“Jasmine Revolution”
Symbol of peace: Flowers placed on the barrel of a tank
in very much calmer protests than in recent days in Tunisia

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011
Mannoubia Bouazizi, the mother of Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi. "Mohammed suffered a lot. He worked hard. but when he set fire to himself, it wasn’t about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity." (Peter Hapak for TIME)

1 - TUNISIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


How eyepatches became a symbol of Egypt's revolution - Graffiti depicting a high ranking army officer with an eye patch Photograph: Nasser Nasser/ASSOCIATED PRESS

2 - EGYPT Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


''17 February Revolution"

3 - LIBYA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

5 - SYRIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

"25 January Youth Revolution"
Muslim and Christian shoulder-to-shoulder in Tahrir Square
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -
(Subjects: Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" (without a manager hierarchy) managed Businesses, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)
"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)
(Subjects:Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

"If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening."


“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."



African Union (AU)

African Union (AU)
African Heads of State pose for a group photo ahead of the start of the 28th African Union summit in Addis Ababa on January 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/ Zacharias ABUBEKER)

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela
Few words can describe Nelson Mandela, so we let him speak for himself. Happy birthday, Madiba.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Biogas benefits in Tanzania

Biogas is becoming an important source of energy in Tanzania. It is gradually replacing traditional fossil fuels and, as a regional project shows, is also bringing about a rethink of traditional gender roles.

Deutsche Welle, 2 July 2014


For Diana Mangula, cooking has become much easier now that she no longer has to struggle with the smoke-emitting firewood she used to burn on her three-stone stove.

Mangula never enjoyed using the firewood that filled her entire house with smoke. But, like most residents of Ibumila village in the Njombe region of Tanzania, she has now found a cleaner source of energy to fulfil her cooking and lighting needs.

Biogas is a clean, combustible, renewable gas produced by organic waste. Agriculture experts say it is much cheaper than traditional fossil fuel since farmers can obtain it from their own resources.

Diana Mangula cuts grass to feed
her three cows
Just a few minutes a day

Mangula, a 37-year-old mother of three, used to spend a lot of time and energy collecting firewood. But ever since she installed a biogas plant four years ago, all her miseries are over as she can now generate enough energy to meet her family's growing needs, thanks to her three dairy cows.

"Just imagine, I only spend a few minutes every day mixing cow dung with water and the moment I feed it into the digester, I am assured of enough energy," she said.

The biogas digester consists of two containers, one for mixing manure and water and the other for collecting the resulting biogas which is enough to fire a cooking stove and several gas lanterns.

According to researchers from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) in Morogoro, biogas technology is increasingly becoming a relevant source of energy for households that keep dairy cattle in Njombe, as it covers their cooking and lighting needs and also helps farmers to cut down the use of charcoal, firewood and kerosene.

Joint project

Together with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), SUA is running a project looking at the productivity of the dairy farming system in Njombe.

The majority of people in rural Tanzania who do not have access to grid electricity depend on traditional fossil fuels for lighting and cooking and this exerts huge pressure on the country's forests.

"I have been spending a lot of money buying kerosene but it has now been replaced with gas and I am now saving the money," Mangula said.

Slurry, a by-product of biogas, is a very good fertilizer

According to the Tanzanian Domestic Biogas Program (TDBP), which is also involved in the project, biogas use has noticeably eased the lives of rural women and children who often bore the brunt of family responsibilities, for example, by collecting firewood.

TDBP Program Coordinator Shila Lehada told DW that independence from traditional fossil fuels can save a household using biogas up to 600,000 Tanzanian shillings ($355, 260 euros) every year.

According to Lehada, biogas investment has also resulted in a changing perception of gender roles as male members of the families are actively involved in preparing inputs for biogas.
"We help each other, everybody feels they have a role to play, there's nothing like 'this is a woman's job'," Mangula said, confirming Lehada's findings.

In her case, the dairy cattle have improved her family's nutrition by increasing their milk consumption. And the income from selling milk to the local factory has also helped her to buy fish and meat.

As a result, her family has been able to double the amount of meals a day from two to four since cooking is now much easier.

“When I was still using wood I could hardly prepare breakfast for my children before they went to school but now I have the comfort to do so,” Mangula said.

Five year project

Biogas technology was first established in Njombe in 2004 with the aim of making farmers' energy sources more environmentally friendly. Under a five-year project dubbed "Enhancing Pro-Poor Innovations in Natural Resources and Agricultural Value Chains" (EPINAV). funded by the Norwegian government, farmers are learning best practices and techniques to improve agricultural productivity.

Ndelilio Urio, a conservation agriculture expert and professor at SUA, told DW that bio-slurry has proved to be a more nutritious fertilizer than ordinary dried manure since the amount of urea in the slurry works better as a nitrogen supplement for the soil.

"We have trained farmers on how to use bio-slurry as fertilizer, especially in their home gardens where they produce vegetables and fruits." Urio said. He agreed with Shila Lehada's observation that because of these economic benefits men are now taking a greater interest in feeding the biogas plants with the necessary inputs.

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