NEGROID

"Negroid (also known as Congoid) is a term that is used by forensic and physical anthropologists to refer to individuals and populations that share certain morphological and skeletal traits that are frequent among most populations in Sub-Saharan Africa. The term is commonly associated with notions ofracial typology, which are disputed by many anthropologists" wikipedia

This leaves me wondering, if we are so developed and that this is 21st century, we all love each other right? We have even accepted that people born as men can have female feelings on the inside and viceversa, in a century where marriage is no longer between a man and a woman ..... How difficult is it for these people to find a non-offensive word to describe Biological traits of African orign?

Simply wondering.

Opportunities

During a robbery in Guangzhou, China, the bank robber shouted to everyone in the bank: "Don't move. The money belongs to the State. Your life belongs to you."
Everyone in the bank laid down quietly. This is called "Mind Changing Concept" Changing the conventional way of thinking.
When a lady lay on the table provocatively, the robber shouted at her: "Please be civilized! This is a robbery and not a rape!"
This is called "Being Professional" Focus only on what you are trained to do!
When the bank robbers returned home, the younger robber (MBA-trained) told the older robber (who has only completed Year 6 in primary school): "Big brother, let's count how much we got."
The older robber rebutted and said: "You are very stupid. There is so much money it will take us a long time to count. Tonight, the TV news will tell us how much we robbed from the bank!"
This is called "Experience." Nowadays, experience is more important than paper qualifications!
After the robbers had left, the bank manager told the bank supervisor to call the police quickly. But the supervisor said to him: "Wait! Let us take out $10 million from the bank for ourselves and add it to the $70 million that we have previously embezzled from the bank".
This is called "Swim with the tide." Converting an unfavorable situation to your advantage!
The supervisor says: "It will be good if there is a robbery every month."
This is called "Killing Boredom." Personal Happiness is more important than your job.
The next day, the TV news reported that $100 million was taken from the bank. The robbers counted and counted and counted, but they could only count $20 million. The robbers were very angry and complained: "We risked our lives and only took $20 million. The bank manager took $80 million with a snap of his fingers. It looks like it is better to be educated than to be a thief!"
This is called "Knowledge is worth as much as gold!"
The bank manager was smiling and happy because his losses in the share market are now covered by this robbery.
This is called "Seizing the opportunity." Daring to take risks!
So who are the real robbers here?

THREE WORDS OF ADVICE

I found this story facebook and i found it interesting enough to share, may be it will inspire some people.............

A very poor newly wedded, young couple lived in a small farm. One day the husband made the following proposal to his wife:
Honey, I will leave the house: I will travel faraway, get a job and work hard in order to come back and give you the comfortable life that you deserve. I do not know how long I will stay away, I only ask one thing, please wait for me, and while I am away, you should be faithful to me, because I will be faithful to you. His wife agreed, so the young man left. He walked many days until he found a farmer who was in need of someone to help him. The young man offered his services. He was accepted. Therefore he discussed the terms with his boss:
Let me work for as long as I want and when I think I should go home, please relieve me of my duties. I do not want to receive my salary. I ask you to save it for me, until the day I leave. The day I decide to go, please give me the money and I will go my way. They agreed on that. So, the young man worked for twenty years without holiday and without rest. After twenty years, he came to his boss and said:
Boss, I want my money, because I am returning to my home. The boss replied:
All right, after all, I made a deal with you and I will stick to it. However, before you go I want to offer you something new: I will give you all your money and send you away; or I will give you 3 pieces of advice and send you away. If I give you money, you lose the 3 pieces of advice. If I give you the 3 pieces of advice, you lose the money. Now, go to your room and think about your answer. He thought for two days. Then he went to the boss and told him:
I want the 3 pieces of advice. The boss stressed again, if I give you the 3 pieces of advice, I will not give you the money, and the man replied:
I want the 3 pieces of advice. The boss then told him:
No. 1: Never take shortcuts in your life, shorter and unknown paths can cost your life. No. 2: Never be too curious, for curiosity towards evil can be deadly. No. 3: Never make decisions in moments of anger or pain, because when you repent, it could be too late. After giving these 3 pieces of advice, the boss said to him:
Here, you have 3 loaves of bread, 2 are for you to eat during the journey and the last is for you to eat with your wife when you get home. So, the man went his way, after twenty years away from home and from his wife, whom he loved so much. After the first day of travel, he found a man who greeted him and asked:
Where are you going? He replied:
To a distant place which is about 20 days away if I continue walking. The man said to him:
Ol' boy, this path is too long! I know a shortcut that is very safe and you will arrive in 5 days only. The man began to follow the path suggested until he remembered the first piece of advice. Then, he returned and followed the long path. Days later he learned that the shortcut led to an ambush.
After a few more days of travel, he found an inn by the roadside, where he could rest. He paid for a room and after taking a bath he lay down to sleep. During the night he woke up as he heard a terrifying scream. He rose to his feet and went to the door to check what happened. As he was opening the door, he remembered the second piece of advice. Therefore he returned, lay down again and slept. At dawn, after breakfast, the owner of the lodging asked him if he had not heard the scream at night. He affirmed that he heard. Then, the host said:
Were you not curious to see what happened? And he replied:
No, I was not. Then the host said:
You are the first guest to leave this inn alive. My neighbour is completely crazy. He usually shouts at night to call someone's attention. When some of the guests come out, he kills them and buries their bodies in the backyard. The man continued his long journey, eager to arrive soon.
After many days and nights walking, he was very tired, but he finally saw his house far away. It was night. He saw some light coming out of the window of his house and was able to see the silhouette of his wife. But he also saw that she was not alone. He came closer and saw there was a man with her. She softly caressed his hair. When he saw that scene, his heart was filled with hatred and bitterness. He decided to rush at and kill them both mercilessly. However, he took a deep breath and he remembered the third piece of advice. Then he stopped, reflected and decided to sleep outside that night. He slept in the midst of the bushes, determined to make a decision the next day. At dawn, he was calmer and thought:
I will not kill my wife and her lover. I am going back to my boss to ask him to take me back. But before I go, I want to tell my wife that I have always been faithful to her.
He went to the front door and knocked. When his wife opened the door and recognized him, she cried and embraced him warmly. He tried to push her away, but he
was not able. Then, with tears in his eyes he told her:
I was faithful to you but you betrayed me.
She was shocked, so she replied:
How did I betray you? I have never betrayed you. I waited patiently for you for twenty good years. Then he asked:
How about the man that you were caressing yesterday? And she said:
That man is your son. When you left, I discovered I was pregnant. Today he is twenty years old. Hearing that, the man asked her forgiveness. He met and hugged his son. Then he told them all the things he had experienced while away. Meanwhile, his wife prepared some coffee for them to eat together, the last bread given by his boss. After a prayer of thanksgiving, he broke the bread. When he looked at it, he found all his money inside. In fact, there was even more than the right payment for his twenty years of dedication and hard work.
Friends, our God is like this boss. When he asks us to make a sacrifice, he wants to give us more than what we give Him. He wants us to have His unique wisdom as well as the
material blessings. Someone sent this piece to me and it blessed me and I copied it to you. also share with others ..

Knowledge

We praise knowledge
We seek knowledge
We pursue knowledge
We worship knowledge
Knowledge opens doors
Doors that will forever remain open

We praise the knowledgable
We hold the knowledgable high
We entrust the knowledgable our lives
We believe the knowledgable when they speak
Knowledge is a currency in its own right

What then is a soul without knowledge
What is a worth of a brain without knowledge
Knowledge of what once was
Knowledge of what is now
Knowledge of what it out to have been
Knowledge of what to come

I concur knowledge is good
But not admitt not always
Sometimes knowledge can bring pain
Knowledge isn't always a bed of roses
Knowledge sometimes carry sorrow
While ignorance deeply masks reality
And saves a soul from pain

My soul yearns for ignorance
Ignorance of things that have scarred my soul
Wounds so deep cut by knowledge's sharp blade
I wish to unknow things
To back back to the state of being ignorant about some things
I yearn for that peace and tranquility that ignorance provides
I yearn for a moment of quiet in myhead

Because some knowledge carry bad news
Scars the heart and soul
Breaks one's spirit into pieces
And leave deep wounds that can not heal
Even "doctor time" gets defeated by knowledge

I wish to unlearn some aspects of mylife
I wish to unlearn somethings about mypeople
I wish for the moments when my mind could rest
That moment of tranquility
Tranquility that only not knowing brings

I wish to not know who died
Orcwho will die soon
To not know who betrayed me
To not know my loved ones are sick
To not know that life can end abruptly
To not know that sons can die before mothers
To not know that I will die someday
Ignorance isnt always a bad thing
Seek knowledge
But sometimes, by any means choose to remain Ignorant
Of the facts that will scar your soul forever

Matty K.

Best Divorce letter ever

Dear Wife,
I'm writing you this letter to tell you that I'm leaving you forever. I've been a good man to you for 7 years & I have nothing to show for it. These last 2 weeks have been hell. … Your boss called to tell me that you quit your job today & that was the last straw. Last week, you came home & didn't even notice I had a new haircut, had cooked your favorite meal & even wore a brand new pair of silk boxers. You ate in 2 minutes, & went straight to sleep after watching all of your soaps. You don't tell me you love me anymore; you don't want sex or anything that connects us as husband & wife. Either you're cheating on me or you don't love me anymore; whatever the case, I'm gone.
Your EX-Husband

P.S. don't try to find me. Your SISTER & I are moving away to West Virginia together! Have a great life!

Dear Ex-Husband,
Nothing has made my day more than receiving your letter. It's true you & I have been married for 7 years, although a good man is a far cry from what you've been. I watch my soaps so much because they drown out your constant whining & griping Too bad that doesn't work. I DID notice when you got a haircut last week, but the 1st thing that came to mind was 'You look just like a girl!' Since my mother raised me not to say anything if you can't say something nice, I didn't comment. And when you cooked my favorite meal, you must have gotten me confused with MY SISTER, because I stopped eating pork 7 years ago. About those new silk boxers: I turned away from you because the $49.99 price tag was still on them, & I prayed it was a coincidence that my sister had just borrowed $50 from me that morning. After all of this, I still loved you & felt we could work it out. So when I hit the lotto for 10 million dollars, I quit my job & bought us 2 tickets to Jamaica But when I got home you were gone.. Everything happens for a reason, I guess. I hope you have the fulfilling life you always wanted. My lawyer said that the letter you wrote ensures you won't get a dime from me. So take care.
Signed, Your Ex-Wife, Rich As Hell & Free

P.S. I don't know if I ever told you this, but my sister Carla was born Carl. I hope that's not a problem

Effects of social media to Tanzanian society; Rantings of an idle lawyer

Well, this has been a slow week at my office, nothing much has been happening and I have been stuck dealing with some stuffs from last week. While that is definitely bad news for my pockets, considering  I have to pay rent, electricity, fuel and ofcourse tip my volunteer at the end of the month, it is definitely a good week for my writing and my reading. So today I really don't have a particular subject in my head, and then I thought what the hell; let me talk about what everybody is talking about nowadays while doing the same shit everybody else is doing "Abuse of social media"

Social media was and is still fun to some people. When it started and for me it all started with facebook and Hi5 (I wonder if Hi5 still exists) it was a way of reconnecting with old friends and former classmates. Seven years down the road, and that's just for me, its no longer as fun. Mainly because now I am addicted to it, I cant spend three hours without going through my phone, and for me its instagram, for some reason I have never really been a big fan of Twitter, those hundred and something characters seems so few for someone who loves ranting as much as I do.

As I was saying, social media has become an addiction and myday doesnt seem to go well if I do not have an internet bundle. But thats not all that I find disturbing about social media, here are some of the things that really disturb me about social media;

The preassure to fit in; Instagram and its social media cousins have become a tribe of its own, like a society with standards that are acceptable by the members and if you dont follow these chances are that you will either not get any followers or some losers will be insulting you from behind their phones screens. So much preassure is put on youth from as young as 13 to around 45 years to act, dress, talk and even eat like the way the instagram community wants. Considering that kids as young as 13 are allowed to join instagram I am starting to get serious doubts about where our community is going. As a result people become thieves to be able to maintain that social media image that has really nothing to do with their real lives. The generation of fake people with plastic lives has just been born.

Violence and verbal abuse and porn has become part of our daily lives, you can not go through instagram without finding gossip pages dedicated on insulting people and going through people's private business. Whats worse is that people have started relying on these pages as a source of news, regardless of the truth or otherwise of what has been posted therein. As a result so many false stories circulates as if they were true, people get hurt and lose their reputaions from things that are not neccessarily true, and even if they were they werent really hurting anybody, or anybody's business, they were simply private.

 But the word private does not mean anything anymore. Someone would hack your phone expose pictures that someone took in their own privacy and call them "a scandal".  How is me or anyone else taking whatever kinds of picture or shoot any kind of pornographic videos in my own privacy with y partner affect anyone really? Anything i want publicized is out there, obviously anything I didn't post was my private business. As an adult in a free country I should sure hope I have a freedom of doing anything in my privacy as long as I am not hurting anyone and I am not breaking the law. But social media has turned people into monsters, they will go through any length to get something to post. I wonder how long it is going to take before people start becoming depressed and erupt mental illnesses for the amount of pressure they have to deal with to navigate through their daily lives.

Just an example of how social media can be used to spread information that are not true, the story of the four robbers who were arrested in Dar es salaam on 21st April for robbing a foreigner near stanbic bank. Less than two hours later a picture of one of the robbers' engagement with his fiancee displaying her ring started to circulate. I can not imagine the pain that that poor girl is going through right now.. As if that was not enough, another picture started to circulate this morning, of a married couple, the picture was claimed to be of the said engaged robber, only to turn out that it wasn't. The new picture was actually of a lawyer, and not just any lawyer a guy is a state attorney, imagine his wife's shock after dropping her husband at work today and then to receive such a picture in one of the groups on whatsapp claiming that her husband was arrested since yesterday. and some of these pages, gossip pages I talked about, posted the picture as credible news and the comments were heartbreaking. Im simply wondering what would have happened to his wife and family if the guy was on a business trip and his his wife received such a picture and lets just assume he was not reachable at the moment.

I guess my point here is; so much is happening and technology is coming to us Africans and advancing way too fast than we can handle. The cuurent mechanisms are not equipped to handle defamations and libel and wait until they learn to hack government servers using the information people provide on social medias. Social medias have become a platform of embarrassing and defaming and preassurizing people to live a certain way. Who can deny an increase of expensive whores these days?? everybody wants something to go show off on instagram, if not that then drug mules, how many young men and women are being held abroad as a result of being drug mules? all that so that they get rich quick, buy things that they can not really afford or have a use for them and take pictures and post them on instagram

And then there's an entire issue of health concerns. Platform of enterprenuers, and its not really a bad thing, this has helped some people to make a real living out of seeling their products or advertising for other people and get paid. However, some of the most dangerough drugs and eating disorders are being advertised in instagram. Most of hese being unwarranted cosmetics and weight oss programs and ofcourse unlicensed trainers and the like. No one is regulating all this, in 5 years i wonder what kind of population we are going to have. a population full of patients with skin cancer and liver fes and a buch of anorexic teenagers. Europe is already sowing the seeds of that, they will not say it, but the preassure to look good for the photographs has started to turn their once healthy teenagers into Anorexic wrecks.

And then rate of divorces has increased. I am really not sure why, but magistrates and judges may be witnesses of this, but since the year Y2K number of marriages and divorces has increased. People meet on social media, get engaged on social media, get married for the sake of social media and ofcourse get divorced on social media and the divorce continues. Because marriage to most girls nowadays is about the dress and the hair and the shoes and the ceremony on the wedding day and not about the sickness and healthy or anything that originally had to do with marriage. As a result people get married to the wrong people and after a while after putting on a happy from these marriages breaks like a candle in the wind.  And then there is that issue of married men and women flirting and carrying an affair with people they meet on social medias, or people who otherwise they would not have had courage to ask out or talk to in the office, and then when a betrayed spouse finds out what follows is separation then divorce, and in some few unique cases murder.

May be its time to wake up and smell the coffee, and somebody do something. And all of this should start at home, stop that teenager from using a smart phone, and then the government should also play its part.

Value of time

To realize The value of a sister/brother Ask someone Who doesn't have one.

To realize The value of Ten years: Ask a newly Divorced couple.

To realize The value of Four years: Ask a graduate.

To realize The value of One year: Ask a student who Has failed a final exam.

To realize The value of Nine months: Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.

To realize The value of One month: Ask a mother Who has given birth to A premature baby.

To realize The Value of One week: Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize The value of One minute: Ask a person Who has missed the train, bus or plane..

To realize The value of One-second: Ask a person Who has survived an accident.

Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have. You will treasure it even more when You can share it with someone special.

To realize the value of a friend:LOOSE ONE and see....

The origin of this letter is unknown,But it brings a sense of gratitude and value to everyone who receives.

Remember... hold on tight to the ones you like. Do not keep this letter. Send it to friends & family upon  whom you wish blessings:)...
Is friendship  a necessity in life...? Imagine your self without a friend ..  How'd you feel in your office...?  What'll you do with your cell ...?   What about events, especially your  birthday..?  Who's gonna share your sorrows ...?  How 'll you laugh  with a high five?  Who'll tease you pairing with others...?  Who'll care, miss  & irritate you ?  Forward it to all those friends who mean a lot to you..
I just did it.. 
Forward this to everyone who you don't wanna lose in "2014" including me if you care . Try getting twelve (12) back,its not easy. Be honest! Send this to anyone who made you smile this year...🏡🌿😀😆🌲Love is life.

You know your mother is African when. . . .

1. You Know Your Mother Is African if she has a drawer or a place for keeping paper bags after buying something in it.

2. You Know Your Mother Is African if when she beats you up she says "unalia nini na hata sijakuchapa?"

3. You Know Your Mother Is African when she beats you with pauses; nani *slap* alikuambia *kick* ufanye *pinch* hivyo!"

4. You Know Your Mother Is African if she has ever tried to remove anything that looks like dirt from your face with her saliva, even a birthmark.

5. You Know Your Mother Is African if she asks you questions that have no answers 'Kwanini ulivunja thermos?'

6. You Know Your Mother Is African if after whipping you she threatens you with, "na nisikie ukilia uone"

7. You Know Your Mother Is African If you accidentally break utensils made of glass she reacts with "Vunja Yote Umalize"

8. You Know Your Mother Is African if she has special plates and cups different levels of guests

9. You Know Your Mother Is African when even after you've grown up…she still sits you down and plaits your hair.

10. You Know Your Mother Is African if she ever told you "kama mimi sio mama yako, jaribu tu'

11. You Know Your Mother Is African when you are Tabu/ Angela, and she tells you "mwambie umetumwa na mama Tabu/Angela"

12. You Know Your Mother Is African if she has a list of neighbors and relatives where you should not dare step into."nione umepeleka miguu huko"

13. You Know Your Mother Is African When she calls you from the bedroom to bring her something that is right there on the table.

14. You Know Your Mother Is African If you fall asleep on the couch but wake up in your bed,well covered

15. You Know Your Mother Is African if every new baby in the family must have a deceased relative's name

16. You Know Your Mother Is African if she threatens to hit you by actually hitting you!

17. You Know Your Mother Is African when you lose money and she says "shika hizi nyingine pia ukapoteze!

W18. You Know Your Mother Is African when she buys you oversize uniform and says " hio utavaa hadi umalize shule"

19. You Know Your Mother Is African if you do something wrong she says "tunapiga makosa si wewe "

20. You Know Your Mother Is African if she spat on a handkerchief to wipe your face when you were young.

21. You Know Your Mother Is African when she is invited to a party and when she returns, she brings you the entire menu and soda in a paperbag or borrowed container.

22. You Know Your Mother Is African if you were beaten for eating at the neighbour's.

If we must die

If We Must Die
By Claude McKay


If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursèd lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

Eat More

High school throw back, my favourite poem:

Eat More
by Joe Corrie

'Eat more fruit!' the slogans say,
' More fish, more beef, more bread!'
But I'm on Unemployment pay
My third year now, and wed.

And so I wonder when I'll see
The slogan when I pass,
The only one that would suit me, -
' Eat More Bloody Grass!'

Amused

Young woman several months pregnant boarded a bus. She noticed a young man smiling at her she began feeling humiliated on account of her condition. She changed her seat and he seemed more amused. She moved again and then on her third move he burst out laughing.... ........ ....She had him arrested.

When the case came before the court, the young man was asked why he acted in such a manner. His reply was: When the lady boarded the bus I couldn't help noticing she was pregnant. She first sat under an advertisement,
which read: 'Coming Soon: The Gold Dust Twins'.


I was even more amused when she changed her seat and went to sit under a shaving advertisement, which read: 'William's Stick Did The Trick'.


Then I could not control myself any longer when on the third move she sat under an advertisement, which read: 'Dunlop Rubber would have prevented this accident.'

Not knowing

When you do not know something so important in your life, something that in your opinion goes to the very root of your existence, the definition of who you really are and your true identity, not knowing can eat you up alive in such situations. Mostly, such feelings are associated with one not knowing their heritage, family background and close family members like siblings, first uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents. However, the most sensitive part of not knowing is when you do not know your parent.

Someone has sent me a story, of a A little girl who grew up without knowing her biological father, the struggles she went through emotionally and the pictures of a perfect father she had painted in her head. Upon her request, I am publishing the story as it was sent to me. ..

My name is Rubi,
I grew up in a happy and loving family. My parents were both very good to me when I was little. They both came from a poor background, and when they started working they had to support their families, considering what they were earning was not much our lives were never that of abundance but rather necessity basis. However, amidst all that, my father never failed to make time for me, he would take me for evening walks with his small radio, and I remember us walking for hours at times while listening to BBC swahili or something else of that sort. And I remember enjoying this so much. We would talk and on our way back home my father would tell me stories from his childhood and how he grew up. By this time I had only one sibling a little brother who was born when I was almost 6years old.

My mother, was a hard worker. She worked so hard to support her parents and siblings, at the same time assisting my father's brothers with school fees and all. I remember my mother sewing a school uniform for one of my father's little brother by hand from one of my Father's old work uniforms. She was gifted with skills and a good heart. All the while, I always had plenty of school uniforms, my mum always made sure that I had at least five shirts and three skirts for my school uniform. I always had a nice school bag and nice shoes. Looking Back now I do not know how she did it, but I always had plenty of whatever was basic for a little girl.

When I was 9years old someone's tongue slipped, and it was that day that I realized my Father was not biologically my father. As a child, I did not fully get what was going on, I remember wondering if that meant my father didn't love me and if one day he will change and start treating me bad because I was not really his child but he never did. My father loves me, as if I were his own. He has never once treated me like a step child, and as I grow older my father and I are becoming friends. We talk and joke and My father has a special place in my heart. All those good things that fathers and daughters do, the memories and the stories and the funny stuffs from the childhood, all that I have because of my father. When I was 9years old I also become a sister to a beautiful little girl that was born that year, and she is my best friend to date. And despite now knowing we are only half siblings she loves me to death. And I would donate an organ for her if she ever needs it! That's how much I love her.

However, from the day that I realized that I have another father somewhere I never stopped wondering. I always wondered what he was like, if he had another family, other siblings that I did not know of. I remember wondering if things might have been different if I knew my Bio-Father, constantly wondering how my life would have been if he were around. I made an attempt once to ask my mum about it but I was dismissed. And I knew never to ask again. As I grew older so did my curiosity. The problem was, no one was talking, not my grandparents, or my uncles no one. They all loved my mum so much and were respecting her wishes of not telling me anything about the man who fathered me. Sometimes I would think of him, wonder if he was thinking of me as well. And wonder why he never looked for me. Sometimes, I would cry because I felt pain that I could not explain, the not knowing was killing me, I'd sit there and wonder and cry and look at the sky and wonder what his life was like.

I remember crying myself to sleep a lot in secondary school. There was constant pain in my heart and a wonder in my head. However, I never dared to ask my mum, because as her daughter I could see that my ever strong mother was always hurt by such a mention, or whenever she talked about my birth and pregnancy. All that I knew was that My father had hurt my mother so much for her to feel so sad whenever she remembered those times.

All these years, my step father continued to be a wonderful father to me. But it was my mother who made sure that I never lacked a thing in mylife. From school, to nice clothes, expensive private tuitions and all that she could afford to give me. Although our family was not rich, I can still proudly say that I had a very luxurious childhood. Years passed by, and I remember passing my primary school exams but my mum opted for a private school instead, and the same thing for my o'level exams. Over the years our financial situation improved, and to date my parents are well off.

After college I started working, and in six moths I moved out of my parents house and started living on my own. This is when I found my father. It felt like I was dreaming. I was 24years of age by then and I could not believe that it was happening. It felt so surreal, and I was so overjoyed and I thanked God for all that had happened. I found out that he had three other children, my siblings. Two boys and a girl, a girl was born less than two years after I was born. I have never met her to date because she lives abroad. However we talk almost everyday and I have never met a person who was so excited to have a big sister than she was. To me she is a blessing, another sister who loves so me much and me her, and from all that followed, she is the blessing and a my silver lining in a cloud. My shoulder to cry on, and she always understands what I'm going through. I have forgotten that we have never actually met

My brothers, good kids I have met them both, one is in College and another in secondary school. I am a sister to them, they love me, respect me and I scold them when the need be. And they listen.
My Bio- father on the other hand is the cloud. He is not a colourful painting that I had him painted in my head. I admit that he has been a good father to my three siblings. However I do admit that it is because of his very good wife that he was able to pull all that off, she is also a very strong willed and a nice person and its because of her that my siblings have the education and life that they have today. He never keeps promises, even the little ones that he makes. He drinks and he is so irresponsible when it comes to his health and he wouldn't listen no matter how or who tells him to stop.

I got admission for a masters program, and when my sister heard she persuaded my Bio-father to pay for it, so he said he would. However, at some point I started feeling a lot more like a charity case to him than daughter. it was obvious that he did not want to pay but he was doing so out of shame and obligation to my fierce little sister. Until now the fee's second instalment is way overdue by three months, and my assignments and tests were not being marked anymore because I hadn't finished paying the fees. I tried talking and explaining to him what was happening, but in the end he stopped taking my calls. Or when he picked he simply said he would call me back and he never did.

Two weeks ago, I was calling him, I wanted to meet him so that I can tell him that I was planning to introduce my boyfriend to my parents (mum and step Dad) and that I was going to be betrothed, he never picked the calls,and he never called back. A lot more silence followed, and to me it felt like stab wounds in myheart. He had rejected me once again, showed me how much I simply did not mean a damn thing to him, and that I could just go to hell for all he cared. That's how it felt, when your father stop answering your calls, nothing can be more painful than that.

I took courage, and I asked one of my mum's college friend what had happened between my mum and my Bio-father to make my mum hate him so much, what I heard was shocking. I started to understand what my mum had to live with everyday whenever she saw me, and I am now wondering how she could have loved me as much as she did given the circumstances surrounding my birth. I now do not know what to feel about him. And I wonder he if he deserves my respect at all. I'm thinking what if a man did to me what he did to my mother? And wonder if I will be able to raise such a kid with so much love and protection as my mum raised me. And what's worse, I don't think he has ever apologized to my mother for what he did to her, or thanked my step father for raising me as his own.

 How can I respect or love such a person for that matter? All that he has brought in my life apart from pain is my siblings, his children. They are a wonderful wonderful most amazing thing to ever happened from such a bad situation. And only for their sake I can not find it in my heart to hate him, but I do not think I will ever love him the way a daughter should love a father. But my siblings, I would go to the moon and back for them. I had two, Now I have five, and All of them good kids, who loves me and me them.

All that has happened lately have taught me several things,first that I already have a father and I really did not need another one. Secondly that my mother is an Angel and that I should keep praying for her everyday. And third that not knowing is not such a bad thing.
And that is my story.
Yours truly,
Rubi
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Well folks, As I said I published it as it was sent to me. But given the circumstances I would also choose ignorance.

When Unexpected Happens

Its guaranteed that life will catch you offguard sometimes, surprise you with things that u were not prepared for and you will stumble from your path at least for a while. But these surprises are not always bad, sometimes life surprises you with wonderful wonderful things, like how you may find love in very unexpected places and wealth in the least place you would look. But in the game of life, these things are a must and are inevitable.

When you are caught offguard by good events, embrace them but do not let them stir you or distract you from your original plan, because good or bad a distraction is a distraction. When such events are bad and they hit you in such a way that life looses its meaningful and the path to your future seems blank and pitch black, do not stop moving, use your heart and instincts to keep moving in the right direction and your hands to feels the way and obstacles. Because in the end it doesn't matter how you got there but the thing is you did get there.

Anyway

I love Mother Theresa's anyway poem, mainly because it always gives me such satisfaction that cruelty of this world should not be a reason for a person to also be cruel. It goes like this. . . .

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

~ :) ~

This poem somehow for at least a moment there when u read it gives u the will power to keep on living and be good. It may not matter how nice you are, how good you are to other people, how helpful you are to other people because people always forget. The important thing is to always remember that anything you do to help others is not for them but rather for yourself and for the peace of your own soul.

People are mean, manipulative, angry, ungrateful, cruel and so many many more bad things, but it is important to remember not to loose your faith and your soul to all that. It doesn't matter why, just be a good human being


Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on the Tigo Tanzania Network

Perfect guy

You are the sun that shines bright throughout my day,
You are the gravity that hold me down in every way.
You are the moon that shimmers throughout my night,
You are stars that glimmer oh so bright.

You are the oxygen that keeps me alive,
You are my heart that beats inside.
You are the blood that flows through me,
You are the only guy I can see.
You have the voice of when a mocking bird sings,
You are my everything.

You are my one and only,
You stop me from being so lonely.
We plan our future as if we have a clue,
I never want to lose you.
I want you to be my husband and I want to be your wife,
I want to be with you for the rest of my life.


~ Betty Kevin ~

Buliding the Nation

This is one of my favourite poems of all the time:

By Henry Barlow

Today I did my share
In building the nation.
I drove a Permanent Secretary
To an important urgent function
In fact to a lunch at the Vic.

The menu reflected its importance
Cold bell beer with small talk,
Then fried chicken with niceties
Wine to fill the hollowness of the laughs
Ice-cream to cover the stereotype jokes
Coffee to keep the PS awake on return journey.

I drove the Permanent Secretary back.
He yawned many times in back of the car
Then to keep awake, he suddenly asked,
Did you have any lunch friend?
I replied looking straight ahead
And secretly smiling at his belated concern
That I had not, but was slimming!

Upon which he said with seriousness
That amused more than annoyed me,
Mwanainchi, I too had none!
I attended to matters of state.
Highly delicate diplomatic duties you know,
And friend, it goes against my grain,
Causes me stomach ulcers and wind.
Ah, he continued, yawning again,
The pains we suffer in building the nation!

So the PS had ulcers too!
My ulcers I think are equally painful
Only they are caused by hunger,
Not sumptuous lunches!

So two nation builders
Arrived home this evening
With terrible stomach pains
The result of building the nation -
- Different ways.

So Random

Enjoy the below pictures of our Mother Nature

TELL ME... I'LL TELL YOU

Vicky is a friend of mine, a poet by hobby and a good one too, here is some of her recent work, of which I liked

We all need love and we all have people that we love to death. There are things you don't want to hear from those you love and you wish that those unpleasant things said to you can only be sweet words. 

Words to take you through the day and night, words to bring a smile on your gloomy face, words to make you glow even when you have a million pimples/acne.
We are all human, giving and receiving love is inevitable. Whether it's from/ to the people you love or not.
Cheers!

Tell me you love me and I will tell you I love you too
Tell me you hate me and I will tell you I still love you
Tell me I irritate you and I will tell you I'm amused by you
Tell me I get in you nerves and I will tell you I'm made happier by you

Vicky Mwakoyo© 29th May 2012

Famous Photographs

 01. Afghan Girl [1984]

Photographer: Steve McCurry

And of course the afghan girl, picture shot by National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry. Sharbat Gula was one of the students in an informal school within the refugee camp; McCurry, rarely given the opportunity to photograph Afghan women, seized the opportunity and captured her image. She was approximately 12 years old at the time. She made it on the cover of National Geographic next year, and her identity was discovered in 1992.

02. Omayra Sánchez [1985]

Photographer: Frank Fournier

Omayra Sánchez was one of the 25,000 victims of the Nevado del Ruiz (Colombia) volcano which erupted on November 14, 1985. The 13-year old had been trapped in water and concrete for 3 days. The picture was taken shortly before she died and it caused controversy due to the photographer’s work and the Colombian government’s inaction in the midst of the tragedy, when it was published worldwide after the young girl’s death.

03. Portrait of Winston Churchill [1941]

Photograph from: Yousuf Karsh

This photograph was taken by Yousuf Karsh, a Canadian photographer, when Winston Churchill came to Ottawa. The portrait of Churchill brought Karsh international fame. It is claimed to be the most reproduced photographic portrait in history. It also appeared on the cover of Life magazine.

04. The plight of Kosovo refugees [1999]

Photographer: Carol Guzy

The photo is part of The Washington Post’s Pulitzer Prize-winning entry (2000) showing how a Kosovar refugee Agim Shala, 2, is passed through a barbed wire fence into the hands of grandparents at a camp run by United Arab Emirates in Kukes, Albania. The members of the Shala family were reunited here after fleeing the conflict in Kosovo.

05. Stricken child crawling towards a food camp [1994]

Photographer: Kevin Carter

The photo is the “Pulitzer Prize” winning photo taken in 1994 during the Sudan Famine.

The picture depicts stricken child crawling towards an United Nations food camp, located a kilometer away.

The vulture is waiting for the child to die so that it can eat him. This picture shocked the whole world. No one knows what happened to the child, including the photographer Kevin Carter who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken.

Three months later he committed suicide due to depression.

06. Segregated Water Fountains [1950]

Photographer: Elliott Erwitt, Magnum Photos

Picture of segregated water fountains in North Carolina taken by Elliott Erwitt.

07. Burning Monk – The Self-Immolation [1963]

Photographer: Malcolm Browne

June 11, 1963, Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk from Vietnam, burned himself to death at a busy intersection in downtown Saigon to bring attention to the repressive policies of the Catholic Diem regime that controlled the South Vietnamese government at the time. Buddhist monks asked the regime to lift its ban on flying the traditional Buddhist flag, to grant Buddhism the same rights as Catholicism, to stop detaining Buddhists and to give Buddhist monks and nuns the right to practice and spread their religion.

While burning Thich Quang Duc never moved a muscle.

08. Bliss [~2000]

Photographer: Charles O’Rear

Bliss is the name of a photograph of a landscape in Napa County, California, east of Sonoma Valley. It contains rolling green hills and a blue sky with stratocumulus and cirrus clouds. The image is used as the default computer wallpaper for the “Luna” theme in Windows XP.

The photograph was taken by the professional photographer Charles O’Rear, a resident of St. Helena in Napa County, for digital-design company HighTurn. O’Rear has also taken photographs of Napa Valley for the May 1979 National Geographic Magazine article Napa, Valley of the Vine.

O’Rear’s photograph inspired Windows XP’s US$ 200 million advertising campaign Yes you can.

09. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire [1911]

Photographer: International Ladies Garmet workers Union

Picture of bodies at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. Company rules were to keep doors closed to the factory so workers (mostly immigrant women) couldn’t leave or steal. When a fire ignited, disaster struck. 146 people died 

Falling in love

Its a beautiful feeling. The way your stomach will ache painlessly as you are waiting for the reply of a text message, or a chat.

You know, the way you hope that he will say what your heart longs to hear and feel and praying that you wont mess up when you reply.

But that's the least of the problems, the main issue is that lingering worry of "Is this it?" deeply hoping that this is the one while trying so hard to suppress your feelings and make sure that you do not look like you are rushing things? I know exactly how that feels, been there done that.

Take your time, be patient and be yourself. Its important to remember that the first impression is going to define the rest of your relationship. Do not fake anything because you should expect the same from the other side, its good to know true colours of the people that we are getting involved with. 

All these are just precautions, the important thing is " Enjoy every moment of it, there's never a better feeling that falling in love" 

This is for my best friend. Love you and always praying for you. Fingers crossed. 

wink wink ;) 

SLAVERY

Africa,

Do not forget where you came from

Do not let yourself be fooled by them

Never forget what they did to your children

Never forget how they tied your children like dogs

And treat them no better than bugs

Never forget the cries our our forefathers.

How their fathers saw your fathers
Is how their children sees us
Ignorant dumb brainless Monkeys 
Who do not know where they go
Who needs a whip in order to move
No better than the monkeys in the wild


Africa, Never forget where you came from,
What they made your children go through
 How they ripped you off, and sell your children like peas,
And call your children animals,
And kill them like wild geese
And work your children like donkeys
And whip them like wild animals. 
Do not let their glittering golds get to you, because initially they were yours

Mother Theresa's Anyway poem

A friend of mine reminded me of this poem today, and I thought I should share it with my viewers. And what's funny is that she isn't a Christian, she is Hindu. This poem is exactly what she needs right now, to keep her believing in what is right. 

Its a good reminder to us all, that we shouldn't be heart broken simply because people do not appreciate us, or treat us right.  Because in the end its simply between you and your God. Thanks Dev, for reminding me of this poem

African Blackwood (Mpingo)

Common Name(s): African Blackwood, Mpingo (Swahili)

Scientific Name: Dalbergia melanoxylon

Distribution: Dry savanna regions of central and southern Africa

Tree Size: 20-30 ft (6-9 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter

Average Dried Weight: 82 lbs/ft3 (1,310 kg/m3)

Basic Specific Gravity: 1.08

Hardness: 4,730 lbf (21,060 N)*

*Estimated hardness based on specific gravity

Rupture Strength: 31,000 lbf/in2 (213,790 kPa)

Elastic Strength: 2,980,000 lbf/in2 (20,550 MPa)

Crushing Strength: 10,470 lbf/in2 (72.2 MPa)

Shrinkage: Radial: 2.5%, Tangential: 4.5%, Volumetric: 7.6%, T/R Ratio: 1.8

Color/Appearance: Often completely black, with little or no discernible grain. Occasionally slightly lighter, with a dark brown or purplish hue. The pale yellow sapwood is usually very thin, and is clearly demarcated from the darker heartwood.

Grain/Pore: African Blackwood has a fine, even texture, with small pores that should not require filling; the grain is typically straight.

Endgrain: Diffuse-porous; both small and medium sized pores in no specific arrangement; solitary and radial multiples of 2-3; dark brown deposits present; growth rings may be distinct due to marginal parenchyma; rays not visible without lens; parenchyma banded (marginal), apotracheal parenchyma diffuse-in-aggregates, paratracheal parenchyma can also be vasicentric, and aliform (winged).

Durability: Heartwood is rated as very durable in regards to decay resistance, though only moderately resistant to insect attack. The sapwood is commonly attacked by powder-post beetles and other borers.

Workability: Very difficult to work with hand or machine tools, with an extreme blunting effect on cutters. African Blackwood is most often used in turnery, where it is considered to be among the very finest of all turning woods—capable of holding intricate details, and is reported to hold screw threads nearly as well as metal.

Mpingo, the East African Blackwood tree, is used to make clarinets and oboes, and is the medium of choice for local wood carvers. Its dark, lustrous heartwood is one of the most valuable timbers in the world. The tree is under-threat from over-exploitationand could become commercially extinct.

This tree is great for those who do agricultural work as it is known to improve the fertility of the soil as well as the soil’s stability. The Blackwood is a great source of food for various herbivores as well as livestock as these animals will eat its leaves. Despite being a very hardy tree (most of the mature trees are even able to survive a fire), the population of the African Blackwood has been on the decline. 

In Swahili, the population of the African Blackwood continues to diminish. The name comes from the color of its heartwood which is a color closely resembling black. The tree is said to grow in areas where most other trees or plants couldn’t, as it prefers infertile and rocky soil. The Mpingo is also very slow growing, taking between 70-200 years to grow to a mature size and many only grow to be able 9 feet. tall. It is the national tree of Tanzania even though the tree can be found in about 26 different African countries, including Ethiopia, Angola, Senegal, and many others.

What’s the cause of threat of extinction?

The extremely dark heartwood of the Blackwood is definitely one of the most widely sought after timbers in the entire world. Some of the highest class instruments, mostly woodwinds, are made of this wood. It is also used to make furniture as well as for carving purposes. Carving this wood has been done since the 1930s, but today it’s extremely hard for the carvers to find enough wood to use, which means many times that the timber is imported. The trees are often harvested for this timber and other seedlings are rarely planted in their place. Even though mature Blackwoods can survive a fire, the seedlings cannot, which greatly slows down regeneration.

The African Blackwood Conservation project is working each day to help regenerate these trees because they are declining in population so rapidly. The group plants new trees each year in hopes that the tree population will be replenished. Seedlings are grown at the Moshi Mpingo Plot and the transported to a place where the tree can mature. 

Harvesting and Products

It takes about sixty years to produce a commercially viable specimen (straight trunk, large diameter), and today there is an estimated 3 million trees, with only 20% or 600, 000 of them suitable for harvesting. In the market, the wood can be found in different grades, depending on the use, with Grade A often calling for a hefty sum. 

The wood is commonly used for musical instruments as it is strong, moisture absorbent and withstands the carving process. It may also be used for knife handles, boxes, jewellery, furniture, bowls and ornamental objects. It is also used for carving prayer beads, one of the most noble uses that a wood can be put to. In the pictures below, you can see the slightly reddish tint that may appear in different pictures

BEST SLEEVED WEDDING DRESSES

Apparently nowadays I am totally addicted to googling wedding gowns, and not just any wedding gowns but the ones with sleeves in particular. So below is the collection of just a few of them. Enjoy