My favorite gospel song is God will make a way by Don Moen. I learned it in 2001, taught by Tr. Awusa. I was 11, a pupil at Ushindi Primary School. This school was run on the foundation of Jesus. Its motto? Victory in Christ. I’d wear my gray shorts, tuck in my blue checkered shirt, push my legs in those elastic gray socks, my feet in Bata shoes. I’d walk to school through a footpath in Barifa forest. Sometimes I wouldn’t iron my school uniform. No one gave two hoots. I enjoyed our morning assemblies at Ushindi. We had praise and worship, kids clapping for Jesus, dancing, playing and jumping f ..read more

(I should have posted this story in September. Yet here I am, many months later, posting it. Please don’t kick me in the butt for this delay.) This story is about how things have changed since the lockdown. Ninja, was ‘’forced’’ to spend some nights at my house. We used to fall asleep on the sofa while watching movies. We would cook and both of us successfully started gaining weight but we always cheered ourselves up pretending that things can get worse, we are not knitting toilet paper (YAY).  A delight when we noticed our bellies, the one nicely well round shaped pack was growing and th ..read more

I’m in a good place. I’m happy. God has been good to me. I think it’s time to say this out loud. I was secretly trying to beat my father at this thing called life. I wanted to outlive him. See, my father didn’t live beyond a few weeks of him turning 30. So, thirty was significant to me. Thirty was that number I badly wanted to hit, a hurdle I wanted to jump over, a box I wanted to check. From my teenage days to my 20’s, I always wanted to live longer than my dad both for myself and for him. It’s done and I feel so good. Sounds creepy? I look back at 30 and see how much I’ve grown. I see a tree ..read more

It’s 11:26pm and I’ve been writing this post for I don’t know how long. Kisses in the Moonlight by George Benson is playing on my YouTube. Elle sent me some pictures of the moon she captured on her camera I don’t know when. I watched the moon last weekend and it has been glowing behind the dome this week. I have seen again tonigh. Music, pictures and reality in the sky have spoken the same language of the moon. So I’ll have the moon as my blog image. If my writing is dry, it’s because I need to jumpstart those writing muscles. I sometimes get asked this question by friends and family back home ..read more

I will let you decide where. l have no idea if l am believer but as every good religious person, I pray silently to God only when l am in trouble or want to obtain something. I also pray when I don’t see any escape or options coming out from a certain situation. Sometimes I think to myself: That’s it! This is the end of you. Only a miracle can save you. It usually happened when l was not prepared for a test or an exam, when l was in trouble and l wanted to avoid a slap or when l had a crush. It happened when l needed money, when l wanted something from my parents and they only had a statement ..read more

So, after the Dutch/American architect cheap yahoo boy, I decided not to give up and kept hoping to meet my virtual charming prince riding one of the matchmaker Apps. Mission accomplished, again with no success. The journey was the way any outstanding surgeon would say, “The surgery was successful, but the patient did not survive.’’ It was the same with my dating life. Swiping left and right was like one of the electronic slot machines in casinos. Russian Roulette. Now, don’t get me wrong. I enjoy my solitude and my freedom more than anything. l do not mind being single but l like meeting peop ..read more

After free fall, I learned to fly. My spirit is still under construction. I am still searching and looking for more surprises, more frogs to kiss and waste my time with, more adventures… I started packing, moving out of the place l lived in with Za Decedent. It was essential to me! I had never realized how much shit l had collected over the years. You can call me a modern hoarder. I started selecting and choosing what I shall keep and what not. Some went to charity, bins or friends. I didn’t want to take anything from that apartment we shared. I cannot delete the years but l can choose what l ..read more

As I mentioned to you, I will nickname my ex, Decedent, also known for six years as the love of my life. I choose the name Decedent as a form of revenge, out of anger and pain that he caused me when he decided out of the blue to break up with me. Some might say, “Oh, that’s bad! Why should she seek revenge? You should think positive. It was not meant to be. You should focus on other things, you should read self-development books. You’re angry, bargaining, depressed and the last step is to accept by letting it go. You should let it go! You should…you should…” Well, allow me to tell you somethin ..read more

Living in a civilized so-called western country made me realize that I had a very normal childhood. Can someone define what normal means? In my opinion, normality is reflected by everyone’s perception. What to me seems normal, might sound strange to you and vice versa.  It has shapes. It has behavior patterns. It’s boring. Let’s say it has its own DNA. I always wanted to be considered a normal person. But do I want that now? Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn! One of my favorite lines mentioned by Clark Gable. I will leave you to judge and define normality because I start spinning whene ..read more

We met at Sausalitos, a Mexican restaurant and bar that played La Bamba when she walked in. It was a chilly November evening, my fourth Friday in this city and I was still staying in a hotel room. I should’ve ordered a whisky to warm myself up, but a cold glass of beer sweating on the side is what I had. My friend Arsene did the honors of handling the intros. She has become my mother away from home. I call her Mama. She calls me kido. She has stories to tell. This is the beginning of, hopefully, many of those stories. Over to you, Mama aka Animas. *** Anima, according to Google means: (in Jun ..read more