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Volume 10, Number 1

August 2001

TENTH ANNUAL U.S. AFRICA SISTER CITIES CONFERENCE

With the Washington, D.C./Dakar, Senegal Friendship Council serving as host, the U.S. Africa Sister Cities Organization held its Tenth Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., April 25-29, 2001. The Capitol Hill Holiday Inn was Conference headquarters for sixty-five registered delegates who represented five African nations and 30 U.S. cities.  Workshops focused on the history, economic resources and international relations of five selected African nations: Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Morocco and Zimbabwe.   The topics were presented by the delegates and moderated by the Ambassadors of the respected country or their representative in the House of Representatives Rayburn Office Building on Capitol Hill. Other topics with speakers included Citizen Exchanges, Deft Relief and HIV AIDS.

The delegates attended a reception as guest of District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams where he presented a Proclamation to DC-Dakar Capital Cities Friendship Council declaring April 23-29, 2001 as U.S. Africa Sister Cities Week in Washington, D.C.    The delegates also attended a luncheon fashion show in honor of the five female African Ambassadors (H.E. Josefina Pitra Diakite, Angola; H.E. Faida Mitifu, Congo; H.E. Makate Sheila Sisulu, South Africa; H.E. Mary M. Kanya, Swaziland; and H.E. Edith G. Ssempala, Uganda) assigned to Washington. 

The delegates attended a reception as guest of District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams where he presented a Proclamation to DC-Dakar Capital Cities Friendship Council declaring April 23-29, 2001 as U.S. Africa Sister Cities Week in Washington, D.C.    The delegates also attended a luncheon fashion show in honor of the five female African Ambassadors (H.E. Josefina Pitra Diakite, Angola; H.E. Faida Mitifu, Congo; H.E. Makate Sheila Sisulu, South Africa; H.E. Mary M. Kanya, Swaziland; and H.E. Edith G. Ssempala, Uganda) assigned to Washington.

The final event on the agenda was a five-kilometer run/walk on April 29 to raise funds for combating the spread of AIDS in Africa.  In conjunction with that event, the organization pledged to initiate an extended campaign for additional contributions from each U.S. Africa Sister City, which will be channeled through the U.S. Africa Sister Cities Foundation to help the Africare program fight against AIDS in Africa.

KEYS TO THE AFRICAN DIASPORA DOOR

The first civilizations began in Africa and Asia. Let’s look at first at ancient Egypt. Egypt is in AFRICA. It’s in the middle of a giant desert. Even thought they lived in a desert, the ancient Egyptians were among the first people to learn to farm. The Egyptians soil wasn’t as dry as you might think. Egypt had very little rain, but she

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