wfn.org | All Africa News Agency Sept 29 2003 (b)

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

ALL AFRICA NEWS AGENCY
P. O Box, 66878, 00800 Westlands,
NAIROBI, Kenya
Tel: 254-2-4442215 or 4440224; Fax: 254-2-4445847, or 4443241;
Email: aanaapta@nbnet.co.ke

AANA Bulletin				Bulletin APTA
  Editor -Elly Wamari			Editor - Silvie Alemba

AANA BULLETIN No. 38/03 September 29, 2003 (b)

FEATURES  SECTION

Discovering The Origin And Meaning Of Apocrypha

At the recent state-funeral held for the Late Kenyan Vice-President, 
Michael Wamalwa, many Kenyans were baffled when a Biblical text was read 
from the Roman Catholic Bible's book of Wisdom. Understandably in a country 
where 43 percent of citizens are Protestant, this was bound to cause 
curiosity. The book of Wisdom is contained in the little known Apocrypha, 
which our Correspondent Janet Adongo, explains.

I
n Africa, where Christians are the majority, the major versions of the 
Bible that are in use are the New International Version, the King James 
Version, the Revised Standard Version and the Good News Bible.

All these translations exclude the Apocrypha, in which the book of Wisdom 
is contained.  It is in this regard that an attempt is made to discover the 
origin of the Apocrypha, and why some religions choose to erase them from 
their versions of the Bible.

According to the Encarta Reference Library, Apocrypha (Greek apokryphos, 
"hidden"), is a word coined by the 5th Century biblical scholar, Saint 
Jerome, for the biblical books received by the Church of his time, as part 
of the Greek version of the Old Testament, but which were not included in 
the Hebrew Bible.

In the Authorised or King James Version, the books are either printed as an 
appendix or are omitted altogether. Protestants do not consider them 
canonical.  The order as well as the number of biblical books differ 
between the Jewish Bible and the Protestant and Roman Catholic versions of 
the Bible.

The Bible of Judaism is in three distinct parts: The Torah, or Law, also 
called the books of Moses; the Nebiim, or Prophets, divided into the 
Earlier and Latter Prophets; and the Ketubim, or Writings, including 
Psalms, wisdom books, and other literature.

According to a former Professor of Religious Studies, Rev Bruce Vawter, the 
Septuagint was received by the Christian Church from Hellenistic 
Judaism.  The books included in the Septuagint that were excluded by the 
non-Hellenistic Jews from their canon were Judith, the Wisdom of Solomon, 
Tobit, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, and the two books of Maccabees.

Of these, Judith and Tobit are best described as edifying historical 
fiction, and Baruch, as an appendage to the Book of Jeremiah, written in 
the person of Jeremiah's secretary.

Wisdom and Sirach are testimonies to the wisdom tradition of Israel, 
otherwise represented in the books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. The 
books of Maccabees are historical works in the tradition of the books of 
Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles.

Also generally included with the Apocrypha are the two books of Esdras, 
additions to the Book of Esther (Esther 10:4-10), the Song of the Three 
Young Men (Daniel 3:24-90), Susanna (Daniel 13), Bel and the Dragon (Daniel 
14), and the Prayer of Manasseh.

Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians still follow the Septuagint and 
include in the canon of the Bible, all the Apocrypha, except the two books 
of Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh.

They generally refer to the Protestant Apocrypha as deuterocanonical books 
(writings included in the Roman Catholic canon of the Bible, and, with 
certain exceptions, in the canon of the Orthodox Church, but not in the 
Hebrew canon), and reserve the term "Apocrypha" for those books entirely 
outside the biblical canon, which Protestants call  pseudepigrapha (Greek 
pseudepigraphos, "falsely ascribed").

Protestants and Jews customarily use the term "Pseudepigrapha" to describe 
those writings that Roman Catholics would term Apocrypha, that is, late 
Jewish writings that all scholars consider extra-canonical.

Such works include the Book of Jubilees, the Psalms of Solomon, the Fourth 
Book of Maccabees, the Book of Enoch, the Fourth Book of Ezra, the 
Apocalypse of Baruch, and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, all of 
which are ascribed to canonical worthies of the Old Testament, and have not 
been preserved in their original Hebrew or Aramaic.

With the growth of a historical perspective in biblical studies during the 
19th Century, the value of the Apocrypha as historical sources came to be 
generally recognised.  Derived from 300 BC to New Testament times, the 
Apocrypha shed valuable light on the period between the end of the Old 
Testament narrative, and the opening of the New Testament.

They are also important sources of information on the development of belief 
in resurrection and other questions of eschatology, as well as the 
increasing impact of Hellenistic ideas on Judaism.

The last major step in the history of the Christian canon took place during 
the Protestant Reformation.  When Martin Luther translated the Bible into 
German, he rediscovered what others, notably St. Jerome, the 4th Century 
biblical scholar, had known - that the Old Testament had originated in 
Hebrew.  He removed from his Old Testament, the books that were not in the 
Bible of Judaism and established them as the Apocrypha.

This step was an effort to return to the presumed earliest, and therefore, 
best text and canon, and to establish in opposition to the authority of the 
Church, the authority of that older version of the Bible.

Although a lot of attention is paid to the Old Testament Apocrypha, little 
is known and even mentioned about the "lost books" of the New 
Testament.  The Apocryphal New Testament is a title that refers to more 
than 100 books written by Christian authors between the 2nd and 4th
Centuries.

The books have two characteristics in common. In general form, they 
resemble New Testament writings, many of them falling into the literary 
categories of gospel, acts, letter, and apocalypse.  Secondly, they belong 
neither to the New Testament canon nor to the writings of the recognised 
Fathers of the Church.

A Theologian and Religious Author, Louis Martyn, adds that some of the 
writings were for initiates in groups such as the Gnostics. Others were 
written for open and general use in the churches in which their authors 
were members. They simply failed to become accepted as part of the orthodox 
canon of the Bible.

Some of the writings, such as the Gospel According to the Hebrews, may have 
held a place of importance in the common life of Jewish Christians. Still, 
others like the Letter of Eugnostos, a collection of Gnostic treatises that 
was discovered in 1945-46, were read in Gnostic circles.

The Infancy Story of Thomas and the Acts of Pilate addressed the curiosity 
of common people in the Church at large, by filling gaps in the biblical 
writing with highly far-fetched details about the unknown aspects of Jesus' 
life.

Roman Catholics and Protestants use the term Apocrypha differently when 
referring to biblical literature.  Both, however, refer to the same books 
when they speak of the Apocryphal New Testament.

Sporadic Fighting Exposes Fragility Of Peace Deal

Although Charles Taylor has gone into exile after years of fighting with 
rebels, Liberia is still not a country at peace. Humanitarian agencies 
working here report a volatile situation, with sporadic fighting and 
displacements going on in rural areas. Some of the NGOs have warned that 
complacency that the country is "walking" into peace could obscure 
provision of humanitarian assistance, writes AANA Correspondent Muuna Wamuli.

L
iberia is not a country at peace yet, even after former president, Charles 
Taylor, relinquished power to his deputy, Moses Blah on August 11, and left 
the country for exile in Nigeria.

Taylor was forced to leave the country after about three years of fighting 
with two rebel groups - Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy 
(LURD), and Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) - who had launched an 
armed campaign to dislodge him, plunging the once thriving African country 
into a ravaging civil war.

By June this year, when the fighting reached Monrovia, the country's 
capital, two-thirds of the country had already experienced fighting, which 
had killed the health, social and learning sectors, and forced civilians to 
flee to camps or to Monrovia.

As early as 1999 when the civil war started, Monrovia had decayed, 
struggling without basic public facilities such as piped water, sewage, 
roads, and electricity, just like other parts of Liberia.  The only 
international airport could not accommodate the landing and take-off of 
most aircraft.

The neighbouring Ivory Coast and members of the Mano River Union, namely 
Guinea and Sierra Leone, have been adversely affected politically, socially 
and economically by the Liberian war, such that they now need help in 
reconstruction.

Against this background, a ray of hope emerged in Liberia with the arrival 
of first contingent of ECOMIL forces on August 4.  In 10 days, calm and 
some peace started to return to the capital as the forces took over the 
Free Port of Monrovia and Bushrod Island.

This event led to an increase in humanitarian activities.  Aid supplies, 
once holed up in the port, became accessible. But against this optimism, 
fierce fighting and displacement of civilian populations re-emerged, and 
continues to be reported in parts of upcountry.

Early this month (September 9), an international medical aid organisation, 
Midecins San Frontihres (MSF), said that although there was some calm in 
Monrovia, the country was far from being peaceful.

Dr Morten Rostrup, MSF International Council President, addressing the UN 
Security Council, said MSF was concerned that the prevailing optimism among 
states, UN agencies and NGOs that Liberia is well on the road to peace and 
reconstruction, was "undermining the urgent response required to meet the 
massive needs of the people today".

In that one week, MSF said it had recorded more than 50,000 displaced 
people, including sick patients from its feeding centres and cholera 
treatment facilities, and another unknown number of civilians fleeing their 
camps in Maimu and Totota regions.

In a state of shock, MSF said, those who are seeking refuge and minimal 
assistance spoke of violence they endured during their flight, including 
beating, torture, rape and looting. Most of them had lost all their
belongings.

The MSF reports were corroborated by Action by Churches Together (ACT) 
International, which said that despite the presence of ECOMIL peacekeepers 
in and around Monrovia, government militia and rebel forces remained armed 
and continued to engage in looting sprees, harassment and killings of
citizens.

The world-wide network of churches and related agencies meeting human needs 
through a co-ordinated response, reported that three weeks after the 
signing of a peace plan on August 18 in Accra, Ghana, fresh outbursts of 
fighting have been reported about 140 kilometres north-east of Monrovia, 
displacing an estimated 60,000 people.

"This shows that three quarters of the country is still very unsafe, making 
it very difficult for humanitarian organisations to provide relief 
assistance to hundreds of thousands of affected people," the agency said.

Indeed, Lutheran World Federation-World Service (LWF-WS) representative for 
Liberia, Charles Pitchford, early this month said that the LWF staff had 
been hearing sounds of small arms and heavy weapons fire in the LURD-held 
territory of Gbarnga south in central Liberia.

In mid August, the ACT Co-ordinating Office in Geneva sent an assessment 
team to Liberia to assist ACT members on the ground to plan a response to 
the emergency.

Subsequent updates provided forced the agency to revise its assistance 
appeal for Liberia it had made in January, to meet the new costs occasioned 
by the devastation of the war.	The appeal targeted fighting between early 
June and August, which had claimed hundreds of lives with over 350,000 
people displaced in Monrovia and its environs.

As the war rages on, the NGO community is now beginning to look at 
potentials for agriculture and food security projects, as a plan for the 
near future, once ECOMIL has adequately deployed soldiers to ensure 
security in the up-country.

LWF-WS in Liberia had agriculture projects implemented in more than half of 
the counties in Liberia and anticipates returning to those communities when 
security and funding permits.

United Nation Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) is planning a seeds 
and tools distribution, which are urgently needed for displaced persons as 
well as community-based projects.

But the agencies working here say the major task at hand now is for the 
relief organisations, to effectively respond to the urgent humanitarian 
situation facing the displaced persons.

These people lack adequate sanitary facilities, health care, food and 
shelter among others, which require the immediate attention of the 
international community.  Health statistics received from a sample of these 
communities are indeed alarming.

NGOs working here report that in the wake of the civil conflict in Liberia, 
the culture of violence and impunity is prominent, a situation that could 
easily spark off further violence.

According to reports, Liberian civilians are highly stressed, traumatised, 
apprehensive, and full of anxiety.

The people's future appeared desolate and impossible, as they see no 
growth, progress, or development, but instead stagnation, decadence, and 
decline.

The continuing pockets of war only make situations worse.  Most people 
carry an apathetic, indifferent, and reserved attitude.

How Second Hand Wears Gained Root In Africa

Second-hand clothes from the West have flourished in African markets, in 
the process killing a hitherto vibrant textile industry.  But to wearers, 
the clothes are a blessing because they are mostly "fashionable" and 
"affordable". Anthony Nabiliki takes a critical look at the pros and cons 
of mitumba, as they are fondly referred to in Kenya.

J
osh Maina, 61, fondly reminisces the good old days of his childhood, when 
children ran around stark naked. Then came the age when all most children 
could own as a form of clothing, was a single khaki pair of shorts and in 
some occasions, a khaki shirt, which doubled up as school uniform.

He remembers how time changed again and small time tailors were the only 
source of clothes in the community, and fashion narrowed down to the little 
available designs.

Times have since changed and seen the advancement of competitive fashion 
designs. With the transition came the textile industries and boutiques, 
from where people bought their clothes.  Along the way with declining 
economy, second hand clothes, locally known as mitumba in Kenya, came to 
be.

The genesis of the mitumba business in the country and other African 
nations stems back to the mid-eighties. Then, only a few people sold and 
bought second-hand clothes, with it being regarded as a reserve for the 
truly underprivileged.

The clothes came to the country as aid to the poor from various charities 
in the west. Many Kenyans, at that time, believed that the second-hand 
clothes once belonged to dead white people. So much so, that the clothes 
were christened "the Late George's attires".

At that time, there was some stigma associated with wearing them. But 
today, many a Kenyan rely on these clothing for both casual and office wear.
.
Judging from her mode of dressing, Daisy Wanjiru, a 27-year-old sales lady, 
could easily pass for a high-class office executive. On quantifying the 
clothes she is wearing, one gets a whole new perception to "cheap" fashion.

With a pair of red high-heeled shoes worth Ksh 200 (about US$ 2.6) , a red 
cotton skirt with a matching coat, both worth Kshs 500 (US$ 6.6), and a Ksh 
50 (US$ 0.6) silk sleeveless blouse, all summing up to a mere Kshs 750 (US$ 
10), she is neatly dressed.

She steps out, confidently rivalling her wealthier peers, who are dressed 
up in more or less the same way as she is, only that they have spent more.

"I am not ashamed of wearing these clothes since they are fashionable and 
cheap, even though they are second-hand," she confidently asserts.

Wanjiru is not alone, with 6 out of every 10 people living below the 
poverty line, majority of Kenyans are contented owners of these "hand-outs" 
from the west.

One can safely argue that the mitumba business has created job 
opportunities to many. The famous Gikomba market in Nairobi, which is the 
biggest of its kind in East and Central Africa, is host to thousands of 
second-hand clothes traders from all over East Africa, and beyond.

There, one can acquire clothes from as little as Ksh 10 (US$ 0.1) to Ksh 
1000 (US$ 13). Katana Mdive, a trader at the market, from Tanzania, says: 
"I came to Kenya in 1996 to do this business and I have no regrets 
whatsoever."

Katana is among hundreds of other Tanzanian youth who have set up shop in 
major second-hand clothes open-air markets in Kenya.

Granted, the ordinary man gets to look fashionable at an affordable price 
and a good number of people earn a living through mitumba sales, but on the 
business paints a grim picture on the other side of the coin.

Rashid Kanzune, 50, was once an established cotton farmer at the Bura 
irrigation scheme in Tana River district, within Kenya's coastal 
region.  As the cotton industry came crushing down during the advent of 
cheap imported second-hand clothes, so did Mzee Kanzune's livelihood.

"I cleared my cotton crop and opted to growing subsistence crops in order 
to sustain my family," says the old man in visible detestation. "I was not 
making any sales out of the cotton since no factory was ready to buy the 
cotton," he adds.

Many other people who have been adversely affected by mitumba, share 
Kanzune's lamentations. Former employees of the then well established 
textile industries were rendered jobless after their employers failed to 
keep up with the competition introduced by the cheaply imported second-hand 
clothes.

"I was turned destitute overnight, and since I was the sole breadwinner in 
my family, feeding and raising school fees for my children has become a 
nightmare," says a former employee of the now defunct Kisumu Cotton Mills 
(KICOMI).

Dermatologists have established that some second hand clothes transmit skin 
disorders when not well disinfected. Worse cases have seen people contact 
venereal complications from second hand innerwear.

Brian recalls how he developed athlete's foot (a fungal infection) after 
wearing second hand socks he had bought at a throw-away price.

Many people attribute the flourishing of mitumba business to lack of skills 
by local cloth-makers, who are blamed for producing flimsy designs that are 
not as appealing to fashion lovers, as the second-hand clothes designed in 
the West do.

Patrick Amoy, a fashion designer based in Nairobi, dismisses this claim, 
saying that their designs are quite good and are compatible to those in 
developed countries like France and the United States.

"People buy second hand clothes solely because they are cheap compared to 
locally made clothes," says Patrick, who plies his trade at a Nairobi market.

He adds that the media is also to blame, since it is a tool used by the 
Westerners to dictate to Africans what "real fashion" is, causing them to 
despise their own creations.

Patrick complains: "Only a handful of individuals in the country are 
involved in the business of importing clothes, whilst thousands of us are 
rendered useless and incapable of exploiting our talents to the fullest."

He, like many other local designers, produce clothes at a very small scale, 
relying mainly on placed orders from customers.

True to the famed adage "one man's meat is another man's poison", 
second-hand clothes have proven to be both a blessing and a curse to 
societies in quite a number of African countries.