Skip to main content

Things I’ve learned in the past 10 months…

Written by Bongeka
Leave a Comment

The year 2017 is ending soon and a few days ago I was having one of my reflection episodes. Reflection is so powerful because it enables me to focus my mind on being grateful and progressive. I know some may ask, why not do the yearly reflection right at the end of 2017. I keep realising that we don’t know what tomorrow holds and as people we live as if we are immortal, but we not. Every moment that we have an opportunity to see a new day is truly a gift from God.

A few people close to me know the details of how 2017 started for me…it’s been one heck of a year! Full of surprises, both good and bad. But I must say this is truly one of the best years of my life…I have grown more in 2017 than the previous past two years. So, I’ve learned a few things along the way and I just wanted to share some of those things here…so here goes my list:

  1. God is my provider truly and NOT my job. I will write another piece someday just on this point alone!
  2. Tough situations always work out for Good – Just pray, laugh and rest.
  3. When days are dark, your true friends shine through!
  4. Have more than 3 good friends (you can send me a private message on this one and I will expand further ?).
  5. Family will always open their arms to you…the saying is true “there is no place like home”. Enjoy every moment with your parents, siblings & some relatives. Life is too short don’t spend it with people who don’t love you like your family does.
  6. Not everyone is going to be patient to see your dreams through with you, and that’s OKAY.
  7. Life will not ALWAYS go according to plan…but that does not mean give up!
  8. I didn’t know this about myself but, I AM a risk taker and I love it!
  9. Invest at least 30 minutes a week working towards something you love. If it means sending emails for opportunities, attending workshops, researching, reading up, strategizing etc.
  10. Have FAITH! Just believe! Trust in God and you will experience “crazy” peace even when things are falling apart in your life.
  11. Have shameless persistence! Knock on doors even if you keep receiving no’s/declines…one door will eventually open.
  12. When an opportunity to travel anywhere arises grab it! Travelling will change your life for good…
  13. Savings! Savings! Save a significant portion of your income so that should you be out of a job, your savings can carry you for a year of unemployment.
  14. If I have not bought my house and car cash, it’s not really mine…If I lost a job and every asset that I have is at risk of being taken/repossessed, I am not financially free.
Life,

Hold that thought!

Written by Bongeka
Leave a Comment

We all go through periods in our lives where sometimes we find it hard to attach to a language. So, one of the most liberating things in life is being able to put into words and explain to someone in a very simple way, the complex activities of our mind. I recall how a few weeks ago I was taken aback by something someone said to me. They had completely misunderstood and misinterpreted what I AM about. So, for a few days I was trying to make sense of the statement because at the back of my mind, I kept thinking to myself ‘hold on a sec, that’s not true, that’s not who I AM’. I attempted to come up with a response strategy packaged with perfect words. My aim was that when I respond to this person again, they should be very clear about what I stand for. I was kind of losing my peace about this until in my heart I heard the proverb which says, “As a man thinks in his heart so is he” Proverbs 23:7. Man, in this context expressing both male and female.

I wish I can fully express how liberating it was for me to hear those words. It felt as if God was saying to me, “Stop trying to convince people of who you are. If you believe you are something good, then you are that, stop and rest.”

If you live your life wide-open to wisdom, you will begin to realise that the world around us is awake and full of such great insights. In that same week as I was scrolling through Instagram, I bumped into a video which Khanyi Dhlomo shared (P.S If you don’t know Khanyi Dhlomo- please google her, this piece may not fully do justice to her accolades ?). She had been presenting at a women’s conference and one of the key concepts she shared in her presentation was a question she packaged this way- “What do you put after your ‘I AM’? “I AM…two of the most powerful words because what we put after them and what we believe about what we put after them shapes our reality” – Khanyi Dhlomo. Immediately I was convinced, if I didn’t hear the first voice, this was confirmation. She echoed how the legendary Mohammed Ali believed/ “had a thought” that he was the greatest even long before we all came to know him to be the greatest boxer.

Did you know that holding certain thoughts about your life is not just ‘wishy washy’ and ‘soft fluffy’ stuff? According to scientific research, thinking affects gene expression in cells of the Brain and the rest of the Body. This in turn affects the structure, function, and the health of the Body. This study is called Epigenetics. It’s not only what we eat, but also what we think that CONTROLS how our genes are expressed- for better or for worse. As people we have a choice to eat healthy or not and we also have a powerful choice to control our thoughts and reactions in a good or bad way.

The research continues to grow and advocates that the human body responds physically to what it THINKS reality is. Thus, thoughts have a larger impact on our DNA and health than ever imagined (https://renewingallthings.com/).

I don’t know whether this was a third and final confirmation, but realising that the kind of thoughts we hold can literally affect every area of our lives. This has made me feel much more at ease that I can control my quality of life even as I age. It has also made me realise I should be more conscious and proactive at fighting thoughts that are negative.

In a nutshell my friend if love, kindness, peace,joy, progress, growth, innovation, etc, comes to your mind, please HOLD that thought!

Words, ,

It always seems like death has won…

Written by Bongeka
3 Comments

The last couple of days have been filled with great sadness. My beautiful cousin passed away last week and this weekend we laid her to rest in a dignified ceremony. As the different speakers came to share insights about her life, one after the other they echoed similar sentiments about how she lived her life to the ultimate fullest. It was as if she knew her time would be limited. Her beauty was an absolute gift. I always used to say to some people when they would make comments and offer to rate who in their opinions was the most beautiful women in the country. And I remember I would say ‘wait until you meet my cousin’. She is/was undoubtedly maybe in the top 5 of the most beautiful women in the world. And trust me I’m not exaggerating; other people can confirm this statement. When she entered a room or any gathering you couldn’t help but notice her, it was like she became the very light of that space….

I think more than anything, my cousin’s passing really shocked the whole world because her death was so sudden. There was no warning in a sense that she was not sick, in fact she was young and so full of life. Her death remains a mystery that I have chosen to make peace with.

She has been on my mind from the first time I heard she is gone and I know it sounds silly but I keep thinking this is one big dream and we will all wake up from it soon. It’s truly unbelievable, it just does not make any sense…

I know many people who have lost loved ones will probably relate to the mixed emotions one encounters of confusion, pain, anger etc…

In my solitude, I kept asking the Lord, ‘why her?’ ‘why did she have to die so suddenly?’ ‘why God?’ and for an entire week those questions kept consistent in my mind…

I started panicking and having a sense of fear of what would happen if I suddenly lost the people I love the most…in my mind I think I will not be able to survive. On Monday God spoke to me and I heard in my heart, “remember the words TD Jakes spoke at Whitney Houston’s funeral?” Immediately I went on to listen to the recording again and I love the words TD Jakes echoed and he said, “In moments like this it feels like death has won but the Bible says Love is stronger than death…”

And he goes on to make examples of great individuals who did great and extraordinary things but who eventually died. But his rendition was, death is just a transition from this life to the next. Though we may lose our loved ones outwardly, we never lose them inwardly. They will be a part of us if we keep their memories of the amazing times we had with them alive…they are the very image of love and God is love. Love can never die…so we can always live with the conviction that though it may seem like death has won…it can never win because Love is stronger and Love has conquered death. These words gave me strength to make peace with my cousin’s passing. This is the truth I choose to believe and I choose to see life and death through the lens of LOVE.

*This article is dedicated to all our loved ones who have passed on. They will forever remain in our hearts…*

Life,

Edited Feelings…

Written by Bongeka
Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago, I was asked by an executive to give a “motivational” talk to her direct reports. She had first seen me two years ago as I gave a talk on ‘why Change Management is important in organisations’ at one of their company year-end events. Our account executive in my previous job had asked if I could volunteer to do this talk as it would assist with stakeholder relations and assist us in maintaining and gaining more business. So, I agreed and thought it would just be a quick talk. Little did I know that post that event, I had touched a few people’s heart. This same executive, called me last year and asked if I could give a talk to a group of managers. I got the call again this year and by the look of things, the demand for this has increased as the managers insisted that I should also give the talk to their employees and not only keep it at the management level.

Why am I sharing all this? Reality is; if it were up to me, I would not do public speaking. I get super nervous and often feel inadequate, but a lesson I have learnt is that, it’s not about me. It’s about releasing what’s inside of me for the betterment of humanity.

For some odd reason, few days before this year’s talk, I was extremely nervous. The executive only gave me a three-day notice and because of my work deadlines I didn’t have much time to prepare. But the afternoon before, I found a space, put on my music and started attempting to put a message together. I always tell the people I address that, I am not a motivational speaker but rather I consider myself a vessel who shares insights. So, I prayed to God and asked that he would speak through me. Ideas started flowing as I began to put together the presentation. The day finally came; as I drove there I was praying and did heavy breathing exercises to calm my nerves down.

I arrived at the meeting, they called my name and as soon as I stepped onto that stage, it just felt like wisdom began to pour out of me effortlessly. After the talk, everyone was so amazed and some provided such great comments. All I could think about was ‘if only they knew how nervous I was and how inadequate I felt before stepping onto the stage’. I did what needed to be done, who knows perhaps some of the words I shared made someone’s life better and to think I wanted to cancel because I didn’t “feel” confident and felt that there are much better people than me who can do an even better job.

But we must realize that our feelings and thoughts are not always a true reflection. I’ve grown more in spaces where I felt inadequate. If you don’t get into the habit of editing your feelings; you are not going to achieve anything significant. What do I mean by edited feelings? Just because you feel nervous about doing something, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do that thing. Get to the root cause and don’t miss opportunities because of how you “feel” and “think”. Talk back to how your feel, if you feel scared and nervous it’s okay, it’s part of being human. But talk back to those feelings and do the absolute opposite of what you feel, especially if the thing you need to do is necessary for improving society.

Growing

Obey all laws no matter how foolish you think they seem…

Written by Bongeka
Leave a Comment

A few days ago, I was heading to a session and I had to GPS my way to the venue as I didn’t know where it was located. So, my GPS routed me to this very quiet road where there weren’t many cars. There were a few STOP signs on that road and as I was driving, approaching one of the STOP signs I quickly looked around and saw that there were no cars coming and I just drove pass the sign without stopping. What a big mistake as I didn’t realise that the police were in the vicinity and one of the officers stopped me. He asked me why I didn’t stop at the STOP sign and really reprimanded me for endangering the lives of others. I did realise I was very wrong and poured my heart out apologising, as he was about to write a ticket for me, he decided to rather give me a lecture about being more careful and let me go. As I drove, I really felt bad about what I had done and remembered the words a friend once shared when someone was narrating a story to us. Her words were “always obey all laws no matter how foolish you think they seem”.

The background story for the above words goes like this: a group of friends went on a safari and the signs that were all over the animal park were – “don’t go near the lions and don’t feed the lions”. But of course, in this social media selfie and “it didn’t happen if it’s not on social media” world, one of the people in this group wanted to get close to the lions. Maybe at the back of their heads, they reasoned that ‘I’m sure nothing will happen’. The sad turn of events is that when they got close to take a picture next to the lions, the lion attacked and this individual was severely injured. As we were all in shock and feeling sympathetic about the incident – the words “always obey all laws no matter how foolish you think they seem” came.

I was just reflecting that as people we are always quick to complain about how lawless our politicians and police officers are and yet a lot of us in many ways are law breakers. Some of the lawless deeds we commit are: We don’t pay for our vehicle license disks on time; we go over the speed limits and don’t pay for our tickets. We don’t pay for our TV license; we pay people who work for us less than the basic minimum wage as stipulated by the law. Some don’t pay TAX and at work, we “cook-up” information in our reports so that we are seen to be hard workers. The list is endless and if we are truly honest with ourselves we can all find an area where we have broken the law.

Not obeying the law does something to the human heart. We often judge criminals, the reason criminals are criminals is because their conscience has been seared, but it started out small. If you trace the history of most criminals you will realise that their journey to crime started with disobeying small everyday laws and that eventually graduated to disobedience of much bigger laws. The more you get used to breaking these simple everyday laws, the more you will fall into a trap of breaking “bigger” laws as your heart will not see anything wrong.

If you break the normal citizen laws, you will eventually break the law in your career, business and other personal relations – (that’s if you haven’t started already). Let’s not be hypocritical, if we going to hold our political leaders accountable for justice – lets also in our private moments be law abiding.

Growing,

Forensic Positives…

Written by Bongeka
Leave a Comment

The SA Idols music show is amongst the few television programmes I really enjoy watching. Season 13 is underway and we have witnessed so many dreams being shattered at theatre week and so many dreams coming true with the selection of the top 10. I believe if season 13 is top season 12, the standout stars will need to start shining fast.

There is something I have noticed from the contestants in every season that runs like an invisible thread.

During the audition stages when the judges go to various provinces, most of the people wait with mixed anticipation to receive Randall’s feedback. Over the years, Randall has been the one judge, who I can say “judges with an iron fist”. He is not easily impressed no matter how good someone may sound and he gives very honest, sometimes brutally honest feedback. Some people perceive him to be very difficult and harsh in his feedback.

During theatre week and live performances, I’ve noticed that, if the other judge’s praise a contestant’s performance and Randall comes with a negative comment, the contestant leaves the stage a bit down-cast. However, if they receive very positive feedback from all the judges, including Randall, they are overjoyed.

So why does Randall’s feedback matter so much to most of the contestants? I think the answer lies in the wisdom; someone I consider a “Thought Leader”, Paul Scanlon shared. You see, we constantly encouraged in various spheres of our lives to ignore the critics. But Paul shared that, “the reason the things ‘our’ critics say carry so much weight, is because they are forensic with their negatives”. What this means is that, in most instances the critics pay extremely close attention to your “flaws” and when they give feedback it’s not “wishy washy” because their aim is to make sure that feedback stings; makes you think and perhaps makes you change your behaviour.

Paul’s power line was that, “If we intend on growing people sustainably, the positive feedback we give cannot be “wishy washy”, but it also has to be forensic”. Perhaps the reason why people take Randall’s comments so seriously is because intrinsically they know that he thoroughly thinks things through before saying them. And over the years I have come to appreciate Randall’s feedback even more because in most instances when he says someone will not make it, they don’t and when he says someone will make it, they usually do. What I love most about Randall’s judging technique, is that when he judges people, he doesn’t judge them solely on whether they can sing or not but he wears a big picture hat and to him it’s always about “are you going to win the competition or not”. There are a lot of people who can sing, but singing and winning are two different things. Over and above musical talent, winning encompasses things like discipline, being strategic, being adaptable, being teachable, being consistent and as much as someone may be able to ‘sing’ they may not always possess attributes to win. I believe Randall, looks at whether a person will have longevity in the music industry; an industry that gives so much and takes away much.

The lesson I am learning in all this is that, if we intend on raising great leaders and impacting people positively – we need to give people feedback that’s not short sighted but feedback informed by foresight. Our positive feedback can’t only be applicable for the here and now, but we should be forensic and sometimes the feedback may sound tough at the time but I think in time, if your motive for providing feedback is pure – than that should be underscored as a forensic positive.

Critical thinking, , ,

Lessons that touched me at the Leaderex conference…

Written by Bongeka
2 Comments

I was so excited to receive an invite for the Leaderex conference. I had no idea that my encouragement and clarity of life’s journey would come from the various nuggets of wisdom the speakers I listened to shared. The profoundness of what was shared was not anything new, but they reminded me of simple life changing truths I had forgotten and shared new insights on ordinary concepts. Allow me to care and share with you my interpretation some of the nuggets below:

  • At school, we are taught how to read, write, comprehend etc, but we have not been taught to listen well. Some of the biggest issues in relationships whether personal or in the work space stem from a lack of active listening.
  • Question to leaders – do you listen to allow your team to solve their own problems or do you listen to give a quick solution? The speaker mentioned that sometimes when you listen intently and deeply to someone you will notice that the wisdom they need to solve their own problems is within them and it will come out. This reminded me of the proverb that says, “Though good advice lies deep within the heart, a person with understanding will draw it out.” Proverbs 20:5-7 (NLT).
  • We cannot seek to address the social issues of the marginalised population sitting in big city conference centres and boardrooms. That’s like providing a prescription/medication for a problem you have not thoroughly diagnosed. We ought to co-create solutions with those we are attempting to help.
  • We live in a world where everyone wants to be right, but not everyone wants to be understanding of other people’s views. We all should understand that the world is filled with different kinds of people and they all have a right to live because the creator deems it fit.
  • If you are the leader of your business – continuously communicate your vision with your team. Don’t assume that since you have mentioned it before and it burns in you that everyone else is on the same page.
  • The relevance of the MBA? MBAs are very useful but you need to know what to get out of it. An MBA should not be used as a token of status but rather as an effective tool in shaping your business idea.
  • Wisdom is all around us – Sometimes you don’t have to reinvent the wheel; we can learn from the different business models who have made it to build a successful empire.
  • Choose your business partners very carefully – make sure there is vison alignment with the partners otherwise your vision will be “contaminated”.
  • When you start something, don’t expect perfection in the beginning. Start with enough and other things will become clearer and better as you go along.
  • Focus – know what you are pursuing, there will be other people who will want to add to what your dream should be, but be unrelenting in your pursuits.
  • Prepare to learn about yourself, the good and the bad stuff and be okay that it’s part of your daily life walk.
  • You should keep learning, its hard but not learning and growing is dangerous.
  • To keep learning, you must be comfortable with failure. How you handle failure determines how successful you become.
  • Have shameless persistence – keep knocking on doors, don’t give up.
  • Story telling is an underestimated, but effective communication mechanism. In fact, story telling should be default for communication as the things people remember the most are things told in stories.

Hope you find these nuggets useful…let me know your thoughts?

Life,

Real difference makers will not always get a standing ovation and it’s okay…

Written by Bongeka
Leave a Comment

According to the free online dictionary the term making a difference means “To do something that really makes a difference in your community. People don’t realize that their vote can make a difference”. (www.thefreedictionary.com)
I think we can all agree that of late, there has been a tremendous focus and awareness on the idea of making a difference.

There are normal people and then there are above average people. I have come to notice that the above average people generally have a sense that there’s more to their lives than just their normal day-to-day routines. And when they are thinking of making a difference – they think; really redefining the status quo. I have had a lot of conversations with people and I can safely say 70% of people I converse with really do want to make a difference and I think that’s a very good thing. The problem I have picked up though is that a lot of influential, popular people; mostly celebrities always broadcast their difference making. I sometimes question the genuineness of the difference we trying to make if we always are wanting the world to see it and applaud it. My view is that there are a lot of genuine acts of excellence in business and in our careers, that will go unnoticed and that’s okay.

Making a difference isn’t an event, it isn’t a means to an end, but it is the very essence of a life lived fully. Health and gym fanatics always say that diets are not sustainable because in a way they disrupt our default mode as humans. They advise that what is sustainable is making healthy choices that become an essential part of one’s lifestyle. When you go to sleep, no one says ‘wow, well done’; when you eat no one comes and gives you an award for finishing your meal. Yet we can’t fully survive without these normal day-to-day activities.
Likewise, our difference making should not be an out of the ordinary phenomena but every day should be an opportunity to do good…

Critical thinking,

Maybe what our world needs is “Sticky” people…

Written by Bongeka
Leave a Comment

Someone once said, “One day our tombstone will read our date of birth, our date of death and a dash separating the two. What matters most isn’t necessarily the date of birth and the date of death. But it’s the dash. The dash, as unimportant as it seems on the tombstone – is a true reflection of a person’s life”, and he asked “what will your dash say?”

This statement challenged me two years ago when I looked at my life holistically and realised that there were two areas of my life, where I was not fully realizing my potential. So, I decided to change these areas. One area I can say was changed. The other area, well at first it seemed like things were going according to plan, until things took a very unexpected turn. That’s when you realise how people have such an interesting way of handling life’s unexpected twist and turns. Based on some of the conversations I have had with people, I deduce that to some people viewing my life, they see confusion, they see failure, they see difficulty and maybe many other unsaid “sad” things. Yet to others, they see great faith, they see destiny being chased and they are excited to see how this story unfolds. Yet in both these interactions there is always some undertone suggestion that perhaps I was wrong. “I’ve heard people say “maybe you just don’t want to give up on this dream of yours because you have invested so much effort into it, but not necessarily that it is what you should be doing. Perhaps give up on this and consider investing in this other alternative to get where you want to be.”

I’ve tried to defend my cause to a point where I decided to keep quiet. I can never explain why I want “this thing” so much. But of late I know that wisdom called out to me and said Stick-ability. I was reading an interesting book on some simple steps on financial management and one of the things the author touched one was this concept. In financial terms, he referred to Stick-ability as “a necessary quality on the long road to financial success.”

I looked up the concept further and loved the Oxford definition. They said “Stick-ability – a person’s ability to persevere with something; staying power. The secret of success – Stick-ability” (www.oxforddictionaries.com).

Contributor for Forbes online magazine, Kevin Harrington, said, “It’s no secret that successful entrepreneurs have something special that sets them apart. Every business venture runs into obstacles, challenges and setbacks. Sometimes they come from the outside world, and sometimes they come from inside the organisation or even ourselves. We all make mistakes from time and time! But the secret ingredient that makes some people succeed when others fail is the ability to keep going even after things go wrong and that quality is referred to as Stick-ability (www.forbes.com).

I don’t know if you still need any further convincing my friend, but maybe you will explore this notion further with me. In my humble opinion, I am tired of this overwhelming need to always have an explanation when things don’t go according to plan. What if the wisdom that life keeps teaching every generation is that the magic is in the madness. What if life is saying over and over, things will look bad before they look great.

I believe everyone one should possess the quality of Stick-ability. We should have the discipline to wait and see things through. If you have committed to a process, just see it through even if things don’t seem to be working out at first. I think ask yourself this question. “Did I make the right decision even though I’m not seeing the intended results?” If you at peace with the answer, then see this thing through and join me in deciding to be a “sticky” person.

Wisdom, ,

This is one of the reasons why I love being African…

Written by Bongeka
2 Comments

A few weeks ago my two friends’ and I embarked on a short trip to the beautiful Kingdom of Swaziland. Swaziland is one of the smallest countries in Africa and it is a landlocked country. We filled up the tank and drove for about 8 hours, making two stops along the way. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way, we had great conversations, great music going, and yes we did ruffle each other’s feathers here and there but overall our road trip was amazing! We finally arrived in Swaziland late in the evening and we were so tired and hungry. Since we only had a breakfast booking at the lodge and we were on a tight budget, we really couldn’t afford to waste money on restaurant food. But fortunately, one of my friends mum had been so kind and cooked us Breyani to enjoy for supper when we arrived in Swaziland Friday night.

But we encountered a slight problem. We arrived a bit later than planned in Swaziland and the Breyani was cold. When we asked the lodge staff to heat it up for us, they indicated that was against hotel policy. We were obviously irritated by this and one of my friend’s who can be dramatic at times (you know who you are, lol) kept insisting that they will not eat cold food. So, with our Tupperware container filled with Breyani in hand, we decided to go to the nearest shopping centre with the hope of finding a Woolworths food. The strategy was we were going to buy something at Woolworths that we could heat up in the customer microwave. We were going heat that up, and then quickly sneak our Breyani inside the microwave whilst we surveyed the place, making sure none of the staff caught us. Needless to say, we got to that shopping centre, we didn’t know where Woolworths was and we were too tired to go around looking for it. The closest place we could see was Shoprite. We had a bit of a discussion on who would be brave enough to ask the people at Shoprite to heat it up for us, I don’t recall an agreement per se, but all I remember was here I was with the Tupperware container in hand, charged with the responsibility.

So here we were at Shoprite, two of us because the other friend decided this was too embarrassing and she will disappear into the supermarket to get a few cosmetics. So we went by the hot foods section and of course we couldn’t just ask we needed a strategy here as well. Our strategy; first we had to pretend like we were interested in buying some of the hot foods, we looked and the cheapest thing we could buy was ‘vetkoeks’ (doughnut like cakes). We ordered, the lovely lady gave them to us and then she asked, “Anything else?” of course that was our opportunity. I tried to have a poker face as I explained our predicament and asked if she would be so kind as to heat up our food in the microwave. She looked at me and looked around, there was a moment of hesitation in her eyes I could tell, and then she finally gave in – she agreed. She did a rushed job but I suppose she wanted to help but was afraid of what her colleagues might say, so the Breyani was not heated to our liking. We had to have another game plan as I couldn’t ask her to heat up again but thanked her for her kindness.

To cut the long story short, we saw a Mugg & Bean just opposite Shoprite, ordered coffee and hot chocolate and when our waitress asked, “Anything else?” My friend grabbed the opportunity to ask them to heat up the Breyani for us.

We finally enjoyed our Breyani back in our hotel room and laughed about this incident and never in our wildest dreams did we think we will heat up a home cooked meal in a fancy coffee shop in another country at that. But as we laughed about this, I love the lesson my friend shared and she said, “This just proves that there’s still goodness in humanity. Despite the fact that we have crossed the border, we don’t even speak the language well, they don’t know us but they willingly went out of their job duties to satisfy us their customers.”

When I got home and was thinking about the highlights of the trip, from the road trip, to the wonderful hike/workshop we facilitated on Saturday unlocking greatness in Africa’s future leaders. The hospitality at the Saturday afternoon event we attended, and of course the gorgeous boutique hotel we stayed at on Saturday. I just started reflecting generally on the warmth of the Swazi people and the warmth of the people from some of the African countries I have visited. I recalled Mahatma Ghandi words, “The greatness of humanity isn’t in being human, but in being humane”. And as I prepare to enter the global stage, I will parade with great humility and realise that this is one of the reasons why I love being African.

Love,