9 'negatives' why a two week trip to Sub-Saharan Africa could turn out positive for you

I know most of you would find this posting very strange. I know that, when you think of Africa it’s either, diseases, illegal migrants, people fleeing from war, famine, corruption etc., yes I know. I also know that Africa is not on your list of must visit continents but, what if I told you that a simple two week vacation somewhere in a Sub-Saharan Africa could give you your best positive outlook on life. I say this not because I am from West Africa but I speak on authority as someone who once worked as a hostel manager and tour guide once upon a time in my life. Through this, I was able to form a network of returning visitors with very positive responses on how their visits helped them boost the self-esteem and gave an eternally positive outlook on life. Here are some of the reasons why most of them believe their lives changed for the positive. Note that, some of the reasons may be stronger in some countries but weaker in others though it runs through generally. 

1.      Friendliest People in the world

Forget what you have heard and seen on television about Sub-Saharan Africa. It has probably one of the friendliest and welcoming people on earth. As a first time visitor, you would find it very remarkable that you can easily approach strangers in the street and ask for directions to a place if you lost your way. This friendly interaction makes you feel safe and welcome hence boosting self-esteem. Take Katie (not her real name) for example who told me once, “in Europe, we walk straight and fast, hardly making any eye contact in the streets and you can’t simply approach a stranger in the street to ask questions, you can only approach the police”!

2.      Preferential Treatment

As a first time visitor to the continent, you’re likely to enjoy preferential treatment over citizens everywhere you go, from the airport through to your destination. This is not out of inferiority complex but rather an extension of a cultural practice to ensure that a visitor must always be made to feel comfortable and welcome first before all others. Sarah (not her real) from Germany told me once, “at the airport there was a queue for inspecting our documents but I was made to move ahead of the citizens”. “There was some grumbling and though the immigration sort of expected something in return, I still thought it was a nice gesture”. Felix said: “At the roadside food vender, I am always given preferential treatment and allowed to jump the queue, though I sometimes felt very uncomfortable”. “This will never happen in Europe, you would have to wait for your turn”.

3.      TRANSPORTATION

There are bus stations, yes, but in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, bus stations are far from the comfortable types that exist in Europe and elsewhere. Bus stations range from just a small portion of land infront of your accomodation or could be about 2km away and there are no set times for buses to arrive. At the bus station, you would have to fight your way to get a seat in one of these over-aged mini buses with improvised seats. If you want to avoid all these and feel comfortable, you would have to use a Taxi but with three other passengers. If you still insist on going alone, you would have to be ready to pay a lot of money. You may wonder why this could be a good thing. As inconvenient as this may seem, I have had some tourists confirm to me how it has shaped their lifestyles. Take Jim for instance who claims that he no longer has to schedule his time according to a strict bus arrival time. That, the probability of hitching a ride early or late is very open. Besides, the added adventure of having to fight your way to get in means you don’t have to take anything for granted in life; a good lesson in toughening up and taking opportunities.

4.      Bargaining

In most market places in Sub-Saharan Africa, you can bargain for everything you buy and beat down the price. It is not so much about the bargaining but rather the friendly banter that takes place. It tends to encourage rapport which effectively erases all forms paranoia about Africans for a first time visitor. Take Steve (not his real name) from Germany for instance, who was so excited about his first time visit to a clothing Market in Ghana that he bought so many clothes.  He told me he would rather come to Ghana to get his fashion rather than buy in Europe. He has been doing exactly that for the past 5 years and he feels very good because people admire his fashion sense and even think that his clothes are expensive when they are actually not at all and he says this gives him a sense of pride and good feelings.

5.      Volunteering

If you’re up for it, there are lots of areas in which a first time visitor can do some quick volunteer work within the two week stay that could impact positively on their life. One can volunteer to teach in the many orphanages for homeless kids. If you’re adventurous enough as a first time visitor you can take a trip to a deprived rural area and attempt to live the ‘simple life’ through volunteer education or if you’re a medical expect, offer your services for free. Many volunteers have talked about how this gesture has shaped their lives positively by realising that, as deprived as these people are, they remain some of the happiest people in the world. Many volunteers have talked about how they have learnt to appreciate what they have back home and making the best out of it instead of complaining all the time and becoming depressed. Trust me this is probably the best therapy you can have as a first time visitor to any place in Sub-Saharan Africa.

6.      Communal Lifestyle

A visit to Sub-Saharan Africa could teach you a lot about a unique communal lifestyle and how experiencing the extended family structure could help shape your own life. Instead of staying in the comfort of an expensive hotel, request to live with a family. Here are a few lessons you could take back home:

a)      How to cook some delicious African dishes

b)      How to speak an African language

c)      That, uncles, aunties, cousins and all support and help each other to survive

d)      That, grandparents are cared for by all instead of being sent to an old people’s home. This extended family support keeps them in great mental health.

Effectively, the point here is that, you will always be surrounded by people who love and appreciate you so there will never be a dull moment. Recently, I got a pleasant online surprise from a European, someone I don’t know at all, who after reading one of my blogs, decided to send me a private message in my native language. Apparently, she recognized my tribe by my last name and instead of writing in English, wrote in my language, telling me how awesome it was experiencing Africa and learning a language.

7.      Tourism

Of course, Africa’s massive tourism attractions are common knowledge. The, lots of Sunshine which provides vitamin D naturally, wildlife and safaris, beautiful beaches, dance, culture, slavery fortes and castles offers immediate satisfaction through being in touch with nature; a natural boost for the mood. However, there are other attractions that are rarely spoken of. Many tourists would confirm that save a few, most of Sub-Saharan has probably the safest night life you can find in the world, never-mind what you hear or see on television. On our way from the airport, Kirsten for example, was shocked to find how many people were strolling about when we passed by a community; it was 8:00pm. She was to be even more pleasantly surprised to find that, it’s the same all over so she refused to sleep early that night and decided to instead, take a stroll on the beach till midnight when she retired to bed. She confessed that, she can never do that in her country. For this reason alone, she at least visits once every two years.

8.      Happiness in Poverty

If there is something that every first time tourist takes away from Sub-Saharan Africa, it’s how happy and positive people remain amidst all the poverty that surrounds them. I have personally heard this claim many times from tourists I have guided in the past. They confess it’s probably the best lesson they usually learn on their first visit that ultimately tend to shape their own lives in a positive way. They are amazed at how people with very little could have the mental toughness to still remain positive. Back home, this experience helps them adopt a positive outlook on life, complain less, persevere and avoid depression, eventually leading to personal success in all aspects of their lives.

9.      ECONOMIC (Bonus)

It’s a well known fact that Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the highest and resilient in the world. Read this IMF survey report for April 2015 (http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2015/car042815a.htm). If you’re someone interested in the investment or entrepreneurship, opportunities abound in areas like I.C.T., solar energy, Volunteerism, Agriculture, Education, Manufacturing, Mining and many more. This may not be directly be related to how a two week stay will impact on your life per se but I thought I would sneak it in as a bonus. I remember how Dr. Stoiber (not his real name) after his short stay fancied investing solar energy and plastic recycling. Honestly, I lost touch with him so I can’t confirm if he ever came back but I can say that when he spoke, he spoke with a glint of excitement in his eyes.

If you have already visited Africa, then you know what I mean so feel free to share your story. If you haven’t but want to, this article should encourage you. If you know someone who is preparing to visit Africa sometime soon or anytime in the near future go ahead and share this article with them for inspiration. Any further knowledge on the subject, all comments and shares, are welcomed. I highly recommend this book (http://www.amazon.com/Ghana-Bradt-Travel-Philip-Briggs/dp/1841624780/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437035376&sr=8-1&keywords=ghana) to anyone who is intending to visit the continent. It may be related to only one country but trust me, the same runs through.

5 BS Facts About Africa Some Still Think Are True

I know most of you might wonder, “why such a topic in this day and age of technology where information is readily and easily available”? I have also been lured into believing that, this is a topic that should long be dead. However, sometime last week, my hangout window popped out with a question from someone who apparently has been reading my blog. He wanted to know where I am from. “Ghana in Africa”, I told him! He still wanted to know if I was located there. I told him to check my G+ profile if he has any doubts. Apparently, he was surprised at the eloquence with which I wrote and so doubted if I wasn’t located in Europe or somewhere outside Africa. This and a gamut of similar events from the not too distance past, prompted me to write on this topic. I do really appreciate my readers and love such questions so I decided to put some facts straight.

1.      AFRICA IS ONE COUNTRY

 

AN AFRICAN MAP WITH COUNTRIES

NO, NO, NO to the effing no; excuse my language, please!! Very often when I watch the international news, I find that newsreaders sub-consciously bundle Africa together as ‘one country’ so for example when something negative is happening in say Ghana, the news presentation always finds a subtle way to portray it as if it’s happening in a ‘country called Africa’. The country Ghana is hardly isolated from the rest. For heaven’s sake, there are 54 independent and sovereign countries in Africa, each and everyone with its good, bad and ugly. As much as I would have loved to see Africa as one country, the fact is that it is not so next time you watch the news and get that impression, kindly train your mind to isolate that particular country and know that it’s probably far from Egypt or Kenya?

2.      AFRICA IS THE POOREST CONTINENT

Not true! If you doubt the wealth that Africa possesses, read this article (https://jica-ri.jica.go.jp/publication/assets/TICAD_Africa_2050-Chapter7-v2.pdf). It is true that some form of domestic corruption in collaboration with external manipulation has rendered the benefits from these resources redundant but that does not mean Africa is necessarily poor. It only implies that Africa remains under-developed and that, there is no where on earth currently with the best prospects and opportunities for development.  

3.      THE PEOPLE STILL LIVE IN THE CAVE AGE

 

A MODERN CAVE IN GHANA

Now this is a very funny one but true. There are people who still believe that Africa is a jungle where the people are uncivilized, diseased, live in caves and walk around half naked in raffia skirts. I know this would be hard for most of you to believe but here’s a true story. A few years back when I used to work as a hostel manager, where most of the guests were first time visitors to Africa, there was this particular first timer who I went to meet at the airport. She asked this funny question on our way to the hostel: “and you actually have an airport”?  My exact answer: “No, you were supposed to put on a parachute and land on trees so what happened”? Funny, but we became good friends and when I pried deeper, I got to know that her family had seriously discouraged her from visiting Africa because of some the reasons I have already stated. Infact, when she made her first call the next day to her parents, they did not believe she was calling from Africa. Then she decided to email photos to friends and family and that even made it worse. They said she was a liar and that she was probably holidaying somewhere in New York because this just can’t be Africa, can you believe this? Well, guess what, Africans also live in beautiful buildings and have a modern sense of fashion also, as if it matters, lol!

4.      EVERYONE  IS LAZY

 

A KENYAN FARMER AT WORK.

You have got to be kidding me?? What, there are no pan-handlers on the streets of Europe and America (anyway, I hear it’s a very lucrative venture in Canada, lol, forgive me my lovely Canadian friends)? There is an old African proverb which most Africans live by and it goes like this: "there is no food for a lazy man"Africans are probably one of the most hard-working people alive despite the hand-to-mouth earnings. Thumbs up to the young and innovative youth coming up with various technological ideas, the incorruptible public servants who ensure that the systems function right, the farmers who sweat it out in the hot sun to feed every household and the hardworking mothers who sweat it out in the sun to make sure the family is well fed. Now does that make everyone lazy?

5.      AFRICANS FROM A PARTICULAR PART ARE ALL SCAM ARTISTS

Now forgive me if I am a bit harsh because I take this one personally. I have repeatedly said that technology has made this world a small place. I really do enjoy building networks around the world with every willing soul for our mutual benefits. Being online is the best and free market one can get in promoting any venture. However, I have lost some great opportunities for networking only because I am perceived as a scam artist once people know where I come from. Of course I have made some great connections as well. I can hardly blame anyone for this because we all have our experiences but NOTE; there are more genuine people from Africa than you have been made to believe. I do accept that, there are scam artists out there but it would be ridiculous to tag every African as a scam artist because of one or two experiences or because of stories you have heard. Take your time, get to know people and if you do some smart and intelligent background checks, you would be able to easily determine who is a scam artist and who is not.

There you go good people. Africans are like anyone else in the world. There is no perfect place or human being alive so if you’re traveling to Africa and have any doubts, I hope this piece would help you calm down. If you have any contrary view or experience, feel free to share in the comment session. 

Racism? I get it; My First Experience

 Before I start, let me state that, I hate using words like race, black, white, etc to describe people but for the purposes of this write-up and in order to provide a thorough description, you will come across a few so forgive me.

 Last week, two events, underpinned by the same issue brought back memories of my first experience with racism in my country. I speak of the Rachel Dolezal event and the Church shooting in Charleston both in the US. I am sure most of you already know the stories let me remind of the Rachel Dolezal incident. Makes you wonder what really ‘race’ is. Why can’t Rachel Dolezal simply fight for a cause she believed in even if she doesn’t directly relate to its history because of her ‘race’? Many including myself believe that, Racism is a social construct meant to benefit a group of people with a superiority complex. As a result, those discriminated against may react in a radicalized manner that may result in ‘reverse racism’, so to speak. I really like this book (https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/news/view/free-ebook-racism-in-winnipeg). It is a thoroughly researched book on racism against Aborigines in Canada but with a wider reach on the subject which will give the reader a deeper understanding. I recommend it to anyone interested in racial issues.

Back to the subject! Let me say that, I believe in one race, the human race as do many in my country. I have friends from the entire globe and believe me, no racist will be my friend. As a kid growing up in West Africa I never experienced racism at first hand for obvious reasons; unlike today, there were very few tourists and expatriates working here, but the horrors of Apartheid South Africa was daily prime time news on television so i was no alien to the subject. Our next door neighbors were Caucasian and we had a normal neighbourly relationship.  But, in my teen years as a high school student with the swimming team, an interesting event occurred that drove me into researching more into slavery, colonialism, racism, the African-American experience vis a vis the Civil Rights Movement and the liberation struggles of various African countries in their quest for freedom from colonialism. Make no mistake, these are all intricately woven together. I found much in books I read from a library in honour of George Padmore, a Civil Rights Activist himself, who was to later settle and die in my country. In the early 90s, I also read a book titled “The Bell Curve” by an ‘evil genius’ of a professor, who propounded the absurd theory of why Caucasians, are by dint of genetics, more intellectually gifted than Blacks.

As a 16 year old I have attended in innocence and pride, live at Independence Square in my country, speeches of  Louis Farakhan, who spoke the truth but with some radical brute. Don’t get me wrong, this was not in appreciation of the expression of a radicalized ideology though I must admit I found some affinity is his expressions after my first experience with racism. As acerbic as his speeches may have sounded, I felt that this was a man who simply wanted to be accepted in a country where he found himself by default due to slave trade.

THE STORY

It was a beautiful sunny day during the second week of a three month long vacation from high school. As a member of my school’s swim team, I needed to keep in shape for next terms swimming competition. The lack of a community swimming pool drove me to a popular hotel with an average pool size about 20 km away from home. With a nonchalant attitude of a teenager, I pushed opened the gate that led to the poolside of the hotel, wondering why it was closed during working hours. Just then I saw these three Caucasians, two males and a female, breast-stroking in the pool. Apparently they were the only customers at that moment. I paid little attention to them and walked straight to the attendant, got my ticket, went to the changing room and took a shower before diving into the pool. When I emerged from under the water, I realised they had left the pool and sat under the canopy, murmuring a conversation that could hardly be heard. I still paid little attention to them but kept on with my warm-up strokes. This 60ish Caucasian lady, who apparently was the owner of the hotel, appeared through the poolside gate with a lithe poise and strolled straight to the attendant. By her agitated gestures towards the attendant and an occasional slant of her head towards my direction, I had a hunch that, there was something wrong. As she approached the canopy of the Caucasian customers, I sensed strongly that she spied my direction, albeit demurely, with her peripheral vision. After what seemed like an endless chatter she left and suddenly, I became self-aware of my surroundings so I approached the attendant to inquire what the problem was. His body language gave him away and I knew he was telling a lie when he said, the owner wanted to ensure that everything was alright. In the meantime, the other Caucasian customers went back to swimming. To cut a long story short, I noticed everytime I dove into the pool, these other guests would come out until at some point one of them went out apparently to make a complain to the owner. Within 5 minutes the owner came in and requested that I left the pool, the excuse being that I had a limit of one hour swimming period. I knew it was a lie because I was a regular at that pool though I have never met the owner before. Typical of me, I didn’t complain. I left but not without finding out the truth from the attendant who was brave enough this time to reveal that, the other guests had complained that they couldn’t swim with me in the pool. This is just one of many subsequent experience.

You may wonder what the big deal is since  you may probably have experienced far harsher racial discrimination. Well here’s the big deal! You see, my country was the first African country south of the Sahara to gain independence from Colonial rule in the 50s. My country played a major role in the attempt to unite all races on this continent. To think that, someone will dare come here and discriminate knowing this history was shocking to me. I have become an online police against discrimination on social media. Several times I have reported racial abuse on Facebook but they very often have returned with a message suggesting that they saw nothing wrong with what I reported. Authorities track communication between so-called terrorist groups and the youngsters they are attempting to recruit and indoctrinate with so-called ' radical Islam' but find nothing wrong with White supremacist groups that operate next door. They block 'terrorist' sites but find nothing wrong with groups and sites that promote racial abuse and other forms of discrimination with ridiculous statistics under the guise of freedom of speech. Far right ideologies, pivoted on the paranoia that a particular race face extinction due to 'dilution' from other 'races', continue to gain grounds worldwide. Herein lays the hypocrisy of the Charleston shooting and the many other shootings that have occurred. There's a time bomb brewing online that may generate a new form of terrorism and we must all watch it. This will only be the beginning if no conscious effort is made to put things in check.

There is only one Race, The Human Race

So, all I wish to say to all who suffer some form of discrimination, based on gender, class, economic, religious, race/reverse racism and all but most especially to my brothers and sisters in the Diaspora is that, I GET IT!! 

The Jolly Ride That Landed Me in Entrepreneurship: A True Story

 A MINI VAN KNOWN IN LOCAL PARLANCE AS TROTRO

There I was, basking in the sun on the beach, when suddenly, a huge lion with its fiery mane from nowhere, sprung out of the Atlantic ocean towards me. I need to act fast, I thought, or I am minced meat. Then I pulled the toothpick that was clipped between my teeth and stuck it into its neck. “Boom”, the roar of heavy thunder, was the sound that made me jump suddenly out of bed and from an adventurously interesting dream. Oh it was just a dream? Argh!! I checked my clock; it was 4:30am.  Damn, I was thirty minutes late in preparing for lectures! I forgot to set the alarm! The cool breeze, the roar of thunder and bright flashes of lightening, signified a rushing rain storm. I had to speed things up or I might get stuck at home. Quickly, I took a shower and without breakfast, off I sped in the heavy wind to stand by the road in hope to catch one of those rickety mini vans fit for the junkyard. They are called Trotro in local parlance. It’s the cheapest and preferred mass transportation type for majority of the people to which I belong.

THE ROUGH RIDE

I got to the main road in time before it started showering. I hate raincoats and umbrellas; they make me feel clumsy so I rarely use them. The showers started getting heavy but luckily I had a waterproofed leather bag in which my books and phone were safely tucked. I was one of just three passengers seeking transportation; on a normal day the place is crowded and it’s usually a dogfight to get an early ride in one of those rickety vehicles.  As the storm rushed in, I looked left and right and the only available shelter was a nearby kiosk with a broken roof; I was in danger, I thought. Just when I was scrambling my brains for the next solution, I saw a bright headlight in the distance so I decided to wait awhile before taking cover. I heaved a sigh of relief when the conductor stuck his head out and yelled “37, 37” (the name of the station I was headed to before I hitch another ride to Legon my original destination). Without hesitation I sprung into the bus, oblivious of the cut that a rusty protruding metal from one those improvised seats inflicted on my right thigh, despite the fact that I was in thick denim pants. As usual of the arrangements of seats in such vehicles, anyone sitting in the middle would have to give way to someone sitting at the back should he/she wish to alight at any station! To avoid the inconvenience, I scrambled my way straight to the back and heaved a sigh of relief as i sunk relaxingly in the left corner seat.  Three more passengers joined in at the next station and the bus was full. Off we headed to our destination, in slow and careful motion as the storm raged on. By my side, sat a middle aged woman, apparently a market woman off to find her daily bread, rain or shine, with a huge head pan that kept scratching my arm as the rickety ride, swayed left to right on a bumpy rough road filled with flood and mud. I shall not complain because I know what it feels like to be the bread winner of the family especially for single mothers; I assumed maybe she was. My mind was on how to find shelter at ‘37’ for the rain to subside before I hitch my next ride to campus. Just then, I felt a drop of water on my head. Usual of such rides there was bound to be some drops so I ignored it but then it started getting heavy. Infact, it started pouring in, wetting part of my shirt. Apparently, there was a long crack on the entire length of the roof covering at the back seat. Infact we would have been actually better off in the rain at this point. Some of the passengers came to our defense with heaps of insults and complains towards the driver; some telling him ‘how all they cared about was collecting the fare and not fixing their wretched vehicles’. I thought, afterall, there was no guarantee I wouldn’t get wet at the station anyway so as my usual self, I stayed calm; strangely enough I was actually enjoying the ‘adventure’ somehow. I found the whole episode very amusing. At this point, it was virtually raining on the three of us in the back seat but guess what, instead of saving and protecting herself, the market woman decided to save me. She requested i leaned on the headrest of the seat infront and she placed her pan against the leaking roof over my back. She would hold on to the pan until it was filled with enough water and then she will slide the windows, throw it out and then put it back again. How sexy was that? All this while, she was getting wet but never ceased untill we got to ‘37’. Luckily, the storm had then subsided and it was just drizzling.  At the station, I took the pleasure to thank her and wished her a happy day and good luck in sales. She was called Esi. She responded by saying that she knew by my accoutrement that, I was a student hence a potential future leader of this country so she had to protect me.  

THE INSIDE OF A 'TROTRO'

LESSON

Esi’s act never really struck me that much at the time except for the fact that, she was an awesome woman who cares for people. I also thought then that her response was one of those usual clichés people used to encourage the young. Not until I left University and worked in public service for a short period, did her response hit me really hard. Everyone who has not had the privilege of higher education expect those who have had that privilege to fix and not compound their problems. That is why we get education, right? As revenue officer, I together with my team was tasked to enforce the law that everyone, including the struggling roadside hawker and market woman paid their taxes. These are women, boys, men and girls barely making ends meet, yet somehow we had to extract tax from them. Some of them pay in tears. Some threaten to mug, kill and hide our bodies all in the belief that we represent a corrupt system that only extracted from the poor. This was a common feature of our job anyway but I relish these challenges because they really shaped my life. Once, i had a woman petty trader, come to me, in tears willing to have her clothes seized as collateral because she couldn’t afford to pay an amount of  ¢10, an equivalent of about $3 at today’s going rate. I had to let her go at the risk of losing my job but that would have been a small price to pay. What do you do as a revenue officer if at the same time, you read stories of multi-nationals engaged in 'smart accounting' to avoid paying the appropriate taxes and engaging in money laundering? Don’t get me wrong, I am by no means an angel and there are lots of great people serving very well in public service but I just thought it was not for me. Corruption, as you may deduce from my narration, exists in both public and private sectors of every economy. It’s just part of human nature, the reason for which laws exist.

Besides, Esi’s words were perpetually painted vividly on my mind.  It’s even sadder, when on a daily basis, hawkers and market people are chased out of the streets by law enforcement but come back to extract daily tolls from these same traders. By all means laws must be obeyed to install order in the city but this is the creation of the educated, myself included, who have failed to fix a basic social problem through good planning and implementation.  That was how I was eventually pushed into fulfilling my long term ambition of being an entrepreneur with the hope of fixing problems and helping others in the process. With graduate unemployment on the rise, entrepreneurship is the way to go anyway. I admit it’s not an easy road to travel but I am enjoying the challenges so far because they always present something new to do.

CONCLUSION

In my opinion, any form of education and its benefits therein, that does not engender social change is waste because the totality of the deprived among the world population, exceed the totality of the privileged. If you’re privileged and you help the under-privileged, you will be helping yourself in the long-run. Do you have a story that may have influenced your life in anyway? I would be honoured to hear it.

Mother’s Day: True And Inspiring Stories

MUM AND I

In this life, I have always had two mothers, my biological mother and an auntie who is childless. My parents are still alive. For most of my young life I was raised by my auntie whom I call mum. I was not born with ‘a silver spoon in my mouth’. My parents came from a poor home and had average education. They were common Civil servants who earned minimum wage. This is dedicated to mothers but I must say that, my father was ever present in my life and he played his role to perfection but I will not talk about that for now.

 FOND MEMORIES

As a kid I always considered and still consider my mum the most intelligent one because she was the one who stopped everything she was doing to help me with my home work; no offence to dad.

When I played truant in town my mum will defend me with her life but will put me straight with punishment once we got home. Unless you knew, you would think my ‘mums’ and I are friends. When we had some really bad economic times, my mother will ensure my siblings and i had enough to eat even if it meant she had to go to bed with empty stomach. My other mum (auntie) saved all her earnings to give me one of the best high school education one can ever get. When I had periods of unemployment, my ‘mothers’ were always there to bail me out with the free meals.  Of course it was not all cozy and rosy. We had our differences too. Till date, my mum (biological) still sees me as her little baby boy, a real point of disagreement and often argument but these are minute issues compared to the love I have received.

A TRUE STORY

I remember one very important moment in my life. It was one Saturday in high school when I was doing some bespoke alteration on my trousers so I can look good for entertainment night. I stuck the needle in my mattress as I went out briefly to get something. On my return, I forgot I had a needle in my mattress so in an attempt to reach my trousers on the further side of the bed, I knelt on it and it pierced straight from the point of its head and stuck into my left knee. I knew immediately that I was in trouble so i reported it to my house head who also doubles as a tutor of the school. He came to inspect the area and insisted it’s impossible for something like that to happen. The next day I had a swollen knee and I could barely walk but my house head acting like a medical expert, insisted it was just an injury so I should give it time and it will heal ( I could only go to hospital on his permit). Seeing the danger I was in, I requested a friend to steal his way to town and phone my mum. He did! By Monday I couldn’t get out of bed. At the risk of losing her job and without permission from her superior, my mum (auntie) took the 2 hour trip to my school, picked me up without permission to hospital; never bothered by angst of the school authorities. She used all her connections to get me a quick x-ray and an immediate surgery. She stayed by my bed until I was discharged that night and took me to my dormitory before making the 2 hour journey back home. The next day, she received a serious query and suspension from work but she was never moved once my life was saved. At the time, I got to know my biological mum was also ill that was why she couldn’t join her but who cares, I am extremely lucky to have two mothers. Till date, I keep the rusted needle that was retrieved from my knee as a memory of the event.

A MOST INSPIRING STORY

It was a sweaty afternoon and I was on my way to lectures during my university years. A young girl about the age of 11 years, holding a large tray and socked in tears stopped me and requested I gave her some money. She seemed like an intelligent little girl by her demeanour.  Call her Lariba!  Her reason! She hawks oranges in the streets as a help to her mother and she had just been robbed of her day’s sales by a gang of street boys. Lariba was scared of facing her mother’s wrath. I had no problem sparing my lunch money for that day so I gave it to her but I had one other problem, though. Which cruel and lazy mother would allow her child to hawk oranges in this hot sun whiles her peers were in school studying? I would be late for lectures but never mind, I was so agitated that I wanted to meet her mother, who also traded a few thousand meters away so that I can pour out my wrath on her. As we approached the spot, Lariba pointed to a disabled woman who was just about crawling and struggling to climb into her wheelchair after serving a customer, as her mum. Suddenly, the aggression in me vanished and I approached her calmly. I told her Lariba’s story and how scared she was coming back without the day’s sales. In tears, this woman hugged her child and told me she would never be angry with Lariba. That she happens to be a single mum and Lariba had been sacked the previous day for non-payment of school fees. She sells oranges and saves the proceeds to care for Lariba and herself. Lariba had actually volunteered to help her sell that day by hawking around. Their life as mum and daughter was so touching and most inspiring to me than many experiences I have had in life. Unfortunately, this was a period when Cellular phones were a luxury so we lost contact. I went back after a few weeks to visit but I was told they had relocated. Strange but this is a country where until recently disability issues were ignored and many struggle to make ends meet. I know the resilience of Lariba’s mother, coupled with Lariba’s intelligence will see them through.

NOT SO FOND MEMORIES

Then again, I look at the mother who ‘never loved’ her child and wonder if that is really possible. I find it hard to believe there are mothers who do not love their children and as I grew up and understood life and its happenings, I became more confused. I ask myself, is it possible for a mother to love a child who is a product of rape? Stories of mothers abandoning their children abound.  The story of my cousin is a typical example. Here’s a kid whose mother left him after 4 months when he had not yet been weaned off breast milk. His dad (my uncle) became both mother and father to him. He never bothered to find his mother until his father passed. Somehow, when he did find his mother eventually, it was a happy re-union. Apparently the mother has been trying to get him but she always hesitated because of the guilt. We say “blood is thicker than water” don’t we?! Of course biologically I can’t be a mother so I do not claim to understand if all women will love their children or not. I will not judge either!!  I have only known love from my ‘mothers’ but I have seen other mothers show ‘hate’ to their products of nine hard months. I ask the question to all females: Do all women love their children really, no matter the circumstances surrounding their birth? I will be highly honoured to get some answers in the comment section. In the mean-time, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL MOTHERS, NEW, OLD AND WOULD BE!!

Four Reasons Why You Should Play A Musical Instrument As A Hobby

    

 I love music! Are there people alive who hate music, really? I love musical instruments but the guitar is my favourite. You may ask why? What at all is good about playing the guitar? I get asked by friends who do not see the reason why I ‘waste’ my time on a guitar. I say, a lot! I have been playing the guitar for several years as a hobby, not in a band and I still consider myself a learner because I discover new things everyday; afterall I am not Jimi Hendrix, though I would love to be, lol. I have discovered a lot about myself since I bought my first guitar and started playing. I would love to learn how to play other instruments also but for now the guitar is what I know and it has been very good to me in several ways. Some people think that all that people with guitar want is to look ‘swag, hot and cool’ but there’s more to a guitar than that. If you love the instrument but have doubts about how it can contribute to

your well-being, consider these points.

 NUMBER ONE STRESS BEATER

The guitar has been my number one stress killer, believe me. Back then, when I was under a lot of stress from my work or social life, I would spend money on drinking with the hope it might calm me down. This only acted as temporary solace as I was to discover. As doctors would tell you, this may have damaged a few organs. What do you do under stress? Do you drink, smoke or indulge in any social vice? Well then, you better a get guitar and start learning right away. I didn’t know this until I started practicing. I realized that anytime I am under stress and played my guitar, I always get this happy feeling which washes my stress away permanently. Therefore I stopped drinking under stress and I am sure I have saved my organs too; a glass of wine, every now and then, socially is cool though, lol. I say, ‘get a guitar and save some organs’!

Practical Tips for a Beginner Blogger to Increase Traffic

BLOG AWAY AND ENJOY DOING IT

It is estimated that there are over 200 million blogs online therefore if you only just started blogging, you would really have to tough it out with the competition to get noticed and to make some revenue if you so wish. You can have great content but without robust marketing, it would take you a very long time to break through. Here are four methods that had helped me increase traffic hence subscribers to my blog.

CONTENT

     The saying that “content is king” cannot be over-emphasised. Before you even start blogging you must know what you want to blog about. Every expect would tell you to have a niche but I insist that, not having a niche is even a niche as long as you have the knowledge in the area and can write great content on the chosen topic. All you need is intensive research. If you have no idea of what to blog about, join Quora, find some questions that people ask often and give answers. It may give you a fair idea of what you should blog about.  Having a niche and being an expert in the area will make life a lot easier for you, though. It makes you gain respect and increases your reputation as an expert, therefore people would always come to you for answers on a topic in your area of expertise. It also enables you to use the right keywords that would enable search engines to easily find you and put you on top of the search pile when targeted well. If you want some insight into SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) strategies. There several free E-books on SEO but Google itself is a good point to start. Go check out this link for a free ebook download on SEOs  http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

UPDATE: As a point for S.E.O., Google has updated it's algorithm to ensure that those who optimised their site for mobile device usage appear at the top of the search pile so ensure that your blog or website is optimised. If you need more information on how to do this, check out their support page (https://support.google.com/sites/answer/1368620?hl=en). Also, to ensure you are on the right track, google your page with a mobile device and see how it looks like, then make the necessary changes if you have to.

GOOGLE+ FOLLOWERS

     Create a blogger profile, yes you heard me right, blogger!! I agree that there are lots of platforms on which you can create blogs. The advantage with having a blogger profile is that Google rules the search world. They have probably the best ethics in my opinion regarding blogging and advertising. They also have some of the best plug-ins like Google+ where you can join communities from all over the world and share your blogs with them. Therefore if you have no ‘evil’ intentions Google is your best friend.

1.      Create a Blogger profile, and add a Google+ profile,

2.      Find people and communities on Google+ with similar niches or interests as yours, add them and join the communities. I will suggest you find this guy +Daniel Stock . He would help you gain followers with is community building strategy.

3.      Participate actively in discussions within the communities and ensure you share every article you write in the niche community. The thing about joining and sharing your articles in Google+ communities is that, you get more searches directly via google.

4.      Show genuine interests in the blogs of people you follow and your followers by commenting and sharing their stuff. If they find something they like on your blog, they will return the favour and the word will spread.

SOCIAL MEDIA

     Join Linkis.com and automate the sharing of your blogs. Linkis is like a ‘one stop site’ where most, if not all social media sharing buttons have been harnessed for easy access. You will find buttons like Digg, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc, there. All these sites are great marketing tools for your blog so create profiles on these sites. What happens is that once you have a profile on all these sites you can go directly to Linkis.com and share your blog on all these platforms from there. Becareful not to spam, though or you would lose your reputation. A good technique for sharing a blog on twitter would be to align the link to your blog with a quote. 

Example :

BEFORE LOGGING IN

AFTER LOGGING IN

You can do same for all social networks. Reddit.com is another great platform that allows you to actually share links and contribute to topics. Join Reddit.com but ensure you read their guidelines before sharing links or you would be banned.

BACK-LINKS

    Building back links can also help you boost traffic. There are several methods but I will focus on one popular method used on Quora. A lot of people on Quora are looking for answers to questions so it’s a great platform on which you can link people to your site. Quora however is very strict on spamming so becareful. You type in keywords for a topic you’re interested in and give answers to these questions only because you actually know your stuff. If you have written a blog about that topic, you can attach the link at the end of the answer so that people who see these answers can link back to you anytime they want answers.

GOOGLE YOUR PAGE

Every now and then, Google-search your page  and see how it appears in search. You can also google-search topics you have written and see where it appears on the search pile. Do not google the exact topic but google closely related topics and see where you are in the search pile. For example if you have written a blog with the tittle "Why coconut is good for you", you can instead type "Benefits of coconut" in the google search engine and see if your page will appear. If it doesn't, then it means you need to work harder on your SEO.

FREEBIES

    

    Offering freebies is also a great way to increase traffic and subscribers. If you already have a niche, you can write an E-book on a subject area and offer it for free to anyone who subscribes to your blog. It’s that simple.

     All in all content and reputation is the key. In the end people have problems that need solving. That is why they would find your product. I would not suggest you put a timeline on increasing traffic because it takes hard work to garner a lot of it. However, maybe after a year of not being successful, you should know you are not doing something right. Go back, research and start again because the trends keep changing. Just don’t give up.