Rwanda is on the road to recovery, with annual economic growth more than six per cent... and women who survived the genocide are driving this boom.



Part 2:






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BEIJING – Samia Yusuf Omar headed back to Somalia Sunday, returning to the small two-room house in Mogadishu shared by seven family members. Her mother lives there, selling fruits and vegetables. Her father is buried there, the victim of a wayward artillery shell that hit their home and also killed Samia’s aunt and uncle.

This is the Olympic story we never heard.

It’s about a girl whose Beijing moment lasted a mere 32 seconds – the slowest 200-meter dash time out of the 46 women who competed in the event. Thirty-two seconds that almost nobody saw but that she carries home with her, swelled with joy and wonderment. Back to a decades-long civil war that has flattened much of her city. Back to an Olympic program with few Olympians and no facilities. Back to meals of flat bread, wheat porridge and tap water.

“I have my pride,” she said through a translator before leaving China. “This is the highest thing any athlete can hope for. It has been a very happy experience for me. I am proud to bring the Somali flag to fly with all of these countries, and to stand with the best athletes in the world.”

There are many life stories that collide in each Olympics – many intriguing tales of glory and tragedy. Beijing delivered the electricity of Usain Bolt and the determination of Michael Phelps. It left hearts heavy with the disappointment of Liu Xiang and the heartache of Hugh McCutcheon.



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BEIJING: The scramble for Africa's supremacy at the Beijing Olympics was decided Sunday when Ethiopia's Deriba Merga slowly wilted in the morning heat and Kenyan runner Samuel Wanjiru surged through to win the marathon.

Going into the final day of the Olympics, the neighboring rivals had been deadlocked at four gold medals apiece, although Ethiopia had the two biggest stars on the track with both Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba getting 5,000-10,000 long-distance doubles.

Then came Wanjiru to win Kenya's first gold in the marathon, one where Ethiopian great Haile Gebrselassie was supposed to excel had he not decided against competing in the event he dominates because of concerns about Beijing's pollution.

Instead, it was a Kenyan who thrived under clear blue skies, winning his nation's first gold over the distance in an Olympic record of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 32 seconds.

"It feels good to make history here," Wanjiru said. "It feels good to make history for Kenya."

Overall, Kenyans won 14 medals, double the total from the 2004 Athens Games. Ethiopia ended up with seven overall.

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This is why they say never give up. Everyone keeps talking about Michael Phelps sure he made history, so did this African girl thats based in the US. Its no other than Zimbawe's Kirsty Coventry, who won three silvers twice loosing to the Australian swimmers, our glamour girl, Stephanie Rice. I really wanted Kirsty to win a gold but not against the Australians, I was divided between Africa ( my roots), and my current country Australia.

Finally Kirsty did it! It was a special moment like I said she has united the Zimbabwean nation, for once the media can say something positive about Zimbabwe (which is one of my favorite places in Africa before Mugabe, infact one of my uncle use to live in Harare).

Zimbawe's Kirsty Coventry added a Beijing gold medal to her hat-trick of silvers when she won the women's 200 metres backstroke in world record time at the Water Cube today.

Coventry led from the first turn to finish in 2 minutes 5.24 seconds ahead of American world champion and former record holder Margaret Hoelzer.

Japan's Reiko Nakamura was third.

Australians Meagen Nay and Belinda Hocking finished seventh and eighth.

The pair were the first Australian women to swim in the final since the Barcelona Games in 1992.

Coventry, the defending Olympic champion, had already won silver in the 200m IM, 400m IM and 100m backstroke races at this Games.

"I'm so thrilled. The plan was to go in and put everything on the line and see what I have to go home with," Coventry said.

"I'm excited to hear the national anthem play and for everyone back home to hear it."

The 24-year-old said it was painful race for her but it was her last race in the Beijing campaign.

"It's awesome. It was painful and my legs hurt a bit. It was my last race here and I wanted to give it everything.

"Getting the gold medal is the cherry on the top and it's such a relief."

How often do you see a girl that can swim like a dolphin representing an African nation in the pool? How many girls competing in the Olympics this year got three silvers and a gold medal with a world record under her name?
Uh, how many African girls you know swim like this,
how many girls you know fly like this,
not many, if any,
not many, if any,
how many girls you know who got the skills to go in and roarck,
a show like this, uh uh, uh uh,
I don't know anybody. - little remix of Scribe.

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Well ever since the creation of humanity, men and women have always fought over their difference even though we can not survive without the other.

This Somali song is based on that and how the role of modern women in Somalia are changing. As you can see both men and women are wearing traditional Somali clothe and carrying some traditional objects. I guess they both missed the olden days.

The thing is Somalia is full of tradition and they have alot of different traditional arts, dances, clothing but most people know Somalia for war through the Western media such as Black Hawk Down.

I personally remember once at school they asked me to bring some traditional things from Somalia, to be honest I did not know what to bring because I did not know Somalia had all these things. I had no idea. Now that I know more things about Somalia and its culture; I came to admire its traditions and customs, for instance in the video below, the men are wearing what appears to be a simple white garb, but anyone that knows Somalia would know its hot hostile environment and white can help in such hot climate.

Ubah Dahir ft Hassan Jama - Xujo.



One of the weirdest and most unique object from Somalia I have seen is this headrest.


Headrests are used by both Somali men and women while resting or sleeping. It is popularly believed that the headrest serves a protective function by elevating the head off the ground during sleep, thereby preventing any possible attack by snakes or scorpions. Men's headrests, such as this one, generally feature a smaller base that makes them somewhat unstable to sleep on, while the rectangular bases of women's headrests are usually more stable. Even this little weird objects have their gender use. I guess the Somali men wanted the ladies to get more sleep, while scholars suggest that the instability in the men headrest is purposeful as it prevents the user from falling into a deep sleep while guarding the herds and his family at night. It is in this sense that the headrest itself has become a symbol of vigilance among Somali nomads.

In this example, the surface decorations of both supports are identical and feature interlaced rope motifs on the top and bottom interrupted by a honeycomb-like relief in the middle.

The patterns on this and many other Somali headrests probably reflect the Islamic influence in the region. Some scholars interpret the patterns and iconography as a "form of shorthand for a prayer," to ensure God's protection of the sleeper. Headrests also play an important role in the nuptial ceremonies of Somali nomads. On his wedding night, the groom places the tubash (a sum of money) under the bride's headrest. The morning after the marriage is consummated, the bride will use this money to purchase an amber necklace, the symbol of her new status.

The headrests are carved from a single piece of fine-grained wood known as hagar in Somali, or also yucub wood. The wood is usually left its natural color, but is sometimes painted red or black by its owner. Somali nomads also make use of another type of headrest with a single cylindrical supporting column. It appears that the different styles are for men of different status, with the single-columned variety for young men and the double-columned variety, as seen here, reserved for elders.

Finally got this beautiful Somali painting.




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