Featured
Educate! Ball raises over $25,000 for Education in Uganda
From a pair of TOMS shoes to a trip to Costa Rica, guests at Educate!’s annual ball bid on silent auction items that would at once allow them to win fun prizes while also raising money for education in Uganda. In addition to the auction Educate supporters bought art and jewelry made in Uganda, pledged [...]
Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o kicks off the Uhuru Film Festival
When the time came to get his picture taken Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o did not say “cheese”. He said “githeri” – the name of a popular Kenyan dish. The renowned author takes every opportunity to slip into Kiswahili and Kikuyu languages switching from English to either with ease.
Wa Thiong’o was in Fort Collins this week to [...]
Tanzanian Student Leader Reflects on His Visit to Denver
In December we wrote about the African Bold Leaders, a group of twenty young people and four instructors from Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa who spent four weeks in Denver and Washington, DC. The Bold Leaders program run by Critical Mass Leadership Education brings students to the U.S. for conflict resolution, civic education and [...]
Colorado African Organization Opens Its New Home to the Community
At last Friday’s open house the new offices of Colorado African Organization were packed wall to wall with members of the community celebrating the move to the space. Today, a story about the open house by Tina Griego was published by the Denver Post.
Waiting to greet you is Ndayishimiye Emmanuel of Burundi, who arrived here [...]
Best of 2009: Our Top Posts
2009 marked metroAfrican’s first full year covering Denver’s African communities. We were constantly surprised by how active and exciting a community we have here. We met many tremendous people and attended more events than we can mention in one post. So here are the stories that received the most traffic in 2009, though we [...]
Events
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o book reading in Ft. Collins (Video)
Earlier this month Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o visited Reader’s Cove bookstore in Fort Collins as part of the inaugural Uhuru Film Festival. Below is video of the author reading from and discussing his novel Wizard of the Crow.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o book reading in Ft. Collins, CO from MetroAfrican on Vimeo.
CU West African Highlife Ensemble: Rockin’ for 10 Years and Still Going Strong
January 15, 2010 – The University of Colorado at Boulder College of Music is proud to announce the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the CU West African Highlife Ensemble, April 17th at 7:30 PM in Macky Auditorium. Joining in the anniversary celebration will be a delegation of chiefs and queenmothers from the Asante Kingdom of Ghana [...]
Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o kicks off the Uhuru Film Festival
When the time came to get his picture taken Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o did not say “cheese”. He said “githeri” – the name of a popular Kenyan dish. The renowned author takes every opportunity to slip into Kiswahili and Kikuyu languages switching from English to either with ease.
Wa Thiong’o was in Fort Collins this week to [...]
EDUCATE! PRESENTS THE FIRST ANNUAL BALL FOR THE FUTURE OF UGANDA
Fundraising Event to Benefit High School Students in Uganda
Boulder, Colo. December 14, 2009 — Educate!, a Colorado and Uganda-based organization that empowers youth across Uganda to transform their communities by addressing poverty, disease, and ignorance, is throwing an event to raise money for students in Uganda: Educate!’s Annual Ball – For the Future of Uganda [...]
Video: Roger Winter on the future of Sudan
This past week we posted a story about Roger Winter’s recent visit to the University of Denver. Below is the full video of his remarks. His address, entitled “Is a United Sudan Possible? The Comprehensive Peace Agreement Today”, was part of a three week long intensive training that has brought future Sudanese leaders from [...]
Interviews
The 1010 Project Helps Bridge the Digital Divide in Kenya
Denver-based humanitarian organization the 1010 Project recently joined Global Giving on a challenge to raise $4000 in one month to fund a computer lab in a partner school in Kenya. The group’s supporters successfully met the challenge, raising enough money to provide computers for Candlelight School’s 307 students and securing the 1010 project a permanent [...]
Refugee Rights Activist MacGoddins Lushimba Tells His Story
Our friend MacGoddins Lushimba stopped by recently to record his story of leaving his country of DRC and the time he spent in a refugee camp in Namibia. He told us about the challenges he faced in the camp and why he became an advocate for refugee rights. Check out the video below:
Refugee Rights Activist [...]
Tim Ryan and Water for People Partner on Malawi Photo Exhibit
Earlier this month we were invited to attend a reception at Gallery 910 Arts which is currently exhibiting the work of local photographer Tim Ryan. Tim Ryan and his company (Tim Ryan Pictures) partnered with non-profit organization Water for People (WFP) to produce images of the people in countries where WFP works. The exhibit now [...]
Our Interview with Sensai Tate of Hiphocalypse
Sensai Tate co-founded the Hiphocalypse Radio Show in 2000, broadcast on Rhodes Music Radio out of Grahamstown, South Africa. A native of Zimbabwe, Tate grew the success of the radio show into the Hiphocalypse MOVEment, a movement for the advancement of sustainable youth development in Southern Africa through the use of hip hop culture.
In 2006 [...]
Our Interview with Mangar Amerdid of the Leadership Institute of New Sudan
We had the opportunity to speak with Mangar Amerdid, the founder and Executive Director of the Leadership Institute of New Sudan (LIONS) to learn more about the program. Visit www.sudanlions.org for more information.
This interview is the first in a series we will be conducting with influential Africans in the metro Denver and Boulder areas. [...]
In the News
Some Journalists’ Scientific Ignorance by Pius Kamau
Some Journalists’ Scientific IgnoranceDr. Pius KamauOriginally aired on KUNC March 1, 2010 Link to the Show / Show Notes
For some time now I have been thinking of how many conservative columnists’ have misinterpreted the information that’s out there on climate change. Scientific data has had little influence, and the ever changing picture on the ground [...]
Get your copy of the African Yellow Pages today
The first edition of the Colorado African Yellow Pages & Guide has been around for several weeks now, so if you haven’t gotten your copy yet, stop by your local African market today to pick one up. Inside you will find many of the same listings you see here at metroAfrican, including African restaurants and [...]
Pius Kamau: A Duty to Heal
Dr. Pius Kamau is a thoracic surgeon in Denver. A native of Kenya, Dr. Kamau came to the US in 1971. He read his essay “A Duty to Heal” for NPR’s This I Believe series back in 2006. This past week the essay was replayed on the program. If you have not yet heard it, [...]
Local Charity’s Twitter Celebration Supports Education in Tanzania
AfricAid Hosts First Annual Unwrap-A-Story Twitterbration to Support Girls’ Education
Denver, Colo. November 24, 2009– AfricAid announces the Unwrap-A-Story “twitterbration” to support girls’ education in Africa. Running from December 8th to 11th, the three-day online celebration will invite the public to use online tools like Twitter and Facebook to share and celebrate the people who have [...]
Trouble: The Newest Bilingual Book from Ethiopia Reads
The Denver-Based literacy organization Ethiopia Reads recently announced the publication of a new children’s book written in English and Amharic. Trouble is a charming Ethiopian tale from award winning children’s author Jane Kurtz, who co-founded Ethiopia Reads with Yohannes Gebregeorgis. Artist Durga Bernhard donated her talents to illustrate the book.
Proceeds from sales of Trouble, and [...]
