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A mother’s determination to ensure her child’s health
She holds a white basin firmly in her hands as she approaches the small garden with a determined look in her eye. Chilufya Musonda, a 30-year-old single mother with mounting bills to pay, stops briefly to re-adjust the chitenge wrap that firmly secures the baby girl on her back. Finally in the garden; Musonda gently pulls at a luminously succulent red tomato and places it in her basin. She repeats this action several times, loading her mid-sized basin with vegetables of various shapes, sizes and colours. When she’s done; she heads back home to begin to prepare their meals.
Why rural education is fundamental to Sustainable Development
Have you ever taken into account of Rural Education being the fundamental aspect to measure diversification under Sustainable Development interventions? Millions of people are focusing on the urban poor and to a certain degree ignored rural poor interventions. In Africa, the rural population has continually been producing poor results based on developmental contribution to national political, social and economic improvement. And schools lack effective resources (libraries, qualified education mentors, low class education system) to provoke or influence pupils for success. The exposure to...
Kusambilila: The cost of an education
Before the sun gets too bright each morning, Beauty Mulenga (15); and her younger sister Paulina (12) are rushing through their daily routine. Chatting animatedly with a bucket full of tomatoes on their heads, Beauty leads the way as they go off to sell the vegetables… or rather, fruits if you insist; to passer-bys’ in their neighbourhood. Most people would think it odd that this is what young girls are doing as early as 5am, but this is the reality of many young Zambian people. Although it may seem hard to believe or even far-fetched; these young girls are the lucky ones. Once done selling...
Particulates in the atmosphere are increasing. What can we do about it?
Atmospheric particulate matter (APM), also referred to as particulate matter or particulates, is the sum of all particles, liquids and solids suspended in the air. To refer to the mixture of particulates and air, the term aerosol is used. An example of these particulates includes gaseous contaminants, smoke, smog, dust, pollen, mould spores, viruses and bacteria. PARTICULATES IN KENYA'S ATMOSPHERE A study performed by J. Karue, A.M. Kinyua and L. Njau in 1990-1991 in conjunction with University of Nairobi, the Centre for Nuclear Science Techniques, the Kenya Medical Research Institute and the...
Human dignity and freedom in a multi-cultural, multi-religious world
The current world population stands at approximately seven billion and a half billion, with more than 5000 different ethnic groups and 4200 different religions. Suffice it to say that human population is very diverse. Some call it a "melting pot", others a "cultural mosaic", "salad bowl", and even "kaleidoscope". However, many people fight over their differences in culture and religion instead of celebrating these differences, and culture and religion are often used in nefarious ways to drive forward white supremacy, sexism/misogyny, and terrorism, amongst others. Historically, in most...
Living with an invisible illness: PCOS awareness
Puberty. For me, that was when things took a very wrong turn. Not that things had ever been right, but they became worse when puberty hit. At first, I didn't think that anything was wrong. After all, puberty affects different folks differently. And when I did notice that something was wrong, doctors waved me off because acne, weight gain, bodily hair and irregular periods (they do take a while to become regular) are classic signs of puberty. When I was around 16, I went to sleep one day and woke up the next with an almost bald patch at the back of my head. My hair was thinning, and my hairline...
Youth Unemployment
Kenya is among the Countries in Africa that is struggling with the Issue of Unemployment among Youth. Even after it has set up mechanism that can help the Young people to better their lives. But as many would blame the Government in a nation for neglecting Youths after their Tertiary Education. Many Of African states suffer a big blow in terms of Ungrowing Economy, hence having a Shrinking Economy, which is therefore hindering up Job opportunities. Perhaps if Kenyan citizens join hands together & seek to improve its economy I am pretty sure we would create more job opportunities for our Young...
The New Crisis: Locust Swarms in East Africa
Several governments in East Africa have declared that new locust infestation as a state of emergency. The UN warns of potential food crises in Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. These desert locusts eat everything that comes into their path, consuming the crops farmed by local people. This year's locust breeding is on an alarmingly bigger scale than previous years. Locusts breed rapidly, but only when the conditions are right, so their population is controlled. Unfortunately, climate change has produced excessive havens of perfect conditions for their breeding. After months of...
A little discovery
You ought to be careful with the people you surround yourself with. I only recently discovered that certain mentalities are contagious. If you surround yourself with people that are constantly doubting themselves, speaking low about themselves, it's only a matter of time till you find yourself going through or experiencing such thoughts. This is how some insecurities are formed. Some people project and reflect their own doubts and fears onto you. Therefore, you have the duty to protect your space, know what and who you allow in your space. Like the Bible says, two cannot walk together unless...
The dark spots of Tirana
Walking down the streets of Tirana,Albania, you happen to see a lot of things. Giant buildings, most of them inhabited, some of them left undone at the very last moment. You see people running up and town, some going to work, and some searching for one. There are cars honking at every red light, being parked at the side of the road, occupying that very little public space, and therefore making driving in the streets of Tirana, an extreme sport. If you keep walking a little bit more you will see cafes, a lot of them. Probably one of the most beneficial businesses. You will see people inside...
My experience as a global schools advocate
Nelson Mandela once said "Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world” and how great it is if this powerful weapon can be used to instill sustainable practices in young people. Late last year when I was trained to be a global schools advocate by SDSN youth, I was really excited to be part of this great initiative. It reflected my desire to help make a difference among young people who are the future generations and to educate them about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as global citizenship. At first, it was quite a challenge for me to get schools to...
Fairy tales? Or no...
What is with women and fairy tales? The first time I heard of this was over my favorite political drama series, Madam Secretary, that projected a woman who was tired of pursuing perfection. Her quest had been so tough and achieving a break-even of goodness and prowess in both her career and social life was not tallying up quite well. In this particular scene she was fretting on how tired she was for trying too hard to be both a political leader in her country and a family woman only for her efforts to always turn futile. This prompted me to hit the pause button and try contemplating on that...
The Real Victims Of Gender Stereotypes
The 21st century has been marked by almost meteoric advancements in science, technology, entrepreneurship and a rise in social consciousness. One of the most highlighted and contentious social issues is that of gender inequality. It is a multifaceted issue that can be defined and discussed from multiple perspectives. Broadly and briefly, it is a form of discrimination based on gender. It allows the unfair and disproportional distribution of opportunity, access, exposure, power and representation to one gender. In societies where gender systems are dichotomous, gender inequality may allow...
NOT ABOUT THE RHYME
When we blog, write poetry, sing and do art, it’s not about the rhyme. We are trying be a voice for the voiceless, to bring hope to the hopeless and help our leaders to make wise choices and show them that wars are pointless. We are trying to influence communities and open their eyes to the boundless opportunities. We try to show the value of genuine humanity and that progress is only through unity. We are trying to uplift human culture, to change people’s lives, show them that it can be done without guns and knives. But as we teach, we’re also trying to entertain, to get some minds off the...
Take Action
We live in an age where many of us don’t want to take action and normalize situations we can help to change. Like Albert Einstein once said “ The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil ,but by those who watch them without doing anything.” For the past years the same problems have been recurring and get worse everyday, and I want to point out some things we know are happening but that tend to ignore We have been fooled into believing that only the rich and powerful, with tools and methods can make the world a better place. The rich and powerful claim to fight for social justice, but...
Education challenges
Many children in our societies go through various challenges to sustain their studies. Most of them only find time to read while in school, when they get back home, the amount of work awaiting them is just too much. I was so inspired when i saw this kid with his book trying to read and absorb something by the roadside as he sells banana for his poor mother after school. This is just an example of the many students who face various challenges out there to excel in their academics, some even get tired on the way, not because they are tired of going to school but because they can't afford the...
Advancing the implementation of the 4th SDG - Quality Education
Well into the last quarter of 2020, the words “unprecedented times” have become an assertion world over. For many, life has simultaneously been put on hold; riddled by tumult and uncertainty. Our current social, health and economic crisis has affirmed the importance of accelerating responses to a universal call to action outlined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) to offset key injustices and calamity. Goal 4 highlights the foundational and transformational role that education plays in empowering a generation of future young leaders to address the next set of...
A safer world for women
I once read an article, where they asked a few ladies what they would do if men were to disappear from the world for 24 hours. "I'd sleep with my windows open", "I'd walk home from work at night", "I'd have walks in the park after it gets dark in the summer"...were among the answers ,and if we look carefully at these answers, we notice all of them are things a female should be able to do what is her natural right regardless of the presence of men. It is almost impossible to walk past somewhere and not be catcalled by someone who finds it funny, who finds it totally normal to harass women in...
Green is the color of my true love's planet
She sat under an acacia tree, the wind blowing in her hair strong, brown and full of smog. The sun beat down on her face as the tiny leaves of the mighty acacia tree did little to provide shade. A pen and a book on her lap, her mind often wandered to a few years ago, to better times when she was younger. Where she could sit on the exact same spot on a green patch of grass rather than the now brown dried grass which was very hard on her posterior. Sweat trickled down her back. Sounds of younger children playing in the distance in the now dried up River Thiba evoked memories of days when she...