Category: blog

I travelled to the historic town of Grand-Bassam which is a resort town near the city of Abidjan, in Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa. It is known for its busy, palm-backed beach stretching along the Atlantic coastline. The old French colonial town centre, once the nation’s capital, is filled with decaying 19th century and 20th century houses. Along with being a beach town, Grand Bassam is also a city of some historical significance. The former governor’s residence has become the National Museum with a scanty display of masks, costumes and traditional outfits. Sadly, not much has been done to restore the building to its former glory. There are a few colonial houses of interest but they are all in a shabby condition. Grand Bassam was the most important port, economic and judicial centre of Cote d’Ivoire. As a vibrant centre of the territory of French trading posts in the Gulf of Guinea, it attracted populations from all parts of Africa, Europe and the Mediterranean. Today, it attracts some tourists curious about this World Heritage site and the beach of course! What is noticeable is that the architectural integrity of the buildings is under threat in many cases because of lack of maintenance. I left Grand Bassam with mixed feelings……happy that I got to walk the streets of this historical town and peep through rusty fencing but, with a sense of having visited a ghost town! Kind Regards

Fazila Dahall

The genocide in Rwanda resulted in the deaths of over a million people within 100 days while the international community watched and did nothing. How many times have we said, ” Never again”! Did it leave a stain on the world’s conscience? Death was not the only outcome.Tens of thousands of people had been tortured, mutilated and raped. Tens of thousands suffered machete cuts, bullet wounds, infection and starvation.

 

The persecution of Tutsis and Hutu moderates which started in 1990 and waves of massacres acted as a precursor to the genocide. The persecution, though barely recognised by the outside world, was an early indication of what was to come. Genocide was instant! The perpetrators had promised an apocalypse and the operation which emerged was a devastating frenzy of violence, bloodshed and merciless killing. No Tutsi was exempt. There were thousands of widows Many had been victims of rape and sexual abuse or had seen their own children murdered.

 

I went back three years later and visited some villages where NGOs were doing some great work. I met a few women who had been victims of terrible violence. Laurence, a frail looking woman scarred for life, led me to her place. As I walked into the sparsely furnished room, a cracked mirror on the wall caught my attention. As if reading my mind, she said in Kirundi……” Looking everyday at my face reminds me that I am still alive and I have one more day with my son”. I glanced, through the small window, at the little boy playing in the mud with his friends unaware of the unfolding tragedy. As I was leaving Laurence caught my hand and when  I turned our eyes locked. I understood. Less than a year after meeting her, I got news that Laurence had passed on. I had a promise to fulfill.

Zanzibar…..Stone Town, a world heritage site!

Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. The archipelago, also known as Spice Islands, was famous worldwide for its cloves and other spices, and plantations were developed to grow them. Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania. It consists of many small islands and two large ones: Unguja, the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar and Pemba. The capital is Zanzibar City, located on the island of Unguja.

It is on the island of Unguja that I landed transiting in Nairobi from South Africa. The Unguja airport is small and unattractive. It seems as if time has stopped there. Arriving on a night flight, I was eager to get to my hotel situated some five minutes from the airport. The Zanzibar Beach resort boasts a long strip of beach. I couldn’t wait to discover the place.

First, let me tell you what brought me here. The African Union was holding a training on “Building Capacity on Entrepreneurship and Leadership for Youth and Women Empowerment” For the next few days we were going to have a a fully fledged programme around the theme in exotic Zanzibar. In the evening, I would explore the historic centre of Zanzibar City which is Stone Town, a World Heritage Site. I marveled at the narrow alleys of Stone Town, carved doorways steeped in history.

The name Zanzibar is derived from the Persian “Zang-bar” meaning “black coast”. The most important architectural features in Stone Town are the Livingstone house, the Old dispensary of Zanzibar, the Guliani Bridge, Ngome Kongwe (the old fort of Zanzibar) and the House of Wonders, a former sultan’s palace. The town of Kidichi features the Hamamni Persian Baths , built by the immigrants from Shiraz, Iran during the reign of Barghash bin Said.

Shaped by a turbulent history from slave traders and sultans to pirates and princesses, Zanzibar has an identity of its own. It is from this tiny island, explorers planned journeys deep into the heart of Africa, slaves relinquished their last hopes of freedom, mighty empires were built, battles waged and merchants amassed vast fortunes from the fragrant clove bud.

Despite its tiny size, Zanzibar holds an almost legendary status among travelers as an exotic island paradise blessed with palm fringed shores, timeless fishing village and lush spice plantations. Arab dhows drift across the turquoise waters,elegant in their simplicity beside the lumbering bulk of vast container ships anchored offshore.

Soon it was time to pack and I had to leave the dazzling beaches and coral reefs, cobbled streets of Stone town with the smell of spice. Zanzibar boasts an incredible history coupled with a fascinating culture which draw tourists to its shores…..a unique African experience!

Il est 5:30 du matin à l’île Poovar petit morceau de terre perdu au milieu de la mer et les rivières de kovalam à kerala… je suis assise sur mon tapis de yoga et je laisse la douce brise du matin me bercer tant la nuit à été chaude… et j’écoute je ne fais rien d’ autre , j’écoute. les yeux fermés, j’ecoute le silence… le silence de l’immensité… le silence de la mer! J’écoute la rivière qui me murmure ses secrets, ses songes, elle me raconte ses matins avant le levé du soleil … j’ecoute et plus Loin le chant de l’azaan , la voix cristaline du muezzin m offre un doux mélange avec cette autre voix, cette vibration vocale venue d’une âme pleine de dévotion. Cette voix féminine chante les louanges de la nature, les mantras Hindus et l’apel à la prière des musulmans rythmes par le cris des grillons, des crapaux et des oiseaux me bercent, m’enivrent…. ahhhh soudain des profondeurs de la terre se dégage tout doucement une autre vibration à peine perceptible Encore des chants, des sons des vibrations…tout invite au silence en moi… tout invite au calme, à la serenite.. à la réflection…

” Where is Pitu, Mommy ? ” …. Pitu was very old and sick, he was also very tired and went to take a very, very long nap, u know like a cat nap …, I explained to my son.
Except this time it’s a forever nap!
So today we will say goodbye to him and bury him with rose petals and then we will plant flowers on top of him so we will always see him everyday when we walk by Milans window . He will never be forgotten but instead we will now enjoy him in the form of flowers…
Zalen, ” Mommy, are the flowers going to meow ?” How sweet and innocent.

My son is five and my daughter is two and half. They both understood that our beloved cat was no longer physically around and that our family had just lost a very dear and important member.
It was interesting to watch the difference in their reactions due to their emotional maturity level : my son was very emotional when saying goodbye , while my daughter was more interested in repeating what I was trying to explain.
Up until losing our cat, my kids only experience of loss was losing a toy! This has been a rather big life lesson and although I’m no expert on how to handle death with kids, I do believe we explained it in its simplest form…. ” we are returning Pitu back to the earth ”

Where did the time go , she was just a baby” …. ” Enjoy every minute, they grow up so fast” … ” My baby is all grown up “..said every single parent ever!

It starts when you are about three months pregnant, strangers aka parents just can’t help themselves from engaging in baby bump banter at the sight of your protruding tummy. The remaining six months will sound like this …” How far along ?”…” It’s a boy isn’t it, I can tell by the way you are carrying “…”oh its a girl for sure, I can tell by the way you are carrying…” You have that pregnancy glow ” (meanwhile it’s sweat because you are carrying a mini human inside of you 24/7!…and my favorite, ” pregnancy suits you ” …as if it’s like this Summers’ latest trend off a Cavali runway.

The reason I chose this topic was because as I was grocery shopping with my two kids today, I noticed a pregnant lady and I was just about to say to her
” you must be carrying a little boy!”

I am one one of them now……
#stranger #parent