Drylands

http://www.voanews.com/content/climate-drylands-21nov14/2529254.html

So this article is about the changes surrounding the dry lands, defined as places with a scarcity of water, which included deserts and savannah. The ecologist interviewed says the effects of climate change on the dry lands of Africa are not getting as much attention as they need from the global conscious.

He argues while the plants of the dry lands are hardy by nature, between the rising temperature and the increased number of grazing animals, they are under threat. He does have a quick fix called grazing management. The basic premise is to limit the amount of animals grazing and to pay the pastoralists for the lessened number of animals they get to graze.

Dry lands tend to do well in droughts. Africa has a severe one every century or so. The thing about dry lands is while they do well during droughts, much better than wetter lands, they don't bounce back as quickly as their wetter neighbors. Like every other renewable resource, it takes some time and nothing will change what hasn't changed in billions of years.

Eye Doctors and their Bikes

Basically, Mali has the coolest optometrists in the world. They have a group of doctors that ride around on motorbikes from village to village, performing ten minute surgeries that prevent trachoma, a bacterial disease, to lead to permanent blindness. Trachoma is more likely to affect children and the women watching them. It is also the leading cause of blindness among the rural people of Mali.

Health workers screen people first and then send their findings and pictures to a central system. They hope to eradicate the disease by next year. The amount of children affected has dropped below five percent. Those most likely to be affected, like many other diseases, are those with poor access to water.

The doctors don't seem to have too much trouble treating patients. There isn't much push-back to fixing people's eyes. People are coming out of the woodwork because of the recommendations of others for this procedure. There are about 25,000 people in Mali still needing this quick fix surgery.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28987319

West African Gold Mining

http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-29410298

Another piece of the news in pictures but given our chapter this week deals with South African gold mines, this was too relevant to pass up.

These are artisanal mines in Guinea, which everyone should be able to point out on a map. Like the situation in South Africa in the 80's, most of the workers are migrants from Mali and other West African countries. There are also many children and women laboring because there isn't a lot of work so the dangerous mines have no fear of a labor shortage.

The surrounding area has taken on a life of its own. Many of the migrants have set up camp and are visited by hawkers selling their wares. If this is anything like California during the Gold Rush, people are better off selling to the miners than doing any mining themselves.

The Apartheid in Photos

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/a-fighter-with-a-camera-in-apartheid-era-south-africa/?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A13%22%7D&_r=0

This is an article about a South African photographer in South Africa during the apartheid. He took photos of that time period, including thousands of women in protests, uprisings and a massacre when 69 Africans were shot by the police.

He discusses a few interesting things he's done to get the shot, including buying a piece of bread and sticking his camera in it while pretending to eat at a café. He's also been shot and imprisoned but neither of those things ever made him consider to stop taking pictures. He worked for a time as Nelson Mandela's photographer.

He's taking a break from photographing violence and death. Now he spends his time photographing the natural beauty of South Africa, particularly sunsets. But he isn't afraid to go back to photographing something if it matters and needs to be shown.