Jambo Africa!

So another insomnia hit me last night. There's always this talk of making lemonade from the lemons life hands you; I drew this instead. My very own Jambo Africa! I would have made my art teacher cry!

Jambo Africa

Bound to Be

Silent screams turn my head round and round

I try and block my ears

But my heart refuses to turn off the echoes,

The timeless echoes of pain.

To my Mother I'm forever bound

A cord that could never be severed at birth

A birth that never began with me

A birth that never stopped with eternity

With my cry at birth I pledged to my Mother

I will be for her, I will be for Africa.

I pledged to grow up

I pledged to be more

I pledged to rise firm

I pledged to make you proud

I pledged to protect you 

I pledged to love you

I pledged with my heart

This heart that beats for Africa

Oh! Mother, how my heart mocks me!

How heavy it beats with ridicule,

clogging my veins with every poison I ingest

I have turned away from you Mother

I have stripped you and mocked at your nakedness

I have spilled your blood with my poisoned razor tongue

I have reduced your pride to begging for scraps

I have robbed your peace, throwing it to the hyenas

And I still suckle on your breast, pledging to you

my eyes glittering with greed and malice

Oh! Mother, how my spirit haunts me!

And I hear your silence in this storm of turmoil

"I am you child, and you are me"

The pledge Mother, the pledge

It was for me, to protect me

I have sacrificed you in the altar of selfishness

And with each flame I have felt your wrath

And with each ash-drop, your mercy.

Celebrating Mother's May

It's almost the end of May, a month when we celebrate Mother's day. Along with the others, I'd like to dedicate the whole month to Mothers out there; mothers by blood or bond.

Giving birth is a gift bestowed to some, raising a child is a responsibility of many, if not all. It's not an easy road of responsibilities and it's a road that has no stop sign as long as life persists.

Mama and Daughter

In this month of May, let's all hold our mothers closer and make them feel as special as they always make us. Walking down the memory lane, I'm sure your mothers are always tucked in every crook and turn you make. Whether it's to hold you, wipe that runny nose or sweaty forehead, spank the mischief out of you or bandage that sore knee; they are always there doing the best they can to give you the best.

Personally, I owe so much to my mother that I know nothing I can do will ever bestow all the sacrifices she made for me. The most I can do is become the best she ever wished me to be and hope to be half as good a mother as she's been to me and my siblings.

Let's make Mother's May a tip of the iceberg of how we treasure our mothers. Remember, a mother isn't just the one that gave birth to you but every woman who has shaped your life and made sacrifices for you. A mother is that woman who has loved you unconditionally, nurtured you and has been there to hold your hand as you walk that unknown, terrifying road called growing up.

A Blessed Mother's May to all Mothers out there!

Walk in my Shoes

Choka is a 16 year old boy who lives in a village named Ngumu, which is about 50kms from the nearest bus stop. In this case, 50kms from a semblance of a town. Choka lives with her great aunt, two younger siblings and three cousins. His great aunt, who is in her 70's owns a small 1 acre shamba where they plant vegetables and seasonal ground nuts. She also has two cows and a few chicken. With these she supports her extended family of seven. They do not have a lot and sometimes there's hardly enough to feed, cloth themselves and keep body and soul together. However, they are better off than most of the other families in the village.

Social services at Ngumu village are located...well...not in Ngumu Village. The nearest shop is 10kms away in the next village, the nearest hospital twice that distance. The nearest source of water, which is the river, is about 7kms away past the diminishing forest that serves as their source of firewood and herbs. Choka and his cousins have to walk past the river, into another village with an extra 5kms stretch to get to school.

Choka wants to be successful in life and since education is the key to life...so he's been told...he makes this walk to and fro, diligently, for 5 days every week! On his back is a large pouch with thin strings clasped around him (his school bag), on his head a well balanced bundle of firewood, a 5 litre gallon of water on one hand and broom on the other. His attire consists of a white shirt (once-upon-a-time white shirt), khaki shorts (redecorated in various shades of stains), snickers on their last breath to disintegration and ofcourse a piece of a sisal string serving as a belt, completed it.

So I wonder what is "success" to Choka? What compels Choka wake up every morning and walk all that way, burdens and all; to look for "success?

(to be continued)

Worth the while

I have been away for sometime..yes, a long time. But now that I'm back I'll do my best and make it worth the wait. I had a chance to move around a little in Tanzania, Zanzibar observing and analyzing the state of education in our country. For the next days I'll be approaching this subject from different points of view.

For now let me give you a glimpse of the places I went to and the people I met.

Exotic Unguja was my first stop..I've got to admit when I was alighting Forodhani was on my mind.

One of my tours in schools. Students busy at the library at Laureate International School, Zanzibar.

On my way to Pemba...inside the new Azam boat.

When you get to Pemba, it has a feel like everybody knows everybody. That's Wete, Pemba.

I completed my experience in and out of Pemba with a trip back to Unguja in the night ship.