Kenya: Rose Wanjikũ Mũriũ, Karate Girl
She wants to make history: to be the first Kenyan Karate Woman to take part in the Olympics. Growing up, Rose hung out with her three older brothers and their friends, taking part in all manner of antics – from stealing a neighbour’s maize to hunting and cooking game meat. She did everything with such […]
International military expenditure not affected by COVID-19
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the COVID-19 pandemic did not affect military spending by the world’s traditional Big Five with five sub-Saharan African countries also showing increases in their spend on military equipment and material. Worldwide, military spending last year was 2.6% more than in 2019 at a time when the […]
Herbs & Plants: Piliostigma thonningii, a multipurpose medicinal plant
Piliostigma thonningii, common name ‘camel’s foot’, is a leguminous, deciduous tree with a single stem, native to tropical Africa. It grows in open woodland, savannah regions, and wooded grassland in low to medium altitudes. It is a multipurpose tree of vast importance for health. This evergreen species is a good shade tree that fixes nitrogen […]
Oral Literature: Why Goats Live with Man
The goat and his mother lived alone in their village. He said to her, “I have here a magic-medicine to make one strong in wrestling. There is no one who can overcome me, or cast me down; I can overcome any other animal.” The other beasts heard of this boast; and they took up the […]
Colombia: bishop receives death threats
For months he travels in an armoured car and with an armed police escort. He did not ask for protection but the local government, was forced to provide it due to international pressure. “I am not afraid and I am sure God is on my side”, says Mons. Rubén Darío Jaramillo, Bishop of Buenaventura, a […]
The Religious Freedom in the World Report 2021
According to the 15th Report of Aid to the Church in Need on religious freedom in the world (2018-2020) 67% of the world’s population (5.200 billion) live in countries where grave violations of religious freedom occur. The ongoing pandemic further impinged on religious freedom, with disproportionate restrictions on religious practice and worship, denial of humanitarian […]
Restore Our Earth So We Can Live
The youth see the environmental destruction in all aspects of our lives – the air we breathe, the forest destruction, the polluted oceans, the climate change that is upon us and the pandemic- all a result of human neglect, greed and power play for riches and dominance of the Earth. This young generation wants it […]
Oral Literature: the Tortoise, the Dog and the Farmer
Once upon a time, there was famine in the land of the animals because the dry season had extended more than usual. There was no rain in the land and every animal was looking rather thin and unhealthy because very limited food was available. However, the tortoise observed that his friend the dog was looking […]
Vatican: the Catholic Church in Numbers
The Annuario Pontificio 2021, and the ‘Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2019’, edited by the Central Statistics Office of the Catholic Church have been just published. The Annuario Pontificio reveals several new aspects of the life of the Church in the world in 2020. During this time period two metropolitan Sees and four episcopal Sees (2 dioceses […]
Herbs & Plants: Warburgia salutaris, a healthful plant
The importance of medicinal plants in primary health care systems to treat and manage various disease conditions cannot be underestimated. Warburgia salutaris (G.Bertol.) Chiov (Family Canellaceae); whose common name is ‘pepperbark tree’, is one of the highly commercialized medicinal plant trees. It has been documented in many folkloric and ethnobotanical studies conducted in east, central […]