You are what you read

I am an academic and so i often find ways to let my hair down and relax the use of my brain. Lately, i find myself visiting some blogs that frankly make me feel dumber once i go through the lot. It sounds weird i know but that's honestly the truth. Time goes by really quickly so i have decided not to waste any more time reading anything on any website that does not add to my knowledge or expand my horizon. Whats the point of knowing that kim kardashian is pregnant for kanye west if its actually not going to solve world hunger? Some peoples destiny is to revel in such information and perhaps make money from all of it. That's fine. I doubt that's what my path in life is supposed to be and so i have to put a stop to it. I have decided to stop visiting such websites and spend my free time doing more productive (lighter) things. I'd rather give my time caring for abandoned children than sit in front of my laptop reading irrelevant news. I do not want to wake up one day when i am 60 and realise i have not made any contribution to humanity.


xoxo

Fusing Disease Awareness with Entertainment

I think Philanthropy is a great thing but i do have my reservations when it comes to raising awareness of diseases e.g Cancer, HIV etc. There seems to be a trend in fusing entertainment to a cause to raise awareness of diseases. Not that i think this is a terrible idea, i just question the effectiveness. I understand that entertainment gets people to events and probably keeps them there in the hope they learn a thing or two about the disease in question. the problem i  have with this method is, after all the glitz, glam, red carpet and champagne are all gone, will the health message people are trying to pass across sink in? And if so, for how long?

I feel if you need to give people incentives to take care of their health or be aware of health issues that they may be susceptible to then there is absolutely no point. The way i see it, without good health, no one can achieve anything in this life and so this should be top priority for every individual..sadly this is not the reality as people often have poor health seeking behaviours.

Cancer and HIV for instance are serious diseases and if people feel they need fashion, music and any form of entertainment to face this reality, then perhaps as a society, we need to find other ways to effectively pass the messages across. I for one have been to one of such events and no one even spoke about the disease awareness bit after the 15 minute slide show presentation that literally made people snooze. People were more concerned about the Glitz and glam and of course the music and fashion show. I really dont think this is appropriate. if people are serious about their health, then events should be held specifically for disease awareness with no incentive to attend. That way one is sure that those in attendance are serious about learning and will definitely leave the event spreading awareness and making lifestyle changes.

I think this is important in the African continent as we are still faced with a double burden of infectious and communicable diseases, topped with HIV and lots of Injuries caused by accidents and natural disasters. We should be taking these things a bit more seriously. There's no point copying the west in the way they raise awareness, they are an advanced society that have appropriate preventative measures in place. Africa on the other hand can not boast of this. So if we must raise awareness, lets do just that.

Science Inspiration

Its really lovely to have women in science be a source of inspiration especially in Africa. I look forward to finding more women like this and i hope that one day i will be a source of inspiration to young women around the world :)

Professor Tebello Nyokong is a researcher of a ground-breaking cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Born in 1951 in Lesotho, this South African Professor has achieved international acclaim for her groundbreaking work in harnessing light for cancer therapy and environmental clean-ups. She is currently undertaking research on a new cancer diagnosis and treatment methodology called ‘photo-dynamic therapy’, which is intended as an alternative to chemotherapy.Through her international reputation, Professor Nyokong has contributed considerably to enhancing the reputation of South African science. Many international scientists have been drawn by her work to visit South Africa, and her laboratory has hosted postdoctoral candidates from around the world.

In 2009 Professor Nyokong won the Africa-Arab State L’Oréal-Unesco Award for Women in Science and was named by UNESCO as one of the world’s top five exceptional women scientists.In addition to working on photo-dynamic therapy, Professor Tebello Nyokong, continues to train chemists, particularly women, in the skills needed to keep South Africa at the cutting edge of scientific development.

“I work very hard and do not give up easily even when things are tough. I tend to take setbacks in my life as a way of working even harder. I actually get challenged by doing the ‘impossible.” 

xoxo