The beauty of Christmas Market(without religious motives)

The beauty of Christmas Market in Berlin

One does not need a microscope or telescope to see how important or cherished Christmas is to the German community (the word community in this case encompasses those who are natives of German and those of us who are visitors.) I am privileged enough to have lived in both East and West cities of Germany; first having been Leipzig and now Berlin. In short, I have witnessed Christmas market, events leading up to Christmas, from both cities. One thing stands out, and that is Christmas market vibes. Before I proceed, it is better that I explain how the market is set. What the government does is to find a certain street, like the one I saw in Karl Marx Street here in Berlin, and bring wooded stalls and rent them to entrepreneurs whom then decorate it any how they wish, majority of them with Christmas lights and trees, and then pack their goodies. Therefore, civilians are able to walk around the street(s) and choose the goodies they love. In Leipzig, the Christmas market that I managed to attend was in the city centre, and the stalls were put in front of the shops, unlike here in Berlin, maybe it could be that Berlin does not have a one specific city centre. Anyway, this will be a subject for another day.


For entrepreneurs Christmas market is a quick way of making Euros (money). While on the other hand, for civilians (customers) the market gives them a chance to buy their favourite goodies which they usually do not buy often during the course of the year. One lady came to our marker, Sage-Net market, and bought lickrages (historically famous for Netherlands) type of sweets with sour taste to those of us who are not used to them, and she remarks that, “my daughter would love to have them for her Christmas gift.” Our Sage-Net stall is just a tiny fraction of the types of markets that do business in the Christmas market street. The market ranges from clothing (woollen made hats, scarf’s and jerseys), to bakery (fat cakes with lots of sugar, bread, baked cauliflowers), quick bite meat or meal (curry worst, hot dog), to wine (warm cooked or boiled wine) and to art for wall decoration (decorated pictures about the city and strategic places of the country.)


To many people, the price does not seem to bother them at all. For example, sweets or goodies which one would normally pay 2 Euros or so in a shop somewhere else could go up to 3-4 Euros in a Christmas market. I think to them is also about the environment and that makes everything worth it. Or even better, it could be due to the fact that the Christmas market happens once in a year. For entrepreneurs, if one is lucky enough, one ends up creating network of suppliers for his or her day to day business. Unlike, us at Sage-Net market who come here for a fundraising purpose for our South African civil organizations, other entrepreneurs do this for living. So, Christmas market really means the world to them.


The winter weather of Germany does not stop people from visiting the Christmas market. I make it a point that every time when I knock off from work(Sage—Net) I pass by the Christmas market at Alexanderplatz‎ which is on the way to my residence and grab few goodies or just walk around and marvel to all the varieties of goodies that are at the market. The market also comes handy to beggars who would sometimes sleep hungry because here they have an opportunity to ask from lot of people. Even though, I heard that the social system here in Germany is very good. Maybe it could be the beggars that I see are either not officially registered to be in the country or that they need more money for something else. However, the Christmas market caters for all people of the community.

Kids, at some point, seem to be the main targeted market for entrepreneurs. Some markets have toys or goodies which are more pleasing to kids. Parents also have their preferences, but few of them actually manage to say no their kids demands, but majority go with the follow (LöL, I know you do not believe this.)


In peroration, I grew up in South Africa with the knowledge that Christmas is a celebration related to Jesus Christ. To my amazement, or rather what really caught my attention is the fact that, Christmas is highly sought after here in Germany. Yet, more than 60% of Berlin residents have no registered religious affiliation. The largest denominations in 2010 were the Protestant regional church body of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO.)


Could this mean that Christmas does not have to be associated with religion?


Religion in Berlin - 2010

Non religious 60.0%

Protestants 18.7%

Roman Catholics 9.1%

Muslims 8.1%

Other Christian 2.7%

Other religion 1.0%

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin?oldid=636582982

The first two pictures are were taken from the Sage-Net stall during set up.

Jeffrey Shisinga's World : Fartuun Adan receives a Human Rights award

Jeffrey Shisinga's World : Fartuun Adan receives a Human Rights award: On the 04th of December 2014, I attended a Human Rights award ceremony where Fartuun Adan from Mogadishu in Somalia, was awarded a Human Ri...

Fartuun Adan receives a Human Rights award

On the 04th of December 2014, I attended a Human Rights award ceremony where Fartuun Adan from Mogadishu in Somalia, was awarded a Human Rights Award today on behalf of Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre where she is an executive director. The award was conferred to her by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung foundation. According to Kurt Beck, the chair of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung foundation, this was the 20th time since 1994 that the foundation offers such a prestige award to people who advances the course of humanity.
In his speech or rather remarks he assured her of how highly the work she does with women and children in Somalia is appreciated. He remarked that, “it is not easy in a country like Somalia where there are riots and wars to find people, especially women who advance the course of human rights and dignity. Especially that the law is not equally applied to cases that involve women and children.” He continued and pointed out that when “fighting for human rights we should not be oriented by the national or international borders.”
As humans , we should not turn a blind eye on how big the problems in other countries or our neighbours especially when the basic rights of human dignity and of access to law is trampled upon. Though her achievements and efforts were acknowledged, Beck also pointed out to the fact that Germany knows that “others things are also lagging behind in Somalia, where he gave an example of how married women are dispossessed of their husbands belonging (or inheritance) upon their passing, but the family of the deceased husband claims everything” He believes that Adan and her organization are on a right track to restore human right in Somalia and Africa as a whole. Before he conferred the award to her he said, “This award is a sign of acknowledgement of respect to what you do in making Somalia and the world a better place, and that Human Rights challenges are the fundamental focus of German politics or government.”

Amongst the dignitaries who attended this event was Christoph Strässer, a human rights commissioner of the federal government of Germany. He gave a brief historical collection of how al-Shabaab is known to be terrorising the Somalia people, and how at a certain point the government of Somalia together with the African Union’ interventions have managed to control or push al-Shabaab away from the Indian Ocean. He remarked however that, “even in places where al-Shabaab had been disposed rule of law is not yet applicable or effected. And that Adan and her organizations are on a right path towards creating a positive and human rights observing Somalia that they wish to have.” He further believes that “the weakest members of the society in Somalia are women and children. Many victims have little hope that Justice will be served to them in reporting stories that befall them, be it rape or abuse.”

As she ascended the podium to collect her award, she shared with the house how her husband, Elman Ali Ahmed, was killed for advancing human rights in Somalia. She acknowledged the award and stated that, “I feel extremely privileged to have received this award.” Before she gave her remarks on what her organization does, she shared a historical experience that she had where a president of Somalia once said that, “Somalia men were not raping and abusing women because they are Muslim as such cannot be said to be engaging in such activities.” She also gave a brief overview of what Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre does. Amongst others the centre cares for women, children and child soldiers who are raped abused or want to re-integrate back to the society. “We teach them literacy, basic reading and writing skills, and offer workshops for entrepreneurial activities. We even give them capital to start their own business.” She further explained that their focus was merely in making the women rich but rather to help them change their situations even in a smaller portion. “Silence is killing Somali women, at the end, I want them to have confidence and to have justice to be able to go to court and report the injustices that are instituted to them.” She also explained how difficult it is at first for the child soldiers to open up because they fear that they will be isolated or even be killed when the word reaches out that they have ran away. Our greatest aim is to make women to realize that they are not and do not have to be slaves for their husband of fathers, she said. Confidence is what we aim to instil in the community.


The conference was also opened for discussion from the panellists and the floor. Few questions were asked: one question was aimed at Adan and asked how does she get to work? Especially with the issue of security which is really unstable in Mogadishu and her response was that, “every time I leave my house to go to work, I accept that anything can happen. We do not have security, and one can never be certain with al-Shabaab.”

The next question was related to al-Shabaab, and it asked it was possible to negotiate with al-Shabaab, she responded by saying, “The child soldiers can be negotiated with since they lack education and other alternatives majors to quit working for the al-Shabaab.”

Another question wanted to know as to who is funding al-Shabaab, and she answered that “there were speculations in Somalia that al-Shabaab could be funded by Arabian countries with their hope to taking over Somalia and to run it their own way.”


The last question to be asked was related to how can women bring about contribution to peace and security in Somalia, and the question was well answered by another member of the panel Christa Radzio- Plath, She is chairperson of the Marie Schlei Association, and in her response she said, “Networking of women is an answer to bringing economic. Peace and security. War is no longer a subject of male soldiers, but of women too. There should be more women in parliament and Rwanda has proved to be a leader in this regard.” She closed her remarks by saying that, “governments should invite civil societies or organizations in their discussions for peace and security.”

Here is the link to her profiling her work

The life of a loner and how he became a loner

Life is full of surprises, some good and others bad. For him , it has always been the latter. At one time, news surfaced among the village that he was a rapist and many people wished him dead. At times, when people see him walking they will look the other way if not completely changing their directions. The brave would look at him and spit on the ground. Those who had been in a situation like his before, knew and understood what he must be feeling. One of them once explained to her neighbour that “ you will wish the earth can open up and swallow you immediately”. But, for him, people can only imagine because he hardly open up himself to people. Rumours had it that he felt like an outcast since his arrival to the village.

Apparently, he never knew his real parents, and he was brought up by his grandparents. News about his parents’s whereabouts have always been sketchy , and his grandmother never really entertained the topic. Those with tabloid characters had it circulating around the village that his mother passed on during labour. His father since took off and never surfaced until to date. The only person who seems to understand him is his grandmother. Before she grows fence around her yard, people used to stand on the street and look at them talking to each other. News circulated that he does not speak at all. Kids would also poke him on the streets and he would continue his journey like nothing happened. That was the kind of man he was. A man in village where everyone talks bad about him. Other news came to be known that he once watched his younger drown and he marvel on the whole incidence.

His life was like a school timetable, he would know what to do when and at what time. Whether comes rain or sunshine, they would see him watering plants in the yard, ans sometimes he would sweep the yard in the presence of his grandma walking around him without saying a word. Or atleast not in a voice that can be heard by the spectators. The two seemed to live in the world of their own. One day, a fellow old woman from the same village once asked his grandma about him, and she just told them he is a good and adorable grand son she can ever asked for. One wondered what would have happened to her if she was still in her youth,because it is believed that people in that village will associate with you based on your family behaviour and its members. Surely, with her grandson behaviour very few would want to associate with a person from such a family. However, that did not matter to her because she was a loner, more like her grandson.

Those who knew this family from its old residence, suggest that he was a good boy at school and had a bright future at his disposal during his youth. Others believe that he was bewitched by the family of the lady whom they believed that he had molested. The issue is believed to have never been reported to the police. Apparently, his grandma moved to this village because the rumours were so rife in their old village, and she had to fled for his safety. He was a very attractive and active young man. But, one would not believe it if they can see him now, a man who looks and behaves like a loner. However lonesome he seems to appear to people, one would not really think that he sees himself as a loner. To him, everything or this type of life seemed normal.

One would expect loners to desire to make friendship or at least to desire to be in company of others, but to him, such efforts never seem to have crossed his mind. He carried himself in one way as long as people in this village can remember. Mr loner. So many things were said about him and his grandmother. Others believed to have evidence that he was a zombie or that he looks after his grandma’s zombies and as such, he was forbidden from talking to anyone except his herd of zombies. Others, believed that he was a drunkard who drinks kids blood and as such he had lost his speech. To those of us who have studied a little knew that it is impossible for man to lose is speech once born with it. But, to many this did not seem to matter. Maybe, it was indeed a village of the ignorant.

The village was congested with young and old people. Women were at their majority. Those who know would testify how women seem to have direct influence over how their kids behave. One scarcely sees a child talking or playing with other kids or people whom were considered to be bad by the kid’s mother. Some kids would use him or his name with their siblings or parents during supper and around fire. Other parents even went to an extent of scorning their kids by calling them a Loner. All bad things were associated to him and his name.

One day something shockingly occurred in the village...
To be continued...

Life is but a process

Life is a process and as such it is bound to have ups and downs. Hence, today you might be sad, angry down etc,but if you look back to few weeks, months, years you might find that you were jovial and excited etc.


Therefore, you ought to take heart and be strong and keep going and hope for the best in the coming days. Who knows, maybe your days of sadness, mourning, angry and lacking might not even last longer that you think might.

Having said that, I urge all of you to never stop hoping for the best in life, One way or another , we all had and have our days of mourning, crying, sobbing and to be sad. It is not your 'thing' but for all human beings.

After all, you might just find out that somebody else has a bigger hurdle than what you have. The least you can do is to channel your thoughts and mind to the good that life can bring. After all we only live once. Why would you want to spend your days sobbing when you can decide to be happy instead?

‪#‎Do‬ away with Exceptions# Life and all its processes are\is for us all.

THINGS THAT SCARE ME

As a person, one should strive at all times to feed not only one’s stomach but the mind and the soul as well. Allow me to share with you some of the things that scare me daily. The mere fact of being a graduate and a student make me to have fears. Apart from nightmares which , I believe, are shared by all human beings; I am scared of not feeding my mind through reading, watching TV, listening to a radio etc.

I am scared of waking up daily and walk around without reminiscing about what I read , heard or watched. In short, I am scared of walking around and only thinking of what to eat in a moment when I get hungry. Some people all they ever do daily is to think only of what sort of meal to chow or where to go and hang around. Even more painful is when such tendencies are embarked on by students or academics.

My most second fear is lack of opinion about trending issues, be it in politics, social, academic or economic sphere. One will become so ignorant to an extent that he or she does not even know who the counsellor of the place where h/she stays is. The only thing that one knows better is the direction to the supermarket, let alone knowing who the owner is (LÖL). One does not only have to be a politician to follow the occurrences of one’s surrounding or place. As a youth, you can pay more interest to civil organizations within your area,especially if you think you are not competitive enough to embark on private or profitable organizations. As a graduate there are plenty of high school and primary learners who need your help. Those of you at varsity, you do not have to wait until you get back home to plough back to your country, you can do it within the schools near your campus.

As a parent, I am scared of not being able to care for my family. Family means everything. To those of you who are not parents as yet, of course you can care for your parents, siblings and relatives. Caring for people does not only have to be giving service(s) of monetary value, even giving them bit of your time to help them with chores, be a listener to them, show interest in their daily routines and lives. One way or another it will make lot of difference to them.

To conclude my fears, let me go back and expand a bit to students. Students have a tendency of going up and down without a reason. Mostly, one will go wherever a friend or a classmate suggests they should go. To others this routine is so prevalent to an extent that even if one has a strict time of doing something per certain time(reading, watching TV or listen to the radio)if that friend or classmate comes , one leaves whatever s/he was doing or supposed to be doing and follow the friend. Remember as a student , you are all going to be graded individually when the semester or the term ends.

NB I am not saying people should not socializing , all I am saying is that have direction of your life and daily routine. It should worry you to finish up the day without thinking of anything else other than food.

How to be reasonable when choosing a leader

Before I chose a leader, I ask myself what is it that he or she possesses to chant the way forward for the greater of the community. Be it education wise, leadership traits, communication skills and above all is the person good with people, coz he or she will be leading people not papers etc

The issue of factionalism will not only kill and destroy organizational members, but it will also turn the masses(community members) against the organization. A good lesson was brought to our attention during the recent elections results. I mean, ANC was supposed to have increased its percentages from the previous terms, but we were taken by surprise when we deteriorated instead.

If we are not to be denialists, we would all attest to the fact that we did bad because we were pulling in different directions et al. Our Youth league was dissolved or ban because we were focused on building friendships with each other and isolate others.

I hope we can rise above factionalism. To see that factionalism is not good, just look at the way a family member behaves when he or she realises that parents, guardians or relatives show affection to others and not him or her.

To all the well educated comrades, please mingle well with other members . you are nothing without them. To you who are less educated, please show respect and acknowledgement to your learned comrades. The organization needs them as well to prosper. Certain positions within the organization need such people to drive the agenda of the organization. Let us give credit where it is due.

ANCYL leads and it is all we have. Hence, some of us even go to pillar to post trying to increase our thinking capacity and to amass as much wisdom, knowledge and understanding as we can.

I will die for the youth of South Africa, but Mopani is so dearly to my heart.

Amen — in Leipzig, Germany.

How to harness motivation from the environment

Everyone desires to be successful or at least be able to get recognition for what he or she does. Be it, doing a marvellous job or even a negative task or activity. Hence, criminals or thieves will want to get respect from their circle. Just as an academic will want to get recognition from academia. Having said all of the above. It becomes evident that one’s environment should at least provides one with a good if not adequate motivation to be able to continue doing the undertaken task(s).

As a learner, you will need to have yourself surrounded by educators, library or fellow classmates who share the same sentiment with you. As a child, one needs guidance from parents or guardians to remind and to scorn where possible. An employee, sometimes might need the presence of his employer just to give him that edge of knowing why he or she is there in the first place,sometimes employees do get carried away.

Having said all of these, how then does one positions oneself to be able to benefit from the environment? In cases where there are more than one of you relying on the same environment, how do you go about making sure that you benefit as well?

The initial stage will be for one to understand the reason(s) why one is there in the first place, be it at school, work, meeting etc.. Once you comprehend your reasons, it will be easier for you to pave your way forward, because you would have defined your existence in a particular environment.

The middle stage comprises of researching the necessary requirements(tools or objects)to help you to succeed towards achieving your goal(s). The requirements could be present within that same environment or they could require you to go an extra mile to harness them. Just remember to bring them back to the defined place or the the place of origin. Many are times where people go out to look for required tools but forget to go back to their place of origin or of departure. Do not be seduced and forget why you are where you are at that moment.

Finally, strive to put together what you have acquired and what your environment provides to better or to achieve your output. Your environment can prove to be effective towards achieving your goal(s). What is vital is for one to realise what one requires in order for one to successfully complete a particular task or undertaking.

One is called an employee because he or she does what is expected of an employed person. Just as a student is expected to spend much of his or her time perusing books because one is a student. Unless one defines and understands what one’s task is, one can hardly achieve the desired goal(s).

THE IDEAS EXPRESSED ABOVE ARE THAT OF THE AUTHOR AND SHALL REMAIN HIS. LÖÖÖL

The boy from the hood

He defiled all odds by rising up, like a Felix, from the hood covered by slums. Like many other boys, he too had a share of how life equated to lemon taste like. He grew up from a family where life seemed more better from outside(neighbours and friends house) than it did in his own house. Majority of those who went through the same hurdle of life as him turned out to give up at their youthful stage or primary stage. Indeed, he rose against all odds.

Unlike you, who maybe had people who coerced you from persevering be it in your studies or life at general, he never had anybody who motivated him. Giving up to him was more than an option,it became a daily confrontational thought. Whatever made him not to entertain that thought remains the mistry which only he can explain. At times, he said he would go to school in an empty stomach, not that he could not choose what to eat but there was nothing to choose from. He said.

He seems to have experienced poverty from all its angles: he did not have money, food, clothes etc. Unlike today where government hands out food parcels, that’s if indeed it happens, because the government today seems to cater only for its employees, he said with a soft voice. Government might have institutions such as Social Welfare and Development,but provinces have bad if not careless employees to implement the proposed policies by the government. Ward councillors tend to avail themselves only during the voting times to canvas for their re-election and after that they vanished like a smoke in a thick air, says the boy from the hood.

Asked if he likes how his life has turned out, with a smile on his face he chuckles and said, I really do not know if I was supposed to have had another life except this one, but one thing I am certain of is that I love who I am today. Maybe, I could have been somebody else in life but we only get one life to live and I guess God has given this life to me. So, in short, there is nothing to like and nothing to hate about my life, concludes the boy from the hood.

“I had parents like anybody else you know...” please go on
TO BE CONTINUED...

Life in Germany

It was September 2012 when I left the beautiful country of South Africa in search of expanding my academic knowledge and wisdom. Life as I have known it has finally changed drastically, I mean starting from foods,clothes, environment, transport and also the people around me. Before I forget, I am in a city called Leipzig,Germany.


For those who follow the history of the world, Leipzig played a significant role in instigating the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, through events which took place in and around St. Nicholas Church. Since the reunification of Germany, Leipzig has undergone significant change with the restoration of some historical buildings, the demolition of others, and the development of a modern transport infrastructure.Leipzig today is an economic centre in Germany and has a prominent opera house and one of the most modern zoos in Europe. Leipzig is nicknamed as the "Boomtown of eastern Germany" or "Hypezig.


I enrol with Leipzig University, founded 1409, is one of Europe's oldest universities. I must admit, the standard of education here is totally different from what I have grown up exposed to. I do not remember having read so many articles in my university days in South Africa's university of Limpopo, turfloop campus. Here, I read a minimum of 3 to 4 articles per a class daily.


Food, the Germans do not eat lot of meat. As an African born and bred man, I found it difficult at first to adjust. But as time went by, I had blended very well. The most favourite food that I had fell in love with is called 'Kebab'. I am not sure whether it is German pro or not but I learnt of it from here. They use a burger bun,one has to choose between chicken or beef sliced portions of meat. Then, they put plenty of green salads:lettuce,cucumber,onion,tomato etc. with a source either hot source or ketch up or mayonnaise. Kebab is mainly found in shops run by Arabic people, whether they own or work is not clear to me.


Transport system is the best. It was for the first time that I used a train or tram as the Germans call it. This system of transport is very reliable and does not consume one's time. At first it was difficult for me to know which tram to take because one station has plenty of trains going different parts of the city. Map reading skills become handy.

Language is a barrier. At least, not in the academic way because my master programme is taught in English. But, people around here prefer using Deutsch(German language). There are very few of them who actually speak English, majority of them prefer Russian as an alternative. I took a Deutsch class upon my arrival but still I haven't grasped it all as yet, but I do speak and understand few basics.


People are not friendly as South Africans are. I am not sure whether to say this is how Europeans are or is just this part. Unlike in South Africa where one can make a conversation with anyone without knowing them, here it is difficult. or should I say, everyone seems to mind his or her own business. The streets get empty often, especially during weekends and public holidays. I do miss home with all my heart. I miss the joy of taking a bath and just go out for a walk during 16:00 and find so many people roaming around the streets with no intended destination.


It was my first Christmas being away from home. The mood around here, in Leipzig, was so great. They bring plenty of stalls to the different parts of the city. Things are very affordable. However, Christmas is celebrated on the 24th of December, one source told me that the reason for this early celebration was caused by the fact that kids could not wait to open their presents.


Weather! I came here during September and it was the beginning of winter. It gets very cold. For the first time I experienced snow it was lovely and priceless moment. I remember standing on my window and adoring the snowfall so softly and quietly. I heard Summers are awesome and one can get a chance to go to the sea and lakes for swim. I cannot wait!

Sport, people in this city love sport:soccer, tennis, cricket, gymnasium, jogging etc. I am fortunate enough to stay near a sports field and a swimming academy. I see plenty of older people jogging every now and then. Ladies as well are very determined about their bodies and how they look.