Relationship Series Part 2: How to get your African parents to hear you
I took a break from the Relationship Series last week and created this Racism healing tool kit so please use it and share it! I just want to add that even though the nation is finally openly acknowledging racism and prejudice as an issue, let this indignation not just be a trend. Let’s truly do […]
Relationship Series Part 1: African parenting, what is missing?
Being a parent is difficult. Nobody really teaches you how to be one, you learn on the job. As adults, we understand this (hopefully), but you know who doesn’t understand? Your young children! When they are young, they think you are the most wonderful thing that happened to them, then they start to grow up […]
Relationship Series: Are your relationships surviving the COVID-19 pandemic?
For the next few weeks, I’ll be writing a series on reducing relationship tension during this period of COVID-19. It’s been over two months since the Coronavirus has forced us to limit social and physical contact. While some people living alone may be experiencing increased isolation, those living together may be ‘driving each other crazy.’ […]
Running out of conversation topics while quarantining? Try Storytelling
Do you remember the stories your parents told you when you were a child? I remember the times in Cameroon when the lights went out and we had to entertain ourselves. Sometimes we told African folk tales. I’m sad that I can’t remember the details of many of them, they are vague memories. African storytelling […]
How my mother taught me to say “thank you”
It was sometime in the afternoon on a sunny day in Yaoundé, Cameroon. I was about 10 years old (maybe younger). My mom was driving, it was just both of us in the car. I don’t think I was supposed to be holding her work papers while sitting close to a half-opened window. All I […]
Parables and storytelling: Does it matter how I listen?
Since this post is about storytelling, let’s start with the story of how this post came about. I had the idea to write about African storytelling three weeks ago and I wrote a few paragraphs, and thought to myself, “I’ll come back to it later.” I knew I needed to add to it before I […]
Graduations, weddings, funerals, concerts… How to grieve the losses from coronavirus
My people! It’s almost May, the month of graduation for many seniors and graduate students. The month of May marks the beginning of the end of an academic year. I can feel that May 2020 is going to be a weird month because we are forced to do things differently due to the coronavirus. I […]
A simple way to remember your self-care needs
I don’t know about you, but quarantining is getting harder for me. Last week, I was so full of ideas about things to do while at home that I wrote about it here. This week, I feel tired and in need of rest and self-care. A few years ago, I came up with the acronym […]
Inspiring projects to do while quarantining
When I was a kid, my dad used to have us write essays as punishment. I remember having to write about family trips and other topics that I blocked out of my memory. I didn’t like it, but as an adult, I see how good of a punishment that was. Teach your children skills while […]
Questioning God during tough times?
Times like these can cause us to question God. We can wonder where God is and why God seems silent. In addition, staying home and spending a lot of time with self can bring us face to face with our own struggles. The spoken word poetry video below is on someone wrestling with God. (Watch […]
