africanhope

Hey there

I am Africanhope, but you can call me AH. I live in a little university town called Potchefstroom, about an hour away from that most dangerous of cities, Johannesburg (imagine dark music being played as you say that name).

I was born in Cape Town, but we moved around a lot. I also lived for a while in the UK (my mom is a Brit), Namibia (beautiful) and France.

I speak Afrikaans, English, Zulu, little bit of Tswana and Xhosa.

Oh yes, and very bad French.

I am currently a full time PhD student in Social Work.

That is about it, I think, anything else, just ask!

africanhope

The thing about the languages is that, being such a multi-cultural country, we have 11, yes count them, 11 official languages. English being ofcourse one of the big ones, thanks to colonialism, and Afrikaans being the other one of European origen, being a mix between Dutch, French, German and some native langueages. Most South Africans can speak and understand that aswell, since it was the language of Apartheid and everyone was forced to learn it at school.


SA is a country, and so far still the great hope for Africa, but yeah, like all countries we have problems.


Another important fact to remember about SA is that is the leader of the G77, and of the non-aligned movement, and just got voted on the Security counsel. Therefor diplomaticaly speaking it is quite an important country for the Developing world, and a thorn in President Bush's side as we quite often, as a government but also as a people, opose his forgein policy.

Well, I ahve to run, it is a wonderfull sommuersday, and Saturday, so no time to spend infront of the comp!!!


Be good
AH

africanhope

Oh yes, my interest is very wide, can it be otherwise in this time of globalism we are living!!!

But sorry for being so quiet right now in the beginning, since we are Southern hempisphere, our academic years run from Jan to Dec, so it is a bit of a hectic time for me with many, many MANY deadlines to meet!!

AH

africanhope

It means good evening in my mother tongue (well, more acurate, father tongue) of Afrikaans.

But i could've gone with Dumela (Tswana), Hangla Kathle (Zulu).

__________________
“The subject no longer has to be mentioned by name. Someone is sick. Someone else is feeling better now. A friend has just gone back into the hospital. Another has died. The unspoken name, of course, is AIDS.”
“From the point of view of the pharmaceutical industry, the AIDS problem has already been solved. After all, we already have a drug which can be sold at the incredible price of $8, 000 an annual dose, and which has the added virtue of not diminishing the market by actually curing anyone.”

africanhope

It is indeed a language, but does not orginiate from a tribe in the traditional sense.

It is the Language of the Afrikaner, the white people of South Africa, the people who held power through the system of apartheid.


They are the descendents of the original Dutch, French Hugenot and German settlers that came to this part of Africa from 1652 onwards.

I shall give a very short summary of SA history sinse 1652.

This was when the Dutch East India Company started Cape of Good Hope colony, what is now Cape Town (a beautifull city). This colony remained small, growing slowly into the hinterland. in the late 1700's the British took the Cape, but gave it back after a few years. Then, when the Bavarian Republic supported Napoleon, the Cape fell for a few months under French protection before being taken by the British in 1805. In 1820 mass immigration by British settlers started.

This upset the Afrikaner population, who got in their oxwagons, and moved deeper inland. This is when the clashes with the local population started.

Their first independant republic of Natalia (next to the mighty Zulu kingdom) was soon anexed by the British (it was on the east coast, today the province of KwaZulu-Natal). This led to the 3 Anglo-Zulu wars.

The Boers (as the Afrikaners are also called, meaning farmers), then started two republics in the inland, with no coast, called The Orange Freestate Republic (which had a very progresive constition, and was visited by even the US and French governments so they can see these laws in action) and the south African Republic (Transvaal).

In the 1860's these Republics was anexed by the British crown, but after a short war, the British was defeated at the battle of Majuba, and the countries reganed independence. Also a few short wars with the local tribes where fought by both the British and the Afrikaners.

Then gold and diamonds where descoverd, and then, strangely enough, Britain had much bigger interest in the land. In 1898 the 2nd Anglo-Boer War, or South African war started, which lasted untill 1901. The two republics had no standing army, so every one fought in this war. It is till this day, excluding the two world wars, the most expensive war the UK ever fought in. It saw the first mass use of concentration camps (for woman and children, more than 800 000 died in these British camps), of chemical weapons, and of guerila warfare.

After a scorched earth policy, the two republics had no choice but surrender.

In 1910 the then 4 colonies was combined in the Union of South Africa, with it's own parlament and cabinet. This was soon dominated by the Afrikaners.

SA fought in both World Wars (late in the 1st one, many Afrikaners hated the British, so a civil war broke out, trying to trhough of British rule, only after government subdued the Rebels, could we join the fighting).

In 1948 the ultra right wing nationalistis National Party, dominated by Afrikaners, took power form the great Prime Minster, General Jan Smuts. This year is the birth of the terrible system of Apartheid.

In 1961 South Africa under the evil prime minister (he was not a Afrikaner, but was Dutch born) Verwoerd declared a republic, and Sa broke from the comonwealth and the UN.

Now folowed the heavy apartheid years, until 1989, when PW Botha was kicked out by his party, and FW de Klerk took power as President. Negotiations straed with the exiled ANC (African National Congress) leading to the relaese of NElson Mandela, and Free and Fair elections in 1994.

Leading us to this day into what is called the New South Africa, with its joys and worries.

Don't know of this interests any one, but there it is. That is where the langauage of Afrikaans, a Euro-African language comes from. It can be understood by Dutch, Flemish and German speakers still.

Okay, must actually do some real work now

Bye!

AH

__________________
“The subject no longer has to be mentioned by name. Someone is sick. Someone else is feeling better now. A friend has just gone back into the hospital. Another has died. The unspoken name, of course, is AIDS.”
“From the point of view of the pharmaceutical industry, the AIDS problem has already been solved. After all, we already have a drug which can be sold at the incredible price of $8, 000 an annual dose, and which has the added virtue of not diminishing the market by actually curing anyone.”