KAMPALA, Uganda — Jessica Kambabazi took her father, who tested positive for Covid-19 on June 21, to International Hospital Kampala, a private health facility in East African country Uganda, when his condition worsened. But after four days, the family took him home after the bill shot up to Sh8 million [$2,251]. “The hospital asked us to pay an Sh4 million [$1,120] deposit before they could start treating him, which we did,” Kambabazi told Zenger News. “But after four days, we realized we could no longer afford to pay the medical bills, which were increasing daily. We left the hospital.” International Hospital Kampala’s…
Author: zenger.news
NAKURU, Kenya — When the Covid-19 pandemic devastated Kenya’s tourism industry, a group of Maasai women in Narok County, who, for decades, depended on selling beadwork and trinkets to tourists for income, discovered an unlikely alternative way to survive: making soap from elephant dung. “When the first case of Covid-19 was reported, followed by travel restrictions, our businesses dropped, and in no time, we were recording zero sales,” Joyce Monika, the chair lady of Sikinani Women Group in Narok West Sub-County, told Zenger News. “Luckily, a benefactor held our hands in our time of need and empowered us with skills for this…
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe — Bulawayo-Misheck Ndlovu, 42, from Tsholotsho district, western Zimbabwe, tears up when he narrates growing up without his parents, killed a year after the country’s post-independence civil war started in 1983. The war ended in 1987. “I was only five years old when they died,” Bulawayo-Misheck Ndlovu told Zenger News. “My father was made to lie on his stomach, and soldiers started beating him using sjambok [a heavy leather whip] and gun butt. I remember hearing gunshots at the other side of our homestead, only to realize that my mother had been killed while trying to flee.” After attaining…
Conforme la población del mundo envejece, se acrecientan los problemas relacionados con el cuidado de los ancianos: ¿Quién cuida de nuestros parientes mayores?, ¿lo hacen bien?, ¿cómo hacemos seguimiento de su bienestar y seguridad de manera sensible? La startup israelí Sensi.AI cree tener la solución al cuidado correcto de los ancianos. Para ello, se vale de un sistema auditivo impulsado por inteligencia artificial que monitorea la rutina diaria de una persona, su medio ambiente y su bienestar. Sesi-AI dice que puede mejorar la tasa de retención de los cuidadores y garantizar la calidad de la atención, no solo para el…
FREEHOLD, N.J. — Volunteers gathered here on June 26 to clean a rundown burial ground for black Civil War veterans — the first step in a local community campaign to turn the site into a historical landmark and help restore the legacy of soldiers who fought to end slavery in America. More than 50 participants, including the young, old, and people from different races, spent their Saturday clearing away overgrown weeds, fallen trees and debris from the Squirrel Town Historical Cemetery, where an estimated 35 black Civil War veterans lay in rest. Led by the Bethel AME Church, which owns the…
The U.K. Royal Navy has tested the Sea Ceptor missile system that is set to be installed on six of its Type 45 destroyers and shared footage of the system being fired from its silo on the frigate HMS Montrose. The six destroyers to receive the new missile system are the HMS Daring, Dauntless, Dragon, Diamond, Defender and Duncan in a $688 million deal with MBDA Missile Systems, a joint venture of three leading European aerospace and defense companies: Airbus (37.5 percent), BAE Systems (37.5 percent) and Leonardo (25 percent) that’s based in Le Plissis Robinson, France. “The weapon —…
GABORONE, Botswana — The month of June 2021 was good for Botswana’s diamond industry. Two fresh discoveries from two different mines cemented the country’s claim to be “diamond-rich”. Two high-quality gems, weighing 1,098 and 1,174.76 carats, were discovered at Jwaneng and Karowe, mines respectively, within a week of each other. Jwaneng Mine, a subsidiary of Debswana, a company owned 50-50 by mining giant De Beers and the Botswana government, made the first discovery on June 1, setting a new record for the mine after 28 years. “This discovery forms an exciting new chapter in Debswana’s story and its future potential,” Debswana Acting Managing Director Lynette Armstrong told Zenger…
Two thieves live-streamed being chased by police in Northern England on the Snapchat messaging app after stealing an all-terrain vehicle from a farm. The chase took place in Teesdale in County Durham in May. Both thieves have since been jailed for 20 months. Durham Constabulary said on social media: “Snapchat — the quickest way to share a police pursuit and fast track yourself to prison!” “Two burglars proved they aren’t the brightest sparks after live-streaming their police pursuit over Snapchat — which ended when they were caught and arrested by officers,” Durham police said. The police added the suspect, Leon…
A new study suggests gender stereotypes around reading might be the factor holding boys back in the classroom. The research was published in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Inclusive Education. In what is described as an “unexpected” and “significant” finding, fiction is the most favored reading genre for schoolboys, compared with nonfiction, comics and magazines. Well over half (57 percent) of the boys said they liked fiction or storybooks “a lot,” according to research based on more than 300 pupils ages 7 to 8 in Australia. Girls were more likely to rate enjoyment of reading nonfiction more highly than boys…
MELBOURNE, Australia — The government of the Australian state of Victoria will spend AU$21.1 million ($15.8 million) to build 62 homes for regional Victorians living with mental illness. The homes will be built in four priority areas — Ballarat West (70 miles west of Melbourne), Drouin (55 miles east of the state capital), North Bendigo in central Victoria, and the railway township of Seymour, North of Melbourne — as part of the government’s AU$5.3 billion ($3.9 billion) social housing construction blitz, unveiled in the 2020 state budget. The homes are in addition to 84 under construction in Epping, Laverton, Mooroopna, and…