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The Displaced African

• August 04, 2008
• 12:04

  Opinions on Melbourne from a Wife, Mother and Entrepreneur

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  If you Like this Podcast, Please Subscribe to the Displaced African Podcast

  If you click here, you’ll watch a free video I created that shows you how to subscribe to the Displaced African podcast which is updated once a week.

  The Podcast Interview

  Download audio file (Susan Opinion of Melbourne.mp3)
  Things Covered

  1) Introduction, why and how she arrived in Melbourne Australia

  2) Did she arrive in the country with the intention of returning to her home country, Kenya?

  Employment

  3) Impressions on employment and employment opportunities

  4) How the Australian labor market accepts Africans and people who have worked in Africa

  5) Tips for overcoming initial hurdles you may face in regards to employment.

  6) CRUCIAL TIP: Tips for leveraging FREE existing government support and resources when entering the job market

  Racism and Race Relations

  7) Her impressions on racism in the community and the workplace

  8 ) Tips on racism for new immigrants

  Culture

  9) Her impressions on the cultural mix of Australia.

  10) What she has gained from the culture of Australia

  Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle

  11) Comparisons between her ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle in Australia and in her home country, Kenya.

  Education

  12) Fantastic thoughts on the Australian education system and comparisons with the Kenyan education system

  13) Tips for parents raising children in Melbourne in terms of education. Compare this with the way Stella Mwangi aka STL was raised. Definitely worth thinking about taking control of teaching one’s child language and maths and not leaving that up to the State.

  Raising Children in Melbourne
  

  14) Challenges and insights

  15) The difference in relationship between raising a child in Kenya and in Melbourne.

  Websites Mentioned

  1) KUMON

  2) Kip Mcgraph

  3) Centrelink

  4) Job Network

  5) New Enterprise Incentive Scheme

  Hope this is of service to you,

  Mwangi

• August 02, 2008
• 19:06

  One of the Greatest Things that Immigration and Travel Teach You

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  We Don’t See Things as They Are, We See Things as We Are

  This is one of the biggest lessons that immigration will teach you. Two people can be standing at the same moment in time at the same place looking at the same thing and be thinking entirely different things based on their background, culture, beliefs, race and conditioning.

  Though we rarely are brave enough to admit it in public, in our heart of hearts, all of us know that as many flaws as we can point out in the other person’s perception of the world, there are probably as many holes in ours.

  Who knows maybe the areas where his perceptual framework is full may help fill up places where there are holes in our view of the world. Take advantage of these different schemas, that’s where depth of character and creativity come from.

  Just a little something to think about.

  Be blessed and bless others,

  Mwangi

• August 01, 2008
• 16:00

  Discussion about One of the Greatest Books of the Bible

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  So I just came from leading my first ever bible study/life group/ group of believers in discussion. I definitely think I could have done better: I was quite nervous and so couldn’t direct the conversation as much as I wanted and didn’t say things as elegantly or as confidently as I would have wanted.

  BUT the conversation had a wonderful conclusion: we created a plan and decided we will take action to bless the life of someone less fortunate than us i.e. the neighbour of the life group leader. We are doing things to be salt and light upon this Earth.

  I just thought I would share with you the notes that I took into the Bible Study and talk about some of the cool ideas that came out as a result of the discussion. I hope this inspires some reflection and action in your neck in the woods.

  Before You Read this

  1) Check out this Wkipedia Page that summarises one of the greatest books in the Bible: the Book of Job.

  2) Read the first two and final chapters of Job.

  This will help you put the notes below, which I have not edited into an understandable context.

  Job: The Definition of Faith and Love
  
  Read the first two chapters of Job to put everything in context and also hand out the Wikipedia narrative.
  
  TEST NUMBER ONE
  
  “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I shall depart,
  The LOrd gave and the Lord has taken away,
  MAY THE NAME OF THE LORD BE PRAISED”
  
  Christianity had stopped working for Job by this point:
  
  1) Would you have, at the very least, cursed God?
  2) Would you have kept your faith?
  3) Most of all, would you have kept loving, fearing and praising God
  
  TEST NUMBER TWO
  
  He had painful sores all over his body. He was scraping himself with a piece of pottery.
  
  When his wife told him to let go of his integrity and curse God he said:
  
  “Shall we accept good from God and not trouble.”
  
  1) Have you ever truly embraced the fact that all throughout your journey you will receive unexplainable blessings AND unexplainable curses?
  2) Are you willing to only accept the good, but not the bad?
  
  
  SEPARATE APPLICATION: Job’s Story as a Metaphor for Human Relationships
  
  1) How many of us would do this in our relationships with our fellow human beings?
  2) How many of us would continue to hold on to faith and love and give to others even when beyond not working it’s hurting us?
  3) Would we give up during the first strike (he lost his sheep and servants) in a human relationship?
  4) Would we give up during the second strike (he lost his camels) in a human relationship?
  5) Would we give up during the third strike (he lost ALL his children) ?
  6) Would we have the strength to persevere a second test?
  
  

  Some Interesting Thoughts that Came Out of It

  I have touched on this briefly when I wrote about Western Entitlement Syndrome: We talked  about the reasons why young adults, 18 to 25 are the ones with the largest dropout rate within the church community of Australia:

  Christian Life Cycle

  When young, there is a kid’s program where kids are rewarded with movie nights, lollipops, music, games, fictional characters and are basically made to feel welcome and loved within the church.

  In the teenage years the same thing continues, with music concerts, social events and camps and the church always trying to make sure that the young person has fun within a positive faith-based community.

  In both these stages of life, the Church emphasizes the role of God as the provider of all things.

  Where the Doo-Dah Hits the Fan

  The problem is, through all these years, the young believer has never been taught how to do three things:

  a) Process their Christianity and faith in God for themselves. People are never encouraged to get out of their complacent fun times as young people and just think about:

  • Whether or not they believe in God
  • Why they believe in God
  • What they struggle with
  • Contradictions and doubts
  • The consequences of a walk of faith

  b) People are never encouraged to actually step out and do things in Christian faith. The emphasis is far too great on spoon feeding them love and encouragement without forcing them to get out there in faith to advance the Kingdom or the work of the Church.

  c) They don’t hear enough or have it internalized that as the verse says:

  The LOrd gave and the Lord has taken away,

  The emphasis is far too great on God giving and never on the facts that:

  • He gives arbitrarily and not always in accordance with our schedule i.e. life isn’t always fair and life doesn’t always give you what you want.
  • Bad things happen to good people. They always have and they always will and we are yet to have sufficient explanation for this and probably never will.

  I think this should be enough for now, I will expound on this further in the comments section and I have also discussed some further insights from the night on the site, Kenya Imagine (check out the Displaced African blog on Kenya Imagine).

  To make sure you never miss another post from this website again, make sure you subscribe to the site via email or RSS (If you don’t know what RSS is, I have a short video tutorial for you right here).

  Be blessed and be a blessing unto others,

  Mwangi

  

• July 31, 2008
• 15:01

  Who Else Wants the Cheapest Flights to Africa?

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  To share this article on Facebook, click here.

  Are you going to be flying to Africa later this year? Do you want to save as much money as possible on airfare?

  Without too much build up, this page was created to be a resource list to help you get the cheapest flights to Africa.

  I am writing this article from Australia, but a significant share of resources that I recommend are international and Internet based.

  

  Request Line

  I only have two humble requests:

  1) If you know a cheaper or a better way to get airline tickets, please leave a comment below and let us know.

  2) Should you decide to use one of the resources I suggest please use the links within this article, a lot of them (not all sadly ) are affiliate links and it’s a great way to support the site if I can get a little cash boost from your flying back home.

  The prices are the same regardless of how you visit the site, but if you visit the site via my website I get a commission. No obligation of course, but if you can do that, thanks in advance.

  The Resource List

  I will list the resources in order, beginning with the most cost effective.

  1) Student Flights

  
  

  This one applies only to people in Australia and as far as I can tell you need a student card to use this service. HOWEVER, their prices simply cannot be beat. Scroll down to the bottom of this page and watch the video where I hired a VA to investigate cheap ticket prices and compare those results with the Student Flight prices….no comparison.

  If you ever needed a reason to re-enrol in school here it is.

  So pay a visit to the Student Flights website first if you are living in Australia
  

  2) Kayak
  

  Kayak is to airfare, what Google is to information, it is the search engine for the cheapest flights. Kayak is an absolutely phenomenal resource for a number of reasons:

  1) They peruse through 450+ travel sites including Orbitz and Cheap cheap flights

  2) They have a fantastic affiliate program

  3) Outside of Student Flights, they have the cheapest prices I have seen thus far, even for flights from Australia.

  4) Whereas Student Flights is restricted to Australia, Kayak is an international resource.

  Therefore, regardless of where you are make sure you check out Kayak before buying your next international flight ticket.

  3) African travel agents

  This one is a general tip I have heard from other people who have traveled to and from Kenya. If you are going to buy a plane ticket, browse around and search for travel agents within the African country you are traveling too and buy from them. Apparently they are cheaper. If anyone has anything to add to this idea please leave a comment below.

  4) Intrepid Travel

  

  Classify this one under, you probably would never have heard of this company had you not visited the Displaced African.

  I first heard about Intrepid when the founder of the firm came to my former business school to give a talk. As always I sat there jaw open and fascinated by how people can take intangible ideas and use them to produce tangible results. Anyway, I digress………..

  The firm specializes in giving tourists and backpackers cheap, affordable glimpses into authentic native cultures.

  If it wasn’t for the restrictive nature of the travel with this firm (you’re entire trip is scheduled by the firm beforehand) this is BBBBYYYYY FAAAARRRRR one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest way for someone living in Australia to travel back to their native country.

  Don’t believe me? Check out the Intrepid Travel Website and compare their airfare rates with rates from any other firm. Never used this firm so I don’t know if there are any extras involved. Worth checking out anyway.

  NB: No affiliate link for this website

  5) The V. A. Experiment
  

  As part of my 4 hour work week journey, I thought I would see what type of results I would get if I hired a virtual assistant from Rentacoder.com for $7 and commissioned them to find the cheapest airflight tickets they could for the year 2008 between Melbourne, Australia and my hometown of Nairobi Kenya.
  
  I think the investment is so minimal that everyone should experiment with this. You will probably save yourself a few hundred dollars but sadly I didn’t get the huge savings of thousands I was expecting. The VA actually got their cheapest rates from Kayak. But still definitely worth testing out.

  Check out the Rentacoder website by clicking on this link

  6) You Tell Me?

  Any tips, tricks, resources and ideas to share for those of us who want to save as much money and have as much fun and happiness during our trips back to Mama Africa?

  Yet again my humble request that you please use the resources provided in this article….in some cases I make as little as $5 but in some cases, your buying a ticket using the links provided ( a ticket which costs the same regardless anyway) can be enough to pay for the domain hosting for this site for the next 5 years with enough left over to get me a brand new pair of shoes

  To share this article on Facebook, click here.

  Hope this is of service to you,

  Mwangi

• July 29, 2008
• 13:03

  The Journey of a Christian Agnostic Theists: Thoughts on Christianity

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  Today Is an Interesting Day Because……

  ….behind the scenes I have about 4 or 5 articles I am working on that are on their way to being done but need elements out of my control to come into place before they can be complete. I have a podcast that I am yet to edit and I have sent out quite a few invitations to interview people over the past week.

  The End Result

  The end result is that I have a wonderful back log of articles and podcasts and things in process, too much for me to want to move forward but little enough that it shouldn’t take me too long to clear up.While this vacuum exists I thought I would give you all some more thoughts as I have continued along my spiritual journey.

  Why I’ll Never Leave the Church

  One thing that I can predict with a fair level of confidence and certainty is that I will probably never grow disillusioned with the church and/or with Christianity as I did in my teenage years and I will never leave the church. There are a couple of reasons for that:

  1) I never got taught, or rather never had sink in, the consumer mentality to Christianity: Growing up, I was taught about the immutable, unstoppable, never changing power of self-determination and that all through my life, I should always use that power to create my destiny. I guess I am one of those people who preachers would label, “That arrogant young man who thinks he can do everything himself.”

  I don’t know if I can but I certainly know that I am going to take responsibility for the results I achieve in my life.

  2) Christian people are hands down, the most loving and silmultaneously nicest people I have ever met: A lot of people who become disillusioned with the church do so because they feel condemned, judged, unloved and unwanted by Christian people. I have never ever felt that. Until I was an adult, all my real-world (as opposed to celebrity or fantasy heroes) were Christian African women.

  If you look through my heroes list, you’ll notice that one of them is Erwin Mcmanus (if anyone knows how I can get an interview with him….do share) and I just love to consume and reflect and act on his podcasts and his ideas.

  To put the full stop on this point, I don’t know if I have told this story before but what the heck, I will tell it again

  

  She Listened, Really Listened

  It’s amazing how one moment can mean so many different things to different people. I don’t think my aunty knows just how special that day was for me, and whenever I tell my mother the story, she always remarks:

  That’s nothing special

  Or something similar, but that truly was, one of the greatest days of my life.

  Disposable Teen

  So there I was, 16 years old, scared and angry. I remember walking into my aunty’s home for a visit. My aunty did something that no human being had never done before. She didn’t try to advise me. She didn’t try to give me solutions to my problems. She didn’t engage in discussion or debate. She just listened.

  She listened as I talked about my crazy plans about buying a fleet of matatus (a fleet of mini buses) and using the revenue generated from this venture to fund a school where the poor and marginalized youth of Africa would learn not only about the political process but would be equipped to answer the question:

  How can I use the current global and political system to the benefit of my community and myself?

  I don’t remember if that was the exact thought I told my aunty so many years ago, but whatever it is I said, she listened. I remember she fed me delicious sandwiches and tea and for a couple of days just let me talk. It’s amazing how the Angel Gabriel’s love for Mary can be felt just by his merely sitting next to her………..

  Don’t worry if you read this and don’t see what’s so special either, just know it was truly one of the best days during one of the best periods of my life, and she was there.

  She was in that moment, the salt and light of my world.

  

  Where this Spiritual Journey is Going?

  I know I am not alone on this one, but I often fantasize about being interviewed. My favourite platforms are either a town hall meeting, a speech I am making to thousands of people or an appearance on Enough Rope with Andrew Denton, and many a time, I have fantasized about being asked that very question in the sub-healdine.Here now is my smooth-as-Taye-Diggs-eloquent-as-MLK answer:

  The way I see my life headed, I will probably end up the born again founder my own church dedicated to two things:

  a) The upliftment and dignity of young African  boys and men

  b) Taking action: Every sermon will end with everyone either doing something to improve their lives or the lives of the members of the community or it will become compulsory with attendance that you must take action after every service and are accountable to other members of the congregation.

  I would weed out all the passive watchers and remain with just passionate people committed to taking action and being angels among men.

  Hey, I have been asked to lead my bible study group this Thursday so that might be the begining of all of this…….watch this gap in the time space continuum.

  My oddly tired brain is telling me those are enough ideas for now.

  Have a fantastic week,

  Mwangi

• July 28, 2008
• 14:02

  Tips on Repatriating to Kenya from Linda of Capital FM

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  A Few Things Before We Get Started

  Some Back Story

  This interview was actually done on request. One of you actually wrote to me and asked me to do a post on repatriating to Kenya. Your wish is my command. I hope its of use to you.

  Late Night Stalker?!

  Because of a misunderstanding, I ended up calling Linda at the wrong time and actually woke her in the middle of the night to conduct this interview: so if Linda sounds very ethereal, I can assure you it’s not because of any charisma or charm on my part

  So That’s Why I Can’t Download the Audio Files!

  I finally figured out what’s wrong with my podcasting system. I upgraded Wordpress too quickly and the guys who created the podcasting system are taking their time to catch up.

  In the meantime, subscribe to the Displaced African podcast (watch this video where I explain how you can do it) and you will receive this as well as the Kirk Nugent and all other podcasts direct to your mp3 player in the very near future.

  This interview was about Linda’s repatriating to Kenya from the USA. In spite of that, I think some of the material in the podcast applies to anyone moving back to anywhere in Africa from anywhere abroad.

  NB: As is the case with any semi-informal conversation, there is occasional course language, but its so sporadic that it hardly matters.

  The Podcast

  Download audio file (Relocating to Africa with Linda from.mp3)
  

  Things Covered

  1) How long has she been away from Africa?

  2) Words of advice to anyone whose been abroad and is thinking of repatriating

  3) The difference between good culture shock and bad culture shock

  4) Difficulties she faced readjusting to life in Kenya (This answer will surprise you……and then remind you, lest you forgot)

  5) Was it easy to readjust after so many years abroad?

  6) Discussion of some of the technical aspects of repatriating to Kenya: getting an ID, NSSF number, P.O. Box etc. The connection between all this and a sense of history and legacy.

  7) The sequence for getting your ID, pin and NSSF number. p.o. box etc

  8 ) Give yourself time to readjust: some tips on that.

  9) Does she talk to other recently repatriated Kenyans? What’s that like?

  10) TIPS FOR GETTING WORK WHEN YOU REPATRIATE

  11) How Linda got her job with Capital FM while still living in the States

  12) The story of “the essence of man”

  Happy flying,

  Mwangi

  

• July 27, 2008
• 19:06

  So Here’s What You Do When You are a Terrible Friend

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Over the course of my time here in Australia I have lost my fair share of friends. Now granted, I have reconciled with many of them, and am in the process of being disconnected by some others, but still, I feel that perhaps I would best serve you by writing an article on how to keep friends from someone who is currently losing a few.

  

  1) Reciprocity: If they feed you, feed them. If they pay for things for you, pay for things for them. Always assume that when they do something for you, they expect it to be returned. This isn’t necessarily selfish on anyone’s part, it’s the law of reciprocity that keeps relationships running.

  2) Inform People of Major Life Decisions: If I were ever to redo what I did when I packed up my things and changed cities from Melbourne to Sydney, I would have done one thing differently: I would have informed all my friends and family of my decision and why I am doing what I am doing. Why? Courtesy.

  My general state of being apathetic and quite oblivious to other people’s pressure dos and donts combined with a complete obliviousness to social rules and conventions mixed in with a little bit of my always assuming that by default I don’t matter to other people (quite a sentence full that was) meant that I never really saw how my moving affected other people’s lives.

  Other people had probably built plans or at least thought of a future of which I was a part. At least do folks the courtesy of telling them when to change their plans.
  
  3) Follow People Up: Here to this day, I absolutely suck. If you want someone to be your friend or relate to them in some way, PICK UP THE PHONE/TYPE THE FACEBOOK MESSAGE/SEND THE EMAIL = JUST GET IN TOUCH. Don’t wait for the moon, stars and planets to align before you just pick up the phone and reach your hand out to somebody.

  4) Friendship Comes Over Lust: Let’s be honest. A huge number of modern day relationships for people below the age of 30 are either just an odd variation of friends with benefits or “mutual-flirtation agreements” as opposed to any deep friendships and relationships. Especially in the early stages, DO NOT ever put your pursuit of members of the opposite sex above your friends.

  This one needs to be heard especially by the women, y’all are always so willing to throw away relationships or ignore your friends just because some man could whisper sweet nothings in one ear while convincing you to disrobe in the other. You’re friends know you and care about you more than the man. They will clean up the tissues/bedsheets with you once he leaves.

  This one doesn’t apply much to men (though stealing from strangers and acquantances is an entirely different story), but speaking as a man who has done this on a few occasions………to use a technical term, not cool, not cool at all.
  

  I loved this version of this song, check out the frog with soul at the end.

  5) Give: Don’t give them what you think they want. Give them what they really want and especially what they need. Give them that thing they keep talking about. Don’t get them what people are supposed to get other people. Listen and get them and provide them with what makes their heart sing.

  Any more to share? Got any stories of how you lost friends? Leave a comment below and let me know. Before I leave though…….

  The Newsletter

  If you are a fan of this article or blog, I encourage you to join and give me feedback ( ) my Immigrant Survivor Guide Newsletter by putting your first name and email address in the boxes below.

  In newsletter, once a week I send you short emails that give you actionable tips that you can immediately apply to make your immigrant experience better including tips on making friends, finding employment, how to stay healthy on the run, things to prepare before you immigrate, staying in touch with people from your home country etc etc.

  So please join, and give me feedback, by putting your first name and email in the boxes below:
  

  Be blessed and bless others,

  Mwangi

• July 26, 2008
• 11:05

  My 4 Hour Work Week Journey: Outsourcing Your Life

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  This is day 10 of My 4 Hour Work Week Journey. Please make sure you read the rest of the articles that came before this one to understand where I am in the journey. Click here to buy a copy of the 4 hour work week and go on the journey with me.

  You will notice that by this point, I am writing less and less about the book and getting straight into the Questions and Actions. Please read the articles that came before this one, listen to the audios and videos I have embedded in those articles or buy the book to fully understand the logic behind what I am doing here.
  

  VA is short for “Virtual assistant”.

  Some Security Measures When Working with VAs

  These are for those people who might be scared and/or paranoid about working with virtual assistants who would have access to their delicate information. A couple of quick tips if you work on blogs and websites, like I do.
  
  1) Create unique username and password for VAs to access your website:

  A friend of mine is currently paying me to help him create and optimize his blog ( If you are interested in this service, please send an email to masmilele@thedisplacedafrican.com ). He is the person who best taught me this lesson.

  We hired a technician from rent a coder to take the domain name that he had already bought and create a Wordpress blog from it and install some plugins and software into the Wordpress blog.

  Obviously, this would involve the technician logging into my friend’s hosting and domain account. However my friend is quite the risk manager. Scared that the technician may play around with his domain settings, he went the extra mile and created a limited authority account for the technician that has access to his domain and hosting account.

  For those of you working with people on your Wordpress blog, its possible to create such accounts as well.

  From now on, every time I work with a VA, for the next redesign of the site for example, I will create a brand new username and password for their use.

  
  2) Use credit cards instead of debit cards: It’s easier to erase huge credit charges instead of debit charges.
  
  

  Questions and Actions: Outsourcing Life

  
  1) Get yourself an assistant even if you don’t need one:

  I have already assigned more than a dozen tasks to VAs in the USA, India, Bangalore and oddly enough, Baghdad, Iraq (more power to Iraqis if they actually have Internet now).

  As a matter of fact, there is one task I can think of that needs a VA’s touch right now……..look out for an article coming out soon that will have “the VA’s touch”.
  
  2) Identify your top 5 time consuming nonwork tasks and 5 personal tasks you could assign for sheer fun:

  Hmm this one will be tough considering I spend so much time online But if I were to outsource more than I do already, here are a couple of things I would consider outsourcing:

  
  i) Find the absolute cheapest ticket to fly to Kenya over the next 6 months: I recently created a video over the course of about a week where I tried to see if I could get cheap airplane tickets to allow me to visit Kenya sometime this year using the site rentacoder.

  It gives some helpful tips of how one might be able to save hundreds if not thousands of dollars on flights from Melbourne, Australia to Nairobi, Kenya. I will release this as its own independent article because I think cheap airfare is always worth discussing for immigrants.

  ii) Buy me a very very cheap pair of size 10.5 sneakers: I haven’t bought a new pair of shoes in a very long time, but its quite difficult to get a nice, comfortable pair of sneakers that doesn’t wear out quickly at a cheap price.

  iii) Figure out the best place and price for me to sell my car: My car is at the end of its life and I want to find out how I can sell either the parts or the entire car for the best price.

  
  iv) Perform most of the research necessary for me to create my cash flow muse: This will make a lot more sense once we get into the chapter on automation

  
  v) You know what Tim did it, me thinks I might outsource my dating : Hmm, now should I outsource the search for dates or just the organizing of dates?I will let this marinate in my mind. It’s definitely something that I would do. I think the pure fun and novelty of having “my assistant” call a girl to confirm plans I have with her would make my day, and hers, pretty memorable.

  Onwards and upwards to infinity and beyond,

  Mwangi

• July 25, 2008
• 11:05

  A Few Quick Thoughts About Jungle Fever

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  This blog post is about one of the first articles in the history of this blog, Jungle Fever: The Relationship Between African Men and White Women

  

  A couple of things happened this week, that made me think about the Jungle Fever article:

  1) The Direction of the Blogging

  I am almost at the end of my blogging course, Blog Mastermind. As such I am thinking more and more about just what I will do once I have laid the foundation for this blog and have fully determined what this blog will be about.

  After being in the blogosphere for a while I have seen that there are a few categories that are almost always guaranteed to get a lot of readers:

  1) Sex and relationships: You can’t go wrong with this one on the Internet, you just can’t. Sad to say, but the cruder and more graphic you can be, the better.

  2) Politics: I believe that if the Devil were to spit bile and mix it with the intestinal stew of a skunk, it would look a little bit like tribalism and irrational hate filled discussions about politics. However, there is no doubt: you want faces to come to your blog, talk about a controversial political issue.

  3) Religion: This one surprised me. People love to talk about religion whether Eastern, Western or lack thereof.

  4) Money: The key component to this one appears to be credibility. Once you have built credibility behind a particular brand and begin to talk about how people can make money or hustle a little smarter,  you will get face time.

  Back to the Set

  Anyway, there I was sitting in a bookshop reading a book about blogging (I hope the irony of my spending my offline time studying the online world has not escaped you) I started to think about just how popular the Jungle Fever and other relationship articles had been.

  I have talked in the past about spinning off the Displaced African and starting up a blog which is dedicated entirely to the exploration and discussion of foreign and mixed race relationships. I started thinking about this again, and thought it might be a good idea. Who knows? Watch this space……..

  

  2) I Sent a Letter to an Editor

  I have been sending emails to newspapers and online magazines and radio stations to try and get some publicity to the blog. I am not too proud to admit, I am doing it all wrong.

  My microtest of about 15 media houses has produced below-mediocre results. If anyone has any tips on how I can approach African mass media right and get some publicity for the blog, hit me up on masmilele(at)thedisplacedafrican(dot)com

  Anyway, one of the letters I sent to an online publication proposing that we discuss the Jungle Fever article on their publication. Their very courteous response in short was:

  Thanks for the email. We think your article is a little too offensive and one sided for a publication like ours.

  And so just like I responded to them, let me say to all of you:

  It is BECAUSE the article is so offensive and one sided that it must be discussed

  I Was Surprised

  No one was more surprised than me by what the reaction so far has been to that article: whereas many white women have stopped by to tell me how narrow minded and stereotype-supporting the article was, the reaction from the African community can only be surmarised as:

  a) Quite agreement

  b) Outright support

  Does that mean that we all agree that African men are pretty much scraping from society’s barrel as far as relationship and sexual partners are concerned?

  Did I just verbalize something we all knew: that on the totem pole of society, African men are kissing the lowest part of the pole?

  It’s one thing to stereotype and it’s another to point out the truth. So, read Jungle Fever now and you tell me, is it true? Does it resonate with your experience?

  Secondly, how does the idea of a foreign and mixed race relationship blog sound? Does the blog exist? Leave a comment below with the link.

  Have a great day/night,

  Mwangi

• July 24, 2008
• 12:04

  Pursue your Passion: Mwangi Interviews Kirk Nugent (Part 2)

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Do You Like this Podcast?

  Though my podcasting service is currently undergoing some technical difficulties, I am on it and intend on it being up very soon.

  If you enjoy this or any of the other podcasts, this blog has to offer then make sure you subscribe to the Displaced African Podcast. You can do this in two ways:

  1) Either click here to subscribe via your favourite RSS reader (If you have no idea what RSS here, click here to watch 2 videos where I explain what RSS is and why it’s the best thing since sliced bread, only better than bread )

  2) Go to the Itunes store, search for “the Displaced African” podcast and subscribe to it (I have created a video tutorial that shows you step by step how to do this which you can find by clicking here or watch below - I debut it today, Yay!).

  Without further ado:

  The Podcast

  [See post to listen to audio]

  Things Covered

  1) So what did he do after Part 1?

  2) Funny story about how a struggling speaker gets his daily bread.

  3) How did he transition into being on Def Poetry Jam, the Queen Latifah Show and performing for the NAACP?

  4) After speaking to hundreds of college students, his take on what separates the successful college students?

  5) How one can acquire discipline and self-initiative?

  6) What was his grand vision when he first quit his job?

  7) Was he always a good speaker?

  8 ) How would one become a professional speaker?

  9) What is his process as a speaker?

  10) Final thoughts….I ran out of questions

  PURSUE YOUR PASSION,

  Mwangi

• 12:04

  My 4 Hour Work Week Journey: Interrupting Interruptions

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  This is day 10 of My 4 Hour Work Week Journey. Please make sure you read the rest of the articles that came before this one to understand where I am in the journey. Click here to buy a copy of the 4 hour work week and go on the journey with me.

  Fortunately, considering I spend most of my time working from home alone, a lot of what is in this chapter doesn’t apply to me. But without further ado:
  

  Questions and Actions: Interrupting the Interruptions

  1) Create systems to deflect my email and phone availability: I created an auto-responder that states I will only check and respond to email at 5 a.m.

  To be frank my email at present isn’t that big of a problem: I receive between 15 - 30 emails a day which it take me about 30 minutes to respond to.

  This will probably matter a lot more as the blog grows and I try to do more things with my life so its good to set the foundation now.

  Phone

  I started doing this long before I ever read the 4 hour work week. I almost never get personal phone calls. At most maybe 1 or 2 a week. A lot of people now know that if they want to reach me, email is the way to go.

  I leave my phone off or am away from it for most of the day (Right now it’s on my bed side table while I type this).From being a self-important young adult who camped by my phone and racked up $500 bills, I now only have a mobile phone because my cousin thrust a mobile phone in my hand as her way of contacting me.

  As for professional calls, again, I don’t really matter enough to get that many a day.Almost everyone knows that email is the best way to reach me. If they don’t know, I guess the benevolent education begins now.
  
  2) Get Very Specific When Communicating in Emails: I read the 4 hour work week and began applying this principle quite some time ago.

  From day one, whenever I was emailing someone about interviewing them from a podcast, I always gave them my availability times and proposed a very specific time to conduct the interview.Now one thing I am going to add to that email is that I must obtain someone’s phone number and time zone in regards to GMT: GMT +10h, GMT -4h for example.

  This proposing of an exact time has saved me countless back and forth emails and hours. In fact the one person I saw do it waayyyy more effectively than I did, wrote me an email that went a little something like this:

  I read about your blog on X and I wanted to find out if you are interested in telling your story on (media outlet) at X time (Name of their city and proposed time). Let me know

  My response was long and flowery:

  Yes

  and the deal was done. Specificity is a lost art.

  It’s wonderful to be non-specific and ambiguous in social situations but not in matters of productivity and the work place, I think.

  [See post to listen to audio]

  3) Batch Activities: If it isn’t an 80/20 activity, batch it together and create a regular time slot for it. An example:

  I work with virtual assistants, freelance coders and writers and am also a freelance writer and blog consultant (aaah, what do you know, I DO have jobs with fancy titles).

  What I recently started doing is sorting out all the emails and communication and work that needs to be done AS SOON as I get on the computer. Usually, this involves sending out an email or two, checking on something here, something else there and usually in a couple of hours I am done.

  This is definitely better than my previous style of checking on them in 5 minute chunks here and there throughout the night and leaves me a lot more time to write blog posts, market the blog, respond to comments and test out monetization techniques.
  
  4) Delegate More if You are an Entrepreneur and Request More Control if You are an Employee: Avoid decision-making bottlenecks and give individuals as much power and responsibility as you can while they work on a particular task.

  I have been outsourcing blog functioning from day 1 and intend on one day bringing a writer or two onto the tDA writing team so I have little problem relinquishing control right now.

  Ladies and gentlemen, with that we have eliminated the unnecessary and can now move on with laser like focus upon that which is important.

  Now on to what you and I have been waiting for, Step 3: A is for Automation.

  Be blessed and bless others,

  Mwangi

• July 23, 2008
• 21:05

  What I Learned from Being a Fake Philosopher: The Teenage Years Continued

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  This post is a continuation of the post The Journey of a Christian Agnostic Theist: The Teenage Years

  Now as many of you would know, when I first showed up in this country of Australia, I wasn’t necessarily a popular person. That was probably the main catalyst behind what I lovingly call:

  

  My Really Fake Philosophy Days

  I was angry at the world and angry at everyone. For some reason I don’t quite understand to this day, I took all that anger and channeled it into trying to disprove the existence and authority of Christianity and the Christian faith.

  Cue the Internet

  And so I got online and started searching for any way to disprove the existence of Christianity. In addition to that, yet again for reasons I don’t quite understand, I got quite mesmerized by Eastern philosophy.

  And so I began to study, especially meditation and yoga, and the wonderful effects they had had in riding people of all sorts of mental and physical ailments. And just because I was a super spiritual person, all this was somehow mixed in with porn.

  And so my quiet moments away from the world would be spent watching a documentary on Confucianism, reading a website that nit-picked at every little contradiction and misspelling in the “good book”, and finding it how many licks……..another sordid tale, another sordid time.

  

  When I Did Meet People

  I became, and to some extent still am, that really obnoxious person who kept pointing out the truth that we all know but don’t like to be constantly reminded of:

  All ways of life, schools of thoughts, paths and directions are flawed and incomplete.

  Unfortunately though, I wasn’t comfortable with this ambiguity, I was just angry, very very angry and kept trying to attack any ideas that I could find a flaw in. Like I will never forget when I first heard a sermon on providence.

  Are You Saying It’s all Predetermined?

  The wonderful thing about her preaching style was that she was raw and she was open. If she forgot her thought, she would tell you, not really care and move on. If something angered her, she channeled the Incredible Hulk and went for it.

  I think this was the first time I ever saw her preach. And she preached on providence. Now in truth I loved her sermon, I loved her style, but the fake philosopher wasn’t having that message.

  And so I got an envelope, got a piece of paper, and across two pages managed to stretch out one basic idea:

  If there indeed is providence. Then what’s the point of my doing anything. Isn’t it all predetermined anyway?

  

  Robin Hood Story

  I don’t remember who told me this story or even if it’s true. But apparently in one of the tales of Robin Hood, there was a time he was in the dungeon with other people waiting to be executed.

  Everyone in the dungeon was going absolutely ballistic. But Robin Hood was as cool as a cucumber in a North Pole ice party. When his coolness was challenged, his response was simple:

  What will happen, will happen. The course is already in motion. No use worrying about it now.

  And that’s how I saw providence, albeit through much angrier eyes, as I wrote that letter.

  The Response

  Was totally, unequivocally nothing. I left the letter at the church reception to be sent to her and that was the last I ever saw or heard of my letter. Not a very good start in my philosophy career.

  The Meditation Quick Fix

  As I said before, I was obsessed with studying yoga, meditation and Eastern philosophy. In truth, I didn’t really care too much about understanding or following my Tao, or living by the principles of Confuscious, or achieving the enlightenment of the Buddha, I wanted a quick fix cure for my mental anguish and I thought meditation would be the cure.

  I remember the first time I ever experimented with meditation:

  Constipate Your Way to Enlightenment?

  I went to the book shop and got this tiny booklet that explained step by step how to meditate and achieve inner peace.

  1) Find a quiet place (there was background noise from the family TV in my room but I didn’t think this mattered too much)

  2) Sit in a comfortable position ( I lay down on my bed)

  3) Quiet your mind ( OK, Mwangi…….quiet your mind. Be still, stop thinking Mwangi. Stop thinking, QUIET your mind for Pete’s sake, stop thinking, AAAGGGHHHHH, BE EMPTY ALL READY)

  4) If you are having problems quieting your mind ( phew a section for hyper-kinetic stimulus junkies like me) then simply focus on your thoughts and detach yourself from them until you achieve a state of peace. This may take time - “I don’t like that!” ( Alright Mwangi, focus on your thoughts, hmmm should I focus on the good ones or the bad ones, JUST focus, and then what, what do I do when there’s this empty vacuum and nothing to fill it? hmmm, still your mind, still your mind, STILL YOUR……Oh forget it, what’s on the porn tube)

  

  Second Time was Never the Lucky Time Was It

  The second time, I went and got not just a meditation book, but a book on ESP: Extra Sensory Perception.

  Apparently there were some people who were able to bend the rules of reality and physics and bend spoons with their brains (I might have been a detached philosopher but I wasn’t above such superficial validation of such cool tricks) and move mountains all with the gray matter combined with the endless energy inside of me.

  To be honest, I don’t even remember how I failed at this one. All I remember is one day, ESP was all I could think about, the next day ESP was nothing but a pile of……………………………..

  Kinda Like Saul Before He Became Paul

  Back to my Christian bashing era: I was hell bent on disproving Christianity and I found a cyber idol in some aethist from the States. I don’t remember much about the man, but I do remember that he said that simply because God didn’t exist that shouldn’t stop us from being moral beings who did fun things like spending time with family and tennis.

  For that reason let’s call him Mr. Aethist Tennis (AT) and his site the AT site.

  The AT site had listed every problem with the good book you could imagine. Where verses and ideas clearly contradicted each other:

  Faith without actions is dead vs No one comes to the father by me vs All you need is the faith of a mushroom seed vs the wages of sin are death = How the heck do I achieve salvation and eternal life?

  It listed times when family trees didn’t quite add up. And according to Mr. AT the Catholic church had a book full of biblical difficulties, which I have yet to read to this day.

  

  So Am Sure After Reading this Convoluted Tale You are Wondering What the Heck I Learned

  What’s interesting is that, it was in the midst of all this that I was blessed with the most wonderful gift: I stepped on stage for the first time, acted and actually moved people.

  It’s amazing how in an 80/20 analysis, the simple acts of moving a crowd of people on a stage and having them admire and respect me afterwards cleared all my philosophical raging and bitching.

  As cliche as it sounds, all I ever wanted was to be needed, wanted and cared for. And I think that’s probably the main thing that I picked up: as long as we people are unconditionally loved and cared for by at least SOMEBODY, a lot of things that would be problems just melt away.

  I also learned that I really didn’t hate the Christian faith. After all, I still ended up going to church on a semi-regular basis and still do to this day. All my life I could still say that the most wonderful people I have ever met were all Christian people and that has never changed to this day. So sometimes what we are talking about and what we really need and want are really 2 entirely different things.

  Thirdly, as I stated before, I learned that every way of life, including the Christian path was flawed. If it weren’t 1500 denominations would not exist, not to mention the many cults that use the good book as their guide, Da Vinci code wouldn’t have resonated as much as it did and we would all follow the same path.

  Whereas I have no doubt that there is probably something deep at the core of all of us that connects us all and brings us closer to God, I personally think that fully understanding it is above the human experience. I also learned that there were probably some things I just wouldn’t know.

  Finally, I learned that, even though I never ever truly know my perfect purpose and reason for being here, I am here. I have been loved and cared for and taken a chance on, even at my most wretched and my most wicked. I best make us of this life I have and make sure that somehow someday I repay the favour and love and care for folks who wouldn’t have gone very far otherwise.

  I hope that kinda explains just a little bit more why I am particularly fond of the catchphrase:

  Be blessed and bless others,

  Mwangi

• July 22, 2008
• 17:01

  Pursue your Passion: Mwangi Interviews Kirk Nugent (Part 1)

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  Technical Difficulties

  For some unforeseen reason, I am unable to put this out as a podcast for the time being, however the audio file works just fine. It’s an absolutely wonderful interview, enjoy.

  The Podcast

  [See post to listen to audio]

  Do You Use Twitter?

  If so, please follow me by going to my twitter page:Twitter.com/masmilele

  Things Covered

  1) Brief introduction: Just who is Kirk Nugent?

  2) His life story beginning in Kingston and how he arrived in the States.

  3) Comparisons between education levels in White schools and Black schools in the States

  4) How he ended up dropping out of University

  5) Interesting story of how he got his first job in sales while his friend ended up on America’s Most Wanted

  6) His super difficult transition from a successful job in sales sales to a spoken word poet and speaker via a long period of destitution.

  Much much more

  Websites Mentioned

  1) Kirk Nugent’s website: [www.kirknugent.com]

  2) Kirk Nugent’s Myspace page: [profile.myspace.com]

• July 21, 2008
• 9:25

  My 4 Hour Work Week Journey: Low Information Diet

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  This is day 9 of My 4 Hour Work Week Journey. Please make sure you read the rest of the articles that came before this one to understand where I am in the journey. Click here to buy a copy of the 4 hour work week and go on the journey with me.

  Probably one of the most controversial ideas in the 4 hour work week book. Tim begins by laying it all out (you’ll probably want to read the justification first, because the idea in and of itself will look totally crazy). I paraphrase:

  I never watch the news and have never bought a newspaper in five years, except by accident.

  
  The Logic Behind the Madness

  Tim spends a lot of the chapter entitled Low Information Diet going into his reasons behind doing this. I will highlight a couple of them below:

  1) Lifestyle design is about input: Whenever we take time to consume - input - information, we are taking our energy and focus away from the most important element of all taking action. While doing all this it’s important to keep in mind:

  2) Most of the information we take in is: time-consuming, negative, irrelevant to our goals and/or out of our influence. He then challenges us to pause and reflect on most of the information we most recently consumed and see whether or not this is true.

  3) Tim proposes that instead of always consuming information “just in case” something happens, let’s begin to take action and pause to consume information when we run into a problem or a challenge and need information to solve it.

  
  My Take on the Matter

  I tried writing a few paragraphs talking about my thoughts on this chapter, but I realized that it would probably be best for me to respond to whatever problems you guys may have with the statements above (I know some of you do).

  In Case You Think I or Tim’s Ideas are Madness

  So if you think the ideas above are full of bollocks or that I am a cheesecake head (creative metaphors today) for believing in his ideas, let me know by leaving a comment below and let’s get a dialogue going on the low information diet.

  I think I will only leave you with 3 questions and a story to reflect on.

  Three Questions

  Reflect on the news you most recently consumed:

  1) How much of it did you immediately take consistent action on to the point that you influenced what was being reported?

  2) How much of what you consume on a day to day basis is actually relevant to your goals in life?

  3) Do you find yourself engaging in and finding more pleasure in being smart and having intelligent conversations and thoughts than you do taking action and potentially failing?
  
  The Story

  I was once talking to someone who was watching the news around the time a mine exploded in China killing about 50,000 people. I was curious:

  Now that you have spent 20 minutes sitting there watching that, what are you going to do?

  Nothing

  But you sit there everyday and consume news media, surely you must act on this?

  No, it’s just good to know.

  You and I don’t help anyone by just knowing things and sitting in the house mentally masturbating ( sorry for the strong language but this is what we do a lot of the time), philosophizing and engaging in endless discussions.

  We help people by taking action. Period!

  Anyway, to the questions and actions section.

  Questions and Actions: Low Information Diet

  1) Go on a complete media fast: I don’t consume the news…..EVER!

  Yes, very sad but very true. In spite of this, I am almost always up to date in the news.

  Because I spend so much time online, and quite some time offline chatting with folks who constantly educate themselves, I know that for example in my country, Kenya:
  i) A hotel called the Grand Regency was sold to Libyans for what many consider a low price
  ii) That the Kenyan Finance minister has not only resigned because of the preceding event.
  

  One of the most watched videos in Youtube history

  Quite a Challenge

  The challenging bit is: no web surfing unless its necessary to completing the task.

  Now that will be hard.

  Without consuming Youtube, blogs, videos and other Internet material, that leaves a HUUUGGGE vaccum in my day. So I guess I have now found the time to do those two high impact tasks a day.

  Future Guiding Principles

  2) Will I use this information for anything important and/or immediate? If the answer is NO, on both accounts, axe the information immediately: As a general principle:

  Information is only as useful as your ability to take action and produce a result using it.

  I already started doing this and am doing it more and more e.g. not listening to CDs on emotional health and relationships when I should be learning more about how blog content creation and monetization works. I think as a general tip, eliminate everything in your world (that you can) that doesn’t have to do with your goal at hand.

  The ability to focus on one thing at a time and eliminate all input that doesn’t assist in that endevour tends to result in a much higher quality of work even when you put in a mediocre effort.

  3) Practice the art of non-finishing: If the article isn’t useful, put it down. If the movie isn’t pulling your attention, entertaining or educating you, walk out. More isn’t better. More important, useful things are. Practice letting go, even half way of that which is ineffective, unimportant or useless.
  

• July 19, 2008
• 21:04

  How to Make Your Job Extraordinary and Become a Genius

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Hey,

  

  I just listened to this phenomenal podcast and I just thought I would share it with you. I am sitting on the fence at the moment as to whether I should try to organize an interview with Rick, about this issue because we spend majority of our time alive and awake at work, and it’s very important.

  But the ultimate decision is up to you guys: Should I interview him, shouldn’t I?

  That aside, regardless of your religion, and in spite of how you make a living, listen to this podcast because it has some great ideas.

  [See post to listen to audio]

  Final Thought: Definition of a Genius

  I have always searched for a context to share this, but since the context did not present itself, I thought I would present it anyway. One of the definitions of a genius is:

  Someone who focuses and takes action deliberately and consistently within a certain area of the human experience.

  You don’t even have to produce Einstenein results in order for you to be labelled as a genius. Just reflect on and do things in a particular field, day after day after day.

  This will make sense within the context of the podcast and is definitely something worth thinking about when you buy into the misconception that all genius is born and can never be manufactured, created or worked toward.

  Tomorrow, my interview with the one, the only Kirk Nugent (check out some of his tracks on his Myspace page here )

  Be blessed and bless others,

  Mwangi

• July 18, 2008
• 11:05

  Two Useful Resources For People Settling in Australia

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  In the midst of my assisting a brand new immigrant to settle in, I happened upon two cool resources that can help anyone who is settling into Australia.

  1) Skills Info:

  This webpage in short gives you more information on the skills and occupations that are in demand in Australia:

  Skills in Demand

  2) Things to do first:

  Consider this like the official version of How to Immigrate to Australia Within a Week.

  If you are immigrating to Australia to settle, it gives you the first 7 (best number) things you should do:

  Things to do first

  Final Matter on the Agenda

  If any of you lovely readers know anyone or know anyone who knows anyone who knows anyone who is an immigration consultant or lawyer or is simply an expert on immigration law or the immigration process for Africans in the diaspora, I would love to talk to them.

  My agenda is that at some point we create a section of this website dedicated to not just understanding immigration law, but leveraging it for our benefit so please, I am unable to be proactive on this one for the next couple of weeks, if you know anyone please send me an email at masmilele@thedisplacedafrican.com

  They don’t even need to be a writer, all I need are their time, ideas, knowledge and expertise. I’ll figure out the rest.

  Thank you everybody.

  Be blessed and bless others,

  Mwangi

• July 17, 2008
• 13:03

  My 4 Hour Work Week Journey: Pareto’s and Parkinson’s Laws

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  This is day 8 of My 4 Hour Work Week Journey. Please make sure you read the rest of the articles that came before this one to understand where I am in the journey. Click here to buy a copy of the 4 hour work week and go on the journey with me.

  Send Some More Love

  To him whom much is given, much shall be required. The folks at Hot Kenyan Goods, who can be found at Youtube.com/hotkenyangoods did me the great honour of promoting the interview that I did with Stella Mwangi aka STL.

  I just thought I would take this time out to thank them and encourage everyone to check out their videos and let them know what you think of them.

  Questions and Actions:Pareto’s and Parkinson’s Laws

  As I continue to go through all the question and actions section of the book (and ignore the comfort sections), my hope is that by now you have your own copy of the book so that you can follow along.

  You don’t neccesarily have to buy the book, but please make sure you are reading at least a free copy of it because it gives you a lot of the psychology, research and ideas that underly a lot of these exercises, which may seem ridiculous out of context.

  Should you have any questions about just what on Earth is going on, please leave a comment or send me an email at masmilele (at) thedisplacedafrican (dot) com - I love that format of writing out email addresses .

  The questions are:

  1) If I had a heart attack and had to work only two hours a day what would I do?

  • Spend one day writing many articles and spend the other days editing those articles, putting pictures and posting them up.
  • Sending press releases and gauging the response.
  • The 4 hour work week journey.
  • Read maybe 1 or 2 blogs of people who I have great relationships with: Doesn’t help productivity though.
  • Market the blog.
  • Check on jobs being done by VAs to ensure they are being done effectively.
  • Implementing and testing blog monetization techniques

  2) If I had to work 2 hours per week what would I do?

  • Make sure I have outsourced writing of the blog to good writers.
  • Focus solely on promotion and getting the word out there.
  • Podcast interviews if I enjoy them or ensuring I have outsourced to the right person.
  • Establishing and tweaking systems for testing blog monetization.

  3) If I had a gun to my head and had to quit 4/5 of the time consuming activities what would I cut out?

  • Reading blogs
  • Watching and downloading so many videos.
  • Looking for personal development materials online.
  • Run less.
  • Watch TV and movies during the night less.
  • Not checking email so much.
  • Not chating when it’s time to work
  • Not multi tasking
  • Not putting too many things in my to do list.
  • Not trying to get work done when others around.
  • Deleting all Facebook funwall notifications received.
  • Consolidating my Facebook profiles to avoid going back and forth between them.

  4) Top 3 activities I use to fill my time and feel as though I have been important or productive

  • Chating on Google talk
  • Watching personal development videos
  • Answering email
  • Rearranging and thinking about and reflecting on the blog instead of taking action

  5) Put two high impact items on your to do list daily: This one has a couple of steps:

  Plan the next day the evening before.

  On your to do list, put at most two high impact (80% result) activities. If you have a hard time deciding from the minutae, simply ask the question:

  If I finished one thing today that would make the most difference and bring me the most joy, what would that be?

  Answer that and lock it in the list. To check out how I implement this, check out this video:
  
  6) Put a constant reminder on Outlook or your computer asking either:

  Am I being busy or productive?

  or

  Am I inventing things to avoid doing the important?

  7) DO NOT MULTITASK: Single task to produce the most efficiency and impact out of every high impact activity ( think of the compound effect of focusing all your power and energy on a single, high impact task within time constraints).

  Use Parkinson’s Law: Create false time constraints so as to increase your output. Parkinson’s law basically proposes that the complexity of an activity will increase to fill in whatever time we alot it.

  Create a time constraint that results in you dedicating the minimum time neccesary to produce the maximum result.

  Any questions or comments and that’s what the comments thread below is for.

  To ensure you don’t miss a single moment of my 4 hour work week journey, subscribe to the site via RSS or email.

  Be blessed and bless others,

  Mwangi

• July 16, 2008
• 16:00

  What Everybody Ought to Know About Friendship

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Before I Get the Ball Rolling
  
  As always I like to give shout outs to everyone out there in the world wide African web doing great things. (Btw why are some of you African webmasters and bloggers so insular?) With that in mind, let me show some quick love to two people who have shown me an excess of affection:

  Nigerian Entrepreneur

  I asked him to write a tutorial on how people with lousy Internet connection can use Windows Live Writer to become more efficient bloggers and he complied. I haven’t read the article yet, but if it’s anything like his other work, it’ll be useful.

  Windows Live Writer Tutorial

  If you are reading this in a country or region where the net is slow check that link out.

  Pam from SARFM Radio

  If you check out the Displaced African’s media and press appearance’s page, you will realize that this week I added one new media appearance to the flock. It was a fun interview I conducted with Pam from SARFM Radio. Much more straight up fun than it was serious and insightful, feel free to check it out.

  Anyway, Pam sent me this email after the interview requesting that I put the word out:

  If you are an East African writer or artist or doing anything good and you need some free publicity, Pam from SARFM radio would love to hear from you. Either find them by checking out the SARFM radio website or by leaving a comment below or getting in contact with me.

  

  On to the Main Business

  The ideas behind this post are still quite fresh and have not fully marinated in my head: if you find the post, too abstract, leave a comment below and let me know.

  I am not going to say anything particularly revolutionary or brand new in this post, because this post was caused by my being forced to remember something quite fundamental about frienships that even I sometimes forget:

  There is a reason that someone is your friend. Take away that reason and unless there is/are another reason(s) that you are friends, they will cease to be your friend.

  A Problem

  A problem I often hear expressed when people make a life long change like converting religions or changing their lifestyle or changing anything dramatic or at the core of being a person is that they “realize that”:

  People who they thought were their friends turned out to be “fake friends”.

  Because this person ceases to be a friend the way they once were, it is taken as a betrayal of a friendship that one thought was eternal and immutable.

  The Flaw in this Type of Thinking

  I think the deepest flaw in this type of thinking is that its a very narcissistic way of viewing the world where you don’t take the moment to consider that perhaps other people may be just like you.

  Isn’t there a reason that everyone who is your friend is your friend?

  The Different Types of Friends We Have

  Don’t you have friends for at least one of the following reasons:

  1) Friends of circumstance: People who you see so often whether at school, work, church or anywhere you frequent regularly. You just have to figure out how to get along whether you like the other person initially or not.

  2) Friends of events: Friends who you do certain things with: this is especially true for people who have friends for worshiping and others for partying. And then there are others for all sorts of hobbies or miscellaneous activities.

  3) Friends who are like you: Immigrants get pulled to their own countrymen because they share a nation. Immigrants are pulled to each other because they are all foreign nationals. People think like you do, like what you like and have similar interests and since you like the same things, by extension you like each other.

  4) Friends who make you feel good: This one is a huge category that encompasses so many things such as friends who make you feel good because they make you feel superior, friends who excite you with their humour and outlook on life and all sorts of things about them just make you happy.

  I am sure I have missed a couple, so please leave a comment and add to the list.

  This Element is What Pulls you Together

  There are 6 billion people in the world. We are not all friends with each other. We tend to be pulled into relationship and community with people for one of the preceeding four reasons (and any others you may add below).

  That element is what binds you together. It’s not that he’s human and your human and so you’ll just naturally get along.

  Take away that string that holds the two of you together, and unless you have other things that connect you, your friendship will end.

  Why I Wrote this Post

  I wrote this post for a couple of reasons:

  One Like the Sun

  Firstly, to speak to those people who have the problem above. Take a moment and reflect. When you changed, did that affect the very thing that connects you to each other? If that is the case, then does it surprise you that your friendship ended?

  Let’s turn the tables: If you had never changed and your friend had changed the way you had, don’t you think YOU would have found it a bit difficult to remain friends with that person?

  Two Like a Shoe

  Secondly, I wrote this to encourage you to reflect on the bonds that lock you and your current friends together. What are they? Are they strong? Are they weak? Are they multiple? This simple act of reflection can go a long way towards helping you strengthen whatever friendships you may have by working on strengthening the connections that bring you together day after day. It may also help you figure out why you drift apart should you do so.

  Three Like a Tree

  Finally, I wrote it to encourage you to go out there and form more bonds with the friends you currently have. To illustrate this point I will use an absolutely terrible example from my teenage years (hopefully you’ll do better )

  The Story: the Last Time I Ever Shoplifted
  

  I had this very good friend in high school. One day he and I decided that we wanted to drink alcohol and that we were also too poor to pay for it. And so we went to a supermarket in the city to restock on some poisonous brew.

  We walked around the store pretending to browse around for close to an hour meanwhile taking sachets of brandy and rum and shoving them into whatever compartment and hole we could find.

  As we were about to make the “victory march” out of the store, we were pounced on by two plain clothed store policemen who bumrushed us not out of the store but all the way to the back where we were locked in a tiny manager’s office.

  What proceeded was an extended period of me and my buddy lying, being discovered as heartless, and very very cheap liars, getting beaten up by a store manager because:

  ” I go to work everyday to pay school fees for my children so that SCHUPID children like yourself can come here to steal our stuff”

  Me and my buddy left the store and immediately jumped into one of the severely overcrowded buses which was the inspiration behind tales such as this one.

  As we rolled home, and onto way more debauchery and self-destructive behaviour, we looked at each other and realized we had just become greater friends. We had stolen together, gotten caught together, lied for each other, had the sense knocked into us together and we were still here……..together.

  No longer would we just have good conversation, a classroom and silliness to bind us. Now we had a whole lot more.

  Back to the Final Point

  I use this example half tongue-in-cheek but I hope you see the point. Friendship is one of those important areas that I do not think we should leave to chance: stop reading this post now, leave me a nice comment and go out there and create another bond with your friend.

  Your future self won’t regret it.

  Have a friendly day,

  Mwangi

  PS: Feels like I haven’t written a post like this in a while and so it felt good to do this. Leave a comment and subscribe to the blog via RSS or email (apparently this tutorial is quite useful, so if you have no clue what RSS is, check out this little video tutorial page)

• July 15, 2008
• 17:01

  My 4 Hour Work Week Journey: Target Daily Income

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  This is day 7 of My 4 Hour Work Week Journey. Please make sure you read the rest of the articles that came before this one to understand where I am in the journey. Click here to buy a copy of the 4 hour work week and go on the journey with me.

  The part that you and I have been waiting for. Over the past 6 days we have set up the foundation. Today we put a dollar sign on the destination and get into the most compelling part of my 4 hour work week journey.

  Before I get started to be fully honest by this point, emotionally I am so over going through this journey. But I thought, even though my emotional reserves might be running on empty, better to put out something and keep going than stay put and so I hope you guys appreciate that as you read this.
  

  Questions and Actions: What Do You Want to Be, Do or Have? How Much Will IT Cost Per Month/ Per Day?

  1) What would I do if there was no way I could fail? If I were 10 times smarter than the rest of the world?

  I have already covered this in the following posts:

  What if You Had One Year Left to Live? The Bucket List

  8 Things I Would Like to Do Before I Do Before I Die & Meek Meek Meme

  How to Take Africa from Zero to Hero: Entertainment!

  My Story as an African Immigrant:Part five

  The Rules of the Timelines

  Tim proposes we create 2 timelines of 6 months and 12 months and in these two timelines put:

  a) 5 things we dream of doing having and being over these two time periods

  I am unclear as to whether Tim meant 5 things in total we want to be, do or have or 5 things we want to do, another five we want to be and another 5 things we dream of having. Therefore I opted for the latter.

  In addition to that, I don’t intend on doing all these things concurrently and some I may not even end up pursuing because of time constraints.

  I have limited attention and focus as a person and intend on doing all this stuff, one at a time. That having been said it will probably take me years to go through this list.

  6 Month Timeline
  

  Here are snapshots of my timelines

  Within 6 months I would like to be:

  Bodybuilder: I admire the discipline of Arnold and other elite athletes, including my friend in the army. Well chiseled individuals worth emulating would be folks like Tyson Beckford and Shemar Moore.

  Emotional master: This one is probably one of the ones that few folks will relate to. As I said in 8 Things I Would Like to Do Before I Do Before I Die & Meek Meek Meme , I would love to have complete emotional mastery and be in control of the ebb and flow of my emotions.

  From this place of control I would love to experiment and see if I can go seven days in a peak state without experiencing negative emotion.

  Not negative events or circumstances but where I am such control of my emotions that I am able to redirect the energy from these events into positive energy without going through negative emotions.

  What I like about this goal is that I have never seen it done and don’t even know if its possible. Let me strongly suggest that if you have the stomach for it, you at least set one “unrealistic goal” like this.

  Successful Internet entrepreneur: This one has a few parts:

  a) I want to be the preeminent blogger in some corner of the African blogosphere and be the “go to guy” for advice on some aspect of African life and am still wading through to discover which area/ areas I should focus on.

  b) I want to become a marketing and systemization consultant. I want to travel the world helping Africans make money or systemize their businesses or create cashflow sources so that they can live better and we can up our expectations and the amount of spare time we have so we can have significant, tangibe impact on Mama Africa.

  Therefore I want to study the work of Jay Abraham, Dan Kennedy, Michael Gerber and W.E. Demming to become the preeminent go to consultant on high leverage tactics for cash flow creation a.k.a. Mr. “Give You More Money and Or Time”

  Networker: There is a networking group where one needs to pay about $120,000 annually to get in. Apparently this gives you access to some of the upper crust of Western society. I want to understand how the world truly works so I can have the greatest impact I can: I want in.

  Within 6 months I would like to have:

  A Tesla Roadster: Google it and drool! It runs on electricity people! Electricity?! If not, I’d go the way of BMW with their hydrogen models that are currently marinating or go for anything that doesn’t aggravate humanity’s impact on the environment (if I have enough time to run and bike anywhere I need to go, that’s not necessarily a bad thing).

  Bodybuilder’s Build: I want to get the aesthetics out of the way early so I can focus on the true substance of experimenting and testing out to find the best diet for me. I want to experiment with raw veganism, acid-alkaline diets, green diets and as many “natural” (no supplements or additives or anything that’s not coming straight out of the ground) eating systems as I can. I understand that when someone is eating well, their natural state is to wake up buzzing and excited. I want to see if that is true.

  Custom made clothes: I want to build my own textile manufacturing project somewhere in Africa, where WTO has completely shafted the local textile industries, and begin creating my own custom made clothes, not just for myself but perhaps for sale. I would love to have “the Displaced African” as a clothing label someday.

  Membership site: I want to have my own online tutorial site where I teach Africans something. If this 4 hour work week journey succeeds, this might be what I teach….watch this space.

  Within 6 months I would like to:

  Dance championships: Train hard enough that I qualify, maybe even win some global hip hop championships. I like to move, but yet I suck at it. What better way for me to challenge and extend myself than this?

  Take a trip round the world: Depending on how successful this blog will be at the time and the community built around it, I would love to travel the world with a tiny camera stopping by reader’s homes and chatting. How cool would that be? A lot of beautiful women, cool cultures and lessons all over the world too.

  Radio theatre: When I started this blog, I knew that someday I wanted to experiment with radio theatre and creating my own online radio show. Again, how cool would this be? Watch this space! In the meantime check out the BBC African radio theatre shows from a few years back: they are what inspired me to do this.

  Interview untouchables: The two untouchables who come to mind, whose brains I would love to pick to find out how they can sway a crowd, control a crowd and hook them when they speak would be Anthony Robbins and Dwayne the Rock Johnson.

  Learn African languages: I want to learn all African languages I will have time to learn starting with my own native tongue, Kikuyu that I hardly know, branching out to Kiswahili (good Kiswahili not sheng which by this point is really its own language), then move on to learn all Kenyan languages including Luo, Taita, Kamba etc. Then Southern African languages and so on and so on and so on……I have just realized I have never seen West Africans speak in anything other than fluent and Pidgin English…hmmm, why is that?….

  12 Month Timeline

  Within 12 months I would like to have:

  My own clothing label that redefines fashion and hair throughout the continent of Africa and pumps money back into the local economy

  My own apartment in the city: Right next to the beach and somewhere where I can work, find piece and have fun with my friends on weekends.

  My own African media empire that completely revolutionizes the way Africans think about themselves. Refer to:How to Take Africa from Zero to Hero: Entertainment!

  Within 12 months I would like to do:

  Meeting with the president of Botswana: I would love to interview him and the ruling elite of Singapore to figure out what these folks are doing right and perhaps replicate that in other parts of Africa.

  Starting my own small theatre company that caters to an upmarket crowd: I love acting and performance and all aspects of moving people. I would love to just take a long period of my life and just dedicate it to acting and putting together good pieces of artistic work.

  Creating my own music album which is a collaboration with artists from all over Africa and being featured as a world class dancer in music videos throughout Africa: A Pan-African album where I work with everyone including Afro-latinos, African Americans, heck Maoris, Aboriginals and just put out a good album. Just because it’s been done before doesn’t mean I don’t want to do it. Has it been done before?

  Recording the history of Africa and exploiting it for today: I think I have already spoken about how strongly I feel we as Africans need to not only record our history and heritage as different tribes but also begin to incorporate the wisdom of year’s past into everyday life.

  I always use this as the example: the Luo and the Ashanti’s approach to death appears to be way healthier than the Western approach to death (If you don’t know what those approaches are, then I want to record all that and make sure you know).

  Within 12 months I would like to be:

  One of the greatest forces for political good in Africa

  World class classical and modern day singer and dancer

  World class speaker and motivator: Like Anthony Robbins, the Rock and Barrack Obama all rolled into one.

  Relationship expert: Way too important to leave to chance is what I always say. Pretty fun area to learn more about too.
  

  The Best of Both Dreamlines

  What four dreams or goals would change it all? Within each of the timelines, highlight the 4 dreams from each column that would be the most exciting to pursue

  That statement is quite vague to me and so what I ended up doing is taking 4 things from each of the timelines drawing them from the being, doing and having categories. Among the things I selected from the stuff listed above are:

  6 months

  Emotional master

  World class performer

  Join the exclusive mastermind group

  Bodybuilding

  12 months

  My own clothing label

  Studying the histories of Botswana, Singapore and other countries that have done quite well economically to figure out what they did right

  Become a world class blogger, Jay Abraham, W. E. Demming, Dan Kennedy, Michael Gerber business expert and help African businesses create cash flow.

  The Cost: The Target Monthly Income / Target Daily Income

  Let’s talk numbers:

  My target daily income is $3000 a day.

  For more information on how I arrived at this number I created a lengthy private video that walks you through some of the steps I took. Please note that I use the terms Target Monthly income and Target Daily income interchangeably but I have no clue what my target monthly income is, all I know is my target daily income:
  

  Now that we have quantified the end of this journey: let’s hit the ground running.

  To ensure you don’t miss a single moment of my 4 hour work week journey, subscribe to the site via RSS or email.

  Here’s to our collective success,
  Mwangi

• July 14, 2008
• 12:04

  Interview with Political Activist, Speaker and Soulfege Band Member: Derrick Ashong (Part 2)

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Enclosure: [download]

  

  The Podcast

  Things Covered

  1) Some of the work that Derrick is doing in Accra

  2) How did Soulfege get started?

  3) Information about the evolution of the Soulfege band

  4) Talks about their new album coming out July 15th 2008: Take Back the Mic

  5) How the music industry has reacted to Soulfege in the age of gangsta rap?

  6) Where you can get their new record?

  7) How can you support Soulfege

  Discussion about the famous Obama video

  9) Why does Derrick Ashong support Barrack Obama?

  10) Words of advice for someone who is about to immigrate to the States

  Websites mentioned

  1) www.facebook.com/soulfege

  2) Pick up their record at the Itunes store: [www.apple.com]

  3) The Obama video:
  

• July 13, 2008
• 15:01

  Interview with Political Activist, Speaker and Soulfege Band Member: Derrick Ashong (Part 1)

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Enclosure: [download]

  

  The Interview

  Things Covered

  1) Brief snapshot of the earlier years in Derrick Ashong’s life

  2) The relationship between Africans and African Americans

  3) Derrick’s relationship with African Americans and Caucasians in his final years of high school.

  4) How Derrick ended up in Harvard

  5) Derrick’s experience as a major in African American studies

  6) Most important insight that Derrick learned about Africans and African Americans after years of study

  7) How did he end up becoming a professional public speaker

  Who does he speak to as a professional speaker? What does he speak about?

  9) What intrinsic values does Africa have?

  10) Great take on the tribal disparities in Africa

  11) Why don’t more African youth participate in the development of Africa and its diaspora in a meaningful way?

  12) Are we African immigrants doing enough?

  Important Websites

  1) Soulfege website: www.soulfege.com

  2) Soulfege Facebook page: www.facebook.com/soulfege

  3) Derrick Ashong’s famous Obama video:

• July 12, 2008
• 16:00

  The Journey of a Christian Agnostic Theist: The Teenage Years

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  The images that I found for this post, and that I left out are simply breathtaking….wow!

  First of all, what a mouthful that is. To explain just what all this means I will refer you to Yahoo Answers:

  An agnostic Christian is a part of the agnostic theists. This means that this person is an agnostic (believes that the existence of god cannot be known by humans) but chooses to follow the Christian religion in spite of their agnosticism.
  Theism is the belief that gods or deities exist, while Agnosticism is the belief that the existence of gods are unknown or inherently unknowable. Belief is defined as a conviction of the truth of a proposition without its verification. Agnosticism does not violate this, and this definition of theism does not violate agnosticism, implying that it is possible to be both theist and agnostic.

  My Faith Journey
  
  And so, this Sunday morning, I thought I would give you a glimpse into my faith journey. Where me and religion have come from and where we’re going. Maybe you’ll see a little bit of yourself in my story. At the very least, you’ll know where I am coming from whenever I write on matters of the spirit. It is a convoluted tale that hops and skotches to and fro: it’s a story so I’ll allow it to meander.

  Childhood Debauchery

  The first person who introduced religion and faith to me clearly did not study marketing in this consumer-driven world. Had I first been introduced to Christianity in Australia, the Displaced African would probably have been the Displaced Prophet or Salt of the Earth: Aussie Version or something similar.

  I have no idea who it was, but I remember when I was very young getting it into my head that Christianity was about denial of sensual pleasures in order to please God who would burn me in hell if I didn’t follow his commands.

  Now this is True, But…….
  
  You don’t get people to come through the doors of the church like that. Honestly, no one is as good at bringing people through the door (and losing them over time) as the Western church. From missionaries who have managed to convert almost the entire global South, to even the way churches in a country like Australia run, they understand how to speak to people’s self interests and how to place God as the solution to YOUR personal problem.

  

  I Digressed There…….
  
  So, in short, me being the rebel that I was, never really wanted to say that I got saved out of fear. In addition to that, I kind of saw religion as a woman’s religion one time and other times as something practiced by a peer group that I did not want to impress -though a lot of them were so nice and I loved, still love, being around them.

  Now, I am far from alone in having a childhood like this. My native homeland is (I put this in heavy quotes) “80% Christian” last I heard. Meaning whether or not we are born again Christians, most of us have grown up around the church or church goers and have some type of Christian understanding of God. And yet, a lot of us are not born again.

  I Finally Got Born Again

  When I was a teen, the sermon, the music, the people and the message were just aligning like they never had and I made a decision:

  I was going to take up my cross and follow Him

  I’ll never forget our so-awesome-I-can’t-help-grinning-when-I-type-this sunday school teachers pulling us (about 3 or 4 of us) aside and giving us a talk. They showed us a book that was made of many different colours but no words. Each colour represented a different part of one’s spiritual journey with black being darkness and gold being heaven if I remember correctly. And so feeling super-great that I made a great decision that day I stepped out of sunday school a saved boy.

  

  It Lasted for ……
  
  …maybe 3 hours. Again the problem was not only in the way folks marketed the faith to me but how I viewed the faith now that I was born again: denial of pleasure. I still didn’t see the higher positive purpose in pursuing anything spiritual.
  I remember getting home and sitting in front of the TV staring at my Playstation.
  I was now born again and I knew that playing violent wrestling games was bad: Would I deny myself that pleasure? I didn’t. And so the descent began……..

  I Have Been Baptized By the Way

  I was baptized about a week later on Valentine’s Day 2000. By this point I had slid so far back into the secular I had formed my own secular state. The only reason I got baptized was because I wanted to have a house party and invite all the girls.

  Things went full circle and now I was how I was in the begining: a kid who didn’t want to convert because he thought he would be missing out on too much.

  To be continued……..

• July 11, 2008
• 16:00

  Mwangi Interviews Rap Sensation, STL aka Stella Mwangi

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Enclosure: [download]

  STL’s Music
  
  
  
  

  The Interview

  Things covered in the interview:

  1) Her first few years in Norway

  2) How did she learn Kikuyu and Kiswahili though she went to Norway when she was 4 years old

  3) Who IS Stella Mwangi (STL) ?

  4) What were her high school years like?

  5) How she got started with music at the age of 8 years old.

  6) Her relationship with boys and girls in her high school years

  7) How she got her stage name?

  How she did at school?

  9) Did she go to Uni straight after school? What did her parents think?

  10) How did people relate to her post high school?

  11) How she moved on to music fulltime?

  12) First time she was ever on stage

  13) Did she have any bad experiences as a singer?

  14) How she got to open for international rap stars such as Paul Wall and Busta Rhymes.

  15) How she became a star in her native country of Kenya?

  16) How she created “Take it back” and met Michelle?

  17) How did Kenyans react to her and her music?

  18) How she got accepted by Kenyan radio stations?

  19) How she won “Most Promising Artist” in the Kisima Awards?

  20) The one live show she did in Kenya

  21) How her full time music career works?

  22) How do people treat her now?

  23) Words of advice to anyone immigrating to Norway now

  Websites mentioned

  1) STL’s Myspace Page

  2) Opinions on Melbourne from Children

• July 10, 2008
• 14:02

  My 4 Hour Work Week Journey: Fear Setting

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  This is day 6 of My 4 Hour Work Week Journey. Please make sure you read the rest of the articles that came before this one to understand where I am in the journey. Click here to buy a copy of the 4 hour work week and go on the journey with me.

  As far as psychology is concerned, one of the most powerful tools you will get out of the 4 hour work week, should you choose to use it is: fear setting.

  NB: This post is rather long, but I really want to get to the meaty part of the journey, ASAP.

  What is Fear Setting?

  In a nutshell, fear setting is:

  When you are being held back from doing something by fear:

  1) Write down the absolute worst case scenario that can take place: This, in and of itself, makes you much more aware of what exactly you fear and more often than not you realize that what you fear isn’t all that bad.

  2) Write down things you will do to recover the situation or take advantage of these worst case scenarios should they take place: This changes your focus from Armageddon to thinking about how you can either avoid Armageddon or use it to create a brand new better world.

  Therefore, for the second edition of Question and Actions, you watch me perform some fear setting

  Question and Actions: Fear Setting Edition

  1) Describe the absolute worst, nightmare scenario that would take place if you did what you are considering:

  1. I would end up completely destitute and clear out my savings and waste all the money I intended on spending on the blog on keyword research and testing products during my 4 hour work week journey.
  2. My product would make me a laughing stock and ostracize me from my readers and community.
  3. My self confidence would drop to such a low level that I would spiral in a self-destructive manner and wallow in self pity for many unsuccessful, unfulfilling years long after this 4 hour work week journey fails.
  4. I lose faith in all marketing and all gurus and can no longer believe anyone or anything: my faith in humanity and society is shattered and self-destruction continues.
  5. I never get married or have a family and lose all my friends and readers because I am self-destructive.
  6. I begin to drink again and waste all my money for the next 60 years on alcohol and prostitutes, because my self-destruction and repugnance to members of all sexes completely cuts me off from any human contact or any sense of morality or community or caring.
  7. I shut down this blog absolutely distraught and ashamed and still have to pay for hosting and domains and services for the next 7 years.

  2) What steps would I take to repair damage or put things back on the upswing (my own addition: or exploit any negative situations?)

  1) I would work on one of the many minimum wage jobs that I recommended on the blog and ask all the members of my family to help me get back on my feet. I would sell my car that recently died. I would stop writing heavily for a while to focus on doing some freelance work and getting back on my feet. I would have sausage sizzles where I sell sausage sandwiches for a dollar each until I get back on my feet. I would look for a job on radio or a paper or any form of mass media using my blog as a credibility tool.

  2) Make the product something that benefits the African community and other communities (because Africans are pretty tight with the pocket and Internet commerce is quite new to us). Create something that consistently brings three bottom lines: money, environmental improvement and social improvement.

  3) I would immediately get to work on creating a membership site using Yaro’s teaching. I would learn from my mistakes how the Internet marketing world works before trying again. I would talk to Yaro and other members of Blog Mastermind about what I did wrong and keep that in mind as I move forward. I would read Jay Abraham’s material and other Internet marketing materials regarding the area I went wrong. Include it in my story once I finally succeed online to increase the drama.

  4) Go to the church and stay there for a long time around beautiful people who are the light of the Earth. Completely cut myself off from any cynical sections of Western society and disconnect myself from the capitalist money making machine for a while to focus on re-building my trust in humanity. I will always have Yaro Starak who really had a great product that so far has done exactly as it promised: taught me how to write, how to bring in readers, how to make money and how much to expect: I even have an email list too.

  5) I focus on successful relationships (intimate and non-intimate) and make it a focus of the blog for a long time while surrounding myself with wonderful church going people.

  6) Refer to 4 and 5.

  7) Refer to Number 1

  3) What are the outcomes or benefits of more probable scenarios?

  1. I would be able to live out my ideal lifestyle (more on this next post).
  2. All the reading, thinking and preparing I have done over the past 5 years would be affirmed.
  3. I would have something that I can teach my fellow African immigrants that would give some better control of time and mobility and a much greater ability to contribute to Africa.
  4. My self-confidence would go higher as I live embody more aspects of my 4 hour work week journey.
  5. I would get more readers on account of the journey.
  6. I would learn how Internet marketing works.

  4) If you were fired today, what would you do to restore financial stability?

  Refer to either Question 2s answer or read this article.

  5) What are you putting off out of fear?

  Nothing, I am already up for it: I am merely fear setting as an example.

  6) What is it costing you - financially, emotionally, physically - to not act?

  I am eating an excess of junk and my body isn’t where it should be because I can’t afford organic food or personal training as I pursue my body building goal.

  I still psychologically feel like a lot of people are ahead of me who shouldn’t be (mean to say, but I feel it).

  I am not living my ideal lifestyle.

  I have to juggle many things so as to fund the blogging lifestyle.

  I am not able to get VAs to do some of the more, unenjoyable tasks.

  I am not studying marketing from Jay Abraham, peak state from T. Robbins or exploring the world of PUAS or recording the history of Africa or becoming a public speaker or…..too many things to mention.

  7) What are you waiting for?

  You sold me already Tim, I am with you on the journey.

  Moral of the Story

  I think fear setting is an absolutely fantastic tool to use, not only when you are going on a 4 hour work week journey but also when fear is holding you back from doing something that can be of massive positive benefit to you.

  So, next time you feel fear creeping in: try fear setting. Takes the fear right out.

  To ensure you don’t miss a single moment of my 4 hour work week journey, subscribe to the site via RSS or email.

  Have a fear-free day,

  Mwangi

• 1:00

  The Displaced African’s Media and Press Appearances

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Enclosure: [download]

  Salutations. This page has been created with two purposes in mind:

  1) To encourage media outlets to get in contact with the Displaced African
  

  In a nutshell, if your media outlet is doing good work and you want to interview me or get in touch with me, I am predominantly available 24/7 as long as I receive prior notification of 24 hours or more.

  So send me an email now at masmilele@thedisplacedafrican.com or check out my contact page and let’s get talking.

  2) To post up all the press that the Displaced African receives and all its media appearances:

  I don’t want to have to stop churning out content in the intended order or interrupt the regularly scheduled programming of the blog every time I appear in the media.

  And so I have created this page which I will update every time I make a media appearance that I can publicly share. Check on this place regularly as I intend on media and media appearances becoming a big part of the Displaced African blog.

  Media and Press Appearances

  Interviewed by Capital FM on July 9th 2008

  A great 30 minute interview with Linda that was featured on Urban Nites on Capital FM. I recorded this myself by recording the live stream of Capital FM and then cutting it up in an amateur fashion: the content is still 100% intact and hearable:

  My first ever appearance on Capital FM

  Linda and the Urban Nites team talk about and send some love to the Displaced African. I talked about it in the article below:

  Listen Now to the Displaced African’s Appearance on Capital FM in Kenya

  My First Appearance as a Guest Columnist on Afrik, the English version.

  Find the first article I submitted here:

  Barrack Obama: A role model or simply an empty symbol

  This article was adapted and based on my earlier article:

  The Empty Symbol That is Barrack Obama

  My Guest Post to One of the Largest Websites in Nigeria according to Alexa.com, Naija Ecash:

  3 Blogging Secrets Learned from My First 5 Months of Blogging

  My Appearance on the Website, Kenyan Jewels:

  They featured the press release I sent them:

  Kenyan Jewel: Tony Njanja (Australia)

  My Press Release Featured on African Loft:

  Displaced African Press Release

  My media and podcast page on African Loft:

  Masmilele Page on Africanloft

  My appearance on the Nairobi Star Newspaper:

  It all started with the interview below:

  Nairobi Star’s Grace Kerogo Interviews Mwangi

  And ended with this article (please ensure that you have Adobe Reader to read the article), where unfortunately the name of my site was mispelled. First media appearance for me and so I was thankful and didn’t really care.

  Nairobi Star Article featuring the Displaced African

  The Weird Way In Which I Ended Up Mentioned on the East African Standard

  Follow the trail beginning here:

  M Does Not Stand for Mwangi: Mwangi Stands for Mwangi » The Displaced African

  My First Guest Post on Kenya Imagine

  It all started when I got contacted by Kenya Imagine:

  A Cause for Celebration: Have a Great Day!

  And Julia from Kenya Imagine asked me to bring my debate to Kenyan Imagine:

  Why Stereotypes Can Be Good and What we are Taught about Formalized Education Sucks?

  My Interview with SARFM Radio in New York

  As a result of my press release being featured on African Loft, I got a call from the lovely Pamela Stitch all the way in New York and we managed to record this fun interview where we cover aspects of my immigrant life, interracial relationships, Heidi Klum and Seal.

  Professional Images of the blog’s head writer,Mwangi

  

  To stay a part of the Displaced African (tDA) community as it continues to grow, subscribe to the site via RSS or email.

• July 08, 2008
• 16:00

  My 4 Hour Work Week Journey: Q & A and the Dollar Amount We Are Aiming For During this Journey

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  This is day 5 of My 4 Hour Work Week Journey. Please make sure you read the rest of the articles that came before this one to understand where I am in the journey. Click here to buy a copy of the 4 hour work week and go on the journey with me.

  Hey everyone, I hope you are having a great day, night, afternoon, siesta-time, no time, everytime, wherever you are.

  Quick Thanks…..Again

  I am pretty psyced:I did my first ever radio interview with Linda from Capital FM this morning and surprisingly I was super comfortable doing and so public thanks to Linda for making me super comfortable and for creating a fun and informative question list.

  The interview had between 4 - 7 false starts and so the way she rolled with the punches even as sleep did battle with her eyes was pretty cool, pretty cool. Asante sana sana sana (Thank you very very very much).

  Today’s Video
  

  It will make a lot of sense as I go through the journey.

  Questions and Actions

  One of the key ideas of the book, the 4 hour work week, which I absoloutely love is quite often in the book he has Q & A: Questions and actions.

  This is where he basically makes you look inward and ask yourself particular questions all with the end result being that you take action that takes you closer to your ideal lifestyle. The D for Definition part of the book has three questions and actions so I’ll get right into it

  Questions and Actions: Pulling you Out of the Comfort Zone

  Tim knows that a lot of what he says will seem counter-intuitive and illogical and so in his first Q & A immediately goes about the task of poking holes in this real world and its rules that we hold so dear to.

  To play along with me let’s answer the following three questions which are the first Q&A:

  1) How has being “realistic” and “responsible” kept you from living your ideal lifestyle?

  2) How has doing what you “should” resulted in sub-par experiences or regret for not having done something else?

  3) Look at what you are doing and ask yourself, ” What would happen if I did the opposite of all the people around me?”

  4) Finally, ask, “What will I sacrifice if I go down this track for the next 10, 20, 30 or 50 years?”
  

  My Answers (No Copying Though )

  1) Hmmm. I think this one goes all the way back to when I was 16 years old. As those of you who have read my story would know, I have had delusions of grandeur for many years.

  Though I am a huge supporter of secondary education and love the fact that I have a great high school diploma, I think as I had simply dropped out of school if I had intended and committed myself fully to serving Africa and Africans and/or becoming a performer, projects like the Displaced African would have started a lot sooner.

  I was at the peak of my mental clarity when I was 16 and since then my ideas have definitely been clouded and influenced by superficial concerns of the world.

  I’ll never really know what I could have achieved or what I could have created or changed had I thrown caution to the wind and gone out into the world with a clear vision and a deep passion. (Hope that answer wasn’t too ambiguous, leave me a comment below and let me know if it was)

  2) This answer will probably fly over the heads of a lot of folks, but I don’t know if I shared this, but I am very pedantic and anal about how I interact with people. I analyse it and think about it quite often, what I did wrong or right, what different groups of people respond to and so on and so on.

  I think following what other people did and their ways of interacting and not sticking to my guns resulted in my social life not being as it should have been at many stages in life.

  I abdicated responsibility for determining my identity within social situations to other people and over time I lost my spark, my fire, became more and more timid and lost my chutzpah. A lot less women were met and I had a lot less fun than I should have. Hmm, dunno if folks will get this answer either, but it felt like the right answer to me.
  

  3) I am already doing this: let’s see what happens at the end of this 4 hour work week journey and over the course of the life of the Displaced African.

  4) You know, one of the huge reasons I chose to start this blog was because of looking around and overall not really being impressed by the way African immigrants were conducting life. In the United States for example, we are the best educated ethnic group and here in Oz folks are far from book-illeterate or penny foolish.

  And yet, I never heard much about people who were doing great things in the diaspora. No books, no movies, no websites, no “urban legends”, no real legends. Even once I got here, over time I realized that many people here seemed to be living waaayyyy below their potential in terms of intellect and education. Now this could be for two reasons:

  a) We Africans in the diaspora are not good at getting the word out there about our successes and/or I am very ignorant about the people who do great things out here.

  b) We don’t have that many successes to celebrate. Either way, this blog makes some sense.

  Hmm, this post is long enough as is and so I will leave the other two Questions and Actions for the next post.

  To ensure you don’t miss a single moment of my 4 hour work week journey, subscribe to the site via RSS or email.

  Have a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious day,

  Mwangi

• July 07, 2008
• 12:04

  Till Death Do Us Part? BullS……….

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Pretty provocative title huh?

  

  This article was provoked by a discussion I started having over at Kelly’s blog, (you know I think its the blog I have linked to the most times unless I’m mistaken), anyway, I’ll quote the little discussion we had below:

  Kelly said:
  Do you believe in divorce? - Yap!
  If you are divorced, why did you do it? If you have not, are there certain circumstances under which you would agree to a divorce? - If any relationship is not working out, I don’t believe in struggling to make it work. Life is too short to spend it unhappy, fighting and stuff.
  
  Mwangi said:
  Do you believe in divorce?-Absolutely, totally, unequivocally not: Why make such a commitment and make some trust you when at the back of your mind you know you can break that trust. The fact that it exists, saddens me.
  If you are divorced, why did you do it? If you have not, are there certain circumstances under which you would agree to a divorce?-Nope, she’d have to kill me. Even if she tried to (kill) me with a butcher knife,she is my wife and my gift from God, I have to take care of her until death parts us.
  
  Kelly said:
  @Mwangi: …….can I just say I love the way you’re passionate about the whole ’till death do us part thing’? For me, thats one part of the vows that I don’t plan to say IF I’m getting married cos I know, unfaithfulness, and several other things can do us part.
  
  Mwangi said:
  Btw (by the way for the unitiated), though I know this will severely limit my options once the time comes,if a woman believes in divorce she immediately puts herself in the buddy with benefits corner and no further than that. Ai, no, personality and compatibility matters a whole lot less to me than the knowledge that me and her will be together, forever through anything…..
  
  
  Kelly said:
  It’s kinda sweet but also scary to know the man you’re marrying would rather die than divorce you…
  
  Mwangi said:
  It’s a fear I am willing to live with, this is a lifelong thing…….
  
  Val said:
  Wah…mwangi..ati you’d rather death than divorce?? As PinkMM says thats tres scary..I believe in struggling to make it work..but only if both of you are committed to it..otherwise one sided struggles don’t do it for me
  
  

  Mwangi said:
  @Val: When one is young and the relationship is casual, keep it as casual as can be, no biggie, no problems there. But what I am not a fan of is people who lie to themselves and each other (telling someone you have known for a month or so I will love you forever, unless you bore me, do something wrong, make me feel worthless enough times, something better comes along etc etc) But if you look someone in the eye, and before God and a preacher make a committment to do something for life, you shouldn’t say something like that if you don’t mean it. If you do that, you’re lying to your spouse, the preacher, God, all the guests and most of all yourself. I don’t really want to be the type of person who has to lie to myself. Yeah, it’s not really as grave as it sounds, but when I decide to committ I intend on taking it very seriously. That’s why I was saying I know my way of thinking will severley limit my options: not enough people really believe in those marriage vows really, there is always a caveat (if I become unhappy, infidelity, my career, money problems, if it’s not working out etc etc) Hmm there might be a post in this somewhere we’ll see.

  Mwangi, You’re Young Why are You Thinking About Such “Heavy Stuff” Now?

  

  Well, the reason is because I deeply believe in the principle:

  Begin with the end in mind

  In spite of everything that I may or may not do while I am young, dumb and full of………, I must forever remember that when it’s all said and done I will eventually be blessed with the gift of a wife ( or wives ) and children who I will be responsible for every single day until I die.

  So I think it’s important, from even the age of 15 or whenever it is that you gain some form of self-awareness for you to start thinking about the type of husband, father, friend, person you want to be. What you focus on is what you become? So please make sure you are in control of that.

  Till Death Do Us Part!……..Unless……….

  As you can see from the comments above, the mentality I am moving forward with and cultivating as I go along is that when I get married it’s till death do us part, full stop, exclamation.

  In my mind I put no caveats on that statement: even if she tries to kill me I’ll stay with her, even if she bores me or doesn’t fulfill me emotionally I will stay, even if she tries to steal from me or cheats on me, I’ll stay.

  

  Easier Said Than Done

  Of course this is much easier said than done, but one thing that this life is teaching me is that in order to succeed in any field of endevour, you determine the desired outcome first and work on creating that rather than the “let’s wait and see what happens” mentality that a lot of folks chose to live by.

  So Why Do You Think Like That?

  I know a lot of you probably grew up in families where there were one or two people who were just black sheep through and through and through. Self destructive to the max and always bringing down the people around them.

  I was so touched when I looked around at the times when this situation took place and realized that the family always stuck by the black sheep. That type of loyalty even during the hard times really inspired me.

  In my first few years here, when I was an angry kid just trying to find my way, there were teachers in high school ( Mrs. S and Mr. K ) and relatives of mine who always tried to talk to me and guide me and mentor me and all through that period, my family was there. I never forgot that.

  None of these people HAD to do anything. They could have thrown me out when I wasn’t-and still am not-the best person to be around. They could have ignored me or simply dismissed me as crazy, not always a bad thing, but they didn’t. They stuck by me.

  I Want to Be…

  I want to become the type of man who does that for my family. I never ever want my child or spouse to be in question as to whether or not I’ll leave or betray them. I never want to doubt myself or my ability to live up to the principles and standards that I set.

  I view my spouse(s) and whatever kid(s) I may have as divine gifts from God that I am responsible for until the day that I day and I want to live that viewpoint through my actions.

  Let’s Talk About Love

  Now as many of you know, I am not at all a fan of building a life long marriage upon feelings of infatuation (what other folks called love) and that I don’t tend to view love the same way that other individuals look at it.

  But will I be looking to get married to someone who infatuates me, of course. Will I want an absolutely gorgeous, curvaceous, bottom-heavy (African men know what I’m talking about) woman who I can converse with and who I feel I can bring something to? Of course!

  BUT, I do not want our union to be based upon how much she infatuates me today. Sure I want to cultivate and work on passion so that I go nuts for her (I am easily entertained and excited so this shouldn’t be too hard) for the rest of our lives. But if she doesn’t drive me nuts, I don’t want to be the type of man who leaves in pursuit of the next thrill.

  I don’t want my child to question their own worth because daddy can’t somehow find a way to navigate around the fact or solve the problem of the sexual spark being gone.

  

  In Conclusion

  And so I’m just letting you know, and in fact if this blog will still be around then, I expect you guys to hold me accountable, that when I go before a church, God, my family, friends and that minister, look a woman in the eye and tell her:

  I will be there in sickness and in health. The good times and the bad. From this day forward you and whatever children we may have are my divine gifts that I will serve, love, protect and live for, TILL DEATH DO US PART!

  You best believe I mean that. Of course it’s kind of scary, this is a lifelong journey with no guarantees: I would be scared for you if that didn’t make you a little nervous.

  Be blessed and bless others,

  Mwangi

• July 06, 2008
• 12:04

  My 4 Hour Work Week Journey: D for Definition (The Rules of the Game)

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  This is day 4 of My 4 Hour Work Week Journey. Please make sure you read the rest of the articles that came before this one to understand where I am in the journey. Click here to buy a copy of the 4 hour work week and go on the journey with me.
  

  Step 1: D is for Definition (Pages 21 - 48)

  The D for definition section is chock full of great information. For the sake of expediency we shall only talk about three things:

  a) Annecdotes that make one want to begin their own 4 hour work week journey.

  b) Laying the psychological ground rules that you must keep in mind when you are going through the process of lifestyle design.

  c) Comfort and other exercises meant to help you define the type of lifestyle you want and deal with the discomfort of going on the journey.

  Annecdotes

  From stories that show how empty the blind pursuit of fortune can be, to stories of families that have gone overseas, to even controversial Olympic gold medalists, Tim uses real life case studies and stories throughout this section to illustrate just how his principles and ideas apply in real life. Seeing as they don’t have direct bearing on my journey, I won’t delve into them and will leave these stories for you to read.

  The Ground Rules

  For the rest of this 4 hour work week challenge I will paste these ground rules on the mirror in my bathroom so that I read them every evening ( I work at night and sleep during the day) when I wake up. I have attached a video where I talk about this below:
  
  The objectives of the new rich are quite different from those of conventional 9 to 5ers:

  1. To have others work for you.
  2. To prevent work for work’s sake, and to do the minimum neccesary for the maximum effect.
  3. To distribute mini-retirements throughout one’s life as opposed to “saving it all up” for the end of life.
  4. Not to be inactive, but to do what is exciting.
  5. Not the empty accumulation of possession but to become and do what you want to do, whether that involves material possessions or not.
  6. To be neither boss, nor employee but rather owner: Owning the train and allowing others to make sure they run on time.
  7. To make money TO achieve dreams. The dream comes first and you make money to achieve a dream and don’t just make money for the sake of making it.
  8. To have more quality things in your life and less clutter as opposed to simply more things, information, people etc etc
  9. As entrepreneurs, constant cash flow is objective number one; big paydays are a secondary objective.
  10. To never have to step away from one’s dream to go back to working for work sake (which Tim actually has an initial for: W4W)

  In addition to that, there are some things I will have to keep in mind for the remainder of my journey if I am to be succesful:

  1. Retirement and accumulation for retirement is only done as a buffer against worst case scenarios and is not the desired lifestyle.
  2. Interest and energy are cyclical and therefore life should alternate between extended periods of enjoyable work and enjoyable rest and leisure.
  3. Less is not laziness: The goal is always to do the least work to achieve maximum output instead of constantly being busy especially with meaningless work.
  4. Timing is never right: Whenever one chooses to engage in something like a 4 hour work week journey or anything that makes one uncomfortable, there is never a right time. Truth be told, it’s a pretty bad time for me too. But don’t let that stop you. If it can have massive positive consequences, go for it.
  5. Ask for forgiveness and not permission: If it isn’t going to devastate people around you, but will make them uncomfortable, try it AND then justify it. Get very good at getting things started without asking for the permission of those around you and apologize when you screw up.
  6. Emphasize strengths and don’t fix weaknesses: Leverage your strengths and don’t work in areas of weakness, even though it’s to fix them.
  7. Things in excess become their opposite: We don’t want too much of anything - idle time, possessions etc etc. Instead we want a life that is more cyclical and balanced in nature.
  8. Money alone is not the solution: Money will never ever solve the deeper, existential questions that haunt us all.
  9. Relative income is more important than absolute income: If you can’t move around at will and don’t have time to enjoy the money you make, then someone who earns the same amount working less hours and with the ability to travel at will is many times richer. Relative income factors in time and mobility. Absolute income is just about the cents of dollars.
  10. Distress is bad, Eustress is good: For any people who studied psychology, then you all know what eustress is: good stress ( it exists, I hear some ask?). This is stress that makes us grow and expand as people in a healthy way. Distress is stress that simply eats away at us and leaves us no better. The goal isn’t to be inactive or eliminate stress but we want a whole lot of eustress that will make us better people.

  Comfort Exercises

  I have decided that I won’t do any of the comfort exercises in the book for the simple reason that I am not uncomfortable about going on the journey and so don’t need to slowly come out of my shell to go on it.

  So I will concentrate all my energy around going on the journey: see you on Day 5.

  To ensure you don’t miss a single moment of my 4 hour work week journey, subscribe to the site via RSS or email.

• July 05, 2008
• 12:04

  Why Do Our Accents Change When We Immigrate Abroad?

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Enclosure: [download]

  Today let’s talk about a little something that we all see or do when we go abroad.

  
  The Change of Accent

  This “art form” goes by many different names:

  a) Wenging or wanging

  b) Butchering/murdering the English language

  c) Pretending/ Being fake

  d) Becoming “bougei like that”

  But why does is it that the way in which we pronounce words all of a sudden changes when we move to a foreign nation?

  Mwangi’s Theory

  The reasons I think it happens, which have probably been discussed heavily in private conversation, are:

  1) Marketing

  2) Inferiority complex.

  Inferiority Complex
  
  Very few Africans are in doubt that many of us do have inferiority complexes when it comes to white people and Westerners.

  Sure, it varies in degree, character and expression but a lot of us kinda know that its there.

  However, there are those of us who still vehemently hold on to the belief that Africans do not think of themselves in any way shape or form as inferior to our Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian, Western and other cousins in this human race.

  To prove my point, journey with me as I go through a mental exercise. Let’s call it, “Why doesn’t……”

  Why Doesn’t……
  
  Our accent change when we go to:

  1) Other African countries

  2) Meet with people from other tribes in Africa

  Seriously, some of us can spend our time around other African people from other countries all our lives and our accent will never change.

  By Comparison
  
  I actually have a friend who the moment they landed here, immediately abandoned Kiswahili (why do people call it Swahili, it’s Kiswahili, folks, Ki-swahili) and her native tongue and until this day spends most of her time butchering the English language, check out the silly audio below for an imitation of “her linguistic skills”.

  On the other side, people close to me have considered taking lessons with an expert on how to adapt their accent to the what I lovingly call, the Down Under Drawl.

  I will move into the second point, marketing, by continuing with the game of

  Why Doesn’t, Part two
  
  Why doesn’t our accent change when we go to:

  1) India

  2) Oriental Asia

  I have met quite a few people who went to study in India and none of their accents changed a lick. I have met other folks who have studied in Malaysia, and nothing.

  Give me 6 years here and all of a sudden I sound like a hybrid between Patrice Lumuba, Emily from friends, Kofi Kingston, the All blacks, Steve Irwin, Mtukudzi and Wainaina.

  The Marketing Stereotypes

  It’s all because other groups have been marketed as cool (Acolyte, I am aware these are stereotypes, but note how these stereotypes are indeed used to push products and TV shows out there):

  1) Americans market themselves as the loveable, uber-committed, individualistic cowboys and rogues

  2) The Brits are posh

  3) The Aussies are laid back and charming

  4) The French are romantic

  5) The Spanish are lovers

  As to the Indian accent, I’ll let Russell Peters talk about that one (NB: There is some swearing in this video clip) :
  

  And so on and so on and so on. Combine that with the Western entitlement syndrome, which even we buy into and it results in us believing that Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians are the superior human product that we should model in order to become better people.

  My Take On It

  And with that, you have my take on why our accents switch gears when we land overseas.
  To hear more insights on this immigrant life, make sure you sign up to receive free regular updates via either email or RSS.

  Finally: A Silly Spot of Fun

  If you are not a fan of silliness as I am, skip this and leave a comment below. As I was writing the article, I got the idea to record this. Lovers of folly enjoy (Keep the volume on a mid setting because the volume fluctuates)

  Question:Why do YOU think our accent changes?

  Mwangi

• July 04, 2008
• 12:04

  What Every Immigrant Parent Ought to Know About their Children

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Hello hello hello. Today I thought I would share with you an article that I wrote a while back with the intention of getting myself featured on an African immigrant newsletter. The editor’s of the newsletter were way too slow in contacting me and I thought that this article has some insights that should be shared anyway. I know not many of you are in the situation described below (i.e. parents of immigrant kids or people here with family) BUT hopefuly you can still pick up a little something, something from it. B blesd, Mwangi

  

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  I am truly blessed to be here with my nuclear family. I look around at a lot of my peers who didn’t have the privilege of coming with their families and am truly thankful. However, as with everything in life, my being here with my parents presents it’s own unique challenges.

  Fortunately for you, the conflict that is currently taking place in my household is a great tool of education and insight into not only the differences in how the older and younger immigrants think, but also possible solutions as we move forward as a community.

  So Here Goes and Notice How You React Depending on Your Age……

  I am a college dropout!

  I went to college twice. I first went to acquire a Bachelor of Business at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. I share my life story on my blog so I won’t go into too much depth, but needless to say I dropped out.

  I dropped out because the course I had always wanted to get into since high school, Bachelor of Film and Television, finally accepted me.

  I was cruising along the course and honestly enjoying it – we watch and make films all day, what’s not to love.

  But I came to a point where I became very discontent and got an itch that kept urging me to stop the learning by instruction and start learning by living life, real life. And so I left.

  The Universal Parental Reaction from Lagos to Nairobi

  It really doesn’t matter which country they come from. If I am talking to an African immigrant mother, I have the same discussion over and over and over and over again:

  “Go back to school”

  “But I am leaving to start up my own Internet business!”

  “That’s well and good. You can do it part time, but just go to school, get your papers and then you can do what you want.”

  “But I know what I want to do with my life and the way to do it. I just want to get on with it, without wasting precious time preparing at school.”

  “But what will you have to fall back on if this Internet thing doesn’t work?”

  And with that question we get to one of the areas where generations of immigrants don’t see eye to eye

  

  Young Guard vs Old Guard

  You see, I see opportunity everywhere. I have come from a place where even with my endless optimism, I must admit that the opportunities are very limited. Landing in Australia, it becomes very clear to a bright-eyed fellow such as myself that this land is clearly flowing with milk and honey if you can serenade the cows or attract the bees.

  So, What if the Internet Thing Doesn’t Work Out?

  Then, in no apparent order I can fall back on:

  “My resourcefulness, my wits, my cunning, the Dole, Centrelink, my seven years of HECS funding, my friends, my family, free education via public libraries, free Internet access, free funding for small businesses if I have a good plan, homeless shelters, the Salvation army, various Australian charities and so on and so on and so on………”

  Never Forget Why You Brought Us Here

  You should never forget why you brought us here. You brought us here because you wanted to leave a place where the possibilities were limited and bring us to a place where we could do, be and have so much more.

  So please, allow us to do that. Don’t let your Africa-specific fears dictate the way you guide and mentor me as I navigate this broad, vast land that is Australia. Allow me to go off the beaten path, knowing that there is a chance that I may fail. However, should I succeed, I just may create a brand new path that millions of African children will one way dance through.

  And So We Come Back Full Circle

  I am still a college dropout. Every single day my mother still tries to implore me to go back to college and “get real papers so I can get a real job.” But, remember if I had heeded her advice, I wouldn’t have written this article where I implore you to please support your children as they experiment with paths you are too scared to venture.

  Since the folks at AfricanOz (the newsletter that I still hope will publish this article) have been gracious enough to give me this platform to share with you, I feel discontent simply leaving you with an ambiguous story that has numerous interpretations. So below I share 4 concrete tips for parenting an immigrant child from someone who is currently being parented

  

  4 Tips on Parenting….from a Child of a Parent

  1. Be Aware of Your Surroundings: I think this is quite possibly the most important tip I will share. The way Western societies work, immigrant families usually spend very little time in a given day, together. During these gaps from each other, we as young, fresh minds are bombarded by the most sophisticated marketing and propaganda campaigns in human history. As a result, whatever message they chose to impart in us, by default, is much more powerful than any words of advice you may want to share with us. If they tell us that we will gain worth in society by listening and heeding the words of hardcore gangsta rap artists, then we are more likely to listen to the marketing team at Interscope records than we are to the gentle (sometimes harsh) pleas of a caring parent who we only see two hours a day. For that reason, be extremely aware of what your child allows into his mind through the media, Internet and his peer groups. Which leads me to tip number two:

  2. Peer Groups: Observe your child’s peer group and you can tell what he does with majority of his time and probably what he will do in future. Do you like where his peer group is going? If not, you’d best find a way to get him into a better peer group.

  3. Be Aware of the Culture of the Land: As a result of the huge propaganda campaign a lot of Western cultural norms are now ours. Gone are a lot of our traditional beliefs in favour of what a lot of us (not myself) consider to be the “more modern” Western alternatives. So that means that a lot of us have very different standards when it comes to sexuality, the relationship between adults and children, our place in society, God and pretty much everything you can think of. If you find yourself continually butting heads with your child, look across the hedge and look at how the Australian child relates to their parents, therein may be the answer.

  4. We Are Young and Opportunities are Everywhere: These two are very separate points worthy of their own discussion but I will bunch them together because in my mind’s eye they’re as connected as the Siamese. The reason I did not bat an eyelash when I left school and am extremely confident in pursuing my fortune sharing knowledge on the world wide web is because in my heart of hearts I know two things.
  One, I am young, full of energy and as a result of growing up in two cultures, very resourceful.
  Two, even if all my ventures fail miserably, I live in a welfare society that has safety nets galore. I can simply live of the dole while I write my second business plan which I will submit to the government bureaucracies that fund and support small business and who knows maybe I might make my fortune on the second or third or fourth time that I commit to a project I am passionate about. Bottom line:failure doesn’t mean I will starve. So relax, we are here. Push comes to shove, I’ll be fine.

  

  btw: How awesome is this picture? One of the coolest pics I’ve found in a while….

  And with that, allow me to sign off. Before I do, let me thank all the parents for bringing us here. But we are here now, please, allow us to do the rest.

  Be blessed and bless others,

  Mwangi

• July 03, 2008
• 13:03

  Listen Now to the Displaced African’s Appearance on Capital FM in Kenya

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Enclosure: [download]

  Before I Get to the Main Attraction

  1) For some reason, the sidebar of the website isn’t working as it should, i.e. on the homepage, it isn’t there, it drops all the way to the bottom of the article. I am aware of the problem and am on it and thanks for patience dealing with that.

  2) I am going to be interviewed on Capital FM next week and for any of you who are fans of SARFMRADIO in New York, they called me and asked for an interview too, so look out for me on that too. Yay! Too too blessed.

  

  Back to the Script

  As I spoke about a few days ago, the Displaced African (tDA) was talked about on one of the largest radio station’s in Kenya, Capital FM, during their show, Urban Nites. Thanks to everyone who showed much love and to those of you who asked for a recording here it is:

  The Displaced African on Urban Nites

  There are some areas where there is brief silence and brief music, that’s just to give the track some breathing room before the talking starts, once you press play there is no need to forward for the entire duration of the track.

  Some Thoughts

  The folks at Capital did me a huge service not only because they put me on the air, but because they:

  a) Made the website sound much bigger than even I thought it was, which now gives me super morale to keep moving and growing to expand and beat these expectations.

  b) They gave me a lot of ideas for articles that need to be written.

  c) They reminded me what this blog is all about, which I sometimes forget.

  To stay a part of the tDA as it continues to grow, make sure you stay up to date via either free email or RSS updates. To learn just what RSS is, click here.

  Be blessed and bless others,

  Mwas

• July 02, 2008
• 13:03

  What is the Western Entitlement Syndrome?

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  What is the Western Entitlement Syndrome?
  
  If this article is a little to abstract or ambiguous, ask questions in the comments thread and I will gladly make sure you get what I’m trying to say.
  
  In the interests of ensuring that everyone understands everyone as much as possible, I will write about something today that I have chosen to label:
  
  The Western Entitlement Syndrome

  

  
  

  But Mwangi What is the Western Entitlement Syndrome?

  I am so glad you asked. It should be noted that this syndrome is most visible in either people who are from the West AND (this is important) people who are Westernized, i.e. anyone from a city is at risk of getting this disease. The Western entitlement syndrome is a rather complex thing that has a few parts:
  
  It is the genuine heart felt belief that goodness and blessings are a birthright for the simple fact that I was born. This is coupled with a belief that God, the world and everything in it is on one’s side and anything that isn’t one one’s side and/or takes away from the goodness is either an obstacle that must be eliminated or a weird, creepy thing that must be ignored.
  
  As I said, it is a complex thing (and I was too lazy to split it up into parts and explain each different part) and so to illustrate just what this syndrome looks like I will tell you a couple of stories:
  
  

  The Young Men Who Thought they Were Supermen

  I remember back when I was still in high school I went to this house party. It was in a small secluded home at the very top of a dark, well forested mountain. I showed up in there with three of my “brothers from the motherland” determined to make cross-cultural exchange a double entedre.

  I was the loudest, most obnoxious fellow in the room. And after singing, hugging, grabbing, joking, huffing and puffing, I packed my bags because I was going home alone. As we were packing up to leave a panic hit the party.

  
  

  Are those Boys Mad?

  It turns out that the girl hosting the party had had a spat with three vveerrrryyyyy drunk boys who had attended the party and somehow the boys decided that the way they would get vengeance would be by trying to take the 5-10 kilometer extremely-convoluted-and-pitch-black hike down the mountain on their own. Well, their technique looked like it worked because this girl was horror stricken.

  
  

  The Search Begins

  We packed my friends saloon car with 5 males and 2 girls and off we went in search of these three young men, as the rain came pouring heavily down. We screamed their names and drove around for close to an hour and a half before we found the first boy. Soon after we found the second.

  
  

  The Third is Always the Special One Isn’t He?

  I will never forget the way we found the third one. I want you to imagine the Blair Witch Project or the Exorcist. The world around us was in a blanket of darkness but for the meagre lights of my buddy’s Nissan Silvia. As we descended down a hill, at the very bottom of it, the spotlight rest on a what-the-heck-is-that-doing-in-the-middle-of-nowhere street post that had two signs, one pointing to the left and one to the right. Leaning against that pole, completely drenched and looking like he was among the walking dead was the third boy.

  
  

  Success

  I don’t even know if he was fully conscious as we brought him back to the car and put him in the backseat. Feeling very much like self-sacrificing heroes, me and my buddy got in the trunk of the car so that these boys could have room in the back seat.

  What I have never forgotten about that day, aside from the hyperbolic drama, was the last thing the third boy said to me just as we were dropping him home:

  Thank you. I didn’t know what I was thinking. You know we thought we were superman. We thought we were invincible.

  Hmmmm

  
  

  God My Provider
  
  

  

  If you have no understanding of Christian faith or theology, see you in the next headline below…….

  Of late, I have been going to church and church related events A LOT. One thing that seems to come up over and over and over and over and over and over again is a little process that I like to call cognitive dissonance that probably should never have happened in the first place:
  
  Step one: People in churches all over Australia reach out to people by telling them that, “God and His love will fulfill your every want and need and so surrender to him and he’ll give you everything your heart hungers for.”

  Step two: People join the church believing and expecting that now that they have “surrendered” they will get everything they want and need….ooohhh, I “need” a car, a flat screen, a mouse trap, an X- box 360 (Wii is way better but whatever)

  Step three: Tragedy strikes: They get sick, lose a job a car or a nail.

  Step four: They cry out for God to fix it

  Step five: He doesn’t

  Step six: They get very mad because God isn’t some vending machine that pops out miracles every time they pray and actually brings pain to their lives.

  Step seven: They realize that God won’t always provide and either really struggle with this or leave the church.

  
  Now I know a lot of folk reading this raised in a third world country, when they read step 6 said:

  
  Well, d’uh ( In Indonesia this means bye, seriously try it go to an Indonesian and say da! ) ! He runs the Universe, He does what He wants, when He wants and sometimes we are beneficiaries, some times we are not. But he isn’t here to be our vending machines.

  
  And yet, a lot of folk out here struggle with this. Why?

  
  Because of the Western entitlement syndrome

  
  So What’s Your Point?
  
  I really have no point. I just wanted to put a post out there and make you aware that this exists. That some people really do think that human rights ARE intrinsic human rights not limited to the UN conventions but also including material prosperity and health. Is it wrong? I don’t know. Is it real? You better believe it and you best find a way to handle it. Our complaining won’t make it go away…………………..

  To hear more about what I have learned from 6 years + of being an African immigrant ensure you stay in the loop via RSS or email .

  Have an empathetic day, Mwangi

  
  

• June 30, 2008
• 16:29

  The Displaced African on Capital FM in Kenya

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Hey,

  

  Just received the email about 15 minutes ago. In about three hours- on Tuesday 1st July 2008 at 3 a.m. (GMT +3h)- I am going to be on the show Urban Nites on Capital FM in Nairobi, Kenya.

  Capital FM, for those who don’t know, is one of the largest radio stations in Kenya.

  So please:

  1) Listen in

  2) Show your support

  3) Say a silent “Yay!” with me and

  4) Say wassup and thanks to Linda of Capital FM for showing the website some love: Cheers for that

  To listen to Capital FM live on the Internet click here

  

• 12:04

  Can You Stand the Heat?

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  I am going to share with you two stories. As I do, use them as metaphors and I really hope you can see yourself in these stories.

  Story Number 1: Lessons from Camp

  

  That wall may as well have been 80,000 feet tall. Don’t get me wrong. When you were standing at the foot of it looking at all those plastic pieces up the wall that were meant to imitate rocks, the indoor rock-climbing wall didn’t really look that tall. But once your hands and feet were on the rocks and off the ground, then it got real!

  Nervousness

  I felt a tinge of nervousness, but nothing I had never felt before and I just kept on going. Once I got to within 5 feet of my destination and about 15 feet of the ground (you know what for the rest of this story, let’s assume I am climbing the Everest on a minus 39 degree day and I am 3,000 feet above ground and much closer to the top than to the ground….increases drama ) then something else hit my consciousness:

  I have never done this before and there is a possibility I might feel.

  Combine general anxiety with specific anxiety like that and you get yourself one fine stew of fear. I didn’t want to fail. I didn’t want to look stupid…..

  What Would You Have Done?

  I stop at this point to ask

  What would you have done? Would you have:

  1) Stopped climbing, let go and waited for the instructor to slowly bring you down.
  2) Kept climbing at the same speed and tempo, putting the fear to the side.
  3) Smothered the fear down with indignation and pressed on with a fury that can only be compared to one woman scorned by twenty other previously scorned women.
  4) Fear, what fear? That aint no Everst man: get over it!

  What Mwangi Did

  Do you sometimes surprise myself? Well, I certainly did. It was indoor rock climbing. I was safely harnessed, about five people had gone up the “mountain” easily already.

  But, I disconnected. I don’t just mean physically, I mean psychologically. I didn’t want this pressure anymore, I didn’t want to feel this and so I simply let go. First my mind shut off and about twenty seconds later, I let go and fell back to the ground making myself the first and only person who never climbed on first attempt.

  Story Number Two: The Kid Grows

  

  As I stood behind that wooden stage, I suddenly remembered two years ago. It was a simple enough concept:

  Step one: Take an ordinary sack
  Step two: Take that sack to the nearest tailor and get him to craft for me a smashing set of clothing, both top and bottom.
  Step three: Take the new half-jacket, short ensemble and wear it backstage.
  Step four: Model the sack-turned-to-clothes set for the whole school on stage with my main man D who would be quite smashing in a blanket suit.

  But that day there was a step five that went a little something like this:

  Step five: Feel the terror slowly begin to crescendo the closer I got to backstage. Feel the fear, disconnect and refuse to go on stage. Have teachers come and beg me to go on stage while I indignantly refused. Experience the wonderful humiliation of one teacher taking the sack cloth off me, going on stage and model it to the cat calls of all the cute girls in the school.

  And here I was two years later, still in my teens……and the lights went off:

  I burst through that door and gave my 110%. Anytime the fear came up, it was wonderfully sublimated to passion, to anger, to excitement and whatever emotion the scene called for. I had actually grown, the kid had learned something.

  A Few Questions

  Take a moment today and figure out, how do you respond when the heat is on? Does it serve you? Does it hurt you? Does it make anything or anyone better? If not, perhaps consider a different approach when the heat is on.
  What do you do? Do you run away? Do you suppress it with sex, drugs, hip hop, alcohol and rock and roll?
  Secondly, have you grown over the past few years in terms of how you respond to the heat? Is the way you respond today any better than how you responded a few years ago?

  Final Thought

  As human beings we are not static creatures that have a fixed identity that MUST remain for the rest of our lives. Sure a lot of us get stuck in a rut and CHOOSE to stay there for the rest of our lives because it’s comfortable and easy. But we don’t have to. And I hope today I have reminded you that.

  

  “Mount Everest Returns”

  I eventually got on that wall and I did climb all the way to the top. I wasn’t fast, I wasn’t elegant and heck, it wasn’t even complete, but I did. I didn’t do it so I could be crowned champion of climbing walls, though that would be nice. I didn’t do it for accolades, they didn’t exist for climbing that wall.
  I did it so I could do something, no matter how small, to prove to myself that at any moment in time, I can do better, I can grow. Go Mount your Everest today. Feel the fear and do it anyway.

  If you want to hear more about my experiences and insights, make sure you subscribe to this site via RSS or email to receive regular updates.

  Your friend and fan,
  Mwangi

• June 29, 2008
• 11:05

  My 4 Hour Work Week Journey: Book Overview and Preface Chapters

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  This is day 3 of My 4 Hour Work Week Journey

  The Preface Chapters of the Book

  Chapter: FAQ - Doubters Read This

  In this, the first chapter of the book, Tim opens by explaining a quintessential idea of the book:

  Lifestyle design which, according to my understanding of the book, I would define as manipulating the various elements that influence your life in such a way that you can be, do and have whatever you want whenever you want. I can also define it as designing your dream lifestyle now as opposed to “the deferred life plan” a.k.a. retirement.

  The chapter was written to answer specific fears of potential readers including:

  a) Do I have to quit my 9-5 or be a risk taker? In short, Tim says no, the book is written to teach you to design your ideal lifestyle, no matter what that ideal is. If you want to work as little as possible and earn a full time income, the tools are here. If you love your office job but just want some extra time off, the tools are in the 4 hour work week.

  b)Do I Have to be a single 20 something to apply the book’s principles: This probably wouldn’t matter too much because most of you reading this are single 20 somethings but in short the answer is no. Browse around for Ferriss interviews and you realize he gets interviewed by his fair share of middle aged family individuals and the book has interviews with family men and women who have applied the book’s principles.

  c) Do I have to travel? I just want more time?: As I said before, Tim says the book is a manual to teach YOU how to create YOUR desired lifestyle whatever that is.

  d) Do I need to be born rich? Would the book have even sold a copy if the answer was Yes? Clearly this is a book written to appeal mainly to the middle, and to a lesser extent, lower class ambitions and problems.

  e) Do I need to be an Ivy League graduate? Me and Acolyte have argued about the importance of formal education in guaranteeing success in life, let’s watch and see as I go through the book………….

  Chapter:(Tim’s Story) and Why You Need this Book

  The book begins with what I like to call a this-is-why-I’m-cool-and-you-should-listen-to-what-I-have-to-say story that talks about him participating in the Tango World Championships in Argentina while also briefly touching on other fantastic things Tim’s done such as Kickboxing in Thailand and scuba diving in private islands in Panama.

  Tim then introduces a quintessential idea in the book:

  The New Rich: These are people who increase the amount of time they have to pursue their heart’s desire and couple that with enough income to live that lifestyle and the ability to move and travel wherever they please to live the life they dream of NOW rather than saving it for retirement. Lifestyle design is meant to help people join the New Rich.

  It should be noted that his examples of the new rich include cubicle workers as well as millionaires so he is clearly trying to make this book appeal to as broad a spectrum of people as possible.

  Important Distinction

  An important thing that Tim touches on that is rarely discussed is:

  When we go off in pursuit of a million dollars, we are not in pursuit of one million pieces of green paper BUT instead in pursuit of the lifestyle and the freedom we believe the money will give us.

  The book claims it isn’t about creating millionaires, its about giving you the lifestyle of a millionaire in the here and now by using time and mobility to increase the value of one’s income.

  Another cool idea that comes out of this chapter:

  The Dealmaker Mindet: Reality is negotiable. Outside of the law, morality, ethics and science, all rules can be bent or broken.

  DEAL or DELA

  DEAL and DELA refer to the two ways in which one goes through the lifestyle design process

  If you are entrepreneurially minded you would go through the process in the following order:

  1) D for Definition

  2) E for Elimination

  3) A for Automation

  4) L for Liberation

  If you are an employee interested in lifestyle design, the order would change slightly and become:

  1) D 2) E 3) L and then 4) A; so you would strive for liberation (which has to do with the ability to be mobile and travel) first before striving to automate.

  Clearly, seeing as I am a terrible employee, I will be going through the process in the D-E-A-L order.

  Lack of Common Sense and Testing

  Lastly, Tim discusses how a lot of the ideas in the book will seem very contrary to “common sense”. He says he is aware and proposes that one micro-tests one’s assumptions and micro-tests the ideas of the book before dismissing them.

  I propose the same thing: conduct tiny little experiments with minimal risks with me and let’s see where we’ll be a few weeks from now.

  There are many other important concepts that he introduces in this chapter but I’ll get to them in due time.

  Chronology of a Pathology

  This is pretty much a breakdown of Tim’s life from birth to how he arrived at the ideas of the book. If you have listened, read and/or watched interviews with Tim Ferriss you know everything you need to know.

  Alright day 4, we got straight into step 1: D for Definition. To ensure you don’t miss a moment of my four hour work week journey make sure you subscribe to this site via RSS or email.

  See you there,

  Mwangi

• June 28, 2008
• 12:04

  2 Funny Stories from My Days as an Aged Care Nurse

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Today let’s take a look at how the pursuit of the dollar has humbled us.

  Let’s not discuss it at the abstract or conceptual level: let’s make it real by sharing some stories.

  Below are two stories from my days as an aged care nurse/hospital wardsman/general cleaner and gardener/disability care person.

  
  
  Before We Begin
  
  It should be noted that I never entered the Aged Care field with any airs or feeling of snobbery. I didn’t have any interest in the job and didn’t really want to do it initially but once I got in, I loved being with old folks, especially because their old age (and in some cases) dementia made them so real, non pretentious and friendly.

  
  I never ever made the declaration that I was above other people’s bodily fluids or anything like that: I accepted it as part and parcel of the job before I got in. The reason I got out: because I don’t really have a passion for the industry AND I am a pretty bad nurse (and I like to imagine, a much better writer and thinker )
  
  Some scatological humor coming your way. Don’t read this within the physical or psychological vicinity of food, anyone squeamish or uncool.

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  Story Number One: My Friend’s First Day

  The nurse had done this many times before and knew exactly what to do. Grab the old feeble person lying on the bed. Roll them over so that they were facing them and their back was to the newbie nurse sent by the agency. Pull of the diaper pad. Grab a face washer and……….pass it to the agency nurse: No need doing the grunt work when there was an agency nurse around.
  
  Nine point five times out of ten, the agency nurse would gladly grab that face washer and wipe that bum clean as though it were La Mancha and he was hunting for some gold. But not this day my friends and not this African. The African contorted his countenance into a look of pure surprise:
  
  “Excuse me?” he said as he stared at the food that escaped the decaying old man.
  
  “I don’t have all day, grab the face washer and give his bum a wash!”
  
  Would this be the day? Would this be the moment? Would he now officially become a member of the ABC: the Australian Bum Cleaning Association?
  
  Alas friends, today was not to be the day. For you see, our protagonist had the perfect excuse:
  
  “I can’t do it, I’m new here!”
  
  Now a second countenance contorted into pure confusion:
  
  “What do you mean your new? This isn’t rocket science. Grab the towel. Dip it in the water there, wipe of all the sh………”
  
  Shhhhhhhhh, he lost our protagonist at shhhhhhhhhhh
  
  “I am new here! Please do it and show me how!”
  
  And with that the young man put off the inevitability of joining the ABC. Too bad, the person whose bum he wiped to join had a much nastier treasured buried in that there diaper.
  

  Story Number Two: Will Mwangi Find Love?
  
  “Thank God it’s Friday night and I juuuuusssttt got paid!”
  
  That song kept playing in my mind over and over and over and over again. A few minutes until the shift ends and then women had better watch out, there was a young aged care nurse on the prowl, and I was loaded with sanitary gloves . Sure I didn’t have much. But where money was lacking, I more than made up in testosterone and enthusiasm.
  
  With me being in such an expectant and chirpy mood, I basically floated into the room that belonged to “the Lady” in the final minutes of the shift.
  
  Unfortunately, the Lady had busted her nose and I was there to clean up the blood while she lay there in bed. For some reason that I can’t quite fathom, I forgot to turn on the lights as I walked into her room and the only light that showed was a tiny sliver of flourescent light from the hallway. That flourescence formed a perfect line from the hall all the way to the head of the bed where she lay and where I stood with a towel in my hand and ready to hold my jaw in the other. Let the soap opera begin.
  
  She was smiling at me a little too much. Then again I was a young man in a nursing home, this happened quite a bit and I was used to it. I gently caressed (that must have been what she thought) her face with that face washer until all the blood was off.
  
  I dropped the face washer back into the bucket of water and began to bounce my way out when I heard a gentle whisper:
  
  “Heeeyy,”
  
  I could say that I did an elegant swivel back to face her as Ridge would to Brook in the Bold and the Beautiful, but at that moment I looked like the black guy in the movie who had just heard the sound which everyone in the movie knows will kill him. I turned round: oh oh
  
  “Come here,” the senior lady of the lake (if you get this reference, I’m so sorry) purred
  
  I came to her side like a good nurse would:
  
  “What’s up?”
  
  “Just one?”
  
  “Just one what?”
  
  “Just one KISS!”
  
  I looked like a deer in the headlights.
  
  “Say what?”
  
  “Come on, just one, just one little kiss!”
  
  I did what any compassionate loving human being would do….I began to cackle!
  
  “You’re bad for me you know that?”
  
  “Come on,” she continued like a siren upon the rocks on a Scottish shore.
  
  I slowly began to back away cackling and unable to believe that this was happening. Finally I left her with a kiss in the wind which was delivered from my lips to her cheek via a blow from my right hand. I had to give the people what they want . Now to repeat that process with a twenty year old……………

  To hear more stories like this, make sure you subscribe to this site via RSS or email to receive regular updates.

• June 27, 2008
• 12:04

  Displaced African Review: Four Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  This is day 2 of My 4 Hour Work Week Journey

  Now, below I will mention 4 things I liked about the book, the 4 hour work week and won’t talk about any negatives because I’m sure those will become self-evident as I work through the book over the coming days. That, and I don’t want to psyche myself out too early in my 4 hour work week journey.

  4 Things I Love About the Four Hour Workweek

  1) He is Empirical: To name a book ” 4 hour workweek” screams:

  Hyperbole! Hype!B.S. !

  So when I began to read about Tim, I expected his writing and his work to sound like a circus director or a car salesman: a lot of sales talk with very little substance to back it up.

  Boy was I pleasantly surprised. If I could summarize one of Tim’s oh-my-goodness-that’s-genius-approaches-to-life-it-would-be:

  Test your assumptions

  Don’t automatically assume the limitations placed upon you by society, your background or yourself are true. Instead, conduct small tests and see what happens. As a result of Tim doing this, a lot of what’s in the four hour workweek isn’t an abstract manual but rather:
  

  2) A Fascinating True Story: I want to do a lot of great, oddball things with my life before I die. I think I have found a person with an equally quirky spirit in Timothy Ferriss.

  The man has, and is, revolutionizing the Western approach to work. He is the Chinese National Kickboxing Champion. He has won international tango competitions. He is a break dancer. He has been on television in Hong Kong. He has done all this while running a multinational company.

  He didn’t accept what others took as the norm or limitations. He lifestyle supersedes any limits society might have imposed on him and this is part of the reason that I’m so drawn to him. It’s also the reason that:
  

  3) He Has Backup from Heavy Hitters: I became a fan of Tim when I heard an interview he did with my blogging go-to-mentor Yaro Starak.

  Among his mentors are the man who has sold 130 million books worldwide, Jack Canfield. He has been invited to give talks to everyone including the numero uno themselves, Google-check out the video at the very top of the article.

  He isn’t some marginal rebel who is hated by the greats in society. His work appeals to a broad spectrum of folks from lone contractors to CEOs of Fortune 500s. Lord knows I’m African and authority figures influence me big time.
  Finally I like the fact that:
  

  4) He Teaches Us How to Separate Hours from Income: Now many Africana will tell you that this idea is simply preposterous. I watched my folks clock in 8-12 hour days 6 days a week and that’s the only way that folks can make a living right?

  When I interviewed David Kobia and he spoke about the way his mother couldn’t understand how he could not be working in an office and could be doing all his work online.

  I think I kinda went through the very same thing when this idea was presented by Jay Abraham, Yaro Starak and Tim Ferriss that your income didn’t have to be linked to the hours you work but rather the value you provide. Now however, I have embraced that this in fact possible: Me likes and I want a piece of that.

  Anyway, someone left me a comment saying that I should do more posts where I present the options available for immigrants in regards to economic stability and prosperity.

  So here goes: the trial continues. I have spoken to a few of you who are trying and living out alternatives to the bread and butter mill that is the 9 to 5. Together let’s build a library full of options that future immigrants can use to thrive in so far as the dollar is concerned.

  I’m rambling now, but I ramble because I’m excited. Anyway either:

  i) Click here to buy a copy of the 4 hour work week from Amazon.com

  ii) Pay a visit to his blog and learn a little more about the man and his great book.

  And enjoy the rest of your day or night,

  Mwangi

• June 26, 2008
• 12:04

  7 Unique Things That Africa and Africans Have Taught Me

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  As a lot of you know, I was born and raised in Kenya. I have been to South Africa and all over Kenya. I have hung out with Zims, Tswanas, Ghanians, Naijas, Tanzanians, African Americans and other children of the soil from all over the place. What have I learned from all of this?

  1) Keeping It Real:
  
  By keeping it real, I don’t neccesarily mean honesty, because any African will tell you that Africa has it’s fair share of liars. Instead, I am talking about wearing your heart on your sleeve.

  Yesterday I was in a social gathering here in Oz (Australia for the uninitiated): When I got home, I realized how subtle our interactions were. Sure on the surface level, it may have seemed quite simple and easy, but there was so much sub-text: when to talk, who to talk to, when to move on, when you lost someone in the conversation, when you gained someone else, who had the power, who didn’t, who is attracted to you, who did you just turn off and so on and so forth.

  And none of this was really ever discussed in the open or brought to the surface and its something that a lot of folks can really miss unless they have interacted with people from Oz for a while.
  

  I cannot tell you how much grief I have seen because of completely misunderstanding the sub-text or underlying rules of an interaction or not setting the rules early on.

  Sure in Africa there is still sub-text but people are much more open about how they feel and much more expressive in the way they speak. Most of all they speak sub-text that I understand. Considering I learned a lesson something as important as this in the school of hard knocks and not in a classroom you quickly realize:

  2) Education Isn’t What it Promised to Be:

  

  There are many articles out there that constantly remind members of the African diaspora that we are some of the best educated folks around.

  As far as I am concerned, the fact that you have a degree means diddly squat. Don’t get me wrong, I bow to your intellect for being intelligent and hard working enough to go through more than a decade of school and end up in an outstanding course in an outstanding University. I salute and have a deep respect for you after enduring the rigours of the unstructured University life and coming out strong, Lord knows I dropped off on the side. BUT all this love and respect, is aimed AT YOU, not your degrees.

  Anyone who was around Kenyans around the post-election violence of last year quickly realized that a University degree (and even chronological age) isn’t a guarantee of maturity, or wisdom, or restraint, or love, or compassion or even intelligence really. So all this stuff we were sold as kids that education is the be all and end all to making us well rounded people of substance: Not so! And by the way the same thing applies for:

  3) Hard Work:

  

  Africans are hands down some of the hardest working people around. I come from a family where one half of the two person team that made me was the best woman in the country when her high school results came out. I have watched both my folks slug it out for 8+ hour days 6 days a week, starting business after business after business. And here’s the thing: that work ethic is pretty much standard procedure in Africa.

  I was genuinely shocked when I arrived in Oz and realized there were things like minimum wage and maximum daily working hours.

  When most folks here complain about being worked to the ground from 8 hours of work, 5 days a week, I can’t help but think: isn’t the idea of stress relative?

  The Australian workload would be kinda like a vacation for a standard African worker. That’s part of the reason that I don’t write much about the need for hard work: a lot of Africans intrinsically know this and live it. Sadly that’s partly because:

  4) Africans are Unashamedly Materialistic:

  

  A lot of people in the West are materialistic. A lot of Jones out here want the fancy house, big car, a lot of money, pretty girls/boys etc etc. However many people out West are taught, and even believe that,

  “Money isn’t everything. There are things more important than money.”

  Not the African. Many Africans would sell their soul at discount prices to get money. There is nothing more important than money to a lot of Africans and material possesions not only define you, they are the cornerstone of who you are. One of the reasons I created the Stuff African people like series was to poke fun at a seriously high level of materialism that we as African folks have at the expense of other things.

  Don’t believe we are materialistic: pay a visit to the homes of African politicians and welathy businessmen and tell me they don’t easily trump 90% of homes in Europe: I mean I was certainly disappointed by the houses here when I first showed up. It’s pretty interesting though how there is so much similarity right now between the homes of Melbourne and where I grew up in Nairobi. In truth:

  5) Westernization is Powerful:

  

  If anyone ever wants to start a think tank that talks about the power of Westernization and how to keep that sucker on a leesh and under control, I am behind them 100%.

  We are on the road to being one huge homogenous global society, controlled from Washington, speaking English and liking and doing the same things from Auckland to California.

  For me to say that I never spoke anything other than English regularly before I came to Australia is a travesty when one considers that just over 40 years ago I would be living an entirely different life with an entirely different set of beliefs and values.

  We are not in control of Westernization and it is hitting Africa like a tidal wave, the good sides (human rights, respect for women and people from other cultures, shared commonalities with people from all over the world) and bad ( relationships breakdown, drug habits, lethal eating habits, confusion and lack of purpose, manufacturing of a majority of humanity living in poverty, linear models of insatiable consumption etc etc etc).

  I am not saying that Westernization is good or bad, I am a result of it. I am saying, we need to control it and not be a slave to it. As Westernized as we Africans arel, I was quite surprised to discover that most Africans are:

  6) Africans are Socially Conservative:

  

  It’s been said many times and it will be said many times in future: white people are crazy. I love it! A lot of white people are unashamedly out there and willing to try out things that would make the average African absolutely squirm.

  Whether its experimenting with things like religion or relationships or business or even endangering their lives in pursuit of something that to many looks like a pipe dream fantasy that will never come true, people from the West do it.

  Africans tread with care and wait for a path to be beaten before jumping into it. We hold on to whatever societal rules have been passed down to us and are rarely willing to question for fear of failure and alienation.

  White people go beat the path naked with a carrot in one hand and an idea in the other.

  But I Digress

  Just as a side note, don’t you find it interesting that out of the whole African blogosphere, there are only like maybe 10 or less of us who actually use our real names and/or have pictures AND almost all of us who do aren’t in Africa. I know there is a point to be made there somewhere, I just don’t know what it is.

  7) Some People are Just Mean:

  

  The old adage that good will always prevail over evil is a lie. Many brutal, callous people have existed and gone about their narcissistic work all life long going from success to success. Just look at African dictators. Some of these fellows will do evil all life long and will die not having experienced any more stress than the normal man who does good. Good doesn’t always prevail over evil. It only prevails when people who believe in it fight for it day after day after day.

  So there, off the top of my head are 7 things that growing up in Nairobi and being around a lot of Africans from all over the world has taught me in my life.

  If you want to hear more about my experiences and insights, make sure you subscribe to this site via RSS or email to receive regular updates.

  Be blessed and bless others,

  Mwangi

• June 25, 2008
• 12:04

  Conversation with the Co-founder of Ushahidi and Mashada Creator: David Kobia

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Enclosure: [download]

  Make Sure You Subscribe to the Podcast

  I have scheduled interviews with experts and people from all over the African diaspora. To receive word as soon as i have published these interviews make sure you subscribe to the Displaced African podcast via either RSS or by searching for “Displaced African” on Itunes and getting it fresh to your Ipod whenever they come out.

  

  Hint: The next podcast is with STL a.ka. Stella Mwangi, brilliant woman she is!

  The Interview
  
  Things Covered

  1) University background before immigrating to the US
  2) His experiences when he first arrived in Alabama in 1998.
  3) How Mashada got started in 1999.
  4) Did Mashada grow quickly or incrementally over time?
  5) The origins of some of the darlings of the blogosphere including Thinkers Room.
  6) Mashada was an accident?!
  7) The process of monetizing Mashada.com
  How has Mashada evolved over time?
  9) Discusses shutting Mashada down during the post-election violence in Kenya
  10) The double-edged sword that is free speech forums
  11) How Ushahidi got started
  12) How the blogosphere got the word out to the ground about Ushahidi
  13) How are incidents verified on Ushahidi.
  14)How United for Africa works as compared to Ushahidi
  15) The Netsquared challenge where they won $25,000
  16) How are they planning to expand Ushahidi
  17) What is Kobia Interactive
  18) David Talks about his time working for TIME Magazine
  19) His working life within Kobia Interactive
  20) How did African Tees get started
  21) Things to be aware of if you decide to sell t-shirts online
  22) The difference between African Tees and other t-shirt design firms
  23) How David manages to balance so many projects; What takes most of his time?
  24) How should Africans be spending their time on the web?
  25) Words of advice for new immigrants

  Websites, technology and people mentioned

  1) Mashada
  2) Ushahidi
  3) Thinker’s Room
  4) Ory of Kenyan Pundit
  5) Erik from the White African
  6) Google Maps
  7) Google Maps API
  Learn what RSS is by clicking here…..
  9) United for Africa: Used during the xenophobic attacks in South Africa to assist support crews
  10) Netsquared Challenge: Check out this article that discusses Ushahidi’s victory at Netsquared.
  11) Kobia Interactive
  12) Time Magazine
  13) CNN.com
  14) Time Warner
  15) African Tees
  16) Jamhuri Wear
  17) Julianna from Afromusing
  18) Google Documents
  19) Check out my review of Skype here
  20) Presentation by founder of Amazon on the Golden age of the Web

  Have a blessed day and an even more blessed life,
  Mwas

• June 24, 2008
• 14:02

  My 4 Hour Work Week Journey Introduction

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  Yet another series that is being created and in this case lived on the fly. Feedback! Feedback! Feedback! Tell me what I should improve about the series, about the videos and just any other general feedback, please leave that in the comments section. Anyway……….

  My 4 Hour Work Week Journey

  More Information on Timothy Ferriss

  1) Darren Rowse text interview with Timothy Ferriss

  2) Yaro Starak interviews Tim Ferriss

  3) Tim Ferriss is interviewed by About.com

  4) Click here to buy a copy of the 4 hour work week from Amazon.com

  Hope this series is of use to you,

  Mwangi

• June 23, 2008
• 14:02

  Stuff African People Like: Expensive Cars

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  I remember once meeting a man who had immigrated over from Zimbabwe and been around for a couple of years. This man was working a minimum wage to support his University education but let me assure you, that man had a PHD in Vehicular Science

  Car Specifications

  The man could spit out the name, rank, serial number, engine size, horsepower and shoe size of every vehicle that cost more than ten thousand dollars. Whether it was explaining why Lambogini was so superior to other brands or Mercedes was just a run of the mill car, it didn’t matter: as we sat in that Mazda 121, we were participating in a true car connoisseur session.

  Sex Makes A Difference

  The love for cars is different amongst male and female children of the soil. Men love to read car magazines and understand the beauty, the symmetry, the proportions, the pieces, the systems, the history and the mechanics behind the vehicle.

  It doesn’t matter if he is part of the Walking Elite or has a barely getting by contraption that needs a screwdriver in the cigarette lighter to start, he will stop by any street corner pick up the latest edition of Cars Magazine and for a few minutes escape into a land where there is a beautiful car on one side and a gorgeous, voluptuous woman on the other.

  Women on the other hand don’t know or care about what’s under the hood. All they care about is four things: how the car looks, how much it costs, how it’ll make her feel and how it’ll look to people whose opinions matter.

  If a car ticks all four of the above boxes, a woman doesn’t care if the engine is made of titanium and assembled by Swiss engineers of Chinese descent: you had her at $70,000+

  What to Do?

  This one is quite simple:

  1) If the African doesn’t have the car, “that they KNOW they deserve yet,”, then indulge them in their fantasies and continually remind them that one sweet day it’ll happen for them.

  2) If they have the car already then just like the degrees, don’t forget to oohh and aaahhhh with delight that can only be compared to the cries of post-apocalyptic angels.

  If you liked this post, don’t forget to subscribe to the website via RSS or email.

  Happy to be back and looking forward to starting the newest series soon,

  

  Mwangi

• June 22, 2008
• 11:05

  7 Unique Things Learned While in Australia

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  Having been an Afropolitan in Australia for close to 6 years, 6 year anniversary on 31st June, I have had the privilege of experiencing two nations with two very different cultures up close and personal. Today I thought I would talk about 7 unique things I’ve picked up, observed and learned from the natives-well-not-really-but-rather-the-majority-population of this land called Australia.

  1) Courtesy

  

  Before I showed up “please” and “thank you” were myths from medieval times. You only held the door when someone had boxes of your stuff and giving people room to pass on the road was for suckers who didn’t want to get to work on time.

  Australians, by default, are the most polite people I have ever met in my life. Now, I have basis for comparison: I have been to every continent except South America. So I can tell you, folks get way ruder than people from Australia.

  Here folks are taught from very early how to say please and thank you. It’s not uncommon for them stop what they’re doing and help folks with directions or guidance. On many occasions, we have actually had people who were passing us on foot or by car, stop, double back and come help us because we looked so lost. I mean even the criminals and alleged “riff raff” of society are pretty courteous. In short, when I say Aussies are nice people, it’s not hyperbole or optimism, it’s my experience.

  2) Hardcore binge drinking
  

  Whoever says Africans are the heaviest drinkers is clearly drunk on something else. You see, when Africans drink, a lot of the time it’s to relieve stress or as part of something social ( I wrote an article on this one a while back if you are interested). But no no no no, a lot of Australians drink for entirely different reason.s

  A huge chunk of Australians drink with two simple goals: get hammered and pass out.

  Now, the fact that passing out could actually be a goal behind drinking was a shocker to me when I first learned about it. And to be clear, Australia is not a particularly church going nation (93% of folks are not regular) and so binge drinking is part of the culture from the ages of 10 - 100, from the “goody two shoes” all the way to “the bad boys”. These folks showed me that Africans are really very conservative in a lot of ways, including drinking.

  3) Nerds and Jocks Stereotypes are Way Off
  
  Online Videos by Veoh.com

  Skip this section if you have outgrown caring about high school politics (Do we ever really do this?)

  As a result of being about as popular as SNM at a church bakesale (if this reference passes over your head, don’t worry, I was in some zone when I wrote it) a lot of my high school career, together with moments of extreme popularity, I had the good pleasure of spending time with that the TV shows would call “the loveable nerds” as well as “the big dumb jocks”.

  Let me tell you now ladies and gentlemen, if you see a jock on one side and a nerd on the other…..RUN to the jock, hug him and never let go.

  But Why?

  But why, Mwangi, you might ask, would I ever want to abandon the nice, loveable nerd in favour of the big dumb brutish jock. First of all, I was in school with a lot of footy players and one of them even ended up on the national league and they are truly good people. Laid back, very open and welcoming. Sure they like being naked with each other waaaayyyy too much and a lot of their pranks and humour is weird, but they showed me love for the most part so I must reciprocate.

  Understanding the Nerd

  Now nerds are an entirely different kettle of fish. Now I want you to get a clear picture of a nerd in a Western country. This place is on information overload 24/7. Everyday through the Internet you have access to all sorts of quirky facts, figures, videos, beliefs and so on and so forth. Now take someone, completely isolate them from people and make them feel lousy and inadequate mix them up with this random information that bombards them 24/7 and you end up with a group of people with very weird beliefs and practices.

  Now I know, y’all have heard of 2 girls and a cup. That’s a typical nerd’s dream. They love to watch things like Bum Fights, perform witchcraft, watch and obsess over movies that can give one an imagined sense of power such as Fight Club. In short, dudes are very scary. These folks need a hug. I now understand why stuff like Columbine happens……trust me, those were nerds. Anyway I don’t want to go on about this one for too long because it’s not that important really. Definitely came as a surprise though

  4) Races I never knew existed
  
  This place is MULTICULTURAL. I have hung out with Arabs, Indians fresh off the boat, Indians who grew up here (more on Indians later), Asians from all over the continent, Africans from Zimbabwe, Botswana (Lord women from Southern Africa are gorgeous, now I understand…now I understand). We have a plethora of mulatto and half black/half Asian kids. African Americans, Greeks and the list just goes on and on.

  It’s opened my eyes man. It makes you realize, first of all that you are this thing called “an African” who is a seperate race with our own seperate struggle and shared culture ( yes, we have a shared culture, like it or not). It also makes you realize how similar we are as people in spite of racial differences.

  I always found it easy to relate to minorities here and people from darker ethnic groups such Aboriginals, Maoris, Indians and well, Asians because we felt we had a lot in common being marginalized minorities and all.

  Plus, the diversity of beautiful food, women, tastes, music, sights and sounds just makes me happy to be alive sometimes.

  5) Blue collar wealth?

  

  Now in Africa, this is an oxymoron. The more “industrial age” the job the worse of the job security, prestige and the pay. The more “knowledge economy” the better the pay,the job security and with each extra dollar you get to buy off a bit more of people’s respect.

  One of the first things that amazes every African whenever they land here is the fact that a plumber can earn the same as a lawyer. That tends to send us laughing for hours and hours as we talk about how a man whose most famous for showing us a crack-that-certainly-isn’t-of-dawn earns the same as someone who sweats vocabulary in libraries for years to become a lawyer.

  If someone here tells me they want to be a hair stylist, carpenter or electrician, I salute them. As long as you make sure you’re money is working for you via investments, it’s as secure as the job market gets: God speed!

  6) Racism is a fluid concept

  

  I wrote an article on this one a while back.

  By and large, I don’t believe that Anglo-Saxons innately fear and hate African people. Now a lot of you won’t agree with that, but I base this opinion on two things:

  i) My experience of only one or two racial slurs and remarks being thrown at me a year. I can’t even think of one incident that has taken place over the last 12 months that’s been motivated by racial hatred - then again I live in a suburb that looks like it’s part of Asia and don’t get out much, but even from my time in Sydney, can’t think of anything.

  ii) If a 78 year old man is pooping into a nappy, has lost all forms of inhibition and some brain cells, and still treats me with love, then there was never any hate to begin with. I worked as an aged care nurse for 2 years and I have spoken with folks who’ve been doing it much longer, racism isn’t something that comes up very often. Scatological humour on the other hand……….

  Now, Australians do seem to HATE the people they stole this land from: the Aboriginals. This pretty much came to my attention in my years of high school . On two occasions folks went on a roll spiting out joke after joke to insult the Aboriginal people and by and large people laughed at and enjoyed that. How deep this racism is? What its all about? I’m unclear on. But there’s definitely something there.

  Native Australians are also pretty open and HATE anyone who refuses to learn English. You want to drive Australian people mad, walk around like you don’t know a word of English. Wait for the sneers to come.

  7) Indians are everywhere

  

  Indians are kinda like those “extra channels” you get when you sign up for Pay TV. You don’t really think about them or know they are there until you stop and think. That’s when you realize, Indians have always been a fixture in my life.

  In Kenya, they were part of the ruling class and I lived close to one and a lot of the shops I used to go to were Indian run. Come to the land down under and they are still all over the place. My suburb literally looks like the Asian sub-continent.

  For those of you who may not have heard my baby sisters’ opinions on Melbourne, most of the people they either know or hang around are Indian people. If you are Indian and you are reading this:

  If you’re plan is global domination, good job! Y’all have positioned yourself well.

  And by the way, Sri Lankan women…..mmm…mmmm…..mmmm

  To hear more from me as I make my journey through life as an African immigrant, make sure you subscribe to the blog for free via email or RSS.

• June 21, 2008
• 11:05

  Final Part of Njeri’s Message to the Next Group of Afropolitans

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  Final section in the series where Njeri aka meek meek gives you the skinny on how she sees immigrant life. Make sure you read the articles from the last two days to read part 1 and 2. I come back from camp tomorrow. Yay! Finish your weekend right, Mwangi

  8. Buy everything on sale…everybody else does…and if they don’t they are very dumb. Don’t buy anything at full price….I came to this country with about $5000 in savings. That lasted less than three months…between the designer jeans, shoes, accessories e.t.c…I spent it all. You can get everything cheap don’t go crazy and don’t be ashamed to be ’seen’ buying cheap stuff, first of all nobody is watching you and even if they are they probably will never see you again…my motto is ‘as long as it looks good get it’ ….I bought a pair of jeans for 400 dollars…. i don’t even like telling this story… i somehow forgot that that translated to 28,000 kshs… Hindsight is an exact science but please try and avoid doing this. Buy expensive food though, buy organic. Cheap out here when it comes to food is not better. I know it can be overwhelming to go to the store and actually choose…so many labels! but try. I actually believe that it helps not only nourish your body but your mind too. When you eat right you think better. Exercise is important too… Jog a little it helps clear your mind.
  
  9. Avoid stuff thats fake, don’t get involved in any schemes that don’t seem right. Go online if it sounds tricky and ask questions. When i got here i used yahoo questions alot. I asked about anything and everything. I have seen alot of people get deported because they involved themselves in fraudulent schemes and i know many more who will. Its usually your friends who come to you and whisper about some brilliant scheme to make money, don’t fall for it… if they are actually your friends they wont turn their backs on you when you show your disinterest. I have taught myself not to starve at someone else’s expense, i have also learnt how not to get into trouble. Stay away from drugs and people who do them, because if you are caught in a car with someone who has drugs, more often then not they will claim those drugs were yours and just like the DWI thing i mentioned earlier its not easy to get yourself up after that.
  
  10. People overlook Social Security and Credit. Take your time to understand these. Credit is very important, good credit is almost a currency in itself. You need to build your credit and eventually it will allow you to get everything you need. With a clean record [no arrests] and good credit, the opportunities in this country are endless. Do not overlook your taxes either. Do everything by the book. this is not Africa ‘deals’ wont help you here but if you do everything by the book you can eventually get anything you want from good loans, a big house to nice cars and great investments. This is why, if you are planning to come and live in the states, you SHOULD NOT come on a visitors visa….Because you will not get a social security card so you will not be able to build your credit or get a job or go to school or get an apartment or anything. I have been here two years and the best i could get is a shared apartment, i cant buy a car or go to school or get a job but i have two or three good friends and they have been there for me thats why i emphasize on friendship so much.
  
  I have been reading this book by Dave Eggers, its called ‘What is the What’ He says something in the beginning of the book that i hold as true, he says ‘I am tired of this country. I am thankful for it, yes, I have cherished many aspects of it for the three years i have been here, but i am tired of the promises. I came here, four thousand of us came here, contemplating and expecting quiet. Peace and college and safety. We expected a land without war and, i suppose, a land without misery. We were giddy and impatient. We wanted it all immediately-homes,families, college, the ability to send money home, advanced degrees, and finally some influence. But for most of us, the slowness of our transition-after five years i still don’t have the necessary credits to apply for a four year college-has wrought chaos. We waited ten years in Kakuma and i suppose we did not want to start all over here. We wanted the next step, and quickly. But this has not happened not in most cases, and in the interim, we have found ways to spend the time. I have held too many menial jobs, and currently work at the front desk of a health club, on the earliest possible shift, checking in members and explaining the club’s benefits to prospective members. This is not glamorous, but it represents a level of stability unknown to some. Too many have fallen, too many feel they have failed. The pressure upon us, the promises we cannot keep with ourselves-these things make monsters of too many of us.’ This is by far one of the most well written books i have seen in the last few years… I believe however that the lesson is clear. Get a hold of this book if you can and read about a fellow immigrant, Also get ‘the infidel’ By Ayaan Hirsi Ali. These books have little nuances here and there that can help you understand what exactly you are getting into.
  
  Alot of people will tell you be patient and swallow your pride and do whatever it takes to survive. I have lived here and i have been patient and i have done whatever it took to survive, but i will never sell my soul for a dream that wasn’t mine initially [the American Dream]. I have not done anything that i did not want to do. Do what you think is right. Always remember to be true to yourself. You really don’t have to stoop as low as they tell you to….you do have to stoop but to wherever you are comfortable. Before you come here you need to know what it is you want and how far you would go to get it. Stay out of trouble. I have a friend who i argue with constantly, his argument is the reason most foreigners fail when they come to this country is that they never fully commit to being here. At the back of their minds they are still convinced that they can always go back. I agree with him. If you fully commit to being here and you give yourself no choice but to succeed you will succeed. My argument however, is that if its not working after a few years of trying and if its not getting better don’t be afraid to leave, don’t wait until its too late. More that anything be analytical and logical don’t let your emotions influence your decisions.Those are my two cents…Good luck and God speed!!

• June 20, 2008
• 11:05

  Njeri’s Heart to Heart Continues

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  This is part 2 of Njeri’s 2 cents to the next group of soon to be Afropolitans. Please make sure you check out yesterday’s post for part 1. Be blessed, Mwangi.

  4. Do what you came here to do… There is alot to see and alot to do but dont get sidetracked. Come, get a driving license, get an ID, get into school, get a job, get a car, get your own place to stay, start saving and then you can party all you like. Do not spend money on partying. I cannot justify spending money on partying and i have been out here almost two and a half years! Dont do it, its really not that serious. People will take advantage of you if you spend money on them in the club and when your broke they wont remember that you spent money on them at all. This place can be very cruel and lonely. If you keep your eye on the goal and you stay focused it will pay off in the end… but you dont want to see the bad side so stick to what your plan was and you wont ever have to. Im not saying dont go…just dont go and pay for it. Alot of people fail out here and misery loves company, dont fall for any of it. I have spent a good part of my two years out here having fun and i really don’t have much to show for it apart from the occasional really bad hangover, but it could have been worse. I have a friend who calls the states ‘ a concrete jungle’ i believe thats from a Bob Marley song but its true. You could go out and your drink could be drugged by your ‘friends’, this has happened to me on more than one occasion so i urge you to be careful. You could go to the wrong places and get shot, i have been at a club where the actually pulled out guns and started shooting. You could hang out with the wrong crowd, get really drunk, and drive yourself home only to be stopped by the police… that means a DWI [driving while intoxicated] which is a misdemeanor that means for the next year you will be paying for lawyers legal fees and court fines, these usually add up to about 12,000 dollars and alot of time spent on running around trying to find the right lawyer and so on. Thats probably the most expensive drink you will ever have not to mention that it will be on your ‘record’ and whenever you apply for a job it will show up and make any employer think twice about hiring you. Its funny how very few people mention these things when you get here, People will casually ask you to drive and you will think nothing of it until your sitting behind bars with nobody to bail you out.
  
  5. Do not keep to your own, seriously, make friends with people from where you are going. More often than not they end up saving you in some way or other. I have a few friends out here who have been there for me more than any Kenyan has. I can tell you from experience that your own people probably sold their souls a long long time ago when this country showed them its cruel side, and they really don’t mind watching you suffer. Its almost like monolisation, they want you to go through it…. its initiation into westernization and you don’t deserve it, so make a few friends… white friends preferably [and i swear that was not a racist slur] I have this friend who has supported me through everything, without her many of the questions i had would not have been answered. I am friendly however so its helped alot, I got my first job through a friend of a friend of a friend so as i said it all boils down to how many friends you have and how much they support you. I also have my ‘big bro’ and without him none of this would be possible at all. Be at peace with everyone you meet because you might meet the same people down the line and you might need them. Dont burn bridges and of course do not come thinking everybody is bad there are exceptions to the rule.
  
  6. Don’t get into a relationship, don’t do long distance, don’t have casual encounters, don’t… Somehow all of that boils down to money or severe emotional distress, so give it some time…. Focus on your goal. I’m dead serious, Focus, because any kind of relationship takes time out of your busy schedule and money out of your pocket and if you dont have either that makes you miserable…so be miserable, find a few friends that you can hang out with once in a while and just be miserable…lol eventually when everything you have been working so hard for comes to fruition you will be happy you waited. Be prepared to be very lonely because its very different out here. Be prepared to be shunned, ignored, stepped on… they told me i would get culture shock, i didnt really, i had moral shock instead, i couldnt understand how people could be so immoral and how nobody held themselves accountable…i wondered for a long time how a society could be so ‘mannerless’ [thats for lack of a better word but i believe its apt] i mean this literally, i think talking right, using youre knife and fork, being courteous, saying please and thank you; these things were all left in the ‘dark ages’ or at least thats how it seems when you get out here. Its not like what you see on ‘TV’. What you see on ‘TV’ is actually, more often than not, considered ‘ghetto’. There are exceptions to the rule but most of it is ghetto.
  
  7. Get online. There is an answer to everything online. Immigration issues, school issues, work issues, maps, banks, everything is here. I dont know how i would have survived in the states without GOOGLE. Im serious. Anything you don’t know you can google and if all else fails ask me Get online preferably before you get to the states and look up everything you need to know. If you are coming to the states ask your fellow bloggers questions. No question is too dumb and trust me alot of people dont want you to suffer like they have.

• June 19, 2008
• 11:05

  What Everybody Ought to Know About Immigration and Njeri’s Guest Post

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Ladies and gentlemen it’s the middle of June. A lot of wonderfully fresh, optimistic, naïve and open minds are currently making “the move” from Africa to the West. This series, is for all of y’all who are making this great trek. This is also for all the people who are already abroad and want to guide these new arrivals but don’t quite know how.

  

  I thought I would list some of the blog’s articles that give you useful, actionable information to help you navigate the tough waters of immigrant life, especially in the early days.

  Help a Brother or a Sister Out

  So if you know someone is about to immigrate overseas and you want to help them out, email this article by clicking on the “Email this” link at the bottom of the article.

  By the way, if you haven’t, please make sure you sign up for my free Immigrant Survivor Guide Newsletter which is to the right of this article because I cover a lot of the stuff below in the newsletter. Sign up by filling in your first name and your email address.
  

  10 Resources to Get You Started as an Immigrant

  For guidance on how to become an immigrant in the first place, I will recommend Mwalimu.com and Workpermit.com

  1) What is it Like Saying Goodbye to African Soil ? I wrote a post which got discussion started on that a while ago. Please ensure you leave a comment and add to the body of knowledge.

  2) For those of you immigrating to Melbourne Australia., listen to some opinions on Melbourne from:
  a) A student who arrived in early 2008.
  b) Myself
  c) My younger sisters who are 14 and 11.

  3) The One Thing they Never Tell You Before You Immigrate: Gal Africana from a search for sanity talks about the rarely discussed loneliness that comes with being “the only black face in sight”.

  4) How to Immigrate to Australia Within a Week :I wrote a long, extremely detailed series to help you “get settled” in your first week as an immigrant .

  The article helps you deal with things like accomodation, mailing arrangements, banking, employment, documentation and so on and so forth.

  I wrote it with students immigrating to Australia in mind, but I think anyone immigrating can get value out of it.

  Check out the checklist that summarizes the entire series here. For all you immigrant veterans out there, feel free to add information to the series by leaving comments on the various posts.

  5) The Secret to Working Beyond the 20 Hours Per Week Work Limit: Things you must be aware of if you chose to go against the 20 hours work per week limit that exists in Australia and the US. Read that post in collaboration the phenomenal guest posts by:

  a) Seinlife on 5 Mistakes to Avoid as a Foreign Student in the US

  b) Acolyte from My Part of the World
  

  6) A word of advice you’ll hear often that you may dismiss: It has two parts:

  a) This place is full of distractions.

  b) Know why you’re here and keep your eye on the prize.

  Don’t dismiss this advice: it separates the winners from the losers.

  7) Do you ever intend on immigrating back to Africa? Don’t leave this to chance. Be fully aware at all times of whether or not you will and your reasons why.

  8 ) Coach Carol outlines 7 barriers to immigrant success.

  9) My personal thing thrown in here: A lot of you will get irritated by statements like, “Wow! You speak such good English!” or questions like, “Is Africa a country?” Don’t be. Just how much did you know about the State of Iowa or the Federal States and territories of Australia before you left Africa?

  10) On a lighter note, this is for those of you who wonder what interracial relationships are like.

  

  Update on 26/6/2008: Also check out gal africana’s post on UK working-holiday visas for further guidance

  That’s Not All:Njeri’s Guest Post

  What’s happening, I’m losing my mojo? Even I didn’t laugh at the few dry jokes I made in this introduction. This post comes from Njeri a.k.a. meek meek of intricately me. Oh well, enjoy. I’m Off to a camp to Chillax (more than relax) for the weekend. Make sure you also recharge your batteries this weekend: Mwangi
  

  The grass is always greener on the other side…this is a statement that we often take for granted but how true it is. Everything abroad looks so inviting when your in Africa. It seems like they are eating better food, going to better schools…they even look like they have better friends. Its all perception really, its definitely not what it seems. Opportunity exists, it does, but only for the smart immigrant. Do not think you can just go to the embassy, get a visitors visa, get on a plane and figure it out when you get here. Thats what i did and it does not work trust me. If you actually really want to come and enjoy the bounty of endless opportunity, take some time to plan the whole thing. The worst thing you could do is rush into it and then realize that you didn’t plan well enough.
  
  1. Get a work visa or a student visa depending on what exactly you want to do. If the company you work for has offices abroad, ask them to sponsor you… if not ask a company abroad to sponsor you. Please stress on the fact that your an immigrant and they will get all the necessary paperwork taken care of. Alot of companies actually want to send people abroad because they need to be ‘equal opportunity employers’ and that means that they look better if they have a few skilled immigrants in their task force. You need to be qualified though so line up those degrees, once you get to the states you can probably ask them to sponsor your school and you can go on to get your masters, if this works for you do not waste the opportunity. Its easy to get sidetracked but if you are a little patient, it all pays off in the end. If you want to get a student visa apply to a school and once you are accepted, if you can pay for your first few semesters or if you can get someone to sponsor you, schools are often happy to accommodate you [thats because your paying international fees which are much higher than regular fees] If and when you get a job, No matter how menial or degrading you may think it is, hold on to it for dear life because that is your meal ticket. Do everything to keep it and be patient eventually things always get better.
  
  2. Make sure you have savings, and a good friend, and a fall back plan[preferably a good job] and youre family behind you because its always difficult in the beginning. You dont need one of the things i mentioned… you need all of them. I cant stress enough the importance of friends who have lived abroad for a while because not only will they help you go forward they will teach you how to navigate the system. The ’system’ is not something us Africans are actually used to and more often than not, we think that we dont need to be part of it. No you have to be part of it so you need some really intelligent people who are youre really good friends to help you. This help will prove to be more beneficial than money or anything else for that matter. Dont take that ‘intelligent’ thing for granted either because alot of people out here still havent learnt how to navigate that system, so you could get pulled in to the wrong crowd and it would take you years to figure out where you went wrong. You need to catch on quick, you need to soak everything up. Africans abroad are often heartless they will take advantage of you and tear you apart in an instant, when this happens, and i can almost bet it will, you need your family and the fallback plan.
  
  3. Be curious….ask questions…. In school we used to say ‘kuuliza si ujinga’ im not sure if this is actually slang or not but its true… be friendly and ask questions. Its a bit overwhelming in the beginning because you try talking to people and you think they think your accent is weird but you would be surprised how accustomed people are to it and anyway after a while they begin to understand you anyway so don’t be afraid to ask your question twice or thrice and don’t be scared to be laughed at. There is nothing wrong with asking a question that makes you look like your dumb, remember you are just different not stupid. The more questions you ask- the more you know- the sooner you know more- the better off you are. I have moved from state to state, different states have different ways of saying the same thing, people really dont mind it when you ask them about it. It gives them a chance to explain their loyalties. Its almost like asking a Kenyan to teach you a few words in Swahili, we are always more than eager to share. Remember this, tell people your foreign and ask questions, they will be more than willing to help.
  

• June 18, 2008
• 12:04

  The First Ever Displaced African Survey

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Three Part Article

  This weekend I will be taking a trip and will have some time to think and reflect, so I thought I would ask y’all to help me reflect.

  Part one: What Do You Want to Read?

  As I approach article number 150, and readership continues to slowly climb, I thought I would take some time out to ask you all what you want to read. So, leave a comment or email me privately by clicking on the “email the author” link at the bottom of the article and let me know what articles you would like to read?

  Don’t let the limits of logic impede you, if you can imagine it and you want to read it, let me know about it. It might be something that I have wanted to do all along

  Part two: What Have Been Your Favorite Articles So Far?

  Again, leave a comment or email me, but please let me know which one or two or three or 7 articles have you liked from this blog so far?

  Part three: Ways I Can Improve this Blog?

  Even a sentence answering any of these 3 questions would be great but ideally, a paragraph or two or seven. Remember, I started this blog with the intent of doing some good, so help me serve you better.
  

  Be blessed and bless others,

  Mwangi

• June 17, 2008
• 12:04

  Lazy Music for a Lazy Day…But Wait, There’s More

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  Life is What Happens When You Make Plans

  Initially, I wanted to make this a post filled with nothing but smooth jams because I wanted us to discuss polygamy more and cause I was having one of those lazy days but I just HAD to give props real quick to someone

  This Guy is a Genius

  

  You know when I first read about Jim and his “oh my goodness that’s genius” lights I thought two things:

  a) The ex-film schooler in me said, this is absolute genius. Everyone in the world should get like Archimedes and jump out of the shower and run around declaring the genius of it. This dude found a way to leverage stuff that’s already existent and use it to save A HELLLUUUVVAAA LOT of money when it comes to ati-I-pay-what (njeri understands this one) lighting

  b) This dude had better get a patent or way to leverage and/or profit from this quick. So let me highly recommend that: Jim, as far as I can tell, your idea is genius….get on a boat to Nollywood, Bollywood, Hollywood or your local patent office. Make this work for you man and you have nothing but my respect man. Nothing but respect!

  So please stop by his site or check out the story Afrigadget did on his lights ( props to them for being one of Time’s 50 best websites of 2008 ) which links to his Afrigadget page and show him some love, esp if you love yourself some media.

  Regularly Scheduled Programming
  
  
  
  

• June 16, 2008
• 12:13

  Here’s Why Everybody Should be a Polygamist

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  The Great Polygamy Debate
  

  A couple of you wanted me to get a discussion started on this and I wanted to discuss this and so here we are. I want to get some great back and forth and so I will take the unpopular position and try to make the case for polygamy. I know there are many of you who read this site and have never left a comment. Make this the post where you leave your first comment and let me know your thoughts on the polygamy debate.

  (NB: Keep the debate, positive and constructive. Remember it’s better to say nothing than say something that tears other folks down

  ii) In case I can’t create an excuse to do so, make sure you read Kelly’s post on African marriages. It’s so true, so sad and sets the context for this post a little bit.)
  

  Point Number One: A Rebuttal

  I know one of the main arguments that will be brought up against polygamy is:
  
  

  It’s a selfish, barbaric practice that only exists to satisfy the man. Whereas women who exist under polygamy have to endure jealousy and constantly fighting for the man’s attention and resources, the man can happily live with the daily ego boost of going in and out of his wives’ homes as he pleases. Under monogamy, the woman doesn’t have to fight for attention and has the full attention of the man in a mutually loving and nurturing relationship.

  
  

  

  Let’s Separate the Ideal from the Reality
  
  Ideally, under monogamy, we have a mutually loving relationship, based on friendship and trust that is mutually nurturing and satisfying to both parties. The reality on the ground is much different.
  
  The Male Seed Wholesaler
  
  First of all, from a very young age, there will be a 20% of men who sleep with 80% of the women. This is not an exact science but I think once I made this point, a lot of you can see that it’s true. Whether it’s the local or international celebrity or the most charming and eligible bachelors in the city, or the rich businessman, there will be that collection of men who will bed more women over the course of their life, than the other 80% combined.

  These men tend to have the wonderful gift of being able to take women to emotional and orgasmic highs that the other men can’t seem to do. As a result, women are willing to jeopardize a lot in pursuit of this ultimately unattainable man.
  
  This monogamy arrangement actually works out very favorably for these men because they can bed single women, engaged women and married women (don’t even act like this doesn’t happen very often) all over the place and thanks to contraception NEVER HAVE TO SHOULDER THE RESPONSIBILITY because the society is arranged in such a way that every adult male and female are responsible for their actions with no safety nets to protect the women.

  

  What Polygamy Offers
  
  What polygamy basically offers these women is accountability and security. More often than not, the “20% men” tend to be the most economically successful and most able to shoulder the responsibility of taking care of large numbers of people. The man can’t just hop from wife to wife to wife without ever having to shoulder the responsibilities for her upkeep. I am not just talking about a few thousand dollars in child support in case the man slips up one night. The man, with the support of the rest of his family can go out there, find a woman,bring her into his fold and take care of her and her children for the rest of their lives.
  
  This will bring down the currently skyrocketing single parent household rate.
  
  

  Point Number 2: The Male Nature

  Finally, as I have said previously, polygamy appears to be the best way for a man to somewhat stay true to his nature in a manner that upholds his dignity, the dignity of the community and the dignity of his wife (ves) and children. Men, have been accused left, right and center of constantly being aroused by the latest, cute thing in a skirt even when they have a perfectly loving and nurturing relationship.

  

  As one looks around the world, one can’t help but think that perhaps the man’s proclivity to always pursue the next beautiful woman isn’t just an anomaly but rather the way that he is naturally designed. So, why not stay true to this nature in a manner that is sanctioned by all the major religions of the world?
  
  The Discussion is Way More Important than the Article in this Case
  
  I think I will stop it there and see what discussion develops. The discussion is polygamy: give your two cents about it. Remember, keep it positive! We want some useful information to come out of this debate. Make sure you click in the small white box at the bottom of the comment box when you leave a comment so you can receive emails whenever new comments are left and stay a part of this debate.
  
  Be blesd and bles othaz,
  Mwangi
  
  
  
  

• June 15, 2008
• 14:02

  4 Excuses To Avoid Healthy Eating And Exercise - Which One Do You Use?

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  As I mentioned in my Contact page, I write articles for the article marketing site, Ezine articles. Below is one of the articles I wrote for the site a couple of months back. As African people, we probably have the worst diets I have ever seen outside of the SAD (Standard American/Standard Aussie Diet) which in truth can’t be beat in terms of the amount of stuff that goes into the mouth vs how little of it is actually food. I am on a campaign to improve the way we eat and the way we live so this one is for those of you who have millions of excuses not to get your butt in shape. To find the original article click here.

  

  In this day and age, it is taken as a Universal truth that we need to eat healthier and exercise in order to increase the quality and quantity of our lives. This means eating regular servings of fresh vegetables, fruits, nut, grains, seeds and any natural food mixed in with regularly moving and challenging ones body. So why is it that so many people end up eating so much junk and live such sedentary lifestyles? One major reason: excuses. Below are some of the common excuses used to justify living life at a much lower level in this important area and rebuttals for every excuse.

  1) Life is Short. I want to live now!

  Well then first of all, congratulations for making your life shorter. This life has so many wonderful things to be experienced, seen, heard, touched, smelt and felt. If the only way you can find to experience happiness is ingesting the poison that is junk food, isn’t that a sad indication of just how empty your life is? Perhaps, try nourishing your body a bit more so that you have more energy to go out there and live, really live.

  2) I Don’t Want to Live that Long Anyway

  Whenever some people come up against the obvious argument that moving and feeding your temple prolongs your life, they immediately rebut with:

  I don’t want to live that long anyway. Why would I want to live till I’m 90 just to have rickety bones/ bad posture/ be a burden…..etc etc etc

  Here’s the deal. Eating healthier not increases the quantity but also QUALITY of your life. If you want to avoid having the rickety bones, bad posture, huge hospital bills NOW, let me suggest that you put down the junk and get yourself to the local farmers market. To see the extremes of what can happen if you don’t nourish yourself, watch the movie La Vie En Rose and let that be a lesson to you.

  3) I Just Can’t Quit/ The Food Tastes too Good

  That’s why psychology and the science of persuasion was invented: to allow you to have greater control over your body and mind. For most of you, this is an untested hypothesis. You have not tried EVERYTHING YOU KNOW OF to change the way you think and feel about certain foods. There are a plethora of therapies, groups, blogs, books and resources that you can use to change the way you look at food.

  In addition to that, you can substitute most of the junk in your life with much healthier alternatives.

  4) It’s Just Too Hard

  Guess what, so is everything of value in this world. If something is of value in this life, it can only be achieved by hard work. You perform the hardest task of all: you go to work 40 hours a week (probably more) just so that you can have enough money to live. Surely if you can make that much sacrifice to have monetary resources, you can use these resources to nourish your temple. Why gain all the money in the world if you’re carrying it in an obese, unhealthy body?

  Something to think about.

  My name is Mwangi, and I am an African immigrant who has lived in Australia for six years. You can read my story for free by clicking here
  My website, the Displaced African, is dedicated to the happiness and peace of mind of African immigrants. You can learn more about maximizing the immigrant experience on the site.
  In addition to that, the site also has current commentary on the important issues of the day, such as with the article, the Empty Symbol that is Barrack Obama

  Article Source: [ezinearticles.com]

• June 14, 2008
• 12:04

  The Final Three Octaves in the Mo Ma Meme

   » ‎ The Displaced African

  

  Mo Ma, did you see the musical reference? I got you man! The weird salts aside, I got you! The final trilogy in the Mo Ma meme. I am anxiously awaiting the results of you folks doing the meme so please get to it.

  8 Things I Say a Lot

  1) I laugh a lot

  2) No…but

  3) Yup, aha

  4) Ummmmmm (As I listen and try to process what you just said 10 seconds ago, when I wasn’t listening)

  5) Close the door! (People keep opening the door to where I work without closing it)

  6) Sema? (Sheng for what’s up?)

  7) The blog did this/ This happened at the blog today etc etc etc

  You should……(anytime I hear a problem it’s kinda automatic)

  To be honest I don’t really hear myself talk that often but this list feels about right and so we move on to……….

  8 Books I Have Read Recently

  As I have said in the past, I am at a stage where I physically can’t read a book because anytime I pick up literature, my mind rejects it by telling me:

  You have enough information do something with it

  For that reason, this won’t be a list of books I have read recently but rather books, reports and audio resources (all information, right?) that have really affected me:

  1) Harry Potter series:

  Though I haven’t read the last book because of my aversion to literature, I loved this book. J.K. is an absolute MENSA genius when it comes to creating fictitious worlds in the minds of readers. I always read them in one seating (which was sometimes interrupted by trivial things like sleep, school, class etc etc). Once I picked it up the latest volume, the bolt-headed kid was all I wanted to read until I knew what was going on between Harry and He-who-must-not-be-named-but-is-really-called-Voldermont….oh no, I said his name. I’m melting, I’m melting, I’m melting………….

  2) Understanding Power by Noam Chomsky:

  Oddly enough the most profound thing I picked up from this book wasn’t even from its content but rather the way it was written. This book taught me how I best learn….from hearing interactive conversations. I am one of those people who may not be able to tell you the statistics and facts delivered in a lecture but will be able to tell you the emotional tempo I detected in the way he spoke and in the room that day.
  This huge volume was an absolute genius (genius in the sense of he had taken time and really narrowed in on a topic area and understood it, namely geopolitics of the US and the West) talking, just talking. No attempts at creating a Pulitzer prize winning piece of literature. Just talking in an intelligent, insightful way and that’s why I love Podcasts one of them being:

  3) All in the Mind: If you love Psychology as much as I do, go to Itunes, type in All in the mind together with the initials ABC into the Itunes store and subscribe to All in the mind. I cleaned the bricks that built the house I am currently living in. For those of you who don’t know what that means, when a house is demolished, you take the bricks that are still whole and healthy, seperate them from the mortar and cement that bound them to other bricks and build a brand new habitat from that. It took me about 3 weeks of working 8 hour days and while I sat there in the sun, a couple of resources absolutely rocked my Ipod (well not really an ipod, I was broke at the time, let’s call it my portable mp3 player):

  a) All in the mind podcast

  b) Martin Luther King and Malcolm X’s speeches: If you have never heard MLK on an ipod while you sit somewhere quietly do it. That man is a brilliant orator.

  c) Lectures on food stability, geopolitics, Roman history etc etc from radio4all.net conducted by other geniuses that I highly recommend such as Vandana Shiva and Michael Parenti.

  d) Preachers like Erwin Mcmanus of Mosaic (find him on the Itunes store by searching for Mosaic, Mcmanus).

  4) Strategy of Preeminence by Jay Abraham: I think I have also spoken about this before but in brief, Jay’s whole philosophy to business goes a little something like this:

  You should sleep like a baby at night knowing that because you entered the market place, the world is a better place. You should strive to find clients you care about and be a confidante, a friend and an advisor who will make their lives better.

  He made business seem like something other than institutionalized greed ( this isn’t empty rhetoric by the way, check out the definition of greed and the definition of profit and tell me that both don’t have remarkably similar definitions especially as pertains to the constant pursuit of excess) and that together with his ideas on upside leverage (use what you already have to make profit rather than going to build new assetts) made huge impacts on the way I think about the dollar.

  5) and 6) Four Hour Work Week and Blog Profits Blueprint: I thought I would throw these two together because over the course of this blog, you have heard about them and will continue to hear about them so need to go into much depth. Absolutely awesome resources………

  7) Get the Edge:

  The 7 day audio course by Anthony Robbins combined with an interview he did on Larry King, were the catalysts behind my going to a wonderful life of semi-homelessness (no lie, it was a true growth stage it was) in Sydney. If you feel stuck in a rut and want to kick your life into high gear, listen and apply the teachings of Tony Robbins. He’ll help you get to your peak experience.

  The Bible: I haven’t read the Bible in years now BUT I would be lying if I didn’t say that this book has affected me, does affect me and will continue to do so until the day that I die. This book is the foundation for how I understand morality and good vs evil and a lot of my favourite thinkers reference this book. It’s the best selling book ever for a reason, make sure you at least read it. We are having a little debate about it over on this post.

  Hmmm, not enough fiction in this list so I will throw one work of fiction into the mix:

  9) FAMBO/Fimbo or whatever it was called, the oral story told by Wallah bin Wallah: As Mo will probably be able to tell you, Bwana Wallah bin Wallah was universally known as two things: a man NOT to be messed with and one of the greatest gifts to the language of Kiswahili. He actually, off the top of his head, orated a suspense novel to our class over the course of a month or so. To say we were on the edge of our seats would be an understatement. He reminded me that once upon a time Africans did all communication orally AND to this day, no one can tell a story quite like an African.

  8 Movies I Have Seen Eight Times

  I want go into too much detail on those…so I say before I begin typing…..first of all there are almost no movies that I have seen more than once, actually now that I think about it, I wrote an article on this, my 7 Movie Classics article, I’ll just add one to the mix to make it 8.

  1) The Game Plan:

  The Rock + heart warming story + cloyingly sweet fun = A good day at the movies for Mwangi and his younger siblings.

  Well Mo, I hope I did your meme justice. I know I butchered it, changed it and tweaked it but I hope I made it look good. Thanks also to intricately me for tagging me. If you enjoyed this meme and feel like memeing me too, then just create a meme, contact me about it and I should be good to do it (make it something other folks can get some use from though).

  Anyway, you know where the RSS and email are to subscribe.

  Enjoy,
  Mwangi