TT 138

TIMES TODAY TT 138 | FEB 1st - 6th| 2022

ambidextrous faith

CONTENTS 1. My Pulpit message - notes | 3-4 2. Is the Church jazzed or jaded by the deafening political drumbeats? |5 3. My Inspiration | 6 4. Business | 7 5. My Entrepreneur | 8 6. My Health | 9-10 7. My Kitchen | 11 6. My Sports | 12

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My Pulpit Message - notes Wait Upon the LORD My Pulpit Message Notes are extracted from sermon preached at the Nairobi Baptist Church (NBC) Ngong Road o Sunday 30th January 2022. Preacher: Reverend Munengi Mulandi, NBC Senior Pastor. Topic: Wait upon the Lord. Scripture: Isaiah 40:25-31 There are Bible commentators who think Isaiah was written by two different people because the messages In primary school when a question was asked in self are two far apart for it to have been authored by one confidence you are always putting your hand up. In fact person. So they say. sometimes you would be so excited you would not only put the hand up but maybe also snap your fingers to Isaiah chapter one to 39 it is a message of judgment, re- raise more attention. If your are left handed you use the pentance. It is a hard hitting message that some people left hand. If you are ambidextrous in your faith your say it is Isaiah one. But turning to Isaiah 40, it begins trying to raise attention in self righteousness with one “Comfort, comfort my hand or another, but repeople, says your God. 2 ceiving in total surrender Speak tenderly to Jerusato God with both hands Isaiah 40:29-30 lem, and proclaim to her raised and saying, LORD, that her hard service has I do not understand the He gives strength to the weary and increases the power been completed, that her pandashukas of life/ the of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and sin has been paid for, that difficult times, i know young men stumble and fall; she has received from the that You hold my hand.

Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”

And in those times when He speaks to you like He And people say surely that must be a second Isaiah does the second half of Isaiah, speaking tenderly to His writing because these messages are inconsistent to one people, that is ambidextrous faith that takes up these author. Unfortunately there are people who believe and from Jehovah. even go further and say, surely God cannot be such a God of thunder and fire and brimstone and others be- Isaiah 40:29-30 lieve that He can only be a God of grace and mercy and we are all going to go to heaven because God is so He gives strength to the weary and increases the power merciful. of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; One Bible commentator used this word first and I adopted it that our faith has to be ‘ambidextrous’. That we Those who in weakness, in raising not of a hand that have to embrace the messages of God and the times says I know that I know that I know but raising both that He takes us through that are very hard. When we hands in surrender wait on the LORD and those ones go through the valley of the shadow of death, He prom- He promises to renew their strength, to make them ises to be with us, and we go through it. soar up on wings like eagles, to run and not grow weary, to walk and not faint.

The God of Isaiah chapter one to 39 is still God and God indeed. But we must also embrace the other side of God. We must be ambidextrous and we see from the LORD and walk with the LORD, not with one hand up.

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My Pulpit Message - notes There is a very interesting word that is now used, it’s virtual in Kenyan parlance, sipangwingwi meaning I am not arranged, but is a proclamation of self reliance, self sufficiency that nobody can come and order you around. And many of us have the sipangwingwi attitude. Unfortunately we even take it in our faith. So we have a hand raised, but we don’t have both hands raised in surrender in waiting on the LORD. But this children of God are being told that God specifically gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

So if you are not weary or weak, then you are not candidate.

I wonder if you realise just how soon our lives can change in just a moment from situations where our Visa cards, our net worth, our brute strength, our acre of land cannot save us from. Imagine if you get a call from KRA who don’t entertain conversations of sipangwingwi.

Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:15 he was doing so well, in fact the Bible translates and says he had machinery, but something sad is said about him, that he was successful because he had been marvellously helped by the LORD until he became strong.

The LORD increases the power of the weak and strengthens the weary.

LORD, strengthen me one more time.

If your brokenness is because of things you have done, this God of an ambidextrous faith, even if your sins is of your own making as He accuses those in Isaiah chapter one to 39, He is still the God of ambidextrous faith, Who says to you, I come to speak to you tenderly, to pay you double for your sins in forgiveness and in mercy.

How God strengthens the weak:

- The story of Gideon, a very scared person, threshing wheat in a winepress and then God calls him and says, ‘Mighty warrior, man of valour’ and Gideon says ‘not me’. He is so scared to go into battle that the LORD strengthens him by helping him hear a testimony that is happening in the enemy’s camp and two soldiers are discussing and saying, ‘I had a dream, that dream woke me up. I was a loaf of bread that came tumbling down and destroyed all the tents of the Midianites and the other soldier says, ‘that can be nothing else, but the sword of Gideon. And suddenly God gives strength to the weak one, even causing him to reduce the numbers of his armies to 300 men and giving him victory all the way.

I wonder if you are ready to raise both hands and surrender so that you can receive that power that makes you soar on wings like eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint.

How does God strengthen the weary?

We all know Samson was strong, but we know his true strength came in Judges 16 when his eyes were gorged out when he is a prisoner entertaining the enemy Philistines and he shoots one prayer to God, knowing all the sins he had committed, knowing he is in a situation of his own making and he says

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Is the Church Jazzed or Jaded By The Deafening Political Drumbeats?

By Times Today | Email: timestodayke@gmail.com

Political drumbeats in Kenya just got louder and are deafening to the ear that is used to a much quieter environment. Or is it? Perhaps we are jazzed and have become acclimatised to the noises by the drummers in each band trying to outdo the next day after day, week in, week out .

Each band leader seems to have mastered enviable crowd pulling tactics that easily match or outnumber those attracted to Jesus during His time on earth. The leaders move through streets, one town after another, from county to county, traversing the landscape to more appreciative audiences who sing along to their tunes. Never mind that we are still in a pandemic that has claimed millions of lives worldwide and protocols to wear masks and social distance have been completely ignored.

wise man who said in Proverbs 29:2, “When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.

What kind of prayers are we asking God to answer with regard to the elections in August? Perhaps, for peace, unity, love, tolerance, in the run-up, during and after the elections? What about the leaders? The majority of leaders who have expressed interest for the top leadership are the same people we have had in previous elections. Are the people happy with the current crop of leaders? Which committed Christians have entered the race and how is the Church supporting them? What choices do we have as Christians in electing the right people to lead the country so that we may rejoice?

However, none of these Kenyan politicians have shown the kind of compassion Jesus had for the crowds. Apart from talking to them about the kingdom of God, Jesus, met their needs by healing the sick and feeding them when they were hungry to the point of having leftovers enough for each of His disciples to take back to their homes and families. Though there was no pandemic, Jesus easily handled whatever issues presented to Him wherever He went.

Peoples lives were transformed. Jesus set the perfect example for everyone, including aspiring leaders, to imitate.

Some of the proposals that were presented during the conclusion of last year’s Church and Politics summit were firstly, the need to recover our identity. Dr. David Oginde, the immediate former presiding Bishop of Christ is the Answer Ministries (CITAM), asserted that if we are going to make a difference in the political arena, we must first recognise who we are; 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.” We are a people belonging to God. You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. So that you may declare the praises of The intrigues, alignments and re-alignments, shifting loy- Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful alties, accusations and counter accusations, tensions that light. roil the landscape are the norm during each election year in Kenya. Hot-button issues of negative ethnicity are spo- Secondly, we needed to reclaim our space. It was agreed ken in undertones and leaders who get carried away are that it was time for the church to arise and reclaim and tamed by the watchful eye of bodies such as National Co- reshape the Nation’s narrative so that we speak the blesshesion and Integration Commission. Though times have ing of God into this Nation. Thirdly, we needed to renew changed, the characters are similar, the scenes are not any our mandate. It came out clearly during the Summit that different. We could easily be pressing re-play on the play- politics is too dirty to be left to the politicians. Only the er of political drama.

Church has the power and the mandate to transform politics. We therefore need very clear strategies for renewWe have been in election mode for a very long time. Long ing our prophetic and transformative mandate as salt and enough to feel nauseated every time the televisions or ra- light. dios are turned on, or when scrolling up and down the twitter trends on our smart gadgets. Every where we turn, In a separate interview with Reverend Dr. Nelson Makanincluding the market places where we meet the ordinary da, the General Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance of mama and baba mbogas, the talk is politics.

Kenya (EAK), he said, “We should encourage good Christians to take an active role in politics if we are looking for Approximately seven months ago during the Church and good leadership. In fact, this time round, in praying for Politics summit, organised by the Kenya Church in con- good leaders we must shift to encouraging Christian peojunction with Hesabika Trust, Kenya Christians Profes- ple to offer themselves for leadership. Then we pray for sionals Forum and the Catalead it was asked, ‘To engage and support them to win. The result is good leadership.” or not to engage in politics?’ It was clear that the Church needs to engage. In about seven months time, we shall So is the Church in Kenya jazzed, or jaded by the ongoing be going back to the ballots to cast our votes. How is the political drumbeats and how can her voice be heard above church engaging? Let us remember the words of a very the ongoing noise as she engages in politics?

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TT 138 | FEB 1st - 6th| 2022

My Inspiration Safety in Dangerous Times

By William King | Email: kingwilliam189@gmail.com | image credit: isrmag.com

We can be G u e s s safe in the what? God midst of the wants to be, most danin a sense, gerous situyour secuations when rity blanket we understand that God’s covenant with us includes - you don’t leave home without Him! He desires to be safety and protection. It’s part of His plan of salvation. In with you everywhere you go. You maybe in dangerous faith, God wants us to besituations or living in an gin to believe His Word and area that doesn’t feel secure, promises. but I’m telling you the safYou maybe in dangerous situations or living in an area est place in the whole wide When our faith is shaky, that doesn’t feel secure, but I’m telling you the safest world is in the will of God. however, we tend to conplace in the whole wide world is in the will of God. tain Him in small areas or That’s where you have His put God in a box and say, protection and covering.

“Okay, God I’m gonna let He has thoughts to prosYou out only on Sunday for an hour. Once I leave church per you. I meet Christians sometimes that wonder why or once I turn the stream off, I’m going back to my own things aren’t happening in their lives as they want them thing.” The response to that is:no. to, but it’s all about how much time is being put into an authentic personal relationship with God. We must activate our faith so that we can be beneficiary of God’s protection, this involves inviting Him into our In our natural relationships, we can’t get to know people daily experience. We have to understand that we will ex- that we don’t spend time with; it works the same way perience His intervention and protection in our every- with God. If we give Him no quantity time, how can we day affairs only to the degree that we allow Him entrance. expect there to be a manifestation of quality in our lives?

God freely gives us an inheritance that has our names I don’t know about you, but I have learned to welcome reserved on it in heaven. and invite God in everyday. I say, “Come on in, God. Get involved in every area of my life. I need You to get in- All we have to do to tap into it is simply pull it down and volved in my life; in my financial affairs and how I spend allow it to be manifested. That’s right, we can begin to money; get involved in my emotions.” experience heaven on earth because we are heirs of an inheritance that protects our lives and delivers us from danger. We are the redeemed of the Lord.

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Education 2022 International Day of Education: looking back and leading forward in post-COVID19 learning recovery https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/2022-international-day-education |By: OMAR ARIAS | Photo credit: Shutterstock We enter the third year of the pandemic armed with new data and lessons on how countries are ensuring learning continuity and recovery in the midst of the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant, along with updated guidance and tools for: reopening and keeping opened schools safely, making remote learning more effective, measuring learning loss and assessing learning remotely, supporting teachers, and for developing and implementing robust evidence-based and inclusive learning recovery plans. Our education team, in collaboration with several partners, has been actively contributing to the global knowledge base in this area. Below is a very selected compilation of links to these resources.

As our teams and policy makers leverage this knowledge to implement aggressive measures to bring all students back to school and roll out ambitious learning recovery programs, we cannot forget to listen to the advice and lessons learned shared by learners themselves. Last year over 400 high school students from 62 countries across every continent, from various social, cultural and economic backgrounds, told us about their experience learning during COVID-19 and shared their ideas on how to improve the learning experience. Once again, we want to hear from you.

We mark the fourth International Day of Education grappling with the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our current generation of learners , which at the peak of school closures disrupted learning of more than 1.6 billion children and youth across the world. We are living a “crisis within a crisis”.

Meanwhile, let me share my own takeaways on what it takes to recover from this crisis and rebuild back better, effective, equitable and resilient education systems:

In order realize the future of learning where learning does not stop at the school walls, we need to be guided by the fact that children learn best Back in January 2021, we commemorated the day with a blog by World when they experience joy, rigor, and purpose in the learning process. ReBank Managing Director Mari Pangestu: “Harnessing the promise of in- silience and equity in education are two sides of the same coin. Remote novation in education“ in which she sounded the alarm on the impacts of education needs to harness the power of connectedness and meaningful the unfolding crisis and highlighted the opportunities offered by innova- two-way interactions between teachers and learners, and need to engage tive approaches to delivering remote education during the pandemic. A and support parents as partners to ensure both continuity of learning and related feature story: Urgent, Effective Action Required to Quell the Im- children’s socioemotional well-being, especially in the early years. pact of COVID-19 on Education Worldwide – already then, was pointing to the huge potential learning loses and calling for urgent action to address While not a magic bullet, education technology can be an effective tool to these impact and invest in building back more effective, equitable and re- expand access to learning both inside and outside of the classroom, building more resilient systems that personalize learning at and beyond the silient education systems. school. To realize this potential, investments in EdTech need to be embedA lot happened in 12 months, but two things are now vividly clear: (i) the ded in broad, sustainable policies and programs that enable schools and learning losses and the ensuing social and economic costs are substantial; education systems to accelerate learning, with a ruthless focus on equity. (ii) urgent and ambitious action is needed to recover losses and accelerate Digital learning must serve as the great equalizer, rather than what it has been: a great divider. learning.

By the end of 2021, the evidence of the unprecedented magnitude of the All efforts should aim at enhancing the effectiveness of teachers, through COVID-19 pandemic-inflicted education crisis was undisputable. In our constant and effective feedback on how to improve their pedagogy, strucjoint State of the Education Crisis Report, with UNESCO and UNICEF, we tured lesson plans, and strategies to nurture socio-emotional skills and updated our estimates of the economic costs of learning losses: this gen- to assess learning in the classroom. This support should include expanderation stands to lose $17 trillion in lifetime earnings (in present value) or ing their access and capacity to utilize technology, including technical and about 14 percent of today’s global GDP, due to COVID-19 pandemic-re- pedagogical competencies needed for effective remote teaching. lated school closures and the economic shocks. This new projection far exceeds our $10 trillion estimates released in 2020. Moreover, in low- and We need to end the learning data crisis. Collecting data and building namiddle-income countries, the share of children living in Learning Poverty tional capacity to assess that learning is actually happening and monitor – already 53 percent before the pandemic – could reach 70 percent giv- progress, understand the drivers of learning and improve management en the long school closures and the ineffectiveness of remote learning to and delivery through feedback mechanisms. ensure learning continuity for young children. The latest data also points to an inequality catastrophe in the making: across generations, socio-eco- As countries use data and evidence to design more effective policies, they also need to strive to invest and get better in the capacity to implement nomic groups, locations, and across countries. them and deliver services, while leveraging partnerships. Without good A chorus of voices internationally is sounding the alarm for policy makers implementation, good policies will remain as good intentions. Local cato act now and decisively. At the end of 2021, the outgoing UNICEF Head, pacities need to be harnessed through cooperation across all levels of govHenrietta Fore, and World Bank Group President, David Malpass uttered ernment as well as partnerships between the public and private sector. a powerful message to reverse the pandemic’s education losses, and highlighted that by investing in learning recovery and using technology wisely we can turn the challenges and lessons from the pandemic into a catalyst to achieve the SDG goal of quality education for all children .

TT 138 | FEB 1st - 6th | 2022

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Every Good G S ift

ells

Entrepreneur

When God’s dreams for you turn to reality www.biblicalleadership.com ||By David Bowman — Church Strategist, Texas Baptists| Image credit: istock appropriately.

Listen to what God says through his word and through his daily direction of your steps. Where God is leading most often is closely connected to where you have been.

What has he led you through to where you are? What are your top ten high points? What are your top ten hard times? What do they tell you about the path God has laid before you?

If you were to draw six simple sketches of your life story that best declare God’s direction for your life to this How can you discern the difference between a God-giv- point, what stories would they tell? en dream and a fantasy? Here is a simple, maybe even simplistic, guideline: If it is all about you, it is a fantasy. If When God’s dreams for you begin to turn into reality, it honors God and serves others, it may be a God dream. make sure to keep them focused on others. There is always the temptation to make yourself a hero. Remember Think back to Joseph’s dreams and how he reported how God blessed Abraham to be a blessing to every peothem when he was seventeen years old. Read aloud Jo- ple group in the whole world (Genesis 12:1-3; 17:1-9)? seph’s simple statements and hear how they sounded like He wants to bless you to be a blessing as well. The more teenage fantasies (Genesis 37). Like many of God’s in- God blesses you and places in your hands, the more you structions to us from day to day, Joseph, his brothers, are to overflow with goodness and grace to others. and their father could not foresee all the details ahead that would turn those dreams into reality.

My friend Dave Rhodes says, “The longer you are the hero, the harder it is to become a heromaker.” Joseph Joseph provides dream coaching for us. Look at his was infinitely blessed by God. He shared his blessings life from the perspective of his teenage years and flash with his brothers, his father, and the rest of the extendforward to his commanding position in Egypt without ed family. The family prospered and expanded greatly in pausing for what happened in between, and it appears the following years. as though everything happened just as Little Joe said it would.

What dream do you think God has given you?

Where are you in the story?

Look at his life from his commanding position in Egypt Who can help you develop your dream? back to his teenage dreams, and you see how it took time How will you manage the blessings of your dreams by and challenges to develop those dreams. Reality is less serving others? like an iPhone snapshot and more like a Polaroid.

How will you become a heromaker?

If you have a dream you believe God has placed in your heart, listen to it carefully, develop it wisely, steward it

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My Health

Personalized Medicine and its Impact on Cancer Care

By Dr Allan Njau and Dr Jonathan Wawire, Molecular Pathologist and Anatomical Pathologist, respectively, at Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi.

Newer forms of cancer treatment are emerging, and some are already in use. What is personalized medicine in the context of cancer?

Dr. Jonathan Wawire

Dr. Allan Njau

If you have a symptom, or a screening test result that suggests you have cancer, your doctor will order lab and/or imaging tests to confirm that it is indeed cancer and if yes, the type of cancer and the stage of the disease. Beyond confirming the type of cancer, laboratory medicine has grown to enable your doctor offer personalised treatment. In this article, we unpack personalised treatment and its impact on cancer care.

Personalized medicine or precision medicine involves formulating disease treatment or prevention plans while considering the differences in individuals which may be determined by their genes, lifestyles and the abnormal genes that initiate or drive cancer growth in a particular individual. The aim is to find the best available treatment at the right time for the right individual. In other words; individuals are not the same, cancers are not the same, hence treatment should not be the same for each patient even with the same type of cancer. Some of the benefits of personalised medicine include, fewer side effects, greater efficacy, meaning better treatment outcome and better quality of life.

What are the traditional or conventional Is personalised medicine the same as forms of cancer treatment? targeted therapy?

Surgery is an important element in cancer treatment, this may involve total or partial removal of the cancer, however, not all cancer types are treated using surgery.

In addition, in cases where the cancer has spread widely, it may not be safe or possible to operate. Chemotherapy on the other hand, typically involves a combination of drugs which kill the cancer cells given before and/or after surgery or even without surgery. Radiotherapy uses high energy radiation to kill the cancer cells. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are often combined. The use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy may be limited by the fact that normal, non-cancerous cells are normally affected or even killed in the process, “collateral damage”.

Targeted therapy falls under personalized medicine. In targeted cancer therapy, uniquely designed drugs, hormones or antibodies are used to block the genes or proteins “molecular targets” that drive cancer growth and spread.

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My Health

Which cancer patients are eligible for targeted therapy?

Depending on the type of cancer, stage, recurrence status of cancer or failed standard “chemo” or “radio”- therapy, your oncologist may recommend molecular test(s) on the cancer tissue or blood to analyses the status of the “molecular targets” for which targeted therapy, hormones or drugs may be applied. We generally call these molecules or molecular targets, biomarkers. The biomarkers can be used for diagnosis of a particular type of cancer, they can be prognostic, meaning that they are used to predict the biologic behavior and aggressiveness of the cancer, or they can be predictive, which has to do with predicting or identifying the therapy that would be best for that type of cancer. Patients who cannot tolerate “chemo” or “radio” due to underlying conditions, side effects, or age, can benefit from personalized therapy. The molecular tests are conducted by pathologists who have specialised in this area, supported by requisite equipment. This testing is available in Kenya including at Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi. Some of the advanced tests however are outsourced to other laboratories outside the country.

Can you give us some examples that are already in clinical use?

give us examples?

The body’s immune system is a powerful weapon to fight cancer. However, some cancer cells produce molecules which suppress the immune system. Testing for these immune suppressive molecules allows doctors to harness your own immune system to fight cancer by giving drugs that frustrate cancer cells. Again this testing is done by pathology specialists with access to the right equipment.

An example is the treatment of advanced esophageal, gastric cancer and cancer of the cervix, which have a high prevalence in Kenya. Testing to identify whether cancer cells are producing immune suppressing molecules such as programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is performed.

Cancer cells that produce such molecules can be targeted by blocking these molecules, and thus enabling your immune system to attack the cancer cells.

What are the other benefits of molecular testing other than testing for molecules that can be used for targeted therapy in cancer?

Some of the molecular tests are useful for screening relatives of cancer patients in families with strong history of cancer. This facilitates early screening, diagnosis and Take an example of a patient with colon cancer which treatment increasing the chances for cure. An example advances with metastasis (meaning that the cancer has is BRCA 1 and 2 gene testing for hereditary breast and spread to a different body part from where it started), ovarian cancer syndromes. despite several regimens of chemotherapy. We know that colon cancer is driven by an abnormal growth pathWhat are the challenges of targeted theraway called Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor pathway (EGFR). Therefore, blocking this pathway with a specific py in cancer? drug in combination with chemotherapy, results in better anti-cancer effect. Prior to administration of these drugs At the moment, targeted therapies are not widely accesmolecular testing for presence or absence of mutations sible, and although the cost is dropping with the passage of key genes which drive cancer growth is performed to of time, they are expensive. Patients on targeted therapy predict which patients would have maximum benefit or may also suffer from various side effects, although they response. Multiple other cancer including breast cancer, are usually less severe that chemotherapy. Targeted therlung, melanoma, pancreatic and renal cancer are amena- apies are therefore not a magic bullet for cancer, since complete cures are difficult in advanced cancer. Thereble to targeted therapy. fore, even with emerging therapies for cancer, we cannot over emphasize the importance of screening, early diagWhat about immunotherapy, and can you nosis and treatment.

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TT 138 | FEB 1st - 6th | 2022

My Kitchen Apple, carrot, lemon and cinnamon cake

By Gill Meller| https://www.delicious.com.au/ INGREDIENTS 2 (260g) red apples (we used Fuji), peeled, quartered and core removed 250g light brown soft sugar 100g currants Juice & finely grated zest of 1 lemon 100ml sunflower oil, plus extra to grease 2 eggs 250g carrots, peeled, coarsely grated 1 tbs grated root ginger 2 tsp ground cinnamon 2 tsp baking powder 200g spelt flour DRIZZLE Juice of 1 lemon 50g light brown soft sugar ICING 150g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature 300g pure icing sugar, sifted Very finely grated zest of 1 lemon & a good squeeze of juice Calendula flowers, petals picked, to decorate (optional) METHOD 1.Place the apples in a medium saucepan with 50g of the sugar, the currants and the lemon juice and set over a medium heat.

Cook, stirring regularly for 8-10 minutes or until you have a compote that is bubbling, silky and thick. Spoon the compote into a bowl to cool.

2.Meanwhile, lightly grease a 20cm cake pan (about 7-8cm deep) and line with baking paper.

3.Heat the oven to 170°C. 4.Pour the oil into a large bowl, add the remaining 200g sugar and the eggs, and beat with a whisk until pale and fluffy. Fold in the apple and currant compote, along with the lemon zest,

grated carrot, ginger, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. In a separate bowl, stir the baking powder into the flour, then fold this gently through the wet ingredients in the bowl to form a batter.

5.Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan and level the top a bit. Loosely cover the top of the cake pan with a piece of foil to stop the cake getting too dark during baking. Bake for about 1 hour, then remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

(Bake for a further 10 minutes and test again, if necessary.)

Remove from the oven and leave in the pan.

6.For the drizzle, set a small saucepan over a medium heat and add the lemon juice and the sugar and bring to the simmer. As soon as the sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from the heat. Prick the cake all over with a thin skewer and drizzle the syrup over while the cake is still warm.

7.While the cake is cooling, make the icing. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and whisk (alternatively, use a large mixing bowl and an electric whisk or hand whisk) until the butter is light and pillowy. Add half the icing sugar and continue to whisk until thoroughly combined.

Then, add the remaining 150g icing sugar, along with the lemon zest, and beat some more. Finally, add the squeeze of lemon juice to soften the mixture to the desired consistency.

8.Remove the cake from the pan and use a palette knife to spread the icing over the top and sides in a relatively even layer, but don’t worry if it’s a bit thin in places. Decorate with a few orange calendula petals, if using.

TT 138 | FEB 1st - 6th | 2022

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My Sports AFCON: How The Gambia was at home among Africa’s best

By Samindra Kunti | https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2022\Published On 31 Jan 2022 There were some roadblocks though.

Richiedienti Asilo e Rifugiati) the protection system for asylum seekers and refugees).

A COVID outbreak derailed the team’s warm-up camp in Qatar.

Kicking a ball for a local club in Rieti, Darboe was spotted by a scout for Roma football club in 2017.

Once in Cameroon, in Buea, the team were faced with security concerns. Soldiers guarded The Gambia team’s hotel because of the conflict between government forces and local armed groups pursuing a breakaway agenda from Francophone-dominated Cameroon.

“We cannot imagine what he has been through,” Saintfiet told Al Jazeera.

“But it doesn’t feel safe when you have thousands of soldiers around you along the road in the bushes, in the trees,” said Saintfiet.

The Gambia’s loss against hosts Cameroon in the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) last week marked the end of an exceptional show on the field that fell just short of a fairytale ending.

A 2-0 loss was seen as a win by many for the tournament debutants who were expected to be knocked out in the group stage.

But The Gambia’s recent rise has been one to applaud, after the team came through the pre-qualifiers with Africa’s eight worst-ranked sides, squeezed past Djibouti on penalties, reached the last-eight of the AFCON, beating Mauritania and Tunisia in the group stages and Guinea in the last-16 along the way.

The lowest-ranked team ever to participate in the AFCON became much more than mere participants – The Gambia was at home among Africa’s best.

It was the result of talent development, professionalism and resilience, something that would have seemed farfetched in 2018 when Tom Saintfiet, a nomad coach from Belgium, was appointed to train The Scorpions, ranked 172nd in the world at the time.

They had little or no pedigree in the international game.

In 2014, The Gambia was banned for two years by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for fielding overage players in youth competitions.

When Saintfiet took over, the team had not won a single competitive match in five years.

The Belgian coach built a team, scouring the diaspora and scouting across Europe. His squad in Cameroon this year featured players from as many as 17 leagues, including South Korea, Belarus and Sweden.

With the financial support of the government, the setup became more professional.

“The coach has a plan, one the players believe in and that’s the most important thing,” said Momodou Bah, a Gambian football journalist.

“The attacking players contribute by defending to keep the team’s shape. In the group stages, the opponents rarely had clear-cut chances. The team stayed compact and broke on the counter.”

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“On every route, soldiers everywhere with their rifles at the ready. If you have to travel with columns of soldiers, if helicopters fly over the stadium to ensure safety, if there are soldiers in the stands, if soldiers are standing on the hill next to the training field, it doesn’t really feel safe. Yes, security is provided but you know something can happen.”

On the eve of the Guinea match, several players suffered food poisoning, leading Saintfiet to complain about the accommodation given to his team.

He repeatedly demanded more respect for The Gambia, and heavily criticised FIFA’s decision to allow clubs to release players late for the tournament.

“It was scandalous. You show no respect for the professionalism of every coach, of every AFCON participant,” he said. “It’s a rule that is unacceptable. This would have never happened in Europe, South America or at any other major tournament.”

Game plan In the last-eight, Saintfiet and The Gambia stuck to the game plan that had served them so well throughout the tournament. They defended deep and absorbed the pressure, restricting Cameroon to half-chances at first.

But there was no coming back from Karl Toko Ekambi’s second-half brace, not even after the introduction of Ebrima Darboe, Modou Barrow and Ebrima Colley.

But for the team’s supporters, a spot in the quarter-finals was an achievement in and of itself.

Few Gambians ever imagined playing at the AFCON, least of all Darboe.

At 14, after his father’s death, Darboe left home in Bakoteh in search of a “better life” for his family and himself.

He traversed northern Africa and crossed the Mediterranean on a perilous boat journey, a ride that has seen the death and disappearance of more than 23,400 people trying to reach Europe since 2014, according to the UN’s Missing Migrants Project.

The Mediterranean route is described by the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR as the most dangerous migration route in the world – one in six people who departs the shores of North Africa dies.

“The journey as a 14-year-old through various African countries in uncertainty with so much fear. Climb into a boat and hope you arrive alive on the other side. It shows his determination, his perseverance and his will to achieve something in his life.”

Darboe is one of six Italy-based players in the squad whose experience helped the team to navigate their first AFCON. Bologna’s Barrow was instrumental with goals and assists each step of the way.

By the end of the group stages, the team had shed the underdog tag with their solid defending, strong organisation, lethal counterattacking and slick finishing.

Against Guinea in the knockouts, the Gambians reproduced their trusted recipe, keeping it tight and disciplined at the back to get to half-time without conceding before striking with a smart goal in the second half.

“It is normal that we were considered the underdogs given the ranking of our national team,” said Darboe.

“But if you look individually at our players – Omar Colley, Barrow, Colley, Lamin Jallow – we were not. We respect our opponents, but fight.”

The 2-0 defeat against did not diminish their role as the competition’s revelation.

The Scorpions were part of the tournament’s burgeoning middle class, with Comoros, Malawi and Cape Verde proving their worth as well.

Saintfiet now wants to build on the success to cement The Gambia as a force to reckon with in the future.

“Before the start, I said that this was a tournament to learn,” said Saintfiet.

“I don’t want us to become a mayfly. Madagascar and Burundi participated in the previous AFCON but are no longer there. The larger, underlying objective is for The Gambia to become a respected African football nation in the next five to 10 years.

“So that in the future we can become a regular at the 2023 and 2025 AFCONs, and maybe even challenge for a ticket for the 2026 World Cup when nine African countries will qualify directly. That’s the most important to me, that we use this to become stronger.”

As an unaccompanied minor, Darboe came under the protection of Italy’s SPRAR (System di Protezione per

TT 138 | FEB 1st - 6th | 2022 The Times Today is a publication of Elizabeth Omondi Consultancy. P.O. Box 833-00100 GPO Nairobi. Tel: 0722 927792. www.thetimestoday.wordpress.com

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