Live your life #OrDieTrying

  I visited Ethiopia just after Xmas of 2015. The plan was to spend a few days there, possibly Malawi   as well and make my way back home in 2016. Why Ethiopia? Apart from Ethiopia being a country containing the oldest evidence for anatomically modern humans, Ethiopia is also the only country that never became colonised.  My curiosity was around those two factors. I wanted to see the difference between South Africa, a colony that recently regained its independence (proverbially called democracy) and the country that resisted Colonialism. The two names that immediately come to mind when one mentions Ethiopia for me are Emperor Menelik and Emperor Haile Sallasie.  It was under the rule of Emperor Menelik  in 1896 that Ethiopia defeated the Italian armed forces or potential colonisers at what is known today as the Battle of Adowa.   A provisional treaty of peace was later concluded at Addis Ababa acknowledging the independence of Ethiopia. Consult a library for more facts :)

Only a few things in this world make me happier than being called by my clan name, Chizama. My mother calls me that. Bless her. Usually when she recites our clan names she says Cete ; Chizama wase Mdizeni kwa Mayipase. Until a few years ago, I thought eMdizeni was Nirvana, some place of perfect peace, heaven almost.   A town whose reach is only in imagination. It produced my father, right? A perfect man in my eyes it can’t be short of perfection. As one grows up, one wants to know their heritage. We start to question where we come from. December 2014 I asked my parents to tell me more about themselves and their upbringing. One should know what to write on their orbituary like. Shhhh my parents do not want to hear about death, please don’t tell them I mentioned orbituary ahahha. We took a drive, just the 3 of us to spots where they used to play;  their homes; their schools etc. One thing stands out from that long drive, however. My dad showed me a police station where he used