People of Sudan

What do the people of Sudan do for fun? What type of traditions do they have? Where do they live and what do they do for food? These are some of the questions that will be discussed in this blog.

Sudan is made up of over 300 tribes. According to www.Oxfam.org, "About 60 percent of the population are Muslim, 25 percent are animist, and 15 percent Christian." The people of Sudan are also made up of many different ethnic backgrounds, mainly Arab and African. The official language is Arabic, but there are many different tribes that have their own language.





In northern Sudan, the environment is very dry. The people depend on their livestock to help them survive. In the south, the environment has more water and many of the people are farmers and grow their own food.





Like Americans, the people of Sudan entertain themselves with sports, arts and crafts, and music. Soccer is the most popular sport in Sudan. Basketball and volleyball are also among the favorites with the people of Sudan.



Arts & Crafts are also very popular. Traders often make their goods in the marketplace where they sell them. Sometimes tin cans are made into cooking pans or lamps. They also make bags out by punching holes in leather and stitching them. Other crafts are made using strings and beads (often made from colored glass).



Music is also popular in Sudan. The government however tried to stop people from performing. The lyrics of Sudan music is very important to the people. Sometimes at special occasions, new lyrics are made up on the spot.



Meals of the Sudanese are eaten around a large, communal tray. They eat various meats, vegetables, salads, and different sauces. They also eat flatbread. Sudanese drink coffee, which they spice up with cinnamon or ginger. They also drink herbal and fruit teas. Sometimes people put several teaspoons of sugar in their tea.



If you have any questions about the people of Sudan, please leave a comment.

Winnie Mandela

She was born on 26 September 1936 in Bizana, Transkei the area is now known as the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Winnie Mandela is the type of woman who commands attention when she walks into a room full of people. She was one of eight siblings and her mother, Nomathamsanqa Mzaidume taught Home Economics (Domestic Science) at a local school. Winnie experienced her first loss at the tender age of eight when her mother died. Her father worked in the Forestry and Agriculture department of the Transkei government. Transkei is now incorporated as part of the Eastern Cape in South Africa.
Winnie had drive and ambition even in those early years – remember this was during the apartheid years and during a time when women were still oppressed in South Africa: she was both black AND female. Yet she managed to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in International Relations, at one of the leading universities in South Africa, The University of Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg.
After her release form a Kroonstad prison in 1975, she was part of the newly formed African National Congress Women’s League – a movement that till today has a powerful political voice. It was not long before the Women’s League was banned as well – this did not deter Winnie and her female comrades – they continued to struggle against the apartheid laws. Against all expectations, she had been re-elected chairperson of the ANC Women's League several times and her voice is still a strong one. She despises the press who understandably relish any opportunity to elaborate on her lifestyle. This woman, this Winnie Mandela, has spent a lifetime being victimized and oppressed. However she has still managed to come out strong.

Easter Baskets

This week in the Union there will be a raffle to win an Easter basket worth over $40. The entry fee is only $1 per ticket. The proceeds of the tickets are going to the Darfur Solar Pots project. The sale started on Monday, it happened today, and it will happen again on Friday from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm in the student union. The drawing for the raffle will happen on April 4th so make sure you keep checking your email to know if you have won. This a great cause and it only takes a small contribution to make a big difference.

Also happening on Wednesday, April 4th at 7:30 pm in the Mitchell Dr. Jean Comaroff will speak. She has received her B.A. from the University of Cape Town and her Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. She has spent the last 30 years working in South Africa an expert on the legacy of missionary activity on the African continent. Two of her books, titled Body of Power, and Spirit of Resistance and of Revelation and Revolution, have impacted the work of anthropologists, historians, and scholars of religion, music, dance, and medicine. She is currently a professor of Anthropology at the University of Chicago.

The three subjects she will focus on are the legacy of missions in southern Africa, AIDS, bodily practices, and the cultural politics of healing rituals, and the damaging impact of neo-Pentecostalism throughout Africa today. Her presentation is titled “Commissioning the Past: Evangelism and History-Making in South Africa.” “For anyone interested in the politics of religion and the legacy of missionary activity in Africa, which is by no means finished, she is a mine of information,” said Dr. Neal Keye, an assistant professor of history at The College of St. Scholastica. “Without doubt many missionaries have done a lot of good, but in many cases they have been up to a lot of mischief and have had some disastrous results.”

This event is free and open to the public, so bring your friends from a different school or bring your family. There will also be a reception to follow. This even is the conclusion of the spring events for the Interreligious forum.

Information taken from http://www.css.edu/x19639.xml and the daily students announcements.

Meeting - Monday, March 26, 2007

We discussed about a lot of things during the meeting. For the couple months, the club has a busy schedule.

Rally For Darfur
It takes place in Minneapolis on Friday 03/29/07 Amnesty is doing it and will try to collaborate and see if you can do it with them.

Potluck with Colleges
For the up-coming conference we need to collaborate with other schools (UMD, LSC, UWS). It will take place on Thursday April 19 @ 6:00 pm in the ICC. Rhonda is going to work on the invitation letter and she will sending it to all committee members and feel free to send it to people you have contacts with that can help in the conference.

Nomination For Next Year
The club voted on the new leadership members.

Movie Showing
"Dairy of Darfur" a student from one of Duluth’s high school would like to show this movie this week. He is aware of the situation in Darfur and would like to help, he has been in touch with a member in Amnesty International to do a collaboration.

Potential Funds for the Conference
Student Senate is willing to offer $40,000 to the CJL if the clubs collaborated and did something (activity) on campus, the conference is one activity.

Update on Conference
Sent Kelly our ides 3 weeks ago and still waiting for the final response about our ideas. But we had gotten an email from Kelly confirming that she has gotten the email. Conference date has been decide on and it will on April 18-20, 2008.

Easter Basket Raffle
The club will have the basket out in the union on M-W-F from 10:00 – 1:00 this coming week. Drawing day for the Raffle will be on April 4. Proceeds will go to Darfur Solar pots but we need to decide whether to give 100% or 50% and keep the other half for the conference.

Darfur Conflict

The Darfur Conflict started in 2003 when a rebel group attacked governments targets. Darfur has had a lot of fights over land and grazing rights, and the start of the Darfur conflict was due to the government supposedly favoring the Arabs over the black Africans.

The Darfur Conflict has been going on for many years, causing millions of people to flee and live in camps. The villages have been destroyed and there has been a lack of food, water, and medicine. According to BBC News, men have been killed and women raped if they go out looking for firewood and water.

BBC News reports that it is impossible to know how many people have died from the conflict. This is due to the lack of researchers and aid workers that are able to get to Darfur. There is also an inability to be able to tell how many have died due to conflict and how many due to starvation or diseases.

There are not enough soldiers deployed to cover the area, which is approximately the size of France. The African Union also does not have money to be able to keep the mission going. Sudan does not want the UN to take control of the peacekeeping mission. They would much rather solve the conflict on their own without the help of the world. The newest plan is to double the amount of soldiers and have the UN more involved.

If anyone has anything to add or to comment on this issue, please add a comment. I am sure that I missed a lot of things about this conflict and hope to inform you when I learn more about the issue.

Stephane - Meeting Discussion 05/03/07

At first, we discussed about what happened the past week which was "The Peace and Justice"'s week. They had lectures such as "Why Afica Matters" and also showed couple documentaries. United for Africa was involed in the process to make it happen, The leaders of the club wanted to thank everybody for their participation.

Continuing with the Darfur theme. This project in collaboration with several other clubs on campus and also at UMD in addition to groups in the community. The contact person is Gary Gordon ggordon@css.edu. The plan is to host a dinner. Money from this benefit will go toward the providing women and children in refugee camps due to the genocide in Darfur, Sudan with solar cook kits. The dinner will combine African food and culture (art, music and dance). Each family will be provided with two pots for every $25.00 raised.

Want to see something different than what the media portrait Africa, go to http://www.4theloveofafrica.com/index.htm and it is provided by Mr. Kevin A Urban.

Easter basket raffle is scheduled for March 26 to April 4. All funds received will go toward the From Duluth to Darfur initiative.

The next SMT conference is slated for April 18 to 20, 2008. St. Scholastica is hosting the event. So we need any possible help to make that event a success.

We encourage everybody to attend panels around campus. They will help people to realize what is going on aroung the world.

Women's History Month at least 2 African women would be featured in our Did You Know...campaign. This week the ladies in the spotlight are Anti-Apartheid leader Nomzamo Winifred 'Winnie Mandela' Zanyiwe Madikizela, South Africa and President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia.

For more information Rhonda Lee RLee@css.edu, Awah Foncha AFoncha@css.edu.

Summery of the Club Meeting

For the last meeting at the club, we talked about what we could as a group do during the community day. For now, we do not know exactly what we can do but there is a list of activities. One of the chief member will pick four activities that she thinks are interesting and then, the club will vote by choosing one.

We also talked about fundraising for people in Darfur. Some people came up with an idea of showing a movie about a group of Americans who never leave their country and decide to go to Africa. They recorded their journeys there. The movie is 50 min long and it would only a dollar to watch it and the money of course goes to the people in Darfur.

For next week, the club is planning on setting up table in tower in front of the CJL, Tuesday and Thursday. The purpose is to raise money for the solar pots for women in Sudan.

Women's Day!!!!!: Awah

Well I think everyday is a womans day, but today has been set aside specially to celebrate women and their achievements all over the world. Womens day is a very big deal in Africa! Today I am going to write about Florence Mirembe:

One of Uganda's leading doctors, she has spent her life trying to improve conditions for mothers giving birth. The facts are stark: about 585,000 mothers die a year in the developing world in childbirth - more than one a minute. Her work was recognized by the World Medical Association which named her as one of its Top 60 Caring Physicians. Dr Mirembe also set up Save the Mothers, a charity that fosters partnerships between scientists in the developed and developing world. She is an amazing woman of our times and is showing the world that African women can achieve greatness as well.

International Women's Day: March 8th

As many of you probably know, Thursday March 8th is International Women's Day. The school will have activities happening every day this week in honor of this day. Here are those activities; I hope you can find something you will enjoy.

Today there is a flower sale in the Union from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm. The flowers are Gerber daisies. If there are any of those left, they will be available at Somers Main Lounge during the celebration this evening. The celebration in Somers begins at 3:45 pm and goes until 5:00 pm. There will be free food, and there will also being Hmong Dancers at 4:00 pm. Following the dancing, which will be about 10 minutes, Njoki (Margaret) Kamau, Head of the WS Department at UMD, will be giving a speech about HIV and AIDS. Stop by and enjoy the food, flowers, and company.

Also this evening at 7:00 pm in the Mitchell is "The Pomegranate Seed." This is a one-woman show put on by Cosy Sheridan, and it is free to attend. This play is about finding meaning in the experiences of life. Cosy Sheridan is an award-winning songwriter who has sang at Carnegie Hall. She won the Kerrville NewFolk songwriting award and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival's Troubadour award. This show is park of National Eating Disorder and Body Image Awareness Month and it is open to the public, so bring your friends.

Tomorrow is officially International Women's Day, which is a national holiday in many countries, and it is celebrated all over the world. It is also commemorated at the United Nations. The best way to celebrate this day in your life is to remember the women in your life,
and let them know what they mean to you. It is a day to celebrate those women that have inspired you. There is a link in the comment that was posted from my last post which gives you ways of letting the women in your life know how you feel. On campus this day, we have the t-shirt campaign, so if you bought an equality t-shirt, wear it on Thursday.

Tomorrow evening at 7:30 pm at the Kirby Ballroom at UMD is "The Vagina Monologues." There will be a carpool meeting at the Center for Just Living at 6:45 pm. This event is $3 for students. The theme of these monologues is the vagina as a means of empowerment and individuality for women. A new monologue is added each year to highlight something affecting women in the world.

I'm sure you can find something that you can enjoy, and learn a little more about the issues affecting women all over the world. Also coming up soon is International Week, which goes from March 19 through the 23. The Soweto Gospel Choir is part of that event and there will also be a culture night that week. Keep your schedules open, and check back here for more updates.