Author: Nomia Machebe

Maybe she had her doubts and mistrusts before she took a good look at the sky. It is that one good look; and finally her belief was restored. One little peek behind the curtain revealed what she had been ignoring all along. One touch of a friendly hand melted her glacier of denial as the…

More than a century ago, the philosopher, poet and preacher, Ralph Waldo Emerson, articulated it loud and clear: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared [with] what lies within us.” This enlightened, Harvard graduate could not have spelt it out any better. In order to find what lies within…

Truly, the best message always appears when we least expect, it catches us off-guard and suddenly lets go to make way for free will. Like a whirlwind, it swirls truthfully with speed, yet with weight: “Always, be on the lookout for love. Don’t be desperate, but don’t ever deny the need for love because it…

In life, one will only come across a small number of individuals who are able to boldly say “I enjoy what I do” as they simultaneously and inadvertently send a message of “what needs to be done next”. Irrespective of whether these sentiments are expressed in reference to a career, studies or personal project; it…

It feels like I am walking uphill.  The stones, the sands, the thorns, the spikes, the dust, the dirt – how can a path be so unpaved?  I raise my gaze and spot the pot.  As I drag my exhausted body, I keep my eye on the pot that dangles up above. It slowly swings this…

I have been asked on several occasions what the word “success” means.  Honestly, in response, I have always mumbled some mumbo-jumbo around wealth accumulation, influential power, social status, material accrual, etc.  But today I witnessed a breath-taking moment; and that for me, clarifies the word success. And here goes my analogy: Success is a when a…

We sat through nine assessments that morning.   We were prepared to hear and accept what the different experts had to say.  One team after the other had been carefully lined-up to come and actively engage us on different approaches. Each group was confident that its method would do the trick: some arrogantly showcased different methods and tools;…

I have reached a point where I do not want to hear negative comments that a lot of people carelessly make about Africa.  I am fatigued of listening to people continuously complain that the media’s general reporting on the continent is negatively biased; that the continent is faced with challenges of poverty; unemployment and crime,…

The Southern Hemisphere rolls into a new season: a season that ushers in vitality, a season that brings in purity, a season that delivers clarity.  In winter, we were all given a chance to moan, to cry, to blame someone, to mourn and to die a little….and that season is over! As Spring steps forward,…

The fact that the first National Women’s Day was only observed in February 1909 in the United States, tells us that the recognition of women’s rights and emancipation elsewhere in the world has indeed come a very long way and has been long overdue. In all their struggles to date, women have encountered all sorts…