Archive for the ‘International’ Category
by Thando on Dec 6th, 2012
In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Auma Obama, sister of US president Barack Obama and author of And Then Life Happens, discussed the problems of the developing world when it comes to issues of sustainability.
Through her organisation, Sauti Kuu, Obama has come to see that things like pollution and over-fertilisation mean very little to poor people when they are struggling just to feed themselves and their children. She talked about how the solutions may seem simple and attainable to some, but have to reflect the lived experiences of the people.
Deutsche Welle: Ms. Obama, high expectations were placed on the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in June this year. What is still left of that?
Auma Obama: We have to realize that there are no quick fixes. We have to cooperate even more and – most of all – we have to develop down-to-earth answers to overcome environmental problems.
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by Thando on Nov 23rd, 2012
Auma Obama has had an AMAA award-winning documentary made about her life. In an AllAfrica interview, the filmmaker Branwen Okpako talks about her own life, being friends with Obama and the film’s genesis:
Weekend Magazine: Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
Branwen Okpako: I was born in Lagos, Nigeria to an Urhobo pharmacologist father and a Welsh librarian mother. My younger brother and I had a happy childhood on the beautiful campus of the University of Ibadan. I later attended the Atlantic College in Wales where I completed my International Baccalaureate, before going to the University of Bristol where I studied politics. After that I came to Berlin to study at the DFFB (German Film and Television Academy), here I met and studied with Tsitsi Dangarembga, Wanjiru Kinyanjui and Auma Obama. I have stayed in Berlin where I continue to make films and raise my children.
In an interview with Radio Today’s Sue Grant-Marshall, Auma Obama talked about her early life with her father, and how she later met her half-brother, the man who would become the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama. Listen to the podcast:
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by Thando on Nov 7th, 2012
A documentary about Auma Obama, half-sister of US President Barack Obama, was shown in London yesterday to coincide with the US election. Screenings of The Education of Auma Obama from part of the Film Africa festival.
The film was made by Nigerian-born Branwen Okpako, who now lives in Germany. She has been a friend of Auma Obama’s since the two met in film school in Berlin. When Okpako decided to make the film, Obama was apparently not too thrilled about the idea, but because Okpako is a friend, she felt reassured enough to consent to it.
Barack Obama, who was re-elected today as US President, focused in his election campaign on issues of family, women’s rights, education, health, jobs and more equality across the board. These are some of the things Auma Obama espouses in her own life and work in Nairobi, Kenya, with her organisation Sauti Kuu.
The Education of Auma Obama chronicles Obama’s life and follows the family in Kenya, documenting the moment in 2008 when her half-brother became the US President. Auma Obama’s memoir And Then Life Happens details her early years and includes how she met her half-brother and developed a deep affection for him.
When Barack Obama won the U.S. election four years ago, his Kenyan half sister Auma was with her family at their homestead, watching the historic occasion on television.
It was a night Auma Obama remembers well. “We had a lot of people visiting to watch with us,” she says. “There was a lot of excitement because it had been such a tough race. There was a sense of relief that all the hard work had paid off.
Winner of the award for Best Diaspora Documentary at the 2012 African Movie Academy Awards, ‘The Education of Auma Obama’ is a character portrait of the US President’s older half-sister, Auma.
Born, raised and now living in Kenya, Auma is a teacher who is seeking to inspire the future generation of socially-engaged activists who will lead the country.
Barack Jr and Auma are the children of Barack Sr, a Harvard-trained economist who lost his life in a car accident.
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Images courtesy of Eurosport and Jambo News Spot
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by Thando on Sep 13th, 2012
Pan Macmillan will be participating in this year’s Open Book Festival, which takes place from 20-24 September in Cape Town’s CBD. Pan Macmillan authors taking part include Alan Hollinghurst, Cat Hellisen, Craig Higginson, Emily Gravett, Eusebius McKaiser, Ifeanyi Ajaegbo, Marlene van der Westhuizen, Niki Daly and Steven Boykey Sidley.
Thursday 20 September, 2012
BOOK CLUB MORNING 1
Venue: The Book Lounge
Time: 10.00 – 11.00
Price: Free Event
Lola Shoneyin, Alan Hollinghurst and Patrick Flanery chat about their writing and give you a glimpse of how it’s done. Chaired by Megan Hitchin.
Friday 21 September, 2012
ALAN HOLLINGHURST: THE STRANGER’S CHILD
Venue: The Fugard Theatre
Time: 14.00 – 15.00
Price: R40
Alan Hollinghurst talks to Loftus Marais about The Stranger’s Child
TALKING FRENCH FOOD – JOANNE HARRIS AND MARLENE VAN DER WESTHUIZEN
Venue: Fugard First
Time: 16.00 – 17.00
Price: R30
Joanne Harris and Marlene van der Westhuizen talk to each other about the French food they love and the books that resulted from that.
Saturday 22 September, 2012
CAINE PRIZE 2012
Venue: The Fugard Theatre
Time: 12.00 – 13.30
Price: Free Event
CO/MIX THE ART OF CHILDREN’S BOOK ILLUSTRATION
Venue: The Bank
Time: 13.00 – 14.00
Price: Free Event
Emily Gravett, Chris Venter and Alex Latimer talk to Niki Daly about the challenges of the industry.
ALAN HOLLINGHURST AND DAMON GALGUT
Venue: The Fugard Theatre
Time: 16.00 – 17.00
Price: R40
Alan Hollingurst and Damon Galgut discuss their work with Eusebius Mckaiser.
CRAIG HIGGINSON – THE LANDSCAPE PAINTER
Venue: Fugard Studio
Time: 14.00 – 15.00
Price: R30
Craig Higginson, author of The Landscape Painter, talks to Karina Brink about his novel.
SOUTH AFRICAN LITERATURE 2
Venue: The Book Lounge
Time: 15.00 – 16.00
Price: Free Event
Dawn Garisch, Deon-Simphiwe Skade and Steven Boykey Sidley speak to Liesl Jobson about their work.
THE LIVES OF WRITERS
Venue: Fugard Studio
Time: 16.00 – 17.00
Price: R30
Alan Hollinghurst, Kiran Desai and Lionel Shriver discuss the process behind their books with Nancy Richards.
EUSEBIUS MCKAISER: A BANTU IN MY BATHROOM – LAUNCH
Venue: Fugard Ground
Time: 20.00 – 21.00
Price: R30
Eusebius McKaiser, author of A Bantu in my Bathroom, talks to Rebecca Davis about the book.
Book details
- A Bantu in My Bathroom: Debating Race, Sexuality and Other Uncomfortable South African Topics by Eusebius McKaiser
EAN: 9781920434373
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by Thando on Aug 2nd, 2012
Sue Grant-Marshall interviewed Auma Obama, author of And Then Life Happens: A Memoir, for Business Day.
Obama discussed her reluctance to write about her brother, Barack, and spoke about the difficulties she experienced growing up and adjusting to western culture when she left Kenya as a young woman:
It’s never easy being the sibling of someone extremely famous. This is compounded when he’s one of the most powerful men in the world and you’ve grown up apart, on far-flung continents, in different cultural and ethnic societies. Auma Obama comments, somewhat tartly, that people are usually disappointed when she tells them there’s nothing special about her relationship with Barack.
“It’s boring. We’re just a brother and sister who see each other whenever we have the time,” she says. That is revealing in itself, for many families connected in similarly unusual circumstances might ensure their paths never crossed. But it’s clear from her book, And Then Life Happens (St Martin’s Press), that their relationship is more than a biological incident. It’s a friendship.
It was Barack Obama, in his early 20s back in 1984 when he was working in “the projects” in Chicago, who first reached out to his half-sister, who was working in Germany.
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by Thando on Jul 10th, 2012
Toe Auma Obama, president Barack Obama se halfsuster, Suid-Afrika onlangs besoek het om haar memoir, And Then Life Happens, te bemark, het Margot Pakendorf en Janice Keogh die boek se bekendstelling by die Goethe-instituut in Johannesburg bygewoon.
Albei is ná die bekendstelling daarvan oortuig dat hierdie vrou, wat van kleins af in opstand gekom het teen die paternalistiese stelsel in Kenia en sonder haar pa se toestemming ‘n beurs by ‘n Duitse universiteit aanvaar het, allermins op haar halfbroer se roem hoef te ry. Sy het uiteindelik na Kenia teruggekeer waar sy vir die nie-regeringsorganisasie Care gewerk het en op die oomblik staan sy aan die hoof van Sauti Kuu, ‘n organisasie wat veral meisies bemagtig om hul omstandighede te verander.
Lees Pakendorf en Keogh se berigte oor die bekendstelling:
Toe die Goethe-instituut ’n uitnodiging stuur vir die bekendstelling van Auma Obama se lewensverhaal dog ek ja wat, sy ry lekker op haar beroemde halfbroer (sy het hom eers as volwassene ontmoet in die 1980’s) se roem.
Ek woon dit toe wel by, weliswaar langtand.
Maar was ek bly dat ek gegaan het! Sy is so sterk, welsprekend en intelligent soos haar broer. Toe die vrou wat haar moes bekend stel haar boek langdradig begin opsom, onderbreek sy haar summier, sê sy is ongemaklik daarmee, vra kan sy buitentoe gaan totdat die vrou klaar is en dan vir vrae terugkom? Sy vat duidelik nie kaf van kabouters nie, dog ek.
Haar broer is die eerste swart president van die VSA en in restaurante en in lughawens wêreldwyd word sy oorval deur mense wat meer oor Barack Obama wil weet.
Dit het so erg geword dat Auma Obama haar deesdae net met haar voornaam voorstel en as iemand begin vra: “Maar is jy nie?.. dan jok sy.
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by Thando on Jul 5th, 2012
Alan Knott-Craig Junior’s story of Mxit, the popular cellphone-based social network detailed in the book Mobinomics: Mxit and Africa’s Mobile Revolution, is nothing short of a business fairytale. Knott-Craig and Gus Silber co-wrote the book which looks into the mobile economy in Africa and tells the story of Mxit’s rise in popularity.
Rebecca Davis of the Daily Maverick recently profiled the book and the story behind one of South Africa’s most successful inventions:
Cellphone ownership in South Africa is no longer the province of the rich: mobile penetration now exceeds 90%, according to the authors (with some sources claiming over 95% or even 101%, depending on the age group). That’s a massive market, and it’s not just cellular networks that want a piece of it. The most-hyped cellphone-based enterprise on the continent is MXit, which writer Gus Silber calls “one of the three great South African innovations, next to the heart transplant and the Kreepy Krauly”. Of course, it’s in his interest to claim that, since he’s just co-authored a book on the subject with MXit CEO Alan Knott-Craig. But the story of MXit’s extraordinary growth is indeed an inspiring one, and Mobinomics turns out to be a highly readable account of the company’s success in harnessing the potential of the cellphone-using market. [Disclosure: Alan Knott-Craig was Daily Maverick's first investor. World of Avatar holds a stake in Daily Maverick.]
“I met Alan in 2010 to chat about the possibility of a book about “Mobinomics”, the economy of mobile in Africa. Which means everything from the use of mobiles in commerce and banking, to social media, to social upliftment,” Silber explains. “As part of this process, Alan showed me a presentation on his laptop about MXit, which he used as an example of the spread of mobile in South Africa, and it was quite eye-opening for me to see just how big the network’s reach is, and how there is a lot more to it than chatting.”
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by Thando on Jun 19th, 2012
Auma Obama, sister of US President Barack Obama, was in Cape Town recently to promote her autobiography, And Then Life Happens. Packed with anecdotes of her life in Kenya and her eventual departure to Germany, Auma’s story is yet another in the canon of post-colonial memoirs that will serve as a reminder to many that the experiences of Africans in the diaspora are at once varied and distinct, but not without certain similarities.
Translated from the German by Ross Benjamin, And Then Life Happens offers a candid look at Auma’s early life and family, and her education in Germany. She also writes of her move to England for love, marriage and giving birth to her daughter Akinyi.
Carlotta von Maltzan of the Department of Modern Foreign Languages at the University of Stellenbosch) was in conversation with her at Idasa, where Obama addressed many of the aspects of her life that are covered in the book. She began by speaking about her early years and revealed that she had learned German because she was not that interested in French: “German is easy, it speaks to how direct I am. In fact if you just change the letters of some of the words, they become English words! I know someone here in the audience will disagree!”
Obama read a couple of passages from the book, including a piece which describes her arrival in Germany as a teenager. A second passage provided the audience with plenty of laughs, and she detailed her experience of culture shock in Germany. “I was so young and naive, only 19. I’ve changed since then.”
Obama is clearly very passionate about the work she does, with her organization Sauti Kuu, emphasised the need for Africans to end the “victim mentality” and move to being self-reliant: “You’ll see people in the slums in Kenya, just waiting to be spotted by NGOs. And this is what we must stop. If children can look at you in the eyes, and understand that they matter, and gain their own self-worth…everything that I do is to teach young people to dream bigger, to look for opportunities that will help them to help themselves. Not to look for a handout.”
The Goethe Institut, who brought Obama to South Africa for the Idasa launch and others around South Africa, provided delicious and plentiful fare for the substantial audience. After the talk, many lingered to take their photograph with Auma and get their copy of And Then Life Happens signed.
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Luso Mnthali tweeted from the launch using #livebooks:
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by Thando on Jun 14th, 2012
Auma Obama, sister of US President Barack Obama, released her autobiography, And Then Life Happens, in English in April this year.
Obama spoke to TODAY’s Ann Curry about the memoir, originally published in German as Das Leben kommt immer dazwischen, in which she describes meeting her brother for the first time.
TODAY has also published an extract from the book.
“Our father was someone from whom everyone expected too much,” I said, when we had finished eating. “He didn’t know how to defend himself against the many demands made on him. His sense of duty toward the larger Obama family was very strong. But the reverse was unfortunately not always the case.”
“What do you mean by that?” asked Barack. We were now sitting in his living room. While we ate, I had tried to explain to my brother the phenomenon of the “chosen ones,” for he just couldn’t understand how a single person could be expected to assume responsibility for an extended family.
“I understand that it’s hard for you to grasp,” I replied. “I basically feel the same way. But it’s simply what our tradition requires. There were times when there wasn’t even enough money for my school fees, and I had to watch our father give away everything he had left to a relative. He was always confident that we would somehow get by.” Against my will, my words had sounded despondent.
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Photo courtesy the Daily Mail
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by Thando on Jun 7th, 2012
Auma Obama, sister of US President Barack Obama, will be discussing her book And Then Life Happens in Joburg at the Goethe Institut on the 14th of June and she will be in Cape Town, at IDASA, on the 15th of June.
Auma was born in Kenya, and left the country at the age of 19 to study in Germany. During her 16 years there, she was confronted with the contradictions between European and African culture. Afraid of not really belonging to either, she was frustrated and had the feeling of being torn apart. Her personal story gives an insight into life between different cultures. Join the author for a discussion of her life and lessons, as she launches her autobiography on Thursday 14 June at the Goethe Institute in Joburg and on Friday 15 June at the IDASA building in Cape Town.
See you there!
Event Details: Johannesburg
- Date: Thursday, 14 June 2012
- Time: 7:00 PM
- Venue: Goethe Institut,
119 Jan Smuts Avenue,
Parkwood,
Johannesburg | Map
- RSVP: 011 442 3232
Event Details: Cape Town
- Date: Friday, 15 June 2012
- Time: 7:00 PM
- Venue: IDASA Building,
6 Spin Street
Cape Town | Map
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