Are You Worthy? Isn’t it a wonder that all the Treasures of Africa (tourist attractions) are and can only be found in Africa, ‘the dark continent’? I’m taking to you, my brothers and sisters from Africa.
We are the custodians of these majestic gifts that the Creator gifted us with and trusted us enough to appreciate and preserve them since time immemorial. The Almighty saw it fit for you and I, and our forbearers, to behold in awe and enjoy the magnificence of these great treasures.
Surely you and I are worthy of these and so much more, yet we doubt ourselves, feel inferior and ill-equipped to live life to the fullest 🤔?
Africa, let us arise and embrace our true identity of being the capable, worthy, intelligent, highly sought-after, solutions powerhouses that we truly are!
“If you do not tell your story, someone else will rise up and tell it their own way..”
(inspired by the story shared by Africaniwa titled “Who Discovered Mungo Park” during an Afrobloggers Meetup)
Send Her Back and Other Stories has taken me out of my hiatus because I just had to talk about it! The beauty of short stories is you do not have to worry about it being a long read, and if you are a mood reader like me, you have a variety of genres to choose from.
Send Her Back and Other Stories by Munashe Kaseke is a collection of stories that gives the reader a front row seat of how awfully exhausting and lonely the life of an immigrant can be. The author peels back on the inner wranglings of characters caught between two worlds, be it by stories of dating outside one’s culture and race or failing to assimilate upon returning home after spending time abroad.
I related to most of these stories as the author had different characters reveal the good and the bad of living as a foreigner. With all the protagonists being female Zimbabwean, they all have different experiences navigating life as immigrants. From Send Her Back (Vimbiso on the verge of being deported after being in the country for nearly 10 years and the effects of that on her marriage) to Tsoro (where Chiedza is determined to show that she is not a diversity hire but more qualified and strategic as everyone else), the stories evoke different emotions and have different settings that are both comical and emotional.
The drama is unending in this collection and I appreciate how Kaseke balanced the stories to have the reader ease as most of the stories are centred around heavy plots and life threatening twists.
The collection is bearing sixteen short stories and can easily be read in a short time. Most of the stories are heavy, and knowing how I have been trying to move from that, I found myself engrossed in this collection. I am not sure if it is because they are told in a voice (Zimbabwean) or because I related to the issues of racism, discrimination and othered, being an immigrant. I would recommend this collection to those who want to understand what we go through as immigrants and also how it is like to be a Zimbabwean woman.
I wished some of the characters had stronger personalities as I found them a bit passive. However this could have been Kaseke’s intention, to show how different characters can be. I rate this book a 3.5 out of 5.
Be sure to grab yourself a copy!
Munashe Kaseke was born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe. She migrated to the United States of America at age nineteen when she received a scholarship to study at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. She holds Doctor of Pharmacy and Master of Public Administration degrees. Munashe currently lives and works in Northern California. Send Her Back and Other Stories is her debut book. You can learn more about her on her website
This article was written by Rudo Manyere, you can find her full review of Send Her Back and Other Stories on her Youtube Channel and her previous reviews on our blog here
In week 2 of the #WinterABC, bloggers from across Africa came together and weaved stories of Africa. As the curtain closes on the two out of five weeks of the #WinterABC2022 story telling festival hosted by Afrobloggers, I’ll amplify various stories from Africa. The thoughts, poems, controversies, rants and everything that came between and beyond. Various amazing bloggers told stories worth re-telling. (I should be quick to mention that whereas I may not comprehensively recap or re-share all the amazing stories that emerged through this week, please visit the Afrobloggers account on Twitter or search for the #WinterABC2022 hashtag to read more content!)
There’s no better story of Africa than stories from Africa and by Africa. Through this week’s WinterABC theme, different African voices harmonized to sing a beautiful song about Africa.
This is my recap:
Before we dive in, if you want to enjoy some amazing African Music curated by me, click this link: Sounds from Africa
To start with, the amazing poem titled “Chronicles of a poem for the potential” by Half Thoughts beautifully described Africa. “I am a bird finding my wings but they were never lost; I am an artist with a blank canvas waiting for the brushstrokes of tomorrow; I am not the mistakes of my past but the dreams of my future … I am the heartbeat of a billion drums; I am AFRICA ” – so beautifully written and well captured.
I also shared a poem, emphasizing how Black Is Not Pain and how we, as Africans, are more than our history. That we have been ushered into a generation of rebirthed hope, shifted perspectives and changed narratives. Through our power, creativity, passion and duty, if its that last thing we do, we will ensure that future generations fail to even imagine a world when the word “black” is synonymous to “pain”.
Two prompts were shared by this week’s sponsors.
The first prompt that sparked conversation and controversy was the thought-provoking request by Africaniwa to write “A story which begins or ends with the proverb: Until the Lion Begins To Write, the Stories Would Glorify The Hunter”. In response to the theme: Nashe wrote a show stopper post titled Of Lions With Notebooks . He wrote, “… It’s not true what they say when they crop out the truth and screenshot their lies to the front pages of our history books… I will teach you to find pieces of yourself that you lost in history books, to shade away the skin of your misguided convictions …” These words felt like an awakening, a revolution and I couldn’t be more proud of the manifestation of our ‘woke’ African mindsets. I replied to Nashe’s post with a devil’s advocate letter from the Hunter’s perspective titled, Dear Lion that aimed at also looking at the ‘enemy within’. I wrote, ” Dear Lion, is it I who hunts you still or the hunter now lives within? … Police brutality; Cadreism and Corruption … on internal struggles you don’t seem to concentrate”.
Lazrs, also responded to this theme with a thought-provoking story titled, Nkalamu The Lion Cries. He wrote: “How can I tell my story when I can’t even write my truth? They expect me to flow with the hunter’s story so that his image remains glorified for injustices done against me,” Nkalamu complained. This story is definitely a MUST READ.
Mwene explains in his post on the Heroes Day in the Peril of Africa, that the African proverb, “Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter,” is used to metaphorically describe how dominant groups inscribe power through historical tales. He explains this from a political view giving an insightful angle worth reading.
For avid readers that are looking to reading some amazing African Literature, various book recommendations were shared thanks to the second prompt of the week by African Writers Trust. The prompt asked bloggers to write on the, “First book that ever introduced you to African literature“. We had a number of books being reviewed. Read more here:
Mission to Kala by Mongo Beti was reviewed by The Black Print
Home Going by Yaa Gyasi; We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo; Disgrace by JM Coetzee; A Bit of Difference by Sefi Atta; Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; and Mighty Be Our Powers by Leymah Gbowee were all reviewed by Lindani’s Space
History of Manicaland by CM Hulley was reviewed by The Leo Nation
Child of War by Ben Chirasha was reviewed by The Baobab
One of my most relatable rants of the week was with regards African Culture and Women. Because well, I am both African and Woman so I inevitably related to both sides of the coin. In this ambit, The Leo Nation wrote about Patriarchy and freedom for African women with a focus on Zimbabwe. She shared how, “In Africa, it is well known that women suffer the brunt of our many social and economic issues …. adding that, Freedom is the birthright of ALL, regardless of gender ” I couldn’t agree more to the echoed sentiments. Similarly, Her Diary Conversations talked about the Social Expectations for African Women during Social Gatherings explaining how among other things, there is a way in which African women are always policed by “those who deem themselves fit to be law enforcement agencies in other people’s live” on how to handle themselves. Needless to say, valid and relatable points were raised.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the stories that came from Africa this week. Ours is undoubtedly a brave, insightful, creative and extremely talented generation. I look forward to what the weeks to come have in store.
I want to send a HUGE thankyou to you all for constantly reading, engaging, encouraging and all the fine jazz!
To my fellow bloggers, thankyou for your content, keep on creating!
Keep on being amazing!
And above all,
Keep your happiness and sanity in check!
This post was written by Nsatusile Mgode, usually called Nsatu. She blogs at Nsatu-rated Thoughts where you can find more of her work.
WinterABC is a month-long storytelling festival commencing from the 1st of June each year. This is the 4th year running and we are inviting all African bloggers to create content for the 22 weekdays of June. The weekends are reserved for resting, planning out content and networking. Read more about WinterABC here.
Each year is always different….
For WinterABC2021 we had no specific topics we simply had weekly themes serving as a guide to content creation whilst previously we used to suggest daily topics. This year we have a hybrid structure where there still are weekly themes but at least two posts have been put forward by organisations partnering with Afrobloggers for the 2022 Storytelling festival. Remember you have artistic freedom to interpret and adapt the articles in a way that resonates with your blog or niche.Some topics carry a prize.Check out the terms and conditions of sponsored topics
THEME
EXPLANATION
Stories Of Home 1- 3 June 2022
While the global conversation now embraces storytelling as a necessary tool in putting across a message, its a skillset that has been in our legacy passed from generation to generation. Stories of home is to introduce us to your home, how you grew up and the experiences with stories, storytelling and their impact.
Stories Of Africa 6-10 June 2022
Moving from home we expand our world to the motherland Africa. Stories Of Africa is about capturing the diversity that stitches us together; culture, tradition, fashion, travel, food, art, music.
Stories Of Awareness 13-17 June 2022
Stories Of Awareness raising awareness and championing advocacy on the things we need to pause and reflect on; the change we want to see in our rights, our narratives, our perspectives, well-being, the things that would make our lives better.
Stories Of Our World 20-24 June 2022
For now, we have Earth and there’s no PlanetB. How are we interfacing with the world around us from digital ecosystems to ecological ecosystems, our environment, global pandemics, climate change, conservation, alternative energy, natural, resources, flora nad fauna… Stories Of Our World
Stories Of Innovation 27-30 June 2022
We wrap up the festival with stories of things unexpected and things different, Stories Of Innovation new ways of thinking coming from the normal, business opportunities, better ways of doing things, things that are obvious upon being explained yet carrying a profound insight… dazzle us with the out of the box thoughts, but first, there is no box.
WinterABC Partnered Topics
Week 1 Stories Of Home
Bhala Writers “Write a short story set in an African city of your choice, in which a particular landmark plays a crucial role” Afripods “What role do African storytellers play, if any in keeping the history of the continent alive?”
Week 2 Stories Of Africa
Africaniwa “A story which begins or ends with the proverb: Until the Lion Begins To Write, The Stories Would Glorify The Hunter” African Writers Trust“First book that ever introduced you to African literature”
Week 3 Stories Of Awareness
Miss Albinisim Zimbabwe Trust 13 June International Albinism Awareness Day “Write a reflective piece on the daily lived experiences of Persons with Albinism/ My reflections commemorating the international day of albinism awareness” Teakisi “African Women”
Qweshunga “Unforgettable mind games” “How play healed me”
When you post an article share it on social media using the hashtag #WinterABC2022. Follow the Hashtag to read, listen or watch content shared during this period. During the weekends no content will be posted, do check out other people’s sites and leave some constructive comments. This is a great time to have fun, network, and learn from each other.
Are you ready for the storytelling challenge? Sign up on the button below:
Where The Heart Is by Andrew Chatora is a piece of writing that leaves one reviewing deeply about the aftermath of the choices they make in life. He is also the author of Diaspora Dreams which was nominated for the 20th edition of the NAMA 2022 under the Outstanding First Creative Published Work category.
Based on the life of Fari Mupawaenda, the book takes us through the turmoils of his marriage, filial bonds and identity crisis. The book focused on very important topics which includes:
• BLACK TAX: Fari is plagued by the toll of having to take care of his extended family. He felt he had to send money because he does not want to forget where he comes from. He felt those who did not do so had no sense of family but he failed to see how he was being manipulated as none of those he helped ended up coming to his funeral.
• IDENTITY CRISIS: Fari had been in the UK for over 20 years but he still felt he did not belong. He projected this on his family friends Ben and Taurai as he felt they had forgotten where they come from because they had fully immersed themselves into the Western culture. He ends up going back to Zimbabwe but the country he loves so, has changed immensely.
Where The Heart Is
• RELATIONSHIPS: The book starts wit Fari’s married on the brink of collapsing. Him and his wife are at a stage where their marriage can no longer be fixed and end up philandering. His relationship with his children is torn as he can not accept them as they are and being a “typical” African man leads to his demise.
• MEDICAL ISSUES: Not going for checkups and not having medical aid shed more light on how it is something very important. Sleeping things off is not always a good idea because Fari couldn’t sleep the cancer away.
• HUMAN TRAFFICKING: I was not aware of how rampant human trafficking is in the UK. We see this through the eyes of Leti and end up understanding why she wanted to be with Fari. Immigration is also a topic that was shed light on in this book, how the UK govt handles cases of people who are in danger and how it cares more about how it “looks” than actually doing something.
• ACCOUNTABILITY: I found Fari to be a typical “African” man, he lacked a sense of accountability and self awareness. He always seemed to blame everyone around him even for things he was responsible for, for example, his daughter Yeu. He blamed his wife Maidei for not being responsible for her daughter when she became pregnant out of wedlock. He did not think he too was responsible for taking care if his daughter as a parent.
• DISOWNING CHILDREN: When his son, Muchi came out as gay, Fari was very quick to disown him. He did not want to hear anything from and of his son, and it further worsened their relationship. By the time Fari moved to Zimbabwe and also died, he did not talk to his son. What stood out to me more was how Muchi was affected by this. He had know for a while that he was gay and even before he told his parents, his father did not seem to like him. We see this through Muchi’s eyes and it is also evident by how Fari talked more of his daughter, at times I thought he did not have another child.
I would recommend this book to someone who likes drama, politics and a “serious” read. I feel the author could have done more with differentiating characters of various age groups as they all sounded the same.
Hailing from Zimbabwe, Andrew Chatora writes novels and short stories. He received an MA in Media, Cultural and Communication from UCL. His writing explores multifarious themes of belonging, identity politics, citizenship and nationhood issues. ‘Where The Heart Is’ is his second novel following his highly successful debut novella: ‘Diaspora Dreams‘. Andrew is principally interested in the global politics of inequality which he interrogates through his writing. When he’s not writing , he is working on his PhD thesis on digital piracy with Birmingham City University’s School of Media and English.
Author: Andrew Chatora.
This review was written by Rudo Manyere, you can find the her full review of Where The Heart Is here.
Winners of the 2nd edition of the Afrobloggers Awards were revealed on the 15th of December 2021. Through a rigorous process that involved nomination, public voting, and going through a panel of judges 10 winners were chosen from 10 categories. The Blogger of the Year was selected from the category winners and walked away with $200-00. Congratulations to all the winners:
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We wish to thank everyone who made this year’s event a success: our partners at Blogging Ghana for the wonderful teamwork and insights, our esteemed judges (Tsholofelo Maluleke, Janet Machuka, Ameyaw Debrah, Puleng Sirengqe, and Irvine Nzenza) who gave us their precious time as well as expertise in choosing this year’s winners and Hannah Talindah who designed this year’s themed graphics.
We also appreciate everyone who took the time to nominate and vote for the various bloggers, without you we could never fully appreciate our storytellers.
Let’s converge next year to once again celebrate all the African Bloggers who continue to entertain, inform, educate and inspire us one story at a time.
The holidays are for resting and spending time with the family. The holidays are also a gold mine of content ideas and an enterprising blogger can ride the wave of holiday traffic and end the year on a high note.
Why should you do holiday content?
•Holiday posts do not need much in the way of inspiration: research, observation and recollection can serve you. This is excellent for those who struggle with coming up with content ideas.
•Holiday Content is easy to update and repurpose… For example, if you wrote about Gift Ideas in 2020 in 2021 you can update with newer trends and upgrades.
•Regardless of your niche, holiday content can be tailor-made to suit any type of blog, be it a natural hair blog or a fitness blog.
•The excitement of the holiday season can serve as an inspiration and as the New Year rolls in that energy can give you momentum to start the year on a high.
•Lets face it, the holidays are overly commercialised. You didn’t start this trend maybe you can change it and help remind people what the holidays are really about or you could even plug your own services, skills and products…
Holiday Content Ideas
•Blogmas: A blog everyday challenge from the 1st of December upto the 25th of December. There is usually daily prompts or topics to follow depending on the Blogmas Challenge you are doing. You can find different versions of Blogmas online or you can even create your own.
>Sylvia IdehThe Badass Blogger is running a challenge for the Blogmas SZN you can check it out for inspiration. Click Image to download a short ebook on Blogmas SZN
•BOTY2021: Best Of The Yearis a blogging challenge by Blog Indaba which is a celebration of the best moments from the year. Its in the spirit of a personal awards ceremony where you award outstanding experiences from the year. Did you read a good book or watch a great movie, or maybe a business with exceptional service?…
Best of the year #BOTY2021
While you don’t have to blog every day, you can make use of some of the prompts to create your holiday content
•The most searched for content during the holiday season will be gift ideas and holiday activities.
A few quick tips to a successful holiday guidepost:
A good title can connect with the ideal reader
Write about things you have experience with or used
Include contact details, links and pricing guide (dont be that DM for prices type of communicator)
Money saving hacks because we all trying to stretch our savings
Honesty goes a long way
Will you be posting any content during the holiday season? Let us know in the comments below and if you have any other ideas for content add them too.
