International

An ancient writing system confounding myths about Africa

Published

12 months ago

June 8, 2025

A wooden hunters’ toolbox inscribed with an ancient writing system from Zambia has been making waves on social media.

“We’ve grown up being told that Africans didn’t know how to read and write,” says Samba Yonga, one of the founders of the virtual Women’s History Museum of Zambia.

“But we had our own way of writing and transmitting knowledge that has been completely side-lined and overlooked,” she tells the BBC.

It was one of the artefacts that launched an online campaign to highlight women’s roles in pre-colonial communities – and revive cultural heritages almost erased by colonialism.

Another intriguing object is an intricately decorated leather cloak not seen in Zambia for more than 100 years.

“The artefacts signify a history that matters – and a history that is largely unknown,” says Yonga.

“Our relationship with our cultural heritage has been disrupted and obscured by the colonial experience.

“It’s also shocking just how much the role of women has been deliberately removed.”

Women’s History Museum Zambia Samba Yonga from Women's History Museum of Zambia holds up a frame showing a photo of a wooden hunters' toolbox inscribed with an ancient writing system. She has long braids, pink eyeshadow, red nail varnish on her nails and is wearing yellow, orange, black and blue African print dress. She is pictured against a purple and black African print design backdrop. — Samba Yonga holding the wooden hunters’ toolbox in one of the beautifully photographed images posted on social media for the Frame project

But, says Yonga, “there’s a resurgence, a need and a hunger to connect with our cultural heritage – and reclaim who we are, whether through fashion, music or academic studies”.

“We had our own language of love, of beauty,” she says. “We had ways that we took care of our health and our environment. We had prosperity, union, respect, intellect.”

A total of 50 objects have been posted on social media – alongside information about their significance and purpose that shows that women were often at the heart of a society’s belief systems and understanding of the natural world.

The images of the objects are presented inside a frame – playing on the idea that a surround can influence how you look at and perceive a picture. In the same way that British colonialism distorted Zambian histories – through the systematic silencing and destruction of local wisdom and practices.

The Frame project is using social media to push back against the still-common idea that African societies did not have their own knowledge systems.

The objects were mostly collected during the colonial era and kept in storage in museums all over the world, including Sweden – where the journey for this current social media project began in 2019.

Yonga was visiting the capital, Stockholm, and a friend suggested that she meet Michael Barrett, one of the curators of the National Museums of World Cultures in Sweden.

She did – and when he asked her what country she was from, Yonga was surprised to hear him say that the museum had a lot of Zambian artefacts.

“It really blew my mind, so I asked: ‘How come a country that did not have a colonial past in Zambia had so many artefacts from Zambia in its collection?'”

In the 19th and early 20th Centuries Swedish explorers, ethnographers and botanists would pay to travel on British ships to Cape Town and then make their way inland by rail and foot.

There are close to 650 Zambian cultural objects in the museum, collected over the course of a century – as well as about 300 historical photographs.

Women’s History Museum Zambia Mulenga Kapwepwe, from Women's History Museum of Zambia wearing a green, purple and yellow African print headwrap, cream long-sleeved shirt and blue latex gloves, bends over at a Swedish museum to examine the intricate patterns of Batwe cloaks. — Mulenga Kapwepwe looks at one of 20 pristine leather cloaks in the Swedish archive collected during an expedition between 1911 and 1912

When Yonga and her virtual museum co-founder Mulenga Kapwepwe explored the archives, they were astonished to find the Swedish collectors had travelled far and wide – some of the artefacts come from areas of Zambia that are still remote and hard to reach.

The collection includes reed fishing baskets, ceremonial masks, pots, a waist belt of cowry shells – and 20 leather cloaks in pristine condition collected during a 1911-1912 expedition.

They are made from the skin of a lechwe antelope by the Batwa men and worn by the women or used by the women to protect their babies from the elements.

On the fur outside are “geometric patterns, meticulously, delicately and beautifully designed”, Yonga says.

There are pictures of the women wearing the cloaks, and a 300-page notebook written by the person who brought the cloaks to Sweden – ethnographer Eric Van Rosen.

He also drew illustrations showing how the cloaks were designed and took photographs of women wearing the cloaks in different ways.

“He took great pains to show the cloak being designed, all the angles and the tools that were used, and [the] geography and location of the region where it came from.”

The Swedish museum had not done any research on the cloaks – and the National Museums Board of Zambia was not even aware they existed.

So Yonga and Kapwepwe went to find out more from the community in the Bengweulu region in north-east of the country where the cloaks came from.

“There’s no memory of it,” says Yonga. “Everybody who held that knowledge of creating that particular textile – that leather cloak – or understood that history was no longer there.

“So it only existed in this frozen time, in this Swedish museum.”

Women’s History Museum Zambia Samba Yonga, wearing a beige linen top hemmed with gold-coloured trim, holds up a frame showing an archive photo from the Swedish collection of three women in a field in what is modern-day Zambia, with their backs to the camera, wearing leather cloaks - two children are under the cloaks of two of the women. — The Swedish collection includes 300 historical photographs, including this one of women wearing leather cloaks

One of Yonga’s personal favourites in the Frame project is Sona or Tusona, an ancient, sophisticated and now rarely used writing system.

It comes from the Chokwe, Luchazi and Luvale people, who live in the borderlands of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Yonga’s own north-western region of Zambia.

Geometric patterns were made in the sand, on cloth and on people’s bodies. Or carved into furniture, wooden masks used in the Makishi ancestral masquerade – and a wooden box used to store tools when people were out hunting.

The patterns and symbols carry mathematical principles, references to the cosmos, messages about nature and the environment – as well as instructions on community life.

The original custodians and teachers of Sona were women – and there are still community elders alive who remember how it works.

They are a huge source of knowledge for Yonga’s ongoing corroboration of research done on Sona by scholars like Marcus Matthe and Paulus Gerdes.

“Sona’s been one of the most popular social media posts – with people expressing surprise and huge excitement, exclaiming: ‘Like, what, what? How is this possible?'”

The Queens in Code: Symbols of Women’s Power post includes a photograph of a woman from the Tonga community in southern Zambia.

She has her hands on a mealie grinder, a stone used to grind grain.

National Museums of World Cultures An archive photo showing a kneeling pregnant Tonga woman leaning on a mealie grinder and looking down at a young child standing by her side with their hand on her waist. They are both smiling, pictured in front of a wood and mud structure. — This archive photo shows a grinding stone used by Tonga women that would go on to used as a gravestone

Researchers from the Women’s History Museum of Zambia discovered during a field trip that the grinding stone was more than just a kitchen tool.

It belonged only to the woman who used it – it was not passed down to her daughters. Instead, it was placed on her grave as a tombstone out of respect for the contribution the woman had made to the community’s food security.

“What might look like just a grinding stone is in fact a symbol of women’s power,” Yonga says.

The Women’s History Museum of Zambia was set up in 2016 to document and archive women’s histories and indigenous knowledge.

It is conducting research in communities and creating an online archive of items that have been taken out of Zambia.

“We’re trying to put together a jigsaw without even having all the pieces yet – we’re on a treasure hunt.”

A treasure hunt that has changed Yonga’s life – in a way that she hopes the Frame social media project will also do for other people.

“Having a sense of my community and understanding the context of who I am historically, politically, socially, emotionally – that has changed the way I interact in the world.”

Penny Dale is a freelance journalist, podcast and documentary-maker based in London.

bbc.com

International

At Least 82 Killed In Chinese Coal Mine Explosion

Published

2 weeks ago

May 25, 2026

AladdynKing

At least 82 people have been killed and two are missing after a coal mine blast in northern China, officials have said.

Rescue officials revised down the death toll in an update late on Saturday, having earlier said at least 90 people had died.

The gas explosion at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in Shanxi province is the worst mining disaster in China since 2009.

There were 247 workers reportedly on duty when the blast happened at 19:29 local time (11:29 GMT) on Friday, with more than 100 people said to be saved and hundreds of rescuers sent to the site.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said no effort must be spared in efforts to treat the injured and search for survivors.

The country’s state council later said a “rigorous” investigation would be conducted and those found responsible would be “severely punished”.

Officials apologised for the confusion over the death toll, saying the situation was chaotic at the beginning which led to an unclear headcount and an incorrect figure.

They said that 128 people were being treated in hospitals, including two in critical condition.

Most were affected after inhaling poisonous gas, according to state media, though it is not clear what type of gas it was.

Early on Sunday morning, rescuers deployed mine inspection robots underground, equipped with gas sensors and infrared cameras, state media reported.

The robots were operated by rescue workers who used them to enter unreachable areas to collect data and detect signs of life.

Local officials have also ordered immediate safety inspections of coal mines across Shanxi province. Production has been suspended at all four mines run by the group in charge of the Liushenyu Coal Mine, state media reported.

Wang Yong, an injured miner, told state media that when the incident happened, he did not hear a sound but saw a sudden plume of smoke.

“I smelled sulphur, the same smell you get from blasting. I shouted at people to run. As we were running I could see people collapsing from the fumes. Then I blacked out too,” he said.

“I lay there for about an hour or so before I came round on my own. I woke up the person next to me and we got out together.”

Map showing the location of Qinyuan County in Shanxi province, northern China. The county is highlighted in red within Shanxi, with Beijing marked to the northeast and Mongolia labelled to the north. An inset globe indicates the region’s position in East Asia.

Some of the management team at the mine have reportedly been detained. The cause of the gas explosion has not yet been revealed, but state media reported that the levels of carbon monoxide – a highly toxic, odourless gas – in the mine were found to have “exceeded limits”.

China’s Ministry of Emergency Management has sent 345 personnel from six rescue teams to help with the operation.

State media said the rescue operation had encountered difficulties as water has built up near the explosion site, preventing access to certain areas, while blueprints provided by the mine did not match the actual conditions.

Xinhua Rescue workers in orange gear entering industrial facility with equipment and breathing apparatus. — Rescuers are sent to the coal mine, where a red sign reads “the importance of safety is sky high”

In 2024, the Liushenyu mine was listed as one of the “severe safety hazards” by the Chinese National Mine Safety Administration.

Tongzhou Group, which runs the mine, has reportedly received two administrative penalties in 2025 for safety issues.

Shanxi province produces more than a quarter of China’s total coal output.

This disaster is a reminder of the darkest days of China’s coal mining industry.

In the early 2000s, deadly accidents were common in coal mines across the country. Safety standards have been tightened in recent years, and there has also been a crackdown on illegal coal mines, especially in Shanxi.

But accidents still happen.

In 2023, a collapse at an open-pit coal mine in the northern Inner Mongolia region killed 53 people.

And in 2009, an explosion at a mine in Heilongjiang province in the north-east killed more than 100.

China is the world’s biggest consumer of coal and the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, even as it installs renewable energy capacity at record speed.

The incident comes just days after high-profile visits by US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the country.

bbc.com

Africa

Toddlers Among Over 50 School Children Abducted In Nigeria

Published

3 weeks ago

May 17, 2026

AladdynKing

Gunmen have kidnapped more than 50 children from three schools in the same town in north-eastern Nigeria, teachers and parents have told the BBC.

Most of those missing are aged between two and five years old.

Eyewitnesses who saw the attacks on Friday morning in Mussa, Borno state, say the suspects used the children as human shields while fleeing on motorbikes, preventing security forces from opening fire.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Government officials have not responded to the BBC’s requests for comment, but a press statement issued on Saturday by Senator Ali Ndume of Borno South said at least 42 children had been abducted from two schools.

The kidnappings took place at the town’s Government Day Secondary School, Mussa Central Primary School, and State Universal Basis Education Board (SUBEB) Secondary School.

Some reports suggest the attacks bore the hallmark of Boko Haram – the Islamist group vying for control over the region against its rival faction, Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap).

Nigeria is currently grappling with a spate of mass abductions by a range of culprits.

Locals in Borno state have endured decades of insecurity. These latest attacks have prompted some resident of Mussa to flee the area.

Yet traumatised parents have told the BBC they feel they have no choice but to wait in anguish for news about their children.

One man, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, said his wife was inconsolable after their six-year-old daughter was snatched away by the gunmen.

Abdu Dunama, headmaster of Mussa Central Primary School, described hearing gunfire before armed men stormed the school and rounded up children.

He said 34 children – mostly nursery pupils aged five and under – were seized by the attackers from their classrooms.

The suspected militants arrived at the schools on motorcycles soon after troops on patrol left the town, according to residents.

“[It was] immediately after they left, it was not up to 30 minutes after,” said Bukar Buba, whose daughter was taken.

Witnesses said the gunmen fired sporadically, forcing residents to run for cover. Many parents watched helplessly from a nearby hill as their children were loaded onto motorcycles and taken away.

Some older students managed to flee into nearby bushes during the chaos, according to residents.

The largely farming community – already struggling economically – is now appealing urgently to the government to help secure the safe return of the children.

Dunama, who is in touch with security forces, says troops are currently on the ground and continuing efforts to track the abductors.

myjoyonline.com

Europe

France Confirms First Hantavirus Case

Published

4 weeks ago

May 11, 2026

AladdynKing

An American and a French national who have returned to their home countries, having left a cruise ship hit by a deadly outbreak of hantavirus, have tested positive, authorities say.

In total, seven cases of hantavirus linked to the MV Hondius have been confirmed, with two other cases suspected, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

The US health department said a second American national on the repatriation flight had also shown mild symptoms, adding that both passengers had travelled back in “biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution”.

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French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said a woman was isolating in Paris and her health was deteriorating, with 22 contacts traced.

Three passengers have died after travelling on the ship, two of whom were confirmed to have had the virus.

The WHO said the person who is believed to have been the first to be infected in the outbreak died before he could be tested.

Two other British nationals with confirmed cases are currently being treated in the Netherlands and South Africa.

Hantaviruses are usually carried by rodents, but human transmission of the Andes strain – which the World Health Organisation (WHO) believes was contracted by some of the Dutch ship’s passengers while in South America – is possible.

Symptoms can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and shortness of breath.

Officials say the risk of a major outbreak is very low.

More than 90 passengers of the MV Hondius ship, currently docked in Spain’s Canary Islands, are being repatriated.

In its latest update from Tenerife on Monday, Spanish officials said 54 passengers and crew were still on board the ship. Spanish Health Minister Mónica García said six of those were passengers: four Australians, one Briton and one New Zealander.

Some 22 people would disembark the ship to fly to the Netherlands on Monday, she said – including the Australians who had been expected to be flown home directly but whose plane could not be guaranteed to arrive on time.

The MV Hondius was then expected to leave for the Netherlands later on Monday, she said.

Four Canadian passengers, meanwhile, landed in Victoria, British Columbia, on Sunday evening after taking a chartered flight from Tenerife to Bagotville, Quebec. Authorities said they would be self-isolating and monitored for at least three weeks.

In its statement early on Monday, the US Department of Health and Human Services said all 17 US citizens on Sunday’s flight would undergo “clinical assessment” at a medical facility in Nebraska. A British national living in the US was also repatriated alongside them.

Seven other US passengers had already returned home and were being monitored in their home states.

Before the American case was confirmed, WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the decision by the US not to follow his organisation’s guidelines over the hantavirus outbreak “may have risks”.

The WHO has recommended 42 days of isolation for those leaving the MV Hondius.

But Dr Jay Bhattacharya, the acting head of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said he did not want to cause public panic, insisting that human-to-human transmission was rare and it should not be treated like the Covid virus.

Cruise ship passengers were pictured wearing blue gowns, bouffant caps, and medical face masks as they disembarked on Sunday at the port of Grandilla de Abona in Tenerife.

bbc.com