Volkswagen Foundation’s Knowledge for Tomorrow – Cooperative Research Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa
Deadline: 13 December 2013

Volkswagen Foundation has announced funding initiative “Knowledge for Tomorrow – Cooperative Research Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa”. The objective of this program is to focus on development and sustainable reinforcement of research in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Research projects, developed and carried out by African scholars and scientists in close cooperation with their German partners, shall provide junior researchers in Africa with an opportunity to enhance their skills and academic qualifications.

Special emphasis is put on the development, reinforcement, and extension of academic networks inside Africa beyond existing language barriers.

Thematic areas
-Land
-Water
-Biological resources
-Sustainable energy for domestic use

Please use this link for more information

crossing the Limpopo from the air
endorses the changing pattern  of reality

from South Africa to Zimbabwe

from a land marked by hundred-mile fences
by  strangely tinted  circular patches of irrigated fields
neat farms
straight roads
making direct connections from place to place

across the wide-winding sandy riverbed
uncoiling itself in slow curves across the bush

to a strange patchwork of small fields
wrapping itself around the slopes of the hills
folding over the floors of the valleys
contour-hugging paths and dusty roads
weave between places
around small woodlands (surprisingly still standing)
along invisible rivers
between dusty thatched homesteads

from a delineated and measured world
well-ordered and supervised by man
to organic chaos where the control of humans
is still held on a tenuous thread

the jacarandas are in full bloom
the paradise fly catchers have returned
the garden is a festive celebration of new life
danced by a thousand insects
and filled with the shouts and laughter of small boys

its home…
with power cuts and water shortage and rising costs
and corruption in full bloom in places of power

chaotic, messy and out of control

perhaps it is just the weather that keeps us here
or the warmth of relationship and connections
and the continuous challenge of rising to the next bit of chaos

it’s good to be back

9 October marks the anniversary of the Universal Postal Union established in 1874. Today many years down the line the use of post has dwindled due to the advancement of technology. I remember when I was growing up I would check the ‘letterbox’ each time I walked past the gate. Sometimes I would go to gate solely to check the letterbox. Now I click buttons to check my Gmail mailbox.

Walking into a local post office in Harare you will discover that they have now ventured into offering other services like Ecocash, selling motor insurance and selling CDs. They have taken the stance of being ‘bambazonke’ in their quest for business survival. Who can blame them in Zimbabwe where many businesses have expanded their services to survive? Word on the street has it Chicken Inn will be selling sadza soon.

Despite the challenges being faced by post offices in Zimbabwe, it is important to recognise their efforts in delivering mail. Over the years Kubatana has been sending postal products to its membership. Most recently Kubatana sent out postcards through the postal service and one enthusiastic subscriber had this to say when they asked to get some postcards: “I cant wait to get the postcards so I can send a love letter to my mum and sweetheart. Technology has killed letter writing and the anxiety of waiting for the postman to deliver that special letter…”

Despite Internet uptake being high in Zimbabwe there still exists that group of people who do not have access to the Internet. By sending postal products to its membership Kubatana has been able to reach some of its remotest members in Sadza, Mbalabala, Mudzi, Watsomba, Mbire, Chibuwe to mention a few who do not have access to the Internet.

Thus joining the world as it commemorates World Postal Day is of paramount importance to Kubatana. Thank you Mr Postman for that anticipation of waiting for a letter in the letterbox by delivering our products using your services!

“Discovering the activist in you” presentation by Wadzanai Motsi

When: Tuesday October 22, 3 pm
Where: US Embassy Public Affairs Section, 7th Floor, Gold Bridge, Eastgate, Harare

Wadzanai Motsi, a graduate of Grinnell College, was awarded the prestigious Watson Fellowship for one year of independent study and travel abroad.  As part of her Fellowship, Ms. Motsi traveled to Egypt, Tunisia, Ghana, Cambodia and the Czech Republic to study youth activism.

Free to all interested members of the public.