Africa – The Christian Blog

#WBC2020 – I Dream of an Africa…

I dream of an Africa with our own form of governance.

Perhaps one that elections will not be the topmost priority.

And political slogans and ensuring a party retains power, the main agenda.

Even if there are elections, people will vote based on relevant issues and competence.

How I wish discussions will not be based on one’s political affiliation but the truth.

And public institutions will not change their bosses after a new party is elected.

How about if we are able to manage our resources well and not always go begging.

And the youth will be given equal opportunity no matter their background.

Perhaps a national development agenda could be a solution and a sense of nationalism imbibed in every individual.

I dream of that Africa.

***This is 15/22 of the #WinterABC2020. The prompt is to write about an issue which is close to your heart.***

#WBC2020 – Chimamanda Adichie: The Personality I Would like to Meet

Her popularity may be linked to her creativity and the number of books she has authored. She is an amazing storyteller who draws her readers into the books. Even though they are simple to read, they have very deeper meanings.

Her stories are well-researched and are likely to take you to places like Nsukka, Biafra, Lagos, the US etc.

She writes fiction, short stories and non-fiction. Purple Hibiscus, The thing around your neck and Half of the Yellow Sun are some of her works of fictions.

She is popular on the continent and outside of it, making news on main and social media. She is known for her works on anti-racism and feminism. The latter, which has earned her both admirers and haters. The haters critique her work on feminism and say it is too skewed.

She has a political science, communications and creative writing background (indeed, we have something in common 😊). Her books have earned her a lot of awards and she’s spoken on several platforms including Ted Talk.

She has proven that authoring a good book has the ability to shoot you to some amazing platforms.

I would, one day, like to meet the multiple award-winning African novelist – Chimamanda Adichie Ngozi from Nigeria. We are likely to have a chat about creative, story writing among other topics.

***This is 13/22 of the #WinterABC2020. The prompt is if you could meet a notable African personality, who would it be and why?***

#WinterABC2020 – Kenkey Tales

Ghana is blessed with some amazing cuisines. I’m not much of an explorer when it comes to food and I only realised how weird our food may to other nationals when a Zambian friend commented,

“In Ghana you guys mix everything. How can you add fish and meat to one soup? And your rice has all those vegetables. How do you call that slimy thing with fish and meat?”

“Okro?” I answered.

I was culturally shocked at the unavailability of spice in most of the Zambian meals I tasted too.

“Where did all the pepper go?”

Implying hot spice may be a West African thing?🤷🏿‍♀️

Anyway, my favourite Ghanaian meal is kenkey (made from a combination of fermented and unfermented corn wrapped in corn husk). It has this ‘biting’ taste after it has been boiled for several hours. It’s commonly eaten by the people on the coast.

I see how it is prepared but I haven’t and do not intend to make at home. I prefer to buy it and it’s a common ‘street food.’

Kenkey goes very well with spicy ground pepper which could be green, red or yellow (any colour you want) and black pepper (known locally as shito). For the proteins, it is normally eaten with fried fish and shrimps or omelettes, or tinned sardines and corned beef.

How our ancestors discovered such a meal baffles me and when you have kenkey for breakfast, you may not have to worry about lunch.

Kenkey can also be eaten with soup and that slimy thing – yes, okro.

**Cover image: pinterest

***This is 3/22 of the #WinterABC2020. The prompt is to write about your favourite local food.***

The #WinterABC – Why I’m Late to the Party

I know I am three days late. I planned to take part in the Winter Blogging Challenge but when it was getting to the time, I developed cold feet.

I felt I wouldn’t have the time to produce content each day because of the deadlines I needed to meet with regards to other aspects my life.

But this is a once-in-a-year opportunity to create content and socialize with other bloggers from Africa, thus, I have decided to take up the challenge.

I am playing catch up today and pledge my commitment to go through the entire #WinterABC.

I am taking part in this challenge because it is going to give me the opportunity to create content each day (for the next couple of weeks), read the works of other awesome bloggers and to learn a thing or two about blogging.

Even though I’m late, I’m happy about my decision to take part in the challenge so let the party begin.🎉🎊🎉🎊

Book Review: Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul

For the Christian going through challenging times and looking for testimonies to rekindle their faith or that person who keeps wondering if God is still performing miracles as He did in the Biblical era then the Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul, compiled by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, is the book you need to read. I chose this book purposely to improve upon my Christian storytelling ability but as I went through the pages, I realised that the Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul was not just a book, but an epistle to the modern Christian which leaves an indelible mark on the heart.

The 378-page book is filled with 101 short motivational stories under the headings of ‘giving,’ ‘love,’ ‘facing obstacles,’ ‘parent and parenting,’ ‘dealing with death,’ etc. The stories are written so clearly that it is almost impossible to decipher who the target readers are. This probably indicates that the book can be read and assimilated by anybody in any age group.

When going through the book, you can almost feel your soul moving along with the different characters and some of the stories are filled with so many emotions that if you are the type who is easily moved to tears, you need to psyche yourself up for that.

It is quite challenging to select the most inspiring story from the book but being a new parent myself, stories under the ‘parent and parenting’ and ‘facing obstacles’ categories blessed me tremendously. One of the most touching stories titled ‘Medicine’ almost moves the reader to tears. The story is narrated by a single mother whose child had developed an ear infection. She had no money and because she lived on the outskirts of town and it had snowed heavily, it was almost impossible to take the child to the hospital. She made an urgent call to a doctor who prescribed a drug and listed places where she could get it from. She made frantic phone calls to all of these places but they all asked for money. After several attempts which failed, the mother decided to break into one of the pharmacies and steal the drug since perhaps, that could save her child. When the option of stealing occurred to her, another voice immediately directed her to make one last call to a pharmacy which she obliged. She made the call and this time, the pharmacy decided to give the drug to her on credit. Not only that, one of the workers drove through the snow, to her location to deliver the said medicine. If this is not the work of God, then tell me who else can cause such a turn-around in someone’s life.

There are several stories in that book and it is not far-fetched to say the reader can see him/herself in at least two or more of them. As Christians, the Bible even admonishes us to encourage each other and build each other up (1 Thessalonian 5:11) and Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul did exactly that to me and I highly recommend it.

NB: I would like to see the African or probably the Ghanaian version of this book so that we can relate properly to the characters and the environment better (maybe I will do that collection).