Subject: soc.culture.african FAQ
Supersedes: <scafricanFAQv1.6@sparta.cs.ubc.ca>
Date: 18 Jan 1996 12:11:12 -0800
X-Newsreader: NN version 6.5.0 BETA4 #13

Posting-frequency: monthly
Version: 1.6b


----   
   
                          FAQ FOR SOC.CULTURE.AFRICAN
                                       
   
   
   __
   
   
   
Contents

     * Contents
     * 1 soc.culture.african
          + 1.1 The FAQ
          + 1.2 About this FAQ
          + 1.3 How to get this FAQ.
          + 1.4 Charter
          + 1.5 What isn't under s.c.a.
          + 1.6 Related newsgroups and newlists
          + 1.7 Flame Topics
          + 1.8 Most Commonly Asked Questions
     * 2 Africa - General
          + 2.1 Networking in Africa
          + 2.2 History
          + 2.3 Geography
          + 2.4 Internet Available Resources
          + 2.5 General Reference Works
          + 2.6 Literature
               o 2.6.1 Internet available resources
               o 2.6.2 Suggestions
               o 2.6.3 Prize winners
          + 2.7 Media
          + 2.8 Music
          + 2.9 Women's Issues
          + 2.10 Travel to/in Africa
          + 2.11 General
               o 2.11.1 Organisation of African Unity
               o 2.11.2 International Treaties
               o 2.11.3 Development Information
               o 2.11.4 Africa - Miscellaneous
     * 3 Region and country specific information
          + 3.1 Abyssinia
          + 3.2 Eritrea
          + 3.3 Malawi
          + 3.4 Ethiopia
          + 3.5 Sao Tome e Principe
          + 3.6 South Africa
          + 3.7 Swaziland
          + 3.8 Zambia
     * Index
          + 3.9 Zimbabwe
            
                            1 SOC.CULTURE.AFRICAN
                                       
   
   
   Collection copyright (C) Scott Hazelhurst, 1995. The incorporation of
   many FAQs into some commercial services necessitates this copyright
   notice. This FAQ is the product of a number of contributors all of
   whom retain their own copyright. Permission to reproduce this FAQ is
   given provided that it is not done for personal or institutional gain.
   
   
   This is the FAQ for soc.culture.african. We urgently need someone to
   take over the task of maintaining this FAQ as it is no longer being
   maintained.
   
   The information in the FAQ is organised as an index to information
   available on the internet. Some of the information has been collected
   from articles posted over a period of time. I have tried to
   acknowledge these different sources where possible. Please let me know
   of any errors or omissions.
   
   Disclaimer (can be found as:
   ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/disclaimer)
   
     The information is this document has been collected and scrounged
     from a variety of sources on the net and elsewhere. The views and
     opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of anyone
     associated with the production or storage of this document, and are
     provided for informational use only.
     
   
   
1.1 The FAQ

   
   
   FAQ = Frequently Asked Questions. This FAQ covers soc.culture.african.
   While care has been taken in its compilation, this does not purport to
   be an authorative document. Some of this FAQ comprises postings on
   soc.culture.african and related newsgroups and no responsibility is
   taken for these or anything else here.
   
1.2 About this FAQ

   
   
   This FAQ consists of references to many resources on the net, and
   material that has been scrounged from a variety of sources. A number
   of people have provided material (either unknowingly by posting
   material to various groups, or by sending me references, files, etc.
   etc.). Where material is clearly attributable to other people, please
   blame them. Where material isn't attributable, you can blame me if
   there's something wrong; however, because of the anonymous structure
   of the document, it might well be the work of somebody else, so I want
   to thank everyone who helped. (At a later stage, I'll try to get a
   contributors' list going).
   
   
   FAQ Maintainer: Scott Hazelhurst <scott@cs.wits.ac.za>
   
    
   
1.3 How to get this FAQ.

     
   
   This FAQ is primarily maintained as a WWW document. There are two
   sites which keep this FAQ, one in South Africa and one in Canada. If
   you are in Southern Africa use the South African site, if you are
   elsewhere in the world use the Canadian one. The WWW document can be
   found as
     * www document (can be found as:
       http://www.cs.wits.ac.za/faq/africa/africa.html) (South African
       site)
     * www document (can be found as:
       ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/africa/africa.html)
       (Canadian site)
       
   
   
   The text version of this document is posted to soc.culture.african,
   news.answers and soc.answers at regular intervals.
   
   The text versions are also available by anonymous ftp. The summary
   version contains the basic structure, with references (URLs) to
   constituent parts. The full version contains as much of the www
   document as practicable. The text version of this document is
   generated automatically which means that the formatting is not ideal.
   (If anyone knows a good latex to text filter please let me know.) The
   PostScript version is much better.
   
   If you are reading this, you are reading the fulltext version
   
   The document is available by anonymous ftp as:-
     * PostScript summary (can be found as:
       ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/africa-summ.ps.gz) [28K]
     * PostScript full version (can be found as:
       ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/africa.ps.gz) [28K]
     * Text full version (can be found as:
       ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/africa.txt.gz) [7K]
       
   
   
1.4 Charter

     The Charter of soc.culture.african (s.c.a) is pretty wide
   covering all social, political, historical, cultural and other issues
   pertaining to Africa.
   
1.5 What isn't under s.c.a.

   
   
   Although its ambit is wide, there is material which would be better
   discussed elsewhere. Some examples are matters of a purely religious
   nature. While some sporting information is welcomed, extensive debates
   should take place in appropriate groups such as za.sport and
   rec.sport.soccer.
   
   As with all news groups, good netiquette on everyone's part leads to
   much better use of bandwidth.
   
    
   
1.6 Related newsgroups and newlists

   
   
     * clari.world.africa
     * clari.world.africa.south_africa
     * soc.culture.berber
     * soc.culture.nigeria
     * soc.culture.sierra-leone
     * soc.culture.somalia
     * soc.culture.south-africa
     * soc.culture.african.american
     * soc.culture.caribbean
     * soc.culture.zimbabwe
       
   The clari.* groups are only available if your site pays for them.
   Generally their articles are copyrighted: if you repost them,
   someone's likely to complain.
   
   There are a number of South African newsgroups under the hierarchy.
     * Overview (can be found as:
       ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/sa/zanames)
       

[From Rhodes University Document]

Issues relating to networking connectivity (or otherwise), policy
arguments, and general queries are currently discussed in the
newsgroup "za.net.misc".  Other newsgroups are:

  za.ads.jobs           Looking for a job?/Offering a job?
  za.ads.lifts          Want a lift from Bulawayo to Cape Town via Durbs?
  za.ads.misc           For sale/to swap/wanted to buy
  za.archives           Who's got what, where... and how...
  za.culture.xhosa      Ingxoxo ngolwini, amasiko nezithete zakwaXhosa.
* za.culture.xhosa      For discussions of Xhosa language and culture.
  za.edu.comp           Discussions on the use of computers in education
  za.environment        Environmental issues in Southern Africa
  za.events             Conferences, events and happenings nationally
  za.flame              A cool imitation of the real thing
  za.humour             Humour/jokes/fun
  za.misc               General chat, comments, announcements etc
  za.net.maps           Local UUCP maps [uucpmap@lasernet.co.za] (Moderated)
  za.net.misc           Miscellaneous ramblings on networking in ZA
  za.net.stats          Statistics on network usage, automated postings etc
  za.net.uninet         Announcements and feedback from the Uninet-ZA office
  za.politics           Politics in Southern Africa
  za.schools            Issues affecting primary and secondary education
  za.sport              Finer points of jukskei or the Comrades marathon
  za.test               Testing of news links and configurations
  za.unix.misc          General discussion, questions and chat about Unix in ZA

Entries marked with an "*" provide alternative descriptors for the
systems "newsgroups" file.
   
       
     * Detailed Information (can be found as:
       gopher://gopher.ru.ac.za/0/African Networking/Networking in
       Southern Africa) (23kb from Rhodes)
       
     * za.* newsgroups from Rhodes (can be found as:
       gopher://gopher.ru.ac.za:4324/1nntp ls za )
       
   
   
1.7 Flame Topics

     There are a number of topics which are repeatedly debated in this
   group and which invariably launch or relaunch flame wars. This is a
   partial list together with references to where the topic is dealt with
   in greater detail.
   
   Many people who start the topic do not intend to start flame wars, and
   as many of the topics are serious they merit discussion. If you wish
   to start or get involved in such a debate you may wish to consult the
   appropriate section (* section exists).
   
     * Were the Ancient Egyptians black?
       
        
       
       This question is part of a broader debate about the African
       history, and the African contribution to what the West calls
       ``civilisation''.
       
       See Femi's (can be found as:
       ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/gen/afrciv.txt)
       contribution to one side of this debate.
       
     * Is there homosexuality in Africa?  
     * Who is an African?
     * Why, what and how female circumcision? 2.9
     * Is ``Heart of Darkness'' racist? 2.6  
       
   
   
1.8 Most Commonly Asked Questions

   
   
   You can also search the index which is in two parts (sorry, but
   anything more would be too complicated to set up): see the General
   index of this document, or the index of the part on SA FAQ (can be
   found as:
   ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/safrica/safrica.html) The
   indexes are a bit primitive, but may be helpful.
   
    1. How do I contact x?
    2. What internet services are there in y?
       
       See 2.1
       
    3. What are the words for Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika? (can be found as:
       gopher://gopher.ru.ac.za/0/South African Politics/Bits and
       Pieces/Words for Nkosi sikelel iAfrika)
       
   
   
                             2 AFRICA - GENERAL
                                       
   
   
2.1 Networking in Africa

       Details of African connectivity to the Internet can be
   found in the following sites.
   
     * RAINnet gopher : rain.psg.com (can be found as:
       gopher://rain.psg.com/11/networks/connect)
       
     * Rhodes University: Rhodes' www server (can be found as:
       http://www.ru.ac.za) and gopher server.
       
   
   
2.2 History

   
   
   This section should contain general sections on African history
   (dealing with common topics) and sections on individual countries
   (with links to appropriate documents). It's empty so far. The
   following suggestion has been received.
   
     We could also maintain an archive from which a country sketch could
     be posted once a week as an educational exercise. With 50 countries
     it will take a year to have a repeat. One might try to post near the
     country's independence day.
     
   
   
   Good idea. Contributions welcome.
   
   What are good introductory books to African history?
   

From: StewartP@tuareg.demon.co.uk (Stewart Parkinson)
Subject: Re: African history
References: <32dkss$fu8@ncar.ucar.edu>
Reply-To: Stewartp@tuareg.demon.co.uk
Date: Fri, 12 Aug 1994 08:48:57 +0000

     A reasonable introduction might be _A Short History of Africa_ by
     Oliver and Fage, or indeed _The African Experience_ by Roland
     Oliver. Their bibliographies are comprehensive, and suggest
     appropriate further reading.
     
   
   

From: legg@harquebus.cgd.ucar.edu (Sonya Legg)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: African history book list
Date: 5 Sep 1994 18:29:28 GMT
Message-ID: <34fo28$pv2@ncar.ucar.edu>

     
     
     Thanks to all those who responded to my request for books on
     precolonial african history, and Zambian/East African history. For
     those who may be interested, here is a compilation of the
     recommendations:
     
     * Basil Davidson: Africa in history
     * " " : Black man's burden
     * Cheikh Anta Diop: The African origin of civilisation: myth or
       reality?
     * Brian Fagan: A short history of Zambia
     * Bill Freund: The making of contemporary Africa
     * Richard Hall: Zambia
     * Ali Alamin Mazri: The Africans: A triple heritage
     * Ogot and Kieran : Zamani: a survey of East African history
     * Oliver and Fage : A short history of Africa
     * Oliver: The African experience
     * Walter Rodney: How Europe underdeveloped Africa
     * Andre Sik: A history of black Africa
     * UNESCO: General history of Africa
     * Lawrence Vambe: History of Rhodesia before Rhodes
       
     Sonya
     
   
   
2.3 Geography

   
   
   Maps of Africa countries (can be found as:
   http://www.african.upenn.edu/African_Studies/AS.html)
   
   Map of Southern Ocean (can be found as:
   http://www.awi-bremerhaven.de/Atlas/SO/Deckblatt.html)
   
2.4 Internet Available Resources

      The following resources are available.
     * List of resources (can be found as:
       ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/gen/internet.txt)
       
     * African Gophers (can be found as:
       gopher://gopher.tc.umn.edu/1/Other Gopher and Information
       Servers/Africa)
       
     * University of Pennsylvania www site (can be found as:
       http://www.african.upenn.edu/African_Studies/AS.html)
       
       Some of the things available are GIFs (flags and other visual
       material), bibliographies, current events, information about
       broadcasts to Africa and job opportunities in Africa.
       
     * Mailing Lists of African-American/Caribbean/Latin Issues (can be
       found as: gopher://rain.psg.com/m/networks/general/mailing.lists).
       
       
     * Art McGee's Information (can be found as:
       ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/amcgee/african) (BBS and African related
       mailing lists)
       
     * Africa Information Afrique (can be found as:
       gopher://csf.colorado.edu/11/ipe/Thematic_Archive/newsletters/afri
       ca_information_afrique_net)
       
     * CIA World Fact Book (1993) (can be found as:
       gopher://hoshi.cic.sfu.ca/1/dlam/cia) (Information about different
       countries and other general information. Note that some of the
       information in it is dated.)
       
     * Zimbabwean Stone Sculpture (can be found as:
       http://www.twi.tudelft.nl/Local/ShonaSculpture/ShonaSculpture.html
       )
       
     * ORSTOM (Institut Francais de Recherche Scientifique pour le
       Developpement en Cooperation) Project RIO (can be found as:
       http://www.orstom.fr)
       
   
   
2.5 General Reference Works

   
   
2.6 Literature

   
   
     
   
  2.6.1 Internet available resources
  
   
   
    1. Heart of Darkness
          + Text (can be found as:
            gopher://wiretap.spies.com/0/Library/Classic/darkness.txt)
          + Critique - If anyone has a copy of Chinua Achebe's
            commentary, please send this to to me.
            
   
   
  2.6.2 Suggestions
  
   
   
   Frances Pritchett (can be found as:
   ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/gen/aflit.txt)'s reading
   list.
   
   Other suggestions (can be found as:
   ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/gen/aflitgen.txt)
   
  2.6.3 Prize winners
  
   
   
   _Booker Prize winner_
     * Nadine Gordimer, 1974 _The Conservationist_
     * JM Coetzee, 1983, _The Life and Times of Michael K._
     * Ben Okri, 1991 , _The Famished Road_
       
   
   
   _Nobel Prize for Literature_
     * Wole Soyinka, 1986
     * Nadine Gordimer, 1991
       
   
   
2.7 Media

   
   
    
   

>To: intcar-l@amercian.edu
>From: wmail@is.co.za (Bruce Cohen)
>Subject: Southern African newspapers on the net
>
>The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) project to provide net
>access to the independent press in Southern Africa is now taking shape.
>
>The following newspapers/magazines now have net access:
>
>Imparcial fax in Angola:                  ifax@angonet.gn.apc.org
>Mmegi newspaper in Gaberone,Botswana:     mmegi@wn.apc.org
>The Gazette in Gaberone, Botswana:        botswana_gazette@wn.apc.org
>The Voice in Francistown, Botswana:       voice@wn.apc.org
>The Namibian in Windhoek, Namibia:        graham@namibian.com.na
>Moto Magazine in Zimbabwe                 moto@hnetzim.wn.apc.org
>Horizon magazine in Zimbabwe:             horizon@hnetzim.wn.apc.org
>Misa HQ in Windhoek:                      dlush@misa.alt.na
>Savanah newspaper in Mozambique:          cordoso@savana.uem.mz
>Weekly Mail & Guardian in South Africa    wmail@is.co.za
>
>
>
Bruce Cohen
Weekly Mail & Guardian
Johannesburg
Tel 27 11 403-7111 fax 27 11 403-1025

   
   
2.8 Music

   
   
    If you are interested in working on this section, please contact
   John Baskind (jbaskind@panix.com).
   
2.9 Women's Issues

     
    
     * Female circumcision: Past postings (can be found as:
       ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/gen/femcirc.txt)
       
     * 1994 World Survey on the Role of Women in Development (can be
       found as: gopher://gopher.undp.org/0/undocs/E/1994/94_07/86)
       
       More contributions wanted - on this and all topics.
       
   
   
2.10 Travel to/in Africa

     
     * What preparations do I need for travel to Africa?  Try Travel
       Health: Staying Healthy in Asia, Africa, and Latin America (can be
       found as: gopher://gopher.moon.com/1s) for books, and tips on
       visitors' health.
       
     * What is there to do? rec.travel archive (can be found as:
       ftp://ftp.cc.umanitoba.ca/rec-travel/africa/README.html)
       
     * United States State Department Advisories (can be found as:
       gopher://gopher.stolaf.edu/11/Internet
       Resources/US-State-Department-Travel-Advisories)
       
     * What's the weather like in Maputo? (Any sources?)
       
   
   
2.11 General

   
   
  2.11.1 Organisation of African Unity
  
   
   
   gopher://hoshi.cic.sfu.ca:70/1/dlam/cia/all/Appendix.C (can be found
   as: Brief Intro) (Large file - from CIA Fact Book)
   
  2.11.2 International Treaties
  
   
   
     * International Convention on the Elimination of Racial
       Discrimination (can be found as:
       gopher://wiretap.spies.com/0/Gov/Treaties/Treaties/racial.un)
       
   
   
  2.11.3 Development Information
  
   
   
   Survey of economic conditions in the regions of Africa, 1993-1994 (can
   be found as: gopher://gopher.undp.org/0/undocs/E/1994/94_07/54)
   
  2.11.4 Africa - Miscellaneous
  
     
     * Where can I find out more about African Food? Try UPenn servers
       (see 2.4).
       
       See the section on South African food (can be found as:
       ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/safrica/safrica.html#saf
       ood).
       
     * Which African language has the most speakers?
       
        
       
       Data (can be found as:
       ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/gen/lang.txt)
       
   
   
                  3 REGION AND COUNTRY SPECIFIC INFORMATION
                                       
   
   
3.1 Abyssinia

   
   
   The Abyssinia FAQ (can be found as:
   http://www.cs.indiana.edu/hyplan/dmulholl/acg.html) contains
   information on Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Somaliland.
   
3.2 Eritrea

     
   
   Eritrea FAQ (can be found as: http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/
   gubrub/Eritrea.html)
   
3.3 Malawi

     
     * Draft Constitution (can be found as:
       gopher://wiretap.spies.com/0/Gov/World/malawi.con) (224kbytes)
       
     * Malawi FAQ (can be found as: http://keokuk.unh.edu/llk)
       
   
   
3.4 Ethiopia

   
   

From: txt4@netcom.com
Subject: Ethiolist - Ethiopians E-mail group
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Mon, 5 Sep 1994 02:26:51 GMT

Greetings,

If you are interested to subscribe to Ethiopians' E-mail group
, please send your mail to : Ethiolist-Request@Netcom.com and
in the body of your mail type:

join EthioForum

Thanks

tadesse

   
   
3.5 Sao Tome e Principe

   
   
   Description (can be found as:
   ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/gen/saoep.txt)
   
3.6 South Africa

     
   
   The South African section of the FAQ can be found in a separate
   document (sorry, but this was easiest for me)
   
   The document can be found as
     * www document (can be found as:
       http://www.cs.wits.ac.za/faq/safrica/safrica.html) (South African
       site)
     * www document (can be found as:
       ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/safrica/safrica.html)
       (Canadian site) (as the www document)
     * PostScript summary (can be found as:
       ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/safrica-summ.ps.gz)
       [46K]
     * Text full version (can be found as:
       ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/safrica.txt.gz) [28K]
       
   
   
   Send queries, comments, suggestions, contributions, etc. to Scott
   Hazelhurst, shaze@cs.ubc.ca
   
3.7 Swaziland

   
   
   Times of Swaziland: TimesLetters@mailbox.sz
   
3.8 Zambia

   
   
   Mailing list for Zambian issues at ZAMBIA-LIST-Request@acuvax.acu.edu
   (with SUBSCRIBE ZAMBIA-LIST in the body - nothing else)
   
   The Weekly Post, Zambia is at http://www.zamnet.zm/
   
   
   
Index

   _Charter of FAQ_
          1.4 Charter
   _Eritrea_
          3.2 Eritrea
   _FAQ_
          1.3 How to get 
   _Heart of Darkness_
          1.7 Flame Topics
   _Malawi_
          3.3 Malawi
   _South Africa_
          3.6 South Africa
   _circumcision_
          2.9 Women's Issues
   _e-mail in Africa_
          2.1 Networking in Africa
   _flame topics_
          1.7 Flame Topics
   _food_
          2.11.4 Africa - Miscellaneous
   _history_
          1.7 Flame Topics
   _homosexuality_
          1.7 Flame Topics
   _internet resources_
          2.4 Internet Available Resources
   _languages_
          2.11.4 Africa - Miscellaneous
   _literature_
          2.6 Literature
   _maintainer_
          1.2 About this FAQ
   _music_
          2.8 Music
   _networking in Africa_
          2.1 Networking in Africa
   _newsgroups_
          1.5 What isn't under 
   _newspapers_
          2.7 Media
   _travel_
          2.10 Travel to/in Africa, 2.10 Travel to/in Africa
          
   
   
3.9 Zimbabwe

   
   
   Usenet group soc.culture.zimbabwe (can be found as:
   news:soc.culture.zimbabwe). (Must be available on your newsserver).
   
   TravNet! International (can be found as: http://www.sky.net/
   eric/t/afrzim.htm)
   
   
   
   
    _shaze@cs.ubc.ca
    Thu Jan 18 11:27:32 PST 1996_


-- 
---shaze@cs.ubc.ca-----------------------------------------------------------
Scott Hazelhurst, Computer Science Department, University of British Columbia
