College Uneducation Essay

I wish to speak on â€Å"College Uneducation.† Is it possible that our college educationmay â€Å"uneducate† rather than educate? I answer â€Å"Yes.† It is a paradox but nonetheless the truth—the grim, unmerciful truth. We all believe in higher education; else we should not be in the University. At the same time, college education—like all other human devices for human betterment—may build or destroy, lead, or mislead. My ten years’ humble service in the University of the Philippines has afforded me an opportunity to watch the current of ideals and practices of our student body. In some aspects of higher education, most of our students have measured up to their high responsibilities. But in other features—alas, vital ones!—the thoughts and actions of many of them tend to stunt the mind, dry up the heart, and quench the soul. These students are being uneducated in college. I shall briefly discussthree ways in which many of our students are getting college uneducation, for which they pay tuition fees and make unnumbered sacrifices. Book Worship In the first place, there is the all but delirious worship of the printed page. â€Å"What does the book say?† is, by all odds, the most important question in the student’s mind whenever he is faced with any problem calling for his own reasoning. By the same token, may students feel a sort of frenzy for facts till these become as huge as the mountains and the mind is crushed under them. Those students think of nothing but how to accumulate data; hence, their capacity for clear and powerful thinking is paralyzed. How pathetic to hear them argue and discuss! Because they lack the native vitality of unhampered reason, their discourse smacks of cant and sophistry rather than of healthy reasoning and straight thinking. It is thus that many of our students surrender their individuality to the textbook and lose their birthright—which is to think for themselves. And when they attempt to form their own judgment, they become pedantic. Unless a student develops the habit of independent and sound reasoning, his college education is a solemn sham. Compare these hair-splitting college students with Juan de la Cruz in the barrios. Now, Juan de la Cruz has read very little: no undigested mass of learning dulls the edge of his inborn logic, his mind is free from the overwhelming, stultifying weight of unassimilated book knowledge. How penetrating his perception, how unerring his judgment, how solid his common sense! He contemptuously refers to the learned sophists, thus: †Lumabis ang karunungan mo,† which means, â€Å"Your learning is too much.† Professional Philistinism The second manner of college uneducation that I want to speak of is this: most students make professional efficiency the be-all and end-all of college education. They have set their hearts upon becoming highly trained lawyers, doctors, engineers, teachers, and agriculturists. I shall not stop to inquire into the question of how much blame should be laid at the door of the faculties of the University for this pernicious drift toward undue and excessive specialization. That such a tendency exists is undeniable, but we never pause to count, the cost! We are all of one mind: I believe that college education is nothing unless it widens a man’s vision, broadens his sympathies, and leads him to higher thinking and deep feeling. Yet how can we expect a; this result from a state of affairs which reduces a law student to a code, a prospective doctor to a prescription, and a would-be engineer to a mathematical formula? How many students in our professional colleges are doing any systemat ic reading in literature? May we not, indeed, seriously ask whether this fetish of specialization does not smother the inspiring sense of beauty and the ennobling love of finer things that our students have it in them to unfold into full-blown magnificence. The Jading Dullness of Modern Life â€Å"A thing of beauty is a joy forever,†Ã¢â‚¬ says Keats. But we know that beauty us a matter of taste; and, unless we develop in us a proper appreciation of what is beautiful and sublime, everything around us is tedious and commonplace. We rise early and go out into, but our spirit is responsive to the hopeful quietude and the dew-chastened sweetness of dawn. At night we behold the myriad stars, but they are just so many bright specks—their soft fires do not soothe our troubled hearts, and we do not experience that awesome, soul stirring fascination of theimmense ties of God’s universe. We are bathed in the silver sheen of the moon and yet feel not the beatitude of the moment. We gaze upon a vista of high mountains, but their silent strength has no appeal for us. We read some undying verses; still, their vibrant cadence does not thrill us, and their transcendent though is to us like a vision that vanishes. We look at a masterpiece of the chisel with its eternal gracefulness of lines and properties, yet to us it is no more than a mere human likeness. Tell me, is such a life worth coming to college for? Yet, my friends, the overspecialization which many students pursue with zeal and devotion is bound to result in such an unfeeling, dry-as-dust existence. I may say in passing that the education of the older generation is in this respect far superior to ours. Our older countrymen say, with reason, that the new education does not lawfully cultivate the heart as the old education did. Misguided Zeal Lastly, this selfsame rage for highly specialized training, with a view to distinguished professional success, beclouds our vision of the broader perspectives of life. Our philosophy of life is in danger of becoming narrow and mean because we are habituated to think almost wholly in terms of material wellbeing. Of course we must be practical. We cannot adequately answer this tremendous question unless we thoughtfully develop a proper sense of values and thus learn to separate the dross from the gold, the chaff from the grain of life. The time to do this task is not after but before college graduation; for, when all is said and done, the sum and substance of higher education is the individualformulation of what life is for, with special training in some advanced line of human learning in order that such a life formula may be executed with the utmost effectiveness. But how can we lay down the terms of our philosophy of life if every one of our thoughts is absorbed by the daily assignment, the outside reading, and the laboratory experiment, and when we continuously devour lectures and notes? â€Å"Uneducated† Juan de la Cruz as Teacher Here, again, many of our students should sit at the feet of meagrely educated Juan de la Cruz and learn wisdom. Ah! He is often called ignorant, but he is the wisest of the wise, for he has unravelled the mysteries of life. His is the happiness of the man who knows the whys of human existence. Unassuming Juan de la Cruz cherishes no â€Å"Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself.† His simple and hardy virtues put to shame the studied and complex rules of conduct of highly educated men and women. In adversity, his stoicism is beyond encomium. His love of home, so guilelessly faithful, is the firm foundation of our social structure. And his patriotism has been tested and found true. Can our students learn from Juan de la Cruz, or does their college education unfit them to become his pupils? In conclusion, I shall say that I have observed among many of our students certain alarming signs of college uneducation, and some of these are: (1) lack of independent judgment as well as love of pedantry, because of the worship of the printed page and the feverish accumulation of undigested data; (2) the deadening of the delicate sense of the beautiful and the sublime, on account of overspecialization; and (3) neglect of the formulation of a sound philosophy of life as a result of excessive emphasis on professional training.

Africans Before Columbus

BLACK CIVILIZATIONS OF ANCIENT AMERICA (MUU-LAN), MEXICO (XI) Gigantic stone head of Negritic African The earliest people in the Americas were people of the Negritic African race, who entered the Americas perhaps as early as 100,000 years ago, by way of the bering straight and about thirty thousand years ago in a worldwide maritime undertaking that included journeys from the then wet and lake filled Sahara towards the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, and from West Africa across the Atlantic Ocean towards the Americas.According to the Gladwin Thesis, this ancient journey occurred, particularly about 75,000 years ago and included Black Pygmies, Black Negritic peoples and Black Australoids similar to the Aboriginal Black people of Australia and parts of Asia, including India. Ancient African terracotta portraits 1000 B. C. to 500 B. C. Recent discoveries in the field of linguistics and other methods have shown without a doubt, that the ancient Olmecs of Mexico, known as the Xi People, came originally from West Africa and were of the Mende African ethnic stock.According to Clyde A. Winters and other writers (see Clyde A. Winters website), the Mende script was discovered on some of the ancient Olmec monuments of Mexico and were found to be identical to the very same script used by the Mende people of West Africa. Although the carbon fourteen testing date for the presence of the Black Olmecs or Xi People is about 1500 B. C. , journies to the Mexico and the Southern United States may have come from West Africa much earlier, particularly around five thousand years before Christ.That conclusion is based on the finding of an African native cotton that was discovered in North America. It's only possible manner of arriving where it was found had to have been through human hands. At that period in West African history and even before, civilization was in full bloom in the Western Sahara in what is today Mauritania. One of Africa's earliest civilizations, the Zingh Empire, exis ted and may have lived in what was a lake filled, wet and fertile Sahara, where ships criss-crossed from place to place.ANCIENT AFRICAN KINGDOMS PRODUCED OLMEC TYPE CULTURES The ancient kingdoms of West Africa which occupied the Coastal forest belt from Cameroon to Guinea had trading relationships with other Africans dating back to prehistoric times. However, by 1500 B. C. , these ancient kingdoms not only traded along the Ivory Coast, but with the Phoenicians and other peoples. They expanded their trade to the Americas, where the evidence for an ancient African presence is overwhelming.The kingdoms which came to be known by Arabs and Europeans during the Middle Ages were already well established when much of Western Europe was still inhabited by Celtic tribes. By the 5th Century B. C. , the Phoenicians were running comercial ships to several West African kingdoms. During that period, iron had been in use for about one thousand years and terracotta art was being produced at a great level of craftsmanship. Stone was also being carved with naturalistic perfection and later, bronze was being used to make various tools and instruments, as well as beautifully naturalistic works of art.The ancient West African coastal and interior Kingdoms occupied an area that is now covered with dense vegetation but may have been cleared about three to four thousand years ago. This includes the regions from the coasts of West Africa to the South, all the way inland to the Sahara. A number of large kingdoms and empires existed in that area. According to Blisshords Communications, one of the oldest empires and civilizions on earth existed just north of the coastal regions into what is today Mauritania.It was called the Zingh Empire and was highly advanced. In fact, they were the first to use the red, black and green African flag and to plant it throughout their territory all over Africa and the world. The Zingh Empire existed about fifteen thousand years ago. The only other civiliza tions that may have been in existance at that period in history were the Ta-Seti civilization of what became Nubia-Kush and the mythical Atlantis civilization which may have existed out in the Atlantic, off the coast of West Africa about ten to fifteen thousand years ago.That leaves the question as to whether there was a relationship between the prehistoric Zingh Empire of West Africa and the civilization of Atlantis, whether the Zingh Empire was actually Atlantis, or whether Atlantis if it existed was part of the Zingh empire. Was Atlantis, the highly technologically sophisticated civilization an extension of Black civilization in the Meso-America and other parts of the Americas? Stone carving of a Shaman or priest from Columbia's San Agustine CultureAn ancient West African Oni or King holding similar artifacts as the San Agustine culture stone carving of a Shaman The above ancient stone carvings (500 t0 1000 B. C. ) of Shamans of Priest-Kings clearly show distinct similarities in instruments held and purpose. The realistic carving of an African king or Oni and the stone carving of a shaman from Columbia's San Agustin Culture indicates diffusion of African religious practices to the Americas. In fact, the region of Columbia and Panama were among the first places that Blacks were spotted by the first Spanish explorers to the Americas.From the archeological evidence gathered both in West Africa and Meso-America, there is reason to believe that the African Negritics who founded or influenced the Olmec civilization came from West Africa. Not only do the collosol Olmec stone heads resemble Black Africans from the Ghana area, but the ancient religious practices of the Olmec priests was similar to that of the West Africans, which included shamanism, the study of the Venus complex which was part of the traditions of the Olmecs as well as the Ono and Dogon People of West Africa.The language connection is of significant importance, since it has been found out through d ecipherment of the Olmec script, that the ancient Olmecs spoke the Mende language and wrote in the Mend script, which is still used in parts of West Africa and the Sahara to this day. ANCIENT TRADE BETWEEN THE AMERICAS AND AFRICA The earliest trade and commercial activities between prehistoric and ancient Africa and the Americas may have occurred from West Africa and may have included shipping and travel across the Atlantic.The history of West Africa has never been properly researched. Yet, there is ample evidence to show that West Africa of 1500 B. C. was at a level of civilization approaching that of ancient Egypt and Nubia-Kush. In fact, there were similarities between the cultures of Nubia and West Africa, even to the very similarities between the smaller scaled hard brick clay burial pyramids built for West African Kings at Kukia in pre Christian Ghana and their counterparts in Nubia, Egypt and Meso-America.Although West Africa is not commonly known for having a culture of pyra mid-building, such a culture existed although pyramids were created for the burial of kings and were made of hardened brick. This style of pyramid building was closer to what was built by the Olmecs in Mexico when the first Olmec pyramids were built. In fact, they were not built of stone, but of hardened clay and compact earth. Still, even though we don't see pyramids of stone rising above the ground in West Africa, similar to those of Egypt, Nubia or Mexico, or massive abilisks, collosal monuments and structures of Nubian and Khemitic or Meso-American civilization.The fact remains, they did exist in West Africa on a smaller scale and were transported to the Americas, where conditions such as an environment more hospitable to building and free of detriments such as malaria and the tsetse fly, made it much easier to build on a grander scale. Meso-American pyramid with stepped appearance, built about 2500 years ago Stepped Pyramid of Sakkara, Egypt, built over four thousand years ago, compare to Meso-American pyramid Large scale building projects such as monuent and pyramid building was most likely carried to the Americas by the same West Africans who developed the Olmec or Xi civilization in Mexico.Such activities would have occurred particularly if there was not much of a hinderance and obstacle to massive, monumental building and construction as there was in the forest and malaria zones of West Africa. Yet, when the region of ancient Ghana and Mauritania is closely examined, evidence of large prehistoric towns such as Kukia and others as well as various monuments to a great civilization existed and continue to exist at a smaller level than Egypt and Nubia, but significant enough to show a direct connection with Mexico's Olmec civilization.The similarities between Olmec and West African civilization includes racial, religious and pyramid bilding similarities, as well as the similarities in their alphabets and scripts as well as both cultures speaking the ident ical Mende language, which was once widespread in the Sahara and was spread as far East as Dravidian India in prehistoric times as well as the South Pacific. During the early years of West African trade with the Americas, commercial seafarers made frequent voyages across the Atlantic.In fact, the oral history of a tradition of seafaring between the Americas and Africa is part of the history of the Washitaw People, an aboriginal Black nation who were the original inhabitants of the Mississippi Valley region, the former Louisiana Territories and parts of the Southern United States. According to their oral traditions, their ancient ships criss-crossed the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and the Americas on missions of trade and commerce.. Some of the ships used during the ancient times, perhaps earlier than 7000 B.C. (which is the date given for cave paintings of the drawings and paintings of boats in the now dried up Sahara desert) are similar to ships used in parts of Africa today. The se ships were either made of papyrus or planks lashed with rope, or hollowed out tree trunks. These ancient vessels were loaded with all type of trade goods and not only did they criss-cross the Atlantic but they traded out in the Pacific and settled there as well all the way to California.In   fact, the tradition of Black seafarers crossing the Pacific back and forth to California is much older than the actual divulgance of that fact to the first Spanish explorers who were told by the American Indians that Black men with curly hair made trips from California's shores to the Pacific on missions of trade. On the other hand, West African trade with the Americas before Columbus and way back to proto historic times (30,000 B. C. to 10,000 B. C. ), is one of the most important chapters in ancient African history. Yet, this era which begun about 30,000 years ago and perhaps earlier (see the Gladwin Thesis, by C. S.Gladwin, Mc Graw Hill Books), has not been part of the History of Blacks in the Americas. Later on in history, particularly during the early Bronze Age. However, during the latter part of the Bronze Age, particularly between 1500 B. C. to 1000 B. C. , when the Olmec civilization began to bloom and flourish, new conditions in the Mediterranean made it more difficult for West Africans to trade by sea with the region, although their land trade accross the Sahara was flourishing. By then, Greeks, Phoenicians, Assyrians, Babylonians and others were trying to gain control of the sea routes and the trading ports of the region.Conflicts in the region may have pushed the West Africans to strengthen their trans-Atlantic trade with the Americas and to explore and settle there. Ancient sea-going vessel used by the Egyptians and Nubians in ancient times. West African Trade and Settlement in the Americas Increases Due to Conflicts in the Mediterranean The flowering of the Olmec Civilization occurred between 1500 B. C. to 1000 B. C. , when over twenty-two collosal head s of basalt were carved representing the West African Negritic racial type.This flowering continued with the appearance of â€Å"Magicians,† or Shamanistic Africans who observed and charted the Venus planetary complex (see the pre-Christian era statuette of a West African Shaman in the photograph above) These â€Å"Magicians,† are said to have entered Mexico from West Africa between 800 B. C. to 600 B. C. and were speakers of the Mende language as well as writers of the Mende script or the Bambara script, both which are still used in parts of West Africa and the Sahara. These Shamans who became the priestly class at Monte Alban during the 800's to 600's B. C. ( ref.The History of the African-Olmecs and Black Civilization of the Americas From Prehistoric Times to the Present Era), had to have journied across the Atlantic from West Africa, for it is only in West Africa, that the religious practices and astronomical and religious practices and complex (Venus, the Dogon Si rius observation and the Venus worship of the Afro-Olmecs, the use of the ax in the worship of Shango among he Yoruba of West Africa and the use of the ax in Afro-Olmec worship as well as the prominence of the thunder God later known as Tlalock among the Aztecs) are the same as those practiced by the Afro-Olmec Shamans.According to Clyde Ahmed Winters (see â€Å"Clyde A. Winters† webpage on â€Å"search. † Thus, it has been proven through linguistic studies, religious similarities, racial similarities between the Afro-Olmecs and West Africans, as well as the use of the same language and writing script, that the Afro-Olmecs came from the Mende-Speaking region of West Africa, which once included the Sahara. Sailing and shipbuilding in the Sahara is over twenty thousand years old. In fact, cave and wall paintings of ancient ships were displayed in National Geographic Magazine some years ago.Such ships which carried sails and masts, were among the vessels that swept across the water filled Sahara in prehistoric times. It is from that ship-building tradition that the Bambara used their knowledge to build Thor Hayerdhal's papyrus boat Ra I which made it to the West Indies from Safi in Morroco years ago. The Bambara are also one of the West African nationalities who had and still have a religious and astronomical complex similar to that of the ancient Olmecs, particularly in the area of star gazing.A journey across the Atlantic to the Americas on a good current during clement weather would have been an easier task to West Africans of the Coastal and riverine regions than it would have been through the use of caravans criss-crossing the hot by day and extremely cold by night Sahara desert. It would have been much easier to take a well made ship, similar to the one shown above and let the currents take it to the West Indies, and may have taken as long as sending goods back and forth from northern and north-eastern Africa to the interior and coasts of West Africa's ancient kingdoms.Add to that the fact that crossing the Sahara would have been no easy task when obsticales such as the hot and dusty environment, the thousands of miles of dust, sand and high winds existed. The long trek through the southern regions of West Africa through vallies, mountains and down the many rivers to the coast using beasts of burden would have been problematic particularly since malaria mosquitoes harmful to both humans and animals would have made the use of animals to carry loads unreliable.Journeys by ship along the coast of West Africa toward the North, through the Pillars of Heracles,   eastward on the Mediterran to Ports such as Byblos in Lebanon, Tyre or Sydon would have been two to three times as lengthy as taking a ship from Cape Verde, sailing it across the Atlantic and landing in North-Eastern Brazil fifteen hundred miles away, or Meso America about 2400 miles away. The distance in itself is not what makes the trip easy. It is the fact that c urrents   which are similar to gigantic rivers in the ocean, carry ships and other vessels from West Africa to the Americas with relative ease.West Africans during the period of 1500 B. C. to 600 B. C. up to 1492 A. D. may have looked to the Americas as a source of trade, commerce and a place to settle and build new civlilzations. During the period of 1500 B. C. to 600 B. C. , there were many conflicts in the Mediterranean involving the Kushites, Egyptians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Sea Peoples, Persians, Jews and others. Any kingdom or nation of that era who wanted to conduct smoothe trade without complications would have tried to find alternative trading partners.In fact, that was the very reason why the Europeans decided to sail westwared in their wearch for India and China in 1492 A. D. They were harrassed by the Arabs in the East and had to pay heavy taxes to pass through the region. Still, most of the Black empires and kingdoms such as Kush, Mauri, Numidia, Egypt, Ethiopia and others may have had little difficulty conducting trade among their neighbors since they also were among the major powers of the region who were dominant in the Mediterranean.South of this northern region to the south-west, Mauritania (the site of the prehistoric Zingh Empire) Ghana, and many of the same nationalities who ushered in the West African renaissance of the early Middle Ages were engaged in civilizations and cultures similar to those of Nubia, Egypt and the Empires of the Afro-Olmec or Xi (Shi) People. Nubian-Kushite King and Queen (circa 1000 B. C. ) It is believed that there was a Nubian presence in Mexico and that the West African civilizations were related to that of the Nubians, despite the distance between the two centers of Black civilization in Africa.There is no doubt that in ancient times there were commercial ties between West Africa and Egypt. In fact, about 600 B. C. , Nikau, a Pharaoh of Egypt sent ships to circumnavigate Africa and later on about 450 B. C. , Phoenicians did the same, landing in West Africa in the nation now called Cameroon. There they witnessed what may have been the celebration of a Kwanza-like harvest festival, where â€Å"cymbals, horns,† and other instruments as well as smoke and fire from buring fields could be seen from their ships.At that period in history, the West African cultures and civilizations, which were offshoots of much earlier southern Saharan cultures, were very old compared to civilizations such as Greece or Babylon. In fact, iron was being used by the ancient West Africans as early as 2600 years B. C. and was so common that there was no â€Å"bronze age† in West Africa, although bronze was used for ornaments and instruments or tools. A combination of Nubians and West Africans engaged in mutual trade and commerce along the coasts of West Africa could have planned many trips to and from the Americas and could have conducted a crossing about 1500 B.C. and afterwards. Massive sculptures of the heads of typical Negritic Africans were carved in the region of South Mexico where the Olmec civilization flourished. Some of these massive heads of basalt contain the cornrow hairstyle common among West African Blacks, as well as the kinky coiled hair common among at least 70 percent of all Negritic people, (the other proportion being the Dravidian Black race of India and the Black Australoids of Australia and South Asia). Collossol Afro-Olmec head of basalt wearing Nubian type war helmet, circa 1100 B. C. Afro-Olmecs Came from the Mende Regions of West AfricaAlthough archeologists have used the name â€Å"Olmec,† to refer to the Black builders of ancient Mexico's first civilizations, recent discoveries have proven that these Afro-Olmecs were West Africans of the Mende language and cultural group. Inscriptions found on ancient monuments in parts of Mexico show that the script used by the ancient Olmecs was identical to that used by the ancient and modern Mende-speakin g peoples of West Africa. Racially, the collosal stone heads are identical in features to West Africans and the language deciphered on Olmec monuments is identical to the Mende language of West Africa, (see Clyde A.Winters) on the internet. The term â€Å"Olmec† was first used by archeologists since the giant stone heads with the features of West African Negritic people were found in a part of Mexico with an abundance of rubber trees. The Maya word for rubber was â€Å"olli, and so the name â€Å"Olmec,† was used to label the Africoid Negritic people represented in the faces of the stone heads and found on hundreds of terracotta figurines throughout the region. Yet, due to the scientific work done by deciphers and linguists, it has been found out that the ancient Blacks of Mexico know as Olmecs, called themselves the Xi People (She People).Apart from the giant stone heads of basalt, hundreds of terracotta figurines and heads of people of Negritic African racial reatur es have also been found over the past hundred years in Mexico and other parts of Meso-America as well as the ancient Black-owned lands of the Southern U. S. (Washitaw Proper,(Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas), South America's Saint Agustin Culture in the nation of Colombia, Costa Rica, and other areas) the â€Å"Louisiana Purchase,† lands, the south-eastern kingdom of the Black Jamassee, and other places including Haiti, see the magazine Ancient American).Various cultural clues and traces unique to Africa as well as the living descendants of prehistoric and ancient African migrants to the Americas continue to exist to this very day. The Washitaw Nation of Louisiana is one such group (see www. Hotep. org), the Garifuna or Black Caribs of the Caribbean and Central America is another, the descendants of the Jamasse who live in Georgia and the surrounding states is another group. There are also others such as the Black Californian of Queen Calafia fame (the Black Amazon Queen mentioned in the book Journey to Esplandian, by Ordonez de Montalvo during the mid 1500's).Cultural artefacts which connect the ancient Blacks of the Americas with Africa are many. Some of these similarities can be seen in the stone and terracotta works of the ancient Blacks of the Americas. For example, the African hairline is clearly visible in some stone and terracotta works, including the use of cornrows, afro hair style, flat â€Å"mohawk† style similar to the type used in Africa, dreadlocks, braided hair and even plain kinky hair. The African hairline is clearly visible on a fine stone head from Veracruz Mexico, carved between 600 B.C. to 400 B. C. , the Classic Period of Olmec civilization. That particular statuette is about twelve inches tall and the distance from the head to the chin is about 17 centemeters. Another head of about 12 inches, not only posesses Negroid features, but the hair design is authentically West African and is on display at the Nat ional Museum of Mexico. This terracotta Africoid head also wears the common disk type ear plugs common in parts of Africa even today among tribes such as the Dinka and Shilluk.One of the most impressive pieces of evidence which show a direct link between the Black Olmec or Xi People of Mexico and West Africans is the presence of scarification marks on some Olmec terracotta sculpture. These scarification marks clearly indicate a West African Mandinka (Mende) presence in prehistoric and ancient Meso-America. Ritual scarification is still practiced in parts of Africa and among the Black peoples of the South Pacific, however the Olmec scarification marks are not of South Pacific or Melanesian Black origins, since the patterns used on ancient Olmec sculpture is still common in parts of Africa.This style of scarification tatooing is still used by the Nuba and other Sudanese African people. In fact, the face of a young girl with keloid scarification on here face is identical to the very sa me keloid tatoos on the face of an ancient Olmec terracotta head from ancient Mexico. Similar keloid tattoos also appear on the arms of some Sudanese and are identical to similar keloid scars on the arms of some clay figures from ancient Olmec terracotta figurines of Negroid peoples of ancient Mexico. Bronze head of an ancient king from Benin, West Africa, The tradition of fine sculpture in West Africa goes back long before 1000 B.C. Collosal head of Afro-Olmec (Xi) warrior-king, circa 1100 B. C. Descendants of Ancient Africans in Recent America In many parts of the Americas today, there are still people of African Negritic racial backgrounds who continue to exist either blended into the larger African-Americas population or are parts of separate, indigenous groups living on their own lands with their own unique culture and languages. One such example is the Washitaw Nation who owned about one million square miles of the former Louisiana Territories, (see www. Hotep. org), but who n ow own only about 70,000 acres of all their former territory.The regaining of their lands from the U. S. was a long process which concluded partially in 1991, when they won the right to their lands in a U. S. court. The Black Californian broke up as a nation during the late 1800's after many years of war with the Spanish invaders of the South West, with Mexico and with the U. S. The blended into the Black population of California and their descendants still exist among the millions of Black Californians of today. The Black Caribs or Garifunas of the Caribbean Islands and Central America fought with the English and Spanish from the late fifteen hundreds up to 1797, when the British sued for peace.The Garifuna were expelled from their islands but they prospered in Central America where hundreds of thousands live along the coasts today. The Afro-Darienite is a significant group of pre-historic, pre-columbian Blacks who existed in South America and Central America. These Blacks were the Africans that the Spanish first saw during their exploration of the narrow strip of land between Columbia and Central America and who were described as â€Å"slaves of our lord† since the Spaniards and Europeans had the intention of enslaving all Blacks they found in the newly discovered lands.The above mentioned Blacks of precolumbian origins are not Blacks wo mixed with the Mongoloid Indian population as occurred during the time of slavery. They were Blacks who were in some cases on their lands before the southward migrations of the Mongoloid Native Americans. In many cases, these Blacks had established civilizations in the Americas thousands of years ago. An early Black Californian, a member of the original Black aboriginal people of California and the South Western U. S.A member of one of the original Black nations of the Americas, the Afro-Darienite of Panama. Stone carving of Negroid person found in area close to Washitaw Territories, Southern U. S. THE USE OF ANCIENT AFRICAN SHIPS AND BOATS TO TRADE WITH THE AMERICAS Protohistoric, prehistoric and ancient Negritic Africans were masters of the lands as well as the oceans. They were the first shipbuilders on earth and had to have used watercraft to cross from South East Asia to Australia about 60,000 years ago and from the West Africa/Sahara inland seas region to the Americas.The fact of the northern portion of Africa now known as a vast desert wasteland being a place of large lakes, rivers and fertile regions with the most ancient of civilizations is a fact that has been verified, (see African Presence in Early America, edt. Ivan Van Sertima and Runoko Rashidi, Transaction Publishers, New Bruinswick, NJ â€Å"The Principle of Polarity,† by Wayne Chandler: 1994. ) From that region of Africa as well as East Africa, diffusions of Blacks towards the Americas as early as 30,000 B. C. re believed to have occurred based on findings in a region from Mexico to Brazil which show that American indian s in the region include Negritic types (eg. Olmecs, Afro-Darienite, Black Californians, Chuarras, Garifunas and others). Much earlier journeys occurred by land sometime before 75,000 B. C. according to the Gladwin Thesis written by C. S. Gladwin. This migration occurred on the Pacific side of the Americas and was began by Africans with Affinities similar to the people of New Guinea, Tasmania, Solomon Islands and Australia.The earliest migrations of African Blacks through Asia then to the Americas seemed to have occurred exactly during the period that the Australian Aborigines and the proto-African ancestors of the Aborigines, Oceanic Negroids (Fijians, Solomon Islanders, Papua-New Guineans,and so on) and other Blacks spread throughout East Asia and the Pacific Islands about one hundred thousand years ago. The fact that these same Blacks are still among the world's seafaring cultures and still regard the sea as sacred and as a place of sustinence is evidence of their ancient dependan ce on the sea for travel and exploration as well as for commerce and trade.Therefore, they would have had to build sea-worthy ships and boats to take them across the vast expanses of ocean, including the Atlantic, Indian Ocean (both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans were called the Ethiopean Sea, in the Middle Ages) and the Pacific Ocean. During the historic period close to the early bronze or copper using period of world history (6000 B. C. to 4000 B. C. migrations of Africans from the Mende regions of West Africa and the Sahara across the Atlantic to the Americas may have occurred.In fact, the Mende agricultural culture was well established in West Africa and the Sahara during that period. Boats still criss-crossed the Sahara, as they had been doing for over ten thousand years previously. The ancient peoples of the Sahara, as rock paintings clearly show, were using boats and may have sailed from West Africa and the Sahara to the Americas, including the Washitaw territories of the Mid western and Southern U. S. Moreover, it is believed by the aboriginal Black people of the former Washitaw Empire who still live in the Southern U. S. , that about 6000 B. C. there was a great population shift from the region of Africa and the Pacific ocean, which led to the migrations of their ancestors to the Americas to join the Blacks who had been there previously. As for the use of ships, ancient Negritic peoples and the original Negroid peoples of the earth may have began using boats very early in human history. Moreover, whatever boats were used did not have to be sophisticated or of huge size. In fact, the small, seaworthy â€Å"outrigger† canoe may have been spread from East Africa to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific by the earliest African migrants to Asia and the Pacific regions.Boats of papyrus, skin, sewed plank, log and hollowed logs were used by ancient Africans on their trips to various parts of the world. Gigantic stone head of Afro-Olmec (Xi People) of ancien t Mexico, circa 1100 B. C. Face of Afro-Olmec child carved on the waste â€Å"belt† of an Olmec ballplayer This stone belt was used by the Olmec ballplayers to catch the impact of the rubber balls in their ball games. This face is typical Negritic, including the eyes which seem to â€Å"slant,† a common racial characteristic in West Africa, the Sahara and in South Africa among the Kong-San (Bushmen) and other Africans.TRADE ROUTES OF THE ANCIENT BLACKS During the years of migrations of Africans to all parts of the world, those who crossed the Atlantic, Indian Ocean and Pacific also used the seas to make trips to the northern parts of Africa. They may have avoided the northern routes across the deserts at particular times of the year and sailed northward by sailing parallel to the coastslines on their way northward or southward, just as the Phoenicians, Nubians and Egyptians had done. Boats made of skin, logs, hollowed ttee trunk, lashed canoes and skin could have been used for trading and commerce.The reed boat is a common type of watercraft used in West Africa and other parts of the world, yet there were other boats and ships to add to those already mentioned above. Boats similar to those of Nubia and Egypt were being used in the Sahara just as long or even longer than they were being used in Egypt. In fact, civilization in the Sahara and Sudan existed before Egypt was settled by Blacks from the South and the Sahara. The vessels which crossed the Atlantic about 1500 B. C. during the early Afro-Olmec period) were most likely the same types of ships shown in the sahara cave paintings of ships dating to about 7,000 B. C. or similar ships from Nubian rock carvings of 3000 B. C.. Egyptologists such as Sir Flinders Petrie believed that the ancient African drawings of ships represent papyrus boats similar to the one built by the Bambara People for Thor Hayerdhal on the shores of Lake Chad. This boat made it to Barbadose, however they did not reinforce the hull with rope as the ancient Egyptians and Nubians did with their ancient ships.That lack of reinforcement made the Bambara ship weak, however another papyrus ship built by Ayamara Indians in Lake Titicaca, Bolivia was reinforced and it made it to the West Indies without difficulty. Naval historian Bjorn Landstrom believes that some of the curved hulls shown on rock art and pottery from the Nubian civilization (circa 3000 B. C. ) point to a basic three-plank idea. The planks would have been sewn together with rope. The larer version must have had some interior framing to hold them together.The hulls of some ot these boats show the vertical extension of the bow and stern which may have been to keep them bouyant. These types of boats are stilll in use in one of the most unlikely places. The Djuka and Saramaka Tribes of Surinam, known also as ‘Bush Negroes,† build a style of ship and boat similar to that of the Ancient Egyptians and Nubians, with their bows and sterns curving upward and pointing vertically. This style of boat is also a common design in parts of West Africa, particularly along the Niger River where extensive river trading occurs.They are usually carved from a single tree trunk which is used as the backbone. Planks are then fitted alongside to enlarge them. In all cases, cabins are built on top of the interior out of woven mat or other strong fiberous material. These boats are usually six to eight feet across and about fifty feet long. There is evidence that one African Emperor Abubakari of Mali used these â€Å"almadias† or longboats to make a trip to the Americas during the 1300's. (see, They Came Before Columbus, Ivan Van Sertima; Random House: 1975)Apart from the vessels used by the West Africans and south western Sahara Black Africans to sail across the Atlantic to the Americas, Nubians, Kushites, Egyptians and Ethiopians were known traders in the Mediterranean. The Canaanites, the Negroid inhabitants of the Levant who later became the Phoenicians also were master seafarers. This has caused some to speculate that the heads of the Afro-Olmecs represent the heads of servants of the Phoenicians, yet no dominant people would build such massive and collosol monuments to their servants and not to themselves.Check for historical references and literature ANTHROPOLOGISTS BELIEVE THERE WAS AN ANCIENT BLACK PRESENCE IN THE AMERICAS During the International Congress of American Anthropologists held in Bacelona, Spain in 1964, a French anthropologist pointed out that all that was missing to prove a definite presence of Negritic Blacks in the Americas before Columbus was Negroid skeletons to add to the already found Negroid featured terracottas. Later on February of 1975 skeletons of Negroid people dating to the 1200's were found at a precolumbian grave in the Virgin Islands.Andrei Wierzinski, the Polish crainologist also concluded based on the study of skeletons found in Mexico, that a good portion of the sku lls were that of Negritic Blacks, Based on the many finds for a Black African Negroid presence in ancient Mexico, some of the most enthusiastic proponents of a pre-columbian Black African presence in Mexico are Mexican professionals. They conclude that Africans must have established early important trading centers on the coasts along Vera Cuz, from which Middle America's first civiliztion grew. In retrospect, ancient Africans did visit the Americas from as early as about 100,000 B.C. where they stayed for tens of thousands of years. By 30,000 B. C. , to about 15,000 B. C. , a massive migration from the Sahara towards the Indian Ocean and the Pacific in the East occurred from the Sahara. Blacks also migrated Westward across the Atlantic Ocean towards the Americas during that period until the very eve of Columbus' first journey to the Americas. Trade, commerce and exploration as well as the search for new lands when the Sahara began to dry up later in history was the catalyst that dro ve the West Africans towards the Atlantic and into the Americas.REFERENCES Washitaw Nation (www. Hotep. org) Clyde A. Winters (The Nubians and the Olmecs) Blacks of India dalitstan. org Blacks of the Pacific and Melanesia: www. cwo. com/~lucumi/pacific. html If you ever visit the ancient Afro-Olmec monuments of Mexico, the Washitaw Nation of Louisiana, the monuments of Nubia, Egypt or West Africa you need to take great pictures: www. photoalley. com Trinicenter PanTrinbago RaceandHistory HowComYouCom BLACK CIVILIZATIONS OF ANCIENT AMERICA (MUU-LAN), MEXICO (XI)Gigantic stone head of Negritic African during the Olmec (Xi) Civilization By Paul Barton The earliest people in the Americas were people of the Negritic African race, who entered the Americas perhaps as early as 100,000 years ago, by way of the bering straight and about thirty thousand years ago in a worldwide maritime undertaking that included journeys from the then wet and lake filled Sahara towards the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, and from West Africa across the Atlantic Ocean towards the Americas.According to the Gladwin Thesis, this ancient journey occurred, particularly about 75,000 years ago and included Black Pygmies, Black Negritic peoples and Black Australoids similar to the Aboriginal Black people of Australia and parts of Asia, including India. Ancient African terracotta portraits 1000 B. C. to 500 B. C. Recent discoveries in the field of linguistics and other methods have shown without a doubt, that the ancient Olmecs of Mexico, known as the Xi People, came originally from West Africa and were of the Mende African ethnic stock.According to Clyde A. Winters and other writers (see Clyde A. Winters website), the Mende script was discovered on some of the ancient Olmec monuments of Mexico and were found to be identical to the very same script used by the Mende people of West Africa. Although the carbon fourteen testing date for the presence of the Black Olmecs or Xi People is about 1500 B. C. , journies to the Mexico and the Southern United States may have come from West Africa much earlier, particularly around five thousand years before Christ.That conclusion is based on the finding of an African native cotton that was discovered in North America. It's only possible manner of arriving where it was found had to have been through human hands. At that period in West African history and even before, civilization was in full bloom in the Western Sahara in what is today Mauritania. One of Africa's earliest civilizations, the Zingh Empire, existed and may have lived in what was a lake filled, wet and fertile Sahara, where ships criss-crossed from place to place.ANCIENT AFRICAN KINGDOMS PRODUCED OLMEC TYPE CULTURES The ancient kingdoms of West Africa which occupied the Coastal forest belt from Cameroon to Guinea had trading relationships with other Africans dating back to prehistoric times. However, by 1500 B. C. , these ancient kingdoms not only traded along the Ivory Coast, b ut with the Phoenicians and other peoples. They expanded their trade to the Americas, where the evidence for an ancient African presence is overwhelming.The kingdoms which came to be known by Arabs and Europeans during the Middle Ages were already well established when much of Western Europe was still inhabited by Celtic tribes. By the 5th Century B. C. , the Phoenicians were running comercial ships to several West African kingdoms. During that period, iron had been in use for about one thousand years and terracotta art was being produced at a great level of craftsmanship. Stone was also being carved with naturalistic perfection and later, bronze was being used to make various tools and instruments, as well as beautifully naturalistic works of art.The ancient West African coastal and interior Kingdoms occupied an area that is now covered with dense vegetation but may have been cleared about three to four thousand years ago. This includes the regions from the coasts of West Africa to the South, all the way inland to the Sahara. A number of large kingdoms and empires existed in that area. According to Blisshords Communications, one of the oldest empires and civilizions on earth existed just north of the coastal regions into what is today Mauritania.It was called the Zingh Empire and was highly advanced. In fact, they were the first to use the red, black and green African flag and to plant it throughout their territory all over Africa and the world. The Zingh Empire existed about fifteen thousand years ago. The only other civilizations that may have been in existance at that period in history were the Ta-Seti civilization of what became Nubia-Kush and the mythical Atlantis civilization which may have existed out in the Atlantic, off the coast of West Africa about ten to fifteen thousand years ago.That leaves the question as to whether there was a relationship between the prehistoric Zingh Empire of West Africa and the civilization of Atlantis, whether the Zingh E mpire was actually Atlantis, or whether Atlantis if it existed was part of the Zingh empire. Was Atlantis, the highly technologically sophisticated civilization an extension of Black civilization in the Meso-America and other parts of the Americas? Stone carving of a Shaman or priest from Columbia's San Agustine CultureAn ancient West African Oni or King holding similar artifacts as the San Agustine culture stone carving of a Shaman The above ancient stone carvings (500 t0 1000 B. C. ) of Shamans of Priest-Kings clearly show distinct similarities in instruments held and purpose. The realistic carving of an African king or Oni and the stone carving of a shaman from Columbia's San Agustin Culture indicates diffusion of African religious practices to the Americas. In fact, the region of Columbia and Panama were among the first places that Blacks were spotted by the first Spanish explorers to the Americas.From the archeological evidence gathered both in West Africa and Meso-America, the re is reason to believe that the African Negritics who founded or influenced the Olmec civilization came from West Africa. Not only do the collosol Olmec stone heads resemble Black Africans from the Ghana area, but the ancient religious practices of the Olmec priests was similar to that of the West Africans, which included shamanism, the study of the Venus complex which was part of the traditions of the Olmecs as well as the Ono and Dogon People of West Africa.The language connection is of significant importance, since it has been found out through decipherment of the Olmec script, that the ancient Olmecs spoke the Mende language and wrote in the Mend script, which is still used in parts of West Africa and the Sahara to this day. ANCIENT TRADE BETWEEN THE AMERICAS AND AFRICA The earliest trade and commercial activities between prehistoric and ancient Africa and the Americas may have occurred from West Africa and may have included shipping and travel across the Atlantic. The history of West Africa has never been properly researched.Yet, there is ample evidence to show that West Africa of 1500 B. C. was at a level of civilization approaching that of ancient Egypt and Nubia-Kush. In fact, there were similarities between the cultures of Nubia and West Africa, even to the very similarities between the smaller scaled hard brick clay burial pyramids built for West African Kings at Kukia in pre Christian Ghana and their counterparts in Nubia, Egypt and Meso-America. Although West Africa is not commonly known for having a culture of pyramid-building, such a culture existed although pyramids were created for the burial of kings and were made of hardened brick.This style of pyramid building was closer to what was built by the Olmecs in Mexico when the first Olmec pyramids were built. In fact, they were not built of stone, but of hardened clay and compact earth. Still, even though we don't see pyramids of stone rising above the ground in West Africa, similar to those of E gypt, Nubia or Mexico, or massive abilisks, collosal monuments and structures of Nubian and Khemitic or Meso-American civilization. The fact remains, they did exist in West Africa n a smaller scale and were transported to the Americas, where conditions such as an environment more hospitable to building and free of detriments such as malaria and the tsetse fly, made it much easier to build on a grander scale. Meso-American pyramid with stepped appearance, built about 2500 years ago Stepped Pyramid of Sakkara, Egypt, built over four thousand years ago, compare to Meso-American pyramid Large scale building projects such as monuent and pyramid building was most likely carried to the Americas by the same West Africans who developed the Olmec or Xi civilization in Mexico.Such activities would have occurred particularly if there was not much of a hinderance and obstacle to massive, monumental building and construction as there was in the forest and malaria zones of West Africa. Yet, when t he region of ancient Ghana and Mauritania is closely examined, evidence of large prehistoric towns such as Kukia and others as well as various monuments to a great civilization existed and continue to exist at a smaller level than Egypt and Nubia, but significant enough to show a direct connection with Mexico's Olmec civilization.The similarities between Olmec and West African civilization includes racial, religious and pyramid bilding similarities, as well as the similarities in their alphabets and scripts as well as both cultures speaking the identical Mende language, which was once widespread in the Sahara and was spread as far East as Dravidian India in prehistoric times as well as the South Pacific. During the early years of West African trade with the Americas, commercial seafarers made frequent voyages across the Atlantic.In fact, the oral history of a tradition of seafaring between the Americas and Africa is part of the history of the Washitaw People, an aboriginal Black nat ion who were the original inhabitants of the Mississippi Valley region, the former Louisiana Territories and parts of the Southern United States. According to their oral traditions, their ancient ships criss-crossed the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and the Americas on missions of trade and commerce.. Some of the ships used during the ancient times, perhaps earlier than 7000 B.C. (which is the date given for cave paintings of the drawings and paintings of boats in the now dried up Sahara desert) are similar to ships used in parts of Africa today. These ships were either made of papyrus or planks lashed with rope, or hollowed out tree trunks. These ancient vessels were loaded with all type of trade goods and not only did they criss-cross the Atlantic but they traded out in the Pacific and settled there as well all the way to California.In   fact, the tradition of Black seafarers crossing the Pacific back and forth to California is much older than the actual divulgance of that fact to the first Spanish explorers who were told by the American Indians that Black men with curly hair made trips from California's shores to the Pacific on missions of trade. On the other hand, West African trade with the Americas before Columbus and way back to proto historic times (30,000 B. C. to 10,000 B. C. ), is one of the most important chapters in ancient African history. Yet, this era which begun about 30,000 years ago and perhaps earlier (see the Gladwin Thesis, by C. S.Gladwin, Mc Graw Hill Books), has not been part of the History of Blacks in the Americas. Later on in history, particularly during the early Bronze Age. However, during the latter part of the Bronze Age, particularly between 1500 B. C. to 1000 B. C. , when the Olmec civilization began to bloom and flourish, new conditions in the Mediterranean made it more difficult for West Africans to trade by sea with the region, although their land trade accross the Sahara was flourishing. By then, Greeks, Phoenicians, Ass yrians, Babylonians and others were trying to gain control of the sea routes and the trading ports of the region.Conflicts in the region may have pushed the West Africans to strengthen their trans-Atlantic trade with the Americas and to explore and settle there. Ancient sea-going vessel used by the Egyptians and Nubians in ancient times. West African Trade and Settlement in the Americas Increases Due to Conflicts in the Mediterranean The flowering of the Olmec Civilization occurred between 1500 B. C. to 1000 B. C. , when over twenty-two collosal heads of basalt were carved representing the West African Negritic racial type.This flowering continued with the appearance of â€Å"Magicians,† or Shamanistic Africans who observed and charted the Venus planetary complex (see the pre-Christian era statuette of a West African Shaman in the photograph above) These â€Å"Magicians,† are said to have entered Mexico from West Africa between 800 B. C. to 600 B. C. and were speakers of the Mende language as well as writers of the Mende script or the Bambara script, both which are still used in parts of West Africa and the Sahara. These Shamans who became the priestly class at Monte Alban during the 800's to 600's B. C. ( ref.The History of the African-Olmecs and Black Civilization of the Americas From Prehistoric Times to the Present Era), had to have journied across the Atlantic from West Africa, for it is only in West Africa, that the religious practices and astronomical and religious practices and complex (Venus, the Dogon Sirius observation and the Venus worship of the Afro-Olmecs, the use of the ax in the worship of Shango among he Yoruba of West Africa and the use of the ax in Afro-Olmec worship as well as the prominence of the thunder God later known as Tlalock among the Aztecs) are the same as those practiced by the Afro-Olmec Shamans.According to Clyde Ahmed Winters (see â€Å"Clyde A. Winters† webpage on â€Å"search. † Thus, it has been proven through linguistic studies, religious similarities, racial similarities between the Afro-Olmecs and West Africans, as well as the use of the same language and writing script, that the Afro-Olmecs came from the Mende-Speaking region of West Africa, which once included the Sahara. Sailing and shipbuilding in the Sahara is over twenty thousand years old. In fact, cave and wall paintings of ancient ships were displayed in National Geographic Magazine some years ago.Such ships which carried sails and masts, were among the vessels that swept across the water filled Sahara in prehistoric times. It is from that ship-building tradition that the Bambara used their knowledge to build Thor Hayerdhal's papyrus boat Ra I which made it to the West Indies from Safi in Morroco years ago. The Bambara are also one of the West African nationalities who had and still have a religious and astronomical complex similar to that of the ancient Olmecs, particularly in the area of star gazing.A journey across the Atlantic to the Americas on a good current during clement weather would have been an easier task to West Africans of the Coastal and riverine regions than it would have been through the use of caravans criss-crossing the hot by day and extremely cold by night Sahara desert. It would have been much easier to take a well made ship, similar to the one shown above and let the currents take it to the West Indies, and may have taken as long as sending goods back and forth from northern and north-eastern Africa to the interior and coasts of West Africa's ancient kingdoms.Add to that the fact that crossing the Sahara would have been no easy task when obsticales such as the hot and dusty environment, the thousands of miles of dust, sand and high winds existed. The long trek through the southern regions of West Africa through vallies, mountains and down the many rivers to the coast using beasts of burden would have been problematic particularly since malaria mosquitoes harmful to both humans and animals would have made the use of animals to carry loads unreliable.Journeys by ship along the coast of West Africa toward the North, through the Pillars of Heracles,   eastward on the Mediterran to Ports such as Byblos in Lebanon, Tyre or Sydon would have been two to three times as lengthy as taking a ship from Cape Verde, sailing it across the Atlantic and landing in North-Eastern Brazil fifteen hundred miles away, or Meso America about 2400 miles away. The distance in itself is not what makes the trip easy. It is the fact that currents   which are similar to gigantic rivers in the ocean, carry ships and other vessels from West Africa to the Americas with relative ease.West Africans during the period of 1500 B. C. to 600 B. C. up to 1492 A. D. may have looked to the Americas as a source of trade, commerce and a place to settle and build new civlilzations. During the period of 1500 B. C. to 600 B. C. , there were many conflicts in the Mediterranean involving th e Kushites, Egyptians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Sea Peoples, Persians, Jews and others. Any kingdom or nation of that era who wanted to conduct smoothe trade without complications would have tried to find alternative trading partners.In fact, that was the very reason why the Europeans decided to sail westwared in their wearch for India and China in 1492 A. D. They were harrassed by the Arabs in the East and had to pay heavy taxes to pass through the region. Still, most of the Black empires and kingdoms such as Kush, Mauri, Numidia, Egypt, Ethiopia and others may have had little difficulty conducting trade among their neighbors since they also were among the major powers of the region who were dominant in the Mediterranean.South of this northern region to the south-west, Mauritania (the site of the prehistoric Zingh Empire) Ghana, and many of the same nationalities who ushered in the West African renaissance of the early Middle Ages were engaged in civilizations and cultures similar t o those of Nubia, Egypt and the Empires of the Afro-Olmec or Xi (Shi) People. Nubian-Kushite King and Queen (circa 1000 B. C. ) It is believed that there was a Nubian presence in Mexico and that the West African civilizations were related to that of the Nubians, despite the distance between the two centers of Black civilization in Africa.There is no doubt that in ancient times there were commercial ties between West Africa and Egypt. In fact, about 600 B. C. , Nikau, a Pharaoh of Egypt sent ships to circumnavigate Africa and later on about 450 B. C. , Phoenicians did the same, landing in West Africa in the nation now called Cameroon. There they witnessed what may have been the celebration of a Kwanza-like harvest festival, where â€Å"cymbals, horns,† and other instruments as well as smoke and fire from buring fields could be seen from their ships.At that period in history, the West African cultures and civilizations, which were offshoots of much earlier southern Saharan cult ures, were very old compared to civilizations such as Greece or Babylon. In fact, iron was being used by the ancient West Africans as early as 2600 years B. C. and was so common that there was no â€Å"bronze age† in West Africa, although bronze was used for ornaments and instruments or tools. A combination of Nubians and West Africans engaged in mutual trade and commerce along the coasts of West Africa could have planned many trips to and from the Americas and could have conducted a crossing about 1500 B.C. and afterwards. Massive sculptures of the heads of typical Negritic Africans were carved in the region of South Mexico where the Olmec civilization flourished. Some of these massive heads of basalt contain the cornrow hairstyle common among West African Blacks, as well as the kinky coiled hair common among at least 70 percent of all Negritic people, (the other proportion being the Dravidian Black race of India and the Black Australoids of Australia and South Asia). Collos sol Afro-Olmec head of basalt wearing Nubian type war helmet, circa 1100 B. C. Afro-Olmecs Came from the Mende Regions of West AfricaAlthough archeologists have used the name â€Å"Olmec,† to refer to the Black builders of ancient Mexico's first civilizations, recent discoveries have proven that these Afro-Olmecs were West Africans of the Mende language and cultural group. Inscriptions found on ancient monuments in parts of Mexico show that the script used by the ancient Olmecs was identical to that used by the ancient and modern Mende-speaking peoples of West Africa. Racially, the collosal stone heads are identical in features to West Africans and the language deciphered on Olmec monuments is identical to the Mende language of West Africa, (see Clyde A.Winters) on the internet. The term â€Å"Olmec† was first used by archeologists since the giant stone heads with the features of West African Negritic people were found in a part of Mexico with an abundance of rubber tr ees. The Maya word for rubber was â€Å"olli, and so the name â€Å"Olmec,† was used to label the Africoid Negritic people represented in the faces of the stone heads and found on hundreds of terracotta figurines throughout the region. Yet, due to the scientific work done by deciphers and linguists, it has been found out that the ancient Blacks of Mexico know as Olmecs, called themselves the Xi People (She People).Apart from the giant stone heads of basalt, hundreds of terracotta figurines and heads of people of Negritic African racial reatures have also been found over the past hundred years in Mexico and other parts of Meso-America as well as the ancient Black-owned lands of the Southern U. S. (Washitaw Proper,(Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas), South America's Saint Agustin Culture in the nation of Colombia, Costa Rica, and other areas) the â€Å"Louisiana Purchase,† lands, the south-eastern kingdom of the Black Jamassee, and other places including Haiti, see the magazine Ancient American).Various cultural clues and traces unique to Africa as well as the living descendants of prehistoric and ancient African migrants to the Americas continue to exist to this very day. The Washitaw Nation of Louisiana is one such group (see www. Hotep. org), the Garifuna or Black Caribs of the Caribbean and Central America is another, the descendants of the Jamasse who live in Georgia and the surrounding states is another group. There are also others such as the Black Californian of Queen Calafia fame (the Black Amazon Queen mentioned in the book Journey to Esplandian, by Ordonez de Montalvo during the mid 1500's).Cultural artefacts which connect the ancient Blacks of the Americas with Africa are many. Some of these similarities can be seen in the stone and terracotta works of the ancient Blacks of the Americas. For example, the African hairline is clearly visible in some stone and terracotta works, including the use of cornrows, afro hair styl e, flat â€Å"mohawk† style similar to the type used in Africa, dreadlocks, braided hair and even plain kinky hair. The African hairline is clearly visible on a fine stone head from Veracruz Mexico, carved between 600 B.C. to 400 B. C. , the Classic Period of Olmec civilization. That particular statuette is about twelve inches tall and the distance from the head to the chin is about 17 centemeters. Another head of about 12 inches, not only posesses Negroid features, but the hair design is authentically West African and is on display at the National Museum of Mexico. This terracotta Africoid head also wears the common disk type ear plugs common in parts of Africa even today among tribes such as the Dinka and Shilluk.One of the most impressive pieces of evidence which show a direct link between the Black Olmec or Xi People of Mexico and West Africans is the presence of scarification marks on some Olmec terracotta sculpture. These scarification marks clearly indicate a West Afri can Mandinka (Mende) presence in prehistoric and ancient Meso-America. Ritual scarification is still practiced in parts of Africa and among the Black peoples of the South Pacific, however the Olmec scarification marks are not of South Pacific or Melanesian Black origins, since the patterns used on ancient Olmec sculpture is still common in parts of Africa.This style of scarification tatooing is still used by the Nuba and other Sudanese African people. In fact, the face of a young girl with keloid scarification on here face is identical to the very same keloid tatoos on the face of an ancient Olmec terracotta head from ancient Mexico. Similar keloid tattoos also appear on the arms of some Sudanese and are identical to similar keloid scars on the arms of some clay figures from ancient Olmec terracotta figurines of Negroid peoples of ancient Mexico. Bronze head of an ancient king from Benin, West Africa, The tradition of fine sculpture in West Africa goes back long before 1000 B.C.

Early Childhood Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Early Childhood Learning - Essay Example The third part will summarize some of the commentaries on the controversy and finally the conclusion will discuss which if any view is correct, and the importance of the controversy at hand. In an experiment conducted by Booth and Waxman (2002), a group of three years old children were subject to the same objects which were separated into two groups, either as animate objects or artifacts. When some of the objects with eyes on them, which are strong perceptual cues to animacy, and the objects were presented as artifacts, the children characterized them as artifacts. This shows that even in the face of strong perceptual gestures, conceptual information still aids the process of word learning in childhood, a view that contradicts the Attentional Learning Account view. Something which sparked a number of responses and different interpretations to this experiment but which face certain difficulties that further support the view that conceptual information does have a role in early word learning. First it was noted that both conc... s, in what sense then is perceptual information immune to conceptual information This simply means that if two factors affect the same variable, the only way one of the factors can be immune to the other is if one of them does not have an effect at all on the variable, something that the experiment mentioned above excludes. Second it was claimed by the Attentional Learning Account that perceptual information contributes directly to word learning unaided by any conceptual information; the experiment shows however that perceptual learning can be aided by conceptual information in a way that can change the outcome of the experiment. A special case of these two different views will be taken into account; namely the disagreement about the shape bias. The controversy over the role of conceptual learning in early word learning for children has initiated the shape bias controversy; briefly stated it is an implication of the two views outlined above. On the one hand the proponents of the Attentional Learning Account claim that shape bias does not emerge until infants are able to distinguish at least 50 nouns which is in line with the claim they support that conceptual knowledge is only available much later. On the other hand Booth and Waxman have shown with an experiment they conducted with 18 to 22 months old children with vocabulary that does not exceed 18 nouns that these children have extended their uses of words on the basis of shape. This experiment thus interpreted challenges the whole of the Attentional Learning Account proponents. In a paper in the Developmental Science journal, Booth and Waxman have shown experiments in support of the Attentional Learning Account view and have tried to show that they can be interpreted in a way that does not do any harm to their view

International Service Quality Mystery Shopper Essay

International Service Quality Mystery Shopper - Essay Example In short, mystery shopping is a tool that helps companies in understanding where their services stand and helps them to rectify the problems their customers face and improve their services. 1 Mystery shopping was basically developed in the 1940s and 1950s in order to expose the deceitful employees that were working for companies. In the early days, much of it was carried out by private investigators and many had no idea about what the term actually meant. With the passage of time, many of the companies realized that the information revealed with the help of mystery shopping services was far more authentic and important in helping to improve their business. Also, the information revealed about customer care service issues, safety and environment were also considered important and service providing companies realized that the information about the operations was far more important than any other data (Ilisha, 2004). The most common places where mystery shopping techniques are applied are the services industry, such as movie theatres, restaurants, banks, fast food chains, health clubs etc where much emphasis is paid on the service quality and their customer base and reputation is dependent on it. Therefore, the management of these companies make sure they have sound methods and techniques to gauge their services in a non-biased way in order to correct any faults.2 HOW IT WORKS A mystery shopper first has to register himself/herself to an organization specialized to conduct mystery shopping. There is a Mystery Shopping Providers Association with which companies are registered and provide mystery shopping services to the people. The mystery shopper once registered, is given an assignment, specific to the area in which he or she is living and a number of topics on which he or she has to undertake the assignment. Most of the dealings between the company and the mystery shopper are done online which reduces the hassle of paper work for the mystery shopper and it is a source of easy money for many. MYSTERY SHOPPING AND MARKET RESEARCH Mystery shopping is considered as a tool of market research as it helps to understand the market a company is catering too. However, it is different from market research on many accounts. Mystery research is more associated to operations research. Mystery research is more of an operational research that provides feedback on quality control, training and inducement purposes. These shoppers are specially recruited in such a way that their demographics and social profile is similar to the target market of the organization. Mystery shoppers also visit certain areas and on certain times, it cannot predict every customer's opinion and experience of the service (Mystery-Shoppers.co.uk, 2008). Also, customer satisfaction cannot be gauged because a mystery shopper is just a job that the shopper is doing and customer satisfaction relates to the subjective idea of a real customer's thinking. Therefore, mystery shopping should just not be used to gauge customer satisfaction. Mystery shopping provides us with a unique feedback of the customer and the people who are the mystery shoppers exactly know what they have to evaluate and the front line workers who are being evaluated have no idea about it. However, ethical

No Smoking Ban and Constitutional Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

No Smoking Ban and Constitutional Rights - Essay Example ate Health & Welfare Department because of her being a smoker notwithstanding the fact that she is well qualified for the position she was applying for. The refusal of the said department to hire her was because of the law enacted by the State that no employees shall be hired as state employees; (2) The issues involved must be riped for adjudication (Warth vs. Seldin, 1975). That is, the questioned law must have effected an adverse effect on the person challenging it that there it has warrant the intervention of the judiciary; (3) The plaintiff must have a legal standing. This is when the plaintiff has a personal and substantial interest in the current case such that he has sustained direct or actual injury due to the enforcement of the subject law, that there is a sufficient connection between the action of the government and the injury sustained by the plaintiff or that the plaintiff does not bring the case for general purpose or to represent a third party (Flast vs. Cohen, 1968). Clearly, Candice suffered injury for being rejected to become a state employee despite her qualifications; and (4) The question of Constitutionality must be raised at the earliest possible opportunity or it must pass mootness test (The Free Dictionary; Warth vs. Seldin, 1975). If the case shows that the issues involved are only hypothetical or dead, the court will preclude itself from addressing the issues since the â€Å"alleged injury† is no longer or has never existed. In the instant case, should the case has been brought right after Candice was rejected to become a state employee and while she is still a smoker, the case can be considered to have been brought in time and therefore meets the last requisite. In this instance, all the requisites before a court may review a law and declare it to be unconstitutional or in violation of a fundamental right are present in the case at hand. Moreover, the test used was appropriate since the case questions the validity of a law and the test was

Staff Development Plan Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Staff Development Plan - Personal Statement Example So basically I have to be highly skilled and provide interaction and engagement. Also in order to effectively develop my staff I have to be familiar with the content that is what is being taught in class rooms and the context that is the environment in which this content is delivered and the issues surrounding this content. It is only when I know what areas need development would I be able to suggest and bring about a change. (NSDC, 2008) Although I do encourage my staff to attend seminars, orientations and work shops but in addition I have now planned on introducing job embedded development as it is a professional learning experience that relates to the teachers daily work. Job embedded development is a more effective type of staff development as it connected to what the educator is doing in class on a daily basis so teachers can practically apply what they have learned which in turns help sustain their learning. Some of the main characteristics of job embedded development are teachers working together in groups and holding regular meetings. Research shows that these development activities lead to better problem solving as the problems that exist with in the school are better solved by those who work there and have a one on one interaction with the students. Also teachers working in groups get to analyze the students work more carefully and thus result in an overall increase in student achievement. (Galloway, n.d.) I would also want to help my staff develop through coaching and on job instruction and for that purpose I will appoint staff developers. According to researches staff developers have a huge impact on what students and teachers learn. Staff developers can work with the teachers to increase student achievements, to reach the goals of student improvement programs and to provide on going coaching to teachers who are struggling or teachers who want to enhance certain skills. In my opinion the best thing about staff developers is that they are not in evaluating positions and thus the teachers will be encouraged to be open and honest with them about their problems and weaknesses and in this way a more effective development can take place. (Galloway, n.d.) I would also encourage distributed leadership rather than a top down approach. I would encourage interaction between teachers, students and my self not only with in the school but also with other schools, I would also encourage the parents to participate in order to facilitate better learning and development. I would be open to suggestions brought in by the teachers, the parents and even the students. I would give students and teachers a chance to voice their opinions. I will hold regular meeting with the staff and coaches so as to always be in sync with the progress that is taking place. And I would also arrange regular meetings with the parents and students so that they can also be involved in the development process. (NSDC, 2008) Apart from all the above I would encourage regular assessments to be held in the form of closed book quizzes or tests. Theses quizzes would be made up of fill in the blanks, MCQS and short questions that would require the students to recall what they learned in class. These quizzes would facilitate in students as well as teacher learning. Based on the results of the quiz teachers would have an idea of the concepts that the whole class collectively has a problem with and

Philosophy of caring Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Philosophy of caring - Essay Example According to Chapman, a healing hospital has a clearly defined charter of caring for all patients, loving and showing kindness, compassion and using all available skills to assist patients (2003). To this end, the main components of a healing hospital are faith, compassion, skilled staff and technology. All the components are important in making a positive impact on patient’s health. Compassion and Kindness are virtues that are deeply embedded in the Bible. The Bible requires people to show love and compassion to people in need. Thus, the nurses would be following spiritual beliefs by caring for patients. Skill and technology are also important components in a healing hospital (Chapman, 2003). Love and care cannot be efficient if there are no enablers. Skills and technology enable nurses cope with various situations facing the patients. Nursing need technology to accurately diagnose diseases and mitigate them. Technology can also be used in entertaining patients in order to reduce anxiety. Patients may listen to music that is spiritual to them or has some significance to them. Despite the importance of a healing hospital, creating the healing environment is complex and faces several challenges. The challenges pose barriers to the development of healing hospitals. One of the barriers is that it is difficult to find caretakers who are interested in the concept of a caring hospital. A caring hospital is more demanding and calls for sacrifice on the part of caretakers such as training (Puchalski & McSkimming, 2006). A healing hospital requires staff that have compassion, believe in a culture of care and are spiritual. It is preferred that the staff subscribe to Christian values. Thus, it may pose a challenge to find people who may abide by the rules of a healing environment. The major issues that need to be observed by the caretakers include physical,

Frankenstein (Norton Critical Editions) book Essay

Frankenstein (Norton Critical Editions) book - Essay Example Victor has other two siblings particularly brothers: William and Ernest. Due to his obsession with the study of outdated science theories, Victor chooses to enroll in the University of Ingolstadt in Germany (Shelley 19). Weeks before he leaves for school, his mother Caroline succumbs to death after suffering from scarlet fever. This paper will seek to compare and contrast education of young monsters, parallel to the education of Victor and his creation. As the book reveals, Victor underwent formal education unlike the monster, which had to learn on its own. According to the narrator, Victor had pervasive interest in studying outdated science theories specifically those that focused on attaining natural wonders. As a result, he attended the University of Ingolstadt where studied well and excelled in subjects such as chemistry and other sciences. During his time in school, Victor developed a secretive technique that involved imbuing of inanimate bodies especially with life. This shows that Victor attended a formal school with teachers and other students and in a school like environment. Thus, he acquired formal education, which is not the case with the monster (28). As the story unveils, readers are meant to understand that the monster attained education through self-training. Predominantly, it is seeable that when the monster disappeared from the room where Victor created it, it went to seek refuge in thick bushes close to a cottage where the DeLacy family lived and to a surprise, it spent a whole year observing the members of this family. The story points out that the monster leant how to read, became self-aware, and discovered its hideous physical state. In addition, the source explains that, during its stay, the monster discovered a shoulder bag of lost books, which it used to teach itself how to read. It also stood by the pool where it found out that its physical appearance was different from that of humans (37). This entails that the monster’s mode o f education or rather acquiring knowledge was through practice, self-learning, and observation. Victor’s education is parallel to that of his creation in that, they both had quest for knowledge. Consequently, Victor went to a school to receive education while the monster had to educate itself. Victor’s interests First, Victor displays an infatuated possessiveness for Elizabeth. He undergoes a series of mentally related breakdowns but his father restores him by reinstating his former wealth status and his mother fulfils his passion for Elizabeth by lending him her hand in marriage. Apart from his interests for Elizabeth, Victor had an obsessive passion for studying outdated science theories. Victor grew up knowing that je could understand probably explain the things surrounding him if he could study outdated science theories (42). Following this believe, he developed a covert skill in which he could instill inert bodies with life. In other words, he developed a way of c reating creatures and filling them with life. This was yet another of his interests. Victor and Henry’s interests Victor Frankenstein and Henry Clerval were long-time acquaintances. Henry developed intensive interest for care, poems, and sense. When Victor was studying at Ingolstadt University, he spent a while without communicating with his family. Henry chose to relocate to where Victor was in order to take care of Victor. This shows that Victor was passionate about taking care of his friends. On the other end, when Victor brought the

PV system Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

PV system - Assignment Example h. power storage: solar power can be put away in solar batteries and warm thermal solar frameworks for warming homes. At the point when there is light, the panels charge the batteries. Amid the night and climate conditions without the sun, the batteries are utilized to power the lightings (Conservative critic). (a) It is the design that expands the gathering of vitality from solar sources from a vast territory. It is attained by concentrating solar radiation from a vast region into a PV cell. It fundamentally lessens on the measure of the silicon wafer that is put into the generation of power. (b) Concentrating beams from the light is best accomplished by utilizing mirrors and lenses a procedure termed as optical force. Then again, a glass window built with luminescent substances in a methodology called luminescent concentration. (C) By guaranteeing that a lot of light from an unfathomable zone falls on a little PV cell, less measure of silicon is required to create and deliver high measures of energy subsequently lessening generation cost. For the luminescent concentration, the sheet of luminescent substance reradiates light, which wind up inside the glass. The reflection brought on falls on the PV cells to create power. The setup obliges that silicon wafer is just made utilization of on the edges. Productivity is a component considered from over edge as it prompts expanded proficiency (Ferowich). Ferowich, Grant. Solar Power: Cost and Reliability Make It the Perfect Energy Source. 31 MAY 2013. 4 OCT 2014

Data Collection Plan Essay Example for Free

Data Collection Plan Essay Abstract Postoperative Pulmonary complications (PPC) such as atelectasis, impaired gas exchange, pneumonia and acute respiratory failure (ARF) are not uncommon in patients undergoing major surgery and are a leading cause of increased patient morbidity, mortality and increased length of hospital stay (Yoder, Sharma, Hollingsworth, Talavera, Rice, 2013). Healthcare professionals are now expected to give patients verifiably effective treatments by implementing current evidence based practice (EBP). In order to do so, interventions to prevent PPCs must be investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of adding incentive spirometry (IS) to traditional postoperative chest physiotherapy (CPT) and respiratory care. Eighty patients between 30 and 50 year old who had undergone surgery participated in the study. Patients were divided into two groups: the intervention group where IS was used in addition to the traditional CPT, and the control group which included only traditional CPT. The results obtained in the investigation indicated that there were significant differences between both groups at the end of the study in terms of PPCs and hospital length of stay (LOS). Conclusion: Addition of IS to postoperative care helped in controlling PPCs. Keywords: postoperative pulmonary complication, incentive spirometer, chest physiotherapy, length of Stay Research Question In postsurgical patients, how does using incentive spirometer, compared to not using incentive spirometer, affect incidence of PPCs and hospital LOS? Hypothesis Because the risk for developing PPCs is not well studied specific numbers of occurrences are difficult to predict. However, it was hypothesized that patients who incorporated IS as part of their postoperative care would have a clinically significant decrease in the occurrence of PPCs and hospital LOS compared to those who did not incorporate IS into their postoperative care. Data Collection A quasi-experimental control trial was conducted from February 1, 2014 to May 31, 2014. The lead researcher, Adrienne Hinson, collected the data personally. During the four month study, eighty patients ranging in age from 30 to 50 years old who were undergoing surgery where the abdomen or chest was opened were selected randomly from the General Surgery Department at McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence, SC. On sampling days, patients meeting the criteria were numbered chronologically based on their surgery time. For eighty consecutive business days, one of the patients was chosen randomly using a random numbers table created on Microsoft Excel. Patients who had recently been diagnosed with or treated for acute pulmonary complications, those who could not be instructed or supervised to assure appropriate use of the IS, and patients whose cooperation or comprehension was lacking were excluded from the study. All appropriate procedures were used to safeguard the rights of study participants. The study was externally reviewed by the hospital’s institutional review board before data collection began. Patients received verbal and written explanations of the study purpose and data collection procedures and after indicating willingness to participate in the study, voluntary informed consent was obtained (See Appendix A). Information included within the informed consent included participant status; participants were told which postoperative activities were routine, and which activities were being evaluated. Participants were informed that the data collected about them would be used for research purposes. The overall goals of the research, to evaluate to addition of IS to postoperative care, was described to patients. Participants were informed about which types of data would be collected, what procedures they would undergo, and how they were selected. The time frame of the commitment was defined as beginning on post-op day one and lasting until their follow up  visit after discharge. Information regarding funding was available to participants. All participants were educated on potential risks and benefits of participation. Finally, patients were assured that their privacy would be protected at all times and that they would be allowed to withdraw from the study at any point during their hospital stay (Polit Beck, 2012). The patients were deliberately placed into one of two experimental groups. Deliberate placement reduces confounding by ensuring the two groups were comparable when age, sex, smoking history, type of surgery and post-operative analgesia were compared. The control group consisted of 40 patients who underwent routine chest physiotherapy (CPT) postoperatively, as recommended by the Clinical Practice Guidelines set forth by The Agency for Healthcare Research Quality (2011). A physiotherapist supervised and assisted the treatment twice a day in the first two postoperative days and once a day from the third to the tenth days. During any session, the patients performed three to five deep breaths interspersed with periods of quiet breathing followed by two or three coughs or huffs with support from a pillow at least 10 times over a 15 minutes period. Additional techniques such as positioning and chest wall percussion were applied if breathing and coughing exercises alone were not effective in clearing excessive or retained pulmonary secretions. Patients were instructed to perform coughing and deep breathing exercises independently every hour while awake. The treatment group consisted of the remaining 40 patients who also followed the same Clinical Practice Guidelines but also received breathing exercise training with IS (Voldyne Volumetric manufactured by Sherwood Medical Company U.S.A.) In addition to the routine chest physiotherapy up to the tenth postoperative day. Application of breathing training with incentive spirometry was applied for five minutes, five times a day (El-Marakby et al., 2013). Monitoring began immediately postoperatively and continued until discharge. Hospital LOS was documented for each patient, along with whether or not the patient developed a PPC within 10 days of surgery. The researcher rounded on each hospitalized patient daily to ensure compliance and to update discharges and PPC diagnoses. In order to determine LOS, participant observation was used as a tool to collect data. LOS was calculated by subtracting day of admission from day of discharge. Date of admission was the date of surgery for all participants. Date of discharge was determined  by the surgical teams, who were blinded to the study and therefore measures are not likely to be influenced by reactivity (Polit Beck, 2012). PPCs were defined as any pulmonary abnormality that produced identifiable disease or dysfunction, was clinically significant, and adversely affected the postoperative clinical course (Hayden, Mayer, Stoller, 1995). Patients were monitored daily for 10 days for the diagnosis of a PPC. Given this definition, PPCs documented included atelectasis, pneumonia, acute respiratory failure, and exacerbation of COPD. Along with physical assessment and past history, biophysiological measures were used as data collection tools to aid in the diagnosis of PPCs (See Appendix C). Equipment and lab analysis were readily available and tests for biophysiological measures were completed by the appropriate staff at McLeod Regional Medical Center. Ordering tests and the interpretation of results was fulfilled solely by the healthcare providers as deemed necessary. The researchers were not responsible for diagnosing PPCs, but rather the observation and recording of data. Biophysiological measures for diagnosing acute respiratory failure include a low level of oxygen; a pulse oximetry falling below 80% saturation on room air or when arterial blood gas shows PaO2.

Importance of Ankle Brachial Pressure Index (ABPI)

Importance of Ankle Brachial Pressure Index (ABPI) Ankle Brachial Pressure Index test use as a tool of foot assessment in diabetic patient to reduce rate of lower extremity amputation. INTRODUCTION This essay will reflect on the importance of ankle brachial pressure index (ABPI) use as a tool while performing foot assessment (FA) to identify diabetic patients who are at risk of foot ulcers and detecting vascular impairment in diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) hence preventing lower extremity amputation (LEA). FA helps to detect the level of risk of a diabetic patient developing a foot ulcer (Singh N et al., 2005, Grawford F et al.,2007). When there is no early detection and intervention, foot ulcers deteriorate resulting in amputation of the affected limb (Kerr M, 2012, Young MJ et al., 2008). All diabetic patients should perform annual FA to identify any abnormality (American Diabetes Associaton 2012) and those who are at risk should have FA done more frequently (Frykberg RG et al., 2006). Gibbs’ model of reflection (Gibbs 1988) is used in this discussion because it is easy to use, simple and is a good guidance of reflection. 25% of diabetic people will develop foot ulcer due to diabetes (Singh N et al., 2005) while 85% of diabetic patients with foot ulcers can lead to LEA (Pecoraro RE et al., 1990, Margolis DJ et al., 2005). â€Å"The emotional and financial costs of diabetic foot disease are high† (Close-Tweedie, 2002). Approximately 400 cases of LEA are performed yearly in Mauritius due to complication of Diabetes, costing about Rs 50,000 to Rs 100,000 for each limb amputation (Apsa International 2014, Mauritius Research Council 2012). However 85% of level of amputation can be reduced through a multidisciplinary team by early detection of foot problems, proper FA, empowering patient by giving them health education, close monitoring and proper care (International Diabetes Federation 2005, Pecoraro RE, 1990). DESCRIPTION The Government of Mauritius is doing much effort to increase the quality of life of diabetic people, national digital retinal screening service and podiatry services are available (Millenium Development Goals Status Report 2013). Foot ulcer clinics have been set up in all regional hospitals in Mauritius. During my training as a foot ulcer nurse I happened to do an ABPI (see Appendix 1) while doing FA with a patient whom I will call Mr John who has a non healing ulcer in his left hallux. His foot has never been assessed by a health care professional and he was not aware of FA. The ABPI result was 0.7 (see Appendix 2) indicating that he has moderate peripheral arterial disease. He was referred to the vascular surgeon by the treating Doctor. The result was confirmed through a colour duplex Doppler showing significant and arterial stenosis below the knee by greater than 60%. The patient underwent revascularization. Proper management of the wound was done, compression was not applied (Vow den K and Vowden P, 2002) and now the ulcer is showing good signs of healing. FEELINGS Getting the opportunity to follow the foot ulcer management course made me overwhelm. I was so enthusiastic to learn new ways and techniques of FA that I will apply with patients acting as a barrier to protect them from stumbling into the pitfall of foot complications hence preventing amputations. Before undertaking the module I was not aware of the importance of FA in preventing LEA. A 10g Semmes Weinstein monofilament is used to check loss of sensation in neuropathy and a hand-held doppler use to calculate ABPI to assess the vascular flow was far from my know how. After undertaking the module and wider reading with endeavours, though there were many ups and downs due to time constraint, now I feel more self-confident and have more expertise in practicing ABPI while doing FA. Having been able to detect the cause of non healing ulcer of Mr John through an ABPI while doing FA, I felt very happy and eventually this has motivated me to learn the module more correctly. I was determined t o put ABPI technique into practice in my field of work so that I can manage patient correctly and refer them to the appropriate channel for specific treatment through multidisciplinary team (John Ovretveti, 1996). EVALUATION I have learnt that foot problems related to diabetes occur very quickly, causing rapid tissue breakdown which is often complicated by infection (Edmonds et al., 1986) and eventually may lead to LEA (Close-Tweedie J, 2002). Factors influencing wound healing are hyperglycaemia (McInnes, 2001), change in metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins because of insulin deficiency (Cooper, 1990). Furthermore many factors prevent the normal process of wound healing at cellular level including delayed closure, contraction retarded due to delayed myofibroblast phenotype, granulocytes effect, no collagen synthesis, chemotaxis defects and no growth factors (Close-Tweedie J, 2002). Therefore, if there is decrease in tissue perfusion and oxygenation, wound healing will not take place (Terranova, 1991). Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) in the lower extremity is a condition where there is narrowing of arteries in the legs and feet due to accumulation of fatty substance called plaque, inside the walls of arteries. This result in poor blood supply to the muscles and tissues in the legs and feet hereby causing pain, tissue death and even gangrene. It is important to assess the arterial perfusion as impaired circulation contribute to non healing ulcer (Akbari CM, 2003). When assessing diabetic foot, the palpation of ankle pulses should not be used alone to detect arterial disease (Vowden K and Vowden P, 2002) and â€Å"distal perfusion can only be accurately assessed by the correct application of Doppler† (Whiteley et al., 1998). The ABPI is a simple, quick, non-invasive tool use to identify PAD(Bhasin N and Scott DJA, 2007). However, ABPI is not as easy to perform as it appears. I have done an ABPI with Mr John and this has helped in identifying the cause of the non healing ulcer. This was due to impaired blood circulation and the patient has been directed to the proper pathway to restore the blood flow. Hence this has helped the wound to show good signs of healing. ANALYSIS It is through performing an ABPI with Mr Brown that the cause of the non healing wound has been detected. I am pondering on how many patients have non healing ulcers due to impaired circulation and FA has not been done including ABPI. So ABPI is done on all diabetic patients with or without foot ulcers who are coming to our clinic for FA and they are being referred to proper channel for further management. My aim is to prevent diabetic patients to have foot complications and reduce the rate of LEA. ABPI result help us to evaluate the vascular supply, level of ischaemia, level of pain in the leg, determine the prognosis for patients having vascular disease and guide whether the patient should undergo revascularization or do angioplasty, stenting or bypass surgery of lower extremity. (Grenon SM et al., 2009). By interpreting the ABPI resuIts, now I am sure and certain of what types of bandaging to use, what dressing materials and medications to use to treat and help healing of ulcers. ABPI also guides us to decide whether debridement of the wound should be done or not and what type of offloading techniques to be implemented. CONCLUSION The fundamentals basics for healing of DFU are good perfusion, debridement, infection control, and pressure mitigation. To obtain successful outcome in the management of DFU is to recognize the etiological factors (Wu SC et al., 2007). Doing an ABPI help to improve the management of diabetic patients. The ABPI assessment was of great help to know the risk of the foot. For those having no ulcers, they are being managed by the correct channel to prevent complications from arising, while those having an ulcer are also diverted to correct pathway of treatment including surgeons and foot care nurses to manage foot problems correctly under the guidance of all expertise available at the hospital level. ACTION PLAN Now having well grasped the module workbook, I have allocated myself with a good time of reflection about how previously diabetic patients, with or without ulcers, were being treated and what was the complication and drawbacks we had in our system. After I have well understood the importance of ABPI during my studentship at the module and from my personal experience gained during the management of diabetic foot ulcer, now I make it a must that all diabetic patients, attending hospital from any sections, have an appointment to screen their foot with an ABPI done. Eventually, canalizing them through the correct pathways for further investigations and management required with the goal to reduce the rate of LEA. However, ABPI is contraindicated when there is excruciating pain in the leg or foot, in the presence of deep venous thrombosis as the thrombus may be dislodged and in patient with renal failure doing dialysis. ABPI results should be interpreted with care in patients having heavily calcified or incompressible vessels, where they may be misleadingly high. (Grenon SM et al., 2009). REFLECTION In this work piece of reflection, I have demonstrated how I use ABPI on diabetic patients to reduce the rate of LEA. Observing the result being achieved by this assessment, other members of health care providers insist about the implementation of this typical assessment. We are now more eager to know about the ABPI result on diabetic patients prior moving forward with any kind of management. I feel happy that my knowledge gained from the module are being put into practice and ABPI assessment has proved to be a great tool to reduce LEA which has been the aim of the government since long. REFERENCES Akbari CM, Macsata R, Smith BM, Sidawy AN. Overview of the diabetic foot. Semin Vasc Surg 16:3-11, 2003. American Diabetes Association. Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes-2012. Diabetes Care, Volume 35, Supplement 1, January 2012. Apsa.mu, (2014). Foot Care Clinic | Apsa International. [online] Available at: http://apsa.mu/services/foot-care-clinic/ [Accessed 22 June 2014]. Bhasin N and Scott DJA. Ankle Brachial Pressure Index: identifying cardiovascular risk and improving diagnostic accuracy. 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Young MJ, McCardle JE, Randlall LE, et al. Improved survival of diabetic foot ulcer patint’s 1995-2008: possible impact of aggressive cardiovascular risk management. Diabetes Care 2008; 31: 2143-47. APPENDIX 1 – Procedure of performing ABPI by Huntleigh Healthcare 2002 Patient is reassured and procedure is explained. Make sure patient is in supine position, comfortable, relaxed with sufficient rest. †¢ An appropriate sized cuff is placed around the upper arm and the brachial systolic blood pressure is measured. †¢ The equipment and the arm should be at heart level. †¢ When the brachial pulse is felt, ultrasound contact gel is applied. †¢ The probe of the Doppler should be at an angle of 45 degree and is moved till the best signal is obtained. †¢ The cuff is inflated until the signal disappeared, then is deflated slowly so that the probe is not moved from the line of the artery and at the point where the signal returns, the pressure is recorded. †¢ The procedure is repeated in the other arm. †¢ The highest of the two values of systolic pressure is used for the ABPI calculation. †¢ The systolic pressure of the ankle is taken by placing an appropriate sized cuff around the ankle immediately above the malleoli. The equipment should be at heart level. If any ulcer is present, it should be protected with a plastic film. †¢ The dorsalis pedis pulse is felt and contact gel is applied. The cuff is inflated until the signal disappear, then is deflated slowly and ensure the probe is not moved from the line of the artery and at the point where the signal returns, the pressure is recorded. †¢ The procedure is repeated for the posterior tibial. †¢ The highest systolic pressure reading is used to calculate the ABPI for that leg. †¢ Same procedure is applied in the other leg. †¢ The ABPI is calculated for each leg using the formula below. ABPI = Highest systolic pressure recorded at the ankle of dorsalis pedis and posterior tibial for that leg divided by the highest systolic brachial pressure of right and left arm. APPENDIX 2 – Reading of ABPI by Huntleigh Healthcare 2002 ABPI > 1.0 to 1.4 is considered as normal ABPI ABPI > 0.5 and ABPI ABPI >1.4 indicates calcification Page 1