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King Leopold's Ghost - Introduction - 2

It was several decades later that I encountered that footnote, and with it my own ignorance  of the Congo's early history. Then it occured to my that, like millions of other people, I had read something about that time and place after all: Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. However, with my college lecture notes on the novel filled with scribbles about Freudian overtones, mythic echoes, and inward vision, I had mentally filed away the book under fiction, not fact.It was several decades later that I encountered that footnote, and with it my own ignorance  of the Congo's early history.

Then it occured to my that, like millions of other people, I had read something about that time and place after all: Joseph Conrad's heart of Darkness. However, with my college lecture notes on the novel filled with scribbles about Freudian overtones, mythic echoes, and inward vision, I had mentally filed away the book under fiction, not fact.I began to read more. The further I explored, the more it was clear that the Congo of a century ago had indeed seen a death toll of Holocaust dimensions. At the same time, I unexpectedly found myself absorbed by the extraordinary characters who had peopled this patch of history.

Although it was Edmund Dene Morel who had ignited a movement, he was not the first outsider to see King Leopold's Congo for what it was and to try hard to draw the world's attention to it. The role was played by George Washington Williams, a black American journalist and historian, who, unlike anyone before hime, interviewed Africans about their experience of their white conquerors. It was another black American, William Sheppard, who recorded a scene he came across in the Congo rain forest that would brand itself on the world's consciousness as a symbol of colonial brutality.

There were other heroes as well, one of the bravest of whom of whom ended his life on a London gallows. Then, of course, into the middle of the story sailed the young captain Joseph Conrad, expecting the exotic Africa of his childhood dreams but finding instead what he would call "the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human conscience." and looming above them all was King leopold II, a man as filled with greed and cunning, duplicity and charm, as any of the more complex villains of Shakespeare.

There were other heroes as well, one of the bravest of whom of whom ended his life on a London gallows. Then, of course, into the middle of the story sailed the young captain Joseph Conrad, expecting the exotic Africa of his childhood dreams but finding instead what he would call "the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human conscience." and looming above them all was King Leopold II, a man as filled with greed and cunning, duplicity and charm, as any of the more complex villains of Shakespeare.

As I followed the interesting lives of these men, I realized something else about the terror in the Congo and the controversy that came to surround it. It was the first major International atrocity scandal in the age of the telegraph and the camera. In its mixture of bloodshed on an industrial scale, royalty, sex, the power of celebrity, and rival lobbying and media campaigns raging in half a dozen countries on both sides of the Atlantic, it seemed strikingly close to our time.As I followed the interesting lives of these men, I realized something else about the terror in the Congo and the controversy that came to surround it. It was the first major International atrocity scandal in the age of the telegraph and the camera.

In its mixture of bloodshed on an industrial scale, royalty, sex, the power of celebrity, and rival lobbying and media campaigns raging in half a dozen countries on both sides of the Atlantic, it seemed strinkingly close to our time.Furthermore, unlike many other great predators of history, from Genghis Khan to the Spanish conquistadors, King leopold ll never saw a drop of blood spilled in anger. He never set foot in the Congo There is something very modern about that, too, as there is about the bomber pilot in the stratosphere, above the clouds, who never hears screams or sees shattered homes or torn flesh.

Although Europe has long forgotten the victims of Leopold's Congo, I found a vast supply orf raw material to work with in reconstructing theit fate: Congo memoirs by explorers, steamboat captains, military men; the records of mission stations; reports of government investigations; and those peculiarly Victorian phenomena, accounts by gentleman (or sometimes ladies) " travelers." The Victorian era was a golden age of letters and diaries; and often it seems as if every visitor or official in the Congo kept a voluminous jouranl and spent each evening on the riverbank writing letters home.

One problem, of course, is that nearly all of this vast river of words is by Europeans or Americans. There was no written language in the Congo when Europeans first arrived, and this is inevitably skewed the way that history was recorded. We have dozens of memoirs by the territory's white officials; we know the changing opinions of key people in the British Foreign Office, sometimes on a day-by-day basis. But we do not have a full-length memoir or complete oral history of a single Congolese during the period of the greatest terror.

Instead of African voices from this time is largely silence.One problem, of course, is that nearly all of this vast river of words is by Europeans or Americans. There was no written language in the Congo when Europeans first arrived, and this is inevitably skewed the way that history was recorded. We have dozens of memoirs by the territory's white officials; we know the changing opinions of key people in the British Foreign Office, sometimes on a day-by-day basis. But we do not have a full-length memoir or complete oral history of a single Congolese during the period of the greatest terror. Instead of African voices from this time is largely silence.

And yet, as i immersed muself in this material, I saw how revealing it was. The men who seized the Congo often trumpeted their killings, bragging about them in books and newspaper articles. Some kept surprisingly frank diaries that show far more than the writers intended, as does a voluminous and explict instruction book for colonial officals.And yet, as I immersed muself in this material, I saw how revealing it was. The men who seized the Congo often trumpeted their killings, bragging about them in books and newspaper articles.

Some kept surprisingly frank diaries that show far more than the writers intended, as does a voluminous and explict instruction book for colonial officals. Furthermore, several officers of the private army that occupied the Congo came to feel guilty about the blood on their hands. Their testimony, and the documents they smuggled out, helped to fuel the protest movement. Even on the part of the brutally suppressed Africans, the silence is not complete. Some of their actions and voices, though filtered through the records of their conquerors, we can still see and hear.

The worst of the bloodshed in the Congo took place between 1890 and 1910, but its origins lie much earlier, when Europeans and Africans first encountered each other there. And so to reach the headwaters of our story we must leap back more than five hundred years, to a time when a ship's captain saw the ocean change its color, and when a king received news of a strange apparition that had risen from inside the earth.The worst of the bloodshed in the Congo took place between 1890 and 1910, but its origins lie much earlier, when Europeans and Africans first encountered each other there.

And so to reach the headwaters of our story we must leap back more than five hundred years, to a time when a ship's captain saw the ocean change its color, and when a king received news of a strange apparition that had risen from inside the earth.

Reference: King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism In Colonial Africa

The children of The Sun - Asia - 2

Couple this with the significant fact that in "The Shah Nameth," the persian epic, we find that the first ruler of Persia, Kaimers, was an Ethiopian, and that he clad himself and his people in tiger skins, because the tiger skin was the symbol of royalty among the Ethiopians and you will begin to see how important  myths and traditions are in establishing the relationship of races and nations. In this same epic we read that Zohak, one of the great Persian heroes, was none other than Nimrod, the mighty African hunter and builder, mentioned in the Bible.

We read also of many princes of Persia who married Ethiopian and Yemenitic women, and it would not be out of place here to mention that later in her history, when Persia was besieged by enemies, her king sent an embassy to Ethiopia, carrying her precious epic and the Persian crown jewels, and asking the Ethiopians if they would keep them safe until Persia  was free from her enemies.Ethopia kept them for eighty years and returned them all safely when Persia asked for them again.When the Persian King received them from the Ethiopians he said in his speech of thanks that Persia never feared for their safety because "of the kinship that exists between our peoples."

Berossus tells us of a median dynasty ruling in the remotest tmes which was Africa, and even to this day wooly-haired Negro clans exist in Laristan and Mekran and even on the Helmud. The statement that the Persians were a white race is purely an invention upon the part of historians, because there is not and has never been one iota of evidence to support such a claim. There is a tradition that white Aryans invaded Persia, but if they did  they melted away and left no trace.Berossus tells us of a median dynasty ruling in the remotest tmes which was Africa, and even to this day wooly-haired Negro clans exist in Laristan and Mekran and even on the Helmud.

The statement that the Persians were a white race is purely an invention upon the part of historians, because there is not and has never been one iota of evidence to support such a claim. There is a tradition that white Aryans invaded Persia, but if they did  they melted away and left no trace.In his lecture, "The eary Inhabitants of Western Asia," Felix V. Luschan says:" The old type seems to be preserved in the Parsi, the descendants of Persians who emigrated to India after the battle of Nahauband, of much purer form that among true Persians. They are all short-headed and dark. I never saw Persians with light hair and blue eyes."

The white man has always wondered from whence came and what kind of home was originally his. About forty years ago a Professor Max muller decided to find out. He was a student of language and discovered that three root words in English were similar to three root words in Sanskrit. Upon such flimsy evidence he proposed what is known as the Aryan theory. He declared-that the white race came from India and how, "when the first ancestors of the Indians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Slavs, the Celts, and the Germans, were living within the same enclosure, nay, under the same roof."

The theory spread like wildfire and where Muller had only found three words, other students came forth caliming that they had found from ten to one hundred .The white man has always wondered from whence came and what kind of home was originally his. About forty years ago a Professor Max muller decided to find out. He was a student of language and discovered that three root words in English were similar to three root words in Sanskrit. Upon such flimsy evidence he proposed what is known as the Aryan theory. He declared- that the white race came from India and how, "when the first ancestors of the Indians , the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Slavs, the Celts, and the Germans, were living within the same enclosure, nay, under the same roof." The theory spread like wildfire and where Muller had only found three words, other students came forth caliming that they had found from ten to one hundred..

For a time it seemed that the white man's origin was finally settled. Everything went lovely for a while, but later on a few French and German scholars began to get tired over the noise made over the new theoryThese were unable to figure out how a small Aryan clan in the mountains of Central Asia could send out great colonies that marched four thousand miles to the shores of Europe. After a bit of actual archeological work they discovered traces of primitive Europeans who were not from Aryan and who did not speak the Aryan tongue and still other non-Aryans who did. One scientist became so disgusted with the ridiculous claims that he called it an invention of arm cahir savants and this peeved the theorists, who started again upon a hunt for the home of the white races.

Up to the present time they are still hun ting . In India, where the thought the question had been answered, they found millioms of black folk tucked away in the hills, living the lives of their ancestors and unmindful of the wordy wars being fought over them.Up to the present time they are still hun ting . In India, where the thought the question had been answered, they found millioms of black folk tucked away in the hills, living the lives of their ancestors and unmindful of the wordy wars being fought over them.When we inquire into te ethnology of the Hindus we find many facts, leends and circumstances, which go to prove that they were primarily an African people. When the Aryas, whoever they were, invaded India, they gathered all the inhabitants under the term "Daysu, " whom they described as a blue-black race, an author, speaking of the Daysu, declares that everything from "their color and a fat noses to their barbarous customs, manifested their relationship to the negro races."

As to their barbarous customs, it is to be expected that a white author would attempt to leave the impression that they were no more than savages, but from the Vedic hyns and Sanskrit epics themselves we understand that they most certainly were not. From the Ramayans and mahabarrata, the In dian epics, we read that these Daysu were civilized and wealthy and that they possessed wonderful cities. In one instance we read that " seven castles and ninty forts," guarded one portion of their country.As to their barbarous customs, it is to be expected that a white author would attempt to leave the impression that they were no more than savages, but from the Vedic hyns and Sanskrit epics themselves we understand that they most certainly were not.

From the Ramayans and mahabarrata, the In dian epics, we read that these Daysu were civilized and wealthy and that they possessed wonderful cities. In one instance we read that " seven castles and ninty forts," guarded one portion of their country.In the latter Sanskrit literature that invaders made alliances  with the aboroginal princes, after they found they could not conquer them, and when history at last dawns upon the scene, we find some of the most powerful kingdoms of India rules by dynasties of African descent. In the epic which narrates the advances of the invaders into southern India, one of the chieftians describes his race as of fearful swiftness, unyielding in battle and in color like the dark blue clouds.The blue-blackness appears in ancient pictures which illustrate the epic. The fact that Krishna, the name for the Sun God, means "the black-ener" may have some significance.

To see the Hindu one is not likely to call him a white man. When he ventured into the northwest some years ago his reputed fair-skinned cousin could by no system of mental analysis accept him as such, and Kipling, in the jargon of the British soldier, called him, "nigger." In " The Annals of Rural Bengal," Mr. Hunter in describing the Santali or hill tribes of India, says that hundreds of imperceptible gradations may be traced " from the black squat tribes of the mountains to the tall olive colored Brahmin, with his intellectual brow, calm eyes and high but narrow forehead.

Darwin adds that in courts of justice it is necessary to ask witnesses whether they are Santalis or Hindoos, so much are they alike. So it seems that after all the Hindu must come under the classification of African. Huxley, in his study of British ethnology, states the truth when he says that, " the dark stock predominates in Southern and Western France, in Spain, along the Ligurian shore, and in Western and Southern Italy; in Greece, Asia, Syria, and North Africa: in Arabia, Persia, Afghanistan and Hindostan, shading gradually, through the stages of darkening, into the type of the modern Egyptian, or of the wild Hill-man of the Dekan. Nor is there any record of the existence of a different population in all these countries.

If you have ever read the Bible you have read of a people known as the Hittites. From the scriptures we do not glean that they were of any vast account, in fact, no nation is of much account to the Jews save Israel. But the Hittites were a great race and scientists are becoming more and more convinced that no new history of civilization can hope to be complete without a study of these people. Dr. Leopold Messerschmidt, the archeologist, who has done most in uncovering the ruins of the Hittites, tells us that they "were neither Aryans or Semites, but related to the great Hamitic federation of peoples who spread over the ancient world." A somewhat longer quotation from Recent Researchers in Bible lands, by Herman V. Helprecht, will give you some idea of the growing importance of the Hittites as an ancient world power. 

"The question, who were the Hittites? is one of interest to the student of the Bible, but equally so , or more so, to the student of history and civilization they have some part with us; for it is a fact that, with all the mighty originality of the Greek race, from  which all true civilization has descended  which the world has since seen, this civilization yet had its root in the imperfect civilizations-Egyptian, Babylonian, Phonecian, Hittite-that preceded it."The question, who were the Hittites? is one of interest to the student of the Bible, but equally so , or more so, to the student of history and civilization they have some part with us; for it is a fact that, with all the mighty originality of the Greek race, from  which all true civilization has descended  which the world has since seen, this civilization yet had its root in the imperfect civilizations-Egyptian, Babylonian, Phonecian, Hittite-that preceded it.

Reference:The Children of The Sun: George Wells parker

Brutal attack on Zimbabwe MP is ‘worse than Robert Mugabe era’Brutal attack on Zimbabwe MP is ‘worse than Robert Mugabe era’

The abduction, torture and sexual assault of Zimbabwe’s youngest MP and two opposition party workers has raised fears of a new wave of terror by security thugs loyal to the ruling party.

The abduction, torture and sexual assault of Zimbabwe’s youngest MP and two opposition party workers has raised fears of a new wave of terror by security thugs loyal to the ruling party.

The ordeal inflicted on Joanah Mamombe, 27, and two female youth leaders is being cited by critics of President Mnangagwa as further evidence that his administration is more brazen and savage than Robert Mugabe’s.

Ms Mamombe, whose constituency is in the capital Harare, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova, from the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC), were dumped from a moving car at dawn on Friday, two days after being arrested for demonstrating against food shortages.

The MP’s husband, Mlilo Mfundo, said the trauma had left her often unable to speak Three female opposition members were this week abducted leading to an outcry and diplomatic concerns raised by the United States, United Kingdom and Canada

On Friday (May 15) all three were found having been assaulted and abandoned along a road, the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change confirmed in a tweet.

The three included a sitting lawmaker, MP Joanna Mamombe and youth leaders Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marov.

They were reportedly arrested on Wednesday while they held a demonstration over the government’s Covid-19 response.Reports said they were protesting effects of an ongoing virus lockdown on the most vulnerable section of society.

“Lawyers just informed us that Cecilia Chimbiri , Joana Mamombe and Netsai Marova victims of enforced disappearance, were dumped and found late last night.

“Sadly, they are in bad shape having been subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

These rogue regime terror tactics!” disputed leader of the MDC Nelson Chamisa tweeted.Cecillia Chimbiri, Hon. Joanna Mamombe & Netsai Marova were found badly beaten & dumped along Bindura Road.

They have since been rescued with the help of our lawyers.

The Police attended the scene. They’re currently in the process of checking into a medical centre for treatment. pic.twitter.com/STzXixghBe   

Reference: — MDC Zimbabwe (@mdczimbabwe) May 15, 2020

Ebola Virus Disease-2

Controlling infection in health-care settings

Health-care workers should always take standard precautions when caring for patients, regardless of their presumed diagnosis. These include basic hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, use of personal protective equipment (to block splashes or other contact with infected materials), safe injection practices and safe burial practices.Health-care workers should always take standard precautions when caring for patients, regardless of their presumed diagnosis. These include basic hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, use of personal protective equipment (to block splashes or other contact with infected materials), safe injection practices and safe burial practices.

Health-care workers caring for patients with suspected or confirmed Ebola virus should apply extra infection control measures to prevent contact with the patient’s blood and body fluids and contaminated surfaces or materials such as clothing and bedding. When in close contact (within 1 metre) of patients with EVD, health-care workers should wear face protection (a face shield or a medical mask and goggles), a clean, non-sterile long-sleeved gown, and gloves (sterile gloves for some procedures).

Healthcare staff working with ANC or obstetric care should be informed about risks of persisting virus in pregnancy related fluids and encouraged to follow protocol for their own safety and the safety of the women they are caring for.Laboratory workers are also at risk. Samples taken from humans and animals for investigation of Ebola infection should be handled by trained staff and processed in suitably equipped laboratories.

Care for people who recovered from EVD

A number of medical complications have been reported in people who recovered from Ebola, including mental health issues. Ebola virus may persist in some body fluids, including semen, pregnancy-related fluids and breast milk.A number of medical complications have been reported in people who recovered from Ebola, including mental health issues. Ebola virus may persist in some body fluids, including semen, pregnancy-related fluids and breast milk.Ebola survivors need comprehensive support for the medical and psychosocial challenges they face and also to minimize the risk of continued Ebola virus transmission. To address these needs, a dedicated programme can be set up for care for people who recovered from Ebola.

For more, read the Guidance on clinical care for survivors of Ebola virus disease Ebola virus is known to persist in immune-privileged sites in some people who have recovered from Ebola virus disease. These sites include the testicles, the inside of the eye, and the central nervous system. In women who have been infected while pregnant, the virus persists in the placenta, amniotic fluid and fetus. In women who have been infected while breastfeeding, the virus may persist in breast milk.   

For more information on pregnant and breastfeeding women recovering from Ebola virus disease please read the GuidelineRelapse-symptomatic illness in someone who has recovered from EVD due to increased replication of the virus in a specific site is a rare event, but has been documented. Reasons for this phenomenon are not yet fully understood.

Studies of viral persistence indicate that in a small percentage of survivors, some body fluids may test positive on reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing for Ebola virus for longer than 9 months.More surveillance data and research are needed on the risks of sexual transmission, and particularly on the prevalence of viable and transmissible virus in semen over time. In the interim, and based on present evidence, 

WHO recommends that:   

All Ebola survivors and their sexual partners should receive counselling to ensure safer sexual practices until their semen has twice tested negative. Survivors should be provided with condoms.    Male Ebola survivors should be offered semen testing at 3 months after onset of disease, and then, for those who test positive, every month thereafter until their semen tests negative for virus twice by RT-PCR, with an interval of one week between tests.    Ebola survivors and their sexual partners should either: abstain from all types of sex, or observe safer sex through correct and consistent condom use until their semen has twice tested negative. Having tested negative, survivors can safely resume normal sexual practices without fear of Ebola virus transmission.   

Based on further analysis of ongoing research and consideration by the WHO Advisory Group on the Ebola Virus Disease Response, WHO recommends that male survivors of Ebola virus disease practice safe sex and hygiene for 12 months from onset of symptoms or until their semen tests negative twice for Ebola virus.   

Until such time as their semen has twice tested negative for Ebola, survivors should practice good hand and personal hygiene by immediately and thoroughly washing with soap and water after any physical contact with semen, including after masturbation. During this period, used condoms should be handled safely, and safely disposed of, so as to prevent contact with seminal fluids. All survivors, their partners and families should be shown respect, dignity and compassion.Interim advice on the sexual transmission of the Ebola virus disease.

WHO response

WHO aims to prevent Ebola outbreaks by maintaining surveillance for Ebola virus disease and supporting at-risk countries to develop preparedness plans. This document provides overall guidance for control of Ebola and Marburg virus outbreaks:WHO aims to prevent Ebola outbreaks by maintaining surveillance for Ebola virus disease and supporting at-risk countries to develop preparedness plans. This document provides overall guidance for control of Ebola and Marburg virus outbreaks:   

Ebola and Marburg virus disease epidemics: preparedness, alert, control, and evaluation When an outbreak is detected WHO responds by supporting community engagement, disease detection, contact tracing, vaccination, case management, laboratory services, infection control, logistics, and training and assistance with safe and dignified burial practices.

WHO has developed detailed advice on Ebola infection prevention and control: Infection prevention and control guidance for care of patients with suspected or confirmed Filovirus haemorrhagic fever in health-care settings, with focus on Ebola.

NewsStatement on the 5th meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee for Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 14 April 2020 14 April 2020WHO Director-General’s Statement on IHR Emergency Committee on Ebola Virus Disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 14 April 2020New Ebola case confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 10 April 2020.

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Reference:: World Health Organization