Faces of Africa

- Season 2

(2013)

Mwalimu (Swahili honorific title or "Teacher") Julius Nyerere, the founding father of Tanzania, stood as a great leader who chose the path less traveled by many. He fought tirelessly in the cause of socialism and had a zeal to help liberate other African countries that were still under the rule of the colonialists, but he also challenged tyrannical leaders.

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Meles Zenawi dedicated his life to uplifting the lives of the peasantry in Ethiopia. But he faced a lot of criticism. Having got a scholarship at a tender age to study abroad, he gained a lot of knowledge on how to create good policies.

Pat Nebo from Nigeria was feted Africa's Best Art Director in Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) in 2012. "He has ventured where many haven't," the CEO of AMAA Peace Musigwe asserts. Through hard work and great passion, he has not only gained awards and fame but he has managed to eliminate the prejudice that production art design is a carpentry department. He has been in the business for the last 25 years.

Gladys Kalema from Uganda works for the conservation of mountain gorillas in Bwindi forest. Her organization, Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), educates locals living near the forest on the importance of protecting gorillas. Instead of hunting gorillas and clearing the forest, keeping them safe can also generate more income for locals.

Journalism is one of the riskiest jobs in Mogadishu, Somalia. Abdalle is among the many journalists who live in an environment of fear in the line of duty. In 2011, 19 journalists were killed and in 2012, 18 of them were killed. No one has been brought to justice for any of the crimes. Meanwhile, the number of assassinated journalists have continued to increase. But why do they continue to report at the expense of their lives? "Dying to Report" brings to light the hardships and the dedication of Mogadishu journalists.

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He never left his camera wherever he went. Having dropped out of school to do what he loved, photography, puzzled his parents. Mohamed 'Mo' Amin popularly known as the 'Man who moved the world', captured the most distressing images of the 1984 Ethiopian famine. The world responded in a great way and helped over 2 million Ethiopians who were starving. But who was Mohamed Amin?

Second part of the story of famous Kenyan photojournalist Mohamed "Mo" Amin (1943-1996).

Their fathers did not see eye to eye and their relationship ended up in war. But their sons, Jaffar Amin, the son of Idi Amin, former president of Uganda, and Madaraka Nyerere, son of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, former president of Tanzania, embarked on a journey of peace, of discovery and of reconciliation up Mt. Kilimanjaro summit, Uhuru Peak, 5895 meters above sea level. It's a grueling journey but they are determined. Will they reconcile and end the rivalry which has lasted for decades between their families?

Vultures are very agile yet not appealing and cuddly birds as many would say. Kerri from South Africa has taken vulture conservation as a life vocation. She treats wounded vultures and offers them shelter and care before releasing them back into the wild.

In Nigeria, there are a mysterious band of brothers, the hyena men, who use dangerous animals, snakes, hyenas and baboons as a marketing strategy to woo crowds of people in order to buy their medicine.

"When I'm dancing, my blood feels warm," tells Eric a former street kid. To liven up their troubled lives they dance. They're hip hop dancers, they're orphans, destitute children and they live on Kigali streets. Their passion and joy in music has seen many street kids of Kigali find a haven and hope through a Rwandan organization and an American dance company. They not only get the basic necessities of life, but they also become dance kingpins.

After 25 years, Egyptians have finally sought ways of unleashing the bottled up emotions. For a long time, artistic freedom had been curtailed. But with the new wave of freedom, El Washa, an Egyptian group, is using storytelling and music to share their experiences of pain and loss during war and political uprisings. It's a journey of uniting, communicating and sharing their experiences through what they know best, storytelling and music.

Monwabisi and the Shark Spotters team are part of a unique program. They protect people from shark attacks in Cape Town beaches in South Africa and ensure White Shark conservation.

Dr. Ian Clarke an Irish white medical doctor has lived in Uganda since 1987 during the repression times that saw many Ugandans killed in the Luwelo war. He was a missionary doctor then and he helped many wounded children, women and men. For two years he treated them under a tree in his own compound. In 2011, he decided to go into politics and work towards social development. He won the elections as the mayor of Makindye Division in Kampala. In his two year tenure in politics, he has done a lot and many Ugandans are so thrilled with him more than they are with the ...

The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project consists of 7 radio telescopes constructed out in Karoo Desert in the Northern Cape where the area is relatively free of interference from man made radio waves such as mobiles and microwaves. Headquartered and managed in Cape Town, a Mauritian radio astronomer and his colleagues try to answer human kinds' most fundamental questions by finding out how the universe came about and what it is made of.

Slum Drummers of Kenya is a community based group of young drummers who use scrapped materials to make their musical instruments which they use to entertain people. These young people grew up in one of the slums in the outskirts of Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. In 2012, the group performed for the queen of England during her birthday at the Diamond Jubilee concert in London. It was like a dream to them since most had never traveled out of Nairobi let alone fly.

In the port city of Garoua, located in the Northern region of Cameroon, we follow Abdou Sahel and learn of his unique relationship with Afrika, the hippopotamus. Hippos are aggressive and territorial and they are known to cause more human deaths than any other wild animal in Africa, this doesn't worry Sahel who has spent 22 years with Afrika and has no fear of her powerful Jaws.

In Burkina Faso, the lakeside Bazoule village is world famous for its unique tradition. For many generations, the villagers have lived harmoniously with about 200 wild crocodiles. Crocodiles have remained the same for over 200 million years. They are feared and avoided by humans and animals alike. But the people of Bazoule revere the sacred crocodiles in the lake.

Rock'n'Roll originated in the United States during early 1950s. From America, it spread across the world and found its way to Zambia. Rikki and Jagari, both Zambians, are Rock'n'Roll singers from a Zamrock music group which blended traditional songs and rock in the early 1970s (Zamrock, or 'Zambian psychedelic rock', is in fact a derivative of Western psychedelic rock re-innovated by Zambian youth in the late 1960s). They are the only survivors of the group which rocked the region. They are back with a bang to reclaim their lost glory.

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