"Sungka" The Philippine Mancala

Here is the Philippine traditional "Sungka", which is their own version of the African "Mancala" game. We use shells and it is pretty much the same rules and everything as Mancala. However, if you land on an empty hole with the opposite hole having some shells, you are able to take their shells and place them in your side, or "head" of the board. This is seen in the video I posted below.

Playing Sungka

When I grew up in the Philippines, I played this game a lot when we went on beach trips. It is a fun game to play with family and friends when you are just hanging out, whether it is indoors or outdoors.



A more "fancy" sungka set, that some family's keep in their homes.

Violent protests spreading

Since I work in a Global Security Operations department, we have to monitor the world news while we are here at work. Currently, I am seeing that the violent protesting outside of US embassies, has spread to Yemen, and even Tunisia! The footage I am watching on the big screen right now is unbelievable. These people are so outraged. We can only hope for the best.

Women Empowerment in The Gambia

"Sira Ndow, deputising for the UNDP resident representative, stated that the government of The Gambia is making progress in the achievement of gender equality and women empowerment, in line with the international norms and standards and with a strong national commitment. She said: "This is evident as we gather here today to share the strategic and forward looking gender policy with all key stakeholders". Previously, she revealed, the National Policy for the Advancement of Gambian Women (NPAGW 1999-2009) was formulated and served as the reference for addressing gender inequalities."

I had no idea that women's rights were actually being established in The Gambia. I definitely will be doing more research into this! I thought this was pretty cool so I have copy and pasted bits from the article. The United Nations Development Program and United Nations Population fund have been supporting the development of the Gender and Women Empowerment Policy 2010-2020. Amie Nije, deputy permanent secretary implied that there are twelve thematic areas that are expected to contribute towards the overall advancement of gender equality in The Gambia.

"The priority areas, she highlighted, include capacity building for gender mainstreaming; poverty reduction, economic empowerment and livelihoods development; gender and education; gender and health and HIV/Aids; gender and human rights; gender and governance; gender and the environment; and Women's empowerment."
Amazing! 

Cited works :
"AllAfrica." AllAfrica.com: Gambia: Stakeholders Sensitised On Gender Policy 2010-2020. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Sept. 2012. <http://allafrica.com/stories/201209100888.html>.