children - The African Mirror

Mar

2023

In Egypt’s ‘Garbage City’, a charity teaches children to recycle

AS a child growing up in Cairo's Manshiyat Nasser, a shanty town also known as "Garbage City," Teresa Saeed spent her free time rummaging through the piles of rubbish strewn everywhere to find paper and materials to indulge her love of drawing and painting. Now 34, she runs a charity that encourages children in the area to make creative and positive use of their environment by exploring the space and recycling. In Manshiyat Nasser, a neighbourhood of unpainted brick buildings east of central Cairo, many streets and buildings are piled high with rubbish collected from across the metropolis AND processed…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Curious Kids: How are planets created?

EDUCATION

CURIOUS Kids is a series for children in which we ask experts to answer questions from kids. How are planets created? - (Saba, 6, Kenya) Thanks for asking such an interesting question, Saba. When you talk about planets you’re probably thinking of the planets in our solar system – the ones orbiting (circling around) our sun. There are eight of these planets. One of them is where you and I live: Earth. The others are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Author DANIEL CUNNAMA, Science Engagement Astronomer, South African Astronomical Observatory, South African Astronomical Observatory There are many,…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Cough syrup can harm children: experts warn of contamination risks

HEALTH

THE recent deaths of over 300 children in Africa and Asia have prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to warn about the use of “substandard and falsified” medical products. The organisation called for more efforts to protect children from contaminated medicine. Toxicologists Winston Morgan and Shazma Bashir unpack the story. Authors WINSTON MORGAN, Professor of Toxicology, Equity and Inclusive Practice, Director of Impact and Innovation, University of East London SHAZMA BASHIR, Postdoctoral fellow, University of East London What caused the WHO to issue these warnings? Over the last five months, the WHO has issued three alerts warning people not to…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Migrant shipwreck in southern Italy kills at least 58, including children

WORLD

GIANNI DANIELE and ALVISE ARMELLINI AT least 58 people died, including several children when a wooden sailing boat carrying migrants from Turkey to Europe crashed against rocks near the southern Italian coast early, authorities said. The deadly incident reopened a debate on migration in Europe and Italy, where a recently-elected right-wing government has introduced tough new laws for migrant rescue charities, which drew criticism from the United Nations and others. The provisional death toll stands at 58, Manuela Curra, a provincial government official, told Reuters. She said 81 people survived, with 20 hospitalised including one person in intensive care. As emergency services…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Children accused of witchcraft find solace in east Congo shelter

NEWS

CRISPIN KYALA AFTER Ornella lost several family members within three years, relatives and neighbours in her east Congo village of Kabare began suspecting the 14-year-old girl of witchcraft. The hushed rumours and purifying rituals that ensued prompted one of Ornella's brothers to take her to the police, concerned about the consequences that the allegations could have on his sibling. It is not uncommon in some African countries for frail children like Ornella, who suffers from a genetic form of anaemia, to be considered a bad omen and blamed for the mishaps that befall isolated and impoverished communities. Hundreds of thousands…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Gambia cough syrup deaths: WHO urges ‘immediate action’

NEWS

JENNIFER RIGBY THE World Health Organization (WHO) has called for "immediate and concerted action" to protect children from contaminated medicines after a spate of child deaths linked to cough syrups last year. In 2022, more than 300 children - mainly aged under 5 - in Gambia, Indonesia and Uzbekistan died of acute kidney injury, in deaths that were associated with contaminated medicines, the WHO said in a statement on Monday. The medicines, over-the-counter cough syrups, had high levels of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol. "These contaminants are toxic chemicals used as industrial solvents and antifreeze agents that can be fatal…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

6 priorities to get Kenya’s curriculum back on track – or risk excluding many children from education

EDUCATION

KENYA’S education curriculum was reformed in 2017 to improve its quality – but now many Kenyans are calling for change again. Public disillusionment with the competency-based curriculum has forced a government review. Frustrations with the curriculum centre around the complexity of learning activities and its sustainability given the high costs involved in its delivery. Authors ELISHEBA KIRU, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center BRENDA WAWIRE, Associate Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center The previous 8-4-4 curriculum, launched in 1985, required eight years of primary schooling and four years each of secondary and tertiary education. Critics…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Child nutrition programmes can feed inequality: model from South Africa shows how context shapes lives

HEALTH

INTERVENTIONS to improve nutrition, especially for children and pregnant women, can be critical for health, physical growth and cognitive development, enabling better lives and futures. Reams of policy papers will attest to the fact that if a government or a donor spends substantially on nutrition, the return on their investments – in lives improved or saved – will be high. Less well known is that the full rewards of nutrition support for the neediest children don’t always materialise. Nutrition interventions on their own are not fulfilling their full potential for all who receive them. Authors CHRIS DESMOND, Researcher, SAMRC/Centre for…

Dec

2022

By The African Mirror

Exclusive: Children among 547 detained Syrians declared dead

WORLD

EVER since Yehya Hijazi and his two sons were detained in 2012 by the Syrian government, their relatives had clung to the hope they were still alive and might be released one day. But after a decade of silence from the authorities, their hopes were shattered when the independent Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) monitoring group contacted the Hijazi family to tell them it had obtained death certificates for all three. "You're hoping every second that you'll catch another glimpse of this person whom you love very much, that you'll hear any news of him," Yehya's brother Mohammad told…

Nov

2022

By The African Mirror

Ransom demanded for abducted Nigerian children

NEWS

HAMZA IBRAHIM DOZENS of children were abducted by gunmen from a farm in northern Katsina state and the kidnappers were demanding a ransom for their release, police and residents said. Katsina is the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari and is among states in northwestern and north-central Nigeria where armed gangs on motorbikes have killed people or kidnapped them for ransom from villages and highways. Police spokesman for Katsina Gambo Isah confirmed the abduction of the children but did not give details. Residents told Reuters that the children were taken on Sunday while harvesting crops at a farm located between…