Day: January 18, 2016

It takes a special type of evil.

Recently, I attended a beauty contest. One of the contestants was asked a question about how to curb rape and violence towards women. Her response started with how women should dress more modestly; wear less revealing clothes etc. My blood began to boil.

Gambling “Responsibly”

A few months ago, I walked into a gambling house at 11am. I saw a nurse in uniform, a man in a suit and an old lady with a walking stick amongst very many others. These people; different genders, ages and from all walks of life sat in this dark, loud room with flashing lights, feeding money into a machine and losing it all. In the ten minutes that I was in this place, I watched several people walk in and take a seat in front of a machine… no body walked out.

Remember not to forget.

Last week, every day, the front page of The Namibian newspaper had the Mayor of Windhoek’s name on it. The Namibian people were outraged; taking to the media in all its forms, to voice that outrage. Protests and legal action were advocated for, discussions were held and tantrums were thrown. The people are angry and they were making sure everyone knows it. My question is however, for how long?

Stop death’s vulture!

Allow me to talk about a disgusting and yet very common phenomenon in Namibia, PROPERTY GRABBING! This has become such a common practice that it’s hardly ever reported on in the media anymore. We, as a Namibian people have become so desensitised to it that it’s become the norm. Today, I hope to change that. I plan to remind you of the terrible effects this phenomenon has on the bereaved immediate family.

I knew something wasn’t right…

The truth is, many forms of mental illness or distress are simply just not taken seriously enough. When someone says they are depressed, they are told to “get over it” because they’re just “moody” or “looking for attention”. When the depression starts to manifest itself in more visible or extreme ways, we say its witchcraft and we stay away from the individual lest we also “catch it”. It’s not until it’s too late; when someone commits suicide or murder that we take it seriously. That’s when people say “I knew something wasn’t right”.

Are you a father?

I often find myself wondering how many men with children are truly fathers. Let me be clear, merely making a woman pregnant does not make you a father; it merely makes you a man with a child.

Conversations with Age

Recently, I was fortunate enough to find myself in conversation with a group of middle-aged and elderly women. We spoke about inter alia life, love, strategy, success, culture, the past and the future.