Cape Verde World Heritage Site

Cidade Velha becomes Cape Verde's first World Heritage Site,Cidade Velha has been inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List, marking Cape Verde's entry to the international community's inventory of properties of outstanding universal value.

Cidade Velha is Portuguese for "old city", or simply Sidadi in Cape Verdean Creole, is a city located 15 km from Praia (Cape Verde's capital) on Santiago. It is the oldest settlement in Cape Verde and used to serve as the capital of Cape Verde. Once called Ribeira Grande, its name was changed to Cidade Velha so to avoid confusion with another Ribeira Grande on another island.

On the desert plateau, 100 metres above, is the Portuguese “Fort Real de Sao Filipe” dating from 1590. This building was in excellent condition having been restored in 1999 with Spanish help.

Cidade Velha has the oldest colonial church in the world, constructed in 1495.Cidade Velha's port was a stopping place for two great navigators: Vasco of Gama, in 1497, on his way to India, and Christopher Columbus, in 1498, while on his third voyage to the Americas.

Manifesto: a means of expression

Tajudeen Abdul Raheem: a giant is lost on African Liberation Day

In Memoriam: Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, 1961-2009
The 25th of May was Africa Liberation Day. What a day to learn of the terrible news that one of the leading proponents of Africa’s liberation – Dr. Tajudeen Abdul Raheem - should be so tragically lost in a senseless car accident in Nairobi.

Tajudeen led Justice Africa’s work with the African Union since its early days. He combined this with his role as General Secretary of the Pan-African Movement, chairperson of the Centre for Democracy and Development, the Pan-African Development Education and Advocacy Programme, and was a fighter in the struggle to get the UN’s Millennium Development Campaign to support meaningful programmes. There was hardly a pan African initiative that took place without Tajudeen’s inimitable presence, support, humour and perceptive political perspectives. It remains a mystery to us how he managed to combine all of this with writing his weekly ‘Pan African Postcard’ that were published regularly in Pambazuka News and in several newspapers including The Monitor (Uganda), Weekly Trust (Nigeria), The African (Tanzania), Nairobi Star (Kenya) and the Weekly Herald (Zimbabwe). You could always rely on Tajudeen to draw our attention to the most significant aspects of the latest political event in Africa - just as you could rely on him to provide guidance and encouragement during hard times, restoring in us the courage for the longer struggles ahead for emancipation of the continent.

Tajudeen’s departure leaves a massive hole in all our lives. But if his life is to mean anything, we must follow his voice in the signature line of his every email – ‘Don’t agonise, Organise!’

Pambazuka News

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/

Manifesto: a means of expression

Chioma and Oluchi Ogwuegbu's journey across Africa!

The adventure, dubbed ‘Celebrate Africa’ started with Chioma’s dream to travel across the globe, which later became a dream to travel across Africa to show Africans and the world the positive things in Africa. She believed that this would be more purposeful and her drive and determination rubbed off on her younger sister, Oluchi who joined her on this once in a lifetime adventure.

They have been travelling by road since July 2008 and will continue until November 2009 throughout West Africa, and documenting their experiences with photos and articles on their website, www.celebrateafrica.net

The pair has been to Ghana, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Mali, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Cameroun, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Sierra Leone to showcase its unique and positive side to the world. Their odyssey is being blogged online at www.Celebrate Africa.net with tons of pictures. What a rare, spunky and ambitious journey by these young Nigerian women. Let us support them in whatever way we can.

Manifesto: a means of expression