African Aspirations

I try to keep this blog as upbeat and fun as possible, however, I do think it is important to sometimes talk about the not so pleasant things in our world.

In high school I was in enrolled in a specialty center for "Leadership, Government, and Global Economics."  The lessons I learned throughout those 4 years helped shape the person I am now.  Sophomore year, our two leadership classes were Sociology and Contemporary World Affairs.  Together, these two classes really opened my eyes to the stratification in our world.  I was inspired to make a difference, and am particularly interested in Africa.

I plan to use the first day of every month to post about Africa.  I see it as a way to start each month thinking and gracious for all that we have.  Some posts will focus on the tragedies occurring across Africa, while others may focus on its beauty and excitement.  Today's post will be an overview of the African continent.

• Africa's population is approximately one billion people 




• (The U.S. population is 300 million)




• The per capita income (for the entire continent) is $1456.07 




• (The U.S. per capita income is nearly $50,000)




• The infant mortality rate is 78 per 1000 births 




• (The U.S. infant mortality rate is approximately 7/1000)

• Life expectancy at birth is 56 




• (The U.S. life expectancy at birth is 78)




• 22.5 million people are estimated to be living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa 




• (One million people are estimated to be living with HIV in the U.S. Africa's population is roughly three times that of ours, so for a more accurate comparison, if we were the size of Africa, we would have approximately 3 million people living with HIV, still only 1/7 the amount as in Africa.)




• Despite having an abundance of natural resources, Africa is the poorest and most underdeveloped continent


• It is home to the Nile River and Ancient Egypt Pyramids, Mount Kilimanjaro, Victoria Falls, Ngorongoro Crater, the Sahara Desert, and Serengeti Plain

Victoria Falls

Serengeti

Have you been to Africa?  Is there a certain place or cause you are particularly passionate about?  I hope my passion to become aware and make a difference will inspire you to do the same (whether it be at the local, regional, national, or global level).  We can ALL make a difference in some way.



As a much less serious side note, does anyone have any fun April Fools to share?

Have a great weekend!



I found my facts using Google, and these websites:  African Development Bank, Avert, and the ever useful Wikipedia.