Imagine Africa

Dr. Tukufu Zuberi, the Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations at the University of Pennsylvania, filmmaker, human rights activist, and host of the PBS series "History Detectives," kicks off the Imagine Africa contemporary issues lecture series, discussing the challenges of making a documentary in Africa. This multimedia presentation explores the power of documentary film making and other forms of media in telling the story of the impact the world has had on Africa, and in turn, the impact Africa has had on the world. This program is co-sponsored by Penn's Center for Africana Studies. Lecture series continues in 2012.

Much has changed in Botswana since President Festus Mogae warned in 2001, "We are threatened with extinction." The HIV/AIDS death rate in Botswana-once one of the highest in the world-has dropped significantly since that dire proclamation. Harvey Friedman, MD, Director of the now 10-year-old Botswana-UPenn Partnership, talks about Penn's role in treating HIV/AIDS in Botswana, new challenges to health in the region, and what we are learning about new ways to treat patients and populations.

Researchers from the Penn Museum visited the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Kenya. Watch this footage of lunchtime with the baby elephants and see how much milk they drink!

Exhibit Designers Kevin Schott and Allie Francies introduce the Imagine Africa Project set to open September 2011.

Researchers from the Penn Museum visited Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in 2010. Watch baby elephants interact with each other.

Researchers from the Penn Museum visited the Mpala Research Center in Laikipia, Kenya. In this video, a family of wild elephants gathers near the research center.

What does Africa mean to you? This is the question that the Penn Museum's new gallery project, "Imagine Africa", will address. Watch this video to see how some community members imagine Africa.

Traditional healing methods, involving plants, minerals, animal products, etc., are used daily throughout Africa. For example, Maasai healers from Kenya use plant-derived medicines to prevent and treat illnesses like malaria, sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, digestive disorders, HIV/AIDS, and arthritis, among many others. The healing compounds created by practitioners are often combined with community or family rituals to address the spiritual and emotional aspects of illness. Western treatments for these ailments may also be used, but their cost and availability often prevent it.

Traditional healing methods, involving plants, minerals, animal products, etc., are used daily throughout Africa. For example, Maasai healers from Kenya use plant-derived medicines to prevent and treat illnesses like malaria, sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, digestive disorders, HIV/AIDS, and arthritis, among many others. The healing compounds created by practitioners are often combined with community or family rituals to address the spiritual and emotional aspects of illness. Western treatments for these ailments may also be used, but their cost and availability often prevent it.

Traditional healing methods, involving plants, minerals, animal products, etc., are used daily throughout Africa. For example, Maasai healers from Kenya use plant-derived medicines to prevent and treat illnesses like malaria, sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, digestive disorders, HIV/AIDS, and arthritis, among many others. The healing compounds created by practitioners are often combined with community or family rituals to address the spiritual and emotional aspects of illness. Western treatments for these ailments may also be used, but their cost and availability often prevent it.