Angola Canoeing: Beginning 'Paddles' to Success

Despite the difficulties of starting a “new activity” like canoeing in Angola, the sport has already taken the name of the country far beyond the sea that laps the western side of the capital city Luanda.  In just ten years, the national high-level athletes have won 23 medals in African championships (six gold, eight silver and nine bronze).

There is not much information about the origin of Canoeing in Angola. The most ancient records mention “canoe competitions among the fishermen of the island during Luanda’s and Dande’s festivals”, says professor Francisco Freire. The winner of these sporadic competitions, dating back to colonial times, “won a case of beer”, recalls the chairman of the Technical Council of the Angolan Federation of Water Sports (FADEN).

The period that followed the colonial times, where water sports were basically sailing and rowing, the sport of canoeing was almost nonexistent.  Canoeing would have to wait almost 25 years to shake again the Bay of Luanda, now in a more serious way.

The sport is gaining greater visibility during festivals of the Nautical Club (February), the Naval Club (May) and Navy (June). Despite the growing interest, FADEN controls only 20  canoeing athletes (to which we add 100 sailing athletes and five of rowing). Of these, 15 practice at high level, despite the “lack of proper support structures”, according to Freire.

But the highlight of the initial activity was the Olympic qualification of Fortunato Pacavira for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, in which the athlete reached the semi-finals in the 1000 meters men race. The islander athlete, who has also participated in three tournaments in Africa and two in the world, has also won first place in Africa's championships of Cote d'Ivoire in 2009.  In 2008, he represented the national colors on the Olympic Games in Beijing. “I got the minimum qualifying result acceptable, and ended up reaching the semifinals, where I was seventh”.  It is of the opinion that Pacavira may already have company in the next Olympics where the goal of the Federation is to take two athletes to London next year.

In the opinion of  Freire, the results show an undeniable reality: “although we have not inherited canoeing from the colonial era, today it has already overtaken in terms of results, all other sports with more tradition and even modalities in which people invest more in Angola.  Of the 23 medals we won in only a decade of activity, 14 were achieved all at once at the last African Championship, in Côte d'Ivoire. This alone shows that this sport has much potential, though it is not highly valued in the country”.

Along with the African championships, the national canoeists are already looking forward for the London Olympics in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016. The perspectives of qualifying more Angolans for the most important international competition proves that “the competitive level of Angolan athletes is also increasing”. (excerpts from TAAG Austral Magazine)

Wiping Out Sleeping Sickness

The incidence of sleeping disease, trypanossomiasis (try saying that quickly!) is decreasing in the most contaminated areas of Angola, most notably the seven endemic provinces: Malanje, Kwanza Norte, Kwanza Sul, Uíge, Zaire, Bengo and Luanda. Sleeping sickness threatens one third of the Angolan population and recent screenings carried out revealed a sharp decrease in positive cases. 

The disease is mostly transmitted through the bite of an infected tsetse fly but there are other ways in which people are infected with sleeping sickness; mother-to-child infection through the placenta and through mechanical transmission through other blood sucking insects,

In the first stage, the trypanosomes multiply in subcutaneous tissues, blood and lymph. This is known as a haemolymphatic phase, which entails bouts of fever, headaches, joint pains and itching.

In the second stage the parasites cross the blood-brain barrier to infect the central nervous system. This is known as the neurological phase. In general this is when more obvious signs and symptoms of the disease appear: changes of behaviour, confusion, sensory disturbances and poor coordination. Disturbance of the sleep cycle, which gives the disease its name, is an important feature of the second stage of the disease. Without treatment, sleeping sickness is considered fatal.

Sleeping sickness threatens millions of people in 36 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Many of the affected populations live in remote areas with limited access to adequate health services, which hampers the surveillance and therefore the diagnosis and treatment of cases. In addition, displacement of populations, war and poverty are important factors leading to increased transmission and this alters the distribution of the disease due to weakened or non-existent health systems. In 2009, after continued control efforts, the number of cases reported has dropped below 10,000 (9878) for first time in 50 years. The estimated number of actual cases in sub-Saharan Africa is currently 30,000. (WHO Report 2011)

Massive Expansion of Angola's Conservation Areas

The Angolan minister of Environment, Fátima Jardim, recently announced the expansion of Angola's environmental conservation areas, currently at 6.6%, to 18%  by the year 2017.

Angola presently has 13 zones of integral protection. Some 82,000 square kilometres of protected lands totally 6,6% of the country’s territory; hosting six national parks, one regional park, two integrated natural reserves and four partial ones.

An increase to 18% of Angolan land usage would protect some 188,650 square kilometres of green zones in the national territory, potentially protecting existing 18 forest reserves and various game reserves.

In common with other African countries, Angola has a large number of environmental issues: the overuse of pastures and subsequent soil erosion; desertification; deforestation of tropical rain forest; and the inadequate supplies of drinking water.

Although Angola has a number of designated National Parks and Reserves, the previous civil war has had a devasting impact on conservation and most protected areas are without wardens.  On the positive side, soldiers are being trained as park wardens through a IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) / Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Project.  In addition, there are extensive protected areas that remain relatively undisturbed and which adequately protect some vegetation and habitats for Angola's unique bird populations.

The IUCN currently lists six national parks in Angola; Bicauri, Cameia, Kissama, Cangandala, Iona, and Mupa. The wildlife in all the parks have been severely reduced after the devastation wrough by decades of war.

Environment Minister Jardim announced that a new system of national conservation areas will start to be created soon, seeking to meet the goals agreed upon at the Nagoya (Japan) meeting held last year. The Nagoya meeting recommended the expansion to 20 percent the national conservation areas in the territory of each country of the world. (Angop)

Angola's Tribes: The Historic Khoisan People

The Khoisan are known as the first inhabitants of sub-Saharan Africa, are commonly given the pejorative name of bushmen (men of the bush) and southern Angola is part of their habitat.  Khoisan is the name given to a family of ethnic groups, the Khoikhoi and the San, as they share similar physical and language characteristics. They use click consonants when they speak, and their history is thought to go back thousands of years. They are currently at risk of extinction, as only a few populations still survive in southwest Africa.

Recent estimates reveal that of the estimated 100,000 Khoisan in Africa,  some 5000 live in southern Angola; the largest majority of the populations live in Botswana (50,000), Namibia (35,000), South Africa  (5000), and the remaining populations scattered across Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Khoisan were traditionally hunter-gatherers, but have been forced to switch to herdsmen and farming as a result of government-mandated moderization programs as well as the increased risks of a hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the face of technological development.

The name Khoisan comes from Khuá-San, which in general terms means ‘Men’ both in Khoikhoi and in San. But in the Khoikhoi language, the word has another connotation and actually means ‘Men of Men’.

Khoisan have short frames with long legs when compared with other African peoples, they have copper brown skin and eye folds similar to Asian peoples. But in contrast with Asian women, Khoisan women tend to have rounder, broader hips, more characteristic in African women.

Khoisan languages, known for their use of clicking sounds, are not spoken very widely across Africa, and are to all intents and purposes limited to the Kalahari region spanning Angola, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. The most spoken Khoisan group languages are Kwadi and Sandawe.

Ovimbundu Wisdom! No.6

Here are more Ovimbundu wisdom proverbs.  Enjoy!

Proverb 1:  Epungu liwa konendela; omola sole kununulu.

Translation:  Early corn is best, so the firstborn is the one to delight in.

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Proverb 2: Esalamiho liulume ka li enda no posi.

Translation: Labor has sure reward.

Angola Traditional Medicine: An Age-Old Cure

The use of 'traditional', 'alternative' or 'complementary' medicine is now a multi-billion dollar industry around the world. This type of medicine, when adopted by non-indigenous populations, is often labeled as the ‘medicine of the poor' and still an estimated 80% of the populations in some African and Asian countries depend on this traditional medicine for basic health care.

In Angola, the use of traditional medicine goes back around 4000 years, according to Rosário Fernandes, a traditional medicine researcher. She discovered that most of the practices originated in the primitive culture of the tribal communities called Sam (Hottentots) and the Bantu.

Some examples of traditional medicine: the tea from the Mbrututu root does not need boiling water, and is ideal as a cure for hepatitis;  a mix of honey and lemon is recommended for the flu and sore throats; other local-gathered herbal products have 'power' to cure, like tea from Caxinde, Chandala, Gipepe, and Ngandiadia; all initially labeled in the local people's languages.

For recent mothers, the Angolan pharmacist recommends “closing the wounds from the birth” with a bath made from a lukewarm infusion of the plant called capim de Deus ('God's grass'). For the new-born, drinking Mukumbi is good for colic. It is also a remedy for anemia and blood loss. Additionally, the bark of the ‘Timba-Timba’ tree is apparently the African version of Viagara.

Traditional medicine is defined as, 'the sum total of knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures that are used to maintain health, as well as to prevent, diagnose, improve or treat physical and mental illnesses.”

The basic theory underlying traditional medicine in Angola  “arose from the empirical observation of how man reacted with the environment. Primitive man watched natural phenomena and managed to create a conceptual structure that could be transposed to the human body."

According to the researcher, before the arrival of the Europeans who disembarked on Angolan shores, the local peoples (Hottentots, Bantu, and others), solved their own health problems, including the plague, epidemics, spiritual and emotional illnesses, by recourse to traditional medicine. “The Imbanda (practitioners), could diagnose, prevent, treat and cure illnesses that occurred in their times, whether hereditary or otherwise. (adapted from TAAG Austral Magazine)