Olympic Refugee Team
I watched much of the Olympic Opening Ceremony last night. The beginning portrayed the history of Brazil, immigration, slave trade, and urban development. Then came the parade of athletes.
Did you watch? I love seeing the U.S. team, and of course the team from Nigeria. Then some of the smaller countries with athletes who have little hope of medals but seem thrilled to be in the Olympics. Who wouldn’t be?
Refugee team member Rose Nathike Lokonyen is from South Sudan
I was most interested in seeing the refugee team who carried the Olympic Flag.
The weekly UN Brief had an article about them. So did Sports Illustrated.
Athletes from Syria, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ethiopia are members of this inspiring refugee team.
Dan Solomon, the writer says, “The true value of sports is in how they bring people together . . . Not only does the Team Refugees campaign bring together the 10 members of the team and give them a chance to experience something that’s radically different from life as a refugee, but it also gives other Olympians—and the untold billions around the world watching—the chance to learn what life entails when you’re fleeing a war-torn country.”
I saw them enter the stadium last night near the end of the parade of athletes, just before Brazil. I hope I’ll get to see them in action. I’d like to learn about their lives, why they had to flee, and how they are living now.
I’ll check out what events they are in so I can watch.
I certainly plan to watch women’s gymnastics. It’s incredible what the woman can do. I watch because it’s extremely entertaining, even fascinating, and because of my granddaughter, herself a highly skilled gymnast.
Do you plan to watch many of the Olympics events? Which ones?
Left-Over Effects of Ebola
The Ebola epidemic may be over, but it has left serious after-effects, Thomson Reuters Foundation reported.
“During the epidemic, many farmers in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia were unable to grow or sell their crops because of measures to contain the virus, including travel restrictions, border closures and quarantines, as well as fear of infection.”
So if they couldn’t grow or sell, they had no income. They may also not have the seed crops for next year.
The upshot is that there may be ongoing food shortages. Some farmers will leave their villages and farms to go to the cities to seek employment, meaning lower agricultural output.
Add to this the people they lost to the epidemic, and those alive but still shunned because they had been infected, or had worked in the health care field while the disease was rampant.
How will these countries and their people cope? The human spirit is resilient. But it has surely been severely tried in parts of West Africa.
President Buhari’s Time in Office
Two years ago Clem and I were in Nashville for Peace Corps Connect, the annual gathering of former Peace Corps volunteers and friends.
Professor Moses Ochonu
At our Friends of Nigeria meeting we heard Professor Moses Ochonu, a Nigerian at Vanderbilt University, speak about the political situation in Nigeria.
At the time the country was preparing for the elections. Buhari emerged as the winner and took office in May 2015.
Ochonu has just written a critical review of the presidency so far. I read it in Sahara Reports.
He cites several promises that he says have not been fulfilled, including selling some of the ten presidential aircraft! Are his charges true? We’ll see what response he gets.
Nigeria’s First Lady
President Buhari’s wife is in the U.S. to seek help for the women and children facing starvation in the north-eastern part of Nigeria.
Nigeria’s First Lady Aisha Buhari
“Our children in the various camps are in dire situation and the government alone cannot do it, we have to get help,” she said in an interview with the Hausa service of Voice of America.
She is also the special guest at an event on Saturday evening in Washington, DC. (The event is in Silver Springs MD but I think that counts as DC.)
The event is the 25th anniversary of Zumunta, “an umbrella organization of Nigerians in the Diaspora representing the 19 Northern States of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).”
Their purpose is “to foster goodwill through social interaction amongst Nigerians of Northern descent.” These would be mostly Hausa-Fulani people.
It reminds me of the Umuada Ndi-Igbo, the Daughters of Igbo People, whom I’ve met a couple of times at the UN. I am sure there is a similar group for Yoruba people.
Do these tribally-based, groups in the U.S. bode well or ill for Nigeria’s efforts at unity? They help to preserve the culture but is it at the expense of shared commitment to the country?
Zumunta has a picture of the missing Chibok girls as one of their sliding photos in their website header.
The organization started in the tri-state area where I am – New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Today it has 12 chapters across the U. S.
Emir of Kano is keynote speaker
“Our association focuses attention on the areas of Health, Education, Youth Development and Women’s Empowerment,” they say. “Within these focus areas; we are always looking to foster unity, collaboration, diversity and advocacy for the purpose of creating positive change and development in Nigeria.”
The Emir of Kano is the keynote speaker for Zumunta’s celebration on Saturday night.
I’ve mentioned him before. He was the governor, or head, of Nigeria’s Central Bank before the previous president ousted him.
An impressive line-up for their celebration!
