Helen Keller and passion for the physically-challenged

By Paul Arhewe (12-8-11)

In this part of the world, people with deformities of any kind are usually seen as those with ill-fated destinies that are subjected to destitution and, most times, regarded as societal nonentities.

You see mendicants on our streets subjecting themselves to begging and having pessimistic attitudes to life due to defects in parts of their body. Most times these categories of people are not given the chance to showcase their relevance in society; where competitions among the able-bodied are intense, leaving no room for the feeble. Hence, their survival depends on the meagre droplets they could garner from sympathetic fellows. Our society has not really helped physically- challenged people to develop those inherent talents and untapped potentials lying fallow in them.


Recently, after reading the profile and life history of Helen Keller (1880 –1968), an American, who got blind and deaf after an illness at the age of 19-months, my perception was changed, and I am made to believe truly no situation in life is doomed to a state which cannot be salvaged. With determination and support from willing hands, that situation we think is irredeemable would become a success story. I may sound here a little like motivational speaker, but really, I am baffled how this American became the first blind-deaf human to get a Bachelor of Arts Degree and move on to become a renowned lecturer, world- famous speaker and author of 12 published books and several articles.

Mandela: A legend at 93

PAUL ARHEWE
21/07/2011

 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is one of the world’s renowned living personalities; whose fame has gone far across countries beyond the African continent.
No wonder for his recognition, apart from his 6 meter statue at Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton, Johannesburg, there is a bridge named after him in the same city. Also there is a statue of this famous African son in Parliament Square in London and another Mandela Garden in Leeds. This legend, who was at the forefront of the struggle to halt apartheid in South Africa, on Monday clocked 93 years. Prominent world leaders marked the day with encomiums on his many achievements in life.

Background

Mandela was born 18 July 1918 in Mvezo, a small village situated in the district of Umtata, Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. His linage is traced to the cadet branch of the Thembu dynasty. His patrilineal great-grandfather Ngubengcuka (who died in 1832), ruled as king of the Thembu people. One of the king’s sons, named Mandela, became Nelson’s grandfather and the source of his surname.

UK riots: Tales of poor welfare, gangsters’ display

 By PAUL ARHEWE

Wrecked: Two police cars used as a road block were set alight during the troubles Since 26-year-old vegetable seller, Mohammed Bouazizi in Tunisia sets himself ablaze after undergoing frustrated attempts at reporting extortions from government officials, the Arab world has never remained the same, but the last of protests and riots is yet to come following the recent upheavals in the United Kingdom. Like wildfires, revolution against insensitive government’s policies has becomes the in thing.
Tunisian government was the first to be sent packing, followed by Hosni Mubarak’s government in Egypt. The Libyan war has stretched and lingered on for over five months now with protesters and rebels calling for Muammar Gaddafi to leave his over 40-year throne , and Syria and Yemen are still at the edge of caving in. The ongoing riots in UK’s capital city, London that started in Tottenham, has spread to other cities and has claimed its first victim on Tuesday with many properties burnt down. The riots, which began last Saturday over the death of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four shot by police, have resulted in the arrest of over 500 people in the initial three days of the insurrections. Prime Minister David Cameron had to recall parliamentary members from their recess and deployed 16,000 police officers on the streets of UK to curtail the spreading riots. Police report says Duggan was shot dead as the force unit in charge of investigating gun crime in the black community stopped the cab he was riding in. Investigation conducted by the UK’s Independent Police Complaints Commission has shown that “non-police firearm” was recovered at the shooting scene. However, report by a UK newspaper reveals that a bullet in the police officer’s radio was one of those issued by the police force.

Al-Bashir: The splitting of Africa’s largest country

 PAUL ARHEWE 14/07/2011

Sudan’s President al-Bashir addresses the parliament in Khartoum on Tuesday Last week Saturday the long awaited secession of Sudan was finally conducted as South Sudan becomes Africa’s newest country. The man in the middle of the storm, while this North African country civil war and internal crisis lasted, is President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir. President al-Bashir on Tuesday announced austerity measures for Sudan and proposed to change the country’s currency after Africa’s newest country, South Sudan, had announced same measure the previous day.

Background

Al-Bashir was born 1 January, 1944 in Hosh bannaga in Khartoum. He hails from Al-Bedairya Al-Dahmashya, a clan of the larger ja’alin tribe, a Nubian tribe in north of Sudan, then part of the Kingdom of Egypt and Sudan. He received his primary education there, and his family later moved to Khartoum where he completed his secondary education. Al-Bashir is married to his cousin Fatima Khalid. He also has a second wife named Widad Babiker Omer, who had a number of children with her first husband Ibrahim Shamsaddin, a member of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation who had died in a helicopter crash. Al-Bashir does not have any children of his own.