Affordable ways of staying healthy (2)

It is important to understand that there is more to staying healthy than just losing weight. Staying healthy is a deliberate effort that takes both effort and will power. I must be quick to point out that the opposite is equally true. Unless one changes their way of life is almost impossible to achieve this goal. It takes one truly disciplined individual.

I will start by talking about our eating and sleeping habits. It is recommended that an average adults must sleep at least eight hours every night. The worst case scenarios can be at least six full hours without disturbance. Sleep is an important part of maintaining good body rest and must never be under estimated. Eating well is one integral way of maintaining good health. Its been said that "we are what we eat" If you eat junk foods, you are junk. If you eat health foods, then that is beneficiary for your body. When it comes to staying health, eating good can never be over emphasized!

Experts recommend vegetables and fruits in most diets. Too much meat is equally bad. I know a lot of us Ndebele people from Zimbabwe we love meat. "Siyayithanda inyama asikhulumeni iqiniso manene lamanenekazi" Umbuso waNdebele yinyama lotshwala! Alcohol is not good either. Readers must note that the writer is not a health expert but just a healthy fanatic.

It is very important that at least once a year one must book an appointment with a physician for a annual check up. I am aware pretty much how money and insurance issues can be a hindrance to this but as much as we can, it is good thing to develop such a habit. It is said that most disease can be cured if dictated early. Hatshi ukufa lakho!

One thing that we all need regularly is exercise. Starting some easy less stressful or enjoyable ways of exercise is key. I would suggest that you pick something that you enjoy for starters. As for me I like riding a bike. If you have good side way to walk or run in your neighbourhood please take advantage of them. I like to leave my car at home and walk to the park if the weather is good. I sometimes walk to the library or post office. Some people like to swim, its a good way to exercise too.

Doing some jobs around the home can be one beneficiary way, like cutting grass and so on. One just has to keep active. Going to the gym can be a little bit intimidating for beginners. If you are able to join a local gym, please do so. I would also advice that you seek help from personal trainers. They can help motivate and set your pace until your are tuned in. Remember where there is will, there is a way. If you can get a neighbor of friend to partner with you in your goal, that is good too. Whatever you do always listen to your body. Do not force it. Good luck! A journey to a thousand miles begins with one foot. Yes you can.

Cheaper ways of leading a healthy lifestyle (1)

For many of us African people who finds ourselves immensed deeply into the western cultures and trends either because of temporary or permanent migration, one of our greatest challenges is leading a healthy lifestyle. There is a lot of positive things about the western civilisations that I would not want to take for granted. It just that thing a set a little bit different from what we are used to. Anything done to an extreme tends to have some negatives effects to it. This is true of the western civilisation. Its all about material, material and acquiring more material! Walking down the great streets of New york, Dallas Texas, Chicago Illinois, Indianapolis Indiana and many others you will be amazed at how fast the world is moving. Its a traffic jungle.

The same traffic you see in the streets and magnificent highways of Americas heartlands, is the same traffic you will see in many homes. In American for example, most people do not even use their stoves for cooking. All they do is go to the restaurants or other eating house also known as fast foods places. There you will find a lot of cars in drive through windows. These are open twenty four hours a day and generate billions of dollars annually. It is a well known fact that they do not offer the best food diets. Over the years some have tried to improve their ingredients to make them a little bit healthier without much success. Needless to say that many fast food outlets have been sued by their clients for allededly "fattening" them.

Given this scenario, no sooner do immigrants find themselves lost in this jungle. In short we are "forced" to live like an average westerner. Always chasing time. Twenty four hours of the day do not seem to be enough any more. We leave home early in the morning and come back late at night. For most its juggling schooling and work. For some its just trying to handle double shifts or two jobs. Whatever the case, nobody can distinguish the different between them and us. We are all in the same bout. Cases are different though, there are some who are just caught in the trends, and there are some who have little or no choice. When I first came here ten yrs ago, it was said that an average American is one week away from being homeless, and now its even worse. Many people lost their homes to the banks in the past five years than any other time.

Days become weeks and weeks become years and soon we gain a lot of weight. There are weigh loss places and gyms of all names brands in every couple of mile distance. This is one money spinning type of business. Most people just join and pay subscription for the whole year or so. The only problem is that they will only go once or twice and that is it. A lot of people are ambitious but not too many are motivated enough to maximise these amazing facilities. No pain no gain. The challenge of going through an organised facility gyms can be both overwhelming and intimidating for starters. Most people expect same day results just like they are used to cooking food at the speed of a lightning through gadgets like microwaves and so on. The idea of working hard and sweating is foreign to them, even though they want to look and feel good, but the process is too hard for them. Where then do we stand as African immigrants health wise? I will continue. (That was just an introduction)

Memories of growing up in a war situation

Pictured above is a Rhodesian dog species, similar to one my family was forced to leave behind in Sidobe homestead in Victoria Falls around 1978, when we suddenly had to flee the village one morning.

We were awakened by the sound of helicopters and gunfire that unforgettable morning, and me and my mother grandmother, aunt and cousins took to the road leaving everything behind. There was no time take to pack or anything like that, we just had to get out and as we were. To this day I can still feel the sound of gunfire in my stomach when I think about that morning.

My grandfather Jeremiah Ndlovu who was a headman (Sobhuku) refused to leave saying he would rather die in his home. One of my uncles, Sign had just crossed Zambezi to join the liberation forces in Zambia. There were reports of buses burned and people missing. Times were tough and war had taken toll on many young people. I still remember one young boy who was a little bit older than myself. He had just started attending grade one at a local school. Young Bernard was shot and killed by the Ian Smith regime soldiers on his way to school.

I will never forget that dreadful morning as long as I live .We walked miles, and miles just to catch the nearest bus. No buses could access our area at the time. That is why we walked to try and catch them in the neighboring villages. Our best friend, Spot was with us, he had nice black spot on him that set him apart from the other dogs.
he walked with us faithfully, and was only turned away because buses did not accept dogs. Our hearts were broken because he was part of the family. To this day I have not forgotten him, its been over thirty two years at least.

It so happens that this day is the day that many South African students bravely stood up to guns in protest against Afrikaans language in 1976. We will never forget their bravery and little Bernard's courage. Me and my mom still talk about "Spot" whenever we recall the events of that fateful day in 1978.

Does our culture needs a second look at Lobola?

What they said on face book.

Ingxoxo/ Discussion. Do you think the so much cherished African culture and custom of Lobola is a disadvantage to girls. Or should I say, is it still applicable in today world or it needs revamping to fit the times? . I think it needs a little panel biting
.

Nqobizitha Vella Sibanda it has been revamped, i think it should never die. My wish would be that it doesnt change from the way it was done.

Ncube Lobola is a yardstick! If a man cannot afford to pay lobola how is he going to take care of you! If he has no money, that means personal finance is lacking and he needs more time to get his finances straight. If he is grumbling about your '...gold-digging' parents, that means he doesn't appreciate them enough for who you are, and by deduction he doesn't appreciate you that much as well. Girls need to stand with their parents on this customary stuff and stop compromising themselves too!

Mandla Mkwananzi The only problem I see with (due respect) is that is make females property thereby disdavantaging them from being equal partners it the marriage institution. That is why some parents do not favour investing their money in girls ngoba bayakw...enda, and they feel like they lost. Long ago it was token but now is real paying, and when one is paid for, the one who paid can do anything ngoba inkomo ziyabe sezadliwa koyise zala.

Linda Ncube Long ago Mandla it was a token lanamuhla its still a token. Ayephuma amajazi lamajali lenkomo kanti even today ziyabizwa zonke lezi izinto. I think now it is the attitude pple have towards this lobolo thing but yona iryt.

Glenn Bengwane Ncube Manini mbijana Gagisa lizathi selikhuluma mina I have 3 girls, lizama ukwenzani.


Linda Ncube Asikhumbule ukuthi sikhuluma ngamalobolo proper hatshi ifund-raising Mkwananzi. lLobolo was paid for our parents kungelamuntu ozwa ubuhlungu futhi obabamkhulu babelungiselela nxa umfana esiyacela umlilo bekwazi futhi ukuthi kuzabizwa inkomo ezingu8 or so futhi bayekhala kodwa isiphetho zaziqhutshwa engxenye sekwephulwe eyodwa. Man should work hard before bayethatha abafazi babo.

BNeauty Ndiovu yah u rite Li.nda . hawu Gagisa unamadodana amanengi yini,manje ubona sengathi inkomo zophela esibayeni.

Gwab Mpofu Lobola is good, but the sense of property ownership is not good. It depends on how you take things, I like Lobola but everything has to be subjective. I take it as a way of appreciation and ukuqala ubuhlobo, Let us not take some of these th...ings out of proportion at the end we lose the valuable African values of some of these things. I know we are now a mixed nation, but the problem is when we start to undermine some good qualities we (africans) had, look at other cultures, they still have some great things about their cultures, However, there are exceptions to everything.

Wizzy Mangoma Lobola as we all know was meant to represent the token of giving a woman to her loved one by following our Culture. Now it has become a business for parents and uncles. They are forgetting the big picture -the cultural unification of two fa...milies and the two people who love each other. People are NOT for sale. The traditional aspect of it should be preserved with respect without punishing MEN. When unreasonable amounts are requested during lobola, not only men suffer but the women too. because they are the ones who are going to spend their lives with the man who has just been drained financially. Well some couples just help each raise the money and some girls do have understanding parents who may not charge a huge amount. Its a matter of meeting half way. Each couple and each family differ. So basically I think each family should make a formula to fit them. At the same if we maintain our culture, we will never loose our identity.See More
about an hour ago ·


Gwab Mpofu You are all right, lobola is now more of a fund raising, Maybe it is good to do so,maybe not. it all depends how it is brought to those making the payment and how those asking for payment think of it. If the payment requester put a value t...o their daughter as selling the daughter, that is not what it should be. But as we all know everything have value, some times value is not measurable with a Dollar. that is why there are things they call priceless. You can not put a price to something. good lobola is in good consideration of who you are asking to make the payment. Like everyone is saying, if a man is poor and his family does not have any cows or Reserves, asking for a lot of cows from that man will cripple him and his family. At the same time, even if his family is wealthy, make the lobola be reasonable. you will hear no complaints from many men and women. but if you ask for more than most men can afford then that is when some men would want to use the western culture as a way to escape lobola. Let's bear in mind that some people like Western culture with everything it comes with. sometimes that is good sometimes it is not. There can not be a formula to some of these things, because some would argue that, the money they could have used to purchase cows were used to educate their daughter and the guy just comes in and takes her out of the family. that may not be a valid argument when you look at it from a different angle. At the end it comes to, what do you believe and what are you comfortable with, As for me, I like lobola, that is part of African culture I am proud of. whether someone is using it to raise money or not, I still like it. Thanks for raising this discussion, I am done commenting.

Bottom line

Thanks for all your contributions, this matter is obviously a sensetive one, both in terms of culture and custom. One thing I realise is that we are living between two culture, western and African, for example, umtshado, which we call white... wedding is not African. While we are now a culture that has gonw west, we are also trying to cling to our "own culture after all". Many of you mentioned that it was a token and that is probably what it should be, however we are all aware that it is not the case anymore in this day and age. If a young man growing up in a porverty in the presnt day Zimbabwe, then he should not marry, because the standard is so high. I will not even talk about love because, withthe price love becomes irrelavant. This is not to say that everybody your daughter will love is poor, No!

Our African things are not legistated, that means there is no limit. Who does not want amantshontsho? Young people need to start thier lives, buy a house, car, raise their kids etc, but with the sowering prices of soul mates, that will beco...me a pipe dream. I am one for culture ubuhlobo by all means, but eish $$$ speaks. Times has changed somethings for better some for worse. Bottom line is money is now used to abuse some relations in some quarters, how many young people do you know who never married the ones they loved because of porverty even though they went in to prosper at some time in life. My arguement real does not apply to every situtation but to at least few people, who's lives and fate are now on the price tag. The African girl is the poorest person in in the whole world, not tilte deeds, ngoba she is brought here as property and she will remain that way. Have you ever had man saying uzaphuma uphele lapha, in case of uggly divorce or anything , she leaves and goes back home without a dime to her name.

As long as girls do not have are not empowered Africa will remain poor. Think of it from another perspetive, who gains by lobola? Not the girl, she will come home and languish in poverty again in case of marriage failure. Lord forbids tha it happens , but lo and behlod it hapens everyday.More over these are time of Aids and so on. We all know that most man are bringing the sickness in homes because they think they bought the other half and can do as they please, and they know for certain that abangakini imali sebayidla and your sisiter or daughter has nowhere to go.

Ukugwala isithebe ngolimi lwesiNdebele

Namuhlanje ngithe ngike ngigwale ngolimi lwami lokuzalwa. Kubalabo abejayele ukufunda ingxoxo engiziloba kulesithebe ngesingisi izikhathi ezinengi bazalahlekelwa ngokuncinyane kulelikhasi langolwesiThathu evikini lokuqala kuMfumfu. Phela lekithi komtamnami wendele ngaphi, konyama kayipheli kuphela amazinyo endoda, amakhaza abaphethe. Kuze kubengcono kulabo abasemaphandleni ngoba belakho ukutheza inkuni zephane kumbe umbondo. Kuthi ke nxa kumuzi omkhulu kwakhiwe, ziyabe zavela zathezwa ngenyanga ezimbala ezedlulileyo kusatshisa. Umsebenzi wmajaha alamkhehka khathesi kuyabe kuyikubanda nje ziphoselwe eziko, umlilo uvuthe kuthi nga.

Kubanzima njalo kulezo zingane eziya esikolweni ngoba iskhathi esinengi abalakho ukwembatha okukhudumalayo. Inengi lize liswele yona nje ijesi lamathenesi. Aluba kunjengakithi le elower Gwelo koBhembe lomhlabathi wakhona uhle utshazwe kube sengathi ngunqwaqwane uqobo. Izalukazi zona zivame ukwembatha ingubo ziziphosele emsamo umuntu ahle abe yiqnumbi nje kungabi ndaba zalutho. Aluba ke zike zathola itiye ke hawu uqedile, umsindo du.Umqando ke wona kawukhetha uza kwabayanga labangayisbo bayanga. Kodwa uzwakala kakhulu kulabo abangabayanga lengane ezincane.


Lanxa kuqanda kwelakithi kunganeno kulalokhu esikubona lapha emazweni thina, esadliwa zindunduma sawela ngaphetsheya kolwandle, kozitshebo ziyatshebana. Alube sesifikle iskhathi somqando ungeke ume phandle wokwemizuzu elitshumi nje kuphela, bangakuthola ungasadikizi. Into esuka imangalise yikuthi futhi ukutshisa kwalapha kuyingozi sibili hatshi okokudlala. Umkhathi walapha eMelika usuka wedlulise amalawulo, ungaze wakwazi ukukhawula. Izikhathi zesentshonalanga ziyaphandana lezeningizimu. Kuthi nxa ngapha kuqanda ngale kuyatshisa, ngokunjalo. Futhi lapha kubakubi ngeziphepho. Iminyaka yonke bantu abanengi balahlekelwa yizindlu nxa bengalahlekelwanga yimpilo ngenxa yeziphepho lomoya olamandla amakhulu.

Into kuphela engangakaze ngiyibone lapha yinkanyezi ngoba kualamalaiyithi amanengi enza inkanyezi zingaze zabonakala ebusuku. Phela ngapha akulalwa, kusetshenzwa njalo njalo abukho ubusuku. Imitshina kayimi bantu bayjutisana kodwa yona igiga njalo nje. Abelungu ngabahuquluzi benotho. Abafuni ukuthi kwedlule iskhatshana kungela banga elihamnjiweyo emsebenzini. Uzwa kuphela kuthi swiri swiri swiri, inzimbi zidlana.