All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor among Westgate mall victims | World news | theguardian.com

A renowned Ghanaian poet was among the scores of casualties of the Westgate shopping mall attack in Kenya.

Prof Kofi Awoonor, a former diplomat, was killed in the attack in Nairobi. He was in the city attending the Storymoja Hay literary festival, a celebration of pan-African writing and storytelling.

His fellow Ghanaian poet Nii Ayikewei Parkes said people attending the festival had realised something was wrong when Awoonor, known affectionately by many in Ghana as “Prof”, failed to turn up for a session at which poets from west Africa and east Africa were due to perform a reading.

“Professor Awoonor and I and two other poets were representing west Africa, and there were four poets from east Africa,” said Parkes, author of Tail of the Blue Bird, who is also Awoonor’s nephew.

via Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor among Westgate mall victims | World news | theguardian.com.

Demand Grows for Shiitake Mushrooms

Lucas Jackson and Maeve Mangine shifted plans for a farm centered on a goat dairy after taking a workshop in growing shiitake mushrooms. All it took was logs from their land, mushroom spawn and their labor.

Now they’re selling the spongy rich mushrooms to several Vermont restaurants and a food cooperative and through a community supported agriculture farm. This season, they expect to produce about 500 pounds of mushrooms, which retail for as much as $16 a pound.

via Demand Grows for Shiitake Mushrooms.

Startup in Palestine launches crowdfunding campaign for rooftop farming in refugee camps | Wamda.com

Now working in the West Bank, Refutrees hopes to end refugee reliance on institutions like UNRWA by training current refugees in the modern techniques of urban agriculture, not only to provide immediate nutrition, but also to educate the community in the longer term and reconnect a young generation to the memory of its ancestral lands.

To do so, Refutrees’ mission is three-fold: Roof-top gardens will provide fresh, organic produce and outdoor activity for a largely unemployed population; internships and courses will connect community members to international experts on urban agriculture and recycling; and an Eco-Art Palestine initiative will use recycled material to create safe play spaces for children used to more desolate landscapes.

via Startup in Palestine launches crowdfunding campaign for rooftop farming in refugee camps | Wamda.com.

Lack of Money Can Cost One Year Old Elie Sadaqa His Life

A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

One year old Elie Sadaqa is suffering from a form of vasculitis – inflammation that affects blood vessels – and his parents, like so many others in Lebanon, cannot afford the medical measures required to save their son’s life.

I don’t have more information on the child’s diagnosis to explain it. LBC had listed it as temporal arteritis – a condition that affects one of the arteries reaching the head – but I notified them that such a diagnosis is unlikely given its age of onset is usually above 50. But exceptions in medicine do exist. They have since changed their wording on their news link.

According to the child’s father, the lack of a medical code for the procedures required to help Elie – a pure bureaucratic measure – means the ministry of public health in the country won’t cover it. I guess they need any excuse not…

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