SHALLY A.

Looking in my nieces' eyes, piercing with questions that I have no answers to. She had asked  me, ‘Aunty, why are two men kissing?’ I was watching the show Empire, while she was sleeping. She had woken up, sneaked into the parlour, and caught the best of the scenes. The scenes you find hard to explain to a three-year-old who assumed relationships were a certain way. I felt a strange empathy for her growing up in a more dynamic world than I did, and confusion about how I needed to answer her questions.   Adults have a lot of explanation to do in this generation. Mothers, fathers, aunts, and uncles are sometimes not armed with the answers because we are in denial that the world has changed. The time for innocence is almost non-existent because we (and children) live in a Google everything world. Porn. Sex. Masturbation. Pedophilia. Rape.  As sexuality and the media evolves, how do we ensure our children are ready for a more dynamic world?  A while ago, I read the World Health Org

They say:   In Africa Spiders crawl high Honest men, dragged down Leaders’ tongues drool lies Man must know man to succeed Merit dies; 'drop brown envelope abeg.' ********    In Africa Riches are trampled on the streets Papers, cans, nylons, litter in death And curl together in decay Till mosquito’s eat away our homes ******** In Africa We seek White Man’s aid Proclaiming, ‘ it’s free, take it all. ’ Oga, awof dey run belle    (greed causes untold pain) ********   In Africa Forget the price of freedom Love us, feed us True love empowers, not just aids ********     In Africa The lands are alive with abundance Yet land livers die in poverty ********   In Africa The gun power cuts off man’s humanity We point bullets at victims to save the heads of tormentors ******** I say:  In Africa Sad stories burden we Yet