Strange Happenings in Africa

Strange Happenings in Africa

The pictures are in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The artists have fashioned their masks out of whatever they could find in the trash or in what ever other places where parts accumulate.

Nada Thsibwabwa poses in a robot-like costume. This is made out of used cell phones, hundreds of them, all held together by wires and parts. He is covered in it!

The photojournalist Colin Delfosse took these after the KinAct Festival which brings European and African artists together. I understand that the pictures are from 2019, but this is my first time of seeing them. So I treat them as new for me!

Florian Sinanduku’s costume, made of packs of pills, is a statement against counterfeit drugs. He wears this costume to highlight the importance of following orders to get pills legally. “Finding medicine is a big issue” in the DRC, he said. “You never know where it comes from and what it is made out of.” The report from World Health Organization noted that, in 2017, a majority of the fake or substandard drugs came from Africa.

Junior Mungongu shows off the costume he created out of plastic bottles and lids. When he walked around the city in his costume, he asked people to screw their used bottles onto the lids.

Falonne Mambu models her suit made of electric wires, which represents her country’s aspiration to be a major generator of electricity. Although DRC is home to two powerful hydroelectric dams, they operate at minimal capacity — and only 19% of the country’s population has access to electricity, according to USAID.

Like the others, she is covered head to toe with her outfit.

David Baketimina wears the costume he created out of artificial hair. Traditionally, hair was a way for women in the DRC to communicate their beauty. But with the commercialization and popularity of wigs, weaves and other artificial hair in the country, he says “women have lost their identity.”

The photojournalist said he captured these for their creativity. When he sells the pictures at a festival in Tel Aviv, Israel, the journalist gets half and the artist gets half. The event is for the Meitar Award for Excellence in Photography in November.

I wish I could show you these amazing costumes, but my software does not accept these large photos. But go to the page with the link.

Environmental Standards

We are living in a world that according to the 2014 Act that established it, every Nigerian has a right to clean air. But it hasn’t happened yet.

The body that is supposed to look after these affairs is the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, or NESREA.

Air pollution poses a global threat to all of us. This year’s World Environment Day theme, #OnlyOneEarth, provides us with an opportunity to reevaluate how we treat our environment. It also gives us the chance to come up with “collective and individual action plans to join the global drive to protect and restore our planet.”

That is a bold statement but true. It is generated from the most common actions through internal combustion engines, power generation, and industrial processes. So what can we do to ease these pollutants coming at us each and every day?

The relevant government agencies and their partners should address these harmful pollutants by providing the required information. Their insistence on environmental education among the people should be given utmost clearance. In fact, there should be penalties when the required elements are lacking.

But we are way behind on these actions. There is no way to address these individual acts, so what else can we do?

We can actively monitor the facts that do stand up to inspection.

One example is Sam’s flat. Sam is my younger son; he is in a flat that has 24-7 electricity. Can he reduce this load? Perhaps turn it off during the night, when everyone is asleep? Even five or six hours when it is not on would generate a tiny saving. Or can he set the thermostat higher?

The government of Nigeria is tackling these standards but with no enthusiasm. They need to “take steps to tackle this by proposing the affordable use of green and renewable energy alternatives like wind energy and solar power.” Besides being helpful for the environment, these pilot projects should go beyond  and also offer economic potential. They may help the economy by providing jobs.

It may be too much to hope for! But I think of our grandchildren who will live in a world impacted by these changes.