NEWS
By NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON and NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON,SUN REPORTER | February 10, 2006
By Nadine Khtikian's count, Americans can do their part to end poverty in west Africa just by donating a pair of used sneakers. It may seem an odd approach, but since January, Khtikian has been collecting athletic shoes from around Baltimore with the aim of shipping thousands of sneakers to Ghana, where they will be refurbished and sold. Half of the proceeds will go toward training a needy farm family in environmentally sound agricultural techniques. At $3 each, 500 pairs of shoes will pay for a water pump, a well, a bicycle, chickens, assorted trees and additional items.
NEWS
By Jamie Stiehm and Jamie Stiehm,SUN STAFF | July 24, 2005
Two small bundles of rusted nails and a pierced white disc might seem ordinary at first glance, but to archaeologist Mark P. Leone and his team of students from the University of Maryland, College Park, they represent a major discovery. The items were part of an African-American hoodoo cache concealed in the hearth of a Georgian mansion in Annapolis that was unearthed this summer. And to Leone, the striking part is that they are not that old. They date from the early 20th century, a time when ancient folk practices like hoodoo were thought to have all but vanished.
NEWS
By Liz F. Kay and Liz F. Kay,SUN STAFF | March 30, 2004
As the harried mother of a newborn, frustrated in her search for a ready-made sauce to use in making the West African dishes of her native Cameroon, Julie Ndjee decided that she would have to create one. After many months of research followed by trial and error, the Elkridge resident hit on a recipe that worked. Now she travels the Baltimore-Washington region promoting Neilly's Ultimate Seasonings, a slow-cooked blend of tomatoes, onions and spices named for her daughter. More than 20 specialty shops stock her sauce, and Ndjee said that with other shops picking up her product and restaurants using it in their dishes, she expects to reach $1 million in sales this year, far surpassing last year's estimate of $160,000.
NEWS
By John Murphy and John Murphy,SUN FOREIGN STAFF | February 20, 2004
ABUJA, Nigeria - "GREETINGS: IN ORDER TO TRANSFER OUT (USD 36MILLION DOLLARS) FROM OUR BANK. I HAVE THE COURAGE TO ASK YOU TO LOOK FOR A RELIABLE AND HONEST PERSON WHO WILL BE CAPABLE FOR THIS IMPORTANT BUSINESS BELIEVING THAT YOU WILL NEVER LET ME DOWN EITHER NOW OR IN THE FUTURE. ... " Flattered? Interested in doing business? The author of this e-mail hopes so. For more than two decades, Nigerian scam artists have circulated letters, faxes and e-mails like this one in hopes of swindling gullible and greedy foreigners out of millions of dollars.
NEWS
December 1, 2003
IVORY COAST'S name is a misnomer. Although its state emblem depicts an elephant's head, hardly any of those majestic tusked animals are left there. Instead, cocoa is the West African country's claim to fame. It's the world's leading grower of beans that give chocolate its delicious flavor. That distinction, too, is in danger of disappearing. A rekindled rebellion has disrupted this year's harvesting, curtailing output and sending world cocoa prices to new highs. Ivory Coast used to be West Africa's wealthiest and most stable country.
NEWS
August 14, 2003
THE LONG-OVERDUE resignation and exit of President Charles Taylor offers a short window of opportunity for Liberia to regain stability and peace. The United States and the rest of the international community should use it to prevent the West African country from sliding into a new nightmare of suffering. Any hesitation at this point will only aggravate a dangerous power vacuum. Fourteen years of constant turmoil have torn apart Liberia's social fabric. Key institutions are in a shambles.