Lifestyle

A review of: Rose Lukalo-Owino, A Legacy of Giving: The Story of Mohamedally and Maniben Rattansi Educational Trust, Allavida, Nairobi: 2008. — In Trust for Tomorrow: Kenya Community Development Foundation, Allavida, Nairobi: 2008. — One Woman At a Time: The Kianda Foundation, Allavida, Nairobi: 2008. Connie Ngodi-Houghton, Promoting Philanthropy in Kenya: The Case for Tax […]

That’s South Africa, our country. Seriously beautiful. I had the strange pleasure of driving through it pretty much nonstop this weekend, and I was floored by how much natural beauty there is, in abundance, almost at every turn. We drove from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth and back in three days — including visits to […]

A dear friend of mine, whose mortal remains were confined to the common mother of all, was a promising and talented architect (RIP). Through him I developed a deep fascination with and appreciation of ancient architecture and engineering. From the Great Wall of China, built by Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, to the Pantheon built during […]

(Continued from previous post) “… This white child and nanny relationship added to the complexity of the racial situation I grew up in,” I said to my entirely Chinese audience at the University of Engineering and Science in Shanghai. These black nannies, or ousies, as we would also call them, were wonderful people and as […]

For some time now I have been methodically cleaning up my lifestyle as my body has become less forgiving of abuse and more demanding of consideration. There were clear warning signs popping up all over the place: age-spots (free radical damage) on my forehead, bouts of sciatica, tendonitis, fibrositis and other inflammatory markers of a […]

‘I was brought up on the back of a black woman,’ I said to my dumbfounded audience. I pointed to the picture on the screen in my power point presentation. It showed a black woman with a traditional African kaross on her back, in which was sleeping her baby while she worked in the fields. […]

I was sitting on the garden under the cool shade of a tree; the tree branches were dancing to the wind; birds were singing a soothing melody; dry leave were falling on my head and beside, heralding the coming of winter. I was having an appointment with myself, my troubles locked behind the madam’s bedroom. […]

Disclaimer: I aim to offend no one person or group of people with this blog, really, I don’t. A lot has been done in terms of attempting to teach the South African public about the dangers of unprotected sex and, looking at the statistics of infection rates of terminal sexually transmitted diseases, one would be […]

There are several wonderful women my wife and I have met in China before whose teeth we stand in awe. From maids and shop assistants to teachers and restaurant managers, we have got to know some Chinese women who make us wince when their faces split into a grin. As their lips peel back in […]

“Listening shapes culture locally and universally.” -Pauline Oliveros