Book Review | Beneath the Lion’s Gaze

Beneath the Lion’s Gaze is a captivating yet melancholic historical novel set in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Beginning on the eve of the 1974 Ethiopian revolution, the novel unpacks the perspectives, resistance and tragedies that shaped the Ethiopian revolution and military dictatorship of the Derg regime. Through Hailu’s family, their neighbours and the last Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie ; we are given intimate and emotionally charged alternative points of views on the political and socio-economic turmoil of this period.

How to celebrate you

Documenting little details of your everyday life becomes a celebration of who you are.

Carolyn V. Hamilton

In my previous post celebrating you, I shared the etymology of celebrate. I still believe that the best definition of celebrae is ” practice often”. But what do we need to practice often? In this blog post, I share tips on how to cherish every moment and accomplishment! Let’s celebrate ourselves!

Celebrating you

“Celebrate your life, you are your own light.”

Lailah Gifty Akita

The word celebrate comes from the word Latin celebrae, which means “assemble to honor”. Celebrae also means to “publish; sign praises of and practice often”.“Assemble to honor” and “Practice often” stick out to me. In our extremely competitive and busy world, we often rush to our near goal, forgetting to pause and honour ourselves. In this blog post, I share why assembling to honor yourself is crucial to ones joy and defiance of society’s narrow definition of success and celebration. You’ll also catch a glimpse of my latest travel in and around Harare.

Rerouted: My Odyssey from Tokyo to Harare

In my previous post, Stranded, I detailed my experience of being stuck in Tokyo and feeling uneasy about my flight route. I was fortunate enough to get some extra money from family to supplement my extra days and crash with my friends. I mustered the courage to find an alternative route to Zimbabwe and explore two East African airports. In Rerouted, you read how I navigate my 4 day journey!

Writing Break: My Odyssey from Tokyo to Harare

Hello friends and readers!

Today is Thursday, my blog post day. I was keen to share the last segment of my Odyssey Series titled “ Rerouted”. Unfortunately, I’ve been feeling extremely sluggish this week. It’s difficult to find the energy to write or remember anything from that eventful last week.

In keeping a promise to be gentle to myself, I’m taking a couple of days off blogging. But don’t despair, I should be back next Thursday with Rerouted!

Much love,

Reforming Salala

Stranded: My Odyssey from Tokyo to Harare

In my previous post, Cancelled; I shared the stressful situation of learning my flight to Harare via Doha & Addis Ababa was no more . With no active mobile number, just under a 100 USD in my pocket and bumming off Airport WiFi ; I was stranded in Tokyo.

Cancelled : My Odyssey from Tokyo to Harare

Never in my life did I think that I would a) Hate airports b) never want to catch flights. But 2020 chile, has shifted my aspirations to work and live abroad. After a month long search for a Tokyo- Harare flight, managing the fear of contracting the virus while in transit and a four day journey home; I can confidently say I’m grounded in Zimbabwe for at least a year. In a three part blog post, I narrate my struggle to get home.

Book Review | Under the Udala Trees

A poignant tale of a queer Igbo Nigerian wom?n’s tumultuous path to self acceptance. The novel haunted me in a beautifully heartbreaking way as Ijeoma’s story reveals conflict within Nigeria and in the protagonist’s life . But the novel doesn’t only focus on tragedy, it is also a story of triumph. Okparanta magically weaves a story of conflict, family, love and spirituality to illustrate human beings powerful ability and innate desire to live in their truth.

African Wom?nhood Reading List

In April 2019, I began a reading journey to discover the various stories shaping African wom?nhood. For the next 36 months, I will read and review the works of 55 African wom?n. Each writer represents one African country. The African Wom?nhood series seeks out African wo?mn who purposely write their political, emotional, spiritual, and sexual experiences as a means of constructing a more authentic history of their communities and countries. This post serves as a living archive of this soul-enriching literary passage through the African continent.

Fighting my inner Pirate

Reading often takes me to a happy place. Books allow me to discover and travel to new places and realities. But should this journey be one illegal click away? In this piece, I call in my hypocrisy about amplifying African writers while reading pirated copies of their work. You’ll read about the new principles shaping my reading experience and desire to increase the African reader’s accessibility to African writers works.