ALL 8 YEARS OLDS FOR PRESIDENT; ABOLISH SECONDARY AND TERTIARY EDUCATION!

All 8 to 10 year olds should stand for president. They should be ministers, members of parliament at that age. All 8 year olds should be midwives and nurses. Everyone from as early as 8 through to 16 should own houses, cars and be in-charge of our school system. In fact, all schools should end by the time children are 16 or maybe let’s say when they are 8. There is no point for universities, or any other secondary or tertiary education institute. Abolish it all! There is no point in it all. If we as adults are going to send an 8 year old into marriage, we assume he/she can have a family, raise children and grow a community. We should take the next step and also nominate them for government office. Shouldn't that be the natural progression! While we are at it, lets break down all the secondary schools and universities. Now that we have married them off, there is no need for further education. We’ve taken them out of school in the first place! Let’s stand up and chant and shout: “ALL 8 YEAR OLDS FOR PRESIDENT, ABOLISH SCHOOLS AFTER 2 YEARS OF EDUCATION. THAT WHAT WE ARE DOING, THAT IS OUR FUTURE! THAT’S WHAT WE ARE CREATING!” ALL 8 YEAR OLDS FOR PRESIDENT!

Drinks on my Head

This is a podcast on my reflections of some of the things we consider as norms whilst growing up. The podcast was recorded in Mwandi, Western Province Zambia where I was working for a few weeks at the time.
This podcast aims to provoke questions and encourage discussion around some aspects of our society that we consider normal or assume would not impact on our lives in any way. Enjoy listening!
Drinks on my head

Advancement Nigeria 2.0 conference

Here is a short video where I talk about Education and the youth. I also talk about iSchool and our work in Education. I am very passionate about Education and I really believe we need to change the current learning and teaching system for us to develop for now and the future. Thank you Tulu and Sola for the opportunity to share my thoughts. 

My baby's gone to school: how scary!

I took my son to school today and I must say I’m quite sad and extremely worried. I have conflicting feelings; I’m excited that my little person has grown and can be on his own at school but I have fear of what could go wrong.

I have two children, and when my daughter aged 9 now, started school I wasn’t as paranoid. We took her to school, got the uniform and she changed from there. I asked for a picture to be taken. She then said bye to her dad and I and asked us to leave. My son on the other hand, screamed his head off when getting out of the car but jumped up and down excitedly once he was in the classroom. I said bye to him but he just turned and walked off to join the rest of the class. No, I don’t feel neglected, I’m worried.

When my daughter started school, she could talk, feed herself and communicate quite well for a 2 year old. My son on the other hand is two years two months; he can only say ‘no’, ‘mama’, ‘come’ and won’t sit down for more than 10 minutes (not even on a plane). He’s still in diapers and prefers to pack up building blocks into different boxes than actually building something. My daughter learns best through puzzles and games. She’d rather dance, make art and crafts. She’ll rather do her math using pizza boxes thinking about how many boxes we’d need to cater for so many princesses considering the number of slices in each box. Of course my children are not out-right Einstein’s but they could be, and that’s where the worry of taking them to school comes in.

By second grade, my daughter was bored with school. She told the teacher that she was tired of doing the same things over and over and wanted to learn something different. Culturally, she was rude and the teacher did not hesitate to let me know of this. She also told me that my child could not sit still and got distracted easily. I thought, “of course she won’t sit still, she’s bored and looking for something much more interesting to do”. I told the teacher in as much tact as I could master, that Daisy was only bored because the learning was boring. And that maybe she could accommodate her by varying her teaching techniques. Needless to say I think that went on deaf ears.

So taking my son to school today made me wonder if he’ll come home and be bored too. If the teacher will make him sit down and behave like everyone else, as if he were a clone. If he’ll come home and not be able to stack his favourite toys in the colour codes he wants them to be in. If, he will no longer be interested in examining what’s making his favourite car, not move so quickly. All these worries are very real to me. I know the education system and what good it can do, but I also know the Zambian education system and what damage it can do. In my very strong opinion, I believe most schools and education systems kill creativity. They make it stand in a line and not move; they make it not want to draw how it sees the world. They make it sit in rigid chairs and make it behave in the same way as everything else until it dies and there is nothing else left but a dead clone of what could have been.

With the Zambian school system my fear is also cultural, how questioning is not allowed. How it is “wrong” to ask your teacher questions, especially when the teacher doesn't know the answer. How the teacher is viewed and views themselves as fountains of all knowledge and that the child does not know anything unless told by the teacher. How child centered learning is merely a theory taught in teacher training schools and is a myth in the classroom. Fears and worries very close to home.

This can change of course as creativity can always be revived and but it’s so much better when it’s tendered and encouraged at a young age. When thinking outside the box and using your available resources becomes a fundamental base for all learning, the possibilities of inventions, change, and development are indefinable. Mind you, this can be with any child. I should know; I've seen it in the classroom, in my family, in my community. There is so much potential out there that needs to be harnessed. So much that can be used for future generations and civilisations that can be questioned and put right for the benefit of the majority.

Well it’s only day one and I know I’m being melodramatic about it (with good reason), but the fear and worry is real. I’ll try my level best to encourage creativity at home, teach as many local languages and foreign ones as I can. I don’t hate the school system; I encourage learning through interaction and observation too. I just don’t like what it can do and how bad things can turn out.

Do get a chance to watch this: http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html?qshb=1&utm_expid=166907-20&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.zm%2F

The Evolution of Priscilla

When I had my second baby, I hadn't yet worked for 2 year at the company where I was and that meant I could not be given the 3 months allowed maternity leave. However I had a wonderful boss and he offered to give me 2 months of paid leave. This left little time for me to spend with my new born or get a nanny and much less to train her to take care of the baby the way I wanted it done.

I asked one of my colleagues at the office if he knew anyone in his neighbourhood who could help. I had a selection of nannies to interview based on work experience, how they talked and yes I was prejudiced to how they dressed and what they generally looked liked. Then came through Priscilla. She had just completed her Grade 12 about 8 months before, she spoke English and Nyanja, lived in the neighbouring compound and had taken care of her sisters children. She seemed stable, young and teachable. By this time I only had a month to get back to work. So Priscilla started work the next day.

She started well, cleaning and sterilizing feeding bottles as required, changing diapers and cleaning all my pans and scraping off the non-stick coating on them with a steel mesh wool scrubber. These have now been discarded due to the amount of dangerous rust they collected after every clean.

So off I went to work and when I got home, I found the baby clean and sleeping and Priscilla watching the local television channels. 4 weeks later Priscilla had switched to African magic and that's all I found her watching. I asked her after 3 months to be sleeping over as I needed to attend some evening classes.  She would cook diner with as much cooking oil as she could pour. Lessons were learned here and we moved on.

About 5 months after she begun spending nights over, her viewing preference changed dramatically. She was now into detective series and comedies, music videos (Trace and MTV) and the occasional Disney Junior channel for my son. I came home one night to be told she had set a reminder for me for a new detective series which she thought might be really good.

A year after being hired she decided she wanted to go back to school and get a diploma in Pre-school teaching. I encouraged her, wondering what would happen to my son who'd just turned a year. So she went on to get some enrollment forms at a school half an hour from the house and decided she'd start 4 months later. A week before her school was to start, she brought Rebecca who she said was her cousin or a relation of that sort. Rebecca spoke very little English but had 2 children of her own. Priscilla went on to further tell me that Rebecca would work for half a day, from Monday to Friday during which time Priscilla would be in school. To my amazement Priscilla said she would also sort out Rebecca's wages from whatever I gave her (this was before the revision of minimum wage). And there I had it, an employee employing in my own house! And of course it only took 6 months for Rebecca to also come up with her own ideas about going to school, which again I encouraged. Sadly, Rebecca is moving to a different town with her family and I now await Priscilla's next move in her evolution process.

Nibbles around Lusaka (part 1)

I weigh about 48kgs and I eat like a horse as the saying goes. I look for food that to me is almost orgasmic if not completely so. Food should be enjoyed and the taste savored such that the thought of a particular dish should make one instantly salivate. So in this quest for orgasmic food, I've had to have a little bit of this and that.

I'll begin with what I believe everyone should try, the "Toasted Chicken" from  Food Faire Arcades. This is a sandwich and for those who don't like bread; yes those who don't like bread, should try this. Juicy and really really yummy! The sandwiches at Buzz Cafe, cross roads are okay-ish, but a little dry for those who like juicy but they come with an amazing salad. The chicken mayo at L.A fast food is also nice in its own kind of way, just not as orgasmic though as the Food Faire one.

When it comes to chicken wings, nobody does it better than Mwambula lodge in Jesmondine. Times Cafe at arcades has these little chicken strips coated in feta cheese served with french fries and coleslaw, simply divine. Their pepper sauce is something else, you don't even need meat to dip into it, some chips will do just fine.

Something else to look for at arcades is the Bacon and Cheese wedges served in Mike's kitchen. These are thick potato wedges still in their skins, served with really nice healthy almost fat free bacon and a serious slab of melted cheese sauce. Yum! Yum! Yum!


For Nshima, go to Thornpark. Ziale is okay too, but the t-bone at longacres market is just the bomb. A couple of my colleagues and I used to drive all the way from Ridgeway to Woodlands, about 7 people in a Corolla just for Nshima at Yumbayanga market. Very very addictive. Pansupa in Villa does their tradition foods really well too. The V.I.P room is cool, its more than one can eat and really tastes authentic.


For pizza, its always Debonairs. But it only really goes down if you add the Steers chips and that Steers seasoning salt. If you're having Debonairs Mandahill pizza, then you might stop over at Curry in a Hurry for some chicken curry, though they are not as good as Dill restaurant in Kabulonga. Still at Mandahill, try the vegetarian pizza (which is really good, tastes like meat) at Ciao Baby Cucina though the type of pizza is more like that at La Gondola at Arcades.


Mint lounge at Acacia park just behind Arcades does the best wraps in my books. The T-bone too at Yo cafe at Pyramid plaza in Ridgeway is really really good. Sharwama plate at Food Faire is good, though a cheaper almost tastier one is from any one of the Food Palace outlets, garlic sauce and all. Great sharwama in Northmead too, try the ones at the old Family 24 place.

One other very very savory  part I should have mentioned earlier(Thanks Mak for the reminder), Ribs! ribs! ribs! Served at Mike's kitchen of course, delicious, juicy with a glazing out of this world. Simply mouth watering and literary finger licking delicious. But for a different taste but almost as good, yet a little zingy, try the ones at Engineers or Side Walk cafe as it is called now by Farmers House in CBD or even Steers.

Let's not forget the goat meat at Olympia market. Sausage yambuzi, true michopo!

I have been to a whole lot of other places but why discredit them with a bad review. Time to move on to other places or even the same places and try out everything else on the menu. Bon appetit to me!

Something else now!

I created this account some tiimmme back, with the view that I had something to write about. I posted 1 little item then hush! writer's block came upon me, i.e writers block using a keyboard because I still used to write on paper. Then I thought, maybe I needed inspiration, a little something to motivate my fingers to click click click.. with my poetry there's always strong emotion, deep pain, anger, passion and I'm scribbling on anything including toilet paper.

So maybe here is my inspiration, my life, my experiences, very cliche but very true. And since then, I have grown, cried, love n lost and gained a 'reputation' for this and that. My have another baby, left home, lived in limbo and finally wrote something on my blog.

I have also found my strength, decided on what I value and what I don't, maintained my tolerance and above all renewed my faith in my God. With that done, its not too late to edit those resolutions before my next birthday(thanks simunza for the idea) and flow with life. PEACE to you ALL!!

The Beginning

In the begining, it was.. it is now.. and will be. With everything, a passion of creativity follows, pushing, shoving, inspiring, creating. The art is in everyone, that believes, feels, see, wants.. its your SECRET. Explore it, Use it, Live it. Believe!