Hello my dear friends, today I thought we could look back to the days when we were young.
What inspired me to write this article is really one of those things that we encounter everyday. I was standing on a bus stop waiting for a bus of course and on this particular day it was stinging cold. I was frozen to my bones and this reminded me of my old primary school days.
Do you remember those days in Malawi when we were going to school in shorts, in June and had to run or play with friends to keep ourselves warm? Yeah this particular cold day reminded me of those days. JUNI (referring to the cold weather) AKUTSINA osati zibwana!
I remember the days we would sit in class with my coleagues and the wind will be blowing through the open windows, the teacher would say that the cold was to keep you awake but ......
One day we were in boarding school and I guess those of you who have been to a Malawian boarding school will relate with me how tough it was to take a shower when its cold, especially those from the North and in Dedza and other mountanous areas of Malawi. I remember to have had some conversation with some male coleagues who said that they would compete on who would stay the longest without a shower (Kupha dry!) because of the cold.
In other words taking a shower in the cold was the biggest challenge especially when you had to use cold water! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Other than that, there are so many things that I look back to and they bring a smile on my face of when I was once young. Going to kindergatten (ku mkaka), singing and laughing away not forgeting the epilogue of sleeping for two hours before going home.
Then came the tough part of STD1 where you think the whole world has turned against you and you don't understand why your loving parents have to be so CRUEL to send you to school. DO YOU REMEBER!!!!!!!!!!!? Or may be I was the only one who had this problem.
All in all school was fun and at the end of the day I look back at everything and see where I am today, I thank my parents for taking the courage to encourage me.And all in all I thank God for the opportunity to go to school and be where I am today.
I am sure those of you reading this blog have your own experience. Lets share it and laugh together.
WE WERE ONCE YOUNG ISN'T IT?
God Bless
Sunday, 23 March 2008
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
BEING A HOUSE WIFE
Let me start by saying that the last topic brought out interesting discussions and comments. Many thanks to all of you who read the post and also shared with others.
Today we take a look on the other side of the coin, being a house wife.
What does it mean to be a "house wife"?. I will give some definitions that I have heard from talking to people what they view as a house wife. Some people say a house wife is a woman who stays at home and manages the household. Others will say a woman who is usually not working, may be has not gone to school so they can't get a job anywhere than staying at home. Another group will describe a house wife as a "goal keeper" meaning someone who waits for handouts from her working or employed husband.
Its interesting to note that in all these definitions a house wife is someone who is looked down upon in the society of women (I will use my home country as reference). There are several men who would prefer a house wife because they will manage the home full time and may also respect their husbands more because that is their only source of income. As for me I would say a house wife is a woman whom we have to respect in society even though she is not a career woman (lawyer, secretary, doctor, scientist, you name it), being a house wife is a career on its own.
I will start by pointing out that there are so many women who do not have any office jobs but spend their whole day at home and have a lot of talent which they can share with the society.
I have seen house wives who have used their time of staying at home as a time of thinking and developing their career, either in hand work such as knitting, sewing or even cooking. What am I trying to say here? Being a house wife does not mean that you just stay at home, bear children, and cook food for your husband. That is the time a woman can also develop their talents.
There are alot of things that women can do whilst at home, talk of painting for example, sketch drawing, gardening, decorations, all these seemingly small things can earn you as a house wife a career.
I know of women who are house wives and are good in baking, who have ended up opening bakeries, others even shops for wedding cakes and now they have thriving businesses. I know of women who started by trying to sew some small dress and realised that they could do more with their time at home and talent and now have tailoring shops which supply uniforms and other types of clothing to different schools and institutions.
So women, house wives out there, wake up and develop your God given talent.
Until next time
stay Blessed.
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
BEING A CAREER (AFRICAN) WOMAN
I thought we could continue on the subject we started in my last posting on "Being a Woman".
The most challenging part of being a woman is to combine career and marriage/motherhood. This is even more challenging when it comes to the African woman. I will tackle this topic with reference to my country as Africa is a big continent and every country has got its own ways of dealing with this issue.
Allow me to loosely use the term African woman here because in my discussion I will be comparing the African woman and the woman in the western world.
When a girl child goes through secondary school education, it seems to be the norm that the girl has a choice of either going to university to further her studies, do a short proffessinal course, work or get married. For those who are fortunate to go to university or do a proffesional course, they have another 2-7 years to study before they decide to settle down while those who did not usually the only option is mostly getting married and have children.
The interesting part of our society is that the less number of years a girl child/woman spends in tertiary education the higher the chances of getting a partner hence marriage. While the more years she spends in tertiary education the thinner the chances of getting married. There are several reasons that have been outlined from discussions with both male and female friends why this is so.
In the first place it is percieved that the more educated a woman gets the more independent she gets and the less likely that she will respect her husband. This is attributed to the financial security that the woman assumes due to her career hence the male counterpart think that the woman will be rude in the household as she would "stand up" to her husband because they are on the same level or worse still if she is on a higher level. But is this true? Well its an open question and I am sure everyone has a different way of looking at it.
Secondly, sometimes women try to pursue a career before settling down in a family because of the fear that when they get married they may not get a chance of reaching their goals as their partners may say "you have studied enough!" or "what dont I provide for you" or "aaaha so you want be like those other women who dont respect their husbands". In as much as this may sound funny, it has been a set back for several women who would have loved to continue in a certain career path.
These and many other reasons which you may know, have restricted women to pursue careers in certain fields back home in Malawi. But what is the picture in other countries in Africa and outside Africa? The answer to this question is open, I will let you as a reader answer this yourself. But if you ask me, every country has a different picture with the Western world being far ahead on women managing careers and marriage, others have even chosen their career at the expense of family, that is they choose to be single so as to pursue their career "at peace".
This is a topic that fascinates me a lot, "being a career woman". I will conclude by saying, women we can pursue our careers which ever field we want. No matter what perceptions society has, we can either prove them right or wrong depending on how we carry ourselves.
In this day and age it is good for a woman to be able to support herself and her family. And to those in our society who are bothered by women pursuing their careers, I believe its high time we reason together with our women and encourage them. The sky is the limit!
Have a blessed day!
The most challenging part of being a woman is to combine career and marriage/motherhood. This is even more challenging when it comes to the African woman. I will tackle this topic with reference to my country as Africa is a big continent and every country has got its own ways of dealing with this issue.
Allow me to loosely use the term African woman here because in my discussion I will be comparing the African woman and the woman in the western world.
When a girl child goes through secondary school education, it seems to be the norm that the girl has a choice of either going to university to further her studies, do a short proffessinal course, work or get married. For those who are fortunate to go to university or do a proffesional course, they have another 2-7 years to study before they decide to settle down while those who did not usually the only option is mostly getting married and have children.
The interesting part of our society is that the less number of years a girl child/woman spends in tertiary education the higher the chances of getting a partner hence marriage. While the more years she spends in tertiary education the thinner the chances of getting married. There are several reasons that have been outlined from discussions with both male and female friends why this is so.
In the first place it is percieved that the more educated a woman gets the more independent she gets and the less likely that she will respect her husband. This is attributed to the financial security that the woman assumes due to her career hence the male counterpart think that the woman will be rude in the household as she would "stand up" to her husband because they are on the same level or worse still if she is on a higher level. But is this true? Well its an open question and I am sure everyone has a different way of looking at it.
Secondly, sometimes women try to pursue a career before settling down in a family because of the fear that when they get married they may not get a chance of reaching their goals as their partners may say "you have studied enough!" or "what dont I provide for you" or "aaaha so you want be like those other women who dont respect their husbands". In as much as this may sound funny, it has been a set back for several women who would have loved to continue in a certain career path.
These and many other reasons which you may know, have restricted women to pursue careers in certain fields back home in Malawi. But what is the picture in other countries in Africa and outside Africa? The answer to this question is open, I will let you as a reader answer this yourself. But if you ask me, every country has a different picture with the Western world being far ahead on women managing careers and marriage, others have even chosen their career at the expense of family, that is they choose to be single so as to pursue their career "at peace".
This is a topic that fascinates me a lot, "being a career woman". I will conclude by saying, women we can pursue our careers which ever field we want. No matter what perceptions society has, we can either prove them right or wrong depending on how we carry ourselves.
In this day and age it is good for a woman to be able to support herself and her family. And to those in our society who are bothered by women pursuing their careers, I believe its high time we reason together with our women and encourage them. The sky is the limit!
Have a blessed day!
Saturday, 8 March 2008
International Women's Day- Being a Woman
I could not help noticing today from the topic that one of our Malawian bloggers wrote today concerning "unmarried women". It is a very intersting article and I would urge you to read the artilcle as well from thins link, http://ndagha.blogspot.com/
I thought we could share today on "being a woman". I myself being a woman I have observed different things in society that only happen to us of the female gender because we are women. In as much as some if not most of the things are frustrating, these experiences help me to realise what role I have as a woman in society. Whether single or married women have a huge role to play in society.
So women out there no matter what we are going through or facing, let us shine the joy that the Lord has imparted in us as women. Let us beautify our societies like flowers and precious stones. Remember there is a beautiful and unique personality in every woman and that no one can change.
Have a blessed day and remember you are a woman who can make a difference in your society which only you can bring and no one else.
I thought we could share today on "being a woman". I myself being a woman I have observed different things in society that only happen to us of the female gender because we are women. In as much as some if not most of the things are frustrating, these experiences help me to realise what role I have as a woman in society. Whether single or married women have a huge role to play in society.
So women out there no matter what we are going through or facing, let us shine the joy that the Lord has imparted in us as women. Let us beautify our societies like flowers and precious stones. Remember there is a beautiful and unique personality in every woman and that no one can change.
Have a blessed day and remember you are a woman who can make a difference in your society which only you can bring and no one else.
Saturday, 23 February 2008
WELCOME 2008
Hello again, it has been a while since I wrote but here I am again.
The year 2008 has started with so many different things happening. Some joyous others painful and heart breaking but in everything I give thanks to the almighty God.
Today we had a great bible sharing with my coleagues and different topic were shared.
I wanted to share a song with you that blessed my heart today. I hope it will uplift you as well.
The song goes:
"Bless the Lord, oh my soul
and all that is within me
bless His holy name.
He (God) has done great things
Bless His holy name".
When I sang this song I thought of all the good things, challenging things, not so easy to accept things, the list goes on and yet I still had to say " God has done great things and I will bless His holy name".
Have a good day
The year 2008 has started with so many different things happening. Some joyous others painful and heart breaking but in everything I give thanks to the almighty God.
Today we had a great bible sharing with my coleagues and different topic were shared.
I wanted to share a song with you that blessed my heart today. I hope it will uplift you as well.
The song goes:
"Bless the Lord, oh my soul
and all that is within me
bless His holy name.
He (God) has done great things
Bless His holy name".
When I sang this song I thought of all the good things, challenging things, not so easy to accept things, the list goes on and yet I still had to say " God has done great things and I will bless His holy name".
Have a good day
Thursday, 3 January 2008
HAPPY 2008?
Hello again
This is another year, 2008, we thank God for carrying us through to the new year.
I don't have so much to say than to wish you all a blessed 2008.
Yes its the begining of another year, only God knows what this year holds for each and everyone of us. In all you do put God first and through those ups and downs of life remember God is always with you.
Remember the past is there to learn from, the present is here for us to make a difference and the future is there for us to have hope!
God Bless
This is another year, 2008, we thank God for carrying us through to the new year.
I don't have so much to say than to wish you all a blessed 2008.
Yes its the begining of another year, only God knows what this year holds for each and everyone of us. In all you do put God first and through those ups and downs of life remember God is always with you.
Remember the past is there to learn from, the present is here for us to make a difference and the future is there for us to have hope!
Looking forward to keeping in touch with all of you this year.
God Bless
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)