Faces of Africa

Africa, the last frontier, is a continent of diverse people, and a land rich in social and natural resources. But also because of its resources, the continent has been ravaged by slavery, plundered by colonizers, and has been badly affected by serval post-colonial conflicts. All these left a history of horrific violence, widespread poverty, and many of these countries are in need of good leadership.

Zhao Tian'an is the head of a Chinese construction project in Lesotho. His company, Zhongnan Engineering Corporation, is building a new hospital on top of the original foundation of The Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, which has been out of service since 2011.

Cape Town has been a melting pot for people from around the world for centuries. Ever since apartheid ended in 1949, the city has been luring more and more people from other parts of the continent. In a central suburb of Cape Town called Observatory, a group of children is preparing for a lesson in the form of an unusual physical activity, one that was virtually unknown in South Africa until the late 1990s. This form is called Capoeira, a high impact mixture of dance, performance, martial arts and spirituality that originated in Angola before traveling to Brazil centuries ago.

Chobe National Park in Northern Botswana is home to some of Africa’s most magnificent bush and wildlife. Hippos, crocodiles, lions, and a diverse bird life thrive here. It hosts one of the largest elephant concentrations on the continent. For nearly fifty years, only one lodge operates on the banks of the river. This is the Chobe Game Lodge. Here, a dedicated team of guides shares the area's rich ecosystem with tourists from around the world.

At the foothills of the Uluguru Mountains in Tanzania, a small organization has adopted a groundbreaking and unusual approach in tackling two of Africa’s most deadly epidemics - landmines and tuberculosis. At their headquarters, APOPO breeds African giant pouched rats and trains them to sniff out landmines that still scatter post conflict countries and to pick out positive TB samples that clinics have missed.

Access to health care is a serious challenge in Africa. Hospitals and clinics often find it difficult to employ enough trained medical staff to cope with the number of people needing care. Those living in rural areas are the most affected. While specialists are available, many patients cannot afford treatment. According to international charities, almost 800 children on the continent die every day because families do not have enough money to take them to hospital. "The Flying Doctors" decided that if patients could not come to them, they would go to the patients and pay for their treatment.

Eritrea is a region steeped in ancient empires and history. In many ways, the best way to understand this country for a window into its soul is to understand its obsession with the bike.

Winning the Nobel Peace Prize and signing Kenya's peace accord are two momentous events that define the life and times of Kofi Atta Annan. One was the apex of a civil service career spanning over five decades and the second what he did post-retirement. Arguably one of the most iconic African global statesman, Kofi's international civil service career still continues to captivate the diplomatic world.

Lusaka is one of the fastest developing cities in Africa. It is home to nearly two million people full of dreams for the big city in a quiet suburb. Yamwisha Muyunda is part of a vibrant, self-motivated ensemble called the Afro Jazz. The group consists of young musicians from Lusaka. They are millennials that have integrated selfies and Instagram into the classical music scene. It is often hard for these young people to get into classical music, yet they continue to fight for their love.

There are more than eight drowning incidents for every 100,000 people in Africa, one of the highest single causes of death in the world, according to the World Health Organization report of 2015. Local statistics from the same period suggest more people die through drowning than through traffic accidents in Ghana, with over three quarters of the casualties being children under the age of fifteen years. Felix Uzor is a 48-year-old Nigerian born Ghanaian. He has been championing an anti-drowning awareness campaign through an organization called the Felix Foundation.