Cameroon: How churches are a breeding ground for the exclusion of Persons with Disabilities
This week, we look at the realities of violence, discrimination, and homelessness that trans women living with HIV face daily. We also learn about the disturbing trend of churches becoming a breeding ground for the exclusion of Persons with Disabilities. And finally, meet the Kenyan stargazer, inspiring children to reach for the stars.
This week, we look at the realities of violence, discrimination, and homelessness that trans women living with HIV face daily. We also learn about the disturbing trend of churches becoming a breeding ground for the exclusion of Persons with Disabilities. And finally, meet the Kenyan stargazer, inspiring children to reach for the stars. But first, in Ethiopia, the latest peace talks on November 21, 2023, between the Ethiopian government and the Oromo militants, i.e., the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), have broken down without an agreement from both sides.
The conflict between the Ethiopian government and OLA is long-standing, going as far back as the 70s. However, the situation has recently escalated, resulting in the deaths and displacement of thousands of people. The major grievance of the insurgent group against the Ethiopian government is the political and economic marginalization faced by the Oromo people (Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group) in the form of lack of representation in Ethiopia’s decision-making process, and limited access to education, healthcare, and employment opportunities.
The government, on the other hand, has accused OLA of mass killings and human rights abuses against ethnic minorities and other civilians, as well as posing a security risk to the country. On May 6, 2021, the Ethiopian government officially listed OLA as a terrorist group to further frustrate their activities.
Despite the promises of the prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, to address the concerns of marginalized groups when he came into power in 2018, things have progressed rather slowly. The recent peace talks ended in a stalemate, with both sides accusing the other of being stubborn and unwilling to compromise. The evident lack of trust between the parties might be a significant hurdle in achieving lasting peace.
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Fact of the week
Did you know that in Tunisia, houses are built with fish bones? Many Tunisians believe fish have special powers to protect them from evil spirits, so many houses have fish bones embedded into the walls and floors.
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Embracing the Lady and the Boy: How this Kenyan singer is engaging queerness through music
In his debut album, Lady Boy, Kenyan singer-songwriter Jarel Nduba, who is openly queer, offers a poignant account not of oppression nor the promise of liberation but of himself.
There is nothing novel about the concept of art as liberation.
Worldwide, social and cultural groupings have leveraged the power of creation to offer accounts of themselves, their communities, and their aspirations for liberation. In Africa specifically, art has been a central pillar of some of the most consequential movements for social change, from the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa through musicians such as Abdullah Ibrahim and Miriam Makeba to the End SARS movement in Nigeria through artists such as Burna Boy and Falz. Art has also generated comfort in visibility for many – through writers such as Chinelo Okparanta and Nawal el-Saadawi, a range of communities have found characters and stories in which they have grown to see themselves, experiencing, for the first time in many instances, validation of their identities and experiences.
A third form of social justice is one that, in its intimacy and vulnerability, is easy to overlook. It is a form of art that does not promise answers to the question of liberation or solutions to the problem of oppression. It is a form of art that says one thing: “Here I am. This is me.”
Cameroon: How churches are a breeding ground for the exclusion of Persons with Disabilities
Many church leaders subscribe to the charity model of disability in which PWDs are viewed as victims of their circumstances who should be pitied. This viewpoint casts PWDs as tragic victims of their disabilities who have nothing to offer and need charitable donations to live.
In 2017, a friend invited me to a church in Bamenda, the capital of Cameroon’s Northwest region. I hoped to improve my relationship with God through the pastor’s message. I traveled hundreds of kilometers to attend the program, which I saw as a life-changing opportunity. But I received a shocker, though, when the same pastor chose to castigate me for being blind.
“God has told me that you will transform from a beggar to someone with a purpose in life because your sight will be restored today,” the pastor declared. I was angered by this. I had never been a beggar on the street, but like many other PWDs, I was condemned to this fate because of my disability.
I left the church saddened.
Around the world
Vice News
Trans Women with HIV Face Violence, Homelessness, and Discrimination. These Orgs Are Fighting Back.
At the intersection of anti-trans stigma and policy, violence flourishes. But trans and HIV-positive communities are mobilized and thriving.
Tiommi Luckett is full of joy and looks it: Her purple lipstick matches her dress, and marble cat eyeglasses frame her eyes, which light up whenever she sees someone she recognizes. This happens several times as the Arkansan sits in the lobby of a hotel in Atlanta, where she’s attending an advocacy summit; every few minutes, a mentee, mentor, or friend approaches her for a hug. Today, a Senior National Organizer for the Transgender Law Center’s Positively Trans program, she’s a far cry from the isolated and fearful person who was formally diagnosed with HIV in 2012.
Two years before that, an oral swab indicated she had antibodies, but she wasn’t emotionally ready to deal with the possibility of a diagnosis at the time. It took until 2014 for her to be able to speak publicly about her status, and from there, her role as an advocate for the trans and HIV-positive communities flourished.
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Despite Bans, Disabled Women Are Still Being Sterilized in Europe
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Anita cannot speak or comprehend complex information. At 28, she communicates mostly with facial expressions and baby-like sounds. When excited, she washes her hands. When her periods cause cramping and pain, she moans and agitates, unable to understand.
To eliminate this monthly discomfort and ease the burden of caring for her, caregivers at an assisted-living home in Reykjavik, Iceland, proposed an unusually aggressive step. The home’s manager recommended that Anita undergo a hysterectomy, a major surgical procedure to remove her uterus and end her periods.
Vice
How Queer Filmmakers and Allies Found Joy While Filming 6 Stories On Love
Rainbow Rishta, available on Prime Video, is a docuseries that follows six queer love stories, nay, six stories about love across the length and breadth of India.
The show’s creators and crew wanted to show queer joy in the Indian context like it has never been shown before. And each frame of the show is dripping with vulnerability, deep heartache, and even more triumph. Triumph not only for the stories you see on-screen but also the triumphs for the queer filmmakers behind this show.
In one of the opening montages, wedding card-makers in Khadilkar Road, Mumbai, proudly show off their cards and boast that they work with people from all intersections of society. The conversation slowly builds up to asking the wedding card-makers if they would make cards for LGBT+ couples.
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CNN
Susan Murabana’s life-changing moment happened at 22 years old, when she looked through a telescope for the first time. Suddenly, Saturn and its yellow-gold rings were more than just an illustration in a textbook; they were real, and the experience was powerful.
The opportunity came while she was a student volunteering with Cosmos Education, a non-profit dedicated to improving science learning in developing countries. By traveling with the organization to schools and villages in her home country of Kenya and helping teach young children, her love for astronomy was sparked.
“I thought I was going to inspire them [the children],” she said. “Instead, I was inspired too.”
In 2006, Murabana joined a teacher training program called Global Hands-On Universe, where she led a space education project. Four years later, she completed an online Master’s degree in astronomy from James Cook University in Australia before being invited to the University of California as a short-term scholar. Here, she realized she wanted children in Africa to be as exposed to opportunities as children in the US were.