Y Zed: It's a Revolution...

@Barefeet Theatre #Revolution

Before you panic, remember though TIA (This is Africa), we are talking about Zambia. We pride ourselves on being a peaceful nation, so the likelihood of you needing a gas mask, as the forces of liberty battle those of enslavement, are slim to none.  No you shouldn't have built that bunker and shopped for supplies to go underground for months for the apocalypse either.  Seeing a makishi dancer in a mask however is no cause for alarm though.  If you are already in conniptions, sorry for the angina, we were going for the dramatic, not histrionics, with this beautiful poster.  Plus it does actually indicate what it is for so really...

It's that time of year again, and this time I am blogging in realtime about the Barefeet Festival, not months after the fact he he he.  This year the theme is #Revolution!

I am so excited to be helping out this group of mischievious performance artists again.  I continue to be inspired by the fact that these young men and women turn their lives around by turning their backs on the street and put their youthful energy to good work in their communities and around the world, utilising the inherent power of art to transcend boundaries and limitations, so their spirits and souls are free to connect with others.

I will blog more about the Festival over the coming weeks and of course, follow me on Facebook and Twitter to keep up-to-date with live tweeting and photo posting.  In the meantime here is a sneak peek at what Barefeet have in store for you:

Post by Barefeet.

Yes that's South Africa's Freshly Ground :)!

Beginnings of our giant giraffe puppet (minus head) made with trainees @BarefeetTheatre @barefeetadam @PuppetPlace pic.twitter.com/Yvp2g07jBo
— Rowan Watts (@VIPPuppets) August 6, 2014

Excited coz they are making an elephant puppet too!

To find out about tickets and the full schedule of festivities, like Barefeet Theatre on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

For more on the blog about Barefeet, read about last year's Festival: ROAR in these posts: Part I and Part II.

Are you a young person looking to do something during the holidays, a student looking for social media and web experience, or are you a professional with time to spare to help Barefeet with their online activities?  Contact Communications Manager Andrew at andrew@barefeettheatre.com or drop by their premises in Thorne Park to lend a hand.

Directions to Barefeet Theatre: 

At the Great East-Makishi Road traffic lights turn onto the Wimpy side of Makishi Road.  

After the Petroda Station on your left and the hump take the next left onto a dirt road.  

Take the first left indicated by an Airtel credit hut.  

As the road bends to the right you will see a tree in front of you: take the turn into the small lane behind the tree to your left and follow the lane over the bridge.  

You will see a yellow wall fence with Barefeet in huge letters in front of you to your right.

Zed Culture Part IV: Polychronic vs Monochronic

 © Mwana ba Afrika 

In October, I attended my first TopFloor Public Discussion Forum.  The theme was "Zambian Cultural Identity" and featured insightful discussion lead by presentations from Ms Mulenga Kapwepwe, my Zambian girl crush, and  University of Zambia, UNZA, Professor Mubanga Kashoki.  The debate was framed around: "What is Zambia's cultural identity? What influence does Zambia's cultural identity have on business practices? What defines culture: Language? Dress? Protocol? What influence do these cultural indicators have on individual careers and business conduct? What are the hindrances?  What cultural elements need to be emphasised? Managed? Changed?"  What came out of the discussion was the importance of our concept of time, and how much that affects the legacy colonisation left us with: the disjuncture with our polychronic, historically fluid perception of time that is in constant battle with the monochronic, fixed, unidirectional notion that British brought with them .  

Over the next month, I have realised, even though I may have spent two thirds of my life in the West, in countries that operate monochronically, you can't take the African, the polychronic, out of me he he he.  Used it when I was over there with time difference to buy time or complain that I had lost it.  And now I really take advantage, particularly when operating with the USA, as I am half a day ahead, so can always stretch time out - when I don't get something done in my time, I go back in time and make sure it is done by the time it's that time half way across the world.  Also have to be aware that some people are ahead of time, like when working with my current collaboration partner from C1rca 1964, who is based in Australia.

I recently commented on Facebook that you can't operate on the continent if you cannot operate polychronically.  Now that I am working with the National Arts Council of Zambia, with a bunch of creatives to boot, I have been stretching time and having people stretch mine back.  As Ms Kapwepwe pointed out, in Indonesia they go so far as to call it rubber time.  The important thing is to get whatever it is done, worrying about the time wastes just wastes more time.  And sometimes deadlines can just be stressful.  Life is not linear, it never goes in a straight line: sometimes it goes off on a tangent, it gets a little wiggly, or just goes round and round and comes back to the place you started.  So time should accommodate that.  I am a much happier person since I ditched the 9-5 model and now work anytime between 9am and 2am everyday, take naps when I need to and am flexible enough to meet anyone, any place, and work for whomever, anywhere, thanks to the beauty of the Internet.  I am physically static but virtually limitless!  

However, what I don't like about the polychronic nature, and of Zambians in particular, is that they don't distiguish between stretching time and not respecting other people's time.  I always believe that you should do what you do with your time to yourself, but respect that others may be different.  As I say Don't waste my time, it is not your time to waste.  There is a difference between just being late coz you can't be bothered versus being overextended, stuck in traffic or stretching the hours to fit everything into the day.  Sometimes Zambians take advantage of APT (African People's Time) aka CPT (Coloured Peoples Time) and turn up hours late for things for no apparent and then expect to be accommodated, huffing and puffing, causing more harm than good.  

Stretch the time, don't waste it!

My Kamanga Wear Dropped-Crotch
Jumpsuit, the first of many I'm sure,
just had my second altered to fit :)
 © Mwana ba Afrika 

This new understanding of time has also helped a lot with understanding my concept of African style.  Creativity is not linear either.  You need to be able to dip into the past, be rooted in the present and be flying in the skies of the future to truly tap into that energy and be creative.  Something can be new and old the same time e.g. same cut, different chitenge print.  Or how my earrings are in-style without following trends and can follow traditions while adding new creativity.  Everything is always in if you rock it :).   It's the same with music we make - it can never be placed to a particular year or decade, it can be attached to a place but not to a time.  Recently I have been particularly dispassionate about American music. It is so cookie cutter and people keep churning out songs just be be relevant and not to produce something new.  The videos are all the same, and there are forever naked women,  all trying to pass versions of nudity off as stylish and original. I'm really quite bored and disaffected. Even talented people like Alicia Keys and Christina Aguilera seemed to have plateaued and/or worse plummetted into mediocrity with regards to song quality.

I like the electronic and dance sound coming from Europe, and Afro-pop continues to hit the spot, with the Nigerians leading the way.  I have also been leaning towards doo-wop 60s type songs like Olly Murs's last two singles, but the song that really brought this out is Bruno Mars' "Locked Up".  It has touched my soul in such a way because it sounds so old, yet so fresh, and will continue to do that because of how genius it is.  Same with PSY's Gangnam Style: reminiscent of the one hit wonders of the 90s like Macarena and Saturday Night but really original, futuristic and ultimately timeless.  I have also been discovering a lot of African music and thinking it's new, only to find out it was released years ago, and rediscovering old stuff too.  So I leave you with a promise that I will make a 3-4-10 post of music that defies the laws of time, polychronic in nature, and therefore timeless due to their refusal to be limited by the Zeitgeist and ever present in the past, the now and the tomorrows to come.

As promised, here  is the polychronic global music mix :)

Chipolopolo Stunner

Time to get back to the drawing board, we
have some wrinkles to iron out!

 Do not let the title of this post confuse you.  We were not the "Stunners" we were at AFCON earlier this year, what was stunner about our first World Cup qualifying match is that we lost in the most humiliating fashion to Sudan.  I cannot describe how I feel any better than with my Facebook status update after the stunner of a loss:

Chipolopolo check your aim: instead of shooting down hawks in the desert, you have wounded your own people! My heart is bleeding, this is not the way champions reach higher heights. You are with the big boys now, step it up!

You can see just how stunned (yes I keep using the word coz I mean we were just blindsided man!) the nation was by the articles like this one in the Lusaka Times.  We couldn't even write about the defeat in detail it was so painful.  For a full breakdown of the match you can read this article and SuperSport really added insult to injury by juxtaposing how Les Éléphants have bounced back from their runners-up effort at AFCON to win their first qualifing match 2-0 against Tanzania while we fell from grace 2-0 to Sudan :(.

When you are at the top, to stay there you need to work harder and keep improving and not rest on your laurels as everyone is gunning to topple you to prove they are the best!  And Sudan have brought us from heights that quite clearly have made us dizzy-drunk with glory that we have been blinded into thinking the World Cup qualification is going to just fall into our laps! Sudan made this sobering episode in our post-AFCON history even worse as they infuriatingly performed every dirty trick in the book to waste time, fake injury and slow play down in a myriad of ways.  Really they should be ashamed of themselves, that sort of play does not belong in football, it sullies the beautiful game...Drogba looks like a saint when compared to the actions of the Sudanese team on Saturday! To further describe the disappointment and rage my beloved national team invoked with their lacklustre performance, I quote excerpts of my whatsapp convo with SPORTS GUZA:

SPORTS GUZA (SG): Is the game on SuperSport? ZNBC has no picture!

MbA: No

SG: OMG! 1st game after AFCON and we get this?

MbA: It took so long for ZNBC to confirm they would have a feed so not surprised they mucked up

SG: Idiots

MbA: They do this for the Ghana game next week there'll be riots coz that game is more important

SG: Yeah and it's on home ground

MbA: Exactly no excuse

We then decided to have radio silence till the game was over but then after the 2nd goal SPORTS GUZA, who had enacted the silence was the first to break it:

SG: Ouchhhhhhhhhh this really sucks

MbA: Dude! This is pitiful, Renard is even subdued! AFCON has past we need to prove ourselves all over again and not rest on our laurels.  So frigging upset. I know we are playing away but jeez we have a full team

SG: Yup and it proves what I said all the teams we will be playing want to prove something

MbA: Of course when you are at the top everyone wants to pull you down.  You have to work even harder to stay at the heights after you have climbed up there!

SG: The national soccer team hasn't had any practice since our win, FAZ claimed they didn't need it...Instead they were busy running with the trophy all over the country

MbA: I'm so angry I could shoot these bullets with my own copper

SG: From your wiring in the house?

MbA: AFCON is gone we have a new challenge, the World Cup won't just drop in our laps from the sky! Ha ha ha foolish, I have my own mine.

Full time is called and we have lost 2-0 to Sudan.

MbA: No words. Will have to blog about this when I calm down!

SG: Do so tomorrow: Talk about the lack of preparedness i.e. no friendlies, arriving in Sudan at midnight the day of the match, experimental formation, trophy tour and next week...

MbA:  Dude I'm speechless, tomorrow I shall write and post Monday.  Ivorians, Ghanaians, Eygytians all off to good starts jeez!

I was rendered speechless, a state normally foreign to me, but now I have regrouped and although this loss was painful, we can bounce back and World Cup qualification is still within our reach.  WE CANNOT PLAY LIKE THIS AGAINST THE BLACK STARS NEXT WEEK!!!!! So here are some things for the team to ponder, rectify and/ or take into account to regroup and remember how to be champions before next Saturday at Levy Stadium in Ndola:

Coach Renard: Have you been spending too much time washing your white shirts with all the free Boom detergent you have been supplied with now that you endorse the brand and not enough time figuring out strategy? Is your shirt so blindingly white now that the one you were wearing on the sidelines obscured your view with brightness so you couldn't see how Sudan kwempad us coz I didn't see your usual frenetic shouting of direction and encouragement during the course of the match? I suggest you go back to AFCON ways, the detergent you were using before kept your shirts white and your coaching skills were not affected.

Christopher Katongo:  Though you did try to motivate by example as you did at AFCON you were still not as effective as you were in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.  With 3 endorsements, I think that you have had too much money to spend so you think you have made it and do not need to do as much work now that you are a champion.  To stay a champion and a great leader you have to keep working hard so get it together.

Mayuka: Were you even on the pitch?!  

Mweene: That farm you have been given coupled with the free Pepsi you are getting from that endorsement deal are making you fat on chicken and soda. Plus I'm sure you are eating desert too with free Parmalat custard (though I don't blame you that stuff is crack and heaven in a carton)!  If that is not true, then how were you not agile enough to stop being hoodwinked not once but TWICE!!!! And the second time was worse, they caught you napping coz you were busy yapping!  My favourite Chipolopolo, please do not cause me pain, life is hard enough as it is...

The rest of you, what is your explanation?! Find out what went wrong and fix it!!!!  I shall be checking in on you next week...

Joyeux Jour De L'Afrique Tout Le Monde! :)

Painting by an Evelyn Hone student hanging at the College's
Art Studio located at the Lusaka Showgrounds

Je suis desolée pour mon français mal.  I'm sure that is wrong too but at least I have tried - it's the thought that counts :). Happy Africa Day, Africa Freedom day, Feliz Dia de África and if you are in Kenya Happy Madaraka Day (celebrated in Kenya on June 1st to commemorate the day the country achieved internal-self rule during colonial times before attaining full independence on 12th Dec 1963) in advance.  In French today really does sound like a day to be up to no good by getting your freak on.  Or some precursor to Halloween...I digress as usual, I have to find a way to stop this nonsense! Today is all about positivity and celebration of our lovely continent, and to remind ourselves that we are not shackled by outside forces, we are the only ones standing in the way of unlocking our potential by either being to afraid to use it or by letting others continue to keep us down. 

First I would like to celebrate my country, Zambia.  2012 has been a great year for me so far, as it has finally given me the opportunities to justify me wanting to repatriate and make the continent my base, even though people have repeatedly tried to discourage me.  As much as I enjoy and have friends in the West, the motherland is my home and I am meant to be here contributing to its development and to changing perceptions about her for the better.  In these last five months I have met with some wonderful people through sport, media and technology.  And then of course, my love for the African continent never ceases, it only grows. This is a milestone year for me, having entered my fourth decade and I feel so young, and alive and for the first time in a long time like there is an exciting and fulfilling life ahead of me and that the African Dream is a reality and am already making headway and living it.  So I'm going to do a 3-4-10 to express being "Proudly Zambian. Positively African": the tagline for my soon to be formed TV and film production company (more to come about that soon :)). 

3 people and/ groups I'm crushing on:

1. The Chipolopolo and their AFCON win

TIA.  Copyright infringement does not apply here. Many street
vendors sell a lot of  illegal and unsanctioned Chipolopolo
merchandise.  This team"photo" can be purchased
at any traffic light.

ILELELELELELELELELELELELELE!  People believe that it was divine destiny that we were able to win the trophy after 3 finals appearances each about 2 decades apart and  that our triumph came almost 20 years after the 1993 tragedy that wiped out a generation of Chipolopolo in one fell swoop and gutted the country in such a way that we never thought we would recover.  The boys showed us that if you believe and you work hard to realise your dreams, they are very much achieveable.  It is up to you to reach out and grab your opportunities and our national team did  that by demonstrating how shoot to kill with copper bullets all the way to the final, where they slayed the mighty elephants of Cote D'Ivoire.  The country was brought together during this time in a way I have not seen since forever and it has infused a new wave of possibility and opportunity.  All I can say is come next year in South Africa "One Zambia. One Nation.",  "Nafuti, Nafuti" (Again and Again), "Donchi Kubeba!" (Don't tell) he he he he he.  Basically shoot to kill, take no prisoners, we want another bloodbath. Natowts! 

2. Leymah Gbowee

The evidence of my shameless love for my No 1 girl crush is splattered all over Facebook he he he.  From her rocking African fashion to her beautiful mind, she's just da bomb yo! Recently she posted two insightful things on her page: 

"I spoke at a function today and shared my views on development.  Expatriate-led NGOs and funders should understand that the best work being done to address African's problems isn't necessarily on the Internet, at NGO meetings in the capital or in New York.  A lot of the best work  is being done by Africans who stay in their communities, who don't have website, and keep their door open even without funding."

"The greatest threat to security in West Africa is unemployed youth."  

I think the second quote extends to many parts of the continent. There are many a disgruntled youth here in Zambia for sure, who were promised jobs and have not seen the fruits from the seeds that were supposed to have been planted to create a employment tree with many branches extending to all industries.

3. Her Excellency Joyce Banda

My love for her is also painted all over my profile.  She came to power under tragic and unfavourable circumstances but has not let this unsettle her.  She has been a Big Mama and has gotten right down to business and has taken to the role of President of Malawi with grace, strength, positive controversy and aplomb.  Her outspokeness on President Bashir being allowed to attend AU meetings, her lifting of the homosexual ban to her sacking the Police Chief all within a month of taking on the top job show that she is not afraid to weild her power on behalf of her people in order to secure peace within her country's borders, secure Aid from overseas and to respect the human rights of her citizens.  I heart :).

You can read more about my love for the Chipolopolo in this post written after the AFCON semis (was too caught up in the Final and by the time I'd calmed down I decided not to write about it as I just wanted to enjoy the win.  One day I shall do something about what that meant but you can see evidence on Facebook.)  For more on my girl crushes read these posts: Positively Woman and My Recent Bout of that Icky Nervous Condition....

4 inspirational African proverbs:

1. Love the Truth even though it harms you and hate the lies even if they serve you - Morroco

2. Where there is love there is no darkness - Burundi

3. It is better to weep with wise men than to laugh with fools - Ethiopia

4. Help me during the flood and I will help you during the drought - Tanzania

10 songs I'm feeling right now:

From Zed:

1. No explanation needed for this one methinks (sorry about the bum in your face, I have no control over that.  It will go away when you play the vid he he he)...

2. As I said when I posted this on Facebook, this is a track that provides the soundtrack to your moment outside in the garden nursing a nice South African red. If it is really hot, a Rosé is a refreshing substitute...

3. Life can get too serious and so can people with their music.  I like this track coz it's light and infuses global pop sounds with Zambian flavour.  Easy going and easy to dance to...

From the continent:

4. Though sometimes it's good for music to have a message and have meaning.  Here is a good example...


5.  The Mr. Endowed to my Mrs. had to be on the list of course because it is no secret I am twisted over this Oliver-o he he he he ;}...


6.  We love to dance in celebration and will find any excuse to do so here on the continent.  It's a good thing that we make good dance tracks to move to...


7.  Though my friends keep telling me I'm better than that, I have no qualms about being a gold-digger of the trophy wife persuasion and if P-Square don't care I'll spend their money plenty...


8. "All I know is Swagger" coz like the Channel I'm original and they tell me all the time I'm "young gifted and African" and you know what, you are too (even if you weren't born here at some point we all came from this beautiful land albeit thousands of years ago he he he he) :)


9. Just love this track...


10. Started with a positive track about Africa and we shall end with one too :).  Activate Afrika!

Mobile Tales: Part 1 - The Blues

The last time I switched on my phone hoping for
adifferent result after prayer and desperate hope
proved ultimately unsuccessful :(

It is a well documented fact that mobile phones are the number one technology in Africa right now.  We love our phones. Not only do we on the continent adore and worship them, we hang on to them to the bitter end, till they die.  Let's be honest, until they are beyond the grave really! This is because we have such faith in our phones, and we know that our love for them will resusciate them.   They are so much more than a communication device and a must-have accessory. That and phones are expensive man, we do not have developed world deals that allow you to change your smartphone like your underwear. Having said that, I do hope people out there do not change their underwear once a year like many people do their phones.  I digress...

My phone started its slow decent into unwanted obsolescence in the final quarter of last year, after its first birthday.  I remember exactly when it happened, it was during a Whatsapp conversation with C-ZED and the e stopped working.  The e would proceed to toy with me for a coupla months before finally disappearing, taking the number 2 with it (as on a BB to access the 2 when not in dial mode you have to press alt > e).  This was an easy hurdle to overcome.  I simply copied an e and adapted my thumb typing style. The QWERTY format was initially designed to ensure secretaries didn't type too fast so their bosses could change their words during a dictation session.  Unfortunately, what was not counted on, is the power of human cerebral and kinetic adaptability.  Our minds are so cool that once they learn the hodge-podge placement of our abcs, they are able to type at lightening speed with practice.  This same mental and physical agility came into play with my BlackBerry.

Repetition is such a simple concept and/ or strategy, but one of the most highly effective ways of learning and pummelling one's way to success.  After my thumbs had done the BB menu button > scroll to select paste for the e (and when needed the e would be temporarily substituted with a cut and paste 2 job) to appear on the screen, I was able to type as quickly as I had done before.  Of course, this solution did have holes in it. Most importantly, e is one of the most used vowels and letters in the frigging English language! If I had typed the precending sentence I would have had to do perform the aforementioned action 9 times (plus if I was writing a professional email I would have had to search for a capital E for English if I couldn't go round it with spell check)!  There are certain functions that do not allow this quick fix paste job.  You can dial and paste, so calling new numbers or entering in credit top-up numbers was not a problem, but when using the phone keypad selection menu when calling in customer service or using USSD services like Xapit was not possible if navigation to the correct department or service required a 2.  This was especially annoying when trying to do things with my mobile internet router and when trying to use my mobile banking account.  In desperation I would temporarily steal my younger sister's or my mother's handset but this was not always possible.

My earring wall in the US 2009-10

So I decided to go to the BlackBerry store at Manda Hill and see what could be done.   They told me that my keypad needed realignment and it would cost me K450 000 which is close to $100 or £70.  What did I think about that: HELL TO THE NO! WTF! That's a decent Nokia phone or multiple basic functionality ones that come with a really cool torch or a pretty cool Samsung man!  I might as well buy the second handset I have promised myself to reactivate my dormant simcard.  This slight inconvenience was not worth that much, come to think of it, I could buy a pair of nice shoes with that. Or 45-90 pairs of earrings from the Sunday Market (to understand my love of cheap and stylish earrings read this post)! That is fuel for a month with deliberate and careful usage!  That's three times as much as I spend on airtime and BlackBerry services per month .  Jeez!

Things could only go downhill and they did in superb fashion.  For the first four months of 2012 the trackpad would stop working and basically I would have to rub it so hard pretty much everyday, multiple times, to get it to start working again, and the same for the whole keypad. The only way I could turn off my phone was by taking the battery out as the off button retired unannounced and unsanctioned.  Sometimes I would have to give the phone a time-out and put it in a corner with its battery out for a coupla hours till it learnt that hissy fits and petulant i'm-not-gonna-work behaviour was unacceptable. Every now and again the e would become the only letter working or it would teasingly reappear for a bit before deserting me again. Or I would press a key and get multiple iterations of letter(s) I didn't even press and/ or would barely touch the keyboard and a whole load of gobbledy-gook would appear on the screen and would refuse to be deleted.  Instead more nonsense would appear. I became addicted to this vicious cycle and would be waiting with baited breath for my phone to malfunction and would get such a high from being able to fix it with my primitive ingenuity.  I should have known the end was nigh when my phone would die for a day and I would have to take out the battery and let it rest for 24 hours as the corner trick was not sufficient in restoring funcionality anymore.  

Thanks to social media documenting our lives, I can actually track the last days of my beloved phone:

3rd May: My phone has thrown one of its hissy fits so to the 5 people who have tried to call me, I cannot answer my phone and to SPORTS GUZA whom I assume is the person who whatsapped me I can't open up the app  to check your message :(. Phone has been put in the corner till it calms down and rights itself. Please comment on this update or message me if it's for my eyes only...


SPORTS GUZA: not to worry, wasn't a personal msg, but dude it's now really time to get a new phone...


MbA: are you paying for it, right now the phone works enough for me to be able to get through the week. i have things to take care of with higher priority. if all goes well, i can upgrade in coupla months, if not i'm going to have to suffer with my diva phone!


4th May: My phone has died :(. Trackpad and keyboard have refused to resusitate themselves and so I have had to get a new BlackBerry. I blame SPORTS GUZA for my phone's demise. Usually a rest would do it but it sensed someone wanted it to cease living and it just gave up...Good news is I am reachable again...


SPORTS GUZA: about time too!!!!!!


So now I have a new BlackBerry thanks to a wealthy benefactor, aka my lovely Mother who felt sorry for me and had witnessed me struggling with my phone for months.  I am however toying with getting a Android phone when things fall into place in order to take advantage of Instagram.  I am an Apple-hater so have refused to join the i-family and so far have not suffered too much.  Heard that Samsung have a coupla phones that I may like, and at the moment I'm really feeling their "Built for Africa" campaign.  Them sponsoring Chelsea and having Drogba, Essien and Mikel in their ads doesn't hurt either.  Their solar powered netbook is truly inspired!  Nokia left the door open for new suitors to court me when they failed to  upgrade with me as I moved from basic phone functionality to smartphones.  I have been cheating on them for a while but as I have learnt in life, you never forget your first love, but you don't necessarily (have to) end up with them.  


In honour of my first BlackBerry, here are links to mobile posts in 2010: TIA: This is Africa, Testy-Testy 1-2-3 ;}, and all mobile posts can be found here. You can find Part 2, about the Mobile Monday Lusaka Launch here.

Top 10 Posts Of 2011

I have been gone a loooooong time. I needed to take time to sort me out and now I am back. Naturally, I am starting off this year of blogging by picking my Top 10 posts of 2011.  I had already picked 5 mid year which means only half the work I thought I had, so for that I pat myself on the back he he he he.

As I did last year, they are in order of favouriteness, with the first being my favouritest of course:

1.   Innocent Mugabe
2.   Afropolitan African Delicacy
3.   Zed Fusion: An Afropolitan's Foray Into Cooking
4.   Zed I'm Here To Stay!
5.   Inaugural MUNTU: Kabungo Precious Mumbi 10 Questions
6.   Only Human (And That Is Enough)
7.   (Re)Branding Afrika
8.   Women's Tennis Shows That Women Are Beautiful And Relevant Beyond 30 :)
9.   An Open Letter To Zambian Taxi Drivers
10. The Global Fund - A Victim Of Its Own Transparency?

I would also recommend reading my posts from January and February that covered the beginnings of the Arab Spring and Sudan's Referendum.

A new year, a new start.  Yes, yes this is February but it's not when you begin, it's what you do once you've started he he he...

We will say NOTHING about my crap Photoshop skills...

One Year of Mwana Ba Afrika :)

Can't believe that I wrote my first post just over a year ago! How time flies... This blog has brought me more satisfaction and a sense of purpose than I could have imagined :))))))))))!  Being able to put down my thoughts, work through my nervous condition (an inherent feature of my Afropolitaness) and explore my African identity concurrently with the continent's has been the most fulfilling experience of my twenties.  I pray that it continues to feed my soul and energise my spirit :).

I already created a 2010 Top 10 Posts list.  Here are 5 more posts from 2011 that I think are worth reading if you have not already:

Afropolitan African Delicacy
The Global Fund - A Victim of it's Own Transparency?
Innocent Mugabe
(Re)Branding Africa
Only Human (and That is Enough)

I think the most profound and also unexpectedly comforting thing I have learned in 2011, of which I spent the first 3 months in Europe, is that you can find the motherland in the most unexpected places.  Africa and it's peoples are everywhere and we have an impact that we have yet to exploit to its fullest potential.  To illustrate this point I end with a picture of me in Liechtenstein (don't ask me how I ended up there ;}) posing with a sculpture inspired by the motherland entitled African King:

 Here's to another year of exploration and silliness ;}

Happy Africa Day!!!

Mwah to the motherland and all her peeps :)

(Re)Branding Afrika

Here is a very thought-provoking article about the way Africa is
viewed by the world and how the new catchphrase is "(Re)branding
Africa" and what that really means. I will admit bias as I know the
beautiful young lady who wrote this and even more so due to the fact
that I proudly wear the t-shirt emblazoned with the mantra she
mentions in her article as I was fortunate to be a part of that
movement during undergrad he he he ;}. It makes me sad that Africa is
homogenised and/ or being colonised by the countries that are able to
get their culture out better than others. I am tired of reminding
people that we are varied, diverse and have the best and the worst as
in any other region in the world. Things are just more transparent
and everything is laid out for everyone to see. And unfortunately
global media choose to focus on our vulnerablities damning us to being
"the dark continent" despite the fact that our light blaze bright and
we have the tools to shine.

I agree with most of what Cheryl says. Yes we are part of the problem
when we refer to Africa sometimes. We do have commonalities that bind
us and the only way for the continent to thrive is for us to work
together and see how our unique strengths and weaknesses affect
ourselves and eachother. It's all about levels. You can refer to the
whole while recognising the parts. Which is why I named this blog
Mwana ba Afrika. I know that my perspective and roots are Southern
African and in particular mostly Zambian but I recognise that it is
important to highlight the many facets of the continent to grow and
thrive. So I thinl we should not abandon out kinship to Africa and
referring to the continent, what we need to be is vigilant and awarew
of how this can be twisted to create an imaginary monolithic view of
our abundant diversity.

I am full of hope though. Mama Afrika has been pulling this mwana back
home for a reason. She knows she has great resources deep in her womb
and walking her land and is mobilising. I know of many others hearing
the drums calling for them. For Africa to take her rightful place in
the world both united as a continent and individually as countries and
people, we of the motherland need to be at the forefront. I am glad
Cheryl is going to speak on our behalf. I have no doubt that she is
the right ambassador in this arena.

Cheryl's article: http://spotghana/articles.aspx
You can comment here: http://spotghana.wordpress.com
Cheryl's website: http://www.rightlysaid.com

P.s. Back to mobile posting so please excuse typos. I have tried to
scroll across to proofread but I can never get to the end without the
cursor jumping to another line or something :(

Libya

As promised here information to get you up to speed on the Libya situation.

Gaddafi spoke to the BBC yesterday and laughed when asked if he would ever leave Libya. Very dismissive, very haughty, very eerie, very scary.  I don't think he's going to let go. Unlike Mubarak and Ben Ali, I don't think he will bow out with even a modicum of grace.  And his feelings of betrayal from the West has been exacerbated by the sanctions further cementing this unfortunate likelihood. He is a true despot: has a twisted love for his country and truly believes it is his sovereign right to protect and serve his people no matter what, including inflicting tough love through violence to keep them in check. All in a very calm and controlled manner.  If he is in any sort of panic, not even those his inner circle will know about it.  Those still waters of his definitely run deep, we just don't know how deep and won't till he wants us to. I love how he is using the loophole of having no official position as the reason he cannot resign and step down from power. As he is referred to as simply "The Leader" he is free to interpret that anyway he likes as it can mean anything really! And his interpretation is so profound and astute that it makes his craziness seem justified. He hasn't been leading for 42 years by chance, it has clearly been by very meticulous and purposeful design.

Here are some videos to recap what has happened in the last 2 weeks:

The "Day of Rage" February 17th



Government and military violence against protesters



Gaddafi addressing crowd in Tripoli



The exodus of the tens of thousands migrant workers to Tunisia.  They are from the vicinity and as far as China)!

Border between Libya and Tunisia reaching crisis point with all the refugees.

Unfortunately there is violence coming from the government to curb the protesting and migrant workers are caught in the crossfire.I do not see a peaceful resolution to Libya's version of the North African protest movement.  This makes me sad :(. This is going to be a long and painful methinks...

To follow the unrest, the BBC continues its dedicated live feed on the events in North Africa and the Middle East now titled Libya Revolt.

Innocent Mugabe

When my older sister led me to this article, the first thing I thought was: And they like to separate North Africa because this region is sooo different from sub-Saharan Africa, ha! Lies, lies I tell you because the Egyptian man who has named his first-born daughter Facebook has just displayed typical African behaviour by giving his child an inappropriate English word for a name.

In my country people are called Crankshaft, Anybody, Foluteer (a bastardisation of Volunteer) and many other highly inappropriate names.  Some names are translated straight from vernacular to English, immediately turning them from normal to inappropriate, as well as made up names that sound English and last but not least English names that are mispronounced and until they are spelt you would have no idea that that Kle-gee is actually called Craig. TIA, gotta love it :)

English names have a particular meaning in Southern Africa.  I have been asked many times what my Christian name is as I go by my Zambian name.  I will be a heathen forever, I like my name and I will use it proudly and am reconciled to the fact that some people will never be able to handle the consonant cluster at the beginning.   It is actually quite scary how colonised some people are that they think that using their English name makes them better than others or that it makes them seem more refined, more civlised.  Apart from the fact that most of the names that the English were forcing their colonies to adopt to prove that they were leaving behind their barbaric ways and had seen the light were English, not bible names.  Mary yes, Marjory not so much.  I like how a lot of Nigerians don't have any English names and make sure they are nice and long for people to trip over.  Naija pride, gotta love it. However, I do not believe that using your African name makes you prouder of your roots than those who don't either.

Today I came across the most perfect name and as I always say about real life, you can't write this stuff.  I have held many jobs that require me to come across a lot of names.  At school, working for the Alumni Association as a student caller had me come across names like the Asian Ping Pong.  Of course when his parents named him, they had no idea they had called him table tennis and that one day this would amuse me greatly. And now I have been notified that there is such a thing as an Innocent Mugabe.  Because he is Ugandan, I will believe his parents ;}.

All this led me to wonder if this phenomenon of erroneous use of English words for identification purposes is used around the world for all of two seconds. I stopped pondering this when I have reminded myself that celebrities have a penchant for doing this on a grand scale, as evidenced by names like Apple and Blanket.  All we need is now is Cake and Soda and we can have a picnic in the park ;}.  Contemplating this reminded me of A Song For Whoever by Beautiful South.  So I will end by indulging in a little 80s nostalgia as I absolutely loved this song as a child and still do. So innocent, so cute, so profound in its simplicity and my younger sister's name is mentioned.



"I love you from the bottom of my pencil case." CLASSIC! :)

Il pleut...

Everyday like clockwork it rains when I leave work to head home.  I don't really mind the rain, so long as I have my umbrella and boots on I'm good to go.  And if I am walking briskly then the cold isn't so bad too, in fact it's welcome as it means that I get nice and warm and not too hot from the exercise.  However, Western rain is not like home rain, as me and my sister discussed recently.

I was lucky enough, due to a series of unfortunate events, to get to experience the first rains at home.  A welcome change from the heat. Well in relative terms bringing down the temperature to around 40C is better than around 50C ;}.  What I love about the rain at home is all the pomp and circumstance that precedes it.  You you may see some lightning in the distance, you'll definitely hear some thunder announcing the impending rain and then you smell it in the moments before it decides to grace us with its presence.  And that is really the essence of African rain, the smell. The potent, earthy, natural smell that I have only ever experienced on the African continent and particularly in Zambia.  Before the sheets of rain that cause everything to come to a standstill, there is such an aroma of growth, renewal and cleansing that is intoxicating.  The rain itself is awesome too.  Awesome in its authority and sometimes terrifying too when it wakes you in the middle of the night. Also terrifying when you have to pull over because you can't see anything but white. Or brown when you misjudge how deep a puddle on the road is and are blinded for a coupla seconds from going too fast through it...;}

Picture Of The Week: Flower Power

Frangipani - Zimbabwe October 2010

Had my first day of work today and I'm absolutely pooped so I thought I'd start a new post series: Picture of the Week. I am a very amateur photographer and like Africa I'd like to think my photos capture beauty in its purest form and yet are rough around the edges ;}. I am too frazzled to do anything seeing as I have battled the elements - cold and rain while carrying groceries and getting lost in the dark just a minute from home because everything looked the damned same - small pokey roads with wooden houses that could be where I live.  It didn't help that on the way a dog barked at me and being an African one is always afraid of dogs on the road as they could have rabies.  Have to get used to people leaving their gates open and things...I am also a little annoyed that my google searches and my blogger page come up in German! At least French I can fudge my way through :(.

I will not end the post on a bad note.  Life is an adventure and despite the craziness I am having a great time.  Very excited about my job as one of my tasks is to find an inventive way to get people at work to get more involved in recognising World Aids Day on the 1st of December :).

Nets

So Nadal did finally complete the career slam on Monday and I am over the moon! The guy just amazes me! His constant adaptability in order to reach his goals is so inspiring.  Worth staying up into the wee hours of the morn and suffering through rain delays to witness. Was rather disappointed that Fed didn't make it to the final though.  He seemed so uncharacteristically out of sorts I hope this is temporary and not an ominous sign of his demise. He is 29 after all and in Tennis he's a bit long in the tooth really.

Was watching local news and was reading the text whizzing in that bar thing at the bottom and was pleased to see that Zambia has lowered its malaria cases by 60%!!! Then right after that I saw that 7 Malians were arrested for stealing donor funds for malaria!! Craziness.  Why can't there just be good news, why does it always have to be accompanied by the not so good??!! :(

And now you see why I called this post Nets he he he he...

Testy-Testy, 1-2-3 ;}

This post serves to test to see if all my hard work research and navigation of the treacherous waters of mobile blogging have finally paid off. Hopefully this will post otherwise I'll have wasted time on a Saturday morning sleeping!

The title of this post is in honour of some guy testing out a mike to make sure it was working. Cracks me up how we Africans always put a twist on things. As they say, variety is the spice of life :).

I am getting more proficient with my BlackBerry having recently discovered the symbol key that has restored my tongue smiley capabilities so Je suis tres hereuse maintenant. That was in honour of any West Africans who read the blog and wish it was in a more familiar language. However don't expect such special treatment often, my French has decayed to an embarrasingly rudimentary level. I am thinking about rectifying that though. My univeristy education has centered around media and communication and language skills are a fundamental part of connecting in the global sphere.

Either this is going to get lost in the ether (which it has done multiple times in the last two weeks) or you are reading this (I know you are coz I have read this post myself on the blog he he he) and congratulating me for successfully posting using the mobile format having finally gotten my computer on the internet long enough to activate blogging via email instead of unsuccessfully fighting for the Blogger site to load.

Awesome possum - I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack ;}

Darkness While In The Sunshine

Even though I am finally feeling warmth from the bright African sun after freezing most of the summer in California, darkness has fallen on my blog. It pains me to know it is in indefinite umbra and it seems the only way to be able to blog via mobile is to do the final setup from a computer. So I have to get out of my hazy malaise that I have been enjoying. Life has slowed considerably and I think I have indulged that too much. It is time to create waves in my now placid waters.

I do have to say that I have been active in spurts by reconnecting with friends and fighting with a very fiesty mosquito for the 1st couple of days. It used to have a posse but I sent them to sleep with th fishes. However this mozi refuses to be laid to rest and has retaliated by biting me a few times. I am not amused by its petulance. I will win this battle, I will not be taken down by some upstart insect with ridiculously long legs ;}!

I am going to go back to being useless and watch the us open that is turning out to be very interesting and with murray out, Nadal's half of the draw is opening up nicely so he really could make it to the final this year and complete his career slam. I have also learnt from my couch potato tennis watching that it is not wise to watch football in Germany. Poor Serena got injured by glass severing a tendon in her foot after they lost in the World Cup semis! She now has to have surgery to fix her now droopy big toe! I think that however sad this is for the women's game, I think it helps Venus. At least she doesn't have to worry about the possibility of having to play her sister and maybe she can win a title other than Wimbledon, which she hasn't been able to do since 2001!

TIA: This Is Africa :)

As many an African has said, including Leonardo di Caprio in Blood Diamond, "TIA - This is Africa". When foreigners are faced with this reality, panic usually ensues, but us Africans merely shrug our shoulders and find a way to improvise. So here I am making do with my current resources and commencing a new feature on my blog - the mobile post :)!

I was originally going to start this post series with pictures I plan to take as I reacquaint myself with the motherland. But it seems that fate would have me use the most ubiquitous technology on the continent to keep my blog alive while my
computer internet access is on indefinite hiatus!

I apologise in advance for the lack of depth that I usually try to incorporate in my posts through hyperlinks, background info and videos. I will try to be creative, informative and entertaining in other ways :). This will probably lead to more nonsense than usual he he he...

For the moment I am lamenting the lack of the bracket that I use to do my sticking out my tongue smileys and wondering how I am going to continue posting while typing and editing on a small Blackberry keyboard and screen!!