This time, the driver albeit is making the last run of his shift, acquiescent in reproach affirms that she must purchase the ticket from the outside booths before he lets her proceed any further. In solidarity, the others that had been waiting ahead of her at the bus stop all make an effort to assist her in purchasing the ticket. Yet, at the same time praying silently; that the bus driver does not drive off without any of them on board.

It has happened before and the women are all very much aware of this. Drivers short on time, in their allocated shifts will not wait for you to purchase a ticket that should’ve been done before boarding in some parts of central London. This has been the rule for some good 5yrs but it is not well publicised by the transport authority for reasons only known to them. Worse still – if these women miss this bus, it means loss of earnings at their next job. Clock-work is what this country has taught them. Everything has to start and finish on its allocated time. It is a far cry from the lands they’ve flown away from. The dreams they held of a land like “heaven”.

This “heaven” money does not grow on trees – this they have come to understand and accept. It is earned by making sure you work at all odd jobs going at whatever time, night or day, rain or shine, snow or wind. Jobs you do under constant fear of being picked up by immigration officers, or worse, coming across wicked persons whose aim is to cut short your life. They have learnt that not all white persons are kind, generous or eager to help freely as was the initial take.

Yes. Some have died trying to get this “heaven” money. One of the sisters’s bodies was found floating in the river…At first, no one dared come to identify her. For in doing so, it would reveal their own true identities.

The other sister had died out of sheer exhaustion they thought. She’d returned from work, took a bath and went to bed. Only she never woke up. They all said in hindsight she hadn’t seemed well, some even went as far as guessed she was sick with the dreaded disease. Still. It was no use.The medication required her to rest and eat properly. Only the doctors giving her the medication were not aware of her immigration status. Her irregular attendance to clinic an incovenience at worst. Her sole purpose in coming to this “heaven” had been out of trying to earn some money to put her children to school back home. She couldn’t not afford the luxury of prescribed rest nor the proper food. Instead, she had scraped and saved, surviving on KFC’s mainly and the discounted sandwiches at the closing hours in supermarkets. Now she was on confined rest and diet – eternally.

Money or any known assets to send back to help those left behind soon to be divided up between those that know where she kept them…otherwise to disappear in “heaven’s” system.

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How are you feeling?

In all, such questions try to get you to open up, or express your internal goings on without actually giving you a “get-well-now” pill. Generally known as therapy, this word is becoming the living mantra in the lives we find ourselves in. It is widely recommended for all age groups and spreads out even to other non-human species. Sometimes humans exploit other species but this is often justified once again as therapy. You have dolphin and elephant etc..therapy for the terminally ill; then you have dog or cat therapy for domestic pets for humans who just don’t seem to get along with their own kind preferring other species instead.

Sometimes pet versus human therapy is because the humans prefer to own an animal that never grows up to answer back at them after months or years of punishing parenting following on from the incubation woes and sleepless nights. Think about it, a cat/dog will not give you teenage strung grief and then wait in the wings to knock you on the head so it inherits your belongings. It is just satisfied in the “moment” of where it’s next meal will be coming from and perhaps somewhat a bit of will your feelings mean I don’t get to eat or be taken out for a walk? Not being Dr Doolitle, I can’t be certain however. The “how are you feeling right now and what’s on your mind” is not a preliquiste to bonding with you.

Often I cringe when I switch on Facebook and that status question stares back at me. Usually when I’m too tired and just don’t even have enough battery power to type in all the garbage floating in my head. Anger like a dripping tap at times is how I feel just by looking at that status question. What’s the point of wanting to get me to type what my thoughts are? Ok. So I want to have access to £50k of funds to enable me to treat those who cannot afford health – how is putting this up on the status going to result in giving me that right and then? True it most often creates some positive response leads, but most often than most, it joins the pile of so many others alike before advising me which charities, which organisations which grants are out there like the billion stars one can see but not be able to actually reach out and grab a hold of. Yet some people make it so I shouldn’t knock it. But still. This status question makes it seem so easy…and I have been warned about stuff which claim to be easy!

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Basically, the Government announced it was substantially reducing the amount of money the council receives to provide services to local people. The local council receives around three quarters of the money from government; the rest comes from council tax and other fees and charges. Those who have had to pay penalty charges for parking/ traffic offenses, residents permits – you name it; will have some idea of these other fees.

One thing I’d not been aware of however that is encompassed in council tax is – bus fares. There I was ranting on about London Transport service and exorbitant fares, and now recent fare rise – unbeknown to me that my council tax also takes a fee for public transport costs for the area I reside in, only the local bus and tube for that matter not reflective of the services rendered. We spot the highest commuter belt in West London with high fees in fares, yet constantly get crammed into over-filled tube carriages which have to make way for luggage and persons travelling to and fro the busiest international airports. The buses – are something else altogether, but bless them for trying. If and when they do operate, the road works have a habit of regulating traffic in addition to the emotions of road users. Since various private firms bought in to the bus transport network, it’s anybody’s guess how employment regulations fare to their workers who mostly now appear to be held in a strangle-hold by the CEO’s or executives whose main objective is acquisition of many routes as possible. Low priority is given to their drivers as to how much pressure delivery of service is placed on them as long as they hit targets of rounds appointed to their duty of call. So if you wonder (putting it mildly here…) as to why that bus driver didn’t stop to pick you up even in broad day light leaving you waving your arms like a lunatic, or if he pulls off without waiting for grand-ma or grand-dad to sit securely in her/his seat amongst all other “lost” driver etiquettes of the past; remember, targets are the aim of this driver’s job and you the customer are surplus to requirement. This is not to excuse some drivers’ actions though who plainly are just rude – but then again – we are all humans and prone to odd behaviour now and then and vice versa, same applies to some of us passengers who are just out to rile anyone for any given opportunity.

Returning to this consultative questionnaire which I’m about to attempt to address at this owl hour, I’m left wondering. The area I reside has a flavour of nationals or individuals. About 7yrs back when I first moved to it, my first parents evening at my daughter’s primary school gave me some insight of the impacts of this. In the year group that had 60 children to a set, albeit streamed, only 4 parents turned up to this parents evening. To say I was concerned is putting it very mildly. I checked my letter to ensure I had the date and time correct – but was put to rest by the Head that all was in order. I hadn’t mixed up my diary. This was quite a normal occurrence I was reassured. Reason in short: most parents couldn’t read and their kids grasped on this fact to keep them in the dark about their progress or lack of it with their school work; those parents who could read were working and in any case saw school as a much needed respite for child-care. Basically this school was written off by most as a “bad” school and Ofsted had certified this not long gone. Yet a fair number of the residents’ offspring attended it and these are some of the persons this questionnaire is targeting to give feedback. Persons that mostly cannot read or even understand the language the questionnaire is written in let alone those who still are struggling to make ends meet by doing more than two jobs. However, I am glad and relieved to say that the situation at this school has since greatly improved.

How can one comment on proposed savings in a sector of service delivery they have not even been educated about in the first instance? Most people struggled to even understand the principles of recycling let alone adhering to planning regulations on over-crowding in a given house that is intended to house 5 persons. Instead, they will insist on tripling this and where possible will convert the back garden shed to take in more with little thought as to how this will impact on other communal services like drainage etc…

The way I see it, those of us who can read and analyse what’s being proposed will mostly favour what we personally benefit from – leaving those who can’t to later find out services they’d been getting are no longer there and getting angry as to why. No reasoning sometimes can get through to some persons when they’ve been fired up I’m afraid and it’s at this point where social unrest might kick in. I do the best I can at community mobilisation awareness, but even I have limits and the voluntary hype which this government is keen to ride on at times grates on my nerves when the reality is far from practical. Hounslow is a borough that appears to be a melting point of a mini global village.

So go figure what the feedback is going to be…
Those that can offer feedback on the consultative exercise, you are most welcome (short of begging!), so visit: www.hounslow.gov.uk/consultations

Although only a small minority claims to have been directly affected by corruption (14%), as many as a third say they have had their suspicions about a specific event. And, while an overwhelming majority (93%) would be willing to report corruption, only one in three say they know where to go. This suggests that corruption in the UK could be going unreported.

The poll, published on 9/12/2010 to mark International Anti-corruption Day, also reveals how little trust the public has in the UK government to tackle corruption.

More than one in three (34%) say they trust nobody to fight corruption and almost one in five (19%) don’t know who to trust to tackle it. The media is more trusted than government – with one in six trusting the media (16%) and only one in eight (12%) trusting government leaders.

Now, observing political pursuits during election times on the African continent (and indeed by other international observers!), one cannot fail but notice one word which often comes up by all vying for political office. Of interest – Uganda’s indecies for corruption are placed high at 2.5 by the Transparency International…That word is the need to fight “corruption”; a call of injustice by those opposed to the sitting-regimes, promising change that would bring about an end to corruption: whilst the regime in power also promises to redress corruption and indeed appearing to do so. At times it would appear to be offering up some scapegoats as damage limitation to be written off as collateral damage for the survival of the party’s political ambitions. It can get to be quite interesting to observe if it were not for the sad reality of failure by all to grasp what corruption actually is and how it manifests.

When persons talk about corruption in African politics, often they apply it to government officials, leaders, presidents or those in powerful political status and follow this up in explaining why those less well-off or down the ladder of political status or finance are to excused from “minor “ social deviances in society at large. Hence the abuse in other areas of society at large is not graded or seen as corruption.

Corruption to me comes in all walks of social interactions of society. Starting from the family social norms – the person seen to have financial clout, could determine how to exercise his/her authority in manipulating those around them in order for them remain the “top-dog”. This is often seen when a wealthy member of a family, instead of delegating powers or funds that can remove the dependency mode displayed by all that come to him/her for assistance opts to control the cash pot and instead operates a begging bowl policy. This ensures that all that require to get somewhere in life, have to go through him/her. There are always exceptions to the rule of course in that some persons naturally do not wish to take responsibility for their lives and willingly stay dependent on this system – blissfully happy too. The problem arises when within the family some clever Tom questions the status-quo and wishes to rise above his/her standing of the “dependency mode”. The ensuing outcome could result in acts by the wealthy family member to mobilise support by any means necessary within other members of the family to ensure that his/her authority remains unquestionable and intact. There are not many families within African who will not have had experiences of exploitation, blackmail, witchcraft, deceit, murder even etc…being done to them by close family members simply because they in one way or other felt their authority threatened. Yet how many persons have stopped to ask themselves how the abuse of trust by family members does not equate to corruption? When for instance you get orphaned children’s assets grabbed and sold off by various well-meaning uncles/aunts or even close family friends and the orphans end without anything from their deceased parents? Or when you get family lawyers who are supposed to protect the welfare of these very children opting instead to alter or destroy legal documents to hide the truth of Wills? Or widowed wives who will sell off assets that should be for the off springs to then later claim falsehoods? Or elders within family who side-step transparency of their accountability to their responsibilities and instead opt to wallow in alcohol-induced self pity? Is this not corruption which is at a level that touches each and every person, done by close entrusted persons?

To those that often are quick to point the finger at government as being corrupt I often ask this question? Who is government? Is it not your uncle/brother/sister/dad/mum/aunt/friend who when elected in to a ministerial position you will rejoice in the hope that “now you are made”! For after all, if your relative/friend is in government, you are sure to get a share of the bootie. You can have your kids go live with him to commute to school/hospital for instance and if you don’t have funds for their schooling/medical care, well that’s also sorted. You are certain to get some assistance in one form or other which of course will not be on the ministerial salary but on the allocated budget of what that post is supposed to achieve. But hey – do you stop to ask how this will impact on the intended project that ministerial money should go to? NO – you don’t really care, you just want money for your aim and your ministerial relative can provide a way out.

Or remember that time you needed to get through customs quickly with a shipment you had coming from abroad but didn’t have enough money to clear it through the proper channels? Well that too got sorted. You know someone in customs who was could clear it for you, no questions asked and what the hell if the revenue looses out on tax…you got your goods and made the profit you wanted to finish off that mansion you are building. Life is sweet. As for my son/daughter who is not faring so well at school/university, must make sure I leave an “extra” sweetener for the head teacher/guild president to rectify that. We need a doctor in the family…

Now for these elections coming, best you ensure your front man is on top so as not to disturb your business interests. So what if the roads are poor, just make sure that next shipment brings you the latest 4×4 that can get you to that meeting up north with some foreign donors who wish to start on a project for displaced individuals that cannot make up their minds whether to stay or go out…A note to make an appointment with that clinic abroad again for my medical check-up too.
Oh and yes must remember to mention that we are fighting corruption and find some fall guy to take the hit…

Corruption is innate in all of us – it’s the degree in which it is allowed to take root that determines its long-term effect on a society. We all are guilty of corruption if not directly, but indirectly and should stop and examine our motives and actions before accusing governments/leaders/politicians/presidents of corruption.

However, it was the headline at the very bottom of such events happenings that brought me back to an on-going reality of a different scale…African cotton traders ‘are locked in poverty’. The article claimed that cotton farmers in west Africa are being ‘locked into poverty’ as a result of actions by America and the European Union, according to fair-trade campaigners. “Frankly, we are starting to doubt whether rich countries really want to reduce poverty in developing countries,” notes a joint statement against agricultural subsidies by cotton producers’ federations in Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali. Despite declarations of intent to reduce poverty in poor countries, domestic policies in rich nations have often had the opposite effect.

“There is no point in giving with one hand and taking with the other,” UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the World Food Summit in June 2002, commenting on the impact of agricultural subsidies. “You put yourself in the shoes of a small developing country which cannot export its agriculture products because of restrictions and tariffs, a small developing country that cannot compete on the world market even if it could export, because the richer farmers in the richer countries are heavily subsidized.”

Now most that know me will agree and know an economist or commerce person, I am definitely not. The thing is though…since the early 1990’s, reports from Oxfam (as a teenager, I volunteered and worked for Oxfam outlets and often read their articles…) and other non-governmental organisation have been arguing that production and export subsidies in the US have devastated not only small communities in Africa, but entire regions. These communities rely upon this trade to keep children in school, or to buy food and pay for health. While the major factors behind the declining price are varied and complex, the most significant is the increase in government subsidies paid to cotton farmers in the US and now EU countries. If the price of trade is affected then the repercussions would be felt all the way across the board and make a mockery of the UN call for addressing global poverty.

“It is hypocritical to preach the advantages of free trade and free markets and then erect obstacles in precisely those markets in which developing countries have a comparative advantage.”– Nicholas Stern, chief economist, World Bank

Northern subsidies place poor African farmers at a big disadvantage, noted the Oxfam report: “By driving down prices for these farmers, US taxpayers — along with their European counterparts in other product groups — bear a direct responsibility for poverty in Africa.” It charges that US subsidies directly led to losses amounting to more than $300 mn in potential revenue in sub-Saharan Africa during the 2001/02 season. US subsidies have a major influence on the world market because a large proportion of US production — more than 50 per cent — is exported, making the country the largest exporter by a wide margin.

But the debate over agricultural subsidies is often clouded by legal language and technical jargon. US officials insist their country is in compliance because its subsidies (those that fall under WTO rules) do not distort international trade. US officials also accuse developing countries of lumping all US subsidies in a single basket, even though WTO rules lay out different schedules for different types of supports. But leaders and activists in developing countries insist the US is not playing fair.

“Several Central and West African nations are victims of injustice by the US and EU. These countries subsidize their agricultural producers, ignoring the rules of the WTO.” — President Blaise Compaoré, Burkina Faso

One of the main criticisms against agricultural subsidies is that they work directly against efforts by donor nations, including the US, to combat poverty in developing countries. An estimated 96 per cent of the world’s farmers live in developing countries, with some 2.5 billion people depending on agriculture for a livelihood. Many seek an opportunity to trade their way out of poverty through a fair trading system. But over the years, unfavourable trade terms have been a major factor in the erosion of the market share of poor nations. According to the WTO, the share of developing countries in world agricultural exports continues to reflect this drop.

However, there is still no common position on the African continent on how best to seek redress for the current crisis even with the African Union in place. A number of proposals are emerging. Farmers from Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal recently called on their governments and on the West African Economic and Monetary Union to file “petitions” with the WTO in support of Brazil’s legal action against US subsidies. To date, no African nation has yet filed a legal suit against agricultural subsidies at the WTO. Many are cash-strapped, dependent on aid and debt relief from the very countries they would be challenging. Many are also wary of the potential for retaliatory action.

Seeing as I’d just placed a large payout on a family event and my accounts for the month were tightened already, I resisted the first urge of simply saying “No”. From past experience such an answer leads to a prolonged dance of whining “whys” ..or “ its just so unfair” coupled with bizarre reasoning on her part and quite frankly, I was so tired I needed a breather before I could go for another round with parenting skills which had become frozen from the commute home. After the warmth had spread inside me, I attempted to listen to her reasoning – which didn’t improve even with the cup of tea inside of me. Ok – you help me out here. She wanted to borrow… no okay, like I give her money which she can repay in doing chores around the house for me (i.e. clean her room, tidy away stuff, oh and wash her dishes up) so she and a couple of friends could go dinner. Details of which were sketchy – and I am asking myself: what kind of dinner do teenage kids get at £20/head and where was the venue? It’s a hotel… A friend can get them booked in and that way they all get to hang around there without inconveniencing any of their parents’ homes. She sulks and says she will find a way to get the money as she feels embarrassed that she had already “flopped” the Halloween theme park thing and does not want to look bad to her friends after promising them something else.
You are probably thinking, why don’t I let her come hang around the house with her mates to avoid the expenses and the “hotel” booking…I’m still not convinced about the hotel by-the-way and I’ve told her to forget that idea for now… I want to meet this so-called friend first and we take it from there. Instead she is also to go check out some gym and pool clubs as social venues with her friends and let me know – the hotel idea is not even lukewarm with me and as her mom, I will have the last word on that. The reason I wouldn’t let her bring her friends around the house for a sleep-over is because of past broken rules. This particular daughter has issues with giving exact numbers of friends she says she is bringing over for a sleep-over. This also happens to stray to gender. From experience two friends in her dictionary equate 6 persons and she is unable to differentiate between genders. It’s the norm for her to have boys mixed in with girls someway during the course of the sleepover night so your house ends up like a hostel for teens. So with the mathematics and gender being done in her minds understanding, it’s anyone’s guess that she will turn up with 20 friends or more, when she told you she was having 5. This is why I put a stop to sleep-over gatherings. On occasion she appears to understand my take – on other days, she simply hates my guts for not seeing things her way although she is respectful enough not to voice it or tell it to my face. It’s her younger sister who holds no bars to letting rip.
The youngest being 13 is at that stage in life when she hates each and everyone at any given moment with a passion and will scream it at you threatening to run off etc as an end to her tantrums. Her smart mouth often gets many of us so angry that we wonder how we get through her tantrums. She is the typical nursery rhyme character of that little girl with a curl…when she is good she is so good, and when she is bad, she is absolutely horrid! I am actually quite proud that the middle girl has matured enough to not be drawn in physical battles with her anymore. My prayers are not going in vain… there is a God up there keeping me from committing blue murder. As I prepare to rest this body and head of mine, I pray that my middle daughter gets past this phase of socialising like the world depends on it! May she be able to find gym workouts to be more of a benefit seeing as she is adamant she does not wish to go to the teen social club? She appears to have strong views about this as she says; she has enough friends and does not wish to make any more which she feels social clubs are about. Can someone explain to me, why is it that some teens would rather hang out within their chosen group, watching movies, eating pizzas and basically just sitting around as opposed to getting involved in physical activities? Oh and she will not do swimming – it ruins her makeup and hair…
Perhaps the question before is something I should post out as a status on one of them social networks as opposed to putting it to myself in this blog…

Reason I was rushing to get in to work early was so that I could be able to live early should a repair appointment bear fruition from my daughter’s orthodontic. She had braces fitted on Saturday but unfortunately for her the fitting lasted for as long as the guy who did flirted with us while doing it. What amused me somewhat was his telling my daughter to keep her ipod playing yet expecting her to hear him commanding her to “open, bite, open” on the bits he kept inserting on the teeth. I don’t suppose he took into account that her ears needed to be free for interaction… And the dental assistant, well…Is it just me or has anyone noticed that dental nurses/assistant look like they are auditioning for a part on one of these medical dramas? I wasn’t keen on her hygiene standards though, as she kept changing the dial of the radio in between passing the necessary bits to put inside my daughter’s mouth.

The thing about arriving late to work as a result of delays on the road or trains is that you not only have your own anger with the transport system to deal with, but the smug knowing looks of those irritating early persons who somehow always manage to sleep at their desks and look at you walking in with hidden contempt. I can’t stand such persons – they do piss me off to no gain but you bite your tongue and effect a smile as you respond to their false greetings. At times, it’s too painful even to hear myself recite to such persons the trauma of my commute so I just accept I’m late and get stuck in to what needs done.

Lo behold, I was given an appointment for early afternoon which meant I’d have to return all the way back home mid afternoon. This coincided with the parents afternoon review for my other daughter. Fortunately, the orthodontics agreed to see her in my abscence to repair the brace. I just about made it to my other daughter’s school who in summation, needs to apply herself some more and curtail her socialising to make room for revision. Wateva!! This is a challenge I have to say where she is concerned!

With regards to the dental problem, apparently the wire had become loose and unstuck and sticking into her gums. She had survived on bonjela and painkillers for the greater part of the weekend I was getting concerned she would turn into an addict. The braces do make her look and talk weird… a blessing on some level though, she is a lot more silent. Ever since she hit 9, she has developed a mouth on her which bordered on oral warfare each time we clashed seeing as we are too similar. An annoying habit she truly has is one whereby you go to ask her to do something and she doesn’t then you find yourself in oral combat whereby she answers you with that irritating “wateva” closure. Sometimes, just sometimes, I have to get down on my knees and ask God to stop me from throttling her. I truly believe that’s why God grants us beautiful helpless infants – they are much harder to throttle as they bring out the nurturing instinct foremost. This being the case, teenagers are the reality akeen to marriage after the honeymoon period. Wateva…I have a full week coming up next week of half term now to enjoy parenting. Tomorrow though we have a photo shoot at work…I best get my beauty sleep in which case!

but back to the reasons as to why this has taken me over 2hrs in writing…First it was my daughter who after pause for thought on an earlier disagreement we’d had, I called her to put the bad feeling to sleep so to speak. See, I dislike going to bed with unresolved anger of any kind – especially with the girls. Unfortunately I chose a bad time yet again. She was even more irritable than I’d been on first arriving back home this evening after that episode on the bus, and my attempt at reconciliation just made matters worse. Realising my error in judgement, I let it go so she could go sleep; and strangely enough she remembered to go and removed the heavy eye makeup she has taken to using these school days without my nagging. This is one child I can not quite place. She has a mind of her own and does things her way which does not sit well with my controlling personality. She is a very intelligent child but very untidy in more ways than one and this is always the route of our disagreements. This evening it had been down to her wanting to know if I would allow her to go to the fun fair this Friday evening.

Unfortunately, I was still annoyed with her inability to tidy away her stuff from around the house especially her bedroom area over the preceding weeks. As a result I didn’t feel up to giving her this treat and went to explain away why when she cut me off to ask that I give her a yes or no answer! Damn it. Even if I gave her a yes/no response, she’d still have asked why. But after time “apart” cooling off and talking calmly to her, I got to seeing her point.

We have agreed on a month’s trial of monitoring to see that she adheres to tidying away her items …I truly will need all the prayers to keep my patience in check.

The other disruptive thought has been down to what I should do about a clash of programmes tomorrow. It is one of those things that come about and you really wish the missing parent can read you telepathically and throw in his/her presence to do his/her part of parenting. You see my girls have a father that only remembers them in his dreams I think…For the greater part he appears to be a figment of my imagination that I sometimes think I am in denial too about sperm donation I might have written up for once upon a time in my younger years. Now I have to stop being so petty and mean with this line of of thought and face my choices like a woman! C’mon girl pull yourself together I tell myself and for the greater part it works. The dilema I face is threefold. My youngest daughter is to have an orthodontic appointment when she gets measured up for her braces and my middle daughter is to attend college visiting open day sessions in preparations for her choice of college for next year. The orthodontic appointment has been long in coming and cancellation could cost me a fair amount on my purse as it would be late notice having been put forward from the previous day. The college appointment is just as important and already the person it relates to has threatened to disown me as a mother to her if I don’t escort her. Her appointment after all she says is “life changing” and was made earlier to the rescheduled orthodontic one. Plus she “absolutely will not go with anyone besides me” – actually she changed this statement not long after extending it to my boyfriend who she keeps telling me to be nice to and not bully him! I think she just wants him to spend money on her planned attendance to the theme parks for this Halloween malackey. However all this is besides the point. I have already taken off more days than I can count for such visits that work is surely about to search where my pending P45 is stacked… So what will I do?? HELP!

In the minutes leading up to extra-time, I received news of the bomb attack at the Kyaddondo Rugby club and at the Ethiopian Village eatery. Not being familiar with either places, I sought clarification in a bemused manner hopping it was a hoax. The phone lines became jammed at this point and I checked the net instead. To my sadness, it proved to be a reality – bombs had gone off and lives had been losts with many injured not getting the rapid emergency help they needed not being able to get through. My medical background took hold and soon I was looking at ways of alerting persons on the ground I knew could be able to assist if they hadn’t already been called upon. The frustration on my part was in knowing so many injured could be helped but the resources and infrastructure was not in place. This frustration soon gave way to anger – why would a developing country like Uganda engage in situations such as the resulting attacks without having adequate cover? The emergency services in place were already pitiful and the nation’s medical system was just about equivalent to a band-aid. For months if not years, the medical service industry has been labouring for more resources and is heavily reliant on donations and charity. The local fire service is virtually non-existent and the police force, save for the top cream is poorly equipped to even handle an immediate crime scene without evidence being corrupted be it knowingly or unknowingly! So the anger in me rose at the very persons in governance for endangering the lives of innocent civilians by opting to engage without proper assessment or planning in issues that have fatal consquences on the security of her people. I had to work hard at remembering I’m on bed rest and shouldn’t allow myself to get over-excited! So I opted to keep myself to what I could do in support of the persons on ground affected by the bombings. But like a child that is fed after a bout of incessant crying – it was hard to focus on the support without the occasional grumblings…

Reflecting back over the loss of lives, injuries and reasons or solutions to what transpired, my mind drifted to the other side of the coin. The thoughts or reasons as to why these persons opt to carry out such devastating acts on others. I recalled an article way back in April 2003 just before Saddam’s regime came to an end and a boy of 12 was orphaned following a shelling of his shack of a home by our Allied armies. Or the continued war in Afghanistan that is affecting countless civilians where the body count is no longer mentioned unless it involves one of our own soldiers here that we know of. Nor of the continued suicide bombings in Pakistan, India and Iraq which still rage – innocent lives continue to be claimed. This is the common theme that binds all of us caught up in this madness of point scoring using arms. Innocent lives are the gambling chips – they are the soft targets of politics.

How befitting therefore would a statement such as this be?
“When people decry civilian deaths caused by the U.S. government, they’re aiding propaganda efforts. In sharp contrast, when civilian deaths are caused by bombers who hate America, the perpetrators are evil and those deaths are tragedies.
When they put bombs in cars and kill people, they’re uncivilized killers. When we put bombs on missiles and kill people, we’re upholding civilized values. When they kill, they’re terrorists. When we kill, we’re striking against terror.” Norman Solomon, “Orwellian Logic 101 – A Few Simple Lessons,” at FAIR: www.fair.org/media-beat/980827.html

I don’t condone the acts of those who took away lives of innocent young persons in last Sunday’s attack in the twin bombing strike – indeed, I’ve lost friends and associates in these incidents who were very instrumental to some of the causes I greatly admire. I do implore the Ugandan leader however to put humanity first when making decisions that could have a far deeper detrimental effect on her young developing nation. If not for him, then for his grandchildren he should act; for his legacy is one that will stand to mark his position in history. The challenges Uganda faces are many already – without taking on more armed conflict whereby her citiziens do not fully comprehend the stakes or even share in the loot. Ugandans have been through so many hells – now that the security afforded through decades of civil wars is in place, it would be great for all her people to enjoy this security in ways that are feasible.

I pray to the gods, that the blood of my three brothers in addition to all their co-patriots in battles fought alongside Mr President in the bush war, that theirs was not just waste.

As I was saying, my brother arrived and soon was sharing with us his experience with a Seer he had just visited at some hotel.  He was so convinced of her readings it was like he had just spoken to a prophetess who had answers or solutions to all he could need. He even had a CD recording of their conversation which he gladly shared to stress how on cue the Seer had been on getting it right.  For £40, I guess she had done her very best if all she required was a piece of item belonging to my brother as guide.  My brother had also seen a tarot reader at the same venue, but this one somehow didn’t quite impress him – I guess when the tarot reader turned salesman in trying to get my brother to buy some books on how to-do-it-yourself instead, that sort of nailed it for him.  That’s not to say, my brother isn’t considering getting the books…He is in to the zodiac thingy and I guess the mystic realm could be the next calling.

I have a very bad habit known as scepticism – so I’m afraid I didn’t make good of being an interested audience. It soon became clear my brother reciting his experience nor his overwhelming zeal at converting me to go have my future foretold or assisted on the path of the Seer’s visionary, was not having the desired effect.

The conversation with my brother about his visit to a Seer got me thinking of stuff that’s going down in parts of Africa with persons who are known to foretell events etc or practice voodoo in place of the traditional religions like Islam or Christianity.  However such persons are most often than most, feared or vilified for their practices which are seen as a form of witchcraft.  The term Juju or Ju-ju is of West African origin, albeit derived from the French joujou for toy refers to the supernatural power of an object or fetish. In Uganda, the term doggo pertaining to juju, is more commonly applied…

African belief in spirits and juju is like taking the universal belief in the supernatural to the next logical step.  Universal belief in the supernatural and spiritism rest on a conviction of the existence of unseen beings with magical powers that can be harnessed to help the human race in their everyday existence. Africans include the spirits of dead ancestors and relations among the unseen beings.  And the belief is that these beings are to be found anywhere and everywhere.  The need or desire to harness the powers of these unseen beings is separate from the belief in, and worship of, the Supreme Being, or God. Thus Omulubale (Clairvoyant/Seer) from Uganda pouring libation will raise his/her calabash or glass to God, called Lubale Mukasa, Kibuuka, Bamweyana or Nabuzaana  - and by many other names – before anything else.  This is the case across the continent of Africa.

The commitment to God is in other words unaffected by the need to seek the help of minor deities to solve pressing everyday problems.  This explains the paradox of many otherwise devout followers of the other religions like Christianity, Muslim and so on also concurrently consulting diviners, fetishes or other cults.  And it clears one very important point that people find a puzzlement: one goes to church, tabernacle or mosque for worship but one goes to a fetish priest or to a secret cult to seek medical care, psychological sure or religious comfort.

My confusion lies with terminology which arises from the tendency to use words interchangeably while talking about different institutions of religion, and methods of cults and sects.  Non-Africans tend to look at practically everything from the point of view of a monolithic Africa.  As a result, many Western writers talk about witch-hunters as if it’s an Africa-wide phenomenon. In fact, although other parts of the continent have diviners or priests of various cults who claim magical powers, the practice of witch-hunting is to be found in specific parts of the continent, mainly in the east and south.

Similarly, medicine-man, a term that entered the literature (and which I remember a television series here in the UK  played by Jane Seymour in Medicine Woman) of the occult from the same general parts of Africa. The term would describe a cult priest also called a fetish priest.  It will not describe a herbalist or a traditional healer who uses herbs, roots and barks to heal and claim no magical powers.  Yet most persons who can ill-afford conventional therapy use these traditional healers in vast areas of their health-care.

Along the same lines, it is confusing to talk of juju as if one is talking of voodoo despite the apparent similarity of parts of their methods.  Juju is a cult that is consulted for one reason or another when in need.  It is largely psycho-medical buttressed with the power of the supernatural.  Gilbert Bukenya, vice-president of Uganda was at one point cited to have visited a juju shrine and it has been claimed that President Museveni whilst in the bush campaign years often consulted with seers and is rumoured to still do so – however I guess with a wife that is so caught up in the born-again brigade of Christianity, it is news best kept in the dark.

Settling disputes by means of juju is pretty common among Africans all over the continent.  This is however different from a voodoo shrine which combines the claimed powers of a juju with attributes of a church.  Voodoo per se is not an Africa-wide church.  It is restricted to Benin on the West coast of Africa – taken to the Caribbean by slaves. Here it found new roots in Haiti and flourished.  Voodoo and the religion Voodoo has not been able to penetrate into other parts of the African continent for a number of reasons.  Like many oriental beliefs, African beliefs are woven into their everyday lives.  Therefore any sect that wants to spread in the continent has had to adopt two methods used by Christianity and Islam.  Christianity was successfully spread throughout Africa because the first missionaries indoctrinated young children.  They passed on the new beliefs to their off-spring, and so on.  The spread of Islam was – with the sword in those days: through punishing many of those who resisted its introduction.

Voodoo used neither of these methods and has therefore been unable to spread throughout Africa. More still because other cult practices such as juju were available to provide major functions of helping cure and providing spiritual fortification.  Finally, African traditional beliefs, as far as they can be called African, do not link Heaven with earthly activities.

One can take it a step further and ask where does spiritism begin in juju and where does seers or Catholic practice end, when Catholics talk about saints and bow to images of angels and saints; or seers use objects or ornaments? Is it fair, then, to make Africans appear inferior when they also symbolize their deities with stones, wood and such like?

Is it not time to strip discussion about African beliefs of the racism which tends to warp these discussions?