In South Africa, we are celebrating 16 days of activism against violence on women and children. Each time this campaign is launched, it kept me thinking;
How many women truly suffer violence of any type from their male partners, friends and relatives?
How many men deliberately inflict pains on their female partners and relatives?
In cultures like many across Africa, it is the man's place to treat his woman like a subordinate. The women therefore refuse to acknowledge that certain practices; for instance giving your male partner every cent you earn is a form of abuse.
I thought of highlighting it here that violence is not only physical. It could be both psychological and emotional. Cheating on a partner inflicts emotional pains while asking a women to always stoop to serve you is a form of torture. Do you imagine how emotionally drained a faithful wife can be to fine out that her man does not give her the respect of chastity? Imagine yourself being treated on a daily bases as a second-class citizen? How do you feel? She feels that pain too.
I am in no way insinuating that the man and the woman are equal. Neither am I supporting the fact that a child is the man's property. Yes God made us all with different materials. I diverse atmosphere that accommodate others would suit a man, a woman and a child. I free world can only be made possible by you and I. I please to all my readers to stand up against violence on Women, children and even men.
Thank you for reading.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
When I Grew-up
When I grew up, I wanted to be a Television Journalist. I wanted to have a degree, get married to a wealthy man live in a house as big as those now visible in Nigerian movies and have 4 children; 3 boys and 1 girl. I wanted to drive a very big car and bring my mother over to stay with me and relax from the terrible life she has had, cook for my husband and I while we go to work, and hire a driver to drive her around.
Today (2010) I have grown soooooo much. I went to school and studied to be a Journalist and got a degree. I found a man who loves me and we got married 5 years after my degree. Today I mother 3 children a boy and two girls. I am a happy woman, wife, sister, who owns and runs her own business. I live in a big house and drive an affordable car. My mother died just after I got married but after seing my first child.
Even though my mum is not there to share my dream, I hope she is able to watch me with a smile. Today I am more Blessed than I wished to be when I grew up. With the network and chain of network I call my family, realising that life is not about moneym I am over 10 folds more Blessed than I thought of being. Because as a woman, I have now known what makes you happy.
Happiness is not about what you have but about who you have. Happiness is not about what you will have but about who will be there for you.
So Is My Life Close to A Dream Fulfilled?
Why do we need to depend on others to be happy?
Today (2010) I have grown soooooo much. I went to school and studied to be a Journalist and got a degree. I found a man who loves me and we got married 5 years after my degree. Today I mother 3 children a boy and two girls. I am a happy woman, wife, sister, who owns and runs her own business. I live in a big house and drive an affordable car. My mother died just after I got married but after seing my first child.
Even though my mum is not there to share my dream, I hope she is able to watch me with a smile. Today I am more Blessed than I wished to be when I grew up. With the network and chain of network I call my family, realising that life is not about moneym I am over 10 folds more Blessed than I thought of being. Because as a woman, I have now known what makes you happy.
Happiness is not about what you have but about who you have. Happiness is not about what you will have but about who will be there for you.
So Is My Life Close to A Dream Fulfilled?
Why do we need to depend on others to be happy?
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Dead donor rips heart out of community
It is better to share this story by By Maryna van Wyk with you all.
Sandra Kajuba from Platfontein is the mother of the 17-year-old Evelina who died after she was assaulted by a family member. Picture: Maryna van Wyk
A young San woman, whose heart was transplanted into a 12-year-old Free State boy after she was bludgeoned to death, cannot be buried because her impoverished family can’t afford a coffin.
While Avelina Kajuba’s battered body lies in the Kimberley mortuary, doctors involved in Christiaan Stassen’s heart transplant believe he will recover fully and be able lead a normal life.
Kajuba was declared brain dead on Tuesday morning after being found several hours earlier next to the Platfontein clinic, allegedly beaten to death by her common-law husband, Gerschon Stefanus.
Christiaan received her heart on Wednesday afternoon in a race against time during two concurrent procedures, one in Cape Town and the other in Kimberley to harvest the unharmed organs.
Christiaan, after waking up from hours of anaesthesia in the intensive care unit of the Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital in Cape Town, thanked God for his new heart.
His father, Chris, a Bloemfontein state attorney, said Christiaan was in good spirits and would remain in Cape Town for three months with his mother, Liezel.
But in stark contrast, the community of Platfontein, a semi-arid area just outside Kimberley, live a forgotten existence, in a life mired in poverty, crime and alcohol abuse.
Late on Wednesday, when Christiaan’s heart transplant was almost complete, Sandra Kajuba, mother of Avelina, drank away her sorrows.
Violence had just savaged her family for a second time. Avelina, her eldest daughter was raped and murdered several years ago.
Speaking through an interpreter, Kajuba said she was devastated, but glad her daughter could give life to another person. However, after long hours of discussion yesterday around the fire in the close-knit family structures of the community, the reality of organ donation sunk in.
“I now have to bury my child without a heart. How can somebody live with my daughter’s heart and she is dead?” Kajuba asked.
Members of the Kajuba family said it was the first time organ donation had ever been mentioned within the Platfontein community.
Now, it’s something they cannot fully comprehend.
Avelina’s father, Kajuba Mukugo, joined the family near the fire, but minutes later walked away in anger after overhearing the discussion about his daughter.
He divorced Sandra many years ago, but they still live two houses from each other.
“He is very upset about the transplant and grieved about Avelina’s heart,” family members said.
With the help of two female interpreters, an angry Sandra said her daughter’s heart donation had not been fully explained to her. “They did not ask us to take out her heart and give it away. I did not even have the time to give my thumb print. My daughter’s husband should now be released from jail to dig her grave. We will not dig the grave. After he has done this job, the police can take him back to jail,” she said.
The Kajuba’s said they wanted to meet Christiaan’s family. “The families should talk. It is only fair that we should be compensated for our loss.”
A few kilometres away from Sandra’s house, the house of Stefanus was deserted. He had appeared in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on Thursday on charges of murder.
His relative said she did not know what happened on Monday night when Avelina was severely beaten, allegedly by Stefanus, in Sandra’s home.
Sandra, she said, had tried desperately to stop her daughter’s attacker, who was believed to be under the influence of alcohol. Neighbours did not intervene.
Several community members said Stefanus abused his young wife regularly. Her kidney has been donated to recipient from Kimberley and her liver to a child with irreversible liver failure. The other kidney and her corneas will be used at a later stage.
taken from IOL Daily Newsletter [www.iol.co.za]
Sandra Kajuba from Platfontein is the mother of the 17-year-old Evelina who died after she was assaulted by a family member. Picture: Maryna van Wyk
A young San woman, whose heart was transplanted into a 12-year-old Free State boy after she was bludgeoned to death, cannot be buried because her impoverished family can’t afford a coffin.
While Avelina Kajuba’s battered body lies in the Kimberley mortuary, doctors involved in Christiaan Stassen’s heart transplant believe he will recover fully and be able lead a normal life.
Kajuba was declared brain dead on Tuesday morning after being found several hours earlier next to the Platfontein clinic, allegedly beaten to death by her common-law husband, Gerschon Stefanus.
Christiaan received her heart on Wednesday afternoon in a race against time during two concurrent procedures, one in Cape Town and the other in Kimberley to harvest the unharmed organs.
Christiaan, after waking up from hours of anaesthesia in the intensive care unit of the Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital in Cape Town, thanked God for his new heart.
His father, Chris, a Bloemfontein state attorney, said Christiaan was in good spirits and would remain in Cape Town for three months with his mother, Liezel.
But in stark contrast, the community of Platfontein, a semi-arid area just outside Kimberley, live a forgotten existence, in a life mired in poverty, crime and alcohol abuse.
Late on Wednesday, when Christiaan’s heart transplant was almost complete, Sandra Kajuba, mother of Avelina, drank away her sorrows.
Violence had just savaged her family for a second time. Avelina, her eldest daughter was raped and murdered several years ago.
Speaking through an interpreter, Kajuba said she was devastated, but glad her daughter could give life to another person. However, after long hours of discussion yesterday around the fire in the close-knit family structures of the community, the reality of organ donation sunk in.
“I now have to bury my child without a heart. How can somebody live with my daughter’s heart and she is dead?” Kajuba asked.
Members of the Kajuba family said it was the first time organ donation had ever been mentioned within the Platfontein community.
Now, it’s something they cannot fully comprehend.
Avelina’s father, Kajuba Mukugo, joined the family near the fire, but minutes later walked away in anger after overhearing the discussion about his daughter.
He divorced Sandra many years ago, but they still live two houses from each other.
“He is very upset about the transplant and grieved about Avelina’s heart,” family members said.
With the help of two female interpreters, an angry Sandra said her daughter’s heart donation had not been fully explained to her. “They did not ask us to take out her heart and give it away. I did not even have the time to give my thumb print. My daughter’s husband should now be released from jail to dig her grave. We will not dig the grave. After he has done this job, the police can take him back to jail,” she said.
The Kajuba’s said they wanted to meet Christiaan’s family. “The families should talk. It is only fair that we should be compensated for our loss.”
A few kilometres away from Sandra’s house, the house of Stefanus was deserted. He had appeared in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on Thursday on charges of murder.
His relative said she did not know what happened on Monday night when Avelina was severely beaten, allegedly by Stefanus, in Sandra’s home.
Sandra, she said, had tried desperately to stop her daughter’s attacker, who was believed to be under the influence of alcohol. Neighbours did not intervene.
Several community members said Stefanus abused his young wife regularly. Her kidney has been donated to recipient from Kimberley and her liver to a child with irreversible liver failure. The other kidney and her corneas will be used at a later stage.
taken from IOL Daily Newsletter [www.iol.co.za]
Thursday, November 4, 2010
10-year-old gives birth in Spain
MADRID - Spain's press reacted with alarm Wednesday to news that a 10-year-old girl had given birth.
Newspapers expressed shock at the delighted reaction of the mother of the girl, who reportedly moved from Romania to the small southern Spanish town of Lebrija three weeks earlier.
Photographed smiling outside their modest apartment block, the baby's grandmother, identified only as Olimpia, was quoted telling reporters that she and her only daughter were "very happy" after the birth.
The father of the 2.9-kilo (6.4-pound) baby was 13 years old and had remained in Romania, she said, describing him as her daughter's former boyfriend.
The young mother "is very well, very well, like the daughter who is very well and very pretty," Olimpia was quoted as saying.
The 10-year-old, discharged after three days at a hospital in nearby Jerez where she gave birth, "is very happy with her daughter. This is a great joy. It is not a drama," she reportedly said.
Olimpia could not understand the fuss because "this is the age we get married in Romania," said the Andalucia daily Diario de Jerez, which broke the story.
National daily El Pais said the number of births to girls aged under 15 in Spain had climbed to 178 births in 2008 from 80 in 1997.
It also cited 2008 national statistics showing 386 abortions performed on 14-year-old girls. In the same year, there was also one abortion for a 10-year-old girl and one for a nine-year-old girl.
According to the paper, experts disagreed on the physiological risks from giving birth so early.
If the mother had not yet completed her development or was malnourished, she could face serious risks, and her own development could even be interrupted, gynaecologist Manuel Alonso was quoted as saying.
Another expert, Javier Martinez Salmean, head of gynaecology at the Severo Ochoa Hospital in Leganes, central Spain, said everything depended on the girl's development.
"If she has completed her development and the minor has been cared for there is no reason that there should be a complication," he said.
Giving birth at such a young age presented serious psychological and social risks, El Pais said. "The body of a minor may be ready for a baby but a girl is not ready to be a mother," child psychologist Carolina Fernandez said.
The daily El Publico quoted legal sources as saying Spain could not take action if the baby was conceived in Romania, outside of Spanish jurisdiction. If the father was only 13, he would not in any case have criminal responsibility for sexual relations with a minor, it said.
Local authorities are considering whether social services should take responsibility of the girl and her baby, or whether they can remain with their family.
Original Article from: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/year+gives+birth+Spain/3771244/story.html#ixzz14INVkQmV
Newspapers expressed shock at the delighted reaction of the mother of the girl, who reportedly moved from Romania to the small southern Spanish town of Lebrija three weeks earlier.
Photographed smiling outside their modest apartment block, the baby's grandmother, identified only as Olimpia, was quoted telling reporters that she and her only daughter were "very happy" after the birth.
The father of the 2.9-kilo (6.4-pound) baby was 13 years old and had remained in Romania, she said, describing him as her daughter's former boyfriend.
The young mother "is very well, very well, like the daughter who is very well and very pretty," Olimpia was quoted as saying.
The 10-year-old, discharged after three days at a hospital in nearby Jerez where she gave birth, "is very happy with her daughter. This is a great joy. It is not a drama," she reportedly said.
Olimpia could not understand the fuss because "this is the age we get married in Romania," said the Andalucia daily Diario de Jerez, which broke the story.
National daily El Pais said the number of births to girls aged under 15 in Spain had climbed to 178 births in 2008 from 80 in 1997.
It also cited 2008 national statistics showing 386 abortions performed on 14-year-old girls. In the same year, there was also one abortion for a 10-year-old girl and one for a nine-year-old girl.
According to the paper, experts disagreed on the physiological risks from giving birth so early.
If the mother had not yet completed her development or was malnourished, she could face serious risks, and her own development could even be interrupted, gynaecologist Manuel Alonso was quoted as saying.
Another expert, Javier Martinez Salmean, head of gynaecology at the Severo Ochoa Hospital in Leganes, central Spain, said everything depended on the girl's development.
"If she has completed her development and the minor has been cared for there is no reason that there should be a complication," he said.
Giving birth at such a young age presented serious psychological and social risks, El Pais said. "The body of a minor may be ready for a baby but a girl is not ready to be a mother," child psychologist Carolina Fernandez said.
The daily El Publico quoted legal sources as saying Spain could not take action if the baby was conceived in Romania, outside of Spanish jurisdiction. If the father was only 13, he would not in any case have criminal responsibility for sexual relations with a minor, it said.
Local authorities are considering whether social services should take responsibility of the girl and her baby, or whether they can remain with their family.
Original Article from: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/year+gives+birth+Spain/3771244/story.html#ixzz14INVkQmV
Monday, November 1, 2010
Zuma overhauls the Cabinet
Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma announced a major cabinet reshuffle on Sunday, removing ten ministers including those responsible for communications and labour.
Zuma removed Barbara Hogan as minister of public enterprises and Siphiwe Nyanda as communications minister.
Hogan will be replaced by Malusi Gigaba, who is currently deputy minister of home affairs, Zuma told reporters in Cape Town today. Nyanda will be replaced by Roy Padayachee, he said.
Zuma told a press conference that the reshuffle was aimed at strengthening government ministries and to help improve the provision of basic services and improve the lives of the poor.
"We have taken a long and hard look at some departments with a view to strengthen some ministries and noted some of them needed additional deputy ministers to assist them in their duties," Zuma said when announcing the reshuffle in the presidential guest house in Pretoria.
Media had been speculating for weeks about a Cabinet shuffle.
Zuma also added deputies in several ministries, including police.
"We had to change the way government works in order to improve service delivery. Our mission was guided by improving the quality of the lives of South Africans," he said.
•Nyanda was replaced by Padayachie. His deputy would be Obed Bapele.
•Public Works Minister Geoff Doidge was replaced by Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde.
•Women, Children and People with Disabilities Minister Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya was replaced by Lulu Xingwana.
•Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana was replaced by Mildred Oliphant.
•Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica was replaced by Edna Molewa.
•Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi gets a deputy minister, Ayanda Dlodlo.
•Hogan was replaced by Malusi Gigaba. His deputy is Benedict Martin.
•Sports and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile was replaced by Fikile Mbalula.
•Arts and Culture Minister Lulu Xingwana was replaced by Paul Mashatile.
•Social Development Minister Edna Molewa was replaced by Bathabile Dlamini.
Oct 31 2010 19:21
by Reuters & Sapa. Original story from http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Zuma-overhauls-the-Cabinet-20101031
Zuma removed Barbara Hogan as minister of public enterprises and Siphiwe Nyanda as communications minister.
Hogan will be replaced by Malusi Gigaba, who is currently deputy minister of home affairs, Zuma told reporters in Cape Town today. Nyanda will be replaced by Roy Padayachee, he said.
Zuma told a press conference that the reshuffle was aimed at strengthening government ministries and to help improve the provision of basic services and improve the lives of the poor.
"We have taken a long and hard look at some departments with a view to strengthen some ministries and noted some of them needed additional deputy ministers to assist them in their duties," Zuma said when announcing the reshuffle in the presidential guest house in Pretoria.
Media had been speculating for weeks about a Cabinet shuffle.
Zuma also added deputies in several ministries, including police.
"We had to change the way government works in order to improve service delivery. Our mission was guided by improving the quality of the lives of South Africans," he said.
•Nyanda was replaced by Padayachie. His deputy would be Obed Bapele.
•Public Works Minister Geoff Doidge was replaced by Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde.
•Women, Children and People with Disabilities Minister Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya was replaced by Lulu Xingwana.
•Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana was replaced by Mildred Oliphant.
•Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica was replaced by Edna Molewa.
•Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi gets a deputy minister, Ayanda Dlodlo.
•Hogan was replaced by Malusi Gigaba. His deputy is Benedict Martin.
•Sports and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile was replaced by Fikile Mbalula.
•Arts and Culture Minister Lulu Xingwana was replaced by Paul Mashatile.
•Social Development Minister Edna Molewa was replaced by Bathabile Dlamini.
Oct 31 2010 19:21
by Reuters & Sapa. Original story from http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Zuma-overhauls-the-Cabinet-20101031
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