The power within

D: Discover your different talents and positively impact your community Dependable always Diligent in addressing issues Dedicate time to good neighbourhood event

Summary:

Neighbourhood, a strategy for today’s wellbeing FOCUSES on four KEY PILLARS : RESPECT, VALUE, TEAMWORK (TOGETHERNESS) AND SUPPORT/CARING as summed up in empowering quotes:

1.

RESPECT: “Every individual has a place to fill in the world and is important in some respect whether he chooses to be so or not” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

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4.

VALUE AND APPRECIATE: “I always thought I had good neighbours it turns out, I have the best neighbours in the world” by Jim Casey TOGETHERNESS: “We have great neighbourhood, we are all family oriented, we take care of each other” by Janet Blakeslee

SUPPORT AND CARING: “Our pockets aren’t full of money, so it boils down to neighbours helping neighbours” By Whitney Beem

THE POWER WITHIN By Iris Ackah

“In a world that is forever changing remember that the power within you is greater than any challenge you will ever face. Own your power and overcome.”

We are currently living in challenging times robbing many of their peace of mind and sanity. To stay grounded in such times of uncertainty it is important to identify the things we have control over and the things we do not. We take back our peace by exercising our power. Example, you cannot control the media focus which may be causing you fear and panic but we can choose to switch off the TV and create our own focus for peace. Such as scheduling to read and watch more uplifting material on faith channels and inspirational TV.

Or you can choose to be creative in the garden and with the family. Look forward to daily exercise, write that new book, learn that new skill or start that side business you could never find the time to. Exploring options like the above will encourage positivity and promote mental health state.

Once you are adhering to respective safety regulations and you have done all you can to boost your immune system and stay safe, leave the rest to God. Reaffirm to yourself that “I have control of me and I choose to be happy. The rest I leave to the Most High. He is in control.” Have faith that everything is still working out for good, even if it does not sound like it on TV and in the news.

The Creator is greater than COVID-19 and His plans to prosper you to give you a future and a hope still prevails. So use this time to take a breather from the hustle and bustle of life.

Recharge, renew and grow. As the world is on “lockdown” choose to break free to new heights and know that you remain blessed. So live like it!

Below are a few purpose pursuits that I have chosen to progress during lockdown to uplift others, bring them value and empowerment. In the process I have had incredible feedback as many have come alive and this gives me life. Follow me on Instagram at Iris Inspires @irisackahofficial for more.

MARRIAGE IS GOD-ORDAINED FOR LIFE By Elder Andrew Singo

Marriage is a gift of God to mankind and every society and culture has a way of solemnizing it. Before the emergence of religious bodies and national laws marriage was a domain of families concerned. However, in modern societies marriage is ratified with a certificate of marriage issued by the government or its agencies and it is a legal document. While in the past marriage was entered as a norm for every man and woman, the modern trend of marriage is based more on expression of love and choice rather than societal expectation. Over the years, the attitude towards marriage as a way of life has gradually shifted because of the human’s People get married for different reasons. Last year I inability to showcase the true reality of marriage. Many witnessed more than eight marriages including that young people appear to believe that being single is of our son. The art and science of marriage combines perfectly normal and it’s an appropriate way to live. all subjects that involve human biology and human Others believe that living together and raising a family behaviour. There are thousands of people who spend is a new way of life that does not put pressure on the their lifetime studying marriage for a living. Thousands couple to commit for the rest of their lives. Marriage more work on marriages in the fields of psychology offers family values such as responsibility, honest, and counselling and make a living out of it. There is no patience, generosity, empathy; love and respect, which space for me to talk about thousands of divorce spestill carry a high importance. For your marriage to work, cialists who make extra comfortable living because of do the following marriage. 1. Put your marriage at the top of your priority list. Marriage is not a human idea but God’s. It was not Here I assume that your life is centred in God and meant to be as complex as we have made it and if you therefore I do not need to tell you about God as a want your marriage to work smoothly, have a good priority in your life. Don’t sacrifice your marriage for consultation with the marriage giver. To my newlywed your children. When our children were young, my friends, I would like to share with you a few simple wife and I agreed to not put our children between tips about marriage. I am not a doctor therapist or us in a way that they will separate us. We put them psychologist but I have been in marriage long enough on our sides where we can all reach them. Why? to be able to say a few things. Because at the end of the years of their life with us Cambridge dictionary defines marriage as a “legally accepted relationship between a man and a woman in which they live as husband and wife… or the official ceremony that results in this”. According to the Bible, marriage is one-flesh whole-life union between one man and one woman. Marriage covers all areas of life; physically, mentally, and spiritually, embracing moral, sexual, emotional, economic, and everything they will go and make their own living elsewhere and the two of us will remain. If we let them come between us, now that they are gone we could have scratch each other’s eyes out. When you make your marriage the top of the list, you will have time to do other valuable things because your children will do well and better such that you will not spend much time in managing them. else required for making two human beings live 2. Spend time together doing different things. Play, harmoniously. Genesis 2:24 sums it up by saying that read, cook, go walking, and have time to worship “therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and together. Your relationship is a thrilling adventure; it be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one is a story unfolding so keep it exciting because it is flesh”. It is from this point that the two becomes a unit, not a destination. The certificate of marriage is the which may result in the bearing of children. only certificate you receive before you graduate. Celebrate your achievement regularly even if the

thing achieved is small. Have things that you repeat celebrating on monthly, yearly or any period you set yourselves as they will keep reminding you where you came from. Every year my family has the last Sunday of July as a family day. We celebrate our family – we eat, play or do anything just for fun. Playful time for couple is extra important for building a bank of positive emotions. 3. Replenish your stock with new products. Remember that you are not growing younger after marriage. Your needs will keep evolving. Whatever you stored for when you get married will probably become obsolete in year one. Your needs change and will keep changing. It’s like you are driving a car. You need a different gear as you increase speed. Keep enquiring from your partner what things you need to do differently. For example: it might be your partner needs more help with ironing, or more help in the kitchen. It may be some change in your sex life. Not every day now but may be three times a week. If you discuss and come up with a list of probably there or four things each you keep each other happy by sticking to the agreement.

4. Love is the basis of your marriage relationship. Don’t keep record of wrongs and don’t refrain from doing things to your partner because she or he stopped doing things for you. It might work for a while until when one makes a mistake and one becomes a different person, opening a tape recorder non-stop like radio heart playing old music. Give your partner mercy and grace when they are in the wrong and bless them with a prayer. When you pray for those who agitate you, God improves their behaviour and you become safe and the mercy, grace and blessing come back to you. What you do to one another has power to elevate or demoralise the other person. It is simple life logic. A polite answer turn away wrath 5. . Express your feelings. When your partner does something injurious to your feelings don’t use silence as a weapon. Not talking about what happened will not make it un-happen. It is done it is done. When you talk about it relieves both of you from the pain caused. One from guilty and the other from the wound. By expressing your feelings you avoid blaming and the actor avoids feelings of being judged silently as they express the reasons for their actions and asking for forgiveness. Be tolerant and accepting as love covers the multitude of sins. 6. Match your expectations and the reality of life. You can do this by remembering the reasons that made you get married in the first place. What is it that you liked about your wife or husband? If it was the physicality of the person grow with it because both of you will keep changing and asses the expectations you had and instead allow them to be who they are and unconditionally love them for whom they are. If it was some sort of a thrilling activity, don’t stop it keep doing it whatever the age and weather. 7. I like and appreciate when my wife complements me for something and I try to do the same. I see how her face lightens up and the smile that come with it and it makes me want to complement her more. Remember, every sincere acknowledgement or complement you give or make goes into emotional reserve bank. It becomes an investment that will help you in rainy times because for sure one day it will rain and maybe it will be a storm. Every couple goes through a rough patch at some point in life and the emotional bank notes will help you to go through those turbulent storms in your marital boat. Every sincere and genuine compliment, encouragement, and empathy you give to your partner increases her /his self-worth, selfconfidence and self-esteem. Your partner feels valued and cherished. On top of that, the friendship between you is edified and a happy moment and atmosphere is created for both of you. The complement giver develops a positive mental focus instead of a negative one and in such they become emotionally happier and in life more productive. God wants every marriage to be a reflection of heaven on earth because marriage exists for His glory as He is ultimate and the most important reality. The human being and the marriage exist for only one purpose: To magnify the greatness of God, His truth, His beauty and His worth in the worthless world. Marriage has become a rival to God because men and women have failed to follow the order that God established from the beginning. Every marriage should magnify God in people’s mind by showing the reality of His greatness. “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and His greatness in unsearchable”. You want your marriage to work well, follow the order of priority beginning with God. You and your marriage are there to display the greatness and glory of God. Your marriage is a glass window where people look to see the beauty of God.

Mr & Mrs Neil Singo

Mr & Mrs Dennis Kamau

Mr & Mrs Cliff Ongaro

Mr & Mrs Kako Mavalla

Piece Of Advice From Elder Peterson Sentenga.

My people in marriage, please allow me to share my views in this journey of marriage. You all know me & the passion I have when it comes to marriage. I’m addressing marriage issues & not targeting anyone.

“What fails most marriages is the attitude, the perception one has about his spouse. We all have challenges in our marriages, but we have to work on our attitude. That principle also works in business & whatever else we do. If your attitude towards business is positive despite the challenges. you will carry on & eventually succeed however if you have a negative attitude the business may be a failure. Your wife, husband & children will respond positively if your attitude & behaviour towards them is good. If I want respect in my house or at work, I must show the same respect & love to them. So, in marriage like in business we have to sit down & take stock, know where things are going wrong & rectify the mistake if necessary. If the wife/husband is bad, then something is wrong with the management style & the husband /wife needs to communicate in earnest & find out what’s going on. The change must come in you. Your approach must totally change from that of blame to that of teamwork, praise even when there is nothing to praise. Let’s learn to accept our mistakes. Time is of essence in marriage you need to give your marriage the first priority. At work we have meetings, training, updates sometimes daily, do you have such a structure in your house/home? The culture of blame only helps to break the family & end up in broken relationships. Who is the winner when you lose your children, wife or husband? The devil smiles. Is that the correct direction you want your marriage to lead? Men/ women marriage is a sacrifice & we should avoid STRESSING EACH OTHER. Your body cannot afford to be stressed at work & at home. The result can be dangerous to your health as your immune system get compromised.

No one else will bring the change in the house except you 2 or one of you to change themselves.

These are plain facts. You both need to change positively to make your marriage work. It will require God’s hand & lots of prayers together, determination & hard work. Next week I will address men. Be blessed let’s continue to pray for our marriages.

INDIGENOUS WOMEN IN KENYA REBUILD RESILIENCE AMIDST AN ECO-CULTURAL CRISIS By Wangũi wa Kamonji

to food demonstrations in over 25 countries. They are also prone to the vagaries of the climate crisis.

In the face of growing climate change, indigenous women in Kenya are remembering and reinstating their native agricultural practices, to build resilience and reclaim their relationship to the land.

Sabella Kaguna came to meet me with indigenous millet and sorghum seeds in hand. She describes herself as a farmer, sacred site and seed custodian, and memory retriever in her community in Tharaka County, central Kenya. She has been working to recover the memory of indigenous seeds and sacred Tharaka traditions for the past six years, journeying to find elderly women in interior villages in order to recover varieties of sorghum, millet, and cowpeas.

Sorghum, millet and cowpeas are indigenous to Africa, but their consumption has declined. In the colonial past, cash needed for imposed taxes and schools forced the adoption of foreign crops, and in some areas, Christian missionaries placed restrictions on the production of crops such as millet used in indigenous rituals. Today, globalisation and urbanisation has caused a shift in taste-buds, and governments and research agencies prefer to direct resources to the production of rice, wheat and maize. These three are part of global markets, making them prone to global price volatility, such as in 2007-08, leading The global South, including countries like Kenya, experiences the brunt of this climate crisis compounded by years of patriarchal and missionary colonialism, Western education, and a capitalist economy that has the global South dependent on producing for a Northern market. These combined factors weaken the resilience of indigenous people and lands, and their ability to respond to climate change, creating an ecological and cultural crisis. Residents near River Kathita in Tharaka described consecutive years with little rain, difficulties accessing water, a growing dependence on hybrid seeds and fertilisers to produce food in soils that have lost nutrients, and a corresponding increase in water needed for irrigation. Travelling within the county, dry landscapes with little grass and groundcover, and dried seasonal rivers and shallow permanent ones were evident. Felling trees to make charcoal fuel exposes the already dry and nutrient declining landscapes to the warming climate, but it offers a momentary reprieve from crushing financial poverty for some.

In the global North, it has become more common to declare that indigenous peoples hold the solutions to the climate crisis. Such rhetoric risks being only lip-service if solutions don’t recognise and resource indigenous-led work to repair damage to indigenous cultures,

commit to indigenous resurgence and integrate the wisdom of indigenous values. After decades of shame, suppression and devaluation, much indigenous knowledge held by groups like the Tharaka has been forgotten, hidden or impaired. Tharaka women commented that it seemed like “everything was going to disappear”. Facing this eco-cultural crisis, remembering and restoring indigenous women’s knowledge and practices, grounded in a paradigm of respect and collaboration with the Earth, emerged as a pathway to resilience.

Kaguna’s journey to recover indigenous seeds was prompted by joining the Society for Alternative Learning and Transformation (SALT), formed in 2013 to remember and reinstate indigenous Tharaka knowledge and practices. Whenever members meet, they bring indigenous seeds with them to share and gift—as indigenous women would have done traditionally. Seeds are the exclusive province of women among the Tharaka: women select seeds before harvesting for food, classify them according to desired characteristics, and provide seeds for rituals.

In Tharaka, recovering, planting and processing indigenous seeds has gone hand in hand with reclaiming rituals and ceremonies in which indigenous seeds are central. Ceremonies are markers of a person’s growth in community, while rituals establish and maintain relationships with each other and with the land. As the October rains mark the beginning of the indigenous year start, the kuangia mburi ritual is conducted to open the year, pray for a good rain and seek blessings for the land. Women provide the specially prepared pearl millet porridge, organise young children to walk around the village boundary, and collect the seeds to be planted. An old and respected woman plants four ceremonial seeds before everyone else, and in this way, the whole community’s planting is blessed. Kaguna explained that for the Tharaka, girls and women are the conduits of blessings for the home and community. Should pests and diseases strike crops, women have the role of protecting farms through blessings accompanied by pearl millet porridge in the kutiia ritual.

Remembering and reinstating Tharaka women’s roles has meant that the respect and value that women once held, but for which a patriarchal colonial-capitalist worldview has no place, is coming back. Salome Gatumi, an elder and expert beader, shared that young people, including students from a local Western-style university, visit her to learn what is absent in an education geared towards an industrial production economy. Kanyani, who has learnt how to bead from Gatumi, rejoices that although she had not forgotten her indigenous ways, through this memory work she realises she is not “backward”.

Restoring women’s knowledge and practices has also meant less dependency on the capitalist economy. Muregi, who is also involved in the memory group, proudly notes that her grandchildren insist on drinking millet porridge and eating kithongo, a Tharaka specialty made from millet, cowpeas and cowpea greens, rather than the storebought white rice and sweetened sodas that she used to give them. Switching their diet to these highly nutritious foods means she relies on her farm and knowledge more, and her grandchildren are much healthier and stronger, so she has less need for shops and hospitals. Wangũi wa Kamonji is an independent researcher, dancer, writer and facilitator centring Africa, ancestrality and the Earth in her work. She is based in Kenya.

CONNECTING WITH COMMUNITIES IN THE FACE OF COVID-19 Covid-19 has brough unpresented times which even the best of the leaders or managers would not have prepared for. However, they are also time when we are seeing the best of the leaders and managers show up in the way they are managing the crisis.

For the communities, it is proving the communities mainly on how the most isolated and lonely a complete turnaround of the to use it besides affording to have members, supporting them get way communities connect. They media gadgets that supports its their basic needs like shopping are having to innovate in order use. Thanks to businesses like and prescriptions, run sessions to reach the communities to help Tesco and funders like Berkshire like healthy neighbourhood them manage the stress and Community Foundation Trust connections, shared experiences anxieties being experienced as a who have enabled us to continue of Covid-19, positive parenting result of the crises. connecting with the communities through Covid-19, managing differently. anger and practicing patience in In Berkshire, Utulivu and Acre has the face of Covid-19, Hope in the continued to engage with the Among things that has been face of Covid-19 etc. Below are communities through Zoom. This done through their support some of the zoom forums that we has come with its challenges for are: maintaining contacts with have run.