Kenya National Football

http://www.nation.co.ke/sports/football/Kimanzi+Brazil+2014+tall+order+/-/1102/1333022/-/fmkxi9z/-/index.html

 

The Kenya national football team has never been to a World Cup but the people of Kenya are hoping that is about to change. A large check was donated by a private donor to make the national team a more appealing option for players. The Kenya Football federation which runs the national team said that the team’s and donor’s goals are to qualify for the 2013 African Cup of Nations and the 2014 World Cup. The team knows that it has to build the side up step by step and promise not to take shortcuts but build a strong team for years to come. The coach is looking forward to the challenge and has some players that he wants to be on the team but cautions that qualify will not be easy.

As a fan of all kinds of sports any article of sports interest me. The reason that this article is so interesting is the stark difference between western national teams and the national team in Kenya. The teams of the major western nations have lots of players and have to cut some of them because they are not good enough. On the Kenya national team it sounds like that the coach is going to have to recruit the better players to come back home to play. This goes a little bit with what we were learning in class were unlike the west where we have strong ties to the government, many of the nations in Africa due to the colonial period due not because they feel that the government does not represent the people. The fact that there was a large article about the team getting a donation from a business stands out to me as well. In the west we just assume that Nike, Coke, Pepsi, and others are just going to be lining up to give out money to the national team so that there player use their products. In Kenya it seems as this is the first time that the team has had a large sum of money to work with and are looking forward to building a strong team.

Football is the world’s largest sport. As many of these African countries are not very strongly united a good national football team can no wonders to bring the nation together. When the Olympics or even the World Cup was on every on in the U.S. was cheering for the team and talking about the athletes success.  In a country like Kenya seeing a team that represents all of Kenya not just one group do well will help bring the country together. Sports to many are a form of entertainment but when a national team is able to do something that that country has never experience before it can unity the country in ways that no one thought were possible.

Kevin Whaley  

Sports Day

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For many Americans we take high school sports for grated, but that is not the case in the rest of the world. A few days ago the schools in Dikhil, Dijbouti had a sports day. On this day the kids at all levels of schooling participated in three sports football, handball, and cross. The event was put on by the National Education and vocational training minster and is the second time this has been done in the past year. This event was not just a regional event but schools across the country also were a part of it. The article also states which schools won the important events and if there were any repeat champs. The Minster of Education went on to thank the people who contributed to the success.

                 As I was growing up I always heard of my dad time on his high school football team and that of my uncle’s achievements as well. To me and many of my friends part of looking forward to middle school and high school was the chance to play on a sports team. When I read this article and saw that this was only the second time that there had been interschool competition in made me pause for a moment. The idea of going through out high school without sports is just foreign to me. To see that these schools are just starting an interschool sports is a sign that the government is becoming more stable. When the communities are able to take time to watch sports and the government is able to organize to it shows a higher level of stability. The chance for students to play sports at a competitive level is something that all students should have an opportunity to do and I feel that the government of Dijbount is doing a good thing to push this.  

                Being from The U.S. where we have a large number of pro and college sports it was surprising to see the high schools sports on the main page. In St. Louis high school sports are something of a local event and only are news worth when it is the state championships. In this article not only is this a huge event but the Minster of Education is the one who is putting it on. To me this shows that even though it is a step in the right direction of having high school sports it is still a long way off if the federal government is putting them on.

Kevin Whaley

Businesses in Peru: Uncertified

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A large portion of the businesses in two different regions in Peru are operating with out licenses say the government. The local government says that many of these businesses are working towards getting their licenses and that many a pending. Those businesses that have not become the process were being advised on how to get a certificate. The Chief of business development says that the policy is to work on getting business formalized instead of shutting them down. The areas which have the highest rate of uncertified businesses are in the Gamarra, Central Market and Roundtable areas. To prevent the rising number of uncertified businesses the government needs to have more officers checking licenses and paperwork according to local businesses experts. In a few cases businesses have been closed for security measures.

                I chose this article because it gives a very different insight into many different levels of Peruvian culture. The thing that jumped out at be first was how both the government and the local paper did not seem very concerned about this issues. This is very surprising to me because in the U.S. all business have to register before they open up. In America when you walk inside any company one of thing if you look for it is the license for the community allowing them to operate and to hear that a large number of businesses are operating with any license is strange. On of the ideas that this article seems to be touching on is that there is very low government oversight into businesses in Peru. This could be because that the government just does not have the manpower to keep up with all the businesses. It also probably has to do with the government wanting the economy to grow through more local businesses. As someone who is use to living where the government has lager oversight, I feel as though the government is being lazing and is not protecting its people.

                The article also lets you see a little bit in to the life of some of the Peruvian people. Many of these people need these businesses for money and their income depends on it. To spend time waiting in government permits and paperwork is time that is wasted when you need money to buy food. Since the people need jobs many will open businesses and then try to get the permit later after they have some money. Another one of the interesting things in the article was when they were talking about the closing of businesses. Many of these businesses where being closed for security reasons as their exits were blocked with goods. With the world economy how it is it, the way people are edging the line on what is legal and illegal is not very surprising.

Kevin Whaley   

CNBB letter to President of Brazil

Yesterday the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) sent a letter to the president of Brazil. This letter was about the stance of the CNBB against abortion. The letter talks about how the CNBB stance against abortion is not discussed in ideology but rather is about human life. The CNBB states that God came to earth as a child born from flesh than the church has great respect for the human in the embryo. The letter also goes on to state that the CNBB stands by the fact that it is not enough to give out condoms to people but the government must also educate its citizens about relationships and respect for people. The article has some other commentary in it about how the government’s current program on abortion is going to continue and that the government is cutting money to health issues.

            This article attracted by attention for a couple of reasons. The first reason is how much influence the church seems to have in the government. This article seems to address the CNBB as a important group and writes with respect when talking about the CNBB as evidence when the leader is addressed as president. This is different from most of the western world since there has been very strong separation of church and state. I find countries in which the church still has strong influence to be interesting to see the relationship between the heads of both church and state. Part of this article hinted to the fact that the abortion policy in Brazil is that abortion is legal. It is then very interesting with a new minster coming in that says is faith on certain topics will not change including abortion that this article was written. One take is that the church is trying to pressure the minster to change the policy due to his faith through outcry by people who believe he is betraying his faith. This is why in many western nations the church and state are separate. It will be interesting to see if there is any more about this topic in upcoming weeks and if the policy is changed.

            The other part of the article that caught my eye was the fact this was an article that dealt with abortion and budget cuts. These are two very important topics in the U.S. this year with it being an election year and having a chance to see other countries policies is always a good thing. The issue of abortion is something that affects the whole human race ad should not be taken lightly. All organizations have a say on what they feel is right and it is up to the government to make a ruling on abortion. The CNBB is taking a stance that is very similar to many of the churches in the U.S. allows me to relate to the topic. The very end of the article mentions cuts to health issues which seems to be a last attack at the government yet hidden at the same time. This is again something that is taking place all around the world.  To be able to understand some of the issues and politically parties that are taking place in the region gives us an understanding about how Brazil and the United States and both similar and different.



http://www.correiobraziliense.com.br/app/noticia/politica-brasil-economia/33,65,33,14/2012/02/16/interna_politica,290136/cnbb-envia-carta-a-dilma-reafirmando-posicao-contraria-ao-aborto.shtml



Kevin Whaley