What you need is a role model !

A role model is someone who inspires you, someone who reminds you that all you desire can be done. They are the living truth of something you want to accomplish; which is to live your DREAM.
People can influence your life either positively or negatively. That’s the reason why you should pick carefully the people you spend your time with and also your role model. Those people inspire you to always dreams and never give up on your dreams. Dreaming is not only when you are asleep; the best dream is to live your dream 24/7.
You must know who you are and what you want, to attract the right people around you. The more you focus on something the more you attract that obsession in your life. By focusing on your deepest desire, you will attract that you wish for.
Let’s go back to the role model. It used to be very difficult to find inspiring African Women, but with the internet, it seems that they are everywhere.
This is a list of inspiring women who have realized their deepest dream.

Marie Claude Mendy, owner of Teranga Boston

Haspatou Sy, owner of Ethnicia

Nabou Fall, owner of CEO of VIZEO, and blogger, Say it with Nabou Love

Dambisa Moyo, Economist and Author; “Dead Aid”

Aicha Ramy Keita, Miss CI and owner of Jong’ena

Oukassa, Painter and Jewerly designer

The woman on the street, who sells whatever she can to survive and take care of her family.








They are African, Smart, they have dared to dream and believe in their dream. You are a shiny star as Marie Claude Mendy once told me, we are all shiny stars. Find your role models, learn about them, learn about their success and create your own path to follow and never give up.
It is about perseverance, the only secret! And know something success is not only measure in the amount of money you have, there are many other components which define success.
First define what being successful means to you!
Remember one thing YOU ARE A ROLE MODEL

Valentine’s Day; the time to stop all and give time to Love and be grateful for all the Love we have ever received and gived

On this day of Love, it is time to look in the mirror and reflect on all the Love given and received.
Love, what a strange feeling!
When you are in Love, you have so much energy, which makes you rise above all. You wake up in the morning and you want to live forever. At the same time when you are in pain (emotional pain), you feel empty, dried up of all energy, all you want is to die.
That’s Love to be full at time and empty at others. Love is an energy, which is contagious; all want to be contaminated by it and at the same time immune from it.
Love can be given at all time, at any given moment in Life. It does not have to be an intimate relationship, it can be a friendship, it can be your family to whom you give Love and they return it back to you. A stranger you meet on the street and smile to.
Life has been so demanding that Love has now to be scheduled, now we need to remind ourselves to send a nice message to our love one, we have to set a reminder to spend some mesmerizing time with our wife or husband, we need a reminder to enjoy a nice meal and a movie with our sweetheart. How come Love has been a low priority in our calendar, when it is the source of all? I think ambition happen, money happen, fear of lack happen, independence happen. We are so into our thoughts that we can’t even give time to why we are here, which is Love. Love between a man and a woman, who desire each other, discover their body and gave a fruit, which is Life.
Now, we have to be reminded to celebrate Love (Valentine’s Day), otherwise we would forget.
Nowadays, you hear people say, I am with someone but we don’t see each other much, he works a lot, and I am always travelling or she has to live abroad, because of her job. Some people say; I am working a lot because I want to give the best to my family. And life goes on and we never have time to enjoy what we are working so hard to get, which is free of mind to Love and be with those we Love and Love us back.

So now, more and more people find their mate at their job place (office relationship), or online. Families share their precious time online, posting pictures of each other, talking to each other, sending sweet emails. It does not take much time and it is a new way to articulate the Love we have for one another.
Valentine’s Day may be commercial holiday, but at least the intent is good, I have to say the intent is to reunite and give time to remember “Love”. There should be a day to remind us to do something good. Week day is known as working day, to make money, earn a living, and weekend to resting day. But every single day should be a special day with a special name. You can make your own calendar, and come up with those special days to be grateful for all you have.

• Monday- Smiling day
• Tuesday-Gratitude day
• Wednesday- Play like crazy with children day
• And so on and so forth
Use your imagination, may be you will invent something so special, it will become a special holiday like Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, Valentine’s day, Easter, Mother’s day….

Much Love to all of you and take the time today to Love and be grateful to be here thanks to Love.

Child slavery or public school (free education)

CNN is conducting a project, named “Ending modern day slavery”

Slavery, being a slave, what is it exactly to be a slave?

If you key in define slave in Google you get:

Noun: A person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them
Verb: Work excessively hard: "slaving away for all those years".

Lately in the news, we hear about children who work on Cocoa field as child slave. They are slave because, they are “force” to work and are not “remunerated adequately or not at all” for the job done.

So now, “Hershey pledges $10 million to improve West African cocoa farming, fight child labor”.


As my father told me “I am “leftist”” what does it mean I don’t know but I would guess, I am always in opposition with the masses.

There is no child slavery (at least when it comes to children learning a skill)

When it comes to children slavery, in my opinion there is the one, which builds the spirit and the one, which breaks the spirit.

“Slavery” that builds your inner self

I have never met those children who work on the cocoa field, I have never talked to them, but they look like every child you will encounter in your life, Innocent, full of life and energy. They look like those children I see on the highway (in Abidjan) begging for money, selling everything they can to feed themselves.
The difference with the children on the cocoa field and the one begging on the street is that those on the field are learning something of value. They are learning the skills of becoming a farmer. I call that specialized knowledge, and the cocoa field, I call it, a specialized public school, where you attend the course and learn by doing and in return, you get food and cloth.
If we want to think that those children are slave and we have to protect them by taking them away from the field, the other question to ask; what will they do once “saved” from the supposed “slavery”?
Those who are “fighting against” slavery are from the North (developed countries), most do not even know the reality that we live here in the South (poor and/or developing countries). In developed countries, children live in a “good environment”, they are surrounded with love, and care.

Education being a right in developed countries (and everywhere in the world); children can attend public schools and get an education even if their parents cannot afford it. Children are trained to become the leader of tomorrow, at least to answer to the need of their society when they grow up. Here in Africa, we may not be able to build schools, but we have plenty of spaces where children can learn what matter to our society, our economy and our development. In Africa, at least in Côte d’Ivoire, most of our economy relies on agriculture, and if we want to train the future generation, we have to train them on the field.
Our public schools= what the western world calls “child slavery” Being on the field and learning. On the field those children are being useful, not only to the person they work for but to themselves. They learn an activity, they receive a specialized knowledge and that’s what is being given to children from the Western world, a specialized education through school, which enables them to breakthrough in society.

If you may want to “fight children slavery”, you have to ask yourself those questions:
• What would happen to those children if you stop buying the cocoa to make chocolate?
• What would happen to those children once they are “freed from their oppressor”?
• Is being on the street begging better than being on the field and learning a skill?

The Western world has to understand something, in Africa and in other part of the world we have our own way of doing things. What you in the West call “slavery”, we, in Africa have a different name for it. In Occident it might be unacceptable for a child to work when they are under a certain age, in Africa it might be unacceptable to pay a child for the teaching that is being transmitted to him/her. In developed countries, children go to school and do not get paid and get an education. May be our schools in Africa are the plantation where those children go and learn a skill.
You might say, “But in developed countries we do not make money on our children who go to school”, and I would say,” yes you may be right, but they are projects that your children do at school during school year to support their activities. It can be a bake sale that will finance a school trip, or car wash to organize a party”
So if in Africa, our farms represent our public school, and cocoa is being sold and farmers make a lot of money out of it and those children who work on the field do not benefit from it; the real change that need to be done will be to dedicate part of this money to better the life of those children not to “fight children slavery”, because there is no slavery but transfer of knowledge.

How to better the life of the children working on the field?
• Some of the revenue(or profit) of the cocoa should be
o used to build schools, which focus on agriculture
o used to buy proper food and cloth for those children
o used to build shelter for children who work on the field but have nowhere to stay

That’s my opinion!!

Is African woman in danger of extinction?

I have come across a web radio show that I sometime like to listen to. Most of the topic they talk about is about African women, women sexuality, religion and more.
Last week the subject was on African women. “Is African woman in danger of extinction? “
Let me brief you a little on the subject: “African women in danger of extinction”
Nowadays we see lot of African women who look like “black Barbie”. They have those long extensions, lighten their skin, wear a lot of makeup and dress like women from the Western World. Basically it seems that they want to look like everything but African. And the question was “are African women in danger of extinction” because they want to detach themselves from the image of the African women with natural hair, dark skin, and wearing African attire.

The questions in my opinion are:
• Who are those African women?
• Where those African women live?
• Do they know who they are (meaning cultural knowledge)?
• What are their ambitions?
• What are their struggles?
• Instead of asking: “is African woman in danger of extinction” should not we ask “is African woman re creating their new image”?
We cannot be in danger of extinction because we are still here, and we will always be here, either we look like what most are used to see or not.

THE IMAGE OF THE AFRICAN WOMEN

What does an African woman look like?

Most of the time African women are portrayed as fat, very dark, poor, filthy, dress in African attire with cornrows, and not pretty.

This image is what most people who have never met African women would think/say based on what they have seen on TV, in magazines…
This image has nothing to do with those of women from other part of the world. Asian women are shown very graceful, reserve with a charming beauty, India are shown with a bewitching beauty, polish, Caucasian women are publicized as beautiful, vibrant, smart and attractive. Those women that I have just described make other wants to be around them, because they represent beauty, grace, charm, and attraction. Compare to the African women who represent darkness, poverty, filthiness, ugliness.

Who wants to be in the dark when you know that the light is the way?

If you are being told the same thing over and over, you tend to believe it. African women are being told over and over that they are less than, that they tend to believe it. They see themselves as filthy because that's what they see and hear about themselves every day. They want to detach themselves from this dogma and be seen as beautiful, graceful, and vibrant. They want to attract good vibes (energy, people, and opportunities) around themselves.

If you can’t beat them join them

What do we learn in life? If you want to succeed find someone who has succeeded in your field of interest and learn about this person. By learning how others were able to succeed, it will give you the impulse to do the same. But what exactly do we take from our role models? And should we walk on their path to the point where we lose our own track and become someone else?

Identity

Know who you are in order to know where to go.

Identity has been a real issue in the African community all around the World. In Africa, we are so remove from our culture. We live in the city and reject everything that has to do with the village. Our parents do no longer teach us the great values of our culture because they are either too scared (scare of what I don’t know) or they do not know themselves. For those African who went to live in Europe or the USA or was born and lived in Europe or the USA are disconnected from Africa and turn their back on their origin because they have to acclimate themselves to the new culture they now live in.
You do not know your own culture and now you have to learn someone's else culture.
This is the struggle of some (maybe most) African women who live on the continent or abroad. Those who live on the continent copy most of what they see in the media, which is mainly what the Europeans or Americans do.
So, you look at yourself in the mirror, and you do not see the long and silky hair. You do not see the shiny skin, you do not see the grace and you feel stupid, worthless but deep inside, you know, you have what those other women have but no one sees it in you.
Now you have to decide; do I follow the path of others or do I follow my own path and get to know who I am, love and appreciate myself.

Some choose to follow the path travelled by many; which is in this case:
• Have the hair extension
• Dress like someone they are not (in order to be accepted)
• Change the tone of their skin

Life is a choice and only us can make the choice and assume it

Some choose to know who they are and love themselves and make other accept and love them for whom they are (it is all about love either we want to accept it or not)
Some choose to have the hair extension just for their own desire; it makes them feel beautiful and confident.
Why some people think because African women want to look different from “our mama” it means that African women are in “danger of extinction”? Our mama even change the way they look way before coming into contact with the Western World.
They came up with a way to braid their hair, to mix some flowers together to make perfume…As we grow we change and the change is due to the environment we live in.
African women are changing (in both ways good and bad, it depends on who sees it). They want to be seen differently, they want to be known differently and we can see that in the way they look, they talk, they dress.
Some may think that African women want to look like Western women, maybe it is true, maybe it is not, at least Afrcan Women are evolving and are not stagnant. In order to stretch and know your true identity you have to go through some steps, the steps that you will take may not be the right one but at least you took the risk and try to be someone else before becoming you.
No matter what, you always return to the source, which is the true you, the you that no one can judge, no one can duplicate, no one can criticize, not even you.

I am an African Woman and I am not going in extinction but in re-creation

It is about being positive and attracting good in your life.

Always be focus no matter the hurdle you may face in life.

Life as they say is a journey, apparently it is not the arrival that matter but more how you get to the finish line.

How do you get to your finish line?

The question to ask is what the finish line, is it death, success, accomplishment?

It is important to define the finish line before stepping on the road. Once you know where you are going, you can certainly define the right direction you need to take.

The journey of Life! It is about learning, listening, assessing, appreciating and being grateful. Being grateful! What does it really means?

Be thankful for what you have today. Tomorrow is another day, and yesterday is long gone. Cherish your day as if it was the last, and let no one be the captain of your life. Your life is for you to enjoy, your life is for you to live, Life is about being here and now.

In Sub Saharan Africa, we were not taught how to appreciate life. We were not taught how to be grateful, we were not taught to live the now and the today. We are polluted by jealousy, envy, and negative thoughts. How do you want to be grateful for your day, when all you think of is to do wrong to other? How can a society who believes that much in God can be so hateful and do so much wrong.

It all starts at home, where we are not taught to love, where parents divide their own children, where uncle despise his/her niece, where brother and sister compete against each other.

Life is a journey, and how you get to the finish line is more important than the finish line itself.

A runner knows that he or she will get to the finish line, but how will it get to the finish line, is the more important. Will he cheats? Will she takes a short cut? Or will she go by the rules? Are the rules fair enough for everyone or are they set for some to win and other to lose?

The journey of Life might seem long, but the time within the starting point and the finish line is here for a reason. A time for reflection, a time to analyze, a time to act, a time to…

Life is a journey, define your journey, and life will define the road that need to be taken!

Being an entrepreneur or social entrepreneur...What does it mean? Part 2

As an African women, I have discovered something within that I am so proud of..We are all entrepreneur and most of us are social entrepreneur. We know that when there is a need somewhere, it can be answered by acting. I am from the Cote d'Ivoire, and I can tell you one thing, the women in Cote d'Ivoire are real hustler, they are afraid of nothing, give them a gum and they will sell it. They always want to sell something, they always want to create something. Most of the time they will sell fried plantain (allocco) on the street with fried fish, or they will sell juices, extension hair... This spirit is all over in West Africa, from Gambia to Ghana, from Cote d'Ivoire to Mali, from Senegal to Nigeria. Those women are driven by the spirit of entrepreneur. What makes them social entrepreneurs is that they do what they do for their family, their community, to create an income that will break them out of poverty. That's the first reason they become social entrepreneur, it is not to become rich, it is to better their life and the life of others. Their success is completely different from the definition of success in the North. Success is to be able to give give more food to their children, (three meals a day), give them the opportunity to get an education and a chance to have a life without struggling, their success is to be able to send their children abroad to get a higher education, their success is to be able to buy cloth for their children. Their success is not to buy the last Mercedes, or buy the third vacation houses, or go on a vacation to the Bahamas. Those things are not their motivation, their motivation comes from their children, the laugh of their children in the house, looking at their children enjoying the meals that she just cooked from their hard labor....
As an entrepreneur or social entrepreneur, we have to be able to define success,it will motivates us to keep on going through this journey of Life.

Being an entrepreneur..What does it really means? Part 1

I have been calling myself a social entrepreneur for the past year now. What does it really means to be a social entrepreneur. From the Wikipedia "A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change (a social venture). Whereas a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a social entrepreneur focuses on creating social capital."
I am a social entrepreneur, someone who believes that one can change his/her life by helping other change their life. But you may ask "How can you help other if you cannot even help yourself". That's where the spirit of social entrepreneur takes place. By helping other, you are helping yourself. How is it so? There are questions that you may not understand in your life, there are things that you are lacking, those are the same things that many others just like you might lack or do not understand. By helping others, you learn from others point of you, you listen to them, you try to understand why they are where they are and it helps you discover where you stand and the next steps that you can take to improve your business, your life. Basically, it is others who are helping you by talking to you and you being available to listen.
As a social entrepreneur, what motivates is the burning desire to be a part of a movement, or change. We want to change the way we live, the way we "think". What do I mean by changing the way we think.I mean, we want everybody to think that they can achieve anything they desire to. It is about what you have inside. I am sure many of you have heard or read the book "Think and grow rich", or "As a man think". Those two books focus on the mind, saying that "We are what we think". If you think you cannot guess what you will not be able to, until you change your mind set and realize that you can. You can do it all, We can accomplish it all, we just have to change the mind set of cannot,and switch it to the "Yes I can". You might be an entrepreneur, social entrepreneur, professional, job seeker...you may say to yourself I cannot do this or that because I have never done it, I do not have the experiences, I do not know any body, Who am I? Who will listen to me...you might have many negative thoughts about yourself, as long as you have those thoughts that were you stand, that's who you are, that's what define you. But once you say to yourself: "I do not know how to do it now, but I can learn, I do not have the experiences but I am a fast learner and I willing to learn, I do not know anybody but I am willing to go out and shake hands"...you start to change your mind set and you become someone else, someone who works in your advantage instead of against you.
I may have gone out of the subject of social entrepreneur to what you have inside is who you are. We have to understand that being and entrepreneur is a long process it does not happen in a day, it is just like a child, it takes time to understand and move with confidence..just like it takes time for a baby to crawl, and walk...