Recent decades have seen sub-Saharan Africa decline in both economic and human terms. The rich North has responded with a barrage of well-publicized initiatives, from pop concerts to international commitments on debt relief, aid, trade and good governance. Among the complex of factors necessary to sustain economic and human development, education receives little media coverage, although it is crucial. However, education must be effective. This book argues that in 'Anglophone' Africa, education is not effective because of the use of English, rather than children's first languages, both as the medium of instruction, and also as the language in which children are first taught to read. Research is presented from Malawi and Zambia, countries with contrasting language policies, using evidence from tests in English and African languages, small-group discussions and classroom observation. The findings show that English-medium policies in Africa do not give students any advantage in English over first-language policies, while the use of English discriminates against girls and rural children. The book concludes that much education in Africa is a barrier rather than a bridge to learning because of the prevailing language ideology, which has resulted in massive over-estimation of the value of English. While appropriate language policies alone will not solve education and development difficulties in Africa, they do have a positive contribution to make. The evidence presented here suggests they are failing to make that contribution.

Barriers and Bridges to the Renewal of Regional Ecosystems

Barriers and Bridges, a practical and in-depth guide designed to educate the reader on issues, concerns, and biblical instruction regarding physical impairments, afflictions, and personal suffering within today's world. The book helps the reader better understand the origin of these afflictions, society¿s view and treatment of the impaired, the role our perspective of man plays in our treatment of him, God's role in relation to the impaired, the means of gaining personal victory over impairment, afflictions and suffering, and much more. The book is a must read for those who are physically impaired, for those who counsel or care about those who are impaired, afflicted or suffering, and for those simply seeking answers to these complex issues. The book comes with a resource section and small group study questions for those interested in presenting the subject in a class or small group setting.

Born in post-Holocaust Germany, Margrit Kowalke-Matthée struggled with deep guilt and pain at the role her country played in the atrocities carried out on Jewish people during the Holocaust. Instead of allowing her shame to consume her, Margrit began an active ministry to Jewish people in Israel, both by visiting the country and by writing thousands of letters introducing Jewish people to Jesus the Messiah. Her story of hope and reconciliation helps answer the question that many people struggle with; “What can one person do to battle the sheer magnitude of evil and hurt in the world?” We can all build bridges in a deeply divided society.

Bridge Maintenance, Safety, Management, Resilience and Sustainability contains the lectures and papers presented at The Sixth International Conference on Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management (IABMAS 2012), held in Stresa, Lake Maggiore, Italy, 8-12 July, 2012. This volume consists of a book of extended abstracts (800 pp) Extensive collection of revised expert papers on recent advances in bridge maintenance, safety, management and life-cycle performance, representing a major contribution to the knowledge base of all areas of the field.

A comprehensive guide to bridge design Bridge Design - Concepts and Analysis provides a unique approach, combining the fundamentals of concept design and structural analysis of bridges in a single volume. The book discusses design solutions from the authors’ practical experience and provides insights into conceptual design with concrete, steel or composite bridge solutions as alternatives. Key features: Principal design concepts and analysis are dealt with in a unified approach. Execution methods and evolution of the static scheme during construction are dealt with for steel, concrete and composite bridges. Aesthetics and environmental integration of bridges are considered as an issue for concept design. Bridge analysis, including modelling and detail design aspects, is discussed for different bridge typologies and structural materials. Specific design verification aspects are discussed on the basis of present design rules in Eurocodes. The book is an invaluable guide for postgraduate students studying bridge design, bridge designers and structural engineers.

How does Christ meet, engage, change, challenge, dialogue, interact with, and bridge cultures? What is the role of the gospel in transforming ethics and culture? These daunting questions guide the present investigation about Evangelical Christianity in Brazil, the largest Catholic country in the world. This book critiques the quantitative and qualitative growth of Evangelical Christianity in Brazil and presents tools for studying the global south and other cultures. Indeed, sociocultural factors play a significant role in the translation of the gospel and may work as bridges and/or barriers within the cultural and religious milieu of the largest country in Latin American. Particularly, four traits impacts the preaching of the Christian message in Brazil, namely: cordiality, religiosity, the Brazilian way of coping, and collectivism. Through oral history methodology, and literature review, this book evaluates how biblically sound translation happens through the Brazilian Baptist Convention as suggested by key leadership writings, practices, and memoirs. This work features an overview of the history of Brazilian Christianity, including its Animistic background, African-Brazilian religious influences, the present Pentecostal majority, and the challenge of Neopentecostalism, in an era of music, TV, and social media.

Argues that a range of behaviors such as murder-suicide, terrorism, and mass shootings are better understood as motivated by suicidal impulses than by homicidal ones Mass shooters often display behaviors that strongly mirror the warning signs for suicide: lives led in isolation, intense personal suffering, disaffection, and struggle. Letters detailing why they did what they did paint pictures of intense misery and loneliness. As this book makes clear, private despair sometimes leads to social violence. In this groundbreaking work, Thomas Joiner offers a unified theory of suicide, making the case that many acts that appear homicidal are best understood primarily as suicidal. We must recognize that there are several forms of suicidal violence, some of which masquerade as other types of acts, including terrorism and murder. These include suicide-by-cop, suicide terrorism, murder-suicide, and running amok. Though there are obvious differences among these acts, Joiner argues that framing them as stemming from a common ideology of suicide is a crucial step in preventing these atrocities. By recognizing the desire to die—not to kill—as being at the heart of many of the acts of those who choose to kill their partner, shoot up their school, or terrorize their community, we can offer more effective measures of intervention. At a time when our nation is scrambling for solutions in the fight to end gun violence, this book presents a crucial component in the detection and treatment of unwell individuals.

Ten bridges were chosen to have their concrete barrier rails constructed with one rail having "fibermesh" synthetic fibers added and the other rail without the fibers. The rails were constructed in 1985, 1986, or 1987. All the bridges were inspected in 1988 and no consistent reduction in cracking was achieved using Fibermesh fibers in the p.c. concrete bridge barrier rails.