Congolese Bloggers of Note

I am still in the midst of our Stategic Plan as outlined in my March 17th posting Wir machen eine Pause but I could not resist making a brief mention about two young people from the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C., formerly Zaire). Actually, there are many more people I have discovered lately who are doing excellent work in the Blogosphere but I want to start with these two first.

The blog titled The Salon of News and Thought is designed and authored by Ali (aka The Malau) who in addition to holding down a full-time job back in Ohio U.S.A. is providing news and commentary on issues that affect Africa and the world. I've watched him work online in the wee hours of the morning (there is a 7 hour time differential between Germany and Ohio) to get articles out to his blog. It is worth your time to pay a visit to "Le Salon" to see what's up. His latest piece on the new Draft Consitution of the D.R.C. is a must read for anyone interested in learning about the political processes at work in one of Africa's most important and also most neglected nations: the Congo (excluding Congo-Brazzaville).

The second blog of note is titled The Exiled Afrikan designed and authored by Carine who like her protogeé Ali hails from the D.R.C. Carine lives and studies on the other side of the Atlantique in London, England and she is yet another hard-working young woman in the Blogosphere covering a variety of topics of interest inside and outside of Africa. Unlike Ali of course she has that "woman's touch" as she approaches and discusses certain topics and it is interesting to juxtaposition the writings of the two. Both authors help to enrich my knowledge of Africa and how Africans view the world that we all live in. Here is Carine's piece on the new Draft Constitution of the D.R.C. Carine also writes about technology subjects and is often busy with the software coding and scripting of her Wordpress powered blog. She considers herself a "low-ranking Nerd" but in reality she is much sharper about technology than she admits (online) which delights me to no end. I am and have always been interested in and supportive of women working in the field of science and technology, but that's another story for another day.

One of the biggest thrills for me is to be able to read and communicate online with Carine and Ali and gain insights into the thoughts and ideas of people from "Francophone Afrique" in a way that I cannot get by reading second-hand and third-hand reports from various other sources. There are people from Francophone African countries around me here in Germany but they are not writing and speaking out about global issues like these two unfortuantely.

My French language skills are rather weak and both Ali and Carine are writing in excellent English so that is a real "bonbon" for us "Je ne sais what?" Franglais speakers.UPDATE March 30th: I have removed from the original version of this posting my vicious backhanded attack against the French. However, I reserve the right in all future postings to fire away at the French at will. I just do not like these.....

Now as I was saying there are more young writers (and some not so young anymore) that I would love to point out today but we have decided to post little bits of info at a time to this blog for awhile. Tonto and I are very nervous this week 'cause we are expecting our new baby and we have to get ready with everything for the arrival. Should be here anyday now, coming all the way from Texas and we are just sitting on pins-and-needles over here.

Update March 30th: She is here, our new baby is here!! Took a quick look at her yesterday over in the nursery (the Lab). Beautiful, great lines and a smart hardware design and construction. Fast engine, very fast. Can't wait to give her a final tuning and then take her out for a Spin on the Net. Thanks Michael (Dell).