The African Country of Mozambique
Mozambique is a country located on the southeast coast of Africa. It
covers 308,642 square miles and has a population of about sixteen million.
Maputo is the capitol, largest city, and chief port.
Mozambique was governed by Portugal from the early 1500's until 1975
when it became independent after a ten year struggle against Portuguese
rule.
Mozambique is now controlled by Frelimo (the front for the liberation
of Mozambique) the nations only political party. The president of Frelimo
is also the nations president. Mozambiques highest governmental power lies
with the parties central committee which is made up of fifteen members
appointed by Frelimo. This party appoints the two hundred and ten members
of the peoples assembly,(Mozambiques legislative body).This group meets
twice a year. It's permanent committee handles legislative matters between
sessions.
Most Mozambicans are black Africans. Other groups such as Arabs,
Europeans, and Pakistanis make up less than one percent of the population.
Most blacks belong to groups that speak one of the Bantu languages. The
largest of these groups, the Makua-Lomwe, accounts for forty percent of the
population. The countries official language is Portuguese but few blacks
can speak it. Some Mozambicans speak English when conducting business
activities.
Most Mozambicans are farmers with extremely simple techniques although
farmers in some areas of the country use modern techniques.
Fifty five percent of the people of Mozambique practice traditional
African religions. Of this large group, many are animists who believe that
everything in nature has a soul. Others worship spirits of their ancestors.
About thirty percent of the population is Christian, mostly Roman Catholic.
Many of the remaining are Muslim.
Only about twenty five percent of Mozambiques people fifteen or older
can read or write but the government has begun programs to help improve
education.
Almost one half of Mozambique is covered by a flat plain that extends
inland from the coast. Land rises steadily beyond the plain and high
plateaus and mountains run along much of the western border. Sand dunes
and swamps line the coast. Grasslands and tropical rain forests cover much
of the country.
Many sizable rivers flow east through Mozambique into the Indian Ocean,
there basins have extremely fertile soil. Cashew trees and coconut palms
grow throughout the country. Animal life in Mozambique includes crocodiles,
98.8% of the population is made up of ethnic Somalis (Kraus). Other minority groups include Arabs, Indians, Italians, and Pakistanis. Most Somalis are nomadic or semi nomadic herders of livestock. The rest are either crop farmers or inhabitants of the few urban centers. The official languages of the country are Somali and Arabic and the state religion is Islam (“Somalian People”).
There is no denying that fairy tales are a major part of our society, especially when it comes to children. The countless number of bedtime stories we were told as children left fun and whimsical tales of beautiful princesses, strong and heroic knights, dragons, and handsome princes swarming in our heads, but do those stories give off the right message? Do we convey the right message to our children, and how is it that the seemingly harmless stories that we all enjoyed as kids could actually be harmful? Maria Tatar, an American academic whose expertise lies in children's literature, German literature, and folklore and is Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University, explores these questions and many more in her article An Introduction to Fairy Tales. Throughout Tatar’s article she tackles the developmental issues that result due to fairy tales, how fairy tales control behavior instead of teaching morals, and the irrefutable theme that beauty brings happiness.
In past centuries, Angola was among the areas most-devastated by the slave trade. In recent decades, it has been afflicted with wars. However, in both eras, much of the violence was driven by powerful external forces. This is because Angola, with an abundance of oil and other resources, could develop into a very prosperous country if led and controlled by the right power. In 1975 Angola was released from colonialism by Portugal. This pivotal event in history sparked the beginning of a massive conflict between many of the key players in world power. These key players included the United States, Cuba, China, and the Soviet Union.
Balancing work and family is a concern of parents’ around the world. It not only concerns mother’s, it concern’s fathers. It is a societal norm that the mother is the “caregiver” and the father is “breadwinner.” With the feminist movement, things began to change, giving women additional educational and employment opportunities; therefore, millions of women entered the workforce. This shift required a change in attitude, as it implied new roles for men, which promoted shared parental responsibility. Sweden was the first country in the world to introduce parental leave, giving both parents the right to stay home with their children. According to Carlson (2013), “Fundamentally, Sweden’s parental leave insurance policy is not just about providing individual families with resources to make choices about employment and caregiving; it is a social policy with the defined aim of increasing gender equality for the Swedish people” (p. 65). It is asserted that Sweden’s government developed the parental leave policy to address; participation and wage equity in the workforce; and to promote gender equality in care giving (Carlson, 2013, p. 63).
Over the course of human history, many believe that the “Congo Free State”, which lasted from the 1880s to the early 1900s, was one of the worst colonial states in the age of Imperialism and was one of the worst humanitarian disasters over time. Brutal methods of collecting rubber, which led to the deaths of countless Africans along with Europeans, as well as a lack of concern from the Belgian government aside from the King, combined to create the most potent example of the evils of colonialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s. The Congo colonial experience, first as the Congo Free State then later as Belgian Congo, was harmful to that region of Africa both then and now because of the lack of Belgian and International attention on the colony except for short times, the widespread economic exploitation of the rubber resources of the region, and the brutal mistreatment and near-genocide of the Congolese by those in charge of rubber collecting.
Evidence clearly shows a decline in fatherhood within American homes. The results are disparaging, but there is a silver-lining. Initiatives have been launched across the country, dating back to the 1990’s. There is an increasing collection of courageous men determined to debunk the post-modern stereotype of bungling, or worse, absent fatherhood. Typing in fatherhood within a Google search engine generates a sizeable list of websites geared towards equipping and empowering dads. And the lifelong occupation is not as daunting as one may think—in fact fatherhood is one of the most rewarding and self-actualizing jobs a man will ever endeavor to take on.
Willy Loman: Willy believes wholeheartedly in the American Dream of easy success and wealth, but he never achieves it. While he achieves a professional understanding of himself and the fundamental nature of the sales profession, Willy fails to realize his personal failure and betrayal of his soul and family through the meticulously constructed artifice of his life. He feels that Biff has let him down by not being any more successful in life than Willy himself has been. Biff has no proper job, is not married and is unable to settle down. Willy seems to feel that Biff has done the things he has done, just to spite his father. Biff and Happy, who idolize and have nothing but love for their father when they are children, but later realize how their father failed to prepare them for the real world. His insecurity does not allow him to see the mistakes he did by implementing his strong beliefs about life, behavior, future, goals
guaranteed 480 days of paid parental leave. The negative effects of the inadequate parental leave
Maternity leave is a controversial debate that has been discussed for many years and continues to this day being a controversial issue. There is one side that argues that women have a right for leave of absence in order to bond with the baby and recuperate physically. On the other side there is the argument that companies take a financial hit. Both sides provide valid points for being pro maternity leave or against it, but one must take into consideration the long-term impacts these positions have. Maternity leave is necessary not only for emotional development but also for economical productivity in the long run.
In today’s society the dynamics of the family have changed drastically in the last 50 years, are the rules and laws for businesses and employers keeping up with the changes? Paternity leave is the time a father takes off work for the birth or adoption of a new child in the family. This kind of leave is rare and even rarer is paid paternity leave. A very few enlightened companies offer new dads time off from a few days to a few weeks, however, it still falls short of the 6 to 12 weeks women get for maternity leave. Finally, in 2004 California became the first state to offer what they call PFL or “Paid Family Leave”, allowing 6 weeks off with 55% of usual pay replaced up to $1,075 per week, this is a definite start. In most states, dads are forced to take their vacation time, sick days or unpaid leave from their jobs when their children are born. Yet women have received maternity leave for decades.(Weber and Lublin) Family leave is about treating people equally and not constraining them with gender roles and the social stigma that goes with it, when the man of the family is the main bread winner and the woman’s job is to take care of the children.
The name of my country is the Republic of Cameroon. Cameroon, which is located in Central Africa, shares its border with the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Nigeria. Cameroon has an area of 183,568 square miles. Tennessee is 42,180 square miles which means Cameroon is roughly 4.35x the size of Tennessee or a little bigger than California which is 163,695 square miles. Cameroon has a diverse terrain with coastal plain in the southwest, dissected plateau in the center, mountains in the west, and plains in the north. It has been called “Africa in miniature” because of this diverse terrain. Cameroon’s highest point is Fako on Mt. Cameroon (4,095m), and its lowest point is at the Atlantic Ocean (0m). The percentage of arable land in Cameroon is 13.04% (“Africa: Cameroon”). Cameroon’s climate varies across the country. It is tropical along the coast and has little rain for parts of the year and is hot in the north (Africa: Cameroon”). The north has a single wet season and high temperatures. This wet season is from May to the end of September. The south has a moderate climate with fairly constant temperatures and two wet seasons with heavy, regular rains. These wet seasons include a short rainy season from March to June and the big rains come between August and September (“Cameroon Climate and Weather”).
Before enrolling in my first Communication studies course, I never heard of paternity leave, nor had the concept ever crossed my mind. On multiple occasions, I witnessed my mother take some form of occupational leave due to family matters, but never my father. This created a household dynamic that placed my mother as the primary care giver. The responsibilities associated with parenthood should never be left to one parent. This economically reinforces the idea that child care is exclusive to women. For this reason, family leave should be both available and required for male parents.
Maternity is a beautiful thing and it is known to be both a challenging and joyful time for women. When the baby is born it requires very much attention, but the mother needs just as much attention as the newborn, this is when men are needed at home. These days it is becoming more popular for fathers to want to have time to use towards their families, especially their children. Typically, state governments provide men with a short paternity leave, or none at all. This is an issue because if a man is trying to start a family and also searching for a job, he would want to work at a place that offers paid paternity leave, or really any kind of leave at all. Although parental leave is mostly associated with women, gender equality is rising and businesses and families should accept that men want to help out with
In recent years there has been a lot of controversy as to whether or not fathers ought to get paid paternity leave from work for their family due to the fact that it can decrease long term family issues. This issue is controversial because many believe that this will benefit families early on and later in life. While others believe that it’s not the employer's duty to accommodate fathers for paid paternity leave.
South Africa is a nation with a wonderful and varied culture. This country has been called “The Rainbow Nation”, a name that reflects the diversity of such amazing place. The different ethnic and cultural groups of the South Africa do, however, appreciate their own beliefs and customs. Many of these traditions, besides African culture, are influenced by European and Western heritage. The complex and diverse population of the country has made a strong impact to the various cultures. There are forty-five million people; about thirty million are black, five million white, three million coloured and one million Indians. The black population has a large number of rural people living in poverty. It is among these inhabitants that cultural customs are preserve the most.