The topic of Africa – here, I know a little more.

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Well, about West Africa maybe…

But look at this: Starting today is UBC Africa Awareness Week. There’s a whole myriad of interesting events going on in this regard as well. The by-line reads:

Africa Awareness annual conference week will be held from Febuary 1st to Febuary 8th of 2008. The theme for the conference is “Hope, Innovation, Vision – The Past, Present, and Future of Agency in Africa.” This year’s theme reflects AAI’s desire to shatter the stereotypes surrounding the African continent and its nations. The Executive has found that many non-Africans automatically think about HIV/AIDS when asked to reflect on the Continent’s current issues. Disappointed with this perception, the Executive has chosen “I Am Hope; I Am Innovation; I Am Vision” for this year’s theme. This phrase acts as a challenge, one that demands a re-evaluation of opinions about Africa by turning a word associated with negativity into one that reflects a positive outlook.”

Sounds good to me. Speaking as someone who has seen some phenomenal change occur in Nigerian science over the last five years, this is definitely a fitting theme. Also, read Kristian’s account of his bicycle trip – I think he also nails the same sentiment – his article is awesome.

Anyway, more details on the week’s activity can be found below the fold…


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David (@ng_dave) is Faculty at the Michael Smith Labs. His writing has appeared in places such as McSweeney's, The Walrus, and boingboing.net. He plans on using Terry as another place to highlight the mostly science-y links he appreciates. In fact, if you liked this one, you might also like his main site generally - this can be found at popperfont.net.