My passion project

There is so much hulla baloo about finding and doing work you love - work you can do and not expect to get paid...as Nike says you Just Do it *insert tick sign here*........So I have just remembered that I was not paid for a tutoring gig I did a few weeks ago...some guy who was studying for his licensure exam....I met him at Starbucks.Jonathan was his name.I dont know why I was drawn to helping him - usually I can tell in the unquiry emails how serious the students are.Maybe its coz he shares a name with my older brother who is such a gentle giant.Maybe he sounded so despearate maybe its coz he told me has a wife and three kids and would like to support his family better.Either way the first meeting we stood each other up we were at starbucks on different sides of the world and the phones were not going through..So we rescheduled - he told me I can charge him for that one hour that we failed to meet - which pays more per hour than my regular job...and I told him no way dude I am not here for your money I am here to help you reach your goal...so we met again...I walked him through as I do all my tutees my work is not to teach content I am essentially giving you confidence to pass the licensure exam...I tell all the tutees the general spill go with your instinct the first answer is always correct. I tell them to get a lot of rest the night before I tell them they know they stuff its just a standardized test - anotehr persons opinion of what you already know..well he gave me a 3.5 stars not the greatest but I dont really care about the ratings or the pay and I guess this what they mean when they say do work you love and it will work for you....I love being a career , scholarships, college advice, subject matter coach.I like seeing someone excel at something they thought they could not do...Sunday I get a call from a lady who had got my number from a friend - she was taking the board exam today after failing - actually she is the reason I am blogging I just texted her and have not heard back...she must be a wreck trust me the two days after you do yoru boards are filled with sleepless nights...I have been planning for today as though it was my own day - I wished her well yesterday and told her to get rest...so her no reply is a bit worrying we will find out in a day or two if she passed.But I think my point is I think if I really set my mind to it being a life/subject/college/career coach - I am yet to find one name for my title can be something I can do enjoy get paid if all this healthcare biz fails

addendum to note::
SHE PASSED SHE PASSED!!!I have been on a high this whole shift..yani she sent me the text and I was jumping for joy like a proud parent... I am so happy and to think that all I did was encourage her to bring out her A game stuff she already knew she had it in her...Gosh this is how our highs school teachers used to feel when we would get As in KCSE...you cant explain it..its a sense of accomplishemnt kind of thing

Martin Luther King must be turning in his grave...

I remember seeing the word sequester when I read on of the best John Grisham books of all times - Runaway Jury...I had no idea what it meant but it sounded like some secret undercover procedure that juries of high profile cases go through so their decision is not altered by outside sources.So basically you are locked in a tiny room - no cell phones no internet no access to social media and I think you are allowed a phone call a day from a family member - which is screeend and you are not to discuss the case processings at all.So anyway the last couple of weeks the jury that has been trying what some have called the "civil rights case of this decade" this has been between the state of Florida v George Zimmerman.The jury has been undergoing sequesteratiion and they just returned their verdict......I was walking into the gym at ten fifteen pm July 13th when in bold I see on the TV screens Zimmerman found not guilty of murder..My heart sunk to the ground I felt as though someone had punched me in the stomach...rushing to the the locker room I changed and found the nearest bike under the CNN screen.I looked around and everyone around me continued on their treadmill jamming to their Justin Bieber oblivious of the news whistling like just another day in paradise...So anyway as I listened my heart sunk lower and lower...the jury claimed they did not have enough evidence to find him guilt of the charges of manslaughter...I am not a legal guru  but as Shelmith says the plaintiff should have filed a lesser judge i.e first degree murder...I dont know all that stuff intent no intent bla bla bla bla but all I can say is it was a sad day in America for champions of the cause *fist in the air for the black power*....I went for the National slam two weeks ago - a good friend of mine from California was performing - shout out Da Poetry Lounge and my friend from Jersey who I went with after one of the poems on the rights (or lack thereof0 of black people stated wow they are so angry - this is not the America I live in...and I was a bit taken aback by her statement as I felt there was some level of indifference nonchalance shrug off the whole thing kind of attitude...I personally did not grow up knowing black from white however it would be against my interests to not feel strongly about the way young black men are treated (or mistreated) by the hand of the law..like I have blogged before I have two friends who were profiled a while back by the State police at college like literraly stopped by cops and asked incriminating questions about an incident just coz we were around the campus late at night.Liike really dude we are from the library??!!so anyway here are a few videos that speak more on this from Javon to watoto from the nile tribute to trayvon...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Utk_g7y4A

and here  is one of the guys from the Cali team Da Poetry lounge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Wf8y_5Yn4

Just another day in the factory....

 So I have a patient...his name is D....I just found out two weeks ago D was a doctor way back when not medical doctor but doctor of something...D is dying. actively dying if I may say so...I also know Ds wife Lady S..so I met Lady S when D was fist admiited to the floor a few months ago...Lady S is always in to visit with D every day and everytime she comes to stand at my cart and give me a whole spill on how she has noticed something new on D - he seems to be jerking a lot today he seems to be clapping a lot today..."Side effects of the meds his on for the Parkinsons" I tell lady S tommorrow he comes in he seems to be happy today he is responding....and on and on we go day in day out...sometimes it gets annoying when she interrupts you in teh mdidle of a med pass but other times all she needs is someone to listen to her...So a few days ago D started declining and declining fast - bloody urine not eating temps in the 100s.I tell the aides the care they will give D the next few days will be the most important care they have ever given him in all the while he has been here,I tell them to go in there hold his hand talk to him tell him what they are doing before they turn him...so yesterday I picked up a double shift to stay through the night...just before lady S leaves for the night she whispers tommorrow is my birthday please dont tell anyone.I wish her a happy birthday as I give D a look in my head thinking...D you better not die on me and Lady S tonight on her birthday.She sings songs to D that they used to sing together she tells me how they used to hold hands as they sung the songs and danced - how he would always say her singing was beautiful even though she knows her voice has a missing cord or two - her face turns pink filled with so much fond memories..I turn away to blink away the tears and she leaves......So I keep checking on D through the night he is still there - temps still up the roof, periods of no breathing for a good two minutes which made me say okay this is it until I hear that deep snore again.... I stay with him a while wondering where his soul is - is he trying to make it through to his wifes birthday? he makes it through the night...I pray his wife will get to see him today...I leave and go home D made it to Lad S ninetieth birthday I wonder if he will be there when I get on shift tommorrow....like I said just another day in teh factory....

The moral test of a government is how it treats those in the dawn of life the infants and children, those in the twilight of life the elderly, and those in the shadows of life the sick teh needy and the handicapped - Hubert H Humphrey..

Addendum to note:

Soooo just as an addition to my little story up here...so remember Dr. D....well he died.I was in the middle of shift report and the chaplain comes into the room and says we need a nurse to pronounce.So we went in there with the morning nurse shut the door and immediately we saw him we knew he had gone.The beautiful part was his wife Lady S was right by his bedside as she had said she wanted to be when he passed away.The chaplaian told me they were singing all his favorite church hymns and the love songs they used to dance and sing to with the wife and as soon as they were done they looked at him and he was gone...he liyeally slipped into the after life in such peace with his wife by his side...and he waited until the day after her birthday wow this thing called life..

Of chasing the dream and not the competition

So I started writing this blog on Tuesday and then San Antonio and Miami happened and the rest is history if you have been following the NBA finals...So here I am a two days after - and yes Miami was crowned the champs...My gut feeling says there is some rigging of sorts going on here as far ticket sales are concerned...its all money driven...anyhu San Antonio played with hearts of champions went down fighting...So anyhu where was I oh yes so this summer my theme is "if not me who if not now when??"I am calling it the summer of doing something greater than self...sooo in exactly a wekk D and I will be competing in a five mile obstacle race - well its less than five miles but the obstacles are what make it challenging am talking mud pits some milimas and mabondes some fire stops - the full survivor reloaded...I have been (somewhat )training for this lol - today I went to the gym and was so surprised I biked for eight miles.I remembered the first day I was on the treadmill and could barely make half a mile without breaking into a sweat and now I can easily do two and a half miles mfululizo...which got me thinking about how important it is that your biggest competitor should be yourself.I was having this discussion with D who if you know is HIGHLY competitive - he competes with anyone / anything that is up for the challenge...t and I told him dont get so caught up in competing with other people your biggest competitor should be D.Coz here is the mistake we make when we try compete with other people - we set ourselves up to perform at their bar - why allow someone else to set the bar for you .I think its better and more effective to set your own bar and take incremental steps to reach your bar where you will raise it again...another of my to do list I joined Toastmasters club - yup this past Wed I went - running fashionably late as usual and joined a group of about 6 perfect strangers to perfect the art of public speaking and effective crowd communication.I loved the group so basically there are different ways meetings are run - each week there is a toastmaster who basically runs the show and each week everyone volunteers to give a speech from the booklet you receiev when you join..so like mine the first one will be The ice breaker da da da duuum yup basically talk about yourself - your growing up etc etc...then there were table talks which freaked me out so you go up there and talk about anything the faccilitator throws at you - from what will you last meal be before you die? to which is more important love or money? etc etc...I saw a quote somwhere He who tells the best story writes the future..I believe we are coming to a point in this global world where people are interested in hearign interesting stories on interesting things that will change the course of society and how we see life.That is a reason I love love Tedx the videos are inspiring , revolutionary I can go on and on...and theeeen the big bang I finally found sky diving fanatics - this has been something I have been putting off for three years now and finally I found like minded daredevils at work and we signed up for a jump ...now that is a story for another day but just watch this space...so in short back to my theme - chase the dream not the competition. In this life - be your own referee, make your own rules, be your own competitor, chart your own path...that way you are not constantly trying to beat someone elses record...I just thought of the gymnast Gabby Douglas  as I wrote that and now that I think about it I think I have blogged about this before.
so thats my little scoop for the day it may be redundant but there is power in redundancy..
In the words of  Ralph Waldo Emmerson,

Do not go where the path may lead instead go where there is no path and leave a trail..

How much can a city take?

So anyone who knows me knows I love children.There is such an innocence about them that is so disarming.They know nothing but peace in their hearts.They see the world in colour when we adults see it in black or white.So anyhu where was I was I going oh yes home of my favorite basketball team OKC - yeah lets go thunder!!! I love Durant I think all the team members have humble souls!I guess its from the city they play for -  Oklahoma.So today a little town in Oklahoma was flattened literally by a tornado weather men are calling it a EF5 - with wind gusts of 200mph - all jargon to me but sounds like it was quite a beast.But anyhu the storm the storm devastated an elementary and as I was watching CNN an hour ago the news flash was 46 third graders are still unaacounted for...My heart was wrenched out and then I remembered the OKC bombing and I thought to myself wow how much can a city take.I mean the Boston Bombings of last month brought us to our knees as a city with three deaths now 41 deaths - and these are the confirmed numbers...So I Google and see the 95  bombing ripped through a daycare and I found this pic of these precious little souls who passed away... I just think the city has had its fair share of heartache jamaneni they need a break.Speaking of which Obama has not had an easy time since his inauguration from North Korea being (nuclear) trigger happy to the Boston bombings to the Texas explosion to now this devastation in OKC...Earth activists and global warming champions will use this to push their agendas, religious fanatics will say the end times are upon us but I say we honker down and pray for the parents who are sleeping without hugging their little ones tonight.....

Musings from a "detached" Kenyan

So my sister winter always says I am  very "detached" from the Kenyan way of life the -  the music, the fashion - she saw how I used to dress to college and was like heh you cant even attempt such a dress code with campo chicks,the roads (read as Thika highway), the businesses (read as kina Rupu, soko kuu etc etc) and of course the politics...Well....the other day she was in hosi and she was so bored so I go like dont they have Wi Fi there you can have your laptop? and she goes like wifi? really? so yes (as I sheepishly admit) I am 6years removed from the Kenyan buzz but one thing that I and so many of my "detached" comrades in the diaspora have been following closely is the politics.For some reason or the  other politics seems to be that unifying topic that at least someone can throw in a  word or two over a cup of tea or Pbrs  as my friend Festus calls them.Even if its old news "you heard Saitoti passed away?" can spark of a conversation..Soooo where was I going...oh yes so my very "attached" sister emailed  me a link of the protests that were happening today outside parliament and immediately I went like wait whaat are those pigs with MPigs engraved on their back?and wait is that the gate of parliament.This was a replica of the Occupy movt that had swept the land of milk and honey(sic) two years ago..The only difference was (other than live piglets) there were cops with tear gas canisters and their tu sticks whats the English word for them - batons??For me the whole video almost saddened me as I envisioned an MP sitting in his office in Parliament sipping on a hot cup of Ketepa tea thinking what now can those hooligans go milk a cow (or pig in this case)...I know there has been uproar people saying it should have been done in a more better/ civilized way but I say hats off to you who woke up today knowing they would be marching down Harambee Avenue and maybe later on sleeping in a cell.There was a woman who was being hauled into a truck screaming, "Nipe filimbi yangu," in shot you can arrest me but you cannot silence me.Its quite noble to fight for a cause one believes in in this day and age -  coz I feel over the years society and life in general has made so many people loose their gusto to stand and be ready to almost die for a cause - let me quantify that - a cause worth dying for.Look at  men and women of yore -martyrs who were killed for refusing to denounce  Jesus Christ as savior,freedom fighters from South African apartheid to British Mau Mau, Waangari Maathai who would hug a tree so tight she would have to be chiseled out of it to prevent it from being cut down.So anyhu I digress as always I just feel as we celebrate 50 great years of independence this December lets applaud and not chastise (or throw tear gas at) those who will stand up and say hey that entertainment allowance and salary is a tad bit on the higher side Mr. MP.I voted you in to bring education to our constituency and not channel the funds to a little bank in Cayman Islands...Well then again maybe as my sister says I am just another "detached" Kenyan...All this made me remember this part in the movie Sarafina see video

Of my Erickson family

Yeah so here I am on a windy cold Friday night / Saturday morning in what the weather men are calling the Blizzard of 2013...On the 3rd floor at a nurses station watching the clock go tick tock with my hot water lemon and tea....Yup where else to spend a blizzard than at work.There is something Mary W always used to tell me lady you would rather be masaa with bad weather why sleep at home wacha pesa iingie..so I guess I have heeded her word...But this time I am glad I am at work.The reason is, I was hired by a company that takes care of both its staff and its residents alike.There must be some big wig at the top top who realizes that the work your employees give should not just be a reflection of their paycheck.And I can say with all honesty I love my organization not just for the paycheck - which may not be shabby altogether.Lets just say they had me at orientation.I cant even start to explain how I landed the job but the Director of Nursing was right when they said - they literally hand pick everyone who works here.Its not just another warm body to fill in a slot.The nurses and nursing aides are so awesome its such an amazing team .I actually have  two people interested in sky diving this summer so watch this space...So anyhu I am digressing as always....So there is this big hulabaloo about the snowstoorm blizzard it is bad out .Trust me it was almost disgusting to see people wiping the bread isles and milk isles dry at markets all in the name of the storm - and I can bet you that food will go to waste...please take it to the shelter or buy blankets and drop them off at the shelter instead.I digress again.....so anyhu what has happened at work is they made sure the staff leaving at three left early and they had been provided with lunch we got dinner and tommorrow we getting hot breakfast - sausages bacon etc etc..Okay its not just the food I am going at all the admin staff have stayed behind from the Director to assistant director of nursing, to my nurse manager who is literally sleeping in her office to the administrator to the Human Resource manager.Yani the administrator was helping shovel cars outside at eleven for the staff who REALLY had to drive out in these conditions...and wait it gets better they have opened up apartments in their independent living faccility - and these are nice apartments with a bed hot shower clean sheets for those who feel they cant drive in this weather and those like me who tommorrow mornign will be jelly...so I really applaud their work - its called the B culture around here.Because at B whether you have RN MSN MD JD JP after your name at the end of the day we are here for one purpose to serve the residents and be team players.I mean this is the ultimate show of team work.Again maybe its coz I also just came off working from a place where OMgee the word support was foreign I remember one night doing an admission of a patient - which takes forever doing the meds the treatments there was a discharge and I was so new right out of college and gosh everyone was just doing their own thing...But anyhu the long of the short I think the leaders at Brooksby are not just leaders by name but they are leaders by action.My nurse manager has a sign outside her door that reads A leader is one who knows the way goes the way and then shows others the way...so whats the moral of this little story - lead where you are...take time to respect and appreciate the people who work with you....ok back to looking at the snow pummel my window

Oh another quote on my managers door, " Before you speak THINK is it True is it Honest is it Inspiring is it Necessary is it Kind."

Django over Les Miserables

Oh my goodness so last night - I went to our downtown Cinema Salem I used to drive past this place and would smile coz its so tiny from outside that I would wonder really is there anything that really happens in there like big screen movies...But boy oh boy I had the time of my life last night - Les Misearables was not showing at AMC loews and the nearest place was you guessed it - Cinema Salem...So I forfeited my trip to the laundry - what a tough decision here lol - and trotted to Cinema Salem.I texted Ms J if she was interested but after no response it was me and my warm self and my Ketepa tea I was ready to put up a fight if he refused me in with it - it was 17 degrees by the time I was getting there...so anyhu long of the short I watched Les Miserables even after a little back and forth with Ms. winter between that and Django and omgeeee Les Miserables is oscar worthy. Yani the last movie I sat big screen for two and a half hours was Benjamin button.So anyhu I enter Cinema Salem and not quite the shocker it was just me and some other couple who sat three rows ahead of me.The girl even turned when I entered and shouted I hope you like it I am here for the second time to watch it....So after kiss kiss peck peck of watching the lovely couple infront of me the movie started - lol me and my lonesome self and cup of tea what a funny sight huh but I was so determined to watch the movie I had heard great stuff about it and sure enough it did not dissapoint. Well let me put this caveat I guess you have to love musicals - kina Rent sister act to really enjoy this.It was like theater had come alive on big screen the costume the set the music the vocals - Hugh Jackman nailed it -looking mighty fine, Anne Hathaway - darn you princess of Janovia!!! am telling you the singing is beautiful the script is stellar - you are transported to the world of the French Revolution, and the love story yani there was a time I was crying - well thats not surprising  I was weeping for the Help...So after two and a half hours of non-stop music I was like Django aint got nothing on this...So after the movie I met the ka girl in the bathroom ms. I-am-watching-it-for-the-second time and she was crying and I was like I feel you sista - white sista!So long of the short dont let the title fool you its beautiful its captivating the trailer did not do it justice and am glad Anne Hathaway got a golden globe for something...so here is the trailer for you to get a sense of  my excitement ....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuEFm84s4oI

Back in the day buffet

If Jam a delic, Rustrut, KTN Niaje mean anything to you this video will make you smile http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prlz9VRdJB8

What greater Love has he ...

 Yep yep yep today we have pics finally (after requesting permission of course)So yes today I was on that dreaded monster that everyone has sworn to stay away from as part of their new year resolutions - yep Facebook - cmon guys you know you miss it.... and I was moved by my friend Ms. B who shaved her hair in solidarity with her boyfriend who is undergoing chemo.Betty told me "he is the bravest person she has met and he inspires her everday and she would shave her head a thousand times over if she could."I first met Ms B a couple of years back we were bridesmaids at a wedding.The thing that struck me the most about her is that she is one person who knows the real meaning of YOLO .she takes life by the horns and is not afraid to let go of the shore.... The first pic is him in a chemo session and she is holding on tight to his hand.Then you can see he is the one shaving off her hair and finally the final product....And for real I immediately thought of the scripture what greater love has a man that he would lay down his life for another...well this is a whole different kind of sacrifice but for me it resonates with what true love is and should be all about - standing with you through the thick and the thin.Through sickness and in health till death shall we part....I have been thinking a lot about this the last couple of weeks I work with a population in their early nineties - yes  people who have lived through the first and second world wars.These are people who have dined in Paris , one of my favorite ladies has been all over the world six times, some were CEOs of companies I cannot write here, they have mansions in Florida but at the end of it all ...only one thing stands the loves of their life....There are so many couples who bring me immense warmth and joy.One of them the wife is a hospice patient - like literally on her death bed and EVERYDAY the old little husband comes in with a walker to sit beside her and hold her hand and she says nothing and he leaves after half an hor but for him thats the best half an hour in his day.I remember last week when we took he out of bed for dinner he found her in the dining room the husband was so happy I overhead him tell a perfect stranger "They took my wife out of bed to the dining room today." I could not help but smile.Another couple married 68 years every day at four pm the husband visits from downstairs and trust me at three forty five Mrs X is always antsy 'I wonder where he is ?" Penny we have been married sixty eight great years!!! she tells me, and they have been the happiest of my life.And then sure enough at 3:59 you hear the door open I hear her "There he is!!" and I am suddenly forgotten and there he goes -  wheeling her down the corridor...This by the way is EVERYDAY...I am saddened to think of the day when the clock will strike four and the door will not open...what will I tell her? Usually they say such couples when one dies the other never lasts long..There are so many other little vignettes of love here and there but my main thing is how beautiful love is...I looked at the pic of my friend Ms B shaving her hair and was like these are the moments that define life so you go gal stand by your Mr. man!!!

Using 19th century solutions to solve 21st century problems

This seems to be a blog post I started sometime last year...and since the book I am reading is right up this alley I think I just might finish it today...........Okay so the other day I was packing lunch in the wee hours of morning - lets say 5:45 - yeah the perils of a morning shift  and as I had the cars rush past - yeah my house is like right near the road it hit me wow I am as good as the workers in the industrial revolution.... I have become number one fan of Seth Godin -subscribe to his blog follow him on you tube, twirrer you name it.... he is one of the best inspirational speakers of this century - esp on matters that are enterprenural related.so anyhu...Seth - yeah am on first name basis is on a quest to get peopls mindset away from the industrial revolution mindset and realize *in a flavor Flave accent "What time it is!!!So anyway back to my little morning prep so as I got ready I begun thinking of how Seth talks of the era of industrialization was characterized by mass production of the same good, people doing the same routine only with specialized tasks (read as job description) and as I packed my lunch this morning and heard the cars zoom by as people went to work I had a Seth lightbulb go off.I instantly remembered the days going to primo stuck in traffic on Mbagathi road and crowds of people from Kibera would walk past in groups going to Industrial area to look for a days pay for a days work doing menial labor for minimum wage.It hit me that right there defines the age of the industrial revolution where hoards and hoards of workers would go to the industries work from dawn to dusk and get cash money at the end of the day.You dont show up you dont get paid simple...So anyhu for me I feel that so many of us are industrial workers and yet we do not even know it...I think thats a reason I LOATHE punching in and out of work - it reminds me that I am working on a clock if I dont punch in I dont get paid.I remember the first time I went to Six Flags with my good friend Priscie and I told her "wow I would love to be one of these people running the machines. it seems like such a fun job," and she told me "yeah but after a while I think it gets monotonous you doing the same thing over and over again - strapping people in giving a smile and saying enjoy your ride over and over again..." I think my gal Priscie figured it out long time ago - I see on her Linkedin she is the founder of a food retail company...ok I am sooo digressing let me get back in focus...where was I yes....so what was I saying there was a friend of mine we went to college together after high school well one semester before we both dropped out (yup my name is Penny and I am / was a college dropout) yes we both dint finish the CPA course...so anyway the other day I saw he mad the top 30 under 30 enterprenuers in Kenya he started an online financial advising service called Pesa Talk.So I checked out the webpage - you can check it out here http://pesatalk.com/ and damn the brother has done over and above what school taught him. And this is one of the two prinicipals I will touch on....The first is seeking job creation as opposed to job description.I feel a description limits us in terms of the things we can do and limits our going over and above anything we set out to do....And that is why in so many "work" places especially in this great nation of America I often hear the phrase "Its not my job" and trust me that makes me want to gag!!Reminds me of the British sitcom Whose Line is it anyway? Why limit yourself to just  that little cubicle and computer you have been assigned to?My family was in the States for six months and one thing my mum said is that the American system can/ has made you people zuzuz i.e dumb lol(said with love) .Reason being there are "jobs" left right center you go to Mc Donalds we are hiring you go to Macys we are hiring and guess what you will get hired to do the same thing that Mr X who was fired last month was doing...and as long as we have "jobs" we get comfortable as long as we are paying our bills we are comfortable forgetting that The world has changed Governor!!One of Seths quotes from his book Linchpin is  once someone is hired and given their description the presumption is " follow these instructions and you dont have to think.Do your job and you dont have to be responsible for your actions.In every corporation in every country in the world people are waiting to be told what to do..."
However for me I think The difference between here and Africa is that  jobs are not handed to you on a silver platter instead there are "opportunities for job creation"  - startup companies are everywhere - people are using the little they have to trade (read as Soko Kuu) , invest in the stock market...So anyway I can go on and on and on but I think we are living in a society / world where things are changing so rapidly - where knowledge can be deemed useless unless applied to figuring things out and creating new ideas and inventions that can change people lives.And the interesting thing is that we are all born with this innate ability to be curious - dont you remember as a little child how you would crawl into things open things - want to know whats inside this box but as we grow older society has a way of "tricking" us - for lack of a better word into conforming to the status quo by giving us a map - do this, go to college, graduate get a job settle down and just be quiet in your role....However I can say with full confidence that the changing world belongs to those who are not waiting to be handed a road map by anyone - but instead are braving their own paths that others may follow.Those creating new projects - like the Chariots of Destiny Adopt a chair project - brilliant idea to raise funds to donate a wheelchair to a disabled person each month.(mini sales pitch)..Okay thats my welcome 2013 blog post with a bang as you can see...I hope its not a blog post thats made you go like huh whats all this???

One of my fav quotes from the amazing book I am reading

Stand up and be remarkable.Be human.Contribute.Interact.Take the risk that you might make someone upset with your initiative , innovation  and insight - turns out you may probably delight them instead.

Suicide : and why we need to have this discussion and many others...

I know I know the title is not that great...actually none of the blog posts this year have been feel good pump you up blog posts lol but trust me I am in a much happier place than I was last year at the start of the year and the posts are just to stir conversation and get you thinking....Sooooo this past weekend after church D and I had lunch with one of our dear friends lady E...We had a blast of a time laughter, great food, great convo it was awesome...so the discussion shifted to a girl who was found dead in her dorm room at one of the colleges last weekend.So they said we will be awaiting the postmortem results and of course in the hush hush that was, everything has been swept under the rug - however there are reports that it may have been suicide.So lady E says "you know what I do not even want to know how she died I only want to remain with good memories of her." Which granted is a fair statement to make of course no one wants to know the details. I however I feel its about time such discussions are brought to the table before its a little to late.Yes I know you may be wondering hallo what is there to talk about with something so wrong so painful so unnaterable in a public setting (even in a private blog its hard for me to type out the word suicide) and maybe this is just the public health person that I am trying to prevent disease instead of cure disease which is all public health is about. I think the importance of having this discussion especially with Africans is because just like HIV AIDS in the 90s was stigmatized and oh my goodness once you heard so and so died of AIDS everyone kind of turned the other way.Even as recently as two years  I have an aunt who passed away because for one she refused to believe that she had contracted the HIV virus and hence refused to take her ARV medication.Needles to say she was gone less than three years after she contracted AIDS.So my thing is we as the 21st century generation we need to start having conversations on matters that were and maybe still are considered taboos in our society because needles to say they are affecting people we know and we cannot continue to to turn a blind eye...My uncle it took almost two years before we all knew he had colon cancer -and this was when he was almost gone- I used to think "cancer is a disease of the Western world - of those bad people living in UK and America" I remember thinking as a little girl.But cancer is real and alive in Africa as it is in the US. Sooo back to the topic of the day suicide..I remember in my mental health class in college we had a whole topic on suicide and a couple of things that stood out for me was that no suicide will happen in isolation - there is always that one person who has been told either in passing or directly.The proffesor I remember said if someone tells you they are thinking of committing suicide the first thing you want to ask them is do they have a plan?Secondly before someone commits suicide they will always try reach out to someone...Third there are a couple of warning signs - from increased depression, lack of interest in things that previously brought pleasure (anhedonia) etc etc...So with all this in mind it begs the question why sweep things under the rug - yes right now its so painful for the family to even think and of course there is the guilt trip Oh my goodness if I had listened more spent more time reached out etc etc so probably right now the discussion would not be so great but somewhere down the road and even in regular social circles we need to be able to reach across the table to our neighbor who may be hurting.So thats my little spill for the day - I just felt its necessary to put this out here for as long as such discussions keep being avoided we will see more and more people fall victim to our own ignorance - for lack of a better word here.If you or a family member has / had breast cancer start doing breast self exams, if a family member has Alzheimers dont ignore early warning signs - the forgetfulness, if you are sexually active make sure you know your partners status,diabetes, if you can afford have a blood pressure monitor in the house and check your blood pressure regularly - high blood pressure is a silent killer its the only one disease secondary to AIDS with no immediate signs and symptoms - your pressure could be in the 200s and you look fit as a fiddle for months on end until you start crashing all of a sudden,  if your a man over fifty make sure  you go have your prostate checked for PSA - an antigen that tests for prostate cancer. I am so passionate on public health matters - I grew up knowing I wanted to go to med school at some point but over the course of my college career and after I find more passion (and its less costly) in trying to prevent instead of cure so public health seems to be my passion project  well...for now...lol