Trade among African countries represent only 7% of the continent’s external trade, said Malian Habib Ouane, Director of the Division of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Special Projects of the UN Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The joint African Union-United Nations ‘roadmap’ agreed on 8 June this year is supposed to guide the Darfur political process and the joint operations of these two international bodies in the region. If the current status of the peace process is anything to go by, however, they will find themselves navigating in a sandstorm.

The search for African unity is not only an emotional issue, but also a divisive subject.

The Senegalese senior Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, has said immediate unification is “the only way to set Africa once and for all on the right track to fulfil its historic destiny”.

Within the context of developing a Land Policy framework in Africa, the consortium of the African Union Commission (AUC), Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and African Development Bank (ADB), in collaboration with the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), is planning to organise a regional consultative workshop on land policy in the Southern Africa region. Scheduled to take place from August 29th to 31st, 2007, the regional consultative workshop would be hosted by the Government of Namibia in Windhoek, Namibia.

A resolution for the adoption of an Additional Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, on Freedom of Expression was drafted at the CSO AU Summit conference on Strengthening Freedom of Expression organised in Accra, Ghana 25-26 June 2007. The communique and resolution are available at

Jocelyn Chiwenga, the wife of the commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, assaulted award winning photojournalist Tsvangirai Mukwazhi at Makro Wholesalers in Harare on Wednesday. Mukwazhi was attacked while covering a tour of supermarkets by MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai, who was assessing the impact of the government’s price control war.

The growing number of Zimbabweans flooding into South Africa has clearly become a serious problem for the government of President Thabo Mbeki, yet officials there continue to deny there is a problem next door in Zimbabwe. SABC news reported on Thursday that the department of home affairs said “Zimbabweans streaming into South Africa cannot be classified as refugees, as they are not facing persecution in their home country.”

Entering the 21st century, China has a global agenda. Its aim is to establish itself as a genuine super-power to rival the United States militarily, politically and economically. In the context of these ambitions over the past decade and a half, China has endeavored determinedly to develop an array of economic relationships, beyond its traditional trading partners of Asia, North America and Europe. In no uncertain terms, it is aggressively integrating itself into the economies of South America and, of course, Africa.

A train crash in a remote part of Democratic Republic of Congo killed at least 100 people and injured more than 200, the central African country's minister of information said on Thursday. "We are still discovering the dead. So right now we are putting the death toll at about 100," Toussaint Tshilombo told Reuters, adding that the cause of the crash was still unknown.

Sierra Leone's United Nations-backed Special Court convicted two former leaders of a pro-government militia on Thursday for war crimes, but acquitted them of some of the most serious charges of crimes against humanity. The two were leaders of the Civil Defence Forces (CDF), which fought for President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in a 1991 to 2002 civil war. Kabbah is due to stand down after August 11 elections in which his deputy is standing as his chosen successor.

Human rights groups accused Angola on Wednesday of intimidating their activists ahead of elections next year and urged the European Union to press the African country to stop the harassment. Amnesty International, Global Witness and other NGOs said a firm EU response was needed to ensure groups could continue their work in preparation for the elections.

A total of 103 petitions have been filed to Cameroon's highest court to annul results of this month's legislative elections that handed President Paul Biya's governing party a landslide victory, a court official said on Monday. A number of the 45 parties figuring on the election lists on July 22 had filed petitions, but most of the appeals came from the main opposition parties, especially the Social Democratic Front (SDF), the supreme court official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In three months Tanzania will be braced with one of the world's fastest, cheapest and most reliable communication technologies. This comes after the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) granted an International and National Application Services license to a newly registered firm (wireless phone and internet Service Company) known as WBS (iBurst) Tanzania.

Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection significantly increases the risk of HIV infection in Ugandan and Zimbabwean women, according to the findings of a prospective cohort study published in the July 31st edition of the journal AIDS. Among women who acquired HSV-2 during the study, the risk of HIV infection was eight times higher than for women without HSV-2.

Tunisia's Ministry of Development revealed recently that the poverty rate in the country has fallen to 3.8%, compared to 4.2% in 2005. The Ministry report specifies that 376,000 people are living beneath the poverty threshold in Tunisia. During a press conference, Mohamed Nouri Jouini, Minister of Development and International Co-operation, said the National Census Institute used new methods to determine the poverty figures.

The Social Movement for Equality and Citizenship, a movement established by the Democratic League for Women's Rights in Morocco, has put forth a new project in which it calls on Moroccan women to vote responsibly during the coming legislative elections and to defend their demands. The movement named the project, which receives support from the Fund for Supporting Equality between the Sexes, the "Responsible Citizen Project".

The Draft Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights were developed over a five year period to formulate rules of action to put an end to extreme poverty and realize human rights for all, including the poorest of the poor. For the first time in its history, the United Nations proposed an international law document which considers the fight against extreme poverty as an obligation for all States. Consultations on this text were launched for 2007 by the Human Rights Council.

Kompienga, in eastern Burkina Faso, is the country's most verdant province -- but for how long? Research conducted over the past three years has shown that forests there have receded by 1,600 square kilometres in 15 years, while shrublands extended their reach by some 31 percent between 1984 and 2007. "We have found that the degradation of soils is significant in the Kompienga region because of human activity, notably migration (and) agriculture…" says Ardjouma Ouattara, co-ordinator of a team that studied the situation in the province from 2004 to 2007.

Over 1,000 Mozambicans, including children, are trafficked to South Africa every year where they are forced into prostitution or to provide free or cheap labour. In response, Mozambique’s government last week approved a new law which will make human trafficking a crime punishable with long prison sentences. It will probably be cold comfort to Sonia to know that Mozambique’s council of ministers approved a law against human trafficking last week. She was rescued just over a year ago after having been trafficked to South Africa to provide domestic work free of charge.

News last month that researchers at Boston University had discovered a huge underground aquifer in western Sudan’s Darfur region has set off feverish speculations. This article by World Watch Institute discusses whther development of this vast water resource will help quell the vicious conflict raging in one of the world’s most arid regions.

This paper published by WIDER examines the relationship between state failure and development assistance. It begins by looking at poor development performance as a criterion for state failure and then examines common causes why states fail, looking in particular at the cases of Burma, Rwanda and Zambia. The author argues that donors much be strongly engaged in fragile states in order to build political accountability and institutional capacity, including in cases where fragile states lack political will.

With a view to highlight the impact of hate crimes against lesbian women in South Africa, gay rights groups have invited concerned members of the public to a protest action on 9 August –Women’s Day at Meadowlands. Calling for an efficient and effective investigation on the murders of Sizakele Sigasa and Salome Masooa, Positive Women’s Network (PWN), Forum for Empowerment of Women (FEW), the Joint Working Group and the recently established alliance for the 07-07-07 campaign, will picket, read messages of solidarity and deliver a memorandum to Meadowlands police station commander.

Many initiatives have been undertaken, mostly by civil society organisations, towards the bridging of the digital divide between the north and the south. The pressing concerns have been on the ability of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to improve the standards of living of the poor in societies. If harnessed and directed properly, ICTs have the potential to improve aspects of our social, economic and cultural life.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has denounced the recent series of attacks on journalists in the troubled country, especially those working for a UN-backed radio station with the largest Francophone audience in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dozens of experts from around the world – including representatives from United Nations agencies, religious and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), law enforcement agencies, Government and research institutions – are meeting in Addis Ababa on ways to eradicate the practice of female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C). More than 100 million women and girls worldwide have undergone a form of FGM/C, which has serious physical and psychological effects.

A country and people are food secure when their food system operates efficiently in such a way as to remove the fear that there will not be enough to eat. In particular, food security will be achieved when the poor and vulnerable, particularly women, children and those living in marginal areas, have secured access to the food.

Kenyan lawmakers yesterday disapproved a motion that sought to repeal the death penalty, fearing the abolition could be a catalyst to more capital offences in the country. The motion is tabled at a time when Kenyan security is trying to contain insecurity posed by armed bandits and secret cult societies. A cult group calling itself Mungiki, whose followers have been bent on beheading people for not obeying their orders, has been the biggest threat to Kenyan security.

Ongoing clashes that have displaced more than 100,000 people in Mt Elgon District near the Kenya-Uganda border have disrupted farming and trading activities, sources said. "Those who had planted potatoes on their farms need to pay police escorts to go to their farms and to go to the market to sell the produce," Sokwony Laikong, a teacher in the affected areas, said.

Food imports are keeping Sierra Leone from realising agricultural self-sufficiency and meeting the Millennium Development Goal of eradicating hunger by 2015, experts say. In a country where 80 percent of food is imported, mostly from the USA and Europe, the local agricultural industry is feeble and local farmers struggle to compete.

When it comes to sub-Saharan Africa's devastating AIDS crisis, there is an understandable tendency to latch onto any scrap of good news. Figures suggesting the epidemic is waning in some countries are being trumpeted by governments and international donor agencies as evidence that their prevention efforts are succeeding.

After a steep increase in the 1990s, and several years of plateauing, South Africa's HIV prevalence may finally have entered a phase of decline. The first evidence of this downward trend comes from the government's 2006 National HIV and Syphilis Survey, which tested more than 33,000 pregnant women at antenatal clinics in all nine of the country's provinces.

Information regarding Africa's development can now be accessed at the click of the button, thanks to a new information system known as the 'internet and networking hub'. The hub is made possible by the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) to set up an 'internet and networking hub' where knowledge on Africa?s development can be deposited and shared free of charge.

There is standing room only in Room 3 of the urology clinic at University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka, Zambia's capital. About 30 young men and a handful of mothers with male children listen attentively as Sitali Mulope, clinical officer, briefs them on the benefits of surgically removing the foreskin of the penis.

The number of girls and women who undergo female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) has declined in Ethiopia's Southern Regional State, and could be reduced further if stronger penalties were enforced, an NGO leader said. "Previously people did not even mention FGM/C; it was a taboo," said Bogaletch Gebre, executive director of Kembatta Women's Self-Help Centre, a local NGO engaged in educating the public in Kembatta, Alaba and Tembaro zones.

The director of a private newspaper in Libreville, the capital of Gabon, was handed a suspended prison term and a fine today, but could not appear in court after he was hospitalized as the result of poor detention conditions, local journalists told CPJ. "We condemn this verdict and call on Gabonese President Omar Bongo to deliver on his 2004 pledge to eliminate prison sentences for press offences," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.

Thousands of people who fled their homes in northwestern Central African Republic are reluctant to return despite improved security conditions, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said. The 18-month conflict between government forces and the rebel Army for the Restoration of the Republic and Democracy (French acronym APRD) has displaced tens of thousands of people, especially around the towns of Kaga Bandoro and Paoua, according to aid workers.

The Amy Biehl Foundation is a non-profit organization in Cape Town South Africa whose programmes are designed to develop and empower youth in the impoverished and poverty-stricken townships, contribute to community building efforts and give children hope and a brighter future.

The United Nations (UN) Security Council yesterday passed resolution 1769. It establishes another peacekeeping mission in Sudan, UNAMID, for Sudan’s war-torn western province of Darfur. With a total authorised strength of 26,000, UNAMID is expected to be the largest UN peacekeeping operation in the world by next year. What’s more, UNAMID peacekeepers will deploy under the terms of ‘Chapter VII’ of the UN Charter, which legally entitles them to use force beyond self-defence. In other words, this will not be a neutral, monitoring contingent, but a militarised force and de facto protagonist in Darfur’s conflict.

Swaziland is ripe for a revolution following widespread pro-democracy protests that brought the tiny kingdom to a standstill. The capital Mbabane ground to a halt last week as thousands of workers took to the streets - in what has been described as the biggest demonstration in a decade - pushing for multiparty democracy. Led by unionists, the protesters demanded an end to monarchical rule and the lifting of a ban on political parties imposed in 1973

Dramatic new evidence of the attacks on the people of Darfur by Sudanese government troops has emerged in 500 drawings by children who escaped the violence by fleeing across the border to Chad. In a ground-breaking move, the remarkable collection of images will now be submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has started proceedings against a Sudanese government minister and a militia commander accused of committing war crimes in Darfur.

At least 14 people were injured in Guinea when supporters of regional prefect Mouctar Brada Drame clashed with demonstrators demanding he obey a government order to step down, police sources said on over the weekend. The groups armed with batons, knives and stones fought on Friday in the eastern town of Dubreka, about 50km from the capital Conakry and a stronghold of support for veteran President Lansana Conte.

Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre and Network (ZWRCN. Based in Harare, Zimbabwe Two-year contract (with the possibility of renewal)
For further information and an application form visit (see section "jobs @ Progressio").
Closing date: 16 August 2007

Interviews: End of August 2007

Mphutlane Wa Bofelo says that the programme planned by the Steve Biko Foundation as part of the 30th anniversary of the killing of Steve Biko looks like a homage to a writer and cultural worker rather than a tribute to a freedom fighter.

Looking at the weeklong programme planned by the Steve Biko Foundation at the BAT Center in Durban as part of the 30th anniversary of the martyrdom of Steve Biko, I realized that it is focused on literary and cultural discourses and the exhibition of works on, about and by Biko. It is noteworthy that the joint programme of the Steve Biko Foundation (SBF) and the newly established Biko Legacy Reference Committee (BLRC) are also focused on literary and theatrical activities. It is as if the initiative is paying homage to an ingenious writer and cultural worker rather than a tribute to a freedom fighter whose work and that of the movement he belonged to straddled the worlds of socio-political activism, mass mobilisation, community development, labour and working class politics. Biko is presented as an icon whose only claim to fame is the monumental piece of literature, 'I write what I like', and dying a lonely and gruesome death in an Apartheid cell rather than as a social and political activist who was a member and leader of a socio-political movement.

There is a conspicuous absence of activities and themes overtly dealing with the local and global socio-political and economic state of affairs. There is nothing in the programme that investigates how far the country that Biko laid his life for is with regard to the reclamation of the collective human dignity of Black People and the enhancement of their socio-economic wellbeing, and how far it is towards advancing Biko's vision of a South Africa with a human face; an anti-racist society in which there is equal allocation of power and equitable distribution of the wealth and resources of the land.

However, it will be a travesty of history and the truncation of the legacy of Biko to remember Biko without raising issues such as genuine transfer of political and economic power to the black majority and without any initiative to let Biko (and BC) speak to the issues and challenges facing black people and humanity in the era of the attack on the environment and the economies, cultures and natural resources of the global south by the regimes and regiments of global capitalism and the Washington consensus in the form of the structural adjustment programmes (implemented as GEAR in South Africa), liberalisation, privatisation, deregulation, socially unequal taxation and dependence on direct foreign investment and speculative capital.

The historical fact is that his writings, political activism and community work clearly articulates that, as opposed to the ideologically neutral humanist that he is portrayed to be, Biko subscribed to the philosophy of Black Consciousness and his affinities were towards a pro-poor, pro-working class political agenda geared towards an egalitarian society. He was a member of the BCM under the flagship of SASO-BPC. He led and was led within the structures of the BCM. If not combated, the subtle and not-so-subtle attempts to de-link Biko from the philosophy of Black Consciousness, the BCM and radical working-class oriented politics in order to look sexy and to court corporate capital and be in the good books of the powers that be, will result into turning Biko into a piece of iconoclast and a collectors item the same way that corporate capital and the corporate media is doing with Ernesto Che Guevara.

Simply put, this will be the case of remembering Biko so as to forget him, or as others have said, a matter of murder by memory. While the Steve Biko Foundation is said to have insisted on the exclusion of the Umtapo Center (which held up the name of Biko and BC when doing so invited being 'necklaced' and other things), it is interesting to see who the important figures in the BLRC are. Muntu Myeza's assertion that renegades cannot be advocates of a cause they have deserted will be instructive in this case. Sello Rasethaba jumped from the BCM to join the ruling ANC, saying the philosophy of BC and the BCM has run its course and went on to become an associate of the late corporate hooligan, Brett Kebble.

Rakhs Seakhwa's credentials in as far as governance and fiscal discipline is concerned include virtually leading the once dynamic Congress of South African Writers to its (un)natural death. The tale of how Rakhs and his comrades through COSAW directed the Staffrider magazine away from a BC line is another story. Duma Ka Ndhlovu was recently reported to have received R4.5 million shares from Tokyo Sexwale as part of Sexwale's attempt to have influential people in society tied to his wallet. People who allegedly received Sexwale's shares include the SBF's Xolela Mangcu. Let's remember how Mangcu wrote an opinion piece extolling the virtues of Sexwale and overtly canvassing for him, immediately his chief announced his availability for the ANC presidential race.

I might be accused of being subjective in my argument that people with a proclivity to dance to the tune of corporate capital are not the right candidates to preserve the legacy of Biko. But who can argue that as it stands, the current programme of the SBF and the BLRC points in the direction of fossilising the legacy of Biko, restricting our memory of Steve Biko to the remembrance of 'that guy who wrote "I Write What I like" and died in a prison cell', and steering away from any recollection of Biko the member and leader of SASO-BPC and founder of the Black Consciousness Movement; Biko the activist, Biko the militant, let alone Biko the socialist? Otherwise, why is the BLRC constituted only by individuals who represent themselves instead of also including representatives from the various segments of the BCM, and why is the programme so apolitical?

The 27th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government will take place from 10 - 18 August 2007 in Lusaka, Zambia. The draft program and media program are now available at

Interview with Janah Ncube, Agency for Co-operation and Research in Development (ACORD). Janah Ncube is currently the Senior Policy Advisor on Poverty and Development at the SADC Secretariat in Botswana. At the time of this interview she was the Gender Thematic Manager at ACORD in Nairobi, Kenya. In March, Emily Mghanga interviewed her on the proposal to form a Continental Government. While this interview took place before the Accra Grand Debate in July, many of the issues are still relevant. This interview is part of the Peoples’ Voices series of interviews with African citizens and CSO leaders on the AU proposal for Continental Government. Ivy Maina of Pan Africa Programme Oxfam edited this interview.

Press Release - African Governments must not sign EPAs but double its efforts to achieve MDGs

Nice piece on the US Social Forum, but I'd like to make a couple of quick comments.

First on the issue of food/drink costs at the USSF, this a common problem that organisers of large events have to deal with in the US.

Large event venues here often have exclusive contracts with specific corporate vendors and force event planners to use those vendors - regardless of the high prices they always charge to event attendees. If event organisers want to use the space, they are not allowed to bring in their own (cheap, people-friendly) vendors.

Second, no disrespect intended to your publication or the USSF organisers, but the USSF was not the first social forum in the US. Far from it. The first social forum in the US was the New York City Social Forum held in early 2002. Since that time there have been around a dozen social forums in the US - at least five of which have been recognised as 'official' within the World Social Forum process. Many have been smaller affairs of a few hundred attendees each - but the Boston Social Forum in 2004 had over 5000 attendees from all over the US and over a dozen other countries, and was considered a 'regional' or continent-level forum. All of these earlier forums in the US have been quite grassroots - put together by individuals and organisations with few resources but lots of heart - which should give social justice activists the world over cause for cheer.

Just thought your readers should be aware of this information. I'd recommend the following web links for more information:

http://www.mwsocialforum.org/
http://maineindymedia.org/newswire/display/3926/index.php
http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/wef/socialforum.htm

Yobachi Boswell returns to Katrina two years on and finds 'hope juxtapose to some despairing scenes, and simmering anger'.

Perspective of an outsider

I’ve always considered the Mississippi Coast my home away from home. I didn’t grow up there, but my family is from the Coast, and I spent many a summer there tip-toeing through the hot beach sand to get to the water, braving the heat of insufficiently air-conditioned homes, and sucking down succulent crayfish and crabs.

That’s why with the onslaught of Katrina bearing down via my television screen two years ago, I took it a little more personally than others not living there; not to mention I had a lot of family in the middle of it. Seeing the sturdy 1.6 mile Biloxi Bay Bridge, which I had ridden over from Ocean Springs to Biloxi numerous times, lying in the water in tattered pieces is what really brought home the power of the storm for me. Having seen and ridden over it in person and then seeing it humbled in the water; served as a great reference point.

On 30 June, I travelled back to the Gulf Coast, for the first time since Katrina, for my annual family reunion that is held around the 4 July every year. Last year, it was held outside of Mississippi for the first time, hosted by my mom in Montgomery Alabama; so I had not had opportunity to go back until now.

I arrived in Ocean Springs off I-10 a little after noon. It was a straight shot from the interstate to Highway 90, the main thoroughfare running through Ocean Springs (a small costal town of 17,000). Having not been there since before Katrina, I braced as I approached, wondering would things look spectacularly different, or would it all be easily recognisable. I made a left at the Burger King and headed up 90, and all was normal. That’s the same Burger King that had been there at least since when I was in junior high in the early 1990s; when my parents let me roam the area free with cousins and we would walk through the park across 90 to get burgers and fries. Particularly memorable for me, because free reign wasn’t exactly a hallmark of my folks parentage; but vacation, particularly in the laidback, water front atmosphere that the easy summers of the Gulf Coast brings, seems to loosen things up. To this day, I’m always more relaxed just being there, that’s why I always hate to leave; but the threat of a Katrina is why I never stayed.

Apparently though, natives of the region don’t share my concern. There has been no appreciable decline in population in Ocean Springs since Katrina, according to all anecdotal information. I would say that holds true for my family members who live in Moss Point, Ocean Springs and Biloxi. Only one cousin moved away, but then she wasn’t from there. She grew up in Oakland California and Kansas City Kansas.

As I travelled up Highway 90 and back down Government, and through various neighbourhoods for two days. As far as lingering damage goes, I tell you what – I couldn’t tell the damn difference. Maybe it was there and I didn’t see it, but if so that says something that one can go about there way and not notice unless someone went out of their way to show it to them.

I took a ride over to Biloxi with my cousin Joe to go see the rebuilt house of my Uncle Kitten, as we call him. Kitten’s nearing 70, and his home, only blocks removed from those casinos you saw pushed up on shore across Highway 90; sustained major damage though it remained standing. He still lives in a trailer in his own yard while he puts the final touches on the rebuilding; much of which he’s doing himself.

Across the street from his house and all down his street you can see the new fabricated homes waiting for occupancy. There are more remnant signs of destruction here, but it didn’t appear overwhelming at this point. The Highway 90 strip with all the Casino’s was as lit up and bright neon lights as 90 has ever been; and to my understanding they are just about all back up and running.

On 1 July, Joe and I moseyed over to New Orleans; about an hour East of Ocean Springs/Biloxi on I-10. Joe grew up and went to college there. He’s lived elsewhere since, but has been back a couple times since Katrina, including as recently as November 2006.

As we entered the city by first crossing the five mile stretch of bridge connecting Slidell Louisiana to New Orleans over Lake Pontchartrain, the culprit of the Katrina disaster, having spilled over into New Orleans flooding the city after the storm had seemingly passed; we noticed a number of large trees sticking up out of the lake that looked as if the tops had been chopped off. This juxtaposed to brand new multi-story houses on the other side of the levy; behind the trees that had not yet recovered.

Joe was impressed that the city in large had at least cleaned up the piles of debris from the street and that it was looking significantly better since his previous trip seven months earlier. He cautioned though that it is 'not a whole lot of improvement, but improving'. He initially had come down three months after the Katrina in the fall of 2005 'It was dead the first time I went, no street lights; it looked hopeless', Joe told me.

Well, here in the summer of 2007 I found both plenty of hope juxtapose to some despairing scenes, and simmering anger. World famous Canal Street was humming with traffic, and the large grassy medians that line the middle of the city’s major thoroughfares were cast over by well groomed oaks and even imported palm trees.

But just as things look like a normal American city for a spell, you then see a house still bearing the red X mark that rescue workers used to denote that a house had been checked and whether dead bodies had been found there or not.

After making our way through down town we headed east on Claiborne. I’ve seen great urban decay before, but nothing like a standing house with whole front ripped off of it on 'Maine Street'. We headed over the Industrial Canal into the much devastated Lower 9th Ward community. And guess what, it still is devastated. The interior neighbourhoods look like ghost towns. The housing lining the main street aren’t a great deal better. Gutted house after house characterises the area, but with a depressing note - people are living on the same streets where the majority of houses are unlivable. Most of the ones that they’re living in aren’t a great deal better. In the subdivision that you often saw on television, it still looks like what you saw on television - rows and rows of devastated houses. In some cases just the cement slabs where house used to be. At one point I saw a slab with three stairs on the backside. Undoubtedly those steps once led into someone’s backyard.

All the debris is not off the streets here, but most of it. Never mind that though, most houses are gutted and in ill repair. The majority still carry the rescue worker markings. In the midst of this, you’ll see one newly rebuilt home almost ready to come back online - on a block full of other houses that look like they were hit by a bomb. We turned the corner at one point and I thought “wow, that house is nicely rebuilt”. As we got closer we realized it was just a nice new roof. The inside of the house was still bearing the repercussions of being trounced by Lake Pontchartrain.

We also visited higher ground where water damage didn’t do as much devastation, in the Garden District an Uptown. We met up with folks rebuilding on the weekends while living out of state during the week. We also visited the French Quarter and Bourbon Street that evening. I’d been to Bourbon St. before, about 7 years earlier during Essence Festival weekend. It wasn’t the same, but the strip was readily active. Not a stalwart of people, but a pretty steady stream. Then again, this was a Monday night and no festivals were in town (Essence was coming back the following weekend); though my cousin Joe didn’t feel that it was up to par for even a normal pre-storm Monday night.

Things are coming back around in Mississippi and Louisiana, for some anyway, in some places. There are still a lot yearning to go back home who don’t have the means, who’s insurance didn’t pay, and who’s president didn’t follow through on his empty promises in the weeks after the disaster.

According to Mitch Carr of the Mississippi Department of Transportation, the Biloxi Bay Bridge will have two lanes open by November of this year, and will be fully functional by Spring of next year; with 6 lanes and dual-use walking and biking paths as well.

* Yobachi Boswell is author of the .

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/