Malawi Elections

Tues May 19th was Malawi's Presidential Election day. This was a huge deal... Macdonald talked about it in his letter, Daniel from Freedom Gardens was talking about it on Facebook and many of the blogs I read were anxious about hoping the elections remained peaceful. From everything I read, it went very well and stayed peaceful. The current president, Bingu Wa Mutharika was elected for another 5 year term.

Check out this BCC article about the election. Take a look at the polling stations picture. The article also mentions the huge turnout, people were exercising their right to vote! Way to go!

I asked Dr. Kelly's input on the election and here are her thoughts:

"Yes, the election was good news. Perhaps Malawians are finally accepting a democratic government. I wrote the students in this summer's Study Abroad, explaining the significance of having the first peaceful election. I'm really happy that Mutarika won. He's a good man but had strong opposition from the former two regimes. My friends there say that it's evident people voted for candidates rather than the party. There were surprise wins. And that's good."

I stole this picture from another blog:

The sign says "Be proud of Malawi. Peaceful Elections. YES WE CAN!" Who does that sound like? Oh yes, Malawians love Obama! (Daniel became a fan of Obama on Facebook!) Apparently they even sell fabric with Obama's head picture on it.

Here is the BCC article about Mutharika's inauguration. I am so happy for Malawi! A peaceful election is a big deal!

Media Kit Completed!

For my Advanced Media Writing class each student had to choose a client and complete a media kit throughout the semester for the client. I chose the Malawi Chibale Project. It was very challenging since the organization is so new, I had very little to work with. Here is a picture of all the components:

-Title Page

-Title of Contents

-Fact Sheet

-Backgrounder

-Press Release

-Feature Article

-Public Service Announcement

-Brochure

-4 Page Newsletter

-Blog

-Powerpoint Presentation

I am very proud of the final product. I think we will be able to actually use some of the documents I created. At least it will give us something to work with!

Invisible Children

Website: INVISIBLE CHILDREN

Ever heard of it? You can watch the documentary on YouTube. There are 6 parts, so here's thelink to the beginning. For some reason part 5 is missing, but the other parts are all up.

The story is not over, Watch this movie to find out the latest news in the mission to end the war in Africa. I find the website very confusing, but they are promoting the "rescue" that was on April 25th.

My friend who studied abroad in South Africa last semester told me about this website. I never heard of it so I checked it out and watched the movie. I am so embarrassed that I had no idea this was going on. I knew parts of Africa were considered dangerous, but I never took the time to find out why. Basically 3 guys went on a trip to Africa and learned about a war going on and the thousands (30,000 to be exact) of children being kidnapped and turned into child soldiers. These 3 guys were determined to do something about it. They have created documentaries and a movement to end Africa's longest war (23 years) and rescue the children. This has been a 6 year long mission and they haven't given up. The invisible children are counting on them.

I am not one to go to a rally or protest (I'm not a political person at all) but after watching this video I am more than willing to do anything I can to help. I can't stop thinking about these children and I feel so guilty that so few people know this is going on right now... today...every day for the last 15 years. Do we ignore it because we don't want to know these awful things are going on? Why is there so little international attention? The evil man who is leading the troops is Joseph Kony. He is just as, if not more evil than Hitler. The world just doesn't hear about it because its Africa? Innocent people are being killed, tortured, and suffering. It's just as wrong to know about it and not do anything.

Okay, I need to calm down. There are thousands of awful things going on in the USA and all around the world that very few people know about. Who wants to watch the news and watch all awful stories... its to depressing. I am obviously bias to Africa and children. Just puts life in perspective and makes me so thankful for everything I have. I will continue to think twice before I complain about a so called "bad day."

The Rescue on April 25th- The rescue is a symbolic way to raise awareness about the war and bring Kony (bad guy) to justice. Over 100 cities across the world came together to camp out and wait until two things happen:

1. Media must cover the event

2. The city must arrange for the attendance of at least one political leader

During the camp, participants will be writing letters to political representatives asking for support in rescuing Kony's child soldiers.

I followed the "rescue" carefully and sure enough, they caught Oprah's attention and made it on The Oprah Show! Check out their appearance here.