I spent the better part of the day at the French high school in Morningside, Johannesburg today, having a great time. I was a teacher of French for eight years in Zimbabwe, before joining the private sector. I was invited, as a result of my private sector and teaching experience to help evaluate the presentations by 14 year old learners who had just spent 4 days in a work environment shadowing an employee or job title of their choice.

Nope, it is not a typo, I did write 14 year old and they did spend 4 days observing General Managers, Chefs, Marketing Coordinators, Sports coaches and Vets. Firstly, I was delighted to be back in the field of my first love (in terms of work) and secondly, how refreshing to see 14 year old children presenting living documents via power point on a smart board and in detailed bound dossiers, on real life and giving their own opinions on the job. As I said before, I have been a teacher before and I have traveled with school children to France and Reunion Island for more than ten years. I have to declare, that the level of analysis, thought and presentation when you compare apples with apples is far greater in pupils in the French system than in the British one, which encourages rote learning and regurgitation of copious amounts of notes and facts.

French learners not only have a wonderful turn of phrase, their approach to life is philosophical and reflective. It would be worth the while of those seeking to reform education systems in Anglophone countries to have a look at the French.

I had a great day today.

I saw joy yesterday. I simultaneously experienced it too as I witnessed it. It was my spontaneous reaction to the spontaneous reaction of a little Ukrainian boy after 35 year old gladiator Andrei Shevchenko scored for his country. The quick action by the camera person delivered a joyous celebration that was at once pure, innocent and beautiful in its expression to millions of homes across the globe. I have a soft spot for Sheva from his days at AC Milan and I felt sorry for him for the way he was treated a few years ago at Chelsea. The fact that he rolled back the years after a difficult season of injuries and naysayers made me happy for him when he scored. Follow that up with the idea that he scored the opening goals for his country in their opening match while they host a soccer tournament whose pre-tournament publicity has been negative and you have the joy of all Ukrainians. It is their veteran star and Captain who scored and created hope for progress to the next round, especially after group favourites England and France drew in their match in the process dropping points. It does not mean they will win the tournament but no one can deny them their joy.

What are your simple joyful moments during your day? When I drive on the highway with Ali Farka Toure strumming his guitar over the speakers that, for example, is joy. Below is a great example of joy that I have ever found. It is from the Honey Sutras by Ingrid Goff-Maidoff:

"When I add a spoon of honey to my tea, I give thanks to a dozen bees for the work of their whole lives. When my finger sweeps the final drop of sweetness from the jar, I know we've enjoyed the nectar from over a million flowers. This is what honey is: the souls of flowers, a food to please the Gods. Honey eaters know that to have a joyful heart, one must live like the bees, sipping sweet nectar from each moment as it bloooms. And life, like the world of honey, has its enchantments and stings."

Yesterday, I saw and experienced joy!

Still trying to change the world, one person at a time, as I go on about citizenship.

http://www.newsday.co.zw/article/2012-06-06-innerzela-pawns-and-power/

Its been a hectic week with Syria, marches about paintings and Liverpool's search for a new Manager. The Syrian situation is grabbing all the headlines for obvious reasons and in the midst of this other injustices do not get the headlines they deserve. One of them is the treatment of African refugees in Israel where a significant section of the Tel Aviv population went on the rampage attacking the refugees and wanting them out of the country. A politician went as far as describing them as a cancer!

What I want to focus on, though, is the plight of a lone Sudanese woman who has been accused of adultery. You know what is coming. Intisar Sharif Abdalla who, according to media reports is between the ages of 15 and 17 is accused of having a sexual relationship outside of wedlock and falling pregnant by a man who is not her husband. The man has not been accused of anything, of course. A Judge, Sami Ibrahim Shabo, sentenced her to death by stoning on 13 May after one hearing and following hours of brutal torture by her own brother who instigated the case according to The Observer, a Ugandan online publication. She is apparently currently shackled in a prison in Sudan.

This is one for all of us to tackle. If you are in the media, use your column or tv programme to be heard on this matter, if a member of Amnesty International, you know what to do. The people I am appealing to the most, though, are the ordinary man and woman in the street who have a member of parliament they can write to and hassle so that (s)he can raise the issue in their parliament and ask the government of the day to raise their voice in protest all the way to Addis Ababa at the AU headquarters and Khartoum the seat of the Sudanese Government. Africa, and the rest of the world must stand up as one not just to condemn this injustice but also to stop the sentence from being carried out. This is the power of one. You can all play your role in this matter and help save one more human being from injustice at the hands of fellow man.

Africa day was celebrated across the continent yesterday. Only recently designated the hopeless continent by no less than the Economist magazine, the world is finally taking this continent seriously as an economic partner. I suspect this is driven by the West's desire not be to be out done by China, a country that has invested heavily on the continent in the last decade. The African economy has finally left the hangar and is on the highway, warming the engines up in preparation for taxi.

Parallel with this must come the shedding of victim hood. The world's economy is lopsided, the playing field uneven with farm subsidies, protectionist trade regimes and all manner of unfair business practices but these are raging the world over. There are economic battles between Europe and the US, China and the US, Latin America and the US as everyone tries to gain a foothold in the battle for resources and markets.

If a South African in Elon Musk can send the first privately owned craft in to space, then Africa can compete with the best of them up there. What Africa needs to do is create the environment that allows it brightest to shine their brilliance from African shores. The awarding of a major portion of the SKA array to South Africa is a case in point. We now have a platform to nurture the next generations of the Strive Masiyiwas, Samuel Esson Jonahs, Mo Ibrahims, Sindi Mabasos, Wendy Luhabes and many others right across the continent. http://www.africansuccess.org/rechRub.php?idRech=5&lang=en

The people you will find on the list above get on with it. They fight their battles in the boardrooms, courts and in the markets. The fight for Africa is for each country to produce millions of similar people running SMEs and large corporations, creating wealth rather than amassing it and, in the process, creating the room for Africans to walk with their heads held high.

Africa must not forget her pain of slavery and colonialism but she must not carry it around in her bosom passing it on to future generations in a continuous state of victim hood. It is Frederick Douglass, former slave turned liberator of hearts and minds who said: "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."

We must heal and we must fight the fight in the markets, with exemplary and dignified leadership for all Africans. In his book, Architects of Poverty, Moeletsi Mbeki calls for a change of mindsets in the African elite. He calls for the protection of property rights, rule of law, diversity and growth of skills in the labour force, cooperation between labour and management, a healthy labour force and a stable social and political environment. Samuel P Huttington in the book Clash of Civilisations reminds us that in January 1989 in Singapore, the President Wee Kim argued that it was necessary to identify the core values that "capture the essence of being a Singaporean." This exercise culminated in a white paper that defined the shared values of Singaporeans as: Nation before (ethnic) community and society above self, family as the basic unit of society, regard and community support for the individual, consensus instead of contention, racial and religious harmony." I must remind readers that Singapore is roughly 76% Chinese, 15% Malay and Muslim and 6% Indian, Hindu and Sikh. Sound familiar?

Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore probably said it best at a national day rally on August 19, 1979; "If we can test men, weed out the nervous and jittery, you can bank on your future in Singapore long after this government has stood down. We have got to find them. We have some of them. For any group of men, the final achievment is to see their creation bloom and flourish. They must be able to select, to judge, to impart what has been learned from exeperience and then say, 'Now the rest is up to you.' There will be new problems but the basic factors are the same. The world is different, the economy is more complex and sophisticated, but what makes a society tick, what gives a people flexibility, the cohesiveness, the thrust, the dynamism, always seeking new ways to overcome new problems or old problems- that's as old as the beginning of man and the first tribes. That, I hope, will be the story of Singapore."

This too, must be the story of individual African countries so that the continent can flourish.

It is proving to be a dramatic year, thus far, in the field of sport, arts and culture. The deaths of Whitney Houston, Donna Summer and Robin Gibb have genuinely touched fans worldwide across every line you can think of. News of their deaths were not just another entertainment item that one sticks at the end of the 8pm news. They were headline news announcing the departure of iconic figures who did more than just make music. These acts defined music genres, raised the bar and set a new standard for their contemporaries and beyond as we reminded ourselves of their contribution to the field of human endeavour.

Even more dramatic, in this highly interconnected world, have been the climaxes to sports competitions, particularly soccer. It is to Golf that we turn to, though, for that Albatross from Louis Oosthuizen which set up a thrilling finale to this year's Augusta. Then you fast forward to Chelsea's semi final match against Barcelona, Real Madrid's penalty loss to Bayern Munich on penalties in their semi final and now the Champions League final. Difficult to argue which was the most emotional finish to a sports event but in my book the Zambian victory over Cote D'Ivoire in the African Cup of Nations, back in January has to be right at the top of emotional Richter scale. We have been truly spoilt, both for the privilege of being able to truly mourn legends who have passed on and appreciate their legacy and celebrating new legends who have made and are making their mark.Yet, we are only half way through the year! I salute those who have passed on and the living legends.

I have been lucky enough to meet a few legends in my time. A few years ago, I ran in to Jay Jay Okocha at his club #10  in Lagos. Very humble, down to earth man. It was the same when I met Kalusha Bwalya in Lusaka and this weekend when I ran to Herve Renard, the man who led Zambia to the Afcon finals. I consider myself very lucky and wish I could have had a ten minute chat rather than just a snapshot.

Here is a living legend in the mould of Dennis Liwewe. You should have seen him celebrate when Boateng scared a hat trick for AC Milan. You might find it on You Tube. In this clip, however, he says goodbye to club and national legend Inzaghi: http://www.20min.ch/sport/fussball/story/Kult-Moderator-Crudelis-bittere-Traenen-25483469

Who else would I have loved to have met? Bob Marley, Nancy Wake, Frederick Douglas and, like most men, I am yet to meet Gabrielle Union!

I react to the story of the Lemba people and wonder out aloud why no one is putting it in a bottle and sticking a label on it. When you do not own your narrative, others will write it and, in some cases, distort it for you.

http://www.newsday.co.zw/article/2012-05-16-innerzela-making-your-heritage-count/