The past week is what I would call my Intro to Africa week. It was an emotional roller coaster ride. It started fun, light and entertaining with a ticket to the West End musical version of the 'The Lion King' on Tuesday, remained hopeful but a little more subdued when I attended a fair trade reception at the church.co.uk waterloo centre where a coffee bean producer from Ghana spoke on Wednesday. I was uplifted by Africa's hypnotic rhythms with a visit to the Salon Afrique in the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday followed by such a bitter crash after watching the horrific reality of the Rwandan genocide as portrayed in Hotel Rwanda on Saturday. Even Sunday proved to be both hopeful and angry as I wandered through the Hayward Gallery's Africa Remix exhibition.
This year is Africa 05. It is a year Britain is celebrating Africa. A range of events and activities planned nationwide coupled with a political push to address development issues in Africa will mark this year's efforts. Africa is on the agenda of the G8 conference in Scotland this July, which might prove to be a pivotal point in the move towards reducing poverty by half by 2015, particularly in Africa. Hopefully.
Maybe a read through Our Common Interest - Report of Commission for Africa (a little ambitious for me I know) which was published on Friday, 11 March would lift my hopes. I do wonder where it is in the world's scheme of things. But also, where is it in my heart's scheme of things?
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