"The Day of the African Child is celebrated on 16 June in recognition of the day when, in 1976, thousands of black school children in Soweto, South Africa, took to the streets to protest the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds of young boys and girls were shot; and in the two weeks of protest that followed, more than 100 people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured."
UNICEF

The Day of the African Child is a day to fight for the cause of children in trouble: the AIDS orphans, child soldiers and impoverished youth who will inherit the continent.

As many as 50,000 African children under the age of five will lose their lives as the result of preventable or curable diseases. And as many as 38 million children of primary school age in Africa still remain out of school.

Why is Africa so poor?
news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews

My school in Africa
pbskids.org/africa/myworld

Facts about Africa

• Africa is the second-largest continent on Earth, with an area of 11.7 million square miles
• There are 53 countries in Africa
• Approximately 1 billion people live in Africa
• Mt. Kilimanjaro, 19,340 ft high is the highest mountain in Africa
• The Sahara is the world’s largest desert, at 3.5 million square miles
• The largest city in Africa is Cairo, the capital of Egypt
• The Nile is the longest river in the world, at 4,132 miles