I'm back to Angola after a long summer break and my feelings are "what a nice and shilly weather!" 'cause here is still winter, better say cacimbo.
During this season the air is dry and fresh, the sky is blue and the sunset is so red and absolutely colorful.
During these last two months, as usual in a fast developing country as Angola actually is, the urban landscape has changed (and probably in someway also the human one!).
A number of roads have been paved, some buildings in construction are almost done and, in few cases, can show their marble coating or, in most cases, their prefabricated panels of chinese brand.
The palm trees and the banana ones planted all over the new seafront, known in town as the Nova Marginal, are taller and bushier.
And least but not last a lot of social and sporting events have been done and are going to be held in Angola, such as the recent visit of Prince Harry to see landmine clearance work by a charity (Halo trust) championed by his late mother Princess Diana.
Harry, according to BBC report, came to carry on his mother humanitarian work in south east Angola, which is believed to be the most densely mine area in Africa.
Angola has also officially announced that will be attending the 2015 Milan Expo with a national pavilion in which there will be a special vegetable garden to highlight the importance of a health diet and good nutrition.
On the sport side during our summer time (july and august) angolan government has been carrying on the construction of infrastructures in order to be ready for the 41st edition of the world championship of roller skate hockey in male set for September 2013.
The infrastructures for this sport event, three pavilion, being built in the provinces of Luanda, Namibe and Malanje, as part of the arrangements for the world championship of 2013, are estimated at Akz 8.6 billion, according to what said the deputy president for marketing of the Roller Skate Hockey Federation, Pedro Azevedo, last year.
Carrying on with what happened in this country while I was abroad, around 20 thousand ex angolan refugees, with the return of peace and the strong development of the country - the second largest oil producer on the continent - repatriate after their refugee status has ended.
A year ago, Angola started with the organization of the repatriation of its nationals who had fled the long civil war that ravaged the country from 1975 to 2002. Nearly 3,000 angolans left Namibia to go back in the home country. They were much more likely (16 000) from the northern neighbor, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and more than 20,000 total returns with Zambia and Botswana.
According to the International Organization for Migration representative in Angola, OIM, Daniel Poveda "in the north, many returned to their rural villages before finally moving to the cities in search of a job. The situation is rather mixed, it is difficult to make an overall assessment. The former refugees are simply facing the same challenge of all the Angolan population: find livelihoods".
And here comes the "dark side of the moon", find livelihood happen to be the hardest occupation for most of the angolan people whom, while starving, are developing a new idea of what "social injustice" means.
The way to express its meaning are different and rather amazing. A group of hard rock lovers based in Huambo, where they run an orphanage, use the sonic assault of the world’s most aggressive genre “to clear out the debris from all these years of war” are expressing their anger through a a new documentary ‘Death Metal Angola’ which reveals the role that extreme music can have in the most unlikely of places.
On the other hand a group of youngsters, organized in a "revolutionary movements" (Núcleos Revolucionários municipais do Movimento Revolucionário) tired of being the whole day facing the two realities of Angola, the wealth of the few and the poverty of many, are planning a mass rally (or a smaller demonstration…) "against social injustice in Angola" to be held on September 19th from Largo da Independencia in Luanda.
The list of their concerns is quite long, few instances could help understand their motivations:
1. The drought and famine in southern Angola.
2. The ongoing demolitions and forced evictions of our defenseless populations and systematic occupation and privatization of our land by layer and corporate governance.
3. The constant violations of human rights and dignity of our zungueiras (street vendors).
4. The growing and insistent political intolerance and violation of the right to freedom of expression
and so on...
Stay tuned on Angola from Africawildnews, new stories and new videos!
