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INSIDE AFRICA

Congolese Stage Drama; Ghana Energy Projects

Aired May 9, 2009 - 12:30:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, everyone and welcome to INSIDE AFRICA. I'm Jim Clancy, filling in for Isha Sesay. We're going to take you during the next 30 minutes around Africa for a look at some stories that are serious, and well, not so serious.

First, man's inhumanity to woman. A play set in Congo tackles some wrenching subject matter by mixing brutal realism with a little comic relief.

And companies harness people power and solar energy to bring off-the- grid lighting solutions to Ghana and beyond.

We`re going to begin our report with a critically acclaimed off- Broadway play that brings attention to the plight of African women living in war zone. Set in the Congolese brothel, "Ruined" tells the story of a madam named Mama and the women who work for her. Femi Oke met up with the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and took in a performance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEMI OKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From an off-Broadway theater in New York, audiences are experiencing (inaudible) real life drama of Africa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like now I feel like I've visited the country, and I'm there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like I'm not watching a play. I feel like I'm actually listening to a story about people I know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so exciting. It's so exciting. I have not seen a show that had this much of a sort of a life beat underneath it in a long time.

OKE: "Ruined" is the story of a social club come brothel in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The women who work there have been raped by soldiers and shunned by their own families. Some are so mutilated, they are referred to as being ruined.

Playwright Lynn Nottage and director Kate Whoriskey researched the play by visiting Congolese refugees in Uganda.

LYNN NOTTAGE, PLAYWRIGHT, "RUINED": I felt like this is a story that was really necessary to be told. And I though that it's a story that the American public is not engaging with at all. How can I reach them? And theater is the place where myths are made, and where people have to sit with the subject for two, two and half hours and really, really listen.

CONDOLA RASHAD, "SOPHIE": I'm praying that one day the pain will be gone. But what those men did to me lives inside of my body. Every step I take, I feel them in me, punching me, and it will be that way for the rest of my life.

OKE: Condola Rashad plays rape survivor Sophie.

RASHAD: At the beginning, as an American, I found it hard to read this, and not immediately start bawling.

Good news! The commander is buying you a drink of whiskey and hopes that you will find prosperity.

OKE: Despite the heavy subject matter, "Ruined" manages to straddle both tragedy and comedy. Russell G. Jones provide some of the lighter moments and (inaudible).

RUSSELL G. JONES, "CHRISTIAN": I do love the fact that women are like "Oh, Christian!." And I'm like "Hey, it's me, Russell, and they're like, where is Christian? Like no, but over here, here, yeah.

OKE: Box office receipts are up since the show won a Pulitzer Prize, but perhaps a greater honor for the play is the appreciation of those who now the history of Congo.

NOTTAGE: I've actually been really moved and overwhelmed by the response that I've gotten from Africans, but in particular women from the Congo, who've come and said "Thank you." And "how did you know?" And how did you capture our essence?

OKE: Outside the auditorium are these pictures of Congolese rape survivors. They gave permission for their photographs to be used. They wanted to remind the audience that the drama they've come to see is based on real lives.

Femi Oke for INSIDE AFRICA, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Author Mariatu Kamara knows firsthand what it is like to have to live through a vicious conflict. During the civil war that racked her native Sierra Leone, child soldiers amputated both of her hands. She was only 12 years of age. She chronicles that horror and her own recovery in her recently published memoir, "The Bite of the Mango."

Now, 22 and living in Toronto, she's studying to work with abused and disabled women, and she's just received a "Voices of Courage" award from the Women's Refugee Commission. We asked her what it meant.

MARIATU KAMARA, AUTHOR, "THE BITE OF THE MANGO.": Actually, this award means a lot to me, because I will say this is like the biggest first award that I have -- I ever received so far since my book came out, and I'm very happy for that.

CLANCY: I want to go back in time now, to when you were 12 years old. Tour country was wrapped up in a civil war. What happened?

KAMARA: Well, actually, this village -- I was coming from another village to my own village, because I run for my own village for safety. And while we've been in this village for like three or two days, and we didn't have food to eat, and so we have to go back to our village to get some food from the storage bin. And on my way back, I was captured by the rebels, soldiers, and so they cut off my hands.

CLANCY: Did they tell you why?

KAMARA: They just asked -- they just saw me. The reason why they -- the cutting of my hands was so that I won't be able to vote, and but I think they did a big mistake, because I still -- I can still pick up the paper and vote if I want to.

CLANCY: You have become a special representative for the U.N.'s child soldiers project. Actually, Children Caught in Conflict project.

KAMARA: Yes.

CLANCY: And the young men that did this to you were children themselves, weren't they?

KAMARA: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Most of them were children, and they were also like victims themselves, because they were -- some of them were the age of five, six, seven years old, and so they didn't know anything.

CLANCY: You've written this book, "The Bite of the Mango."

KAMARA: Yes.

CLANCY: What's the story behind that title?

KAMARA: Well, the story behind that title is that the first men I met on my way looking for help was a man who offered me a mango. And I refused -- he wanted to hold a mango for me, but I refused because I felt like I was like a child or a baby again, and so I refused to take the mango from his hand. And even though my arms were bleeding, I was determined to hold the mango myself and took a few bites. And that to me was a sign that my will to live was stronger than anything else, what happened to me. And that's why I called my book "The Bite of the Mango."

CLANCY: People must still see you and wonder, ask questions about how did this happen to you, what happened to your hands? I mean, do you -- have you grown really tired of that? Or do you want to tell them the story?

KAMARA: Well, at times, I have to be honest, at times I get tired of answering some questions. But at times, I just feel like telling my story, because also, if you don't tell it, there's no one -- no one is going to know what happened to you. And -- and they're not going to be aware of what happened and what is happening around the world.

CLANCY: So, what is your message at the end of all of this to the young women, even the young men who come to you and say, how do I still have hope?

KAMARA: Those people I just -- what I usually say -- I just said -- never give up in life, no matter the situation or the circumstances. Just keep pushing, because you can't just stay on one thing that happened to you in life. As long as the life is still there, I think that you should continue to live and see what you can do to make a difference out of that experience that you have, or you had in the past.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Mariatu Kamara there, a very inspiring young women.

A major corporation has been inspired to help Africa find sustainable and affordable lighting solutions. We're going to hear it firsthand from the CEO of Philips Lighting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Welcome back, everyone, to INSIDE AFRICA. You know, one of the biggest challenges that many Africans face, particularly in rural areas, the lack of electricity. For some 500 million Africans, that means little or no light after sundown.

Now, a Utah engineer who did missionary work in Ghana took note of that problem and he designed this -- a solution that combines fun with function. This power-generating merry-go-round is just one of seven that have been installed at Ghanaian schools so far. The manufacturer, Empower Playgrounds, plans to install 20 more like it this year. The company is a member of Lighting Africa, an initiative by the World Bank to help develop clean, affordable, efficient lighting solutions. You can find out a lot more about it at www.lightingafrica. org.

Well, Dutch consumer products giant Philips also part of the effort to light Africa. Its lighting division teamed up with the Dutch government on a pilot program. It's bringing solar powered lighting to Ghana. Philips Lighting CEO Rudy Provoost told me he considers this project a matter of moral duty.

RUDY PROVOOST, CEO, PHILIPS LIGHTING: We essentially started indeed from the notion that with the sun as their only source of renewable energy, we can actually power lighting solutions. So what we've done is we've, you know, used -- brought to the market a few products. One is what I would call a reading light, and actually I can show an example of that, which is a little glass plate that powered -- it is powered by LED light, and which has solar cells as the source of electricity. In other words, for children who have to study, who want to read in the evening or at night, suddenly we have a product that actually allows to, you know, provide lights tailored around the books they use.

We have another product. We call it "the u-day lantern," which is indeed a product that started with a solar panel and a pack battery and a compact fluorescent. We turned it into, again, an LED proposition, which makes it more affordable, less expensive, more energy and user-friendly.

CLANCY: And that is changing, no doubt, the lives of hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of people whose villages suddenly you can have an economy after dark, you can have a social life after dark, you can have, as you say, learning after dark.

PROVOOST: Well, basically, what we tried to do is bring four things together -- economic prosperity, environmental health, energy efficiency and emotional well-being of these people. And we're all trying to develop sophisticated products with a lot of complications to bring them to market. We really went back to the fundamental insights of what people on the ground need, and it's really about, you know, when it's getting dark, they need light. They need to light to have a family life. They need light to study and read. And I can tell that there is a lot of excitement. The pilot project in Ghana worked very well, but we're learning how to go to market.

You need to hit certain price points. You know, you cannot be more expensive than $15. You need to find ways to make it affordable. You need to apply micro financing. You need to come up with partnerships with local distributors and retailers. So, it's a very -- it's an interesting pilot in the sense that we need to understand what it takes to bring light to those people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Philips' CEO Rudy Provoost there, shining a little light on the problem of darkness.

Well, bright colorful costumes illuminating the streets of Lagos during a rare but cherished event. We're going to take you out to the party. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: You're watching INSIDE AFRICA. Welcome back, everyone. Let's take a quick look now at some African stories that are making news. In Kenya, sex as a political weapon. Women's organizations called for a sex boycott to last at least a week. They say they're trying to get the attention of the country's male-dominated coalition government, which has been plagued by infighting, the guys fighting the guys. Well, needless to say, many Kenyan men are not exactly thrilled about the women's tactics.

Newly released amateur video from a pirate attack on the U.S. flagged cargo ship showing exactly what happened from the prospective of one of the crew members. The attack on the Liberty Sun took place off the coast of Somalia last month as the ship was sailing towards Mombasa, Kenya. The pirates fired rocked-propelled grenades and automatic weapons, but they never made it aboard.

The Egyptian government ordering the slaughter of all pigs in the country, ignoring the WHO's advice that the move would not halt the spread of the so-called swine flu. Pigs are raised by members of Egypt's minority Christian community, Coptic Christians. The culling set off clashes between the pig farmers and police.

There is a lot of other stories, though, that still matter on the continent. Our iReporters have been busy keeping us up to date on all of that. Come on over with me to the newsroom. My colleague Errol Barnett is going to give us a brief on what is going on in the iReport world.

ERROL BARNETT, IREPORT CORRESPONDENT: Some fascinating stories being uploaded from the continent, Jim. Mark Bashagi (ph) lives in Tanzania, and he was in the neighborhood where an armory exploded, killing 20 people, hundreds are still missing. He uploaded these images from Dar Es Salaam, where you can see some of the debris making it to neighborhood streets. He says he wants to use iReport to share a story that's still developing where he lives.

Now, another story from Nigeria was a worker's day rally on May 1st. This was uploaded by Lucy I. Egby-Inka (ph). They said that this was a peaceful rally, many of these workers interested in knowing what the government would do as far as it relates to developmental policies.

There is another story being uploaded from DR Congo. A Christian humanitarian organization called World Vision is providing women in rural areas with what they call fuel-efficient and eco-friendly stoves. That's important, they say, because many of these women, when they go and gather would in rural areas, are raped. They think it's important to provide them with these stoves to help prevent some of that.

CLANCY: So, through the miracle of television now, Errol, I'm with you in the newsroom.

BARNETT: There you are, Jim.

CLANCY: Fascinating stories, all of those, but you've got to have some other stories. That's kind of hard news angle, isn't it?

BARNETT: Yes. There's actually -- there's some hopeful stories from the continent. Let me introduce you to Rushay Booysen. He lives in South Africa. He's using Twitter. He has a blog as well, where he focuses on South African music, hip hop in specific -- in specifically. He has embedded video, has images here. I actually spoke with him via Web can on a wireless network about why it was so important for him to share this message. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSHAY BOOYSEN, SOUTH AFRICAN IREPORTER: As I've seen the influx of Western music and the influence of it on, you know, youth in my community and youth around the South African, you know, community, so I'm trying to sort of like create a medium whereby we can also streamline our music.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: And speaking of music from the continent, check this out. This was uploaded by iReporter Dolis Real (ph). Her husband manages the group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. They recently won a Grammy. Jim, and I'm going to leave you now with some sounds of this amazing group.

(MUSIC)

CLANCY: Thanks to Errol Barnett for that one. And we love to see iReports coming from you, our viewers in Africa. Keep it up.

You know, the city of Lagos throws a huge masquerade party to remember a departed government minister. You haven't seen this before. And next, we're going to bring you the story behind the masks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Well, welcome back to INSIDE AFRICA. You know, Lagos really knows how to party, but some of them are bigger than others. And some only come around every few years. Christian Purefoy takes us to the Eyo Festival. It's a rare event, but a proud cultural tradition. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIAN PUREFOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The spirits of Lagos chasing the demons away These masquerades have come out for Nigeria's Eyo Festival. A funeral procession, sometimes held after the death of an illustrious local chief.

Last held six years ago, it's a rare event. First held in 1750, it's believed to be the forerunner of Brazil's Carnival. But what are the spiritual (inaudible) of these festival?

AYODELE OYEKAN, PRINCE OF LAGOS: The spiritual side of it is that, you know, we believe that, you know, to send away evil spirits and all the bad, negative, you know, things of life.

PUREFOY: The masquerades belong to the traditional clans of Lagos, distinguished by the distinctive color of their hats, and their large sticks are for beating wary spectators.

TUNDE FOLABI, EYO ORGANIZATOR: (inaudible) you know you're hit.

PUREFOY (on camera): And what was -- is it a curse, is it a blessing?

FOLABI: No, it's a blessing. Greetings. (inaudible).

PUREFOY: OK. Sometimes it can be quite hard.

FOLABI: Yes, it is very hard. It's not (inaudible).

PUREFOY (voice over): Some of the clans we're not allowed to film, but they let us catch a glimpse of one of their cultural deities.

PUREFOY: After paying homage to the King of Lagos at his palace behind me, thousands of masqueraders have spilled out into the streets of Lagos for a party.

Lagos is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, with an estimated population of 17 million people from across Nigeria and West Africa. This festival follows the death of Nigeria's first information minister. But despite the festival's local ethnic history and traditions, organizers are trying to use the event to give an identity and coherence to the city's variety of residents.

FOLABI: What we're trying to do, is you know, that people can come from all over the world, see and join our culture.

PUREFOY: Tens of thousands attended after the Lagos governor tightened security, hoping to use the festival to re-brand the sometimes violent reputation of Lagos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very, very excited. So it's all there about fun, fun, fun and fun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love it. (inaudible), and we'll come back again for it.

PUREFOY: Until the next time the ails come out.

Christian Purefoy, CNN, in Lagos, Nigeria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: You know, that does remind me, like Christian says, of Carnival. In any event, it looks good to all of us.

That has to do it for the week's edition of my favorite program on CNN, INSIDE AFRICA. Isha Sesay will be back next week. She'll have a brand new edition. Be there. Thanks for being with us.

END