Another Sun, by Timothy Williams: Review by Beverley N N

This book requires the utmost attention. If you miss a beat, you may miss the subtle signs between characters, the cues, the inflections. In ‘Another Sun,’ Timothy Williams invites us into a crime story where the obvious is not so obvious and the clues lie in the inflections.

Set in Guadeloupe, a French colony in the Caribbean, this is a crime story whose understanding lies beneath layers of twisted unforgiveness, complicated colonial relationships and the need for survival. 

It starts like a thriller, where a dead body is discovered. It is not his body though, but it is this particular victim’s sordid past and the heinous acts he committed while still alive that evoke strong sentiments throughout the novel. Raymond Calais is the single most unforgivable person on the planet, it seems, and his hatred is woven into his privileges.

The protagonist, Madame le juge Anne Marie, has to navigate the delicate position of her authority while trying her best to investigate this crime with the community. They are full of suspicion and it takes emotional and startling events to finally solve the murder.

It is the least person anyone would suspect, and yet again, with a man so hated, almost everyone is a suspect.

What a treat for the reader to interact with Raymond Calais before his death, to make their own judgement about his character.

We are drawn to parallels in our own lives, witnessing the obsolete nature of the law, face to face with citizens' arrest, vigilante justice and communities that have borne the brunt of years of unbearable circumstances, that they create their own system that works.

There are honest aspects of misogyny, colourism and classism, which are at the heart of the characters and setting. The plot is paced to the rhythm of a deeply traditional group of people, still grappling with their colonial ties to France and the convolutedness of it.

Touching on history and politics in an engaging manner, ‘Another Sun’ is such a worthwhile read.

Published by Soho Press in 2011.Timothy Williams is a British bilingual author and winner of the Crime Writers Award. The book is available on Amazon. 

Reviewed by Beverley N Nsengiyunva

The Good Employer-Marren Akatsa-Bukachi, at EASSI

 It is time to speak about good employers. 

The one who will build your capacity.

For all the places that I have worked at, I have never had trouble getting in. For most, I was either hand-picked, called for a chat and asked about my availability or asked and if I declined, the request was followed the succeeding year.

I have worked in full employment in six different places, each with different types of employers, teams, office set ups and expectations.

In 2007, in between planning for my wedding, I was asked to submit an application to The Eastern African Sub-Regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI), that there was an opportunity for a communications officer. In 2007, there were countable women’s NGOs and each of them respected the other’s approval for candidates.

I sat in that interview and when they asked for my salary expectation, the moment I gave them a salary beyond my wildest desires, I knew that I had got the job. They were looking for audacity and someone who valued their skillset enough, to request highly. 

Without a Master’s degree and having been extremely broke for four years, volunteering in church activities and fellowships, living from one pittance party to another, I sat in my own office with a driver to take me for meetings, colleagues that dressed immaculately and tea and expensive snacks at every meeting. 

The endless workshops at 4 star hotels around Kampala, occasionally residential. The trips across Africa, at high level forums, representing the organisation, with heaps of allowances. My world changed. To-date, it is my favourite place of employment and the Executive Director at time, Marren Akatsa-Bukachi,is my favourite employer (May her soul continue to rest in glory)

Like a sunrise that predictably appears on time, we had set allowances for each trip and a six-month schedule in advance. Every programme staff’s duties were clearly articulated and the strategic plan was articulated before each staff member, regularly. While expectations were high, the salaries and allowances were also high. At this job, I knew that my time and skills were valued highly. Employers must always value the skillset and time of their employees. Pay them well and set expectations clearly. 

Marren made you want to be better. Each morning, arriving promptly, she was always flawlessly and fashionably dressed, from the hair to the shoes. This made us want to be better. Here was a woman in her fifties, with four children, outdressing all of us in our early thirties, without children. I started wearing suits for the first time, and I liked it. Dressing well and showing up at the office suited me. I even treated my hair for the first time, which was short-lived. The point I’m trying to make; appearance does matter.

It is not liberating to exude excellence and then dress shabbily, in the name of wokeness or open-mindedness. It is delusional. Dress well. I have worked in places where I started off with three skirts, and I made them work until the salary arrived and I bought more. 

Dressing well is not a colonial idea. It is actually afrocentric to dress well. It is your right. There are fabrics of all kinds, inexpensive tailoring, and comfortable designer shoes everywhere. The more I searched for office clothes and shows, the more I found them. And then the discovery that kitenge material can be tailored to suit a day in the corporate world, made life easier.

She was not intimidated by my creative ideas, or insecure around an individual whom other organisations wanted to hire. It was at EASSI, that I developed their first e-newsletter, ‘The Women’s Lexis,’ which lasted for over ten years. Paper magazines, invitations and print newsletters, were the preferred model at the time and I boldly stepped out to create that shift. 

Marren warmly welcomed the idea and the outreach was massive. I also introduced a women’s advocacy campaign, targeting the post-election violence in Kenya in 2007, using sms advocacy, partnering with various women’s organisations.

I thrived as a creative and eclectic individual, travelling, connecting with stakeholders all over Africa, representing gender issues at high level forums. That job drove me to such purpose that it is no wonder as soon as I left, I began the Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award. 

EASSI elevated me. Marren elevated me. She was also the first staff member to visit our first born daughter at home, and the dress and books she gave, represented two of her qualities, fashion and intelligence.

Once, I reached out to her to share a few challenegs I found with her leadership style. She set a date and asked that with each problem, I curate a solution. That is a meeting I will never forget. It changed the employer-employee dynamics so much.

The Good Employer. Marren Akatsa-Bukachi is my favourite employer to-date and EASSI is my favourite workplace to-date.

Fine dining at Mihingo Lodge. Good salaries make spending capacity easier and increase morale.

What are your good employer stories?

Bless!

Beverley N Nsengiyunva

#BlackLikeMe, The Book of The Ages-Review by Beverley N N

There are those books which we call, ‘Everything.’ We read them and they render us momentarily immobile. Do you know why? It is because they say the things that ought to have been said and they also spur us to our highest level of vibration.

With Dennis, the author.

On 17 August, I was privileged to moderate a panel discussion of a team of  experts, leaders and strategists, at the launch of Dr. Dennis Sempebwa’s 17th book, titled, ‘Black Like Me?’

With Doris Kimuli (guest and author)

 It’s a rhetorical question, this title,  and yet requires you to ponder on who you are and why you are, to reconsider actions of faith, against actions of doubt, wasted years and emotions and to let go of all that hinders you from reaching the highest place, both spiritually and physically.

From the start, Dennis introduces us to the power of faith and affirmations, because his childhood has been enshrined and deeply affected by personal, political and violent affliction. From family financial struggles to heinous dictatorships, amidst growing from a boy to a man at the age of 19, following the death of his father.

It is faith, affirmation and an unquestionable determination that led Dennis through the journey of Limit X, arguably Africa’s most popular Christian band in the late 1990s and early 2000s, traversing across continents and oceans and morphing into a Minister, educator, leadership coach, with several doctorates to his name.

He achieves this while raising a family, experiencing new turmoils of a more corporate and urban nature and growing in faith in God.

This book challenges black stereotypes that manipulate the black psyche into an eternal state of victimhood, slave and inadequate. Dennis uses facts, statistics and basic knowledge to assert how each person on earth is gifted with an attitude and it is the duty of individuals to position their attitude to relish in prosperity, success, fulfillment and continued love of family and friends.

‘Black Like Me?’ asks questions, probes generational myths and tears down barriers to personal growth.

The panelists; Dorothy Kisaka, Executive Director of Kampala City Council Authority, Tony Otoa, local expert in the oil and energy sector, and moderator and Ubuntu Leadership Safaris 5am x.com conversations, Ambassador Damali Ssali founder at Ideation Corner and Ben Mwine, event host and production Manager at Next Media. Each panelist held the book in high esteem and shared invaluable insight on how the world is shaped by doers, thinkers and courageous individuals.

L-R: Beverley, Tony Otoa, Dr. Dennis Sempebwa, Dorothy Kisaka, Ben Mwine, Ambassador Damali Ssali (courtesy photo)

Congratulations Dennis, on this book, which will open doors to think tanks all over the world.

Bless!

Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva

BOOK REVIEW OF LONDON CAPE TOWN JOBURG

 When you’ve kept an autographed book on your shelf for almost ten years, with regular polishing of the covers and dusting between the pages, is it time to give it away, or do you pick it up and finally read it? I chose to pick it up and read it; ‘London Cape Town Joburg,’ a novel written by the effervescent and literary Zukiswa Wanner, a South African author, who blends charm and difficult truths, in her writing. 

From the first line of this courageous novel, when we read of Zuko Spencer-O‘Malley committing suicide, I keep asking myself why I have taken this long to read this book. 

Even if you have travelled to these intriguing cities, after which the novel is named, you will not be prepared for the richness of characters, complexity of themes and the simplicity of everyday life from choosing what to wear, being gas-lit and growing in self-awareness. Zukiswa has cleverly woven a story of such enormous strength that the history of these places does not interfere with the actual story of the people.

As a reader, I find that the strength of the novel is in the character interactions, their believable traits, ambitions and weaknesses and how they unfold in a larger city and country. The story is clever, in that the flashbacks remind us of a past of political upheaval that we should be happy to overcome and at the same time, the realities of political overtures.

Falling in love is a beautiful experience. When the protagonists who tell this story, Germain Spencer and Martin O’Malley fall in love, it is an experience which many readers will wish they could experience too, if they haven’t. They do not fall into it; instead they grow into it, from the first primal nudge and remain unstuck in a natural way.

The reader becomes so attached and remains as a spectator cheering on this couple whose love makes all things possible, including managing unbearable in-laws, narcissistic acquaintances and cultural strongholds. And it is the cultural differences, their ability to blend and compromise while still growing as individuals, that brings with it the greatest test of all.

After keeping this book for ten years, when I picked it up I was able to complete it in two days because of the unravelling of new mysteries, pleasant surprises and experiences which I am familiar with.

There are parts of the dialogue that appear as if they are over-written and I kept rolling my eyes, doubtful that people actually spoke like that. I am reminded though, that this book traverses three large cities, complex careers and generations of families. 

Many thanks to Zukiswa for writing such a fine novel. 

London Cape Town Joburg was published in 2014, by Kwela Books. 

Note to self: Read a book as soon as possible, especially if it is autographed.

Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva

You Don’t Need Anyone’s Permission to Be Successful, Beautiful or Fulfilled

You don’t need anyone’s permission to be successful, beautiful or fulfilled. Just be it. You were born to become those things. The Creator designed it that way.

Without realizing it, we are culturally, socially and emotionally inclined towards waiting for permission to become successful, which is why when we see other people thriving in business, or having a bountiful sex life with their spouses, we think something is wrong, because we were told, from childhood, that success and greatness are evil and that we should become content with little to nothing.

And then the gatekeepers of our greatness weaponize the bible verses about contentment until, far into our adulthood, deeply miserable without understanding why, we have given all of our great ideas, resources and time, away to those gatekeepers. 

Look up. It doesn’t matter if you’re 65, 38 or 71, you can decide today that from now on, you’ll give yourself permission to become all those things that you were born to become, because you were.

Institutionally, there is only one C.E.O, one Head of Department, one District Champion and one Employee of the Year. We belong to many of these organisational structures, where we toil for these accolades and after we do not get it, toil for another year with the promise that maybe the next time and the next. The problem is that we are fighting for breadcrumbs. If I work extremely hard for only one coveted title, with the implication that if I do not get it, I am less than, is it really worth toiling after?

Doesn’t it mean that I am waiting for the organisation to give me permission to live in my greatness?

Just give yourself that title and move on. Do you want to become a C.E.O? Dress like one. Do you want to receive a certificate of Distinguished service? Then design one and give it to yourself. Invite your C.E.O friends, hold a garden party at your home and hire a professional photographer to capture the ceremony.

I have exceeded in many areas, which have not been recognized because I do not bend to conformity. Does it mean I have not achieved greatness? If anything, I have achieved far beyond my expectations, because my self-worth and my impact are immeasurable.

Time to get my garden party going.

Bless!

Bev