TANZANIA: TUESDAY, JUNE 3, - GO TO VILLAGES

Today we had a full day to visit a Mosquito Netting Factory that makes bed nets that prevent malaria. It is a massive undertaking and they make about 45 million nets per year. The only thing I couldn't understand is why the "bed net" business even exist. Couldn't the country just give their people immunizations or have a plane spray pesticides in increased areas of these misquitos. NO one could really answer that just to say it is too expensive for vaccines. I asked well how much does it cost for the production and distribution of 45 million nets? I was quickly told to take a back seat...if you know what I mean. I'm just saying...... (That one was for Nellie if you're reading this..LOL!)

We went Manyata Villate to visit a elementary school and pass out school supplies. It was a bittersweet visit. There was not an eye dry, however, the children seemed of course didn't see the problem. What we saw meant something complete different. This was their life. The building that the kids are being taught in was just an empty building with no windows or doors. A couple of benches on the inside and the wall was used as a chalk board. We asked about the numbers of children that are able to go onto secondary school and as of 2007 out of 37 chidren only 10 were accepted into secondary school. The rest are sent back home to help the family with cattle and such. It is very sad future for many of the poor Tanzanian chidlren. Very sad.... They are often forgotten amongst the bush. No second try. No dreams. Unbelieveable...see for yourself. Also the conditions that the teachers have to work in. This village is way back in the bush...the roads to get there are awful.... The children sung for us and we stayed for about an hour before heading to pass out bed nets at homes in the area. ***video school and children We arrived in Nganana Village to distribute bed nets to a few of the residents and left the other 800 nets with the Chairman of the village. I just wonder if the other bed nets will reach the village people.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, - BLACK TIE PRESIDENTIAL DINNER

I didn't do too much today because I was exhausted! After hanging around the hotel most of the day it was time to get ready for the Black Tie Presidential Dinner. The Dinner includes dignitaries and presidents of Africa. The layout was very nice and Chris Tucker had a couple of jokes also.. CHECK OUT VIDEO BELOW:

THURSDAY, JUNE 5 - VISIT T UAACC

Today a couple of the delegates from the Leon Sullivan Charitable Trust went to visit the United African Alliance Community Center to donate $10,000 to their cause.
The United African Alliance Community Center (UAACC) was founded under the name United African American Community Center in 1991 by Pete O’Neal, formerly Chairman of the Kansas City Chapter of the Black Panther Party and his wife, Charlotte Hill O’Neal, also formerly of the KC Chapter. This community center teaches more than 200 hundred students in the surrounding villages about arts & crafts, music, journalism, sports, busines and much more. A prime example of what positivity can bring the Africa and the children. From ages 2 t0 22, they performed dances for us, sung, did a fashion show of clothing they created and read poetry. It was a great time and I'm sure the $10,000 is much needed and they could use alot more. Check out more on the community center at: http://www.uaacc.habari.co.tz/

Here's a few photos and video from the day: IF CAN'T SEE PHOTOS CLICK ON X IN CORNER.

FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2008 - FLEW TO PARADISE-ZANZIBAR

Friday morning everyone headed to the airport to take flight to Zanzibar Island. Of course, I did not know what to expect until the plane begin to descend and I saw that I was in for the most breathtaking sight of my life...thus far. The country of Zanzibar (pronounced /ˈzænzɨbɑr/) is part of the East African republic of Tanzania. It consists of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The capital of Zanzibar, located on the island of Unguja, is Zanzibar City, and its old quarter, known as Stone Town, is a World Heritage Site.


After driving through the town to the hotel Kempinski we arrived at the gates of a lavish resort. The rooms were immaculate, the resort had every luxury you could imagine. As they prepared for a banquet that evening, I took advantage of taking a long bubble bath, soaking into the terry cloth robe and slippers left for us and quickly tuning into MTV, CNN and BET...sorry, I'm addicted. After a little R&R I took a walk around the resort and took it all in. The evening banquet was equally decadent and fitting for the kings and queens that we are....I could get used to this.

Photos and video below:

The next morning before we departed we were taken to the Spice Market, where the locals make many of their spices such as cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, which is one of Zanzibar's main inudstries. Another major trade good was ivory, the tusks of elephants killed in mainland Africa. The third pillar of the economy was slaves, giving Zanzibar an important place in the Arab slave trade, the Indian Ocean equivalent of the better-known Triangular Trade. Zanzibar City was the main trading port of the East African slave trade, with about 50,000 slaves a year passing through the city.[2] The Sultan of Zanzibar controlled a substantial portion of the East African coast, known as Zanj, which included Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, and trading routes which extended much further inland, such as to Kindu on the Congo River. We visited the area where the slaves were held. You will see in photos.

I'M HEADING TO THE MOTHERLAND

As many of you have heard, I was offered an amazing opportunity by an organization tha lends it's hands to building and bringing awareness to the state of Africa in all areas of tourism, investment, education, healthcare etc. By chance, I met a woman by the name of Hope Master who is the CEO of the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation and she invited me to come and report on their Summit that they give bi-annually. Of course, I wouldn't dare pass up a chance to go to the motherland....WHAT?

I have always dreamed of someday making a trip to Africa, however, never thought it would be this soon. So, I am very excited to say the least and somewhat nervous. I am going to Arusha, Tanzania in East Africa. So, wish me well. If I don't make it back....just know there's know other way I would want to go. Well,............I get back to that later.

In an effort to share my experience, I will be blogging about my experience and hopefully allow you the opportunity to see Tanzania through my eyes. Bare with me...LOL! Enjoy!

A LITTE ABOUT ARUSHA, TANZANIA

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Located in the northern highlands of Tanzania, beneath the twin peaks of Mt. Meru and Mt. Kilimanjaro, Arusha is the safari capital of the country. Arusha rests in a fertile valley that is the bread and vegetable basket of the country, producing half of the country’s wheat, and substantial amounts of coffee, flowers, beans and pyrethrum for export, along with bananas, maize, millet and vegetables for domestic use.

Arusha is also ideally located as a takeoff point into the northern circuit of the wilderness of Tanzania with the Arusha National Park just 35 kilometers away, the Tarangire national park and Manyara biosphere and nature reserve a day’s journey away, as well as other famous landmarks like Ngorongoro-the eighth wonder of the world, the endless Serengeti plains, Olduvai gorge site where the oldest skull of man was discovered and Africa’s highest mountain the Kilimanjaro.

Built by the Germans as a centre for colonial administration in the early century, Arusha was a sleepy town with a few shops and a grassy roundabout. From its backwater status amidst the farmlands and plantations of northern Tanzania, today Arusha is one of the country’s most prosperous towns. Arusha receives around 400,000 visitors each year. It has lively shops and markets, vibrant night life, innumerable bars and restaurants that provide plenty of interest to reward a longer stay. Arusha is also the site for the United Nations Criminal Tribunal on the Rwandan genocide and the headquarters of the East African Cooperation.

FUN FACTS:

• Arusha is also the Hindi name for the rising sun.
• Arusha's clock tower is supposedly situated at the midpoint between Cairo and Cape Town, therefore representing the halfway point between the two termini of the old British Empire in Africa. The clock tower is currently adorned by the logo of the Coca-Cola Company.
• Arusha was the setting for the 1962 film Hatari! directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne.
• A slang name for the city among locals is "A-Town".
• Princess Margaret visited Arusha in 1956
• In the video game Halo 3, a highway sign is seen that says "Arusha", though it is crossed out. It was most likely destroyed by large dinosaurs from the gamma sector planet of Niptuvia.
• Arusha is the only home for expensive jewelry called Tanzanite[1] which currently has been produced in high capacity by big companies.
  

SUMMIT NEWS: Stars come to Sullivan Summit

Arusha is set to be a star-studded arena from next week. Distinguished personalities in the world’s entertainment industry will be parading the town during the forthcoming Sullivan Summit to be held in Arusha.

The Leon H. Sullivan Foundation will lead hundreds of U.S. based delegates to Arusha, for its 8th Summit scheduled from the 2nd to the 6th of June. The main venue for the event will be the Arusha International Conference Centre.

Among these distinguished delegates is the civil rights activist and former US presidential candidate,

Reverend Jesse Jackson, NBA star Kelenna Azubuike of the ‘Golden State Warriors’ basketball team, actor Lou Gossett Jr. (of the film credit ‘A good man in Africa),

a team from Black Entertainment Television (B.E.T.), Frank Ski of CBS Radio, TJ Holmes of CNN Television and many others who plan to join the Summit movement in Arusha.

According to organizers invitations to the summit have also been extended to various Civil Rights and African-American organizations including UNCF, 100 Black Men, National Association of Black Accountants, Abyssinian Baptist Church (Harlem, New York) and Greater Allen AME Church (Brooklyn, New York).

The Summit running under the theme, "The Summit of a Lifetime," as proposed by Tanzania President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, is expected to be the most successful of all the Summits since her father, the late Reverend Leon H. Sullivan began the biennial conference in 1991.

Dignitaries and delegates will participate in a week-long schedule of workshops and plenary sessions focusing on Africa's environment, infrastructure, investment, and tourism.
The Summit will also encourage attendees to participate in the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation's philanthropic efforts in the country which includes the Leon Sullivan Malaria Free Zone Mosquito Net Project, the Books for Africa program and several other projects.
Delegates will also have the option to explore Tanzania landmarks which will include the Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, the Olduvai Gorge along with various cultural events, performances and welcome receptions.

Inspired by the life and principles of Leon H. Sullivan, The Sullivan Summits are organized by the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation with the goal of highlighting key issues, stimulating discussion, defining best practices, identifying new opportunities, promoting private enterprise and fostering high-level strategic partnerships.

Notables who have participated in past Summits have included U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, General Colin Powell, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, Dorothy Height and the late Coretta Scott King. Celebrities including Chris Tucker, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Cicely Tyson and Dick Gregory also have attended past Summits.

"It is time to address the problems of poverty, ignorance and diseases with the help of the Americans — African-Americans who left the continent in disarray, in chaos, as slaves — and it is a time to rekindle the roots and the bones of a common origin and a new era of solidarity," Tanzanian envoy to UN, Dr. Mahiga said.

The summits began in 1991 and were the brainchild of Rev. Leon H. Sullivan, a civil rights crusader who called for companies doing business in South Africa to give opportunities to their black workers — an initiative that reportedly helped in ending apartheid.
read more news on Arusha at ( http://www.arushatimes.co.tz/)