I have been greatly disturbed by the recent wave of violence in South Africa. Violence brought about by fear. Not fear of the unknown as it is in most cases, but fear of foreigners or strangers. Some South Africans living in their shanty towns are murdering their neighbors they've known for 10 sometimes even 20 years. Why? Because they're "taking all of the South Africans Jobs and houses".
I'm trying to be objective but this just takes the cake, doesn't it? I mean picture this. This guy, your neighbor who may have come from anywhere, be it Ghana, Zimbabwe, DRC Congo, Nigeria...wherever, has been living with you in the same ghetto or shanty town for 10 to 20 years. The guy even has a South African wife and children born and bread in the country. Then all of a sudden he's stealing your jobs?!? Your chasing him away after 20 years. What about his wife and kids? Have you given them a thought? Who is he feeding with the job he has? I mean, he obviously isn't stealing enough because he's still your neighbour ain't he? I mean what would you like the guy to do...go to the job agency and say...."ummmh I'll just wait until all the South Africans get a job first and then I'll start working.....will you give me a call then?"
When you guys were under apartheid, you were shielded by your neighbours. They gave you protection, food and shelter sometimes at risk to themselves. Now you have a democratic government and instead of going to the government and kicking up a fuss on why the promises of houses and jobs given during the election, aren't being delivered....you resort to chasing away, brutally beating and murdering your own African neighbours. C'mon man......when are we gonna wake up?!
Africans in European countries are told to go back home all the time, they have to endure the racism, the weird looks they get in buses, the hard work for low pay, being overlooked for job opportunities because of their colour, or their accent, or the name they have. Everyday it's a struggle, but they persevere, everyday new measures are being put in place to make it more difficult for immigrants to enter a country let alone try and settle down. We can't have this happening in an African country...our own countries...and for it to be done by Africans...on fellow Africans or anybody for that matter is crazy.
I just finished watching the clip below so the wound is still fresh so to speak. Hence, the ranting today. This shouldn't be happening. We've had, and continue to have, enough civil wars already...Darfur, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Rwanda and Burundi, DRC and Kenya to name a few. When do we say enough? I'm not advocating for "world peace", thats never going to happen, let's just not take the law into our own hands...ok I'm done...
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Thursday 24 July 2008
Monday 21 July 2008
Homicides in Toronto
I remember speaking to a friend of mine in London, UK earlier this year, she was very concerned with the murders that were taking place all over the city. I have to admit I was also concerned when I used to live there, and I remember seeing the murder rates compared to other cities in Europe and thinking...wow, things are really bad in London.
Even recent statistics are terrifying, with Knife Attacks occurring every four minutes, you've got to admit, it does sound very scary. The Sun reports that there have been 24 murders so far this year in London alone.
Then there's Toronto. I recall my friend saying "well at least it's safer in Toronto" and I remember having the same perception as hers. A peaceful, safe city without all the problems that beseech its neighbour immediately to the south. How naive I was. Research has shown that Toronto had 84 killings in 2007, 42 of the murders were shootings, 22 were stabbings, and 14 were caused by trauma (blunt force). The cause of six murders was either unknown or unreleased as of January 2, 2008. All this in a city with barely 3 million people... London has approximately 10 million people, go figure.
To date, in 2008 there have been 49 kilings as reported by CBC, a popular news broadcasting station in Toronto.
Seven murders took place days after Statistics Canada named Toronto as Canada's Safest City among urban areas with a population of 500,000 or more. A fact that few Toronto residents can stomach easily. I mean c'mon, we're halfway through the year, have 48 homicides, and now we're being branded the "safest city" in Canada! How bad are these other cities?!? Apparently, Winnipeg had the highest crime rate, followed by Edmonton.
Drive-by shootings, triple homicides, stabbings, trauma, you name it, we've got it in Toronto. So Londoners, if you think you got it bad, take a look at oh so peaceful Toronto....the grass is not always greener on the other side.
Even recent statistics are terrifying, with Knife Attacks occurring every four minutes, you've got to admit, it does sound very scary. The Sun reports that there have been 24 murders so far this year in London alone.
Then there's Toronto. I recall my friend saying "well at least it's safer in Toronto" and I remember having the same perception as hers. A peaceful, safe city without all the problems that beseech its neighbour immediately to the south. How naive I was. Research has shown that Toronto had 84 killings in 2007, 42 of the murders were shootings, 22 were stabbings, and 14 were caused by trauma (blunt force). The cause of six murders was either unknown or unreleased as of January 2, 2008. All this in a city with barely 3 million people... London has approximately 10 million people, go figure.
To date, in 2008 there have been 49 kilings as reported by CBC, a popular news broadcasting station in Toronto.
Seven murders took place days after Statistics Canada named Toronto as Canada's Safest City among urban areas with a population of 500,000 or more. A fact that few Toronto residents can stomach easily. I mean c'mon, we're halfway through the year, have 48 homicides, and now we're being branded the "safest city" in Canada! How bad are these other cities?!? Apparently, Winnipeg had the highest crime rate, followed by Edmonton.
Drive-by shootings, triple homicides, stabbings, trauma, you name it, we've got it in Toronto. So Londoners, if you think you got it bad, take a look at oh so peaceful Toronto....the grass is not always greener on the other side.
I'm Back!
Hi Guys,
First of all, the good news, I'm back. While i've been away a multitude of things have changed, gosh where do i even start? Well atleast for the next couple of days i won't be short on posts, you can count on that.
Thanks to all those who have been posting messages of support, wondering where i was, i must admit, i did feel love (even though a part of me is almost certain it's a family member, which makes it even better of course...hehe).
You know the whole purpose of starting this blog was to try and establish some sort of link, or dare i say, a common place where we Tanzanians living in this foreign land can share something, anything. well...that goal hasn't been achieved as of yet, in-fact, apart from the couple who have blogs like myself, i haven't come across any Tanzanian whatsoever.
So if your out there...Tanzanians, or any East African and you happen to come across this blog, show yourself, drop a line and say hi or something, don't worry i'm not trying to sell anything, i do have a place to live so i won't be suddenly dropping by your town and asking for refuge, i do work so i won't ask for a loan....hehehe....reveal yourselves.
Back to the matter at hand, to start off. I came across this great video about a girl, living in Hyena Square (Uwanja wa fisi), in Dar. She is infected by the Aids virus and talks about her predicament. A very touching story and at the same time very inspiring. As soon as i started watching the clip i got hooked. check it out for yourself.
I couldn't embed the video as this has been disabled, so you will be redirected to youtube once you click on the link below:
Hyena Square
First of all, the good news, I'm back. While i've been away a multitude of things have changed, gosh where do i even start? Well atleast for the next couple of days i won't be short on posts, you can count on that.
Thanks to all those who have been posting messages of support, wondering where i was, i must admit, i did feel love (even though a part of me is almost certain it's a family member, which makes it even better of course...hehe).
You know the whole purpose of starting this blog was to try and establish some sort of link, or dare i say, a common place where we Tanzanians living in this foreign land can share something, anything. well...that goal hasn't been achieved as of yet, in-fact, apart from the couple who have blogs like myself, i haven't come across any Tanzanian whatsoever.
So if your out there...Tanzanians, or any East African and you happen to come across this blog, show yourself, drop a line and say hi or something, don't worry i'm not trying to sell anything, i do have a place to live so i won't be suddenly dropping by your town and asking for refuge, i do work so i won't ask for a loan....hehehe....reveal yourselves.
Back to the matter at hand, to start off. I came across this great video about a girl, living in Hyena Square (Uwanja wa fisi), in Dar. She is infected by the Aids virus and talks about her predicament. A very touching story and at the same time very inspiring. As soon as i started watching the clip i got hooked. check it out for yourself.
I couldn't embed the video as this has been disabled, so you will be redirected to youtube once you click on the link below:
Hyena Square
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