You are still my friends~Steve Biko

A friend is a gift you give to yourself. Friends are those people in your life with whom you do not have any blood relation. It’s a relation of love and affection towards other people.

Your friend is someone with whom you feel comfortable and can easily share your thoughts and feelings. You do not have to think twice when you are with your friends. A true friend loves you unconditionally, understands you, but never judges you and always tries to support you and give you good advice.

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” ― Elbert Hubbard

A true friend is one will always be there when you need someone. He will leave all his important works but will never leave you alone, especially in your difficult times. That is why it is said a friend in need is a friend indeed. Difficult times are the best time to realize who your true friends are. Blessed are the souls who have true friends. It does not matter how many friends you have, what matters is how many true friends you have.

Friends show us how to live a life in a different way; they are the ones who can change our viewpoints for good. There is no growth of the person without any friend. A friend is really very essential to understand life. Until now we have been looking at life the way our family wanted us to see, it is only when we see the world with the eyes of a friend that our view point changes.

The kind of friends you have determines the kind of person you are. That is why it is advised to be careful before making a friend. Choose someone with good thoughts and character, because our thoughts and feelings are affected by the place we live in and with the people we live with. Be friends with someone who makes you feel free, positive and alive.

A couple should be best of friends for a successful marriage. Husband and wife should understand each other the way true friends understand each other. They should have love and understanding, trust and respect for each other.

Thus, before getting married one should give importance to the degree of friendship a couple holds. As said by Nicolas Sparks in the novel “The Notebook”- “You are my best friend as well as my lover, and I do not know which side of you I enjoy the most. I treasure each side, just as I have treasured our life together.”

Many songs and stories have been written on the importance of friendship. It breaks the ice between two unknown people; if the other person is friendlier then a person feels more comfortable and easily opens up. Even a small drop of friendship can do wonders in any such relationship as the relationship of a couple, parents and their child, boss and employee, members of an organization etc. Heaven will fall on earth if we can eradicate ego, selfishness and hate and grow love and friendship for each other in the hearts of people.

Hail every Mary in your life this mother’s day- yusuf omete

There is no doubt that with every mention of the name Mary, our minds quickly wade to the piteous mother of Jesus, whether Christians, Muslims of atheists, the Mary figure is cross cutting, a symbol of enormous sincere love, care, gratitude and piety. Mary was not only a good mother to Christ, she was a dedicated wife to Joseph, in fact before Angel Gabriel spoke to her on Gods choice to carry Christ, she was a demonstration of an all round wife, not only was she industrious, Mary was respectful and very beautiful. It is from Christ’s demeanor that we see true Mary’s character,  from Jesus life one can easily tell that he was greatly brought up, full of character, life, discipline, determination, kindness and love, traits children mostly pick from their mothers. Mary’s exceptional traits are what we see in our mothers today, and as much as time has created huge gaps between Mary and our mothers; all remain to be Gods greatest and beautiful creation.

Hail Mary, from the time of conceiving to carrying us in their tummies for nine months, mothers show greatest patience with us, from the wails and pain they undergo when bringing us forth to this world , mothers show the great sacrifice they can do for us, other mothers had to lose their lives so that we live, they witnessed us take the first breath, saw our small , delicate and beautiful figures, mothers took care of us when we were most vulnerable, waking up in the middle of the night to change us when we got ourselves wet, when we soiled ourselves, the scene never disgusted them, they were quick to change us in fresh clothes and get us back to sleep. So many times mama was alone when Papa was at work or had traveled, for some they stayed and kept us company in hospital when disease threatened our small, fragile stay on earth. Others even had to donate blood and other vital organs for us to live. Mothers are a true pure manifestation of love compared to only Gods affection.

So we grew step by step and they were there to stand with us, when we struggled to utter the first word in learning to speak, mothers encouraged us and when we did it, they jumped with excitement and pleasure. Walking time came and we fell, fumbled and tumbled so many times in mastering the delicate art of walking, in this quest our mothers were there to cheer us on. Nothing disturbed her peace like when we were sick and hungry, most took jobs so demeaning so as we sleep bellies full, for others, mama took the mantle of raising us alone when we lost father figures, her spirit so indomitable that we are who we are because they put their  best foot forward for us. In the journey of life, mothers have prayed, shed tears and denied themselves for us. Be it  massaging our egos or  encouraging us to keep going even when we saw no light or ray of hope, their greatest happiness to see us excel, they are the ever strong pillar upon which our lives are anchored.

This mother’s day, take time and hail every Mary in your life, for those who still have their mothers around, treat it as the greatest gift and favor from God, enjoy every minute with them, make it momentous and worthwhile, celebrate, take them out or even surprise them with roses and do great effort to make them happy because some just wish for such a privilege. For those who their mothers left to the Lord, do not despair; be grateful for that short time they were around, pray for them because each day even in spirit they look after us. Let’s remember also to celebrate all other women in our lives; our wives, fiances, girlfriends, sisters and even our daughters, because in their own different ways they give us joy and pleasure. Let it not be forgotten to us that a girl child is equally as important as a male one and proper education is what they require most because an empowered woman is an empowered society. I pray for the safe rescue of all girls kidnapped by terrorists in Nigeria. Hail Mary

Happy mother’s day.

Use and Disuse: Application of the Theory to African Thinking-Ken Mwangi

Charles Darwin was an Englishman and a biologist and is best remembered for his contribution to the Theory of Evolution.  Sir Charles Darwin emphasized on natural selection where the dominant and rather naturally empowered species would prosper and the ‘weak species’ would become distinct over a period of time. This is what he referred to as the ‘Survival of the fittest’.  At the centre of the Theory is the maxim of ‘use and disuse’. I will not dwell on it scientifically but I’ll refer to it by this example: A person who was born right-handed can gain competence in the use and functionality of the left hand if he/she regularly puts it into use and for those of you who are conversant with zoology you can ably recall why man’s tail disappeared over time.

As I am building on my argument, kindly note that, as science has proven, or rather as was proven by Gregor Mendel in his ‘Law of Segregation’ is that the genotype is passed throughout a generation. This genotype is responsible for many of an individual’s character. This can explain the reason your temper is uncontrollable just like that of your great grandfather. The phenotype, which are the observable characteristic of an individual are influenced both by the genes and by the environment but note that the phenotype that is gained by the influence of the environment and is not intricate to the genes is never passed on to the off springs: a man who gains ‘cubes’ as a result of working out cannot pass the same to his son, and a woman who applies lightning lotion cannot pass the light skin to her daughter.

Now back to our focus on use and disuse. The brain as part of the human body is an area that requires regular exercise and that gains sharpness and alertness when constantly challenged and tested. And what is the best way to do that than by grabbing a book that is written by an African? Any African.  So is there a correlation between the development of the brain and the tasks that are allocated to us or we allocate ourselves on a daily basis or to our environment?  Now using the back ground knowledge presented above, let us task ourselves with the following question: Could the Africans have known civilization if the white man had not set his foot in Africa?

Let’s reconstruct a bit here. As the Western education teaches us, there are certain levels of development in the evolution of man. These are commonly known as the Rostow’s stages of development which are: Traditional Society: This stage is characterized by a subsistent, agricultural based economy, with intensive labor and low levels of trading, and a population that does not have a scientific perspective on the world and technology; Preconditions to Take-off: Here, a society begins to develop manufacturing, and a more national/international, as opposed to regional, outlook; Take-off: this stage is a short period of intensive growth, in which industrialization begins to occur, and workers and institutions become concentrated around a new industry; Drive to Maturity: This stage takes place over a long period of time, as standards of living rise, use of technology increases, and the national economy grows and diversifies and the Age of High Mass Consumption: Here, a country's economy flourishes in a capitalist system, characterized by mass production and consumerism.

That was Rowstow. Let us come to back to east Africa. In the same breadth, Richard and Mary Leakey have made great discoveries about the evolution of man and pointing East Africa as the cradle of human kind.  This is with the discovery of anthropological milestones such as the ‘Turkana Boy’.

Let’s recap a little bit; we are talking about two theories and one sub theory at the same time. These are the Theory of Evolution by Charles Darwin, the Theory of Development by Rostow and the Theory of the Existence of Man, which is a sub theory in the Theory of Evolution. I pray that we intertwine the same with our focus being: if the Africans could have been left alone, would we be having mega infrastructure and would we be as connected to the world (which world?) as we are now? I am in no way discrediting Rowstow’s Theory but it is clear that he used past occurrences to come up with this theory. It’s like how you could refer to the voting history of Kenyans and by carefully studying the trends of the times come up with a hypothesis that would explain each and every election in a unique way and assign tags to each and every behavior.  Note that debate ranges on the theory of behaviorism and social science in general as human being mannerisms cannot be predicted without a huge margin of error since we react to different situations as to our emotions, most influenced by our present conditions.   

Following Rostow’s theory, we can ably argue that when the Europeans arrived in Africa, and in East Africa, this was in the mid 1800’s and during this time, if we were to carefully examine the African Society and then apply the Theory by Rowstow, then we were still in the ‘Traditional Stage’ of development, literally with all the characteristics.  And then lets apply Dr. Leakey’s findings and then we have a contradiction since it is well within the precincts of my understanding that unless otherwise, the longer the existence of a human community, the, more developed and sophisticated it is or it becomes. Therefore, if East Africa is the cradle of Mankind, where were we left behind or will we believe the theory of Evolution that man evolved from Homo Habilis and moved into Europe after the division of the continent and developed more that their ancestors who were left in Africa?

So does that mean that man who was left in Africa never used his brain and therefore according to the Theory of Use and Disuse it never developed? Why would a man in one corner of the continent not put his brain to use and another in another part of the continent developed in such magnanimous way through the application of his brain to solve society issues? The dialogue continues.

 (c) Ken Mwangi 2014
This is part of Ken Mwangi's paper that was presented to masters students of a local University. The full paper is available on written request to the author.

Ken Mwangi is the Chief Executive Officer, Intellectus Consultancy

Use and Disuse: Application of the Theory to African Thinking(Preview)

A little bit of Ken Mwangi's up and coming 'article' of his scientific paper titled 'Use and Disuse: Application of the Theory to African Thinking'

 

... we are talking about two theories and one sub theory at the same time. These are the Theory of Evolution by Charles Darwin, the Theory of Development by Rostow and the Theory of the Existence of Man (contributed to by Richard and Mary Leakey), which is a sub theory in the Theory of Evolution. I pray that we intertwine the same with our focus being: if the Africans could have been left alone, would we be having mega infrastructure and would we be as connected to the world (which world?) as we are now? I am in no way discrediting Rowstow’s Theory but it is clear that he used past occurrences to come up with this theory. It’s like how you could refer to the voting history of Kenyans and by carefully studying the trends of the times come up with a hypothesis that would explain each and every election in a unique way and assign tags to each and every behavior. Note that debate ranges on the theory of behaviorism and social science in general as human being mannerisms cannot be predicted without a huge margin of error since we react to different situations as to our emotions, most influenced by our present more than our past conditions or the reverse truth....

Grace Mageka:I want to conquer Africa!

I am a young proud Kenyan African woman full of potential from sub-Saharan Africa, born in Kisii County, moving Africa to the next level very hardworking and team player, creative and innovative, confident, intelligent, competent, vibrant, dynamic, enthusiastic, self motivated, proactive with I can/must do attitude with a sense of initiative and ready to go beyond achieving academic excellence but also to take initiatives to positively impact the society.

I am mentor, facilitator peer motivator, social change maker and youth activist, doing a lot of women and youth advocacy and actively involved in advocacy and creating awareness on cross cutting issues such as market innovations, social entrepreneurship, post 2015 agenda and post 2015 development goals, democratic leadership, constitutionalism, global policy making and governance, human rights, gender issues, sex and reproductive health, water and food security, green economy and environmental conservation(vision #beyond2050, #climate-smart-agriculture) and above all an innovator to be committed to doing everything in my power to transition my community.

My aspirations and desires is to inspire young people greatly to develop skills and networks to build their countries and communities and share the experiences, skills and knowledge they have learned through my passion of international affairs, diplomacy, global policy and governance, humanitarian actions such as peace building and development and the role of young people and women in promoting peace, advancement in women leadership because advancement in women leadership is a powerful resource and catalyst for change in the world, management and volunteerism.

In both my professional and personal life, I have realized it is important to help out others and as a young African leader thinking good for Africa; I am planting little trees of unity and peace which would have fruit unification. I believe I am destined for greater missions in Kenya, Africa and globally. Speaking the language of hope and contribute to the “well-being” of people by inspiring and empowering people’ souls." to achieve their God given dreams.

I have helped young people develop their careers without burning out and drive social change in their community and nationwide. I do offer mentor-ship for young people, career advice and leadership training for young people and closely advocate for young women related matters such as girl child empowerment, eradication of female genital mutilation, girl child education, eradication of child labor, early marriages, maternal and health so that they have a sense of dignity and completeness.

I have created programs, trainings and engagements on gender issues and taking leadership roles while promoting policies that help young people make informed and responsible decisions about their sexual health and take their health and rights into their own hands

My journey as young woman in leadership, It has been really moments of learning, exposure, inspirational, rewarding and turning my dreams to actions and has really helped me to reach my milestones and ultimately reach my real potential by emerging as a leader in the national level, regional level and international platforms for instance the interim national coordinator for African Youth Union (AYU) Kenya chapter, aim is to transform the image of Africa through young people, East African Regional Coordinator for African Youth Association of Non-governmental organization, youth development coordinator for international gathering for peace and human rights for Eastern Africa. 

I have really gained so much, it has given me international exposure and experience which has challenged me to wrestle with important questions of international affairs and inspired me to develop a richer understanding of principles, practices and prospects of global policy and governance, for instance I was selected to join young democrats from all corners of Africa for democracy education program in Nigeria, Abuja. Currently selected to participate in the first Euro-Africa Youth Parliament (Berlin 24TH March to 4Th April 2014) as less than 20% of overall applicants were selected to participate and being one of 32 committee members from Africa and the European side to ensure effective debates from my team and my role at the first Euro Africa Youth Parliament will be demanding, requiring me to be on top of the various topics to be researched and debated by my team and many places I am yet to travel.

I am of the people who take complete responsibility for their lives experience joy and control of circumstances; they are able to make choices because they understand that they are responsible for their choices. Indeed, even when events that are not under your control, go awry, you can, at least, determine how you will react to the event. You can make an event a disaster or you can use it as an opportunity to learn, to grow, to cherish your faith, to hold loved ones close.