A scribes' fortune

Young, energetic, a dreamer, ambitious are some of the few descriptions can define this young journalist. Growing up he often took clippings of his favorite writers and columnists, placed then in his file together with the old stamps and old money he used to collect. Taking mid-school fence jumps to go and buy a copy of the days Newspapers. Clutching onto the "Fourth Estate by Jeffrey Archer." A book he read over and over. He is looking forward to the professional career and once it started it didn't look like what it is, well atleast not on the surface.

There is whole murky world in the media . What you see in the papers, watch on TV and listen too is the sweat of some highly underpaid journalist. Journalism became his interest after during his O'level when he couldn't mix chemical components.
( C + CH = CH2) hmmmmmm

He then focused on becoming a journalist. 8 years down the road he is now in the industry but if you very well know the phrase "things are not as they look" then you will know what happens. Journalists have come under pressure for not digging deep and for being lazy. But if anyone knew what goes on in the industry then they would want to return and gulp there own words.

Journalism is about working hard and loving the job even when you are not paid. Having your name written against a story is something to be proud of. But then the blood sucking work is very hectic. Journalists are not supposed to receive handouts from anyone but in our industry they do receive the handouts (brown envelope). This is an envelope that compromises you. But why would they take the envelope. Because they have had their hands burnt, they are earning peanuts. Some have gone to the extremes of begging for money from whoever it is that wants publicity. Others remain patient and actually love the job they are doing. Others are used and dumped after they haven't been paid for months.

It takes a patient person to grow to become a good journalist. A celebrated one. Its not about the CNN award or any of those. Its being respectable and knowing you are good at what you do. The young man who sleeps for 5hours, spends his time researching is treated like some piece an unknown citizen.
Often there is so much journalists do and they go away without being appreciated for what they do. The information they dig up from there sources is hard to get but do people want to know that.
The boy has been in the industry for 3years now and he has seen what goes on and what happens. The best grow to become very respectable journalists, others buy their way to the top and others cannot take the heat so they jump out and find alternative sources of income.

A journalist thrives on optimism because he knows no matter what he will get a story. That optimism explains the patience that runs in the blood that he waits for the time when things will work out for him.
Being livid doesn't help and he tries much not to be. We live in world where consumerism is on the rise, well unfortunately this life the young journalist will not afford. He will probably go buy a movie from some cheap place and spend his weekend buried in some books. His social life is inactive he attends and event only if he is invited to one.

Staring at the desktop as he types story after story of the rich men in Kampala, CEO's and the private sector institutions, he wonders how long he can stand this. He however looks at the people who are influential to his life, and knows the whirlwind will come, the tornado will scratch the ground and leave it bare but he might just manage to keep standing. So every night before he goes to bed, he knows that there will be a morning where he will repeat the same routine until this one day he get an opening.

He knows that his misfortune is somewhere, but can he be that patient for it?

Not again

World shut out, dreams thrown out and yet again it has been blown. The sleepless nights, as he slowly turned the pages and expected to start a new chapter in life. This chapter has to be deleted. Again. Wiped away. The morning was jolly as he knew the next day would come with its fortunes. He hadn't felt alone in a long time and he wanted to keep that way. He has been happy for things have been working out. Expect for that job that doesn't seem to pay on time.

The morning is plain. He has been awake. The birds have suddenly not woken him. He has been awake. He is tired from his sleepless night. His neck hurts each time he tries to turn it around. The whole day he looks jaded and out of sorts. Everyday he is awake, he thinks about the princess. Up in the castle. He supposed to go get her from up their and bring her down. So he can be the prince. This however wouldn't describe his sleepless nights.

He thought he had ceased his opportunity, until a tiny little mistake changed everything. All that time he spent working out how it would end just faded away. He watched the papers burn and go up flames. What a waste. They say things happen for a reason. This he wants to believe. Hope has been his drive but its gone now. All the hard work is stuck in the ventilator and squeezing itself outside.
And as the sun sets on that Sunday evening, his dream has gone with it.

Limit on Human Mating

It was a bright Sunday as I did my laundry. Samsung phone Radio tuned to the BBC. The details of the show. Very interesting topic on the Communitariansim. We have people we call heroes. They alter the state of being by doing the most noble of things. In this particular segment of the show "the forum," one of the panelists is asked in 60 seconds to suggest something that they would want to do to make the world better.

"My 60 second idea is to limit human sex to two months per year. The human species is one of the few species that mates all year round. And here are some of the benefits of reducing the mating seasons to the two warmest months of the year.

1. It will promote better health. Human babies will be exclusively born in the warm season and winter related problems among newborns will not occur.

2. This will help to reduce anti-social behavior. Spend Saturday night in the city centre, and you will see alot of attention seeking behavior that is to do with attracting individuals of the opposite or the same sex. limiting this anti-social behavior to two months will be a major relief to society. Do you know how our society will be with 10 months to focus on how to improve our society without any interference from our LIBIDO. 

3. The two months would then be turned into a massive carnival and all kinds of joy for those who want to participate in it." German musicologist Dr Daniel Mullensiefen

Seriously this would be a big ask. No sex for 10months  (unless its virginity).  This is very unrealistic. I Imagine Padlocks would have to be made to keep people away from sex.
How would one suppress sexual urges? That would be making us like animals yet we are humans.

Annual mating season for Humans. I would Imagine billboards carrying adverts of the countdown to the Mating Season. Then the carnival being arranged like a concert that would usher in the two months of mating. Very funny.By the way it would also boost on sex tourism. People would save money and travel to the place they want to celebrate their Sex carnival.

We would probably see Sex Strikes led by Sex activists who would demand for the return of the normal mating to return. We would also get the Sex Crackdown Unit in the police and the intelligence.
But this wouldn't work. Just Imagine it for one moment. Its just too funny to be a realistic idea.

It reminds of Janthan Swifts 1729 satirical short story A Modest Proposal. In the short story Swift appears to suggest in his essay that the impoverished irish might ease their economic troubles by selling children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies. 

When theives are among us.

Am dreamer and in the near future I look forward to having my own children running around the house.
Walking or driving the kids to school. Playing in the compound , shooting toy guns and going for birthday
parties at the neighbors.
Changing diapers, telling them off when they are in the wrong and talking to them about the things the Heaven
would clearly describe.

I am not yet a parent and maybe not so soon but am a grown up. Some nieces and nephews look upto and take me as someone responsible. They are always asking me about my job and my reply is always "work hard and you will get better a job than mine."
Am not saying I didnt work hard but just to show them that hard work pays. There is this specific niece (she actually looks like me) who always asks to many questions.
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
"I need a dress for my birthday, will you buy me one?"
"Can we bet? You love your girlfriend."
"Why are you a journalist? Doesn't a lawyer or doctor make more money? My dad is doctor and he already has two cars. He is still young."

There are many more questions that my niece will always ask me and each time I have an answer. As a child I always asked questions.
Education is one thing and today I went to pick my niece from school. Am her guardian because her parents leave atleast over 500miles from Kampala. They stay in a rural area that doesn't have quality education. I know Universal education upcountry is really pathetic. My niece is in boarding school. Yes. Primary one. And its Sir Apollo Kagwa Old Kampala.

When I went to pick her up she had some fungi infection and her body and wounds. She had lost so much weight. She looked tired and really drained. I remember the opening term of the season when I took her to school and she was healthy. Spotless with no fungi infection. Smiling and she was pretty excited about school.
Children are usually excited about going for their holidays but clearly on her face I could tell she wanted to leave this hell hole.

On the day I took her to school, I paid alot of money at the School canteen that it could take her two terms to finish this amount of money. I left the Matron of her dormitory with clear instructions that if anything happens she should let me know. Unfortunately she never calls yet some airtime is one thing I provide. Am the one who makes the calls and she never told me that my niece was having this fungi infection.
My niece told me about the dirty shower rooms, rest rooms and the terrible food. The school fees unfortunately doesn't match the services these children receive.

My rant against Sir Apollo Kagwa Old Kampala is that they need to style up and stop reaping us off. The child's mother who is my sister told me that she is rethinking and will have to change the school.
"I want to go to Namagunga boarding school. This place they do not care about us," my niece told me.


Talking points:
Working on a new Job application

Playlist:
Some MJ song "They dont really care about us"