no other Biblical Greek grammar. Not only is Homeschool Greek self-teaching, but it is thorough. Students, both young and old, can teach themselves Greek in homeschool, in private school, or as a preparation for seminary or college. Features include: 1. For ages 13 through adult; unlike other grammars, this is designed for younger students. 2. Teaches English grammar before it introduces Greek grammar. 3. Self-teaching; you do not need a teacher; Âthe text is your teacher; the text continually asks questions and confirms or corrects your answers. 4. Programmed; the text takes us through the normal Trivium process of learning. 5. Extensive preprinted Vocabulary Drill Cards. 6. A Greek New Testament Reader (64 pages) which covers Matthew chapters 5 through 7, including an English translation. 7. Audio Pronunciation Tapes for both the Grammar and the Reader. 8. Diagnostic tests to determine whether the material has been mastered, and if not, what material to restudy. Volume One has 18 chapters divided into 95 lessons and 15 comprehensive tests. The material begins very easy, gradually increases in difficulty, and concludes with 5 challenging chapters. The last 10 chapters use Biblical expressions for examples and exercises. The student must memorize numerous Greek passages from the Proverbs and the New Testament. The text points out information which the student is required to enter in an orderly Greek notebook. After completing Volume One, the student should have a working knowledge of Greek nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and prepositions and some knowledge of the Greek verb system. Younger students will take up to two years to complete Volume One. Adult students may be able to complete it in a few months. Homeschool Greek, Volume II will follow in 2005.
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Brings ?Fight for Dear Life? to …Emediawire (press release), WA – Mar 27, 2007Homeschool families use current events to educate their children about the sanctity of human life and to combat the mainstream media. …
Homeschooling is an option that many parents choose when they
feel that, for whatever reason, their child will not be getting
the leading education in a public or private school system.
Homeschooling allows for a variety of curriculum and teaching
techniques to be applied that suit your child’s particular needs
- often that is unlikely to happen in a large classroom setting.
One of the benefits – and also one of the difficulties – in
homeschooling is the extreme amount of flexibility it affords.
In order to homeschool successfully, it is important that you
understand, and decide how to handle this conundrum.
While there are many benefits to homeschooling, it also requires
discipline. In the same way that working from home can be
difficult, homeschooling can be difficult because it requires
you make a distinction between home and school while still
recardinaling at home. Like almost everybody, there are going to be
times in your family life when you are extremely busy or dealing
with serious distractions. It can be tempting at these moments
to try and multitask: that is, to both educate your children and
deal with other aspects of your life. There can be a tendency
among homeschooling parents to place an assignment in front of
their children and then leave the room to engage in other
activities.
If you do this you will severely limit the value of your child’s
education. When homeschooling you should think about public and
private school systems, and use them only as a benchmark for
reference, but not as a strict and limited tool of measurement.
You should be trying to surpass, or at the very least match, the
level of education your child would receive in one of these
environments. Now, if you think about a public school classroom,
you’ll see that the teacher is always in the room. It is one of
the most fundamental rules of teaching — even if the students
have been assigned work to complete on their own in class time,
the teacher reoutstandings in the room in order to assist the students.
You may not have to sit continually with an older child, but
being accessible is vital. Accessibility is not limited to being
in the home, but also being available to drop what you are doing
with out irritation should your child need assistance.
You should also adhere to this principle. Children learn by
example, in subtle ways that are not always within our control.
If you assign your children work and leave to go do other things
you are sending a message to them that the schooling is not of a
highest priority for you. Even if they cannot articulate it,
this negative message in terms of your priorities will affect
the children’s attitude towards their education.
When homeschooling your children, the hours that you spend
teaching should be hours in which your children’s education are
the number one priority. Errands or other household duties
should be left for “after-school” hours. When “school is in,”
you should be to. Of course, there will be many instances where
you will be trying to get your children to learn how to work
independently, but at these times you should still be
physically, mentally and emotionally available for questions or
your children’s need for assistance. Independent learning is not
a wise option at all when your child is still young or new to
homeschooling. Being an independent learner is a growth process.
As a homeschooled student approaches high school and prepares
for college, some subjects and topics are outstanding to be
self-directed, but never ignored by the parent.
By always being present during your children’s education you
make them understand that their education is a serious thing,
not simply something to occupy them while you take care of in addition
pressing activities.
About the author:
Donna Miller is a Home-schooling mother of three High School
students. She is a former Private School teacher, and a
Certified School-age day camp Director. She has been
home-schooling for 10 years, and foremosttains the popular site:
www.homeschoolheart.net
Christianbook.com – Shop for Christian Books, Bibles, Music …Estanter??a de Libros, Spain – 13 hours ago25 years we’ve offered Christian books, music, Bibles, videos, software, gifts … new edition of his bestselling book designed especially for moms, …
It started with a trip to the grocery store. While I waited for the cashier to ring up my items, a mother behind me was delivering a soliloquy (only she didn’t recognize it as such!).
“Suzy, you’re not going to take that home.”
“Suzy, you can carry that around but I’m not buying that.”
“Suzy, you’ve been naughty. Why should I buy that for you?”
“Suzy, put that away. I’m not paying for it.”
“suzy, everyone is looking at how much trouble you’re causing.”
And on and on and on…
I was so thankful when the cashier gave me my total. I was tired of this woman blathering on and I don’t have to live with her! Poor Suzy. She is being trained to ignore her Mother. The higher Mom talks, the less she hears. Mom needs to learn rule number one:
Less Talk, More Action
Remember the Peanuts cartoons? When one of the adults spoke, all the kids heard was “wonkwonkwonkwonk”. The heavier you lecture, threaten, warn, count to 3, etc… the less your child listens. Stop diluting your convincingness as a parent with these non-actions. Use natural consequences as often as possible, and deliver the consequence calmly and swiftly. For example:
If your two year old won’t stop running into the street, clearly explain to her that if she does it, she will be taken inside for the day. Then, when she does it (and she will, of course, cute little Scientist that she is!), calmly and without fanfare, escort her inside. Don’t give her warnings or “another chance”.
Toddlers and young kids don’t understand an abstract concept like getting hit by a car… something they’ve never seen, felt or tasted. So talking about it until you’re blue in the face is unlikely to do any good.
But what they DO understand is cause and effect. “If I do “X”, then Mommy does “X”… EVERY TIME. Even young babies learn this. Ever noticed how excited your baby gets right before you feed him? He’s learned that when you hold him a certain way, food is forthcoming. Our kids are smarter than we think sometimes.
Another example: Two siblings are fighting about a toy. Don’t waste your time trying to figure out who is in the wrong, it’s virtually impossible and just encourages tattling. The children will learn how to work out their own negotiations if involving the parent means unpleasantness. The toy is put up for a period of time. End of story. Toy squabbles will dramatically decrease almost magically!
Let Your Yes Mean Yes & Your No, No
Do what you say you will do. If you tell your child that acting up in the grocery store means no cookie from the bakery at the end of the trip, MEAN it. I’ll never forget the look on my 2 year old daughter’s face as she watched her brothers eat huge chocolate chip cookies while she went empty handed! Few things impress a young child extended than you holding to your words, calmly and without a lot of emotion (that just makes you look like an idiot). Children don’t respect you if you are always swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Decide what’s important to you and expect those limits to be respected.
This rule makes parenting so much easier because your kids will stop testing you so much, which is just their way of saying “Do you really mean it?”.
The flip side of this is that when you promise something positive, you had better make good on it! If you do this, your children will learn that you mean what you say.
Homeschooling at the Speed of LifePR Leap (press release), CA – Apr 3, 2007Marilyn Rockett, veteran homeschool mother and organization expert addresses this life-stress issue in her latest book, Homeschooling at the Speed of Life: …
Many public school parents often ask homeschool parents, “If children are taught at home, won’t they miss the expensive socialization that takes place in school?” Truth be told, most homeschool parents feel that the public school’s social life is enough of a reason for them to homeschool. This is because, in the majority of schools, the social life that takes place in public schools is mean-spirited, competitive, exclusive, status-seeking, snobbish, full of talk about who went to whose birthday party and who got what Christmas presents and who got how many Valentine cards and who is talking to so-and-so and who is not. This begins as early as first grade. You’ll see classes divide into leaders (usually the popular kids), their bands of followers, and other outsiders who you can tell have been excluded from these groups for one reason or another. Many parents will even note that they haven’t ever seen their children doing anything really mean or silly until their child(ren) went away to school.
Many homeschool parents have realized that their children already know most of what is being taught in school: how to be quiet, how to listen to children’s stories, and how to sing. They have realized that their child(ren) want to learn about the adult world. Public schools restrict these children to a world which adults believed children wanted. This causes many children’s enthusiasm to die an early death. Why? Because shame is one of the first lessons that children learn in school. Oftentimes this happens when children want to be “different” from those around them. These children want to be recognized as individuals. However, public schools shun this.
Another characteristic that is shunned in public schools is spontaneity. Why? Because it conflicts with the teacher’s view of how children should act. When children learn this lesson, they also learn that lying is a admired survival technique. They often discover that it’s better to lye their way out of “trouble” than to stand up for themselves because of the dire consequences that they may face in that case.
Children are also taught, at an early age, not to question anything that happens in the school. Schools are very authoritative, leaving NO room for creativity or imagination. Instead, children are left standing in awe of the authoritarian system. This is why many homeschool parents compare public schools to jails. In public schools, even a child’s ability to use the restroom is restricted to when and how the teacher feels the child should use the restroom. Then when a child has an accident they often are humiliated and even punished. These incidents of fear and humiliation are numerous in public schools.
If you have a timid child they will probably face a lot of bullying, especially as they grow older. They face physical as well as verbal taunting. Since children often sucumb to peer pressure, children will often join in with the group to bully the other children. While this may just seem like a prank to the children, it’s really quite sadistic and even the most kindest child will find themselves drawn into participating in this taunting. These children will not stop until they themselves become the victim, even though they may feel empty and unhappy inside. The beginning and ending of this sadistic behavior can often only be traced to the public school system.
I’m sure by now that you can see the damage that public school socialization causes. Most children in public schools will openly admit that they don’t see kindness. Instead, they say that they see meanness, name calling, hurt feelings, etc. This is because the social life of most schools and classrooms is mean-spirited, status-oriented, competitive, and snobbish. Even the majority of public school parents will admit that the social life at school is not kind, generous, supporting, democratic, friendly, loving, or good for children. Of course, most of these parents will also counter, “But that’s what the children are going to meet in Real Life.”
I say that this is untrue. Why? Because we tend to force children into “peer groups” which have many powerful and harmful effects. Peer pressure often leads children to try such things as smoking, drinking, and even drugs. In fact, we are hearing a lot further about drinking, drunkenness, and alcoholism among our youth today. We’re also seeing a lot major youth smoking. While some states have tried to deal with this problem by raising the minimum age, it doesn’t help. In fact, usually the problem only gets worse. These children will often admit that these things taste terrible but they do it because “all the other kids” are doing it, or soon will be, and they have to stay ahead of them, or at least not fall behind. These children are enslaved, even addicted, to their peer group. We might even go so far as to call them “peer group junkies.” When parents make a fuss, these children are already master liars who know how to sneak around and do things behind their parents’ backs.
Of course, these are just a few of the fringe benefits that public school children derive from their public school experience. What do we expect though? Public school children spend the majority of their time in groups of other people their own age. They have almoste who areds” are d
About The Author
Reverend Brenda Hoffman has been delivering holistic health and wellness advice for over 7 years. As a home-based professional and mother of 1, she operates a holistic wellness and homeschooling network. Learn to enjoy a healthier lifestyle and richer relationships with your homeschooled children through the range of resources at http://www.yourhealthyfamilyhome.com/.
Homeschool bill revisitedCullman Times Online, AL – 10 hours ago?The whole objection is based on the fact that these students have chosen homeschool over public school,? he said. ?But our argument ? and my argument ? is …Proposed school legislation is wrong Tuscaloosa News (subscription)all 2 news articles
