Senegal

We just learned about the country of Senegal

Senegal is a country on the north west part of Africa, right on the Atlantic Ocean.

(from: wikipedia - senegal)

The flag of senegal is a green stripe, a yellow stripe with a green star in the middle, and a red stripe.
The green, yellow and red are the Pan-African colors that are shared by many other African countries to help join the countries together as one continent.
The green stripe and star are for hope, the yellow is for arts, learning and money and the red is for the blood of the people fighting for the country.

(from: wikipedia - flag of senegal)

To eat in Senegal you might have thiéboudienne, which is fish flavored with parsley, lemon, garlic and onions, then cookied with tomato paste and vegetables and served with rice.

(from: wikipedia - senegalese cuisine)

In Senegal the people use salt wells to help get valuable salt from the ground.

(from: wikipedia - sine-saloum)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Belgium

Malawi

We just learned about the country of Zimbabwe.

Malawi is a country in Africa, in the south east part of the continent.

(from: wikipedia - malawi)

The flag of Malawi is a black stripe with a red rising sun in the middle, a red stripe and a green stripe.
The black stripe is for the African people, the red rising sun is for hope and freedom, the red stripe is for the people fighting for their country, and the green is for nature.


(from: wikipedia - flag of malawi)

To eat in Malawi you might have kachumbari, which is a salad made with tomatoes, onions and chili peppers.

(from: wikipedia - kachumbari)

Lake Malawi is the ninth largest lake in the world.

(from: wikipedia - lake malawi)

Not every place in Malawi has electricity, so a man named William Kamkwamba found a way to make a windmill using old bicycle parts and some scraps from old things people had thrown away.
He used the windmill to give electricity to some things in his house, and people are trying to do the same thing in other parts of the country because they can't afford electricity where they live.

(from: wikipedia - william kamkwamba)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Austria

Zimbabwe

We just learned about the African country of Burkina Faso

Zimbabwe is a country in the southeast part of Africa.


(from: wikipedia - zimbabwe)

The flag of Zimbabwe has seven stripes of green, gold, red, black, red, gold, green.
It has a white triangle on the left side, and in the triangle is a red star with a yellow bird.

The yellow, black, green and red are part of the shared pan-African colors of other African countries.
The green is for the plants and land, the gold is for the minerals like gold or iron that come from the ground, the black is for independence and the red is for the fight for freedom.
The star is for the fight for freedom, and the bird is for the history of Zimbabwe.

(from: wikipedia - flag of zimbabwe)

To eat in Zimbabwe you might have some meat sausage called Boerewors.

(from: wikipedia - boerewors)

There is an ancient city in Zimbabwe called Great Zimbabwe, where people can go to see the ruins of a very old place.

(from: wikipedia - great zimbabwe)

Some of the people of Zimbabwe use the horns of the kudu as a musical instrument.

(from: wikipedia - zimbabwe)

The two people who first created the boy scouts met in Zimbabwe. They both agreed that there should be a group to teach boys things about scouting, and they came up with many great ideas of how to do it. They later returned to their homes in England and America and started the boy scouts.

(from: wikipedia - zimbabwe)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Romania

Burkina Faso

We just learned about the country of Mali

Burkina Faso is a country on the north west part of the African continent.
The name of their country means honest people.

(from: wikipedia - burkina faso)

The flag of Burkina Faso has a red stripe above a green stripe, with a yellow star in the middle.
The red, green and yellow colors represent the continent of Africa all working together. They are called the Pan-African colors, and are found in some other African countries' flags.
The red is for the fight for freedom, the green for the riches from plants and land, and the yellow is the light of the fight for freedom.

(from: wikipedia - flag of burkina faso)

To drink in Burkina Faso you might have Bissap, which is like a tea made from flowers called Rosell.

(from: wikipedia - roselle (plant))

Ouagadougou (pronounced wah-gah-doo-goo) is the capital city in Burkina Faso.

(from: wikipedia - ouagadougou)

The dogon people are a group of people that have traditions where they dress up in masks and dance around.

(from: wikipedia - dogon people)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ukraine

Mali

We just learned about the country of Niger.

Mali is a country in the north west part of Africa.


(from: wikipedia - mali)

The flag of Mali is green, gold and red.
The green is for the plants growing in the country.
The gold is for purity and the precious metals in the ground like gold.
The red is for the blood of the Mali people who fought for freedom.


(from: wikipedia - flag of mali)

To eat in Mali you might have millet, which is a type of grain.

(from: wikipedia - millet)

The city of Timbuktu is in the country of Mali.
Since it has a silly sounding name, and was part of many stories written by a famous person named Leo Africanus, many people thought it was just a made up name and not a real place!

(from: wikipedia - timbuktu)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Netherlands

Niger

We just learned about the country of Zambia.

Niger (sounds like "nah-ee-jer") is a country in Southern part of Africa.


(from: wikipedia - niger)

The flag of Niger has an orange stripe at the top, then a white strip with an orange circle in the middle, and a green stripe at the bottom.

The orange stripe is for the desert, the white stripe is for purity, the green stripe is for hope and the plants and trees, and the orange circle is for the sun and freedom.

(from: wikipedia - flag of niger)

To eat in Niger, you might have jollof rice which is rice, tomatoes, onion, salt and red pepper, with some meat added.

(from: wikipedia - jollof rice)

The Erg of Bilma is a large desert in Niger.

(from: wikipedia - erg of bilma)

There is a festival in Niger called Guérewol, where men dress up in outfits, get their faces painted, dance and sing to try to get young women to marry them.

(from: wikipedia - guérewol)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Finland

Zambia

We just learned about the country of Angola.

Zambia is a country in the southern part of the African continent.


(from: wikipedia - zambia)

The flag of Zambia is mostly green, with an orange eagle in the right corner above three smaller stripes of red, black and orange.

The green is for the country's natural beauty like trees and animals, the red is for the battle for freedom, the black is for the people of Zambia, the orange is for the minerals like gold in the land, and the orange eagle means the people can rise above the country's problems.

(from: wikipedia - flag of zambia)

To eat in Zambia you might have nshima, which is corn ground up into flour, then rolled into a paste kind of like mashed potatoes.

(from: wikipedia - nshima)

Victoria falls is one of the largest waterfalls in the whole world.

(from: wikipedia - victoria falls)


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Angola

We just learned about the country of Ivory Coast.

Angola is a country on the Southeast coast of Africa, on the Atlantic ocean.

(from: wikipedia - angola)

The flag of Angola is a red stripe above a black stripe, with a wheel, knife and star in the middle.

The red stands for the blood of the people fighting for independence.
The black is for the continent of Africa.
The wheel is for the machine workers and the knife is for the farmers.

(from: wikipedia - flag of angola)

To eat in Angola you might have calulu, which is dried fish with vegetabls and rice.

(from: wikipedia - angolan cuisine)

There is a place called Miradouro da Lua which means viewpoint of the moon that many people go to visit.

(from: wikipedia - angola)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sweden

Ivory Coast

We just learned about the African country of Cameroon.

Another African country is Ivory Coast.

The Ivory Coast is a country on the West coast of Africa, right on the Atlantic Ocean.

(from: wikipedia - ivory coast)

The flag of the Ivory Coast is three vertical stripes. Orange for the land, white for peace, and green for hope and the forest.

This flag is interesting, because it is just like the flag of Ireland, except Irelands is green-white-orange instead of orange-white-green.
(from: wikipedia - flag of ivory coast)

To eat in the Ivory Coast, you might have yassa, which is a spicy food cooked with onions and lemons.

(from: wikipedia - yassa (food))

The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace is a huge church in the town of Yamoussoukro.

(from: wikipedia - basilica of our lady of peace of yamoussoukro)

The Ivory Coast was given it's name because they used to sell lots of ivory there. Ivory is made from the tusks of elephants and other animals.
In the past many things were made from ivory, like piano keys. We now have new ways to make piano keys, and we know that killing elephants for their tusks is wrong, so it is against the law to kill elephants for their tusks.

(from: wikipedia - elephant)


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Cameroon

Cameroon is a country in Africa on the West coast, right on the Pacific Ocean.

(from: wikipedia - cameroon)

Just like Ghana, the Cameroon flag has the colors green, red and yellow..
These are sometimes known as the Pan African colors, and countries in Africa share them to show that they are all together in Africa.

The flag has a green stripe for the forests, a red stripe for unity (which means working together), a yellow stripe for the sun and desert, and a yellow star in the middle which also stands for unity.

(from: wikipedia - flag of cameroon)

To eat in Cameroon you might have ndolé, which is a stew of nuts, bitter leaves, and fish or beef.

(from: wikipedia - ndolé)

There is an active volcano called Mount Cameroon that erupts from time to time. The last time it erupted was in 2012.

(from: wikipedia - mount cameroon)

A musical instrument in Cameroon is called the Bamileke drum.

(from: wikipedia - bamileke)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Greece

Madagascar

We just learned about the African country of Mozambique.

Madagascar is an island country in the Indian Ocean off the Southeast coast of Africa.

(from: wikipedia - madagascar)

The flag of Madagascar is white, red and green.
The red and white are for an old kingdom called the Merina kingdom, and the green was the color of the poor people in the country.

(from: wikipedia - flag of madagascar)

To eat in Madagascar you might have voanjobory sy henakisoa, which is a type of groundnut cooked with pork.

(from: wikipedia - malagasy cuisine)

A musical instrument in Madagascar is called the valiha, which is like a long tube with guitar strings strapped to the outside of it, that you play like a guitar.

(from: wikipedia - valiha)

In Madagascar they have a custom called famadihana, where every seven years families dig up the bodies of their famiy members who died long ago, wrap them in fresh cloth, then dance around their burial tombs.


(from: wikipedia - famadihana)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Poland