Showing posts with label Youth Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Youth Day. Show all posts

October 29 - National Youth Day in Liberia

Posted October 29, 2020

Thanking the youth of the nation for their participation and sacrifices is a great idea!


And it's an especially good idea for Liberia, because the average age there is 17 years old!!! WOW, that's pretty young!

To compare, the average age in the United States and China is about 40 years old, and the average age in Monaco (a teeny-tiny principality in Europe) is 53!

Did you know...?

Liberia has the cleanest air in its cities in all of Africa. According to WHO, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, China, and other southern-Asian nations have some of the worst urban air quality in the world.

One reason for the relatively clean air might be the lack of smokers. Liberia is among the 20 nations with the fewest smokers per capita (which means per person).

Liberia does not have the biggest tourist industry ever known to humankind...It probably doesn't help that UNESCO hasn't designated even a single World Heritage Site there! (In contrast, China has 55 sites; Germany has 46; the U.S. has 24; Brazil has 22.) 

I think UNESCO should add Sapo National Park
to its list!

Liberia's own airlines aren't allowed to land in Europe (because they don't meet the EU's safety and regulatory standards), and Liberia is sometimes politically unstable.

The Ducor Hotel WAS a 5-star hotel in
Liberia, but it was abandoned in 1989, during
a time of political instability. Now it is a hangout
for kids and possibly for homeless folks.





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March 29 – Youth Day in Taiwan

Posted on March 29, 2020



This is another sad holiday - the commemoration of the unsuccessful Yellow Flower Mound Uprising, when Huang Xing and many fellow revolutionaries forced their way into the home of the Qing viceroy of two provinces of China. The uprising was a surprise attack and was at first successful... But then Qing reinforcements arrived, and the revolt turned into a disaster. 

Many of the dead revolutionaries were never found, but 86 bodies were discovered in a single grave on the Yellow Flower Mound. (Hence the name of the uprising.) Of those 86 bodies, only 72 were identified, and these 72 are considered martyrs and celebrated by name.

All of this happened in late April, 1911, but for some reason Taiwan celebrates the 72 martyrs in late March, as Youth Day.

The Yellow Flower Mound Park














The Mausoleum of the 72 Martyrs - notice the Statue of Liberty on top!







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February 11 - African Holidays (Again!)

Posted on February 11, 2020

The continent of Africa is huge - the second largest in the world. (Actually, this depends on your list of continents, since some people count Europe as separate from Asia, and others bundle them together into Eurasia; and some people count North America as separate from South America, and others bundle them together as the Americas. I am using the 7 continent scheme: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. (Listed from largest to smallest.)
If you put all of Europe into Africa, you'd still have room
left over for three of the largest nations in the world
(#3 China, #4 U.S., and #7 India).

Not only is Africa huge, it's extremely diverse, with lands that are super dry deserts and lands that are warm, humid rainforests; with biological diversity that includes our favorite zoo and circus animals; with human diversity, including the most genetic diversity and also enormous cultural diversity.

You can get a taste of how diverse the cultures are in Africa by realizing that there are between 1,500 and 2,000 languages spoken there!

I'm going to talk a bit about two different African nations that happen to have holidays on the same day - today! - but remember that within each of these nations, there is a. Lot. Of. Diversity!

Today is Armed Forces Day in Liberia.

During the mid-1900s, when so many African nations were suffering from civil wars and military coups, Liberia managed to stay stable under President W. V. S. Tubman. But in the late 1900s, post-Tubman years, the country was plunged into two wars, and the armed forces were entangled in those wars. Many people suffered from horrible acts done by soldiers; much of the armed forces were wiped out, and most of the desire to celebrate the armed forces was wiped out as well!

However, the nation began to restructure its armed forces and paraded before the president and people in 2007.


Today is Youth Day in Cameroon.

Getting kids involved with community and country.

Helping kids become more active in constructive ways.

Youth Day in Cameroon includes parades, workshops, performances, sports, competitions, tree-plantings, and community service projects. 



Here are a few of my favorite places in each nation:

Mount Nimba is a high peak located in Liberia:





Kpatawee Waterfall, in Liberia, is a popular spot for tourists:


I always like ancient formations and ruins:


Mount Cameroon is the highest mountain in Cameroon:


Lobé Waterfalls (in Cameroon) pour directly into the ocean:


Reunification Monument, Cameroon:


The highlands of Cameroon:




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