Charles Mungoshi

We read the short story The Stetting Sun And The Rolling World by Charles Mungoshi for homework. Charles Mungoshi is a very talented writer, from Zimbabwe, who writes short stories and novels both in Shona, and English. He also writes poetry but doesnt think very much of it as he calls it "mere finger excersise" He writes from anything as children books, to colonial writings. Through out his career as a writer he has accomplished some remarkable things such as winning many awards, such as the Noma award in 1992, The CommenWealth Writers Prize of the African Region, in 1988 and 1998. He also had 2 of his novles win in 1975 in the International PEN Awards.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Mungoshi

Maasai

The Maasai are an indigenous African ethnic group of semi nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. They have very unique customs especially in the way they dress, which is very tribal and alot of red, and both men and women wear wooden bracelets. They speak a language called Maa, and their population ranges to about 900,000. Their diet consists of meat and milk from cattle and most recently some crop foods. In their culture circumcision is a right of passage for all young boys to become warriors and young girls go through it too. Young boys take on great responsibilities in the community at a very young age. A mans wealth is measured in cattle and children the more you have the more wealthier your considered, if you have one but not the other you are considered poor. Houses are constructed by women made out of all natural resources.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maasai

Circumcision

Circumcision is a surgical procedure that removes some or all of the foreskin from the penis. Circumcision has alot of cultural background and is done for a number of reasons, such as ritual sacrafice or offering, health precaution, a sign of submission to a deity, a rite of passage to adulthood ( which we read in the story), a mark of defeat or slavery, or an attempt to alter sexuality. Circumcision is most popular in Muslim countries, Israel, United States, the Philippines and South Korea. It is the most prevalent in Muslim and Jewish faiths. In jewish law it is mandatory. Circumcision in some faiths is mandatory to be accepted in such a religion or faith, where as in some faiths and religions it means absolutely nothing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision

University of Calgary

The University of Calgary (U of C) is l0cated in northwest Calgary, Canada and is one of the most prestiges institutes in Calgary, and is larger than the entire downtown of Calgary. It is one of most largest employers in Calgary earning enormous sums of money. It has become one of the top 10 schools in Canada for research and research funding, making it not only a national power but also and international power in learning institutes. The University has great vetreniary courses, and uses some of the state of the art teaching methods and technologies. The community is great urban diverse community with variety of international students from all over.

http://www.ucalgary.ca/about/