The Africa you don't read about.

"I long for days when we write about Africa without using elephant pictures." There is more to Africa than the "accepted" stereotype. She is green with culture & diversity; a plethora of beautiful dialects that leave you mesmerized, a buoyant people that dare the brilliance of sunflowers with God like caring that does not wane, graceful in her strides as she keeps growing. She's not for mere mortals, you will need more than a life time to soak her benevolence. Bare feet that converse with mother nature on a daily, hearty laughter audacious in the face of hardships were most shrivel & wither. Professor Mashudu Tshifularo made history when he became the first person in the world to transplant the hammer, anvil & stirrup that make up the middle ear using 3D-printed technology, for conductive hearing loss rehabilitation. The professor & his team from the University of Pretoria, South Africa developed a pioneering surgical procedure which they successfully carried out in an almost 2-hour procedure on a forty year old patient who damaged his middle ear bone in an injury. Twenty-five year old Kenyan engineer, Roy Allela, has invented a set of gloves that convert signed hand movements into audible speech. The gloves are rigged with sensors on each finger which detect the full range of motion which are then translated into speech using the text-speech function on android mobile phones. She is at the helm of technological advancement in the contemporary world, a force to reckon with, she is worth her weight in gold & not bereft of intellect like they would have you believe. She is the cradle of humanity, the place where hope calls home. There is more to Africa than the pictures on a non-governmental organization's brochure.

Photocredits: Google, sapeople.com

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