Dear Patience, I say thank you

I sought your smile among the crowds,

It was the brightest of them all.

I sought you face among the crowds,

It was the cutest of them all.

You had me without even trying

 

I have learnt to love again

In the process to live again as well

You showed me what love is

I am glad to call you mine

You had me without even trying

 

I love you Patience,

Patience was all I had while I waited

While I prayed, Patience was all I received

You are my beloved, my Patience.

You had me without even trying

“We are the perfect couple, we’re just not in the perfect situation.”

 

Image Source: Google Images.

 

 

 

Reading List for 2016

A book a day!

I recently read Gather Together In My name by Tracy Price-Thompson. It was a great read.
It is very graphic though and I would not encourage the younger reader to pick it yet. This book kept me company as I traveled to Kigali.
Great company it was, so great that I was done with the book before we arrived in Kigali.

I am a reader. I read in the taxi, on the bus, in the waiting room and in bed. Books are however pretty expensive in Uganda.
Whenever I find a book sale in this city, I get myself some good purchases. Last year, I picked a few titles that I have saved to read this year.
Thanks to the flea markets and the 4040 Katale at the end of the year.

This is not a resolution. This is me. In 2015, I read about 40 books, this year I hope to get to 50 or more.

The list below is of the titles that I already possess and I will be reading:

1. Shantaram – Gregory David Roberts
2. Blink – Malcolm Gladwell
3. A Nation in Labour (a poetry collection) – Harriet Anena
4. The Diary Of a Young Girl – Anne Frank
5. Made in America – Bill Bryson
6. Land of a Thousand Hills, My Life in Rwanda – Rosamond Halsey Carr
7. The Message of Ephesians – John Stott
8. Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
9. Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid – Bill Bryson
10. The Lost Continent – Bill Bryson
11. Neither Here nor There – Bill Bryson
12. Down Under – Bill Bryson
13. The Secret Letters of the Monk who sold his Ferrari – Robin Sharma
14. Driving Over Lemons – Chris Stewart
15. The Mosquito Coast – Paul Theroux
16. Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less – Jeffrey Archer

Then they are the books that are a must read especially for the on-going African reading challenge:

1. Kintu – Jennifer Makumbi
2. We Need New Names – NoViolet Bulawayo
3. Born on a Tuesday – John Elnathan
4. Through My African Eyes – Jeff Koinange

Of course, this list is not exhaustive. I will be updating as I get more books.
Currently, I am reading Tim Lott’s Rumours of a Hurricane and The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller. The latter, I am not only reading. I am studying and taking notes.

Over to you, who will you be reading?
Who would you recommmend I read? Hit me up in the comments below.

Thank you for reading and I wish you a wonderful 2016!

“A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it or offer your own version in return.”

Salman Rushdie

Image Source: Google images

The sound of silence #256Poetry

The birds have left our country,
We awake to the sound of the machine gun,
And the wailing of the mother who just lost a son.
Can you hear it?
Will you shed a tear for Burundi?

We abandoned our homes,
All that is left are bullet shells in the living room,
And sun rays trying to get in through the bullet-riddled walls.
Will you hear it?
Burundi is crying!

I remember the children’s laughter at the beach on Lake Tanganyika,
All I hear now are grenade explosions in the distance,
And all I see is fleeing Burundians.
We are bleeding.
Will you shed a tear for Burundi?

Let us keep hope alive

This poem is dedicated to the people of Burundi especially those who have been directly affected by the on-going crisis.
I pray that the Lord may hear your cries. May He comfort you and keep you strong in these difficult times. May your departed loved ones find peaceful rest in the Lord.

I pray and stand with you!

However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived
the things God has prepared for those who love him” – 1 Corinthians 2:9

Photo credit: Google Images

He says, She says

He says:             I have dreams

                                I am terrified of my dreams,

                                Yet, dreaming is all I do

                                Lord, please wake me up!

 

She says:           Dreaming is proof of living

                                Living is loving,

                                In my dreams, I dream of you

                                So, say you will dream of us.

 

He says:            In my dreams, I see you

                                I see your beautiful face,

                                I am afraid I may break you

                                Yet, I dream of a future when we are one.

She says:            I think of you in colors that don’t exist yet

                                Look into my eyes as I fantasize of us

 

He says:              Come, let us a walk

                                A walk where our dreams come alive!

 

“I love you the way a drowning man loves air. And it would destroy me to have you just a little.”

–Rae Carson

 

 

My world changed when you left

Words cannot describe how much….

 

It is almost dawn,

I sit still

I failed to sleep

The radio drowns my thoughts.

 

Tonight, I thought of you,

Tonight, I could not sleep

I stare at your eyes in the photo on the wall,

Your beautiful scent still lingers in this room.

 

It is almost dawn,

Sleep eludes me again

The radio drowns my thoughts,

You will will never leave my heart.

 

Tonight, I thought of you,

Tonight, I could not sleep

When you left, my world changed,

I miss your sweet voice.

 

I love you, Patience!

 

“Before I sleep and after I wake up and all the hours in between … you occupy my mind. So, practically every moment of the day you are in my thoughts. I miss you.”
Source Unknown

Image credit: Google Images

#UgBlogWeek What shall we name this one?

Do not get your hopes up about this post. I am multitasking – replying emails as I blog. I suck at multitasking. My attention can only be steady when focused on one. I have just finished reading the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I do not know what took me so long to read this book.
We are just on the third of #UgBlogWeek and I cannot keep up anymore. The blogs are too many. Guys, thank you for blogging!

I can not seem to remember what it is that I planned to blog about. My notes have gone missing from the notebook. Or maybe, I did not even write anything down. Am I dreaming?
After reading the Alchemist, there has been a shift in the way I look at life. I have learnt that happiness is choice that I must make everyday.
I must read more. I have just picked up The World-Tilting Gospel by Dan Phillips. I hope to finish it before the week ends. This book was recommended by work colleague.

It is almost 5:00 pm.

I will tell you more tomorrow.

#UgBlogWeek The pressure

The #UgBlogWeek began yesterday and being a Monday, my desk was so full that I could not find time to post anything. I cannot promise that I will be faithful to a post a day. I am already a day a late.
When my desk cleared a bit, I got a few minutes to read some posts. I must say there are amazing bloggers who are sitting in silence. You must must be wondering about the title of this post. Well to be honest, I failed a better fitting one. There is so much pressure to keep up with this. I seem to be stuck here.

The poem here below was written a couple of years ago. It is all I have as we begin this week.As we come close to the elections, may our nation not turn to this.

As I entered this room,
All I smelt was doom,
A room so darkened with gloom
In a nation doomed.

The birds sing no more,
The wind blows no more,
The sun shines no more,
In a nation doomed.

The children have gone silent,
Mothers and fathers meet not,
My heart cries out,
In a nation doomed.

All I hear are gunshots,
My eyes are bursting to brim,
Because of the smoke-filled sky,
Mine is a nation doomed.

“The future is uncertain but the end is always near.”
― Jim Morrison

World Food Day 2015, hellofood launches campaign “You Say. We Give” to fight hunger

Today is World Food Day – an annual day of action against hunger. Every year on that day, people around the world come together for a common cause: to contribute to the eradication of hunger. It all began in 1945 in Quebec with the creation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to raise awareness and engage people in the fight against hunger.

World Food Day

Photo credit: World Food Day
Based on FAO’s research, 805 million people, one in nine worldwide, live with chronic hunger. 60% of these are women, while almost 5 million children under the age of 5 die of malnutrition-related causes every year.

In honour of this day, food ordering app hellofood launches “You Say. We Give”, a week-long campaign to encourage collective efforts and be part of this global movement.

HelloFood

Photo credit:Hello Food

From the 16th to the 22nd of October, hellofood will be collecting its customers’ wishes. One can choose between 5 stock food items (rice, beans, flour, sugar and maize) simply by commenting on the Facebook post. hellofood will donate 1kg of that on his/her behalf to the Elohim Child Development Center. If the post is shared, hellofood will double the donation. So, the more people speak, the more hellofood gives.

With one simple click, hellofood will donate one kilo of food to the Elohim Child Development Center. Giving has never been so easy. Join the global movement to end one of the most persistent universal challenges. Be part of the solution and make a tangible difference with hellofood.

About hellofood

Hellofood and its affiliate brand foodpanda group is the leading global online food delivery marketplace, active in 40 countries on five continents. The company enables restaurants to become visible in the online and mobile world and provides them with a constantly evolving online technology. For consumers, hellofood offers the convenience to order food online and the widest gastronomic range, from which they can choose their favorite meal on the web or via the app. hellofood operates in Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Algeria. Delivery Club operates in Russia. NetPincer in Hungary, Donesi in Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro, and Pauza in Croatia, Room Service in Malaysia and Singapore, City Delivery in Philippines, Food By Phone in Thailand, Koziness and Dial-a-Dinner in Hong Kong, Eatoye in Pakistan, and 24h in UAE. foodpanda operates in India, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Russia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Georgia.

About World Food Day

World Food Day is the annual day of action against hunger taking place on the 16th of October. It began in 1945 in Quebec and the last 15 years great progresses have been achieved: 40 countries have halved the proportion of people who suffer from hunger; the likelihood of a child dying before age five has also been cut in half, which means about 17,000 children are saved every day; and extreme poverty rates have also been cut in half.

“When we work to end childhood hunger, we are giving our love to kids who need it so much they will never ask for it.” Beau Bridges

Hoops for Grace Vs Rafting against Extinction

Dear Patience,

I have been looking at this screen for the last 2 days. There are lots of things that I want to tell you but I do not know how to start. First things first, thank you so much. I received the package of goodness. You know me too well. JJ said you called. Thanks again. I miss you everyday. I tick off the calendar days – they are edging closer.

It has not been easy these past months. I have learnt to choose happiness over all else. It is tougher to wear a smile when you heart is bleeding. Story of my life. I have been reading too. Last weekend, I got myself a month’s worth of reading material at no cost. God still prevails!

October begins tomorrow. Like it has been done for the past 2 years, my friends of the 40 Days over 40 Smiles Foundation are having the annual fundraiser – Hoops 4 Grace. As usual, the event will take place at Bush Court (Naguru) opposite Kampala Parents School. Entrance is only 5,000 Ugx. It is for a good cause – A dormitory for the girls at Elohim.

Go show them some love! It will take place this Saturday!

Basketball and more!

On the same day, people throughout the world will march as one for one common purpose:  to educate and spread awareness about the poaching crisis and illegal wildlife trade in ivory and rhino horn that is plaguing our world RIGHT NOW.  In Uganda however, we will not be marching. We will be rafting the Mighty Nile instead!

Conquer the Nile for Rhinos

Over the era of Idi Amin and the civil wars that followed, severe poaching across Uganda resulted in the violent demise of Northern white rhinos and elephants in Uganda. Uganda went from having more mega-herbivores per square kilometer than anywhere else in Africa – with famed herds of thousands of elephants – to seeing rhinos become extinct and elephants dropping to their lowest ever population of just a few hundred.

In recent years the poaching of elephants and rhinos in Africa has reached unprecedented heights as the demand for ivory and rhino horn has soared in China and other mainly Asian markets.  Whilst poaching is of concern in Uganda, the efforts of the UWA and partner conservation organisations have succeeded in sustaining a slow but steady growth in its elephant population. Uganda’s elephant numbers have increased by 600% since their lowest point in the mid-1990s, and we are the only country in Africa who can claim zero poaching of rhino since their reintroduction in 2006.

Whatever event you choose, you will be doing for a good cause! Stand up and represent, your country needs you!

Patience, I must go now. Always know that my love for you is limitless.

“I can’t text you roses, or fax you my heart. I’d email you kisses, but we’d still be apart. I love you to pieces, and just wish you’d see that I care for you so much because you mean the world to me.” Mahmoud El Hallab

Thank you Susan!

Dear Patience,

How are you? Have you adjusted to the cold? I miss you more everyday. JJ asked me why you went away, I told him you will call him. Make sure you do.
He says he wants a photo of you in Bulaya!

The rains have started again. Kampala is getting cooler by the day. of course, the sunshine does not give up easily. It gets its way always.
Today, I want to tell you about Susan.

The first time I met Susan was in July 2014. She was interviewing me for a job I badly needed. She was with her husband during the interview and I liked the way he let her take charge of the entire interview. From the many questions she asked me that day, only one remained in my head for a long time after. It is a question many prospective employers ask their would-be or soon-to-be employees. The question is”Where do you see yourself in the next 5 or 10 or more years?”
I do not remember what my answer was to the question that day. However, I do remember that I was not prepared for the question (if anyone is out there and has a perfectly correct answer to the question, get in touch) and I was quite shocked. I stumbled back and back and forth and talked about my love for nature, food etc. Totally unconnected!

He has the perfectly correct answer!

Photo credit: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/theintern/

I did get the job! In the course of my time at the company, Susan and I did discuss about my future plans both personally and professionally at length.
Very informative and fun-filled discussions we had. I must add that Susan is amazing at reading people. She knew my sad and happy moments effortless.
Patience, you must be wondering why I have started using the past tense. I will tell you. Susan left the company a few months ago. It was sad to see her go. I lost a boss (she hates being called boss). So I will rephrase, I lost a friend.

Susan, this is for you;

Thank you for being my boss and also my friend,
Thank you for all the advice and counsel you gave, I benefited a lot,
Thank you for taking the time to listen to me.

I wish you only the best that life has to give,
May you continue to infect those who meet with your radiance,
May you be more!

I wish you joy, love and happiness,
May the sun rise to meet you as you awake,
May God’s blessing keep you warm when the days turn grey.

Be more!

Thank you again!

Photo credit: http://www.clickinmoms.com/cmprodaily/author/amylucy/

Patience, when you meet Susan you will know that what I write is just an observation. She is beyond my description.

I love you Patience, I always will.