Blog 2 - Tunisia

Hello!

After we visited Nigeria, we continued our travel to the second country, Tunisia.

This country is currently going through a difficult period in its history. In January, the people of Tunisia started a revolution against their president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. They protested against the high unemployment in the country, corruption and censorship. This protest is called the Jasmine Revolution, after the national flower of Tunisia.

Now, a month later, the president has fled the country and the revolution has come to an end. Tunisia is now searching for its own independence. Many Tunisians thought that a lot would change after the revolution. But their lives haven’t really changed. The curfew has been lifted, but they still don’t have a date for the next elections. People know that they have some rights, but they don’t know how far these rights go and what the limits of these freedoms are.

First of all, I would like to say that Tunisia is a very beautiful country, but because of this revolution, it is not the best time to visit Tunisia. The country has lost a lot of its potential visitors, because of the political and economical problems. Our trip could have been a lot better and easier if we hade come at a different time.

I think it is very important that the local population has the right to speak their mind. These protests show that there are a lot of things that need to change in this country. The departure of the previous president is a good beginning. But things should continue to develop.

Belgium is struggling with a similar problem. Approximately 260 days after the elections, there is still no government. People are starting to wonder, if the politicians will ever get to an agreement. I am also of the opinion that it is taking the politicians too long.

To conclude, I can say that our trip to Tunisia wasn’t a big success. I would still come back to this country, but only if the political problems are solved. And I wouldn’t travel through the country, but stay in a nice hotel at the coast, far away from all these problems. If you want to know more about Tunisia after the revolution, this is the source I used: http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/02/16/curry.tunisia.snapshot.cnn?iref=allsearch

The next country we are going to visit is Italy. I am really looking forward to it!

Bye

Elisa Debleu

Tunesia

Hello everybody,

The next country I’ve visited is Tunisia, Tunisia is known for its grand tourism, they say that it’s the most European country of North Africa. But there are also negative points in Tunisia, for example: there is much poverty and a high degree of unemployment, corruption is also unavoidable there.

Today, there are many political changes in Tunisia. The people of Tunisia must elect a new president because president Ben Ali has left the country. Why the president has left the country is because the people protested against his course of action. He dictated all the people and they must all listen to him. The riots have caused many injuries and deaths so there was a lot more panic in Tunisia and all the tourists must left the country.
It’s an enormous challenge for Tunisia to rebuild the political system with all those riots, the country may even fall into a anarchy.
The Tunisian revolution has started in December 2010 because a man had committed suicide because there are no good prospects for Tunisia and the poverty level continues to rise.
So everyone was in revolt, especially those who has just graduated and they were immediately unemployed.

So Tunisia has to do something quickly because the protests should stop.

My opinion is that it’s the fault of the ex-president Ben Ali. Because he handled in a way that was the best for him and not for the country. He only took account of himself and commanded everyone.
I think they must follow the presidents strictly and the presidents cannot take decisions by themselves, they must consult with other persons. The people who live in Tunisia are right to protest, the president must take into account with his people.

So it was not a funny journey through Tunisia with all those with all the protest, but I’m glad I’ve learned something about the politics of Tunisia. I hope it’s more fun in Italy…
I see you there.

Source: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/tunisia/index.html

Charlotte De Hainaut

Tunisia

Hello!

Here I am again. I stayed in Tunisia for a couple of days and the day after tomorrow I go to the next country: Italy! Here is an update about my stay in Tunisia:

I stayed in Djerba, more specific in Zarzis. The view that you have on the beach is really beautiful. But no one would ever think that a couple of days ago there took place a dramatic story! A ship, that was leaving the fishing port of Zarzis to go to Europe, was intercepted by the Tunisian coast guard. There were 120 people on board of the ship, some looking for work in Europe, some on their way to visit someone. The coast guard ordered the captain of the ship to stop and said the passengers should lay down on the ground. After that the coast guarders hit them and the ship turned into the water, upside down.

There was 1 survivor who wanted to tell his side of the facts. He saw a friend holding on to the ship and yelling that he didn’t want to die! Almost everyone who was on the ship is missing or drowned. He and his cousin survived the whole incident. He doesn’t know exactly how he and his cousin survived it. The only thing he knows is that they found some food and that the water was very cold.

The story that the government is telling is a whole other story! They say that the captain of the ship refused to stop and that they picked up 85 people who survived the whole incident. Only 5 people are dead.

In what a cruel world are we living?! That’s the question that came up in my head when I saw the video. The story that the man is telling sounds like something unreal, something that just cannot happen. These people were just looking for work in Europe or wanted to visit someone in Europe. They haven’t done anything wrong! The fact that the coast guard ordered the captain to stop is not that bad because the coast guard have to do his job also. But the fact that the coast guarders hit the people that were on the ship is just a terrible thing. I think that the guarders just take advantage of their position. And of course, the government is telling another story. They just don’t want to face the facts, the truth! They say that only 5 people are dead, but there are a lot of other people that argue this fact. I think that Tunisians face a tough journey in their hunt for safer shores.

I’m leaving Tunisia with a strange feeling. Everything looks so peaceful and quite. But on the other hand there is a lot of unrest among the people. I’ll talk to you soon when I’m in Italy!

Bye

Noerens Libera

The video I was talking about: http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/02/18/curry.tunisia.survivors.cnn?iref=videosearch 

Tunesia!

Hey again!

Meanwhile I arrived in Tunisia. Here’s my second weekly blog:

I posted a movie of a protest action of more than 30.000 people in the streets of Tunisia on the 12^th of January 2011. It took place in Sfax, a Tunesian city near the Mediterranean Sea. People were protesting because of the huge and unfair authority of their government. They wanted to show people how it really is to live in Tunesia and not how the government shows outsiders what it is like. Shortly we may say that the Tunesian people are just fighting for their freedom and against the authority of their government.
Sad part of the story is that two people died during the protest action. They were shot.

I think it’s important that the Tunisian people stand up for their rights and fight against the government and its authorities. For people in other countries this might seem ‘far away’ but in one way or another we’re connected with every country in the world. The bad political situation of Tunesia will have its indirect consequences on countries like ours too. I think these protests can produce a huge progress for Tunesia since they’re infectious. Other cities of Tunesia may start protesting too because they’ve seen what result it may have. It’s time for the Tunesian population to speak because if they don’t do it now, it’ll only get worse and more difficult to do something about it. It can also be a help for people in other countries to see what’s happening here in Tunesia since this isn’t the only country with an authoritarian government. The pity side of such a protest action is that it always brings dead people with it. People who are shot by police officers or who are being trampled and so one. It’s a pity that there always has to be a bad side to good things.
And last but not least I think it’s a circle that never ends. If something has to be done against the authority of the government, it will probably have to be done by someone else with authority. In that way the problem of too much authority and neglecting human rights will always stay an important political and social issue of the country.

Check out the video yourself by going to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBsyEhjr2_0.

So, that was my blog for this week. See (read: hear) you all when I arrive in the country of love and culture, Italy.

التحدي!

Kimberly Pauwels

Blog 1 - Nigeria

Hey

This is the first blog I am going to post during our journey from Nigeria to Norway. All of these countries have a very interesting culture and political system. I think I will learn and see a lot during this trip. To keep you updated, I will post a blog about every country I visit.

Nigeria is the first country we (me and a couple of friends) visited. It is a beautiful country with a lot of historical background. Nigeria has the largest population in Africa and you can find a lot of natural resources throughout the country. One of these natural resources is the oil-production. Nigeria is the six largest oil-producing nation in the world. It also has a well-educated and industrious society.

This surprised me! Before I came to this country, I thought it was an underdeveloped country, where most people live in poverty. But I discovered this isn’t true at all. Many Nigerians have a good education and a well-paid job. Because off it’s natural resources, Nigeria has a prosperous economy.

While we were travelling through the country, I saw churches of different cultures. I found out that many different religions are followed in Nigeria. There is a policy of religious freedom in this country, so everyone can believe in the religion he or she wants. Most of the Christians live in the south of the country, Muslims are located in the north. Of course there are also indigenous believes in Nigeria, but only a small part off the population follows these believes.

I think it is really important to have a policy of religious freedom, especially when there are many different believes in one country. People should accept someones believe, even if it isn’t the same as their own. This is still a major problem in Belgium. Some people are not open enough to other religions. They don’t understand what those other religions are about, because they don’t try to understand. Everybody should be free to believe what he or she wants, weither it is Christianity, Islam, Judaism or another religion.

As my journey continued through Nigeria, these were the things I noticed most.
If you want to know more about this country, you can go to the source I used: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/nigeria.html

The next country where me and my friends will stop, is Tunisia. While we are in Tunisia, I will write another blog on the culture and political problems. I hope you will keep following my adventures during my trip from Nigeria to Norway.

Bye,

Elisa Debleu

Nigeria

Hi everyone,

So, this is my first blog. I started my journey in Nigeria, more particularly in Lagos. Because of my studies, Marketing, I’m very interested in business in general. So I thought it might be nice to stay in the biggest business centre of Nigeria for a while. What I have learned from my 1 week stay in Nigeria is that it has an amazing and impressive economy. So, this is something I should really tell you more about.

First of all, the currency here is the naira (sign: ₦; code: NGN) and it is subdivided into 100 kobo. You have 3 sorts of coins: 50 kobo, 1 & 2 naira. You have also banknotes: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 & 1000 naira. At this moment 1 € = 210 Naira and 1USD = 154 Naira. Once you got that, it’s time for some shopping!

Another thing you should know about Nigeria’s economy is that Nigeria is ranked the 44^th worldwide and 3^rd in Africa in factory output. That is something I would never had expected! An example: in 2000, oil and gas exports accounted for more than 98% of export earnings and 83% of federal government revenue. Well, that can count! The largest trading partner of Nigeria is the United Kingdom, followed by the United States.

At last, I will tell you something about transport in Nigeria. The main thing about transport in Nigeria is that it’s owned by the government. And of course, that is a major constraint to economic development. There are 3 big ports you must see when you visit Nigeria: Lagos, Port Harcourt and Calabar. These ports are really impressive! When I visited the Lagos port, I met someone who told me that the docking fees for freighters are among the highest in the world! Besides the ports, Nigeria has another important source of transportation: airports. There are several airports in Nigeria, but only 4 of them currently receive international flights: Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Abuja. What’s remarkable here is that Nigeria Airways, the airport owned by the government, is not in the list of the airports who receive international flights!

I was really blown away when I read this on a webpage. Before my trip to Nigeria, I thought Nigeria was poor, far away from reality, … But after being here, that image has changed totally! Nigeria is ranked the 44^th (worldwide!) in factory output. It has 3 big ports and several airports. So unlike what I thought, Nigeria is not at all cut off from the outside world, the real world.

If you want to know more about the impressive economy of Nigeria, here is the source I used: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Nigeria

I hope you enjoyed my explanation. Tomorrow I leave Nigeria behind and go to the next stop of our travel: Tunisia. See you then for another interesting blog!

Bye,

Libera Noerens

Nigeria

Hello, I’m in Nigeria now…
And I see a lot of unfinished buildings and places, I see also destroyed buildings and places. I wanted to know why was that and I went on research.
Immense oil riches have been replaced to places like this, but they have not brought the country peace because there are still kidnapping, sabotage, deadly bombing attacks,…
They fear for a new wave of attacks on the oil industry.

Nigeria is a country that earns a lot from its oil riches, but nobody know what the government does with the money they earn from that business.
We all know that Nigeria isn’t a rich country, but they were making good progress and then suddenly a lot of money disappear to expenses where a lot of people didn’t knew about it.
A portion of the money has been spent on failed efforts to upgrade Nigeria’s image, but nobody knows where the other part of the money is.
If they have money, they spend it wrongly. They build a beautiful building next to an unfinished house, this doesn’t give a positive image of the country.
And sometimes a few people decide to invest in huge projects, but the other people of the government don’t  know about something. They didn’t give a great picture of how the money is spend in their country.

The government must do something about it, because some situations are not normal anymore, for example: none of the schools have been renovated and sometimes the students sitting in the rain.

My opinion is that the government of Nigeria must take their responsibility and they have to justify on what they spend the money. It’s not good for the image of the country that there are everywhere unfinished places and buildings because when the tourists see that they never want to go back there (I don’t want to go back there).
Nigeria is not a rich country and if they cannot deal with money, than they have problems in advance.
The government is the head of the country and they must provide for money, so than they really have to do that and not spend the money on pointless projects.
Now, I don’t like to stay here, so I hope I can quickly go to another country.

I’ll talk to you at the next blog.

Bye

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/09/world/africa/09nigeria.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=nigeria&st=cse

Charlotte De Hainaut