Africa NOW #117
Issued on 30th September, 2021 by Africa Japan Forum (AJF)«Contents»
pp. 2-7
Feature: Learning together with Africans in JapanAJF has been working with Africans and their families in Japan for more than a decade through a variety of activities. “African
Kids Club (AKC)” provides children of African roots with an opportunity to feel free to express themselves and make friends
who comes from similar background. “African Youth Meetup” was launched to meet specific needs of youth, and currently
one of the most active programs in AJF. As AJF has strong determination to continue our work in this field through expansion of network. This issue of “Africa Now”has a special feature titled ‘Learning together with Africans in Japan’.

Troubles and worries as a KARIHOMEN by Kamara Annap. 3
Born in 1983, Kamara Anna was separated from her parents and siblings during Liberia’s civil war. She applied for refugee status with her two daughters, now aged 9 and 18, in Japan in January 2017. She is currently in a state of provisional
release without an official status of residence. She describes multiple difficulties she faces, such as restricted employment
opportunities and pains just to find an apartment in Tokyo.
A KARIHOMEN’s path to dental treatment by Tsuyama Naoko
p. 3
AJF’s Co-Board Chairs Tsuyama Naoko reports Kamala Anna’s dental treatment. Anna was struck on the face by soldier’s
AK47 rifle while in Liberia, breaking three of her front teeth. Due to her status as provisional release, she isn’t now entitled to join the health insurance program. As a result, she had to pay total fees for her expensive treatment. Fortunately,the treatment was successful, and its high fees was covered by the official refugee’s protection fund. The dentist issued amedical report to be submitted to the refugee status review as evidence of the violence she had suffered.
My teacher is a refugee. Enjoying Lingala ! by Kanai Maki
pp. 4-5
Writer and illustrator Kanai Maki writes about her story of “Jaques” from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She met
him during a protest against revised Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act in April 2021. Jaques fled fromhis home country, DR Congo, in 2012 after suffering from intimidation for his pro-democracy activity. He has been in Japan for 9 years but has not been recognized as a refugee. After hearing Jaques’ story, Kanai Maki hoped to keep friendshipwith him, mulled over his situation, and took a step to learn Lingala from him with her friends.
pp. 6-7 8 years of studying in Japan and my goals for the future by MBOUP Aissatou
Contributed by MBOUP Aissatou from Senegal, who has been studying in Japan as an international student since 2013.
She is currently studying for a PhD at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. Her future dream is to launcha business to develop and produce daily life equipment using solar energy in Japan and Senegal. She also would like to setup a Japanese language education center in Senegal for more people to learn about Japanese culture and language.

My dream by Ntiba Ketsia
pp. 8-9This is the 10th installment in a series of ‘Essay Relay - African Kids Club’. The author of this article, Ntiba Ketsia, came toJapan from the DR Congo in 2014 at the age of 6 and she is now in her first year of junior high school. She writes about what
has surprised about her life at junior high school. She would like to become a doctor and work for Médecins Sans Frontières(MSF) in the future, and to become an architect and build quality houses for those who have no home to live in.
South Africa: Legacy of Cecil John Rhodes by Fukushima Koshin
pp. 10-11
Fukushima Koshin, who live in Cape Town, South Africa, reports the conflict over the statue of Cecil John Rhodes on thecampus of the University of Cape Town (UCT). The statue was removed in 2015 after a movement arose to demolish the iconof the apartheid system from the campus of the leading university in the post- apartheid South Africa. On the other hand, thestatue of Rhodes at the Rhodes Memorial near UCT has now been restored, despite being vandalized several times. Fukushima notes that the influence of Rhodes, who made his fortune in South Africa through mining and farming, is still “alive andwell” in southern Africa, and says ‘Cape Town may not have escaped his legacy yet’.

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From the ‘International health and COVID-19’ blog post
Articles from a blog post on ‘Global Health and COVID-19’ on AJF’s website. In this blog post, Inaba Masaki, AJF’s Director of Global Health Program provides the latest information with his analysis to discuss global trend of COVID-19 andglobal health..

ACT-A requested $7.7 billion for emergency response to Delta variant by Inaba Masaki
p. 12On 16 August 2021, ACT-Accelerator (Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator), the framework for multilateral cooperation on COVID-19, issued an urgent appeal for emergency contribution of $7.7 billion to tackle Delta variant in particular. The amount requested by the ACT Accelerator will be used for diagnostics, therapeutics, and health systems strengthening.
COVAX will supply 100 million doses of Chinese vaccines to developing countries by theend of September by Inaba Masaki

p. 13

Vaccines for COVID-19 from China National Pharmaceutical Group Coop (CNPGC known as Sinopharm) and Sinovac
Biotech Ltd. were listed on the World Health Organization (WHO)’s emergency use list. In response, COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access), which is responsible for vaccine development and supply in Act-Accelerator, has decided
to supply 100 million doses of these two kinds of Chinese vaccines to the Asia and Africa regions by the end of September. The Chinese vaccine is the first vaccines used in the framework of multilateral cooperation.
p. 14
Book Review: Shimoji Lawrence Yoshitaka “What is the ‘HALF’ ?” by Kobayashi Shunichiro
A book review by Kobayashi Shunichiro of the book “What is the ‘HALF’ ?: The image and reality we want to share with you (“‘HAFU’ tte Nandarou ? : Anata to Kangaetai Imeji to Genjitu” in Japanese original title) written by Shimoji Lawrence Yoshitaka. The reviewer explains that the central argument of the book is that certain social and physical characteristics become asubject of discrimination due to specific meanings coming from social structures. Kobayashi commends author’s writing stylethat uses simple terms that allow even junior high school students to understand easily. On the other hand, he points out thatthe book emphasizes only the racial dimension, and consequently it does not analyze the structures that give rise to discrimination and harassment.
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Report of the general meeting of AJF in 2021 and members’ exchange meetingby Hirouchi Kaori

Hirouchi Kaori, AJF’s Executive Director, reports the AJF 2021 annual general meeting and members’ exchange meeting,held online on 20th June, 2021. Each agenda item of the general Membership Meeting was approved, and several requests
and suggestions were made as a result of active discussions among participants in the meeting.
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Afterword (“Hitotsu no musubime to shite” in Japanese) and a record of AJF’s activities

Africa NOW 117

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