Rwandan Stamps

Rwandan Stamps

Rwanda

Rwanda is a country near the equator. It is a landlocked country in Africa and is one of the few countries in the world where mountain gorillas can go freely. 

The land of Rwanda was first discovered in Europe by Gustav Adolf von Gotzen, a German explorer. Of course he was the first European to find this new land. 

In the First World War, this land was part of Belgium, but in the 1990's, the land was part of a new government; the Rwandan government. 

The economy is mostly coffee and goods such as tea and grains. This is straightening the country a lot. Mining is also very important for Rwanda. 

Rwanda is also a great tourist spot, as many tourists come to Rwanda. 

     

Telephone

The telephone is a long or short distance calling receiver that was created in 1892 by Alexander Graham Bell, though many people helped invent the telephone as well. 

The telephone was great because you could talk to people long distance from many miles away from the location. But this was also good because this invention lead to many more inventions such as the computer. 

The first telephones had little numbers and a turning wheel to dial the number. In the future, we use a key pad with numbers and multiple letters on a number. 

This was a very good invention that changed the world and you can thank the many inventors that were trying to build it.  

Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell was one of the many inventors of the telephone has many were trying and building the telephone. 

Alexander was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. As a child, he was very interested about the mechanics of communication as his mother was deaf. This was one of the reasons that made him one of the inventors of the telephone. 

He and his brother loved to invent many things in their neighbors'  flour mill. Alexander and his brother built many, many things in the inventing room. 

Alexander and his brother saw many inventions in Scotland. They saw a talking dog and a talking man once. This was another reason for his idea. 

In 1870, the Bell family moved to Brantford, Ontario, Canada for a new life. This is a national site in Brantford, Ontario and the house is still seen everyday. 

Years later, he was one of the inventors of the telephone. He talked to Mr. Watson, who he worked with once, from California, when Bell was in New York. This was the first telephone talk the world has seen. 

He later moved to the United States to have a family. He created the Bell telephone company. It is still a company.  

  Pymatieus Brunneri

Pymatieus Brunneri is a grasshopper that feeds on dangerous plants, which is good because it won't kill humans as much. They are very high on numbers, as to protect the colony from attackers. 

They take very long migratory flights. If is in danger, the grasshoppers has a noxious fluid that can stop predators from attacking for a short time. 

It is named as the Green Milkweed Locust or the African Bush Grasshopper. It is found in Central Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

     

Diopsis Fumpennis 

Diopsis Fumpennis is a insect first written by John Obadiah Westwood, an English naturalist who was the zoology professor at Oxford. He was a famous entomologist in his time. 

It is found in Rwanda and many parts of Africa. It is noted for its passion for light. It is very similar to a stalk-eyed bug, another insect native to Africa and Rwanda as the Diopsis Funpennis and the stalk-eyed bug are from similar insect families. 

This family of Diopsis has 190 different types of insects.  

  

Expo 70' 

Osaka, Japan

Expo 70 is also said as the worldwide fair. How it works is that the city in the country is hosted builds a monument and it is seen around the world. 

It is very cool. The Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Space Needle in Seattle are monuments built for Expo. And countries around the world celebrate their nation if they go in the Expo, like this stamp from Rwanda. 

The Expo host nation has a theme for each hosting year. In 1970, the theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind". 

Lions International

Lions International is an American secular organization is Oak Brook, United States. It is one of world's biggest secular organizations, with over 1.3 million members.  

Lions International was founded by Melvin Jones in 1917. This program was to help people in need. Countries around the world joined the organization to help people. 

Cities have many statues and monuments around the world about Lions International. It is also a type of charity that fund raises money to people in need. 

Sapporo, Japan

 1972 Winter Olympics

This was a good year for Japan. In Sapporo, famous for the oldest beer in Japan and one of the biggest beer companies in Japan, this was the host city for the first Winter Olympics in Japan and in the whole of Asia. 

Also this was the first time the Japanese have won a gold medal in the Winter Olympics, as they finished 11th in the medal count at the end of the Olympics. 

And it was one of the best Winter Olympic years for the Japanese, as they have many more people going into the Summer Olympics and winning more medals for Japan in swimming, track and many more, so for Japan, this was a good year for Japan, for Asia and the world.

Hagenia 

Hagenia is a tree growing to up to 20 m in height and it is found in Rwanda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

It was used as a drug called Cusso. It is called under different names. This drug was good at destroying tapeworms. But later in the years, it was just an excuse for people's problems. 

And research is saying that the cusso can only destroy part of an intestinal tapeworm or none at all. But this was important in the past for Ethiopia's economy, as it was lots of demand for the drug, as sometimes meat wasn't always good. 

    Regal Sunbird

The Regal Sunbird is an African bird found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. The bird is very common to see as it is not hunted for and the sunbirds populate easily.

Te Regal Sunbird eats mainly insects and nectar like most breeds of birds do. They also sometimes eat mistletoe as well in its diet. 

Fruit is also important for the sunbirds, as they need energy for the long flight to the Democratic Republic for the winter and back to Uganda, Rwanda and the other sunbird countries in Africa. 

The sunbird is very similar to the hummingbird, as their love for nectar is counted, but also because they look very similar and how they eat and how they fly are the same with the two species.     

  

 Double Collared Sunbird

The double collared sunbird is a species similar to the sunbird, though it is in the sunbird species. It is found in South Africa. That why its name is also the Southern Double Collared Sunbird. 

Males have a metallic green head and the body is always full of bright colours with red, blue and light brown on this bright bird. 

The females have brown on the upper head to the middle of the body. They have yellowish grey to the middle and down for their set of colours. 

The double collared sunbird is always in small group, probably not to lure in predators, and is always singing. The diet and eating is very similar to the hummingbird. 

  

Great White Pelican

The great white pelican is a pelican found in all parts of Africa. It is the second largest in wings

in the pelican family and one of the biggest species of the pelican family.

Most of the pelicans live and breed in Africa. But some of the pelicans scatter to other parts of the world, such as continent bordering Europe and parts of Asia like India and far parts of Vietnam.

Pelicans eat mostly fish. They can travel very far in one day, over 100 km in fact. They need about 1 kg of fish each day for their daily needs. 

The great white some has a very weird diet. As humans give food to pelicans, the results are interesting. In starvation periods, they will eat seagulls and ducklings. It's very interesting what one does in starvation. 

The population is listed as least concern, the population is declining in many parts of the world as over-fishing and pollution, hunting, materials and meat from pelicans are the reasons for this. 

But many protections are being made for these problems and many pelicans are protected every day and living life like they should.   

1980 Moscow Olympics 

 It was the first time that the Soviet Union had hosted the Olympics. It was also one of the Olympics when there was no drug use for sports, which is very good. 

Many world records were made. Lots from track events and swimming were made, as many seconds were off on many records. In sailing, canoeing and weightlifting, many were also made too. 

The Soviets finished the Olympics with 195 medals, most of them gold. This was the most number of medals in one Olympics ever. 

This Olympics was very historical, when the Soviet Union split, the countries that were once part of the Soviet powers, events and races were held in countries that we see today.  

  

   Felis Leo

Felis Leo or lions and others in the cat family such as the tiger and cheetah are predators that only eat meat. They are not in the large numbers before as many were killed for their meat and skin. 

Many are in zoos and tourists see them many times a day and are see around the world in many different African countries. 

Felis Leo have lived for a very long, around the time that Earth was alive with rivers and fish and all sorts of yummy foods not touched by many humans. It was a happy time. 

Many of them have attacked humans for starvation and other reasons such as the lion. Hundreds have killed in some countries. 

The population is holding so far. But maybe not. 

Eulophia Stretopetala

Eulophia Stretopetala is an orchid found in the African country of Eritrea, also down the African coast and finishes at South Africa. 

It is found in high mountains and hills. The plant produces small bulbs that are used to make more and more flowers. 

The petals and lip are bright yellow, sometimes the petals have maroon spots on them. The two upper petals are almost horizontally, the petals almost forming a shield. 

The word "streptos" means bent in Greek, to represent that the plant is in a bent shape. It is said that the plant is very beautiful.   

United Nations Environment Programme

The United Nations Environment Programme is a United Nations Environmental program that helps protects and says how to protect and be more green. 

They make laws to protect the environment and endangered animals such as gorillas and elephants, that's what on the stamp. 

They see what is happening in the world and they spread awareness in the world such as oil spills, climate changes and disappearing endangered animals. 

They are make important decisions and consider many things to plants to environmental problems. The United Nations Environment Programme or UNEP is trying to save the world.  

  

Antelope

The antelope is a animal found in Africa and some of Asia such as Mongolia and India. They are known for their long distance traveling. 

They are mostly in Africa, as African tourism and events are sometimes on the antelope. It is also found in the United States, as a few species are hunted for game. 

Antelope are hunted for meat, skin and the horn is used for medicine and other uses. But the population of the antelopes are declining and more laws against hunting for antelope are around. 

The antelope eats grass and also herbs as well in their diet. They find food easily but sometimes not as land is becoming harder and harder to find as humans use it for plantations and agriculture. 

Antelopes are always in big groups for defense for young ones. The antelope is a great animal and should always be protected by all.   

   Quinine

Quinine is a natural  white alkaloid that is commonly used against inflammation and curing the bite of malaria. 

The quinine comes from the cinchona tree, the national of both Ecuador and Peru. This plant grows in Peru, Ecuador, Jamaica and many island nations. 

The Jesuits were the first at the time to bring the plant to Europe to cure kings and people in high positions and later cured thousands.

In the United States, it is an "over the counter" item and is made with tonic water for better health. Quinine is said to heal leg cramps, but this might not be true. 

Other drugs have replaced quinine because it can make people dizzy and other symptoms can happen as well too. 

In regions that malaria strikes and is very poor, quinine is the only option because it is low cost as some of the other cures are expensive. 

In many beverages, it is sold around the world such as Canada Dry and Schweppes.

      

Longhorn Beetle

The longhorn beetle is a species of beetle that is known for its rather long antennae that it sometimes longer than the insect itself.

It is found all over the world, commonly in South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. But they are also found in North America and Oceania. 

There are over 20,000 kinds of longhorn beetle, with different marking in different countries and different places. 

The longhorn beetle lives in old wood, old non-living buildings and even in houses. They are sometimes considered a household pest in many communities.

Nicolas Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus was a renaissance mathematician who proved that the earth and all of the planets go around the sun instead of the sun goes around the sun as Christianity believed.

He was born in modern day Poland in the city of Thorn. The land was called the Kingdom of Poland in the many, many years of his life. 

His father died when he was four, so his maternal uncle took care for him in his childhood, feeding and caring for his needs. 

Later in his life, he went to Italy to live there to see if his work was good there. And he was not so keen in his canon law work there, but later he went back to Italy. 

He died on May 24th, 1543 at the age of 70. It is said that he was presented the final pages of the book "De Revoulutionibus orbium coelstium". 

He did a lot in his life, all of the good things in his life changed the world. 

      Waxbill 

The axbill is a bird belonging in the finch family. It is small, light and its bill looks just like wax. That is how it the bird got its name. 

Because of escaped birds and traveling, the waxbill is spread all over Brazil, Europe, lots of Africa and many islands in Oceania. 

The diet is mostly grass seeds. Grasshoppers are eaten as lots of protein is needed as the winters bring colder weather.

Long Crested Eagle

The long crested eagles are medium sized eagle that live all across Africa. They are almost all black but the legs and the beak. Also they are sometimes some white patches. 

The crest is long and floppy but the females have a longer crest than the males. And they live in plantations and woodlands, feeding mostly rodents. 

Long crested eagles are very noisy. In the breeding season, noise is at it's best in the world of animals and people.  

   

Pavetta Rwandenis

Pavetta Rwandenis is a species of Rubiacese, a series of flowing plants and scrubs such as the coffee plant and herbs. But there are many, many thousands of plants in the Rubiacese. 

Pavetta Rwandenis is only found in Rwanda making the plant very, very risky of endangering the species in the fast growing country of Rwanda. 

Mountain Gorilla

The mountain gorilla is a species of gorilla that lives in mountains. They have thicker fur than all species of gorilla. The mountain gorilla is very heavy too, the second heaviest gorilla species. 

Most gorillas live near around the same region because the descending population in mountain gorillas numbers. 

They eat mostly leaves, shoots and stems. Also mountain gorilla eat bark, roots and flowers in their diet as well. Adult males can eat up to 75 pounds of vegetation in one meal. 

Mountain gorillas have high social relationships. Bonds and friendship are good things to have as a gorilla. They leave home at 11 years of age with a slow process of leaving the family. 

There are only about 850 mountain gorillas in the world. Because of poaching, habitat loss and disease, the mountain gorilla is being highly protected. 

World Telecommunication Day

World Telecommunication Day is an event in which people around the world try not to use electronic communication such as phones and computers to bridge the digital divide. 

The digital divide represents the world and telecommunication devices. There is a big gap in that. In countries with more money and economy, those countries have more telecommunication. 

In just developing countries and poor countries, less electronic things. In most of Europe, telecommunication things are used like phones. 

In most of Africa, there are some but not a lot because some of the countries are still developing and making a life for the people. 

So on May 17th, remember that it is World Telecommunication Day!

Samuel Morse

Samuel was an American painter and also an inventor of Morse code, a message code that changed the world on telecommunication invention. 

He was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts on April 27th, 1791. In his childhood he was a good painter and considered being a painter for his career. 

Samuel made money growing up from portraits paid by people with the liking of art of Samuel Morse's drawings. 

When he was old enough to work, he already knew that he wanted to be a painter. But his father preferred for him to be a book publisher. 

Samuel already knew what he wanted to be; a painter. So he went on a boat that sailed for England for a better education for fine arts. 

He married a woman later in his life Susan Walker Morse and they had three children. Later Susan died a few days later after Samuel returned back from a journey. 

He was also interesting in electricity. Years later, he was talking with many of the world's famous scientists about the Morse Code that would change the world. 

Samuel married another woman, his second wife. As he got older, Samuel was finding it hard to make a telegraph for the Morse Code. But later he made at last. 

He showed it to the public and was used all over the world. As the people said "A patient waiter is no loser". 

Year of Self sufficiently

In Rwanda, as the country is growing rapidly, the country needs fuel to run the grown and better lifestyle. They need food to live and survive. 

So farming is in control of the country's food and daily crop in the country. As Rwanda has good land and the right weather for many crops, there are problems. 

Disease is one of the big problems. Many things can carry sickness and that is a person's meal, then sickness in food sometimes may lead to death. 

Insects are a another big problem too in farming. Grasshopper and other insects eat corn, coffee plants and bananas. If the crops in farms are killed or eaten, then starvation kills many people. 

Bad weather such as storms, strong wind and lightning destroys crops in farms and people again have problems with food shortages.

So we should all be thankful and wise about the food that has survived the storms, disease and the insects and dig in! 

  

   Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism. Monks are mostly revered to males but in Greek culture, women are also monks too as in Christianity. 

In Greek, the word "monk" means solitary or single in English. 

Monks are mostly Christian and Buddhist and a few others in religion. A monk's day is first a communal worship in their monastery. Then hard labour and prayer and rest. 

Monks also have decrees too in their religion practices too. They are the ranks of a monk. To be monk is a very slow business. But to many, it is worth it. 

There are many vows in a monk's life. They are the teachings of what a monk is and does in monasticism life.  

Inca

The Incas were a group of people in the Inca Empire that had grown from modern Peru to Chile and Argentina. This was the Empire at its greatest power. 

The Inca Empire was first a small tribe around Cusro, or also spelled Cuzro. That was going to be the capital of the Inca Empire. 

This tribe was built around the 12th century. Under the command of the first Inca leader, the Inca Empire grow larger and larger by the day. 

Pachacuti made the Kingdom of Cusro that was ruled by Manco Capac. Pachacuti sent spies to the areas where the areas of the empire should grow. 

In 1526, two Spanish brothers were explored modern day Panama and saw the Inca Empire. They rushed back to Spain to ask the leader of Spain permission to bring men to rule the area. 

Later in 1529, they went back to the Inca Empire and attacked the Empire. The Inca Empire and the Spanish army went to war.

With 1 cannon, 168 men and 27 horses, Pizarro, one of the brothers fought the Incas. As smallpox spread all over South America, it hit the Inca Empire and weakened them. 

The Spanish knew the land very well and knew the fighting style of the Incas, after a long, long war, the Inca Empire fell. 

But the religion and culture of the Incas is remembered and done now in many parts of South

America. The Inca spirit still lives. 

        

              

Daisy

The daisy is a flower found in Europe and the Americas and is a common flowers mostly found in meadows and lawns. 

It is also found in Oceania because of the warm temperature there that is and all of the nutrients that are abundant in the continent. 

It is a very beautiful plant known for its white leaves and the orange-red center. It is picked from little children and sometimes given to parents as a gift. 

In Austria, the daisy can be used for medicine in tea or in a salad. They were also used by the Romans as they needed the juice for medicine for hurt soldiers. 

Aloe Ferox

Aloe Ferox is an aloe native to Southern Africa. It is used in a non-bitter gel that is cosmetics and also used for laxatives. 

It is a single stemmed aloe that is able to grow to up to ten feet tall to height. The plant is very protected as the leaves are very thick and also fleshy. 

Because of some of the different physically grown Ferox because of some local areas, the species of Aloe Ferox are variable. 

This is a plant that can survive in hot temperatures in the summers in Southern Africa. Aloe Ferox is mostly found in South Africa. But also in Lesotho too. 

    

   

Animals and the Water

Water is needed in every living being. All animals need this resource that is sometimes so hard to find in places with hotter temperatures and not enough water. 

Humans have lots of water with them as all times; water fountains, bottles, in many of the sugary drinks are mostly water. 

When animals find water, they drink as much as they need as an animal's long journey can start with no water for many days. 

But some animals are adapted for many drinks without water; desert mice can live many days without water, camels too, as their humps are their water supply for up to 40 days. 

Water can get polluted and nobody gets the water at all. The water demand only gets higher and higher every year when water is wasted from chemicals.

Everyone needs water; Not enough water in one's body can lead to death. Water that is not fresh is also another cause of death. 

We all need water, some more than others. 

   

Water Source Protection

As there is no new water on Earth, we all need to protect our water source, big or small, all of the water of the planet matters. 

In the growing present, more and more chemicals and other pollution such as oil, plastic and rubber, are in our clean drinkable water. And more and more of it doesn't help. 

So many organizations have been made for awareness to help and keep our waters clean of bad things that can kill people that drink it. 

Water is saved from bad things that could kill people and animals everyday. To save others and you, save water. 

  

Protection of Soil Conservation

As people need to eat to survive as food is an energy source for us and for all animals. But there are many problems for growing what we eat. 

Soil that is eroded, very dry and that has chemicals in it is not good for growing seeds in. If the food that has been in bad soil is poisonous and you can die from it. 

And sometimes the growing seeds in the soil die and turn into the bad soil. So there are many bad things with the bad soil. 

The soil is bad when it is in very dry areas with no rain or that does not have compost in it and is near or has been near a place with lots of pollution and chemicals. 

Also mining is another factor of bad soil as chemicals and petroleum litter the soil that can be used for farming and gardening.  

But we can protect the good soil that there is on the planet by keeping it away from places with bad chemicals and pollution and also use lots of compost too to keep the soil healthy.  

Year of Agricultural Work

Pyrethrum

Pyrethrum are dried flower heads of flowers such as daises and chrysanthemums. They are sold all over the world and are sold with the juice inside the heads. 

Pyrethrum is mainly used in insecticides but also sold in the Middle East as a lice remedy and the use of pyrethrum is all over the world. 

It is not very toxic for mammals but for fish is it very toxic and they die. Humans can eat pyrethrum on a small scale. 

As chrysanthemums have pyrethrum and it is used to kill insects, they are grown in fields near growing crops so that insects cannot eat them.   

Coffee Culture

Even drinks are a culture. Soccer or football is a culture as many countries, beer drinking is very popular in Europe and then there's coffee. 

Coffee has been grown and harvested for many centuries and was very valued because of its good taste and rare spots where it can grow. 

It is grown, harvested, dried and brewed before the real taste can come. It's a long, long journey before a cup of hot coffee is sipped by many. 

Turkish coffee is probably the first country and one of the only countries in Europe in its time to import coffee. 

But the first origin of evidence of coffee is in Yemen and the Middle East in the 15th century.  And now more and more countries are into growing and harvesting coffee for a profit. 

In Brazil, Vietnam, Rwanda, India, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and many parts of South America and Africa, coffee is grown and harvested and sold to the market. 

Coffee used to be a rare treat in many countries. Nowadays, coffee is imported for cheaper prices to sell in people in other importing countries.