PERCEPTION

what you see are the numbers. last in the HDI. High maternal and infant mortality rate. filthiest city, worst atrocities committed in a conflict.
what i see is the humanity. The way they love and cherish knowledge, the way they can't stop smiling. The way a 6 yr old would faultlessly recite the national pledge or anthem even though not in their first language. There love for dancing, fun and children
My country does not need me, She does not need the United Nations, the African Union or any Western Nation to lift it out of its current quagmire and escort it into the benefits of the 21st century.
what it needs is a fervent belief that action must be taken and must be taken now if our beloved is to survive the ails that it continues to suffer from.
What it needs is a caring partner. Not a dominant partner who charts the way for her and expects her to follow those steps to the letter, but one that is there purely as a guide.
One She can lean on when the going gets tough. one to tell her that she can do it when the belief starts to wane and one whose shoulder she can cry on when those eventual bumps and hardships in the path to progress are arrived at.
One who when the task of uprooting us from the 19th century and catapulting us into the 21st century is completed will not be there to collect dues for its help, in the form of concessions, loan payments and interests payments but will be proud to say I knew you would do it...Congratulations. You did it on your own.

I Knew you back when....

I knew you back when "butterscotch" en popcorn was what we spent our lunch money on.
I knew you back when "tombi en smokefish" were the energizer for the walk to school.
I knew you back when game boy and hand tennis was how we occupied ourselves during lunch.
I knew you back when "granat cake en benni cake" was our favourite snack on the walk home from school.
I knew you back when "brade en pamine" was our PBandJ" sandwich.
I knew you back when we could not survive "satiday" without "obiata, shapka en tola".
I knew you back when "kushu tatoo en Pegapack" was our way of expressing our teenage rebellion.
I knew you back when "kecking" was so we could go to the swimming pool.
I knew you back when "intersec en boxing day sports" were our favourite sporting outings.
I knew you back when Caesar cried "et tu Brute" and all Beckyln cried with him. I knew you back when "ogaman" started selling music lyrics on paper.
I knew you back when "ogaman" made valentines easy by selling le1000 cards albeit with often misspelled words.
I knew you back when excitement about confirmation was because of the after party.
I knew you back when excitement about confirmation was because we had to go to the big church.
I knew you back when the excitement about prizegiving was who we could have a fight with so we could save our money from buying more invitations.
I knew you back when the excitement about Thanksgiving was how many times i could get away with not having any coat to give my girlfriend after the match when she saw me with a coat on during the march.
I knew you back when all i had was me and all you had you still do have.
now what have you got to say about that? I guess you could say you knew me back then too, cause that's the only way my memory would be complete.

AFRICAN LEADERSHIP ACADEMY (A great innitiative)

As Africans, one of the things we master real quick is the usual rhetoric about advocating change in Africa so the children can have a brighter future than we have witnessed. In this stride we have mastered all the usual lines...the older generation have destroyed our present through corruption and malfeasance...the Western World have thrived on our exploitation, first from our people, then from our natural resources and even now for our brain... The western world is scared of competition so they are in opposition to a United Africa...A united Africa has more obstacles in its way every day new resources are discovered in Africa. These and many others have been used even when we go hat in hand begging the western world for donations, and loans we continually are unable to pay back after which we go back and beg that we be excused from repaying the loans. The same rhectorics we spout when we are trying to con the Western students from their lunch money in the guise of improving life conditions for African children.

When therefore we find an avenue in which we can prevent the current malaise from spreading to the future generation and channel our energies for change we should grasp said opportunities with as much passion as we show when we are seeking remedial solutions for Africas situation.

The African Leadership Academy is one such opportunity. Founded in 2008,
African Leadership Academy (ALA) seeks to transform Africa by developing and supporting future generations of African leaders. It brings together the most promising 15-18 year old leaders from all 54 African nations and beyond for an innovative two-year program designed to prepare each student for a lifetime of leadership on the continent. Students are selected to attend the Academy based on merit alone and complete an innovative curriculum with a unique focus on leadership, entrepreneurship, and African studies. ALA graduates will attend the world’s finest universities and will lead Africa toward a peaceful and prosperous future.

Like many other great endeavors it has its inception in the United States, It has as its partner, the African Leadership FOundation, a US 501(c)(3) non profit organization that seeks to develop young leaders and entrepreneurs for the African continent. The Primary difference between this and the other innitiatives that you may be involved in is that the other innitiatives , in
the words of ALFs President, "too often we invest in addressing the symptoms of bad leadership in Africa: we give blankets, food and medicine to those impacted by war poverty and famine. BUt these efforts will never stop unless we develop leaders who prevent wars from occuring in the first place, enterprenaurs who create jobs and scientists who sustainably increase food
production and distribution."

As a non-profit organization, ALA needs help and support to function. In particular our help and support. You can make a tax deductible donation at the African Leadership Foundation's website(http://www.africanleadershipfoundation.org/donate.asp). A donation no matter how little that will support the development of young African Leaders. I gave, will you join me?

http://www.africanleadershipfoundation.org/index.asp
http://www.africanleadershipacademy.org/

FOISL (A REVIEW)

Arguably one thing that Sierra Leoneans are never short of is an opinion. We can always find a way to argue about football and politics. Therefore it was no surprise to me when i received an invite to join a yahoo forum almost a couple of years ago. The moderator, Emmanuel Saffa Abdullah of Fourah Bay College and Auradicals fame, presently the Executive Director of Society for Democratic Initiatives Sierra Leone is the moderator and my acquaintance with him provided me with an impetus to be a member of such an exciting endeavor.

I was not disappointed as on membership alone the forum (Forum of Information Sierra Leone FOISL)boasts a significant cross section of the Sierra Leonean community. Those who have had a starring role in the political history of our country, those who hold the well being of our nation in their political hands and the pretenders to the offices of the President, seats of parliament and offices of cabinet ministers in the foreseeable future. University administrators and professors, Media consultants and moguls, Legal Practitioners, Democracy, youth and child advocates and activists, students and professors.

Discussions ranging from the history, contents and proposed resolutions of the Black and wide divide at FBC campus to the history, ideals, perceived failures and successes of the SLPP and the APC, from Panafricanism to Socialism in Sierra Leone, with constant updates of the Special court trials as well as an explanation and constant updates of the proposed Freedom of information Law and discussions on Seditious Libel Laws. It not only broke the news complete with reactions when there were skirmishes between the ruling APC and SLPP but also did the same at the initial conclusion of the Bumbuna Hydro Electric project. Tribalism and Nepotism were lamented and strides were made to identify why these are issues we have to contend with.

The forum hasn't been without its light moments, jokes once in a while interrupt bitter discourses and humorous responses to posts always make one laugh and allow you to sit back and reflect on the basic premises of the argument. Poetry also rears its head once in a while.

Like all other forums also there have been personal squabbles. one or two members were even mad enough to leave the forum but i guess the pull of the forum is too strong as they always end up back in the forum in one capacity or the other. The ravings about western impudence and imperialism, criticisms and appraisals of other African leaders and alternate proposals for the use of tour African resources, slavery, Blood diamond and fatalism are as the other posts which extol the virtues of statesmen like President Barack Obama, Kofi Annan and President Nelson Mandela.

The underlining positive about this forum is that it serves as one way to remind all the sons and daughters of Sierra Leone about their mother Sierra Leone.Personally i cannot help but think about the country whenever i wake up check my email and discover the numerous people who although we may not share the same views all still hold Sierra Leone Dear.

Sierra Leone is presently at a dangerous precipice. We can either chose to back up from the brink of maladministration, and all the vile that it has served us these past few decades or continue to implement the same policies that brought us to the face of this overhang. Part of the changes we can make would be the full utilization of Sierra Leone's Human resources. Admittedly Sierra Leone's Human resources are scattered all around the world (one of the benefits of globalization), therefore this forum works well in accumulating all of it in one place. Hopefully freedom of information continues to remind us of what makes us all Sierra Leoneans, an acceptance of the alternate view even as we hold our principles dear. Principles like Patriotism, Nationalism and Brotherly love.

Violence against Women Worldwide

November 25th marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. A day when we should all show support for all the women who have in one way or another suffered violence in one form or another and recognize and respect all the wonderful women in our lives. Before we can address this issue however, like any other human conundrum, we must first be informed about this phenomenom.
Allow me therefore to share with you the fact sheet on violence against women worldwide released by United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

Violence against Women Worldwide

Violence against women and girls is a problem of pandemic proportions. Based on country data available,1 up to 70 percent of women experience physical or sexual violence from men in their lifetime — the majority from husbands, intimate partners or someone they know. Among women aged 15–44, acts of violence cause more death and disability than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined.

• In the United States, one-third of women murdered each year are killed by intimate partners. Perhaps the most pervasive human rights violation that we know today, violence against women devastates lives, fractures communities, and stalls development. It takes many forms and occurs in many places — domestic violence in the home, sexual abuse of girls in schools, sexual harassment at work, rape by husbands or strangers, in refugee camps or as a tactic of war.

Femicide – the murder of women because they are women

• In South Africa, a woman is killed every 6 hours by an intimate partner.

• In India, 22 women were killed each day in dowry-related murders in 2007.

• In Guatemala, two women are murdered, on average, each day.

Trafficking

• Women and girls constitute 80 percent of the estimated 800,000 people trafficked annually,7 with the majority (79 percent) trafficked for sexual exploitation.

Harmful practices

• Approximately 100 to 140 million girls and women in the world have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting, with more than 3 million girls in Africa annually at risk of the practice.

• More than 60 million girls worldwide are child brides, married before the age of 18, primarily in South Asia (31.1 million) and sub-Saharan Africa (14.1 million).

Sexual violence against women and girls

• An estimated 150 million girls under 18 suffered some form of sexual violence in 2002 alone.

• As many as 1 in 4 women experience physical and/or sexual violence during pregnancy,which increases the likelihood of having a miscarriage, stillbirth and abortion.

Up to 53 percent of women physically abused by their intimate partners are being kicked or punched in the abdomen.

• In São Paulo, Brazil, a woman is assaulted every 15 seconds.

• In Ecuador, adolescent girls reporting sexual violence in school identified teachers as the perpetrators in 37 percent of cases.

Rape as a method of warfare

• Approximately 250,000 to 500,000 women and girls were raped in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

• In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, at least 200,000 cases of sexual violence, mostly involving women and girls, have been documented since 1996, though the actual numbers are considered to be much higher.

Cost of violence against women

• Domestic violence alone cost approximately US$1.16 billion in Canada19 and US$5.8 billion in the United States.20 In Australia, violence against women and children costs an estimated US$11.38 billion per year.

Sexual harassment

• Between 40 and 50 percent of women in European Union countries experience unwanted sexual advancements, physical contact or other forms of sexual harassment at their workplace.

• In the United States, 83 percent of girls aged 12–16 experienced some form of sexual harassment in public schools.


http://www.unifem.org/campaigns/sayno/docs/SayNOunite_FactSheet_VAWworldwide.pdf

...to each according to his deeds

he robbed, raped and killed, upbringing was his defense
i raped, pillaged and killed, been stolen from is my defense.

To him, i am a representative of my people only capable of war and brutality
even the gods have conspired to condemn me to a hellhole of flood, famine, drought and pestilence
and when i move, it is to his demise
while he had weed, i had "jamba"
while he painstakingly prepped and shot up crack
i used the gunpowder from my bullet to make brown brown which made me
His projects, my slums His gangs, my ethnic groups the same.

To me his upbringing is an excuse
His welfare forever greater than my need
Forever living on the legacy of my trauma

Now we're both imprisoned
him with his brother's and uncles and maybe his father together with among too many of his people
no longer shackled but stilled entrapped in cages.
His shackled mind constantly whacked when any thoughts of hope pop up
me. my world is my prison
every walking moment a fight to stay working
dying where i fall down from my toils
tortured with memories of a collective past
condemned by my history
my stay of execution
an opportunity to kill my lingering hopes day after day

Maybe just maybe we should try,
From each according to his ability,
To each according to his deeds.

TO THE BEGINNING

Amazing but not surprising how the two major political parties in Sierra Leone profess to have the same goals. Lofty goals and ideals i might add.Think its about time to hold these parties accountable to their incorporating documents?

SLPP CONSTITUTION
CLAUSE III
PARTY AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims and objectives or the Party shall be to:

1. Organise and maintain in the Sierra Leone Legislature in the country as a whole the Sierra Leone Peoples Party.

2. Co-operate with all kindred and allied organisations Trade Unions: etc. in joint political or other actions in harmony with the Party Constitution and Regulations.

3. Give effect as far as may be practicable to the principles as from time to time approved by the Party conference.

4. Secure for gainfully employed Sierra Leoneans the full fruits of their industry, administer equitable distribution of income and encourage investment in Sierra Leone by providing incentives to investors.

5. Protect political, social and economic emancipation of the people, and more particularly of those who depend directly o their own exertions by hand or brain for the means of life.

6. Co-operate with political parties within and without Sierra Leone in the struggle for self-determination and good governance, protection of human rights and elimination of ethnic conflicts from the continent in particular and the world in general.

7. Support the United Nations Organisation and its various Agencies and other International Organisations for the promotion of peace, socio-economic development, the establishment of Human Rights and the improvements of the Under-developed areas of the world.

8. Protect and control the Natural Resources of the Country for the well-being of the State and its Citizens.

9. Unify all ethnic groups in Sierra Leone.

10. Secure Religious Freedom and worship to all citizens and rights to all Religious Organizations to exist in Sierra Leone.

11. Provide a system of Education, which shall promote the progress of Sierra Leone to the greatest extent and in the best way possible.

12. Promote democracy, free market system and economic development in Sierra Leone.



APC CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 3

AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND PHILOSOPHY:

(i) Aims:

To cultivate the spirit of patriotism and responsible citizenship among Sierra Leoneans.

To promote the social, economic, political and cultural development of the people of Sierra Leone.

To ensure the full and active participation of all sections, regions, tribes and groups in the country in the administration of the State.

To foster unity, friendship and reconciliation among all Sierra Leoneans irrespective of tribe, creed, religion, sex, ethnic origin, restricted geographical environment, or political persuasion.

To inculcate into the minds of all Sierra Leoneans the spirit of tolerance, fair play, respect for democratic principles and human rights in the context of a Multi-Party democratic system.

(ii) Objectives:

To attain and sustain political power through democratic and constitutional means in order to build a free, democratic, society with equal rights and opportunities and justice for all.

To promote peace and safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sierra Leone.

To enhance the welfare of all Sierra Leoneans.

http://www.apcpartysl.org/news/templates/constitution.asp?articleid=6&zoneid=6

http://www.slpp.ws/browse.asp?page=432

CONSOLATION

Move over dude. I've got to be in a position to see all the tricks, flicks, shots, saves and goals of this game.
Get up man its the middle of the day. You can only go so many hours without eating or sleeping. Don't you know you need a break from everything including sleep?

• Its not that your girl ceased loving you, she is just protecting herself with a backup plan. Just because she did not tell you she has an old friend who has pledged his undying love to her does not mean she has no love for you. The fact that she supports said friend both financially and morally via regular conversations does not devalue the communication you two have. I mean its not like she picks up his call and makes an effort for you not to hear their conversation.

Grow up man, we've all had our exes and our crushes. It hurts no one if we don't go back to our exes or act on our crushes present and past.
After all it is only the present that matters. As long as you love her and she loves you, there is no cause for concern.
Now get yourself up and spend some quality time with the shower because frankly, you stink. Then again that's your girl man, mine will never do that.
As for me, its time for me to witness ManUnited give another team a butt whooping...

I can picture an all black Africa. I mean we’ve only been killing each other from the beginning of time yet we’re still standing, that should count for something. I can never actually picture an all White United States, I mean it took the help of Mexicans to win the war of Independence and the help of Blacks to win the civil war. It took the land of the natives and the labor of the slaves to build up the economy. But hey, I’m here and not in Africa so maybe I should just keep quiet and pay my taxes

I'M JUST SAYING...

It may very well be that guys who cheat do not need anger from their women but compassion. Before you attack me, allow me to share a little bit about first love.
The lucky few among us are forever enamored with our first love. So totally enraptured were we by the partners relation with us that had an elixir been created out of our feelings during those times, the search would be over for the philosopher's stone by now.
Like everything great however, First love may become addictive. Relationships once the novelty wears off may become demanding rather than enjoyable. At those times one yearns for the unpredictability of a new thrill. The thrill of a fresh hunt and the hunt for that vulnerable, hearty and trance like moments which are so very much in abundance at the start of the relationship.
Once you're hooked on that, like any other addict you cannot help but yearn for your addiction. Ultimately the quest for the satisfaction of that addiction is mutually exclusive with the quest for a relationship.
At this moment, you don't then need a lecture about how all men are dogs, just an intervention to get over an addiction.

not that i know anyone like this though...

Wisdom Speaks

The worst thing about not sharing your dreams is that no one's there to comfort you when you fail to reach a goal because no one recognizes how important that goal is towards the accomplishment of your dreams.
DEMMAN

TeAsInG

Hello….
I know it’s the worst time to drop a call…..
But where did we leave off?
Oh yes, the legs
That massage
The rubbing, the kneading
The warmth by the constant motion of the hands
Cooled by the mouth encased ice
An icy tongue adding to that growing sensation
Working its way ever so slowly
Up up and then still up

How Many Lives is Democracy worth?

What now seems ages ago, democracy was the preeminent theory bandied about the world? States were thrown in chaos when strong leaders not viewed as democrats were toppled through intervention of foreign nations. The power vacuum allowed for the rise of a new string of leaders. Those who favored wealth over power, who viewed their positions as a platform to open up and fatten a Swiss bank account, never afraid that their governments would lose the favor of the people because come to think of it, what would the people do. The power vacuum also allowed for the empowerment of the youths. The Youth through sheer necessity became entrusted with the protection of the liberties promised by democracy. Having nothing to loose by non involvement because they already bore the brunt of the mismanagement of their countries, and nothing to gain because their future remained insecure with nothing to look forward to, but more debts and a broken country, always the scapegoat for deteriorating standards in a country and always the first to stand up and be counted when they find cause to reverse the debilitating trend. Millions of such youth have lost their lives from as far apart as China and Sierra Leone, and now at the most unlikely of times there is a threat that thousands more are about to loose their lives in the pursuit of democracy, then one wonders, How many lives are worth the establishment and protection of democracy, especially when those lives that are lost are the viable segment of society integral to any strides made in the development of a country.

IT IS...

It is how we feel when
all our desires from the basest needs to the highest wants
the desire for acceptance, importance
the need to matter
the need for safety and companionship
are met all at the same time.

It is how we feel when someone always seems to
stroke our ego
make us feel most important
be the one to whom we can narrate our accomplishment without boast
and in whose accomplishment we can share without guilt

It is how we feel about someone who we relate to be
the mighty lioness capable of protecting the cubs
the dexterous gardener cultivating the sweet smelling rose garden

It is
a hand to hold while skipping down the street
a mind to pick and share ideas with, without always been defensive

It is someone
Whose name denotes a smile because you're always doing exactly that when your memory is touched by her presence and much more so when the other senses bear witness to what the mind has been feeling all the time
Someone to whom you can give your best friend's seat without a moment's hesitation from you or him

It is near and dear
Hard to find and harder still to keep

I have found it, have you?

Why you are always beautiful to me

As we celebrate our golden anniversary
I am reminded of why you are always beautiful to me.
In my mind is a perfect picture of you frozen in time
The pretty little girl, super sweet, brazenly beautiful and exceptionally intelligent
The one I fell in love with what now seems to be several lifetimes ago.
The calm voice that has never taken a break from counseling me
The presence that seems to be permeate all the memorable moments in my life
The great benefactor that has provided me with the best gifts in life (our kids)…
To us…may our memories magnify our joys…

THOSE WHO CAN'T DO...2 of 4

Love still stands when all else has fallen
two inches or ten
finger size or hand
when feeling goes away
mini me stands up to be counted
the thrusts start shallow and seem never ending
then the pace picks up
with everything
my voice and yours
a testimony themed call and response
The bed squeaks
the walls groan
only time will tell how me drowning in my sorrows
and you swallowing your pain whole
will lead to a dis remembering
of what was once a beautiful duo of you and I
Such is the nature of the breakup sex.

THOSE WHO CAN'T DO...

If sounds had a meaning, moans would be the most beautiful language
Reserved for those moments when everything goes right.
when those little touches and gestures all day long
are but foreplay for the grand event
subsequent union coming as no surprise
the oil, lingerie and whipped cream
all but props for the occasion
one that can best be described by
moans and groans, slow and aplenty
that masks the gyrates and slow slides
made more pleasurable by the lineal alignments of all the erogenous regions
the mouth a power station
transmitting those sparks of electricity
to first one lip,
then the other,
behind the ear,
then the neck
and inevitably
when all that's left is ecstasy, my name and your moans
that is when we get the nature of the special sex

WELCOME TO POLITICS

Witness accounts are always questionable because our personal prejudices are brought to bear upon what our actual experiences are so let me start with a disclaimer; the accounts that I talk about are only those that can be substantiated from different media agencies.

Over the course of the day on Monday March 16, 2009, I had various calls asking whether I knew about the situation in Sierra Leone. Having learnt never to trust one media outlet for information that I need, I did a search on all the major competitive news agencies out there and gleaned a lot of information concerning the present situation.

These are the fundamental facts; there is huge tension between the two major parties in Sierra Leone. These tensions heightened to a point where there have been skirmishes between the supporters of both parties. The violent atrocities have been centered around the central office of the headquarters of the opposition party. These have led to a lot of people been injured and a few reportedly raped in the center of the capital city in Sierra Leone.

In consideration of the above facts, how do I balance the concern I have for my country with the damage that would be done by unnecessarily exaggerating minor riots that may have occurred. My rationale for writing is that the damage has already been done, the news is already out there and I am just commenting on it. For those who think I have been misled into drafting this then I apologize for the distress this may cause here but my apology does not extend to any of the contents herein.

I am just now getting accustomed to the people who recognize where I come from as the place where there are lots of diamonds and not the place that could lay strong claims on been the place that hosted the most atrocious and inhuman civil war in recent history. I am just getting to know young Sierra Leoneans full of hope who make up their mind that their place is to be in Sierra Leone where the development is needed and where our contributions are vital. Can we honestly continue to be persuasive with the tension between the two major parties in our political climate that practices the two party systems. Can we tell our aunts, cousins, nieces and friends that they should visit Sierra Leone and enjoy our culture when the government has shut its ear to violence against women (http://www.opcofamerica.org/letters-to-countries/sierra-leone-february-23-2009.html )

This gets me to the point where I believe I owe everyone an apology. I have always fervently believed that the one party system when it was instituted in our country was not much of a change on the political climate as all the politicians just transferred their allegiance and jumped on the bandwagon of that ruling party. I was mistaken. Even though I still believe that the same people who were forerunners in the one party system are the same ones controlling the politics of our nation, I now have woken up to the fact that the climate under a one party system can and should never be realized under a two party system in Sierra leone especially when one of those parties suffers from such insecurity as to formulate its manifesto towards eradicating the influences and even the existence of the other party. Our parents are always trying to prevent us from been sore losers or bullies but somehow some politicians have failed to learn those values.

Therein lies our first conundrum. As much as we believe that the blame for our rapid decline in economic and developmental status, the reason for the unveiling of our civil conflict that cost us so dearly and the continued stagnation of our country in its period of abject corruption and continuing dependence on foreign aid rests squarely on the shoulders of the sorry excuse we have for politicians, the job to restore our country back to its former glory is also dependent on their greater cooperation. For as long as their exists those youth without the inclination to act on their beliefs, those who are easily persuaded to perform the every wish of the misguided politicians for a few thousand leones then there remains a need for an influx of positive influence in Sierra Leone politics.

It is thus a challenge to all our kindhearted young who have sierra Leone’s best interest at heart but who see a venture into politics as the ultimate taboo in life, the grand betrayal from moving towards a position from which we can make those changes we so desperately need, to that point where we are standing in the way of such development; A transition from that body of young intellectuals to the collection of those who practice politricking.

If the experiences of the past few days have taught us anything, it should be that there is no job too dirty and no field should have an exclusion when we are looking at ways to influence change and finally that for a people who have gone through the worst of what humanity has to offer, we seem to have a short memory of our immediate past.

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-38535520090316?sp=true

http://cocorioko.net/app/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3005&Itemid=1

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE52F0IA20090316?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7947422.stm

MY GENESIS, EXODUS AND A LIL MORE (Pieced together from an sms conversation)

In the beginning, all things looked grand…one got to know a new family member everyday… a good vacation was a day at the farm and Freetown was a far off place called “Salon”. And then came the exodus. Long days trecks and nights of hunger… To a homely exile where I met you, you and you…where life grabbed me and taught me about the world. And then I went back…

When I got there, the town looked so small and some parts were still ravaged. Before going there last year I still had my childhood memories of town with fun experiences everyday. on my walk from school which was next to the hospital, to my uncle so he could go eat with me because I would not eat by myself to the walk across the center of town where the Lebanese and Syrian cocoa merchants who were sponsors of my dads soccer team would give me treats to go home. The visits to my grandpa’s farm riding on the back of his bike on the way to the farm just to sit down and watch them farm and then start crying when it was time to go home because I did not want to walk those three miles.

When I went back last year I only spent a few hours there because I got there one evening and left there the following morning. Now I know I was running away from the ruined memories. All the pictures I had in mind about my warm friendly community were shattered. Having gotten over the shock however, I wish I had stayed longer. I know there are a lot of good things about my town that I still treasure and I have made myself a promise that the next time I’m around I will spend a few days there reacquainting myself with my land of birth and filling that void that I now realize has always been there that always made me claim myself as a “mende boy” even as I regret forgetting to speak that beautiful tongue I was so prolific in in my early years.

APOLOGIES

SORRY
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YOU AND I KNOW WHY...

I told you I'm sorry
but i never told you why
all those times i saw you
but never said hi
all those times i walked by with another girl right in front of your house
all those times i pissed on your hospitality by ogling other girls at your events
as time passes without acknowledgment so did i pass our time together
for all those times i caused other girls to disrespect you in your school
for all the tears i caused you to shed
all the indignity and disrespect i put you through
I can only say with deepest regrets that I'm sorry.

Not sorry for the time we spent together
The endless hours we spent under the cashew tree
Sharing meaningless stories together with family histories
Not sorry for our clumsy first kiss
It was my first too

This Christmas
all i want from Santa
Is the granting of my foremost wish
That you will accept my apologies
That we will still be friends without the awkwardness
that we will start anew

and i know Santa will consider these wishes
because as much as i have been naughty this year
when ranked with how naughty i was those past years
I aspire to nothing but nicety
except of course when i think about how naughty
i want to be with you

What Makes you Special

Two hands two legs a head shoulder neck and trunk all of which you possess do not make you special.

Your legs are graceful and smooth, hinting at the hidden delight that a roving hand might enjoy, the hips are neither wispy nor plumb. Just the right proportion to balance the soft mounds which swing with it, the stomach flat, all the more alluring for reflecting, the exquisiteness of the hips at one end and the burgeoning apices at the other… both mounds hidden but tantalizingly pert. The hands dainty, never without a purpose… always seem to be charged, transferring a tingling sense of electricity whenever your hands glance upon mine. The eyes, lips and cheeks conspiring in their quest to rival the suns radiance, the voice sirenic, compelling the audience by its sheer ability to raise one above the throng.

It is those memories we call ours, the scars that tell our story, the smile that no one can copy, the thought of you that no one can replace, the racing heart with which I acknowledge that ring tone that I designated to you, the laughter that permeates our conversations interlaced by those moments of intellectual discourse and the fact that you dare me…dare me to give up my inhibitions and just dwell in that place where your feelings and mine are the manna that sustain us.

That my lady, is what makes you special…

OUR MOMENTS

Your eyes are lucky; they were the first to get to know her.

The best moment is the first time you saw her, you just had to turn again, yes she is that beautiful. No one exists but you and her… everyone else is an obstacle between the two of you. Finally she’s alone. You waddle over, mouth heavy. Hello you say….she smiles and the world is a better place.

The best dawn can never be surpassed. The night was sweet, lying back on the fields all night, surrounded by beauty, basking in the presence of her beauty, the peacefulness of the flowers and the overwhelming radiance of the stars. You walk her home. A first date should be sealed by a kiss you’re thinking all the way home. She stops at her door, looks up in your eyes, your soul, are those stars you are seeing in her eyes…you step up she draws close and those are definitely stars you’re seeing

The worst day is when she’s mad at you. She does not say it, but you know you’re locked out. You miss her voice, the soft sweet voice she uses at those moments…her face is engraved in your mind, the upturn of both edges of her mouth when she smiles just for you, you’re sorry this has to end, it was all your fault. You call, she does not pick up. Hell. you will not call again, but you do and she picks up. Hello she says….that’s all you wanted to hear…making up is worth the breakup …for just this once of course.

The best morning comes after a warm night of passionate love…When you wake up in your partner’s arms, the fresh scintillating smell of her hair in your nose, her body molded unto yours. Your hand over her bosom, rising and falling with her every heartbeat…she stirs…but not to worry, she just pours herself better into the spoon that is you.

The best twilight comes at the end of the worst dinner. Trying to cram your stomach that seems to already be filled with butterflies, hoping that she hasn’t found out, praying that nothing goes wrong, impatient for her to finish eating the salad she loves so much… and when finally the lights dim, celine shows up, the music ensues and the love songs flow together in a slow rhythm, you go down on your knees…her eyes light up…you open your lips…her tears start to flow. seems the whole world wants to hear her response to your question, oh yes the question that you have not asked yet…“will you marry me” comes out in a wispy voice…the rivers are unleashed. She laughs, cries, jumps, sits down, gets up, and finally joins you on your knees, yes she says and that’s all you wanted to hear.

UNTITLED

I figured I’ll be cool
Tell you how I feel
How you make me feel
Cupid’s long suffering fool
A story that cannot be told
But now as it starts to unfold
My true emotions to unveil
I think it’s too hard for me
To say I love you
Would be to rekindle
My feelings anew
Thus my hope and trepidation
For Rubicon not to cross

Let's break this taboo

There he sits moping over things he wishes he could change. I still do not get how one girl can have that effect on him. As his friend I have had to endure numerous conversations where he tells me how he can never be held to ransom by his feelings for a particular lady yet here is moping almost to tears for one and pining desperately for this same one.
Who is this special lady I ask him. With the hunger in his eyes burning bright, he tells me a story of an extremely likeable, exceptionally smart and overwhelming beautiful young lady who intruded into his world at a very early age and staked a claim in his heart by challenging him. Those early years were according to him, his observational phase of male female interactions so there was nothing he could do besides throw those furtive glances her way, hope that she recognized his interests and deny, deny, deny when the inevitable childish linkup was made.
We all had those childhood crushes I tell him, but there’s a reason why they are called childhood crushes. With deep soulful eyes he tells me that those were his exact thoughts until he saw her years later. The years had been kind to her. She was still good looking, still smart and still likeable. The only thing that changed was that he was able to look into her eyes and tell her all those thoughts running through his mind about the two of them, before she could respond, he left.
It seems fate has conspired to keep you apart then I say to him. Then fate must have a really wicked sense of humor because after some time it brought us back in touch, he tells me. Stumped, I ask him to tell me why he is moping then if he is now in contact with her.
He responds, during the time we were apart, we both went on with life. We met people and made promises that we are obligated to keep. He goes on to say, I still felt something when I read her name or saw her photo so when I happened to be where she resides, I decided to pay her a visit and explore those feelings that I had. Those feelings were either a childhood crush in which case I would clear out my head, or they were greater feelings than I had the capacity to address presently.
Now I was leaning over, my ears close to his lips, my mind massaged with thoughts of what a great love story this is and I wasn’t disappointed. He told me of the feelings that cascaded through his whole being when he saw her after a very long time. He could barely take his eyes off her for the first minutes that he saw her. Comparisms of her and a Greek goddess were not far apart especially as she had on a white dress with yellow (gold) trimmings. The voice was still as he had remembered, a soothing childish one, the face was still the same, radiant, daring one to deny its beauty yet at the same time possessing a personable manner that said I am just like you and I don’t have to pretend to be better than you. Every thought remembered was beautiful, every laughter genuine and every hand gesture graceful.
Then what happened, I urge him on. Nothing, he says. I left…again. Did you at least tell her how you feel? He tells me he did but he could not ask any more of her as he did not want to be selfish by coming between the relationship she already has. What did the young lady say? Nothing, he says…again.

That’s enough reason for your despondency I say. That’s not why I’m sad, he counters. What then is the reason for your countenance? I ask. Regret, he says, regret that I did not say what I really had in mind.
Let’s break this taboo, just you and I
I know I wouldn’t ask it if I were he
But this time I can only be a faithful servant of my emotion

My Journey and Welcome

She can barely look at me, not because she is disappointed in me, but because she misses me already. Her hidden tears remind me that to this my lady, I will always be her baby boy.

She looks at me with relief, to her I am her miracle, this young man whose mom filled her world with laughter a few decades back, now been tasked with taking her to see her beloved.

She can look at me and she does so as an acquaintance, a fellow wayfarer, a companion to spend these long uneventful hours that are a prelude to the untold joys to come.

Her gaze draws me in. Eyes fair in salutation and adoration, whisperings of her wealth and beauty clearly not understatements. She is adorned in bling. Gold, silver diamond, rutile bauxite and of course a lady’s best friend. Her natural curves are a sight to behold. Enhanced, her contours and peaks just cry out to be mounted and enjoyed with time and not ravished with reckless abandon. Now I allow those eyes to envelope me. At last I am in my lady…..sorry, our lady’s bosom.

What's in a Name

My name is David Manley. I am a young Sierra Leonean student living in the united states. No, i have never been in combat. no, i have never held a gun and no i have never held an uncut diamond.

My name is David Manley. I have loved and i have lost and i can never tell you which was better. Yes i can talk, i just don't think you're worth the effort.

There has only been one Nelson Mandela, one Shaka Zulu, one Alexander the Great and one mother Theresa, and just like everyone else i want to make my name mine. Like everyone else when ever my name is mentioned i want it to be in a topic about me, that is my incentive to succeed. Whenever David Manley comes up, whether in my generation or the following ones, there must be no confusion about who exactly is been mentioned.

My name is David Manley, over the past two months, i have left school, started school, lost friends, made new ones, fixed my car, had it break down, bought a Wii,taken it back, become an uncle, found out i have two sisters, planned a trip home, canceled it and now I'm still thinking about it.

My name is David Manley. Yes i love the thrill of politics and i make no excuses for that titillating feeling i have when I'm in front of an audience, the absolute delight i feel after having convinced an audience about something that i had set out to do. I respect whatever audience i am privileged to address but i have absolutely no tolerance for the ignorant who are determined never to reason with words but are determined to be manipulated by whoever can make an utterance. I would love to think that i cannot be easily manipulated unconsciously the unconscious provision been added after having discovered that sometimes you have to pretend to be manipulated to keep the peace.

My name is David Manley. I am flawed i know, i have tasted failure not as much as i have tasted success, but just enough for me to hate failure. I get wounded and i can only take so much. Just because i don't cut back does not mean i don't feel the pain.

My name is David Manley. yes i didn't get to say goodbye, but that's because i know i'll see you again soon.

My name is David Manley and you might not want to forget that name in a hurry.

A United States of Africa

I really love the concept of continental pan Africanism. According to MSN Encarta, continental pan Africanism advocates the unity of states and peoples of Africa. The initial proponents of this theory proposed a United States of Africa, and the ever-present civil conflicts and waste of natural resources should point all the more to the wisdom of this proposition. To read the minds of such great African philosophers and proponents of continental pan Africanism like Jomo Kenyata, Kwame Nkrumah, Sekou Toure, Steve Biko, Haile Selasie, Julius Nyerere, Patrice Lumumba, Kenneth Kaunda and Banda Hastings Kamuzu is enlightening all the more so when you consider the cumulative wealth of the continent compared to the overall suffering. Imagine, as Nelson Mandela famously said; … (the) dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent, (The) dream of our vast deserts, of our forests, of all our great wildernesses, (the) dream of an Africa, which is in peace with itself.

If there is one thing such a Country will do, it will be to help the majority of Americans to know a bit of Geography. Picture this scene, you are out with your guys and you meet some of their friends. Upon been introduced to them, they ask where you’re from. You say Africa. With an intriguing smile, the next statement is usually something bizarre. Asking about something they’ve seen on national geographic or more often than not, asking you if you know such and such a person because they are also from Africa.

Then often times I end up giving geography lessons to people whose educational system warrants that they know at least the amount of geography that helps them determine Africa is a continent and not a country. People’s ignorance and naivety comes to the forefront when they consider Africa as a country. I sometimes feel guilty in my criticisms of the stupidity of those people who consider Africa as a country and not a continent. Is it their fault they do not know the difference between fantasy and reality, can they be faulted for the medias negative portrayal of the African continent? But then I feel justified voicing my opinion as I never considered all African Americans to be gangster looking, gun toting, bling wearing, cuss uttering people, or Caucasians as either racists trailer trash simpletons or rich and shallow opportunists so I fail to see why all Africans should be portrayed as crotch covering, tree living, belly swollen, war loving and uncivilized polygamist mammals.

Strong language you may say, but I didn’t come up with them. Isn’t it funny how it is the sweet and innocent looking ones who always come up to you and ask questions like how did you dress, what did you eat, did you live in trees, did you have zebras and lions as pets, how many wives did you have, have you ever flown on a plane.

Besides the simplification of geography for some imbeciles, a unification of Africa will provide the forum for maximizing the wealth of all individual states. If we are to believe Aristotle, then a united Africa will not only be a superpower, it will be the greatest nation in the world, because Aristotle said “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. All the African Countries have great things to bring to the table, and the juxtaposition of individual parts will make an awesome whole.


Sierra Leone for example, Can be the greatest country in the world if we really put our mind to it, but it can never be greater than a united Africa can be. It is just coming out of a brutal civil war that not only ravaged the whole country, but also exposed the inhuman capabilities of our fellow men. However, there ceases to be no shortage of tourists to that country, primarily because of Diamonds, but also because of the rich cultivable land, the rich marine resource, the wild rainforest and the strong, diverse and intelligent human resource. Consider what Sierra Leone has to offer to a United States of Africa, finance from the sale of minerals like Diamond, Rutile, Bauxite, Gold, Iron ore, ilmenorutile, platinum, chromites, manganese, cassiterite, molybdenite and a host of others to back a strong economy, jobs in the marine industry, and the propensity to be utilized as a whole state of tourist resorts.

Nigeria, The most populous country in Africa, 2nd largest economy, largest army, and more educated country in Africa. With our economic power, and political strength we can unite Africa. We can provide manpower to other nations that do not have sufficient manpower, issue loans, and offer economic aid, we can unite the continent into a powerful political block. Develop the continent militarily. (By Oluseyi Oyegunwa)

Dreamlike you may say, but maybe, just maybe we can act towards fulfilling the dream of a united states of Africa. God bless Sierra Leone, God bless Africa. God bless us all. For it is not going to be easy but as Samuel Hume, a young African intellectual and poet whom I admire succinctly put it;
The plan....Pan Africanism. United States of the Motherland.
Unity...the dream of her children philosophers shattered!...By their borthers hands.
Many still dream the dream
Many still believe in

The geaographically challenged mistakenly concludes,
What's seen on TV everyone includes
Unknown to them..that's what she is..
Country or Continent?..for now..Continent, please

Aristotle: "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"
Oh!..how I, you, them, we all long to see the start.
Of a great superpower Africa
With her great natural riches to offer:

Diamonds, gold, rutile, chromintes..
A few of her immeasurable might..
A difficult task to be alike...
United States of Africa.

Having said all this, is the dream of a united Africa realistic? I would love to think so, but then I am no African leader fighting to maintain power over my territory or an European businessman or statesman, compounding the misery of a divided Africa by trading in illicit goods or war materials, or using the plight of Africans as a platform to gain office only to end up continuing the exploitation of Africans.

TIME

Time and tide wait for no man. A pompous and self-satisfied proverb, and was true for a billion years; but in our day of electric wires and water-ballast we turn it around: Man waits not for time nor tide. Mark Twain

A saying true in the 20th Century and truer still in the 21st. The seeming disregard to time is never more evident than now. All of us at one point in our lives wish to be younger or older. Usually when we’re kids, we look forward to our 18th birthday. At 18 we look forward to our 21st. At 21 we look forward to 40, after
which we start reminiscing about 18 and 21. You may think that’s not you. But how
many of us went through grade school, just looking forward to high school, go
there and after two years start straining at the leash to start college, after which we either loose momentum and don’t want to get out, or we are just waiting to be let loose on the world.

What’s wrong with this? Absolutely nothing. The problem comes when you so look forward to the future that you neglect utilizing the present. One’ s full potential is never fully realized in such a circumstance.

Another problem is that we so look forward to certain stages of the future that when we get to those stages we are deceived into thinking that we are accomplished. A problem facing many present day college students is the thought that college is the summit in life. In high school, college looks like the beautiful snow capped hills we adore from afar. Some do not realize that the best view can be attained from the peak, but the path to get there is arduous and challenging. Requiring every iota of commitment if you are to succeed. Because how else can you interpret the behavior of bright young men and women, getting into college, just for them to neglect their studies, stop attending classes, start experimenting on various vices with no thought of life after college. One statistic that most college students can quote is that in the United States, going to college means you are more likely to make more than the high school graduate. However some students are forgetting that firstly, the key words are “ more likely? and secondly the comparism is with an inferior measurement. Just as anyone can find one other person he is comparatively in a better circumstance than, so also, the above statistics is meaningless.

It is time we realize we are living history. What we do today determines how future generations regard us. We each have responsibilities to society, not only to seek our own aims, but also help others achieve them. Do we want to bequeath to our siblings, the future generation, the culture of unproductivity after college? There has been the awakening generation, the transcendental generation, the abolitionists generation, the greatest generation, silent generation, baby boomers, generation Y, please don’t let us be known as the unproductive generation.

Never have we had it quite like we do now. Allow me to expound on this, using the words of Charles Dickens in “A Tale of Two Cities?.

IT WAS the best of times; of all the times past, this is the time I love been in. Not that I have any other choice or that I do not fantasize about experiencing occasions in other ages, like been present at Christ’s birth, but I’d rather live in my age anyway. We have virtually everything in this age. Information has never been more widely accessible, opportunities more widespread or comforts more readily available. Technology has provided more available time as we can now do everything at a faster rate. Everything from making coffee to reproducing can be done at our own time and convenience. Inexplicably, this has also been:

The worst of times; technology provides more time without really providing positive outlets for the utilization of the extra time. It has come to look like whatever time we save is used to destroy our own lives. Think of loneliness and depression that leads to our taking our own lives, obesity that comes from laziness. We would wake up late, grab an instant coffee, jump into our cars, go to class, jump back into our car, get to our rooms, use the internet to find works that have already been done so that we can plagiarize in our homework, just to sit in front of the video game all day. We even end up going online to get cheat codes, just do that we can finish a game and go to the next one.

it was the age of wisdom; The 21st century produces innovations everyday. Theories that have existed for ages, are been tested and strengthened or disproved. With the entry into the educational sector of minorities, more knowledge is made available to more members of our generation.

it was the age of foolishness; Now more than ever before is the wisdom of the elders been neglected. We negate all their wise words saying they are not of our time and therefore they do not understand our situation, failing to realize that their knowledge is gained from past experiences and mistakes they do not want us to undergo. We claim modernity without roots, forgetting that after having done all, we must refer again to our history, for history not only repeats itself, but knowledge of the past can alter our future, as some wiser than myself already said.

it was the epoch of belief; self belief, with a lot of market for all the self help books, claiming to help you believe in yourself, telling you that you have full control of your fate, your destiny.

it was the epoch of incredulity; Everything is questioned, our relevance in the universe, superiority to beasts, Peculiarity, the existence of God and even what determines our sexuality.

it was the season of Light, The end of slavery, apartheid, more philanthropists everywhere in the world.

it was the season of Darkness; loss of conscience, degeneneration of man by his works to base bestiality. Wickedness and the favorable light shown on witchcraft by the writers and producers

it was the spring of hope; Hope springs eternal, but for their to be hope, there must exist a better. As the world retrogresses into deceit, wickedness and chaos, the promise of a better place has never been more appealing. The best way to go through this life is to endure it, having hope of the greatest and most precious promise, that of a new Heaven and a New Earth.

it was the winter of despair; wars, natural disasters, aids, discouragement make the news everyday. We have now come to expect a calamity everyday. In fact we always expect bad news and are shocked when good news, makes the news.

we had everything before us; our choices to make, our lives to live

we had nothing before us; Life it seems is always against us

we were all going direct to Heaven; that would have given God the greatest pleasure

we were all going direct the other way- …thankfully, not all true either.

In all these things, we must have something to be thankful for and something to ponder over. Let’s use our time wisely; we have the option of getting everything express, but with this opportunity comes more responsibility. We must make the best use of our awarded time, for as Carl Sandburg, the great American journalist, poet, historian, biographer, and autobiographer, who wrote a Pulitzer prize winning biography on Abraham Lincoln notably stated, “Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.?

The Fifth Estate

"Yonder sits the fourth estate and they are greater than them all" These were words uttered by Edmond burke, looking up at the press gallery some years after the French Revolution. The concept of the fourth estate was thought of as a means of influencing positively the first three estates, nobles, clergy and commoners.

Nowadays the fourth estate has grown as powerful as the first three and one may be mistaken for considering it the most powerful. With this power has come misuse and as the fourth estate has conveniently abdicated its responsibility of adequately and impartially serving as a system of checks and balances to the first three estates, it follows that there should arise a clarion call for a fifth estate.

The fifth estate has been the most difficul to define. Random House Webster's dictionary defines it as 'any class or group in society other than the nobility, the clergy, the middle class, and the press'. I am advocating that we the youths be considered as the fifth estate.
Why should we be considered an estate? In fact, what does estate have to do with anything in the present state of striving to achieve our dreams? You may even be wondering, the object or purpose of such an expose.

To me it means everything. The subject of identity has always interested me. Been able to not only determine how a person acts and responds, but also how he/she feels about his/her actions is intriguing.

If we consider ourselves as the fifth estate, then we start to realise how important our contributions are, not only to the welfare of our individual communities but to the world society as a whole. We will no longer think Utopia, but we will experience it, as the world would be a perfect place of bliss, if all youths, disregard social constructs, personal egos and selfish motivations, and work towards the advancement of society as a whole.

You can be a pessimist and argue all you can trying to persuade yourself that this paper is unnecessary or you can be an optimist and a pragmatist, saying this can work if you start doing something, anything.

AGE OF PESSIMISM

An age when Beliefs, love, relationships and hope are all ideals that crave to indulge our optimistic nature that there is really something better out there, that the state of our present existence cannot possibly be all that we were meant to attain. That there is essentially some good, maybe not of the toe curling mind tingling capacity, but of the feeling greater than satisfaction, because come to think of it, satisfaction is all about settling. Is there ever a point when one is justified in resting on his laurels? The answer the world provides us is that the endless stratification of everything in and about the world we live in propels us to always look for the next step. Why else would a seemingly perfect couple cheat? Why else would someone who has lost the capacity to love enter into a relationship of convenience and steadfastly refuse to move on. Hell, what drives the CEOs the Chairmen, president? Have we ever questioned why no two people look at love, relationships and cheating in the same light? No two people have the same opinion what a successful career is and definitely no two people can provide the same answer that we all steadfastly seek, what is that one thing that we can attain to which will make us contentedly happy?

An age of Perceptions and psychoanalysis. There have always been express sentiments against caring about what people say about us while at the same time everything we say do and even sometimes think is based on how people will perceive us. Decisions from what to name your baby, whether or not you sleep with someone on the first date or not, whether or not you choose an acceptable reason to end a prolonged romantic entanglement, what subjects we choose on research papers, whether or not we say I do because we are scared that such an opportunity may never present itself to how a nation should respond to threats both internally and externally are based on perceptions.

An age when heroism is mocked and bravery is overrated. For giving up less than a percent of your salary to a good cause you are considered a hero. Never a day passes when we are not reminded that it takes something special for one to be a hero, super strength, super speed, ability to fly, see through objects or set them on fire. Of course it is hard to live up to the heroics of our predecessors, there are no more nations to establish, democracies to fight for, Injustices to right, lives to save…oh wait, the situations are still there, just waiting for people to step up. But it will not happen, because some people see and ignore the problems, some people see and write about the problems, some people see, try to help and end up exacerbating the problem and some people see the problem and look for ways to benefit from them. Either way, the problem remains the same or it grows worst and then we can help people so we can feel good about ourselves. At the first sign of trouble of whatever shape, we run back to our safety zones and prepare to draw up a petition when another one of our bloodthirsty and incompetent buffoon of African leaders decides they want to kill another hundred or thousand of his people so that he can buffer up that foreign bank account that he is desperately trying to bump up for the day he’s not in power when he knows that he loves power so much that he may end up dying on the throne or immediately afterwards when a bunch of the same politicians who switched parties will indict him for some crimes they all collaborated to commit.

An age when failing to tell your partner about your actions or interactions is never about protecting your partner but about your feeling of guilt. Admittedly when you do something bad and you are not guilty about it you are referred to as a psychopath but for those who do so in the name of love, they are called partners. How much so? When something is done by one party in the relationship whether at the moment the action is committed or sometime afterward, there is the opportunity for them to share that with their partner. Justifications are then needed when the party feels guilty about their action or interaction and the other party is not made fully aware of what exactly happened in the name of love, consideration for the other partner and the guise of protecting the other party. Where then were those considerations when the action or interaction was taking place?
An age when you can never really know people more than they know themselves; whatever you find out about someone is what they reveal about themselves to you. This explains why it seems so romantic when that special someone shares a secret memory with you. Why the truly closed ones always keep you at arm’s length without it seeming so and why different people oftentimes have different perceptions of us.
An age when the grass is never ultimately greener on the other side; Whether it is the greener pasture of a better developed country, the greener pasture of the arms of a convenient lover or the greener pastures of a life of ignorance and arrogance.
An age when Life sucks and you are left with the option of dealing with it or giving up when after it’s all said and done, the outcome’s still the same.

CALL FOR GRASSROOT MOBILISATION OF SUPPORT FOR A UNIFIED AFRICA

MODEL AFRICAN UNION

If the model African Union is a good simulation of the African Union then the hope for a better Africa and its peoples is far from been realized. After spending a few days in a simulation of the African Union I now understand why the quest for a United Africa seems to be the stuff of legends. However I still left the session with the idea that a United Africa is the best way forward towards addressing its current problems.

If there is one word that can describe my experience at the session, that word would be enlightenment. It is understood that any bureaucracy would slow down decision making processes but when those decisions have more to do with how many lives are saved and impacting the lives of millions of people one would think that differences would be easily shoved aside.

From my stint as a delegate I can see why this does not happen. I should firstly commend all the delegates. Some put real effort into preparing for the sessions and were in character throughout the session. However as a body my impression is that we failed. We, in the name of the people we represent hid behind native traditions, protection of individual sovereignty and impracticability to make decisions that we think are stabilizing our positions in the African continent but which are in actual fact further sinking the African continent into despair.

The resolutions themselves were generally good. All of them were made in good faith. Some more practical than others and some that can only be described as lofty ideals. However I believe that most of these resolutions were not discussed based on their merit but on the various factors that had to do more with diplomatic relations and a facade of individual governments.
In my mind the concern has never been about if a United States of Africa is a good thing. Minds greater than I have always been discussing it. Nelson Mandela once described a United Africa as a dream that we should act upon. In fact, he described this dream as a state of peace. He stated it as; … (the) dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent, (The) dream of our vast deserts, of our forests, of all our great wildernesses, (the) dream of an Africa, which is in peace with itself. The concern about a Unified Africa has always been about its difficulty since the cultures are so diverse.

BLACK IS FOR SUNDAY

In complete contrast to the session, the day after my return to campus I was fortunate enough to see the Invisible Children Documentary, “Black is for Sunday”. It was a documentary about what people face in a Ugandan refugee displaced camp. This documentary further strengthened my resolve to see a Unified Africa. Having hailed from a war ravaged nation, I thought I knew all there was to know about sufferings during conflict times, but the documentary proved to me that that was not the case. I don’t know what the others were thinking while viewing the movie, but in my own case all I felt was shame. I was ashamed to see the suffering that we Africans could place on each other. Ashamed to see that there were still people who lived in poverty and perpetual fear of their lives in a place I call home. Ashamed that even in their worst state young children would appeal to a nation that was thousands of miles away for help, rather than reach out to all the people around them. I felt I had failed them.

CONTENTION

I firmly believe that this is the time when we need to get together to push for a unified Africa. A united Africa admittedly will not mean an immediate end to all the suffering. However a unified Africa will be a stepping stone towards the establishment of the greatest empire yet. It will assure the African people that we are committed to working with each other for the common good. It will assure them that the resources are theirs and they will be used for the general welfare. It will also assure them that their representatives think about their needs and are not only there to pursue their personal agenda.

CALL TO ACTION

The roadblocks to a unified Africa are varied but chief among them is the thirst of our leaders to hold onto power which is easier in separate states. As such therefore, if we think a united Africa is the best way forward we have to let them know that they are there because we put them there and they should be listening to our calls. This can be achieved by mobilizing the young people, facilitating discussions about the benefits of a unified Africa, a reception of suggestions about how the blocks can be shoved aside, the shape of the unified Africa and primary issues that are to be addressed. A call to a united Africa from the grassroots level is not only necessary but timely.

QUESTIONS

The end of the year and the start of another is usually a time for evaluations. Personally 2007 has the distinct honor of being the year I learnt so many valuable life lessons. However, maybe as a sign of how far I have to go in life, I was still left with a lot of questions when 2008 was ushered in. Some of these I have noted with the hope that someone may guide me through these issues that I struggle to comprehend.

On compromising for change
Having finally recognized the fact that we should be the change in the world, the awareness has come with the willingness to engage in all the means of propagating this change. With the older generation that we always blame and rightly so for the onset of all our problems resigned to not stopping the change but at the same time not doing anything to help bring about this change, what is the effect of this compromise?

On Relationships
With the continuing trend of divorces the striking scenario is the inevitability of the end of relationships. Never mind the fact that the one or two good and long-lasting relationships now prove the exception to the rule of long relationships, people still blindly seek, enter and stay in relationships for wrong reasons and seem to be shocked at the eventual outcome. Someone close to me expressed shock at the statistics of the number of married couples that get a divorce and then enter into same sex relationships. To me the reaction and not the statistics surprised me. With the capitalist mentality comes the idea of settling. Increasingly people enter into and stay in relationships not because they are in love but because they feel a sense of safety and security.
Is it too much to expect that people who do not love each other will quit settling and put themselves out to find love? Is it my youth that concentrates on love as the basis of a relationship instead of security? Is it too much to ask that when couples only reason for being together is because they feel comfortable with each other? When there is an absence of spark and excitement, when if they are having sex and one of them has never had an orgasm, they still settle for less? Eventually, someone gets hurt and then people start wondering, should we give second chances?

On Education and Media
This past weekend I had a conversation with a couple of college students. As conversations usually go when you’re meeting another college student for the first time, the conversation led to places of origin. It did not strike me until on the drive back to campus that when I said I’m from Sierra Leone, both the students told me they’ve heard about Sierra Leone. As refreshing as this seems, because it is such a huge change from past discussions were people never heard of Sierra Leone, it raises questions of whether Hollywood is the villain in exploiting the market of present day issues or is it the answer to the issue of people actively refusing to study. Whichever one it is anyway, the question remains, why is a history changing fact like the fact that Africans have as much a claim to the discovery of the Americas, been that they set foot on this continent long before Columbus did, not been the subject of a movie.

On friendship
Is there something that is too strong for a friendship to endure? In a world that is struggling to trust and has determined that no one and nothing can be trusted, friends were the buffers between us and the world. When friends do let us down as is in our humanity to do, when do we say enough is enough and this is too much weight on our friendship?

On change
I have lived through my share of changes and if there has been any certainty it is that this year has been the one with most changes for me. The United States which is ever changing is at a period of decision making it has in its power, the choice to for the first time elect a person of African origin or a woman as its president. Meanwhile, around the world, politicians are been assassinated, elections are been rigged, people are dying of starvation, and diseases and disguised genocide is still going on. Why then does change occur and what does it have in store for us.

INEVITABLY
In evaluating the past year, one has to ask oneself, what did I do to deserve all this love? For me my mother’s love has always been the greatest and the ever present, yet year after year it never ceases to amaze me how her love for me grows. The final question then is what will you do, for that person who loves you wholeheartedly, without regret, without bounds and without asking anything in return for it?

THE COST OF THE CAUSE

A few decades ago, my ancestors undertook the burden of a massive project, the ousting of westerners from the motherland and the cessation of exploitation of African resources, much more than an issue of taxation without representation, the people were tired of being used as the medium of harvesting the resources which were used to further exploit them.

Halfway across the world another group of people undertook their own project. The American Negro grew tired of its status in society. A class below all else, baser even than work animals, the only rights that the American Negro seemingly had, was the right to at least be seen in the same place as Westerners, even though this situation proved irrelevant because they could no sooner call America home as they would call Africa home..

A few decades before that, The women declared war on a perception, the perception of themselves as lesser humans, fit only to perform basic domestic duties, to be seen but not heard. Martin Luther took on the Catholic Church, challenging the power of the pope. Fighting for the recognition of all humans as equal before God and hence each with the ability for direct contact with God.

The people who spearheaded these movements were exemplary positive radicals whose sense of right and wrong were not much different from those of the majority of the people around them. The difference between these folks and others was their determination to take on the mountain that was their challenge.

These people had to oftentimes witness, false reasoning, torture, ignorance and ultimately betrayal. They lost family, friends, and some lost the homeland they were fighting for, branded as radicals, secessionists enemies of the peace, they ended up been statesmen, freedom fighters, reformists and martyrs, but throughout their struggles they stayed on course for their cause.

Inarguably they were a successful lot. Gradually their dreams were realized. Their determination to see change no matter the cost they had to pay proved telling. Even though some of them lost their lives before their dreams were realized, an argument may be made that their death contributed to the end of such struggles.

Today our generation is faced with its own set of problems. The threat of a coming disaster of calamitous proportions seems certain, the questions been asked are, whether our generation will sit back and watch it happen, and what will the disaster be like. At the present moment, it is a close call between an environmental disaster linked to unsustainability or global warming, or nuclear disaster. It is like the world in its humanity is waiting for a suicidal member of one of the marginalized minorities like Tibetans, African Americans, Palestinians or Africans to seize control of a nuclear weapon or blow up the world into oblivion, either that or a flood that wipes out all the landmass.

Fortunately I am among people who realize not only that there is a problem, but that actions must be made to tackle these issues. Typified by the college’s institution of a Sustainability and Environmental Studies program (SENS) that seeks to promote the participation as well as education in Environmental and sustainability issues, the SGA that has determined to push forward its mandate of encouraging and sponsoring campus wide events that contribute towards awareness raising of contemporary issues and the efforts of the student body who are forever fastidious in attending conferences, seminars, workshops and implementing whatever strategies learned to address changes, and even identify and address issues of concern. In this month alone Berea college students have attended or will be attending, Engaging our World Conference, Emerge Conference, Power Shift and the National Baha’i convention to name but a few. Furthermore, Student activist refused to stay silent when injustices like Jena Six, Assault on Meghan Williams and the continuing crises in Tibet carry on.

Such efforts I am certain are highly appreciated however the question that has remained unasked is what price we put on those causes. What is the cost we are willing to pay to end those injustices. When we are here, are we willing to boycott food service for serving non fair trade items, boycott the bathrooms because of unsustainable tissues? Are we willing to walk to Wal-Mart because the school shuttle does not use biodiesel fuel, resign our job because we drive school vehicles that continue to pollute the atmosphere? As international Students, are we willing when we get back to our respective countries to raise our voices against all the injustices even if it means losing jobs we came all the way to the United States to study for?

Hopefully it may not come to that. Hopefully all will contribute towards bearing the costs of the cause that we are in together. It is frequently said that the greatest trick the devil played is to convince humanity that he does not exist.

The greatest challenge we will face in our quest to take on the challenges we face will be that of ignorance, the people who believe that global warming is a myth, that racism issues do not affect them and that the plight of the Tibetan monks is no way related to them. The sooner we can get to them with the idea that the world is a community that relies on all its members for its continuity, the easier our task will be. For the more people we have in this our cause the less the individual cost.