Glo, Author at 1Africa | Page 12 of 27

Didier Drogba Ready To Play With Impact

Culture

Glo

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August 3, 2015

There’s no question that Montreal soccer fans count Didier Drogba as a superstar. The former Chelsea striker was met with chants and long applause at a news conference attended by media and hundreds of the Major League Soccer club’s most loyal fans at Saputo Stadium on Thursday night.

He donned the No. 11 shirt, which was given up by midfielder Dilly Duka for the team’s new marquee player.

Drogba will need time to train with his new teammates and work on his conditioning before he can play in a match. For now, he just wants to fit into his new team.

“I wasn’t a superstar before I joined big teams like Marseille and Chelsea and the others so I know how it feels,” he said. “A superstar is just the way people look at you, but in the dressing room you’re the same.”

“I played with Frank Lampard, John Terry and I played against good players like (Steven) Gerrard, (Andrea) Pirlo, and they are simple guys. We are human beings. All I can try to do is give back to those players who want to learn and I think I am also going to learn from them.”

The 37-year-old, who scored 164 goals while helping Chelsea to four Premier League titles, is the biggest name ever to join the Impact and his presence is certain to help the club on the field and in ticket sales. His arrival at Trudeau Airport last week Wednesday drew a huge throng of dancing and chanting fans.

Drogba played for Chelsea from 2004 to 2012, then played in Turkey before returning to the Blues for one more season, and one more title, in 2014-15.

He left Chelsea after the season and, after taking several offers, opted for Montreal, which had to send allocation money to the Chicago Fire to obtain his MLS rights.

Chelsea happened to be using the Impact’s training facilities as a base for a series of pre-season games while negotiations were going on.

Drogba said positive reviews from Chelsea players helped in his decision, as did talks with former Impact defender Alessandro Nesta, the ex-Italy and A.C. Milan defender. The player who grew up in France and Ivory Coast also liked coming to a mostly French speaking city.

“I was impressed by what my teammates said and by my talks with the team president (Joey Saputo) and the welcome the fans gave me,” said Drogba, who holds the record for most international goals scored for Ivory Coast.

The Impact, who inked him to a two-year deal, believe Drogba has enough left in him to boost their attack. The six-foot-two forward agrees.

“I’m not here to change the way players play or the system, that’s up to the coach,” he said.

“I think what I can bring is a mentality. I came here to win. Believe me, if I wasn’t able to do that I wouldn’t be here.”

Saputo complained before the season that the team had lost its “buzz” among fans. Disappointing attendance at many league matches bore that out. Drogba’s arrival should change that.

Source : cbc.ca

How To Better Deal With Change

Glo

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August 3, 2015

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Throughout life you will undoubtedly be faced with some situations that create distress for you. While you don’t have control over the changes that come your way, you do have control over the way you choose to react. Keeping this in mind and accepting this truth helps us stay realistic about how we handle the unexpected life shattering changes.

First of all, you have to believe that all change happens for the better. Through change, you learn more about yourself; you discover layers of strength you weren’t aware you had. Like they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you; at the end of it all you become better, stronger and wiser.

Secondly, no matter what you are going through or how hopeless the situation looks, believe me it too shall pass. Like bestselling author Iyanla Vanzant advises: release and detach from every person, every circumstance, every condition, and every situation that no longer serves a divine purpose in your life. All things have a season, and all seasons must come to an end. Choose a new season, filled with purposeful thoughts and activities.

And lastly, form a support network. Talking about challenges helps. Connect with people who are also undergoing similar changes, or who have the expertise to guide you through the rough times. Above all never give up.

Adjusting to change in life can be very difficult, very uncomfortable. Whatever it may be that you are going through, remember that after the discomfort, tears and pain, there is growth. There is a life that you had not known before. Your success in braving the storm can open doors to many new opportunities you wouldn’t have had, had you not been through that season of change, and your life can as well be a source of inspiration to many others who are yet to experience what you experienced. See your challenging experience as a learning curve, an opportunity for growth.

Taking things deeper, we at 1Africa believe that life and every experience in it does not happen by chance. When things seem to not make sense, or are too painful for us to handle, we look to God for strength, peace and wisdom. When we allow Him into our lives, He becomes our very present help , both in in our good and difficult times. If you’d like to know Him but don’t know where to begin, please click on the banner below.

Portion of content sourced from africanwomanmagazine.net

Is Dowry Necessary For Marriage?

Glo

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July 31, 2015

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Many of us are familiar with the culture of paying dowry, also known as the bride price, before marriage, mostly observed in Africa and India. In Southern Africa, dowry is also known by the African word lobola.

There are two sides to the lobola debate. Some say it must be abolished because the tradition has lost everything it is meant to stand for. There is a feeling that this tradition has become about greed and not about relationships between families, as was the original intention.

Some say that we cannot abandon this custom because if we do, we lose everything that is African about us. These are the people who are fighting against what they view as the increasing Westernisation and strangulation of African customs. They are opposed to the view that what is African is barbaric and that which is Western is civilized. Point is – both sides of the argument make valid positions.

People who do not understand the concept of lobola seem to think it is about purchasing a wife. There is no such thing as buying a wife when it comes to lobola. The original intention of dowry was to create a bond between the two families – that of the bride and of the groom.

Unfortunately, as many of us know, lobola has somehow lost its way. It has lost meaning. The girls’ families often ask for too much, negotiations take a while, sometimes to such an extent that the relationship between the couple breaks down beyond repair because of unreasonable demands made by the bride’s family. Tempers flare, insults are exchanged, egos are hurt, and engagements are called off. In the end, what was meant to be the beginning of a lifelong family gathering is broken and can’t be mended.

Some argue that the process of engagement and wedding costs a lot of money. And if lobola prices are as exorbitant as they sometimes are, by the time one has settled down, one hasn’t settled the wedding debt. How is one to start a happy family under these circumstances they ask themselves? Is dowry necessary for marriage or is it time we move away from it?

Others believe it is as much a part of our African culture as the sun rising from the east. It is the way it is. It is the way it has always been, therefore, it will be that way until the end of time, and if we are to continue honoring this tradition, it must be done with the original intention.

What we see happening with the lobola tradition is just one example of how the human heart can be twisted and greedy to the point of using something which was intended to bring people, families together as a way for one party to ‘enrich’ themselves.
The whole debate on lobola was simply to highlight the fact that human nature is flawed, it’s no news. We all need help even though we’re not quick to admit it. We are ready to do anything sometimes without thinking of the implications our actions have on the other person, as long as it suits us and we benefit from it.

Many would agree the dowry tradition in itself is not bad at all but the intentions of some of those practicing it nowadays are misplaced. If, before doing anything, we all took the time to check our hearts and question our motives, we’ll be surprised at how selfish, calculating and greedy our hearts can be. Left alone, we can be a danger to ourselves in so many ways. That’s why we at 1Africa chose to rely on God. Because through His perfect and loving nature, and His flawless character, we too learn to be people who are not ruled by selfishness but a deep desire to make the lives of others better. If you’d like to know God, please click on the banner below.

Part of content originally appeared on news24.com.

How Dirty Is Your Money ?

Culture

Glo

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July 30, 2015

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We know money is not the most hygienic material around, but when you look really closely, the results are enough to make your skin crawl.

In a study that tells you stuff you would maybe rather not know, Dr Ted Pope carried out tests on paper money collected from food stands and grocery stores. He revealed colonies of bacteria that are known to cause food poisoning and pneumonia in humans.

Pope and his colleagues at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base collected 68 one-dollar bills. They were dipped into a solution that enabled (but didn’t promote) bacteria growth. Then the bills sat on a glass slide for 12 to 24 hours while the researchers watched the bugs grow.

Scary stuff

The researchers identified as many as 93 bacteria isolates. Five of the bills had bacteria-like Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae, which can cause infections or pneumonia in healthy people.

Researchers found that 59 of the bills had bacteria including Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Enterobacter, or Escherichia vulneris, which can cause a variety of illnesses, particularly infections in people with compromised immune systems.

Only four of the bills had no detectable amounts of bacteria, Pope says.

But paper money was not the only thing that was filthy. According to Shirley Lowe, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, there are as many bacteria on coins. “The work I did not only shows very much the same thing, but also that 18 percent of the coins grew out organisms that we would consider pathogenic.”

Despite this, Lowe claims there is actually not much to worry about. “I am not aware of a single case of transmission of a disease from money,” she said. “While these organisms have the potential to cause disease, the number of bacteria that would have to be transmitted from a bill, or a coin, would have to be significant, and that is very unlikely.”

Basic hygiene 101

However, despite Lowe’s assurances, there are still many reasons why personal hygiene – and in particular hand washing – is so important.

A recent study showed that merely encouraging people to wash their hands properly can reduce the rate of diarrhoea by 30 percent, potentially saving lives.

The researchers reviewed 14 different studies which all showed that in rich and poor countries, in schools, hospitals and elsewhere, hand-washing is a simple way to stop infections that cause diarrhoea.

Another study showed that simple hand-washing with soap and water was an effective way to stunt the spread of respiratory viruses, from everyday cold viruses to deadly pandemic strains.

Tom Jefferson of the Rome-based Cochrane Collaboration and colleagues analysed 51 different clinical studies and concluded that hand-washing proved beneficial in the prevention of the spread of disease.

South African hands not so clean

Yet a shocking local survey showed that almost 70 per cent of South Africans run the risk of transmitting harmful infections because they fail to hand-wash at key germ transmission points.

The figure was revealed in the annual Dettol-sponsored Hygiene Survey, which found 69 per cent of South Africans will not reach for the hand liquid wash before preparing food, after touching pets, after coughing or sneezing, or after visiting the loo.

According to Professor John Oxford, Hygiene Council Chairman, “Scientific evidence shows simple good hygiene practices can reduce the risk of illness and infection at home and in the community, so we must protect ourselves by putting these measures into practice.”

The survey also showed that when South Africans do actually wash their hands, only 60 percent use soap and running water, while 24 percent will just use running water.

Bacterial infection or allergy?

There’s another risk. While hand-washing may protect you from what lurks on your paper money, people with an allergy to the metal compound nickel should steer clear of coins.

A German study showed that those who have this allergy – which is a surprisingly widespread sensitivity – may have a problem handling newly minted coins, which are primarily made of nickel.

Source : news24.com

Is The Bible Still Relevant Today?

Glo

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July 30, 2015

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When most people think of the Bible, they think of an old book, written by people long dead and containing fictitious but inspirational tales from a time that none of us can relate to. When we hear about the guidelines provided for life in the Bible, a few of us may wonder what relevance those words have to the human experience of now. After all, culture – dynamic as it is – has changed. What would people who walked for days and weeks to get to distant places know about life in an age where we’re developing self-driven cars, simply tap devices together to pay for goods and services, and where water is not something to be retrieved from wells but released by opening up a tap? Without question, the issue of changing culture is likely the number one reason why people discredit the Bible. If you’re not as extreme as those who have completely discarded or dismissed the Bible and actually want to find out some insight, welcome! This post is, by no means, an extensive deep study into the Bible. Rather, it’s something to get you thinking and challenge you to dig deeper for yourself. Start by watching this short video from exploreGod.com:

As author Gabe Lyons says in the video, part of the problem that exists about people’s understanding of whether the Bible is relevant or not for our time lies in people not being willing to read it. How can it be possible to have so many opinions about something that one doesn’t even know about? We often complain about how it’s unfair for people to judge us without a proper picture of who we are yet, when it comes to something like the Bible, we do exactly that. We judge it from a distance and don’t do the work of digging in and finding out what is going on.

The Bible, we believe, is the everlasting, infallible and perfect word of God. But it’s important to remember, as we see in the video above, that the story told in the Bible is not over. It’s a living story and we are a part of that story. As you make a choice for yourself to draw closer to God in relationship, you will find that the Bible is far from irrelevant to your life. You will never know this until you open up the book and get in.

If you’d like to begin this journey and want to know more about God and His word, click on the banner below.

What You Are Matters

Glo

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July 29, 2015

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A few years ago, I thought of starting my own business and sharing my expertise in a certain area that I feel I know quite a bit about. When it came to actually starting it, I found myself thinking long and hard about it. I just couldn’t move forward with it, for some reason. Strangely enough, I must admit that the pseudo-humble girl in me seemed to think there was something vain about it. I always had a vague sense in me that I could do well if I got started with this business venture of mine way back then but, still, the idea of ‘putting myself out there’ seemed… well… self-indulgent. To be true, it felt a little bit like self-promotion and, if you’ve grown up in an environment like the one I grew up in in central Africa, self-promotion is not a virtue, particularly as a woman. To keep your head down and not be seen at all is the better option. But then, life, learning and observation happened. In that process, I realized that I had been mistaken all along. What I learnt is that it’s not enough for us to recognize our passions and talents. That’s only a small part of the process, though it matters a lot. How can anyone make any meaningful contribution to the world without the world knowing and appreciating the gifts and talents that person possesses? For example, how could Coca-Cola ever achieve its huge vision of getting a Coke within arm’s reach of everyone in the world without aggressively marketing itself on every platform available? It is only when we actively take steps to get ourselves known to the world around us that we will find that our gifts are meaningful to the world around us.

As you walk through this life, you need to be convinced that what you are matters. You were not made the way you are by accident.

All of us are born with a unique contribution to make to the world. That’s a given. That contribution may be as seemingly small as bringing a smile to someone’s face for just a brief moment or as huge as being the person in parliament who pushes forward a new law that will change the lives of many people for decades to come. But it’s not enough for us to recognize the gift within ourselves. The next step, which is probably the most important and yet the toughest for many of us, is to make sure the world knows about it. There are many talented, gifted people in the world but whose dreams die in the shower. Why? Because they have not taken the crucial step of doing something with what they possess. When I was a little girl, I’d sometimes sit around when my dad and his friends watched sport. I’d see them watching a 100m race on TV or shouting loud in support of their favourite soccer team. I’d always hear one of them shout confidently, “I could probably play better than that guy”, in reference to one of the players on the field. Maybe it was true but if nobody actually knew about it, who would care to hear that?

As you read this, maybe you really are faster than Usain Bolt on the track or a more eloquent speaker than Barack Obama. The problem though is that we don’t know about you. And it’s nobody else’s responsibility to let us know about you but yours. Ultimately though, the main aim of this article is to remind you that you are significant and what you bring to the world does matter. God has placed it in you and you must be a responsible steward of what has been invested in you.

If this is a question you battle with and you feel a little lost about what you are, our message here is that God can help us to discover who we truly are. He created us and He gives us meaning. If you’d like to know more about God and faith, please click on the banner below and walk a journey with us.

Is He Mr Right Or Mr Right Now ?

Culture

Glo

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July 28, 2015

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Okay ladies, admit it: we all have our own version of Mr. Right. Whether he’s talk, dark and handsome or the rugged outdoorsy type, you just know that’s the guy for you. But does snagging that perfect catch mean you’ll live happily ever after? Your so-called Mr. Right might just be Mr. Right Now. So how can you tell which the difference?

Getting Physical

No doubt outward appearance is important, but if physical attraction is the main attraction, then your Mr. Right may end up being Mr. Right Now.

Making Future Plans

As females, our genetic makeup dictates that we talk about upcoming plans and where the relationship is going. If he’s Mr. Right, he will have no trouble talking about future possibilities. Mr. Right Now on the other hand, will dodge the subject.

Also be on the lookout for verbal commitment—or lack thereof. If your significant other says things like, “We should live for the moment” or “Let’s just enjoy what we have right now,” he’s not really envisioning a future together.

Knowing Little Details

Does your man remember little personal details about you? Maybe he recalls that you like orchids or remembers that you’ll be away on business next month. When a guy pays attention to such things, it means he cares about you and what’s going on in your life. That’s definitely Mr. Right behavior.

Conversely, Mr. Right Now won’t invest as much time and effort in getting to know what’s important to you. He’s only focused on the here and now.

Seeing the Big Picture

Unfortunately many women fall in love with a man’s potential and don’t see the big picture.

Take a good look at your man and try to see the larger view in terms of his lifestyle. Is he pretty consistent and stable? Does he hold a steady job? Does he maintain good relationships with friends and family? Look for an overall pattern.

Mr. Right will have his act together (or seriously be working on it), while Mr. Right Now lives an erratic, roller coaster sort of lifestyle.

Keep your eyes open if you think you’ve found Mr Right, make sure he truly is!

Content courtesy of Laura Hamilton

Lessons From Barack Obama About Belonging

Glo

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July 28, 2015

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Lessons From Barack Obama About Belonging

Barack Obama, the incumbent POTUS (that’s now the officially cool way to say ‘President Of The United States’), was in Kenya over the weekend for a wide-ranging state visit that has left quite a mark on Kenya, if not on all of Africa. Hundreds, if not thousands of Kenyans took to the streets to catch a glimpse of the man regarded by many to be the most powerful man in the world. If anyone in Kenya didn’t recognize before just how powerful Obama is – as is anyone else who holds the title of POTUS, for that matter – they were left with little doubt this weekend. Hundreds of Secret Service agents descended on Nairobi in the weeks leading up to the trip, checking hotels, buildings and streets for anything that could pose a threat to America’s first citizen. In the hours before Air Force One landed, Kenyan airspace was a total no-go zone.

A lot could be said about the drama around the trip (some of it a bit ridiculous, like a few people naming their children Air Force One in honor of Obama’s visit) but perhaps the most striking was a statement made by the President himself while in Nairobi. “I’m the first Kenyan-American to be president of the United States. That goes without saying,” Obama said.

Was it just something said to get the crowd of excited Kenyan youths going or did he say it sincerely, in honor of his late Kenyan father, Barack Obama Sr? We’ll never know but it’s certainly valuable food for thought when it comes to issues of belonging and acceptance. Obama knows all too well what it means to have his Africanness questioned by Africans and his Americanness questioned by Americans. As a young man, he actually had to contend with very real struggles around identity, having been born to a Kenyan father and an American mother. “Obama has… written and talked about using alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine during his teenage years to ‘push questions of who I was out of my mind.'” Six and a half years into his presidency, though, he seems to have weathered the storm quite successfully but it can’t be easy. Still, as the video below shows, he is proud of his heritage.

From the time we’re born, we start on a journey that involves a huge fight to be accepted and to belong somewhere. Is that sense defined by the place of our birth or is it determined by who our parents are? Or is it an issue of possessions and influence – how much money we have or whose arm we can twist to do us a favor and get us a new passport where the grass is greener? In a world as complex, multicultural, multiracial and cosmopolitan (in some places) as the one we live in, who really belongs where? If I come and make a noise about being the owner of a piece of land, someone will come and tell me that he got there first. Before him, another will say his ancestors were born there. Looking at it that way, who can win?

Life on earth is fairly tricky at times and sometimes, no matter how much we try to fit in, there will always be someone who makes us feel as though we don’t. Someone will show up to remind us that we don’t quite meet all the criteria. Not so with God. His simple promise is that anyone, absolutely anyone, who believes in Him is adopted as His child. There are no hoops to jump through with God, just simple faith in Him. If you’re fed up of fighting to belong, God has a place for you. Click on the banner below to find out more.

What Music Can Tell You About Your Brain

Culture

Glo

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July 27, 2015

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What Music Can Tell You About Your Brain

Why do you love certain types of music and hate others? It may come down to the way your brain processes information.

Psychologists already know that music preferences are linked to personality, but a new study finds that your taste in music is also associated with the way you think.

The University of Cambridge study, which was published in the online journal PLOS One, found that people who are high in empathy prefer “mellow” music — including R&B/soul, adult contemporary and soft rock — while those with more analytical minds tend to prefer more “intense” music — such as punk, heavy metal and hard rock.

For the study, U.K. researchers recruited over 4,000 participants using a Facebook app. The participants filled out personality questionnaires, and then were asked to listen to and rate 50 different songs from a variety of genres.

The researchers found that empathetic individuals (“empathizers”) tended to prefer more emotionally driven music, while analytic minds (“systemizers”) gravitated toward music with greater sonic complexity.

“Empathizers, who have a drive to understand the thoughts and feelings of others, preferred music which featured low energy, negative emotions (such as sadness) and emotional depth,” David Greenberg, a Ph.D. candidate at Cambridge and the study’s lead author, told The Huffington Post in an email. “On the other hand, systemizers, who have a drive to understand and analyze the patterns that underpin the world, preferred music which not only features high energy and positive emotions.”

Why? The researchers hypothesize that people seek out music that reflects and reinforces their own mental states.

“People’s musical choices seem to be a mirror of who they are,” Greenberg said.

How it could help

A next step for the research would be to determine whether music with emotional depth can actually increase empathy.

If so, therapies using music to boost empathy could be devised. In particular, these could help individuals with autism, who often rank below average in empathy but have heightened levels of systemizing.

“Findings from this line of research can be applied to music therapies, clinical interventions, and even computer-based interactive programs designed to teach emotions and mental states via music to individuals on the autistic spectrum,” the study’s authors write.

Or the results might just be used to optimize your Spotify “discover” recommendations.

“Not only can these findings be useful for clinicians in various therapeutic [settings],” Greenberg added, “but it can also be useful for the music industry and for music recommendation platforms such as Pandora and Apple Music.”

Source: huffingtonpost.com

Bobbi Kristina : Life Short Lived ?

Glo

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July 27, 2015

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Tragic, sad, painful. These are the words that came to heart when news networks announced the death of Bobbi Kristina, daughter and only child of late superstar Whitney Houston and singer Bobby Brown, who died Sunday 26 July at the age of 22. Losing a daughter, granddaughter, friend, at the beautiful and vibrant age of 22 would be, for anyone, a very bitter experience to go through.

In moments like these, many things are said and all kinds of reports released. Inevitably, some will point fingers, and each one will have an angle from which they view the story. In everything we hear and see happening around us, whether good or bad, there’s always a lesson one can draw. Here’s what the tragedy of a life ending so young teaches us about life:

1. No one is guaranteed to live until old age: We are often frightened at the thought of dying, and when the subject is brought up, young people specifically tend to think it doesn’t concern them. But truth is, death is no respecter of age, money or good looks. Nobody gets a heads up on when they will die. Whether you’re 15 or 48, keep in mind that life is now. All you have is today. Give your present life your best efforts and enjoy it at the same time. That big dream you have, start working on it now. Invest in people, in your community, in something. Make use of the talents and resources you have to build something that will make life better for the next generation so that, whenever your time on earth is up, you won’t be found in a state of waiting for the next opportunity or experience to make your impact in life. There isn’t a specific age at which one is expected to succeed. Whatever dream you have, begin working on it now.

2. Be conscious of every choice you make and keep in mind that each one of them will bear consequences: We all love to have stability in life. It is in us all to want to make something of our lives. But success comes with discipline, commitment and sacrifice. Know what you are pursuing in life, and what you dream your life to be, and decide which are the lines you will cross and those you will not cross. Set values for yourself, abide by them and do not allow yourself to be swayed by any kind of pressure or influence. If staying away from certain negative influences will help you focus on what matters, don’t be afraid to set those boundaries. A disciplined life can be hard to maintain but you will reap many good benefits from it. Don’t refrain from saying no to people or things that are working against the picture you have for your life.

More than these two points is the ability to acknowledge that life is full of twists and turns and, without God, the author of life in the picture, it’s easy to succumb to pressure of all forms and completely lose your mind. We don’t want that to be your story. Allowing Him in your life is all that God is asking. When you look at how things are happening in the world right now, it leads many to believe that life is possible and fun without God in it. But we at 1Africa, believe that God is real and that He alone can sustain human life and give meaning to it. Without Him, life can potentially be one great mess. If you’d like to know Him, please click on the banner below.

Glo

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