Your pain is the breaking of the shell
that encloses your understanding.

Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its
heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

And could you keep your heart in wonder
at the daily miracles of your life, your pain
would not seem less wondrous than your joy;

And you would accept the seasons of your
heart, even as you have always accepted
the seasons that pass over your fields.

And you would watch with serenity
through the winters of your grief.

Much of your pain is self-chosen.

It is the bitter potion by which the
physician within you heals your sick self.

Therefore trust the physician, and drink
his remedy in silence and tranquillity:

For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided
by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips,
has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter
has moistened with His own sacred tears.

~ Khalil Gibran

What NOT to do when applying for a job vacancy:

1. NEVER write at the end of your resume that referees will be made available upon request. Unless you assume REFEREES and REFERENCES are one and the same thing.
2. NEVER append your CV as a link to some kind of a down loadable web application. Just attach a word or PDF document, plain and simple. What if the reviewer has poor internet connectivity?
3. Try to include referees from some of the organizations you claim to have worked for before.
4. Working for 7 different organizations over a space of 2 years is not a very consoling attribute.
5. Use reader-friendly fonts like Arial, Calibri and Times New Roman, and the less colourful the better. Black and other dark colours give a more professional look.
6. Always spell check and ensure that your CV doesn’t reflect all the gory track changes detail. This can be accomplished by simply finalizing your edited document without mark-up or simply editing outside track changes.
7. Avoid appending a photograph of yourself unless you are absolutely sure that it will work to your advantage, or if you have been specifically asked to do so.
8. You never single handedly reduced the HIV prevalence rate in Zimbabwe.
9. Make your CV up to date to show you really mean it, like for example 0912 is now 0772. In view of this being a small world, it is important to keep track of your referees’ location, contact details or current job.
10. Lastly, if I had the PM as a referee, there are certain vacancies I just wouldn’t apply for.

I find myself in the prime of life, although sometimes it’s hard to tell – tending to corpulence, sporting a pimple or three (are you still supposed to get those after puberty?), every day governed by routine (it would take a task force and organization on an epic scale to introduce any semblance of spontaneity to my life! Which kind of defeats the point.), the monotony of cooking dinner EVERY night. This is the prime of life?

Well, you’ll just have to imagine it.  Try harder.  Add Bridget Jones knickers. There you go!  But apparently, strictly statistically speaking, I am at my sexual peak (so there!).

I catch myself paraphrasing my parents, especially with my kids, “finish your vegetables, there are children starving in Ethiopia.” Or, “I can give you something to cry about.” In conversations with teenagers and young adults I inevitably end up using sentences that include “when we were your age.” I see them rolling their eyes, muttering something about having to walk to school and no mobile phones and 25 cents could buy you a coke AND crisps, and we didn’t have a TV, and rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb.

I realize I am uncool and my kids think I am ancient (well, they are both under 6 years old – EVERYBODY is ancient.  My only comfort.), and if I were to go to a nightclub, most people there would be thinking something along the lines of mutton and lamb.  On the other hand, I bring the average age down to 50 at the local bingo or quiz night – and I have to listen to the oldies “whenwe” chatter as punishment (and to polish my own). One of these days we will compare stories on who had the tougher childhood!

Under pressure from my daughter to perform in the “mom’s race” at her school this Saturday, I have considered training (for a very brief moment). Suffice to say, I didn’t win last year much to her disappointment. I thought I would give the “winning isn’t everything, it’s how you play the game…” speech – apparently that speech is for losers – of which I was one … but let’s not dwell on it. We’ll see how I fare this weekend.  At least she can collect some “whenwe” memories of her own … tortuous recollections of mom blundering over the finish line fourth – one up on last year.

I am ever hopeful!

In this article by Issa Sikiti da Silva for BizCommunity.com, Henry Maina, director of Article 19 talks about why African politicians ban media:

The fundamental reason that many African governments ban and harass the media has more to do with personal connotations than other issues, Kenya’s Henry Maina, director of Article 19 Eastern Africa, told delegates at the two-day Regulations and Rights media conference last week in Johannesburg.

“If you look closely, you will see that politicians across the continent don’t want to be criticised,” Maina, a specialist in criminal justice, human rights, advocacy and governance, said.

In many African countries, where the head of the state, ministers and members of the ruling party have become the law themselves, and courts exist only to try cases of petty crimes and murder, any journalist who takes on the government will be promptly arrested, tried in a ‘kangaroo court’ for high treason and executed or jailed for life.

Prosecuted for insulting authorities

In other countries, however, where there is some sort of rule of law and social justice, criticism of the government usually end up in courts, with journalists being prosecuted for insulting high-profile authorities.

Maina described these laws as archaic and oppressive, saying Africa should repeal them. “More than 40 African countries still have these colonial laws, including official secret laws. Why? If you are going to keep secrets, you should do it in a progressive manner,” he said.

Maina fired a salvo at South Africa’s ruling party, the ANC, for proposing the creation of a media appeals tribunal and resuscitating colonial laws.

Critics believe the ANC, which brags to be the sole contributor of the restoration of freedom of expression and press liberties enjoyed today by all citizens, has turned from hero to villain by re-enacting some of apartheid’s legislation, including the National Key Points Act, the Film and Publication Amendment Act, and lately the much-hated Protection of Information Bill (aka Secrecy Bill).

Many thanks for all of your solidarity messages and support for the Rooftop Promotions team who had been charged with ‘criminal nuisance’ after their arrest on 5 January 2011.

They were acquited yesterday, according to this statement from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

Magistrate acquits Rooftop artists

Mutare Magistrate Nixon Mangoti on Tuesday 22 March 2011 acquitted nine Rooftop artists and their driver, who were charged with criminal nuisance after staging a theatre performance entitled “Rituals” in Chimanimani, Manicaland Province.

Magistrate Mangoti acquitted the nine Rooftop artists and their driver at the close of the State case after the artists’ lawyers Blessing Nyamaropa of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and Cosmas Chibaya of Chibaya and Associates applied for discharge at the close of the State case.

State prosecutor Fletcher Karombe had led evidence from three witnesses since trial commenced on 17 March 2011.

In acquitting the Rooftop artists, Magistrate Mangoti ruled that the State had not led any evidence that a reasonable court could convict the artists.

The Rooftop artists namely, Sylvanos Mudzvova, Chipo Bizure, Joice Mpofu, Zenzo Nyathi, Mandla Moyo, Rutendo Chigudu, Amina Lloyd Ayamu, Joshua Mwase, Norman Kamema and the driver Shingirai Muto were arrested on 5 January 2011 at Nhedziwa Growth Point in Chimanimani, Manicaland Province and were detained at Cashel Valley Police station.

They were charged with contravening Section 46 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act as read with Section 2 (a) (ii) of the third schedule to Section 46 of the said Act that is criminal nuisance.

The police accused them of unlawfully holding a public performance, where they performed a drama reminiscent of the political disturbances of June 2008 that incited the affected members of the public to revive their differences.

Paul Hilder, director of campaigns for Oxfam and previously campaign director for Avaaz.org believes that Today’s networked activists can achieve real change.