ISSN 2041-8566
mojatu Reading
UK ÂŁ 2.00
Issue R001 Cecily Mwaniki CMnetwork
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Quit Being Average
Growth is key to success!
How is your relationship?
Bookkeeping tips
u, ity o r Y un
Fo Commr Life
u ur Yo d Yo an
6 p. 2
Inspirational Global Icon
Wangari Maathai
Academician, Activist, Ecofeminist & Writer www.mojatu.com
Community News
Lifestyle
Events
Education & Careers
Editor’s Welcome Dear Readers, As the weather dips, the chill sets in and the nights become longer, Reading has a wonderful reason to celebrate, the birth Mojatu Reading community magazine. Welcome to this first copy of Mojatu Reading Magazine. Mojatu is a Kiswahili word meaning ‘One Stop Shop’ and our aim is to offer Reading community a voice focused on one single purpose and positive message for our community. The magazine will enable you, as an individual, organisation or community group to tell your own story in a way that engages. It is supported by www.mojatu.com where you can read more articles, watch videos, view photos and share views in the comments sections. Since our focus is primarily on education, family, health and wealth creation, we will feature articles that will enlighten, inform and entertain our readers. It is an honour to tell a positive story such as that of Wangari Maathai while informing you about what is happening in the community. As you prepare for Christmas and the festive season, remember the foods to avoid. Finally, if you love writing, taking photos, videos or sourcing contents for media, you are very welcome to join our talented, creative, resourceful and very hardworking team. Just contact us as per the details below. Kind regards, Cecily Mwaniki, Editor
Editorial Group Editor: Frank. G. Kamau – frank@mojatu.com Editor: Cecily Mwaniki – cecily@mojatu.com Associate Editor: Norma Gregory – norma@mojatu.com Graphic Designers: George Evangelos Bompetsis | Maria - Tereza Tzelepaki | Robert Borbely Contributors: Alison Awuku | Paul Grant | Richard Close | Kris Gunners | Emily Coltman | Victoria Groulef IT: Dennis Monari Accounts: Mercy Jackreece Admin: Penny Cooper Marketing: Tony Charles - reading@mojatu.com Online & Advertising: Mary Peter - sales@mojatu.com
Contents News A Tribute to Wangari Maathai Women of Virtue Retreat Growth is key to success, delegates told Creating Better Futures support Talking Relationships Being a member of the community Sculpting Generations for Greater Lives Celebration of Black History Month
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Community The Death of Black History Month Utulivu Women’s Group
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Lifestyle Letter to my African Sisters How Healthy is your Marriage? Low Carbohydrate Diet 10 Alarming Reasons Why Sugar is Bad Using Media to Make a Difference
16 18 20 22 24
Business Mojatu Launches Reading Bookkeeping Tips for small businesses
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Education & Careers Wright Right! Capital Letters How to Teach Yourself Free
Cover
Cover image is the late Dr.Wangari Maathai (Tribute)
Contact Mojatu: News, features, stories, letters and other comments email us at news@mojatu.com Getting the magazine Read online: www.mojatu.com/magazine Subscription @ £24 per year including postage subs@mojatu.com Mojatu Foundation Publications 166 Alfreton Road, Nottingham, NG7 3NS Tel: 0115 845 7009 Mob: 07516962992 / 07984825482 Facebook: www.facebook.com/mojatu1 Twitter: www.twitter.com/mojatu1 Printers: Mojatu Media
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News
A Tribute to Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate A champion for human rights and women’s empowerment
“In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness. To reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other. That time is now.” - 2004, Dr Maathai
In this first issue of Mojatu Reading magazine, we pay tribute to Wangari Maathai who not only inspires us but also epitomises our role as a community focused magazine focusing on Education, Family, Health and Wealth. Dr Wangari Maathai was born in Nyeri, Central Kenya on 1st April 1940 and died of ovarian cancer on September 25th 2011 aged 71. She was a trail blazer in whatever she did. Most notably, she was the first: •• African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work for “contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace”– 2004 •• Female professor in Kenya (University of Nairobi) – 1976 •• Female scholar in East Central Africa to gain a doctorate (PhD) – 1971 “The world should broaden the understanding of peace: There can be no peace without equitable development; and there can be no development without sustainable management of the environment in a democratic and peaceful space.” – 2004 upon receiving the Noble Peace Award
Wangari is recognised as a pioneer eco-feminist who explicitly linked women’s rights and livelihoods with sustainability and environmentalism through the Green Belt Movement which she established in 1977. The movement aimed to empower rural women by planting trees to provide firewood and financial support. According to United Nations, over 45 million trees in Africa have been planted and nearly
one million women helped through income and training in forestry, agro-industry and ecotourism. The activities of Green Belt Movement have been copied in many other developing countries. “She was a visionary who saw over the tree canopy, but never lost sight of the roots… and made a difference around the world, one tree at a time,” - Jan McAlpine, Director of the Secretariat
Despite having been divorced in 1979, Dr Maathai successfully brought up her three children and received many honorary degrees and awards including Right Livelihood Award and Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding. She also wrote many articles and several books including her memoir, Unbowed: A Memoir, a highly recommended read, published in 2006. It is available in Amazon at http://goo.gl/Cl5109. “What people see as fearlessness is really persistence.”
- 2006 in her book Unbowed: A Memoir
She also led protests against private development projects on public land in Kenya successfully stopping construction in Uhuru Park, the largest part in Nairobi’s central business district. “She was, like the acacias and the Prunus Africana trees Wangari fought so nobly and assiduously to conserve, strong in character and able to survive sometimes the harshest of conditions,” - Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director.
Watch Taking Root, a documentary on Wangari Maathai’s vision - http://goo.gl/cSsdFY Some videos at www.mojatu.com/wangari-maathai
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Women of Virtue Retreat
The joy of being a virtuous woman Over 300 women from all over the UK came together on 18th to 20th October for the Women of Virtue retreat. Held at the Orchard Hotel, Nottingham, the event was themed around the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31. It also saw the interim launch of the ‘Women of Virtue’ initiative by Sharon Platt-McDonald and Sandra Golding. The guest speaker, Dr Deborah Harris from the USA shared her personal experiences and reminded women that, “the virtuous woman had something that the world did not give to her – joy that comes from God! This joy allows her to be forgiving, patient and prudent. We are not in the race alone and God is always beside us through the pains, trials and tribulations.”
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“If God never does another thing for us, He has already done enough!” 1
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1. Dr Deborah Harris is the founder, ‘Praying for our Children, a non-profit organization in USA. 2. ‘Women of Virtue’ singing joyously with Sharon playing the piano. Sharon Platt-McDonald is the Director for Health, Disability Awareness and Women’s Ministries for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the British Isles. 3. Malika Bediako with the Beautiful shades of purple demonstrating the power, grace and magnanimity of women. 4. The ‘Tree of Prayer’ with some of the wishes to pray hang by ‘Women of Virtue’ during the retreat.
Writers, Reporters, Correspondents & Photographers Note •• You retain all rights to the contents •• You give Mojatu Media and Mojatu To cover local, regional, national & Foundation rights to publish your contents in our websites and magazines •• Photos and articles may be edited, international: reduced or modified to suit our readers events - features - reviews - analysis - photos
•• You must own the articles/photos or have the right to distribute them •• You must write in 3rd person format •• Mojatu has a right to decide which contents get published •• We cannot offer monetary compensation but we can add appropriate promotional links of your choice to the articles and photos
Get in touch for more details or send your articles with photos to frank@mojatu.com
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Growth is key to success, delegates told
This is the right time to grow your business, career and family. If you don’t grow them, they will surely begin to die. CMnetwork held its inaugural networking event at the Hilton Hotel, Reading on 12th October 2013. The event focused on inspiring and empowering local businesses and community leaders. Cecily Mwaniki, Managing Director of CMnetwork said: “Success is about the person you become in the process of becoming successful; it is about growth – if you don’t grow, you begin to die, so growth in your business, career and family is important and it comes by adding value to others”. Alok Sharma thanked Cecily for her endless efforts to help people and organisations grow. “I thank Cecily for this very enjoyable event. It was great to hear from the many very uplifting speakers. Cecily’s positive message is that, ‘we all have the ability to succeed if we believe in ourselves and work hard’ is something that many people can relate to. It was very well received by the attendees.” Other speakers at the event, included the MP for Reading West, Alok Sharma, BBC Broadcaster, Louise Chandler, Tony
Fernadez of AfricaRadio4U, Tony Charles of Mi-Media, Polly Falconer, Pride of Reading Award winner and a London GP, Dr Kem. The speakers highlighted the need for growth through collaboration and working together. They urged everyone to look for the unique opportunities to grow by taking the existing opportunities and help one another “because we all have unique abilities”. The event also helped to raise money for local Berkshire charity ‘Esteemed Breakthrough’.
Support us to create better future and opportunities by offering hope and education Creating Better Future has been instrumental in supporting children orphaned as a result of an HIV/AIDS pandemic in Zimbabwe. It is a registered charity in UK established in February 2012 and works with a country manager in Zimbabwe. It exists to improve the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children by providing them with education and skills to break free from poverty. The organisations ability of to continue making changes in the community comes from the support they get from donors and well-wishers. There is always need for assistance and support as the number of children needing support exceeds the resources available. The planned charity auction ball is aimed at raising funds and awareness for Creating Better Futures. Though there are a lot of charities out there, the uniqueness of Creating Better Futures mainly comes from the fact that all the money raised goes directly to the children. Creating Better Futures is looking for potential volunteers and donors interested in making a difference by supporting orphaned children. Act today and create a better future for a child for just £15 per month. Donate at http://goo.gl/fe2Msr
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News
Talking Relationships
Unique Boundaries of Effectiveness for Success and Fulfilment by Alison Awuku
Good, solid relationships are the bedrock of strong communities and progressive societies. All around us, there are various types of relationships at play. We are, to a greater extent, the sum of the decisions we make in our relationships. The author of the ground-breaking book, Relationships- Unique Boundaries of Effectiveness for Success and Fulfilment, Alison Awuku has always been fascinated about the uniqueness of each individual. Born in the UK and having experienced education systems of three different continents – UK, Africa (Cameroon) and North America (USA) – Alison learnt very early on in life, on the importance of connecting with others and building strong and lasting relationships. Alison’s motivation for writing this book stems both from learning first hand - through her own difficulties and successes in life – and in seeing from close friends and relatives around her, the challenges and obstacles that broken relationships yield. These experiences brought to her a greater understanding of the knock-on effect such relationships can have on other individuals and on society at large. Having parents who unfortunately separated when she was six meant that Alison had to activate her emotional survival instincts right from an early age. Key to this survival was developing a positive relationship with herself and those around her. This need was more prevalent as she adapted to her early school-life in Cameroon and thereafter in the United States and then the UK.
A simply awesome and powerful book Alison shows the power of relationships in this remarkable book, which is easy-to-read for people from all walks of life. She shows how relationships play a crucial role in contributing to individuals’ ability to achieve a sense of purpose, success and satisfaction. The book is a unique and comprehensive guide to the essential components for building and maintaining fulfilling relationships at all levels. It also highlights
the common stumbling blocks that can prevent individuals and communities from achieving optimum levels of satisfaction experienced as a result of our relationships. It is enriched with interesting short stories that fully engage the reader and illustrate key aspects of relationships. It provides summaries and points for reflection at the end of each chapter, offering readers an opportunity for personal reflection. The book helps readers to establish or revive a positive outlook on relationships, through the use of each person’s “unique boundaries of effectiveness”. It will greatly contribute towards each reader’s general success and fulfilment in this increasingly challenging world by increasing their ability to create and sustain good relationships.
The author Alison is a passionate speaker on the subject of relationships at corporate, in dividual and societal levels. She speaks at seminars, workshops and various other events. She coaches and mentors groups and individuals on building and maintaining fruitful relationships, helping people achieve fulfilment and success in various aspects of their lives.
Get a copy Copies of this ground-breaking book are available on Amazon at http://goo.gl/s5JP3I. You can book Alison for workshops and speaking appointments on relationship building by calling 07901662412.
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Being a member of the community means taking action by Victoria Groulef
Victoria Groulef, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Reading West has called on everyone to work together in combating disease and poverty.
Commenting on how cancer has impacted on her life, Victoria said “two years ago my mum was diagnosed with a pancreatic tumour and had major surgery. I was already active in politics and did plan at some point to stand as an MP. But my mum’s cancer made me realise that you have no idea what is around the corner and life is for living. A year on after being selected I haven’t looked back though my Mum being diagnosed with cancer changed my whole approach to life”. Reflecting on her journey so far Victoria says “I know that we need real people in politics, the sort of people that rise above the Punch and Judy debates you see on TV and speak about the issues that matter to ordinary people. I want kids who grow up in ordinary families like mine to achieve everything they possibly can. I plan to give it my all and if I am lucky enough to be elected as an MP I will work my socks off for the community.” Countering HIV / AIDS Commenting on to the upcoming AIDS Day, Victoria has joined the local campaigners in calling for over the counter HIV testing to be available in Reading. She noted that “Reading has one of the highest rates of people diagnosed with HIV in the South East but we also know that many people living with HIV are unaware of their diagnosis. I know from talking to sexual health charities and those campaigning for better support for victims of sexual
violence in Reading, that access to over the counter HIV testing would really help. Counselling is important but for many people speaking to a medical professional deters them completely from getting a test at all. I want to see HIV tests available in pharmacies and I want to ensure that people who do test positive get early medical help. Sinead Gibson who has campaigned locally for Reading based services for victims of rape want the Survivors Trust to set up a rape support centre in the town. She said, “the more options available to people the better. For example after a rape many people will not report the incident but may have concerns about their sexual health. The easier we make it for people to find out their HIV status the better and this coupled with the help offered through the planned rape support centre can make a huge difference to anyone who has been sexually abused.” Business for women Victoria has also urged women, especially those currently running or thinking of starting a business locally, to keep up their entrepreneurial spirit by joining the Women in Business & Enterprise Reading Forum (WIBER). If women were opening businesses at the same rate as men then we would have one million more entrepreneurs nationally. It’s so important to have a local group that offers support, ideas and advice on how to start or expand a small business.
The first publication of Alison Awuku is out now! Get your copy: http://goo.gl/s5JP3I
“When it comes to winning with people, everything begins with the ability to think about people other than ourselves. That is the most basic principle in building relationships” - John C Maxwell
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News
Sculpting Generations for Greater Lives by Alison Awuku
The challenges that life can present are endless. Be it abuse, family tragedy, war, ill-health or poverty, it is never easy for those who greatly suffer from the after-effect of some of the challenges – the less-privileged among us - to live decent lives. In an increasingly challenging world that characterised by war, violence, life pressures and tough economic times, there is an equally increasingW need for us to reach out to those in need. There is an increasing need for individuals and communities to make ‘a positive impression’ by using their abilities to step up to life’s challenges and make a positive difference. This is how Esteemed Breakthrough evolved. Esteemed Breakthrough is a Reading-based charity with a local and international focus. Established in February 2013, it is a vocal advocate for the less privileged by raising the selfesteem of individuals and communities. The charity aims to be at the forefront of improving life chances of individuals and communities through provision of opportunities in education, health (physical, mental and emotional) and by creating opportunities for individuals and communities to develop themselves and each other through wealth creation.
Promising a bright and healthy future for the less-privileged through health, education and wealth creation. To date, Esteemed Breakthrough has provided vital support to schools, orphanages and hospitals. It has started the journey towards making a remarkable difference in the lives on individuals, families and communities. It also supports other established UK based charities with a similar agenda. Alison Awuku, Chair of Esteemed Breakthrough sums up the philosophy and vision of the charity. “Our philosophy is that each individual has a purpose and responsibility to contribute to humanity, but this can only be achieved if we each have the self-esteem to make that difference. Esteemed Breakthrough strives to drive individual and community growth through contributing to good health, education and advocating wealth creation by individual and groups for themselves, thereby building up their self -esteem so that they can fulfil their purpose and life and by so doing help others to achieve”. Esteemed Breakthrough is enriched with a leadership team that consists of published authors, health, education and corporate professionals, who are always at hand to provide advice and coaching on matters relating Health, Relationships, Entrepreneurship and Family & Community Growth. Esteemed Breakthrough has devoted its energy to passionately supporting under-represented members of our global family. Find out how you can contribute to the future of someone in need through donations of money and time by visiting www.esteemed.org.uk or emailing info@ esteemed.org.uk.
The Officials
Alison Awuku
Cecily Mwaniki - Projects Director
Alison is an author and a passionate public speaker on relationships. She has over 10 years’ experience in corporate finance.
Cecily is the founder and director of CMnetwork and Utulivu women groups who is highly commited in managing projects, events and community activities.
Mufalo Akayombokwa - Secretary
Angelina Mukwamataba - Treasurer
Mufalo’s has many years’ experience in education, public health and midwifery.
Angelina is a nurse with many years of experience.
- Chair
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Reading connected
Black History Month celebrated in the House of Parliament Black History Month was celebrated at the House of Parliament on Wednesday the 30th of October 2013. The event was organised by Tony Tokunbo Eteka Fernandez, the event was sponsored by MP Alok Sharma. The event was graced by many guest speakers, profound role models, community leaders and people making a difference within Reading and London. The Minister of Justice and Women Affairs, MP Helen Grant was a special guest at the event. The guests speakers included Mr Alistair Soyode (Ben TV), Mr Akin Salami (OHTV), Mr Steve Sodje and Cecily Mugo (CMnetwork). Also present was Mr Ogan who represented the Nigerian Ambassador. Speaking after the event, Tony noted that “this was the first time ever I had organised an event at the House of Parliament. I felt positively overwhelmed by the positive energy on the day and the wealth of information that the key speakers exhibited to a full house of community entrepreneurs. The spirit of networking goes a long way to create, maintain and manage inter-personal relationships. The heart of community matters and my primary objective has always
been and will always be my desire to serve others. At the same time my goal is to create a platform where people can network, share and grow in harmony. That was what the day was all about. Organising a black history month celebration has always been one of my many hungry dreams and I am hoping to do the same next year”. Tony is a writer, compere, public speaker, blogger, mentor and radio presenter. He is currently writing his fourth book and is the producer and presenter of Africa4u, a Radio Talk show for Africans around the world broadcasted by Reading4U Community Radio Station. He is also a public speaker and offers motivational talks in schools and colleges on self- esteem, personal goals and inspiring ‘black boys’ within the community. Read more or contact Tony at www.africa-awakening.co.uk.
From left to right: Mr Akin Salami, CEO of OHTV; Mr Alistair Soyode, CEO of BEN TV; Mr Steve Sodje, Former professional footballer and CEO of Sodje Sports foundation and Mr Sam Onigbanjo, African Thought leader and CEO of Women4Africa.
Photos from: http://www.freewebs.com/tblack69/photogallery.htm
Tony with the Minister for Justice and Women Affairs- MP Helen Grant.
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Community
by Paul Ifayomi Grant It’s November and Black History Month has come and gone with a whimper. The celebrations and activities within the Black History Month vividly showed the death of Black History Month in the UK. I say death, but perhaps critically ill or comatose would be a more accurate assessment of the condition of this cultural phenomenon. What does this tells us about the mentality of African (Black) people in the UK and perhaps further afield. Black History Month (BHM) idea was misconceived from conception in the UK, starting from its celebration in October unlike in many other countries, including USA, where it is celebrated in February. BHM is supposedly a tool for Africans to (re)connect with their global history; and yet from the very outset there was a failure to consider and co-ordinate with other Africans around the globe who had already instituted BHM. This failure can perhaps be attributed to ignorance, parochialism or the control of non-African funders. There was steady decline in BHM events in the UK over the last number of years. However, this was accentuated around 2007 at the beginning of the current economic depression which has devastated many lives world over. The main problem with BHM in the UK is that its creation and funding was in complete contradiction to the principles and values it was meant to promote. BHM became dependent upon funding from the politically led local authorities, mainly Labour before the Conservative joined in. We hence had a people who were seeking to reclaim their history and culture for the purpose of exercising self-deterministic power in the world, going cap in hand (note where the derogatory word ‘handicapped’ comes from) for the money to teach their community how to become empowered! “History shows that it does not matter who is in power…. those who have not learned to do for themselves and have to depend solely on others never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they had in the beginning.” Dr Carter G Woodson ‘The MisEducation of the Negro’ (1933)
Racial caste system
The above quote from Carter G Woodson the progenitor of what we now call Black History Month / African History Month / African History Season gets right to the nub of why he created Black People’s History Week (which developed into Black History Month) in 1926 and the purpose it was meant to serve. The (re)learning, remembrance and celebration of African History was meant to be purposive and that purpose was to assist in moving the sons and daughters of Africa from their then (and now) position of oppression under an invidious racial caste system, to a position of power, selfsufficiency and dignity.
The main thrust was internal, meaning to empower Africans through self-knowledge to rise up and not external, meaning seeking the approval of people from other communities. There is an Afrikan proverb, ‘Once you conquer the enemy within, the enemy without can do you no harm.’ And Dr Woodson realised how pervasive the sense of inferiority and self-hatred had become amongst his people in the US and indeed across the world. In his landmark work he notes: “In this effort to imitate, however, these “educated people” are sincere. They hope to make the Black People conform quickly to the standard of the whites and thus remove the pretext for the barriers between the races. They do not realize, however, that even if the Black People do successfully imitate the whites, nothing new has thereby been accomplished. You therefore have a larger number of people doing what others have been doing. The unusual gifts of the race have not thereby been developed, and an unwilling world, therefore continues to wonder, what the Black Person is good for.” (Woodson 1933: 7)
External approval This obsession with seeking external approval has been a constant theme in the misleadership of Black people. So BHM in the UK was placed upon the auction block right from the beginning and sold to the only bidder, the local authority. We know for certain that ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’. It is crystal clear that the funders of BHM had a very different set of goals to those espoused by Carter G Woodson. As time has passed too many African people have prostituted BHM to appease the funding God. The idea of us actually funding our own cultural celebrations seems anathema. The economic depression has largely moved BHM off the funding agenda in the age of Big Society and volunteerism, that is do it for free or pay for it yourself. So this October has been very quiet on the cultural front. In Nottingham, people used to ask what’s happening for Black history month, now most don’t even bother. Things got so desperate that a few years ago the City Council started the practice of including any Black person performing in Nottingham in their BHM calendar. I remember seeing an Alesha Dixon concert included. Her concert had absolutely nothing to do with BHM it just so happens she was performing in Nottingham in October! The economic chickens have really come home to roost. The endemic failure of Africans, particularly AfricanCaribbeans in the UK to practice ‘ethno-aggregation’ or pooling financial resources, has had profound ramifications, of which the death of BHM is just a minor casualty. The values and behaviours required to have independently
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institutionalised BHM in African communities across Britain are the values and behaviours required to have created a solid economic foundation in those same communities. The failure to achieve the latter ensured the failure to do the former. The deceased US born psychologist Amos N. Wilson in describing the failure of African-Americans to understand the power of history said the following: “Therefore, think again when we celebrate Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, King, and others. We should begin to look at the central issues. If our study of Black history is merely an exercise in feeling good about ourselves, then we will die feeling good. We must look at the lessons that history teaches us. We must understand the tremendous value of the study of history for the re-gaining of power. If our education is not about gaining real power, we are being miseducated and misled and will die “educated” and misled…..” “The study of history cannot be a mere celebration of those who struggled on our behalf. We must be instructed by history and should transform history into concrete reality, into planning and development, into the construction of power and the ability to ensure our survival as a people. If not, BHM becomes an exercise in the inflation of egos; it becomes an exercise that cuts us further off from reality.... So let us make sure that we look at and study history in a light that it advances our interests, not inflates our egos and blinds us to reality.”
Define your own history So there we have it, or as Jamaicans say, ‘see it deh’. It is a truism that ‘s/he who pays the piper calls the tune’ and the reason it is called a truism is because it is true. So, rest in peace BHM, your guardians did not value you and left you to die of neglect. Paraphrasing Shakespeare, Asa Hilliard said that, ‘To be African or not to be African, that is the question’. Until a significant number of people of African descent (whether
born in Africa or not) can answer that question in a constructive, affirmative manner it does not matter how many individual achievers we produce, a powerless people we will remain. I have just finished reading the book ‘Forty Million Dollar Slaves - The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Black Athlete’ by William C. Rhoden, which I would highly recommend; and the recurring theme throughout this book is that it does not matter how many highly paid superstar athletes we have produced, without group co-operation, loyalty and a sense of collective mission they remain powerless multi-millionaires dependent upon their billionaire owners. Every day we make African history, for better or worse, so the death of BHM is an opportunity to free the history of African people from a 31 day (or 28 day) prison and liberate it to occupy the highlands and lowlands of July, January, March etc.! Far better if we commemorated our history marked by special days throughout the year in a constant reinforcement of our identity and culture. So let’s make every day African History Day. Professor Wade Nobles says that, “Power is the ability to define reality and have other people respond to your definition as if it were their own” so the question is who is defining your reality? * Some quotes have had terminologies updated to reflect the nature of modern day language and its usage
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Community
Utulivu Women’s Group Patience Pays Off It has always been difficult to work with the hard to reach families in the community. But one organisation is making a huge difference in Reading for the past decade. Utulivu Women’s Group, launched in July 2004, has been working with women in the community to directly impact on those hard to reach. As a registered charity, Utulivu works in Reading, Bracknell, Slough, West Berkshire, Wokingham and the surrounding areas within Berkshire. In April 2011, Utulivu was nominated for the Queen’s Award for voluntary service. Utulivu passionately believes that healthy strong family relationships are the backbone for a healthy and wealthy society. It has thus enthusiastically engaged women, children and senior citizens from minority ethnic communities throughout Berkshire in activities geared towards alleviating loneliness, isolation, depression and social exclusion.
The Treasurer, Mrs Mufalo Akayombokwa reiterated the need for Utulivu’s role in the community by stating that,
‘Utulivu’ is a Kiswahili word meaning ‘PATIENCE’
“Our activities in health training and awareness, promotion of healthy living, sewing and fashion activities, promotion of cultural awareness and supporting alienated people and families have been central in facilitating community integration within Berkshire and beyond,”said
At Utulivu, there is a deep understanding that there is power in patience in accomplishing the organisational goals and in the internal dealings to ensure all participants have fruitful and positive experiences and relationships.
“We believe that our success can only be accomplished if we succeed in helping our people to integrating into the wider community while celebrating diversity as we promote healthy living and strong family relationships,” said Esther Oenga, Utulivu’s chairperson.
Miss Thelma Rusiki, the youth coordinator, stressed how much commitment and passion has helped Utulivu grow in the last ten years. She said,
“We are always guided by our motto, ‘we will never let it go until our good gets better and out better gets best’. We believe in that coming together is the beginning, keeping together is progress while working together is success.”
“Despite the hardships we have faced, Utulivu has been consistent in acting as a catalyst for positive change in the community. By starting with individuals, families and the wider community, our activities for the youth, women and older citizens have been instrumental in creating more integrated communities.”
Miss Binita Shah, Utulivu volunteer secretary.
Utulivu is entirely run by dedicated volunteers supported by the secretary. All the events and activities are also coordinated by these volunteers. Women, children and senior citizens from the minority ethnic communities come together to address issues that are detrimental to their health and overall well-being. Families are also encouraged to participate in activities to increase their prospects of integration into community.
Reading connected Activities Utulivu works with the volunteers and communities in many different activities such as gardening, which often takes place at Goddard Farm, Hartland Road, Reading. There are also activities that brings younger and older people together in the ‘generations together framework’ aimed at supporting and motivating the young people, especially the teenagers and young adults who feel isolated and alienated in life. We urge you to join Utulivu as a volunteer and through donations. This will help Utulivu to keep these great activities going and in supporting community integration and well-being. Contact Utulivu on: Address: 555 Northumberland Avenue Reading Berkshire RG2 8NX Mobile: 07828307997 Email: utulivucoordinator@live.co.uk Website: http://www.utulivu.co.uk
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Lifestyle
Letter to my African Sisters “Technology and the Heart… Women’s Health” by Richard Close Dear Daughters, I am writing to you about the health of your hearts and the power you have been given as women. I know life can be a long, hard road of oppression, bad deals and injustice. It is easy to harden your hearts. Have faith, your road is coming to an end. You have been given evolutionary gifts that you are just beginning to understand and leverage. I am writing you to tell you that we see you standing proud and transforming the world, but you can do so much more, so much faster.
You are no longer alone For over 50,000 years, men have held women in isolation to control them. Today, the device in your hand empowers you to connect with every man, woman and child in the world. From your phone, you have medical access from all the universities in the world. Sites like www.webmd.com will empower you with all you need to know about your bodies. Your voice can reach the globe on social injustice. In a moment, you can reach neighbours, families, groups or militia. Free of charge, the world will educate you from top universities and set you free. All you have to do is “Seek and you will find.” Sound familiar?
o p p r e s s i o n
and GMO seeds, and chemicals in baby food. Every company in your town can be rated in a public forum about their level of corruption. Internet software such as www.ushahidi.com maps voting corruption in Kenya and could map corruption of border crossings, company slave labour practices and more. Corruption and oppression relies on the silencing of women, but it is women who can expose it all. Drag the cowards out of the shadows and into the light of the town square.
How you will defeat
How you will defeat
If someone is lying to you, you can find the truth. If they are cruel to you, you can bring them to justice. If someone cheats you, they cheat all of the women in the town. The individual oppressor is always a coward that relies on the silence of the victim and fears the awareness of the masses. Because of the Internet, you and all women must become united. Imagine if the father, leader, or business owner knew that sexual abuse would result in every woman in town on his front door in minutes. One person on the Internet spreading the truth is like a candle in the darkness. Darkness hates the light, because it exposes its lies. On the Internet, you can assess the truth on HIV/AIDS
depression Isolation and denial of resources can cause you to sink into helplessness. Love denied crushes the heart. Yet access to the world’s resources empowers you to love people by sharing what you have to offer. Even if you have nothing but a simple, kind word, you can save someone’s life. Collaborative technology makes you a part of a community in need. Depression will lift in response to the needs of others. Your hopelessness will turn to strength when you offer hope with a group. Twitter and Facebook are designed for encouragement, joy, laughter and rejoicing. The traps of your old, oppressive patterns that resist change will transform with the discovery of new options. The solutions in the world are banging on your door every moment of every day.
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You are now
a powerful multinational The colonial cultures and multi-nationals have tricked you into thinking they are the only option in town. This is no longer true. You can now market, bank and even ship internationally the same way they can. Look at all the start-ups in this Mojatu magazine. Look at the article on Become your own teacher. You can order equipment, courses, products and services from anywhere in the world. Learn how to make and service anything from anywhere. When two or more gather to seek and build, you have all the same tools the big factory has. The new multinational is you. Everything you need to learn about how to do this is on online waiting for you. From Africa, you can service the world. In the UK and USA, small businesses account for the largest employers. African women are no longer forced to look for jobs when they can now create their own companies and economy. What are you waiting for?
You will unite and conquer Speaking out and giving your opinion is what makes you significant; it gives you power. The fact that there are UN Human Rights laws is just black type on white paper, unless humans are willing to speak out and act. The Internet provides women instant power to speak, unite and support. Women are now building highly profitable and scalable businesses which empower them and give them a political voice. Be the light exposing the unjust. You have heard that a single match can start a forest fire. You also know that a match can be easily stamped out. However, when thousands of matches light at once, powerful states of injustice are overcome, from the Islamic Spring, to the riots in Los Angeles from the Rodney King beatings. Global digital democracy is here to stay.
Knowledge
is your secret weapon Women can access the Internet’s resources to train and mentor other women. Not just by using MS Office, but literacy tools and in particular business literacy. Schools that teach students by day can open their technology to teach adults by night. Cyber Cafés can turn into small group meetings with youth listening to elders problems and seeking solutions on the Internet. Interns can work with women in business exploring knowledge from around the world to improve product and grow companies. I can cook for you, but I cannot eat for you. There is a simple model you can use as a group when approaching the Internet: 1. Start with a problem 2. Discover the many ways to solve it 3. Adopt a solution and share it with the group 4. Collaborate, act and team up to implement the solution 5. Share it. Give back to other women and the world your solution, business and creativity If you do these steps, you become part of the Global Learning Framework of billions of people questioning, collaborating and creating in the global knowledge experience. All this transcends our colours, cultures, religions, politics and continents. My dear sister, I will tell you one more time. “You are no longer alone.” Now go create the new world that no other generation could imagine.
I am proud of you, Dad By Richards C. Close Servant CEO Chrysalis Campaign and a Mojatu Foundation technology and training partner. Email: rclose@richardclose.info
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How Healthy is your Marriage Relationship? by Cecily Mwaniki Marriage relationship should be for life although it is not easy. There is a common myth that relationships are/should be easy. That is simply not true. The saying, the grass always looks greener on the other side is never truer in the context of marriage because few people share the truth in the amount of work that goes into a marriage. Relationships – even the best relationships in the world require constant attention, nurturing and work. According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, 42% of marriages in England and Wales end in divorce.
The report also estimates that: •• 34% of marriages are expected to end in divorce by the 20th wedding anniversary •• An additional 6% of marriages are expected to end by the 20th wedding anniversary because one of the spouses has died •• Only 60% of marriages are expected to survive to the 20th anniversary •• 16% of marriages reach the 60th wedding anniversary •• The average marriage is expected to last for 32 years. If you can understand and accept the need for constant attention and work in your personal relationship, you are moving in the right direction to be in the 16% bracket of those who celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. Indeed, marriage is just the beginning of a long process of learning, to openly and honestly communicate with another person in a respectful and caring manner. Note that relationships are like a really good conversation with someone you admire, trust and cherish—they are ever changing, engaging, wonderfully rewarding and sometimes surprising. You have to respect your significant other’s opinion even when you disagree with it.
The following are a few of what I consider golden tips to make a marriage work:
1
Compromise
2
Communicate
Relationships are about not only taking, but also giving. If you find yourself not giving very much or feeling resentful of how much you give and how little you receive back, you may be in an unequal relationship where one side is taking more than they are giving. For instance, couples sometimes mistakenly believe that ‘love’ will help them deal with any issue that comes up, and that if the other person truly loves you, then things will fall into place. However, people are independent with their own unique needs and personalities. Just because we found someone we want to spend our life with, it doesn’t mean we give up our own identity in the process.
Relationships live and die not by the sword, but by the amount of discussion. If two people can’t find a way to openly and honestly communicate their needs and feelings to one another, the relationship doesn’t stand much of a chance long-term. Couples must find a way to communicate regularly, openly and directly. This doesn’t mean waiting for an argument to tell your significant other how much he bothers you when he throws his clothes and socks on the floor instead of the hamper. It means telling him when you feel the need to, and to do so in a manner that is respectful but assertive.
3
Choose Your Battles Carefully
After marriage or when two people move in together, couples tend to discover pretty much the same thing no matter who they are – that they are two different people: living together is harder than anyone ever told them. Love conquers a lot of things, but it is no match for living day-in and day-out with another human being (especially if you’ve spent years on your own). Prepare yourself for this challenge by choosing what arguments you want to turn into a full blown battle. For instance, do you really want to start a fight over an unscrewed toothpaste cap or how dirty the shower is? Or would you rather reserve your energy for discussions over finances, kids and career paths (the things that might really matter to a person). Too many couples fight and bicker over the dumbest things, especially when put into context of what really matters. Do happily married couples grumble about each other? You bet they do. But presentation is everything. If you see the silently, built up steam, blow like Mount Vesuvius, your beloved will feel like the target of a personal attack, explains Johnson. “When a spouse is angry and complaining, we feel threatened on a deep level by the one person on whom we depend,” she says. Successful couples have learned to resist holding grudges, bringing up the past and remembering that they married an imperfect person – and so did their spouse.
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4
Don’t Hide Your Needs
Sometimes when we enter into a long-term relationship, we put ourselves second, behind the other person’s needs and desires. We might give up working to have a child, or agree to move to another city to help support our significant other’s career. And that’s fine but you need to be realistic, first with yourself about whether such things really matter to you or not. If they do, you need to find a way to communicate such needs with your partner and compromise where possible. Two people will rarely have exactly the same wants and desires out of life — that’s just a fantasy. Instead, expect that sometimes your two paths will diverge. Express your needs at those crucial moments but always find a way to do so respectfully and with an open mind. The guiding factor here is love--- Love is a verb, not just a feeling. Everyday life wears away the ‘feel good side of marriage.’ Feelings, like happiness, will fluctuate but real love is based on a couple’s vows of commitment: “For better or for worse” – when it feels good and when it doesn’t.
5 The importance of trust and honesty Different people have different areas of concern, but almost everyone values trust and honesty from their partner above all. Why? Because your partner is the one person you want to be able to depend upon in the long-term, without question or doubt. Little things where your significant other hasn’t been completely honest shouldn’t be blown out of proportion. Focus instead on the big things, like if they say they’re a lawyer and you discover they’ve never even passed the bar, or they say they like kids but later on deny the words came from their mouth.
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Change yourself
You can change your marriage by changing yourself. Veteran couples have learned that trying to change their spouse is like trying to push a rope – almost impossible. Often, the only person we can change in our marriage is ourselves. The grass is greenest where you water it. Successful couples have learned to resist the grass is greener myth: that someone else will make me happy. They have learned to put their energy into making themselves and their marriage better. Note that to painlessly achieve this, your attitude does matter. Changing behaviour is important, but so is changing attitudes. Bad attitudes often drive bad feelings and actions. As mentioned in the beginning of this argument, strong relationships are like a really good conversation with someone you admire, trust and cherish – they are ever-changing, engaging, wonderfully rewarding and sometimes surprising. But in order to continue the conversation because you want to see what the person has to say next, you have to respect your significant other’s opinion even when you disagree with it. And just like a good conversation, you need to work on keeping your end up too. You need to show attention and nurture the relationship constantly, just as you would nurture anything you value in life. You don’t just ‘get married’ and that’s the end of it. Indeed, marriage is just the beginning of a long process of learning to openly and honestly communicate with another person in a respectful and caring manner.
How to fix it
Rather than stockpiling grievances and resentment, deal with problems immediately using clear and specific language. Keep your cool and describe the issue as you see it, but avoid sweeping statements. Before you say anything, visualize holding your partner’s hand, then talk about the things that are difficult. If you lose that feeling of being connected because you’re furious, bite your tongue. A crisis doesn’t mean the marriage is over. Crises are like storms: loud, scary and dangerous. But to get through a storm you have to keep moving. A crisis can be a new beginning. It’s out of pain that great people and marriages are produced.
If you’re up for it and follow these tips, you’ll be on a road to having a more successful relationship or marriage. But remember — it takes two to tango. Share these with your significant other or spouse and use it as an opportunity to begin the conversation of your life, for the rest of your lives together. www.cmnetwork.co.uk
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Low Carbohydrate Diet That Can Save Your Life by Kris Gunnars
This is a summary of the detailed low-carb, real-food based diet (LCRF) menu diet detailing what to eat and what not to eat. The low carb, real food based diet involves eating natural, unprocessed foods with low carbohydrate content. See full version online at www.mojatu.com/food. There is a lot of scientific evidence that this type of diet is the best option for people who want to lose weight, optimize health and lower the risk of disease. What foods you should eat depends on a few things, including how healthy you are, how much you exercise and how much weight you have to lose. Consider all of this as a general guideline, not something
written in stone!
The Basics are that you should EAT meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, high-fat dairy, fats, healthy oils and maybe even some tubers and non-gluten grains. You should NOT EAT sugar, HFCS, wheat, seed oils, trans fats, artificial sweeteners, “diet” and low-fat products and highly processed foods.
Foods to Avoid Eating ‘bad foods’ can make you feel awful, lead to weight gain and cause all sorts of health problems. Here are 7 unhealthy foods you should avoid like the plague in order of importance:
Sugar
Soft drinks, fruit juices, agave, candy, ice cream and many others. Sugar is not only unhealthy because it provides empty calories, but I also obesity, diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. See ‘12 Alarming Reasons Why Sugar is Bad For You’ in the next page to understand why you should avoid. Avoid all fruit juices and sugar-sweetened beverages, sugary treats and dried fruit. Agave syrup is no better than sugar.
Gluten Grains
Wheat, spelt, barley and rye including breads and pastas. There is a fair amount of evidence to suggest that people, even those who don’t have celiac disease, react poorly to foods that contain gluten. Everyone who cares about their health should avoid gluten grains, especially wheat. Healthy people who don’t need to lose weight can eat some non-gluten grains like rice and oats.
Trans Fats
“Hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” oils. Trans fats, also known as “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” fats, are unsaturated fats that have been chemically modified to increase shelf-life and make them solid at room temperature. Avoid artificial trans fats as if your life depended on it (it does).
High Omega-6 Seed- and Vegetable Oils Cottonseed-, soybean-, sunflower-, grapeseed-, corn-, safflower and canola oils. Often portrayed as health foods, seed- and vegetable oils like soybean and corn oil are extremely unnatural for the human body as we didn’t have access to them until very recently in evolutionary history. Avoid excess Omega-6 fats from seed- and vegetable oils. Increase intake of Omega-3 from fatty fish or cod liver oil instead.
Artificial Sweeteners Aspartame, Saccharin, Sucralose, Cyclamates
and Acesulfame Potassium. Use Stevia instead. Even ingredients that are calorie free can still harm you and this may be especially applicable to artificial sweeteners. If you must sweeten, use Stevia. Artificial sweeteners have NOT been proven safe and are potentially harmful.
“Diet” and “Low-Fat” Products
Many dairy products, cereals, crackers, etc. Some of the marketers working at the junk food companies are shameless liars… and unfortunately, they get away with it. e smart and read labels. Even foods disguised as health foods often turn out to be little more than processed crap.
Highly Processed Foods
If it looks like it was made in a factory, don’t eat it. Foods that are highly processed are low in nutrients and high in unhealthy ingredients and artificial chemicals. If the ingredients list contains more than five ingredients or something that you don’t understand, it’s probably bad for you. Real food doesn’t need an ingredients list. Real food IS the ingredient.
Easy rule to remember:
“If it looks like it was made in a factory, don’t eat it!“ You MUST read ingredients lists, even on foods labelled as “health foods”.
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Low Carb Food List - Foods to Eat
Food List – Foods to Eat
Maybe Eat
Dri
If you’re healthy, active and don’t need to lose weight then you can afford to eat a bit more carbs: •• Tubers: Potatoes, sweet potatoes and some others. •• Non-gluten grains: Rice, oats, quinoa and many others. •• Legumes: Lentils, black beans, pinto beans, etc. (If you can tolerate them). You can have these in moderation if you want: •• Dark Chocolate: Choose organic brands with 70% cocoa or higher. Dark chocolate is high in antioxidants and may provide health benefits if you eat it in moderation. However, be aware that both dark chocolate and alcohol will hinder your progress if you eat/drink too much. •• Wine: Choose dry wines with no added sugar or carbs.
nk
“If you need to lose weight, be careful with the cheese and nuts because they’re easy to overeat on. Don’t eat more than one piece of fruit per day.”
Low Carb
Maybe Eat
You should base your diet on these real, unprocessed, low-carb foods: •• Meat: Beef, lamb, pork, chicken and others. Grass-fed is best. •• Fish: Salmon, trout, haddock and many others. Wild- caught fish is best. •• Eggs: Omega-3 enriched or pastured eggs are best. •• Vegetables: Spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and many others. •• Fruits: Apples, oranges, pears, blueberries, strawberries. •• Nuts and Seeds: Almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc. •• High-Fat Dairy: Cheese, butter, heavy cream, yogurt. •• Fats and Oils: Coconut oil, butter, lard, olive oil and cod fish liver oil.
Drink
Coffee, tea, water and carbonated soda without artificial sweeteners. For detailed information contained in this article and other inspirational articles on food and diet, visit http://www.mojatu. com/food. Also watch video http://goo.gl/NpTXRf.
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Lifestyle
10 Alarming Reasons Why Sugar is Bad For You by Kris Gunnars
Sugar is as addictive as drugs! Its composition, consumption and consequences are worth understanding. Added sugar is the single worst ingredient in the modern diet. It can have harmful effects on metabolism and contribute to all sorts of diseases. Here are 10 disturbing reasons why you should avoid added sugar like the plague.
1. Added Sugar Contains No Essential
Nutrients and is Bad For Your Teeth
Added sugars contain a whole bunch of calories with NO essential nutrients. There are no proteins, essential fats, vitamins or minerals in sugar… just pure energy. Eating up to 10-20% (or more), of calories as sugar can become a major problem and contribute to nutrient deficiencies. Sugar is also very bad for the teeth, because it provides easily digestible energy for the bad bacteria in the mouth.
2. Added Sugar is High in Fructose, Which Can Overload Your Liver In order to understand what is so bad about sugar, then you need to understand what it is made of.
Before sugar enters the bloodstream from the digestive tract, it is broken down into two simple sugars… glucose and fructose. • Glucose is found in every living cell on the planet. If we don’t get it from the diet, our bodies produce it. • Fructose is different. Our bodies do not produce it in any significant amount and there is no physiological need for it. The thing with fructose is that it can only be metabolized by the liver in any significant amounts. This is not a problem if we eat a little bit (such as from fruit) or we just finished an exercise session. In this case, the fructose will be turned into glycogen and stored in the liver until we need it. However, if the liver is full of glycogen (much more common), eating a lot of fructose overloads the liver, forcing it to turn the fructose into fat. When repeatedly eating large amounts of sugar, this process can lead to fatty liver and all sorts of serious problems . Keep in mind that all of this does NOT apply to fruit. It is almost
impossible to overeat fructose by eating fruit. Also people who are healthy and active can tolerate more sugar than people who are inactive and eat a Western, high-carb, highcalorie diet. For people who are inactive and eat a Western diet, large amounts of fructose from added sugars get turned into fat in the liver.
3. Overloading The Liver With Fructose Can Cause Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Excess fructose gets turned into fat, which can lodge in the liver and cause non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
4. Sugar Can Cause Insulin Resistance, a Stepping Stone Towards Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes Insulin is a very important hormone in the body. It allows glucose (blood sugar) to enter cells from the bloodstream and tells the cells to start burning glucose instead of fat. Having too much glucose in the blood is highly toxic and one of the reasons for complications of diabetes, like blindness. One feature of the metabolic dysfunction that is caused by the Western diet, is that insulin stops working as it should. The cells become “resistant” to it. This is also known as insulin resistance, which is believed to be a leading driver of many diseases… including metabolic syndrome, obesity, cardiovascular disease and especially type II diabetes. Many studies show that sugar consumption is associated with insulin resistance, especially when it is consumed in large amounts. When people eat a lot of sugar, it can cause resistance to the hormone insulin, which can contribute to many diseases.
5. The Insulin Resistance Can Progress to Type II Diabetes When our cells become resistant to the effects of insulin, the beta cells in our pancreas make more of it. This is crucial, because chronically elevated blood sugars can cause severe harm. Eventually, as insulin resistance becomes progressively worse, the pancreas can’t keep up with the demand of producing enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels down. At this point, blood sugar levels skyrocket and a diagnosis of type II diabetes is made. Given that sugar can cause insulin resistance, it is not surprising to see that people who drink sugar-sweetened beverages have up to an 83% higher risk of Type II diabetes.
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6. Sugar Can Give You Cancer Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and is characterized by uncontrolled growth and multiplication of cells. Insulin is one of the key hormones in regulating this sort of growth. For this reason, many scientists believe that having constantly elevated insulin levels (a consequence of sugar consumption) can contribute to cancer. In addition, the metabolic problems associated with sugar consumption are a known driver of inflammation, another potential cause of cancer. Multiple studies show that people who eat a lot of sugar are at a much higher risk of getting cancer.
7. Due to its Effects on Hormones and the Brain, Sugar has Unique Fat-Promoting Effects Different foods can have different effects on our brains and the hormones that control food intake. Studies show that fructose doesn’t cause satiety in the brain or lower the hunger hormone ghrelin nearly as much as glucose. Over time, because the calories from sugar aren’t as fulfilling, this can translate into an increased calorie intake.
8. Because it Causes Massive Dopamine Release in The Brain, Sugar is Highly Addictive Because sugar causes a large release of dopamine in the brain, it can cause addiction in a lot of people. The problem with sugar and many junk foods is that they can cause massive dopamine release… much more than we were ever exposed to from foods found in nature. For this reason, people who have a susceptibility to addiction can become strongly addicted to sugar and other junk foods.
9. Sugar is a Leading Contributor to Obesity in Both Children and Adults The way sugar affects hormones and the brain is a recipe for fat gain disaster. It leads to decreased satiety… and can get people addicted so that they lose control over their consumption. Not surprisingly, people who consume the most sugar are by far the most likely to become overweight or obese. This applies to all age groups. One of the most important things you can do if you need to lose weight is to significantly cut back on sugar consumption.
10. It Ain’t The Fat… It’s SUGAR That Raises Your Cholesterol and Gives You Heart Disease For many decades, people have blamed saturated fat for heart disease… which is the #1 killer in the world. However… new studies are showing that saturated fat is harmless and instead evidence shows that sugar, NOT fat, may be one of the leading drivers of heart disease via the harmful effects of fructose on metabolism. Studies show that large amounts of fructose can raise triglycerides, small, dense LDL and oxidized LDL (very, very bad), raise blood glucose and insulin levels and increase abdominal obesity… in as little as 10 weeks. These are all major risk factors for heart disease supported by a strong statistical association between sugar consumption and the risk of heart disease.
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DMI Using Media to Make a Difference: Encouraging Healthy Behaviours in Africa D
M
I
evelopment edia nternational (DMI) runs radio and TV campaigns to change behaviours and save lives in developing countries. DMI uses scientific modelling to save the greatest number of lives in the most cost-effective way. It has recently launched ‘Media Million Lives’ (www.mediamillionlives.org), an ambitious initiative to create integrated radio, TV and mobile phone campaigns that will promote key maternal and child health behaviours in ten African countries for five years each, with the objective of saving a million lives. Why supply-side initiatives are not enough: the service provision is weak. The main requirement is high role of demand creation in developing countries media penetration. In most African countries over 75% of Seven million children die every year of preventable causes before reaching their fifth birthday. We can keep five million of them alive every year by increasing coverage of simple interventions, such as exclusive breastfeeding or handwashing. And we can keep most of that group (over three million children) alive just by improving their parent’s knowledge of basic health issues, and changing their behaviours accordingly. The major point here is that not enough attention is given to increasing demand in developing countries for health. Instead, most of the money is spent on increasing supplies – of doctors, hospitals, drugs, and so on. These are all necessary, of course, but it is several hundred times more expensive and slow to scale up supply-side initiatives in poor African countries than to scale up demand-side initiatives. For example, many rural mothers in Africa cannot recognise when their child has a dangerous illness; even if they can, they do not know what to do about it. The instinctive response when a small child has diarrhoea is to stop feeding it, in order to make the symptoms stop; as a result, over a million children die of dehydration every year, quite unnecessarily.
What are these demand-side initiatives, then? Increasing demand for health involves creating awareness of key issues and encouraging healthy behaviours (such as breastfeeding) and health-seeking behaviours (such as seeking treatment for malaria). This is done through behaviour change campaigns. These fall into two broad categories: •• Community-level campaigns (using techniques such as street theatre and community mobilisers) •• Mass media campaigns (using a combination of TV, radio, newspapers, billboards and mobile phones) Mass media campaigns can be taken to national scale rapidly and relatively cheaply, even in countries where healthcare
people regularly listen to radio or watch television, and these numbers are increasing every year. It is possible to reach a target audience by broadcasting on a small number of popular stations (even if that audience is poor, rural women). Because of their ability to scale, mass media campaigns are over 100 times more cost-effective per person reached than community-level campaigns. Our model for predicting the health impacts of mass media campaigns suggests that the cost per year of life saved is between $2 and $10. This is cheaper than any other health intervention, including childhood immunisations ($8-$16), bednets to protect against malaria ($2-24), and anti-retroviral treatment for HIV/ AIDS ($673-$1,494). We can save a life for around $100, simply by broadcasting radio messages that encourage parents to adopt healthy behaviours to protect their children, such as breastfeeding infants and washing their hands before meals. For example, a radio campaign in Cambodia increased the proportion of pregnant women who took iron supplements to prevent anaemia from 10% to 44%, and increased their awareness of the danger signs of acute respiratory infections (such as pneumonia) in children from 10% to 40%.
How to prove that mass media can save lives: a randomised controlled trial in West Africa DMI and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) are running a cluster randomised controlled trial of an innovative child survival intervention: a multi-issue radio health campaign. The campaign involves the broadcast of health messages using radio spots (60-second adverts) and radio phone-in programmes. By broadcasting health messages that change the behaviours of pregnant women and new mothers, the project aims to reduce the large number of children dying before their fifth birthday in Burkina Faso and to reduce child mortality by 19%. DMI and LSHTM have created a mathematical model to
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predict how many lives could be saved through multi-issue mass media campaigns that target the most important underlying causes of death. The predictions of the DMILSHTM model are very promising and this research will be published in The Lancet later this year. The model predicts that comprehensive campaigns could reduce child mortality by 16% to 23% in low-income countries, depending on the profile of the country. The cost per life-year saved is also lower than any currently available health intervention.
This trial has been funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Planet Wheeler Foundation. If lives are saved on the scale that the model predicts, this approach should become a high priority for governments across the developing world. If similar five-year campaigns are implemented in 10 African countries, the model predicts that one million lives should be saved. This process would, for the first time, place mass media campaigns in the mainstream of public health interventions, based on robust scientific evidence.
DMI and LSHTM are now testing the predictions of the model in a real-life setting in Burkina Faso, a country that which combines high child mortality with a localised media environment, permitting a cluster-randomised trial. The trial involves broadcasting health messages to seven geographic areas, chosen at random, and seven control areas for 2.5 years. The evaluation, which includes baseline and endline mortality surveys with a 100,000 sample size, will be the most rigorous evaluation ever conducted of a mass media intervention.
Will Snell | Director of Public Engagement & Development | Development Media International www.developmentmedia.net | will.snell@ developmentmedia.net | +44 (0)20 3058 1631
Mojatu Magazine E-Publication News Desk Journalism Training _____________ 0798 482 5482 0115 871 3819
_____________ info@nottinghamnewscentre.com www.nottinghamnewscentre.com
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Mojatu Magazine
Mojatu Launches Reading Community Magazine
Reading ( W )
A4 12
Nottingham
Mojatu in conjunction with CMnetwork is to launch a print and online publication in Reading, Berkshire titled, Mojatu Reading Connected. This publication will follow the similar trend as Mojatu, Nottingham Connected, launched in Nottingham in November 2012. The magazine will source and present the most interesting, provocative and important contents on and relating to African and Caribbean communities in Reading.
The inaugural print edition of the magazine will be released on 28th November with copies being distributed in Reading and the surrounding regions. This highly glossy and very informative magazine will officially be launched at Reading Hilton Hotel, Drakes Way on 8th December 2013. This will coincide with the ‘QUIT BEING AVERAGE’ event taking place at the same venue. You can book tickets at http://goo.gl/pOZNax Headed by Cecily Mwaniki, the founder and CEO of CMnetwork and founder of the thriving Utulivu women group and the author of over five books, Mojatu Reading Connected magazine will bring readers distinctive journalistic ideas, commentaries and features. Mojatu will offer the graphic design, online and mobile presence while Mojatu Foundation will provide and manage the community oriented contents and services.
Contents
The magazine will carry contents from Mojatu content writers and partners who sponsor pages for exclusive online and print advertisement. It will also carry articles from Mojatu content partners such as Chrysalis Campaign who run The Global Learning Framework, FreeAgent the online accounting software and Homestrings, who provide Africans and foreign investor’s platform and opportunities to invest in Africa and Nottingham News Centre the providers of news contents and journalism services. Cecily Mwaniki will be the editor while Norma Gregory will take up the role of associate editor. The magazine will follow the highly successful publishing process of Mojatu Nottingham Connected supported by the Mojatu website www.mojatu.com, which attracts millions of visitors each month. Published six times a year, Mojatu Reading Connected will celebrate the cultural and social success and competencies by African and Caribbean people, organisations and communities. At its heart, the magazine will have special inclination towards positive and empowering news on these communities.
Mojatu Reading Connected will work with community organisations, education institutions, universities, businesses, local authorities and government bodies to increase coverage and expand social integration and community betterment. The magazine offer placements, training, internships and support to job seekers and those seeking to get into journalism, ICT, media and related sectors. It will also offer direct support and sponsorship to community organisations to ensure creation of thriving communities with strong economic viability.
Opportunities to share your story, photos and views or develop and expand your journalism, photography and video skills and knowledge
We are calling on all those who wish to make a tangible difference in your community through media to join this new exciting magazine. This excellent opportunity will help you to share your experiences, knowledge and skills by reporting on matters of interest. You can share your story, photos and views while developing and expanding your journalism, photography and video skills and knowledge This opportunity will offer those working in media or seeking to get into journalism, photography and videography opportunity to join a local team in sourcing contents such as stories, photos and videos for the magazine and Mojatu.com.
Journalism, photography, video, media and content management courses
Early next year, Mojatu Foundation working with other partners will offer journalism, social media and other contents sourcing and management courses online and through seminars. Mojatu also offers website development, graphic design, advertisement and branding services. To attend the event or be covered in Mojatu Reading Connected, please email reading@mojatu.com or contact CMnetwork on 555 Northumberland Avenue Reading Berkshire RG2 8NX or Phone +44(0) 1189072534 and Mobile +44(0) 7859063643. You can also contact Mojatu on info@mojatu.com or 01158457009 or visit www.mojatu.com.
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27
Reading connected
Bookkeeping Tips for small businesses Keeping your books on the right track By Emily Coltman When you’re running your own business, it’s important to make sure you keep your records and bookkeeping in order. Not only does this help you to keep on the right side of the taxman, it also means you’ll have useful, up-to-the-minute information about your business’s profit and its cash flow. Emily Coltman FCA, Chief Accountant to FreeAgent – providers of award-winning online accounting system for small businesses and freelancers – gives her five top tips for making sure you stay on the right track when it comes to your bookkeeping.
Track your cash in and out
Remember that cash is the lifeblood of any business. If you don’t know what’s come in and what’s going out, you won’t know if you’ve got sufficient money to pay your upcoming bills or to cover your taxes. If you don’t already do so, try making use of the speed and convenience of online banking. You should find that monitoring your account online makes it quicker and easier to track the money that’s going in and out of your business. You can even download statements from online banking and upload them to FreeAgent, making it even more straightforward to work out where you’re earning and spending money.
Invoice online
You can save time and paper by e-mailing your estimates and invoices to your customers, and chasing non-payments with automatic email reminders. This will also help you make sure you get paid the money you’ve earned for your work!
Keep on top of your bills
Don’t sour the relationships you have with your suppliers by forgetting to pay your bills. Instead, try to keep track of any bills that you’re not going to pay straight away, and make sure you keep a record of when they’re due to be paid - so that you can pay them before the deadlines. Not only will this help keep your suppliers happy - and you never know when you might need a supplier to do you an urgent favour, such as a rush order - you may also be able to take advantage of early payment discounts. You can do all four of these easily, and produce management accounts, by using a simple online accounting system like FreeAgent.
Track all your expenses
As well as spending money from your business bank account, you’re bound to spend money out of your own pocket on business expenses. But it’s easy to forget to keep track of these expenses when you’re doing your bookkeeping.
For example, if you travel to visit a client and buy your train ticket using a personal credit card, remember that this still counts as a cost of your business. If you don’t put it in your accounts, then your profit will look higher than it actually was, and worse, you’ll pay too much tax. Consider using a tool like ReceiptBank to photograph your expense receipts on your iPhone and feed them automatically into your accounts - so you won’t run the risk of forgetting about them.
Keep your records carefully
Make sure that you keep all your paperwork, either as hard copies, or by scanning them onto your computer. HMRC is quite happy for you to keep your business records as soft copies, so long as you can access them readily - but remember that if a document has writing on both sides (such as terms and conditions), you must scan both sides. The exception to that is anything that has a tax deduction written on the piece of paper, such as a dividend voucher, or bank interest certificate. In these cases you must keep the hard copy. However you keep your records, have a system and stick to it. Make sure that you can easily lay hands on any piece of paper in your system, in case of a query from your accountant or from HMRC as well as in case you need it. Sort documents by type (e.g. invoices, bills, bank statements) and by order such as date or alphabetical or both - rather than just filing them in one big pile. You may also want to consider using an online accounting system such as FreeAgent to help you manage your record more efficiently. This will also allow you to attach scanned copies of documents such as bills to the entries in the software, which will save you having to look for them later. Bookkeeping isn’t the most interesting of jobs, but it’s much easier to manage if you make use of all available tools and keep your records regularly updated. It’s easier to do an hour a week than to have to spend a month collecting your information at year end - and you could also save on accountants’ fees by keeping your records and paperwork in perfect order.
Emily Coltman FCA is Chief Accountant to FreeAgent, who provide an award-winning online accounting system designed to meet the needs of small businesses and freelancers. Try it for free at www.freeagent.com
28
Education & Careers
Write Right!
mojatu.com
Community Literacy Improvement
by Norma Gregory
Writing Skills Focus 1: Capital Letters This issue of Mojatu will try to deal with an English grammar issue that many native writers of English as well as for many people new to the written English language: capital letters. Capital letters (or upper case letters) are used in writtten English for many different reasons. Below is a list of the most common usage for capital letters. Try to improve, learn these and practise using them to improve your writing. Write Right! 1. The first letter of a sentence: Dean caught the bus. 2. The name and surname of a person: Gilbert Josiah, Hannah Burt, Keisha Prince 3. Names of countries and cities: Kenya, Paris, Tobago, Greece 4. Language names: English, Kiswahili, Mandarin, Spanish, Hindi 5. Days and Months: Monday, Saturday, April, December 6. Planets; Mars, Earth, Pluto, Saturn 7. Roman numerals: III, IV, ML, XXV 8. The first person pronoun: I 9. Religions and religious figures: Christianity, Buddhism, Jesus, God, Budda 10. Festivals and holy days: Eid, Ramadan, Christmas, Divali, Easter 11. Words that identify nationalities or ethnic groups: Africans, Americans, Indian, Greek 12. The main words in the titles of books, plays, poems, films, magazines, newspapers : The Gleaner, Mojatu, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Pride and Prejudice 13. Subheadings: Introduction, Conclusion 14. Historical periods: Tudor, Victorian, Middle Ages 15. The words north, south, east and west when used in place names: the Far East, West Africa, the South Pole 16. Brand names: Nike, Dyson, Samsung, Heinz, Kleenex, Marmite, Grace 17. Names of legal cases: Williams v. Board of Education 18. For emphasis: there was ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE to support the claims. 19. Direct quotations: The teacher said, “Please open your book.” 20. In abbreviations: BA, MA, NY, UK
Note ••The names of seasons are written in lower case: summer, winter, spring and winter. ••School subjects are not capitalised except for languages: geography, history, maths,German, English. Lower case letters are normally used for all other purposes. Don’t use a capital letter unless you are sure you know why it’s needed. For support with checking, editing and proofreading contact Curuba Education Services on 07451 087 057 visit www. curuba.co.uk or email:info@curuba. co.uk for individual tuition and language support at prices you can afford. Write Right!
29
Reading connected
How to Teach Yourself Free with Elite Universities Acquiring new skills, competencies or knowledge is like opening new doors and opportunities you never dreamt were possible. It also keeps life interesting. MOOCs
W
hat is more interesting is that with the increasing usage of internet and ever increasing learning channels, you do not need to raid a bank to pay for your course or leave your job and loved ones for a classroom life. Some of us remember the impossibilities experienced in learning evening and part-time courses that costing us a huge deal of money and our social life – attending classes at night and weekends. The internet has transformed learning by bringing everyone with internet accessibility the wonderful opportunity to be our own teachers and to teach ourselves at our own pace. Other advantages of online learning are that you can start teaching yourself what, how and when you want to learn something. Jumping between courses and lessons that do not deliver what they promised till you find those that do. Learning at your own pace and time. And better still, you can learn almost anything online.
Karen Cheng taught herself how to dance in a year through studying YouTube videos. Watch her highly inspirational video at http://goo.gl/BZpxXZ. This shall truly inspire you to get up right away and go learn something new. There are many other courses on YouTube such where you can search by subject or area of interest. I have often recommended Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org because of its high quality materials in most subjects and it is available freely on YouTube.
The massively open online courses (MOOCs) have transformed the online learning experiences - http://goo.gl/ ldXs6N. Many leading colleges, universities, graduate schools, and companies are investing significant resources into free education. These courses are available free online offering some of the most fascinating, highly regarded, and useful courses around. What is better, these courses are taught by some of the most accomplished professors at the best schools in the world. They offer courses on anything – ranging from accounts, archaeology, computer science, coding, mobile devices, nursing all the way to zoology. The top ten MOOCs free courses providers that are highly recommended are Udemy, iTunes, Havard, Stamford, MIT, Duke, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon and Yale.
Tamar Lewin stated, “in the past few months hundreds of thousands of motivated students around the world who lack access to elite universities have been embracing them as a path toward sophisticated skills and high-paying jobs, without paying tuition or collecting a college degree.” There are a millions of places where you can go learn something. The best thing is that they are just a few clicks away. Imagine what could happen if you add some new skill sets, what sort of doors this could open and what roads it could lead you down?
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Utulivu Women’s Group Thanks for your continued support for nearly 10 years!
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Help us Keep this great work going.
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To donate or volunteer contact: Mob: 07828307997 Email: utulivucoordinator@live.co.uk Website: www.utulivu.co.uk Utulivu Women’s Group 555 Northumberland Avenue, Reading, Berkshire, RG2 8NX