OTHER RESOURCES

Sustainability Curricula and Activities

National Geographic’s Freshwater Initiative (educational activities) http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/about-freshwater-initiative/

Geography Action! 2009: Habitats (National Geographic). Includes lessons on Freshwater
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geography-action/habitats.html

Sustainable Development Timeline (2009) published by IIS http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2009/sd_timeline_2009.pdf

UNESCO: Education for Sustainable Development http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/

Burkina Faso

FESPACO: Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougo
http://www.fespaco.bf/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panafrican_Film_and_Television_Festival_of_Ouagadougou

Burkina Faso, Climate Change, & Sustainability

VIDEO: Helping Themselves – Burkina Faso. Discusses ways Burkinabe are working together to better livelihoods and lives for themselves and neighbors. Talks about the high rate of illiteracy along with poverty, climate, and water shortages. Also discusses the ethnic diversity in Burkina Faso and the fact that, despite the great diversity, these groups coexist peacefully.

VIDEO: Greening the Sahel: The Challenge of Adaptation to Climate Change. A World Food Prize presentation by Dr. Laurent Sedogo of Burkina Faso on the challenges of adapting to climate change and its affect on agriculture and for food security.

Africa, Climate Change, & Sustainability

Sustainable Africa http://allafrica.com/sustainable/

AllAfrica (Three-part series talking about what climate change is, how it affects the earth, and what are some of things being done about it with regard to developing countries)
http://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00012246.html

“How can Africa grow more food?” (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2010/dec/03/africa-agriculture-food-boost-production

VIDEO: When the Water Ends: Africa’s Climate Conflicts. Details the lives of nomadic herdsmen who have roamed the lowlands of Kenya and Ethiopia for years and are facing unique environmental challenges.

VIDEO: Importance of Education in Poor African Families. Told mostly in the words of children and families in Africa, with a focus on girls and education.

Water

Freshwater River Life Program (IonE @ UMN)
http://environment.umn.edu/riverlife/index.html

United Nations Environment Program (UNEP): Freshwater
http://www.unep.org/themes/freshwater/

World Water Day (UNEP): March 22, 2011
http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/

Freshwater map (National Geographic)
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/freshwater-map.html

Books

The New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation in Africa (2010) “New technologies, especially biotechnology, provide African countries with additional tools for improving the welfare of farmers. I commend this book for the emphasis it places on the critical role that technological innovation plays in agriculture. The study is a timely handbook for those seeking new ways of harnessing new technologies for development, including poor farmers, many of whom are women.”—Blaise Compaore, President of Burkina Faso

State of the World 2011: Nourishing the Planet From the Worldwatch Institute, an account of the global food crisis and how it might be solved. This report introduces the latest agro-ecological innovations and their global applicability and also gives broader insights into issues such as poverty, international politics, and gender equity.

Literature of Burkina Faso (2010) The literature of Burkina Faso was originally based around an oral tradition. This oral tradition has continued to have an influence on Burkinabe writers up through the present day.

Dust from Our Eyes: An Unblinkered Look at Africa (2010) Part memoir, part adventure tale, part policial thriller – a compelling read that dissolves stereotypes and exposes paradoxes about Africa.

Women Writing Africa: West Africa and the Sahel (v. 2) (2005) The acclaimed Women Writing Africa project “opens up worlds too often excluded from the history books” (Booklist) and is an “essential resource for scholars and general readers alike” (Library Journal). It reveals the cultural legacy of African women in their own words, in never-before-published texts that include communal songs and lullabies, letters and speeches, poetry and fiction.

The Republic of Therapy: Triage and Sovereignty in West Africa’s Time of AIDS (Body, Commodity, Text) (2010) Tells the story of the global response to the HIV epidemic from the perspective of community organizers, activists, and people living with HIV in West Africa. Focuses on the period between 1994, when effective antiretroviral treatments for HIV were discovered, and 2000, when the global health community acknowledged a right to treatment, making the drugs more available.

Africa Water Atlas (2010) (UNEP) This atlas is a visual account of Africa’s endowment and use of water resources, revealed through 224 maps and 104 satellite images as well as some 500 graphics and hundreds of compelling photos. However the atlas is more than a collection of static maps and images accompanied by informative facts and figures; its visual elements illustrate a succinct narrative describing and analyzing Africa’s water issues and exemplifying them through the judicious use of case studies.

Kids’ Books

The Clever Monkey: A Folktale from West Africa (2006) When two greedy jungle cats discover a large piece of cheese, they can’t decide how to divide it fairly. The clever monkey comes to their rescue. Or so they think. After reading this trickster tale from West Africa, you will think twice before asking a monkey for help.

Folktales from the Moose of Burkina Faso (2010) The Moogo, the region of the Moose known as Mossi in ancient literature, occupies the entire central zone of Burkina Faso. It is divided into several kingdoms, the principal one comprising today’s capital of Ouagadougou. Along with the singing griots, the evening storytellers pass on the ancestral word during the evening gatherings where they provide the group with models to follow. The folktale is the most appropriate form for teaching young children to express themselves, to structure their thoughts, and to reason.

Zomo the Rabbit: A Trickster Tale from West Africa (2006) McDermott tells the story of Zomo the rabbit, the trickster who originated in Nigeria and who lives on in the lore of the Caribbean and the United States.

The Fire Children: A West African Folk Tale (2006) A warmhearted Akan pourquoi tale that explains why people come in so many different colors: When the first man and woman become lonely, they make children out of clay. As they are baking the little figures in their fire, they’re constantly interrupted by visits from the sky-god–with the result that some of the children are pale and underdone, some are left in so long that they come out very dark, and the rest are every shade between.