The Inspire Series - HOPE IN A TIME OF EBOLA by Victor O. Forna

The Inspire series kicks off with a poem written by Victor Osman  Forna,  a young talented Sierra Leonean high school student and writer  currently residing in the country  in the mist of the Ebola out break.

Inspiration behind the poem

When Ebola came to Sierra Leone, it had a devastating effect on everybody, both home and abroad. Everybody was stressed out, no schools, a state of emergency, some people even traveled out of the country seeking safety elsewhere, but some like myself stayed. And I have seen how tensed and sad this virus made my lovely country, how horrible the news on TV were, this filled me with emotions, it made me sad, it made me fear, there was nothing I could do, the only way I could overcome these feelings was through my passion, writing. I took my pen and the words just flowed out from the bottom of my heart, I wrote "Hope in a time of Ebola." It is a piece that means a lot to me.

Enjoy and be inspired!

Watin de Apin (February 1 2015)

Hello lovely people, congratulations on making it to the second month of 2015!  I can’t believe it is February already, January practically flew by like someone or something was chasing it. I am sure a lot of you are glad February is here.

A bit of  personal update before heading diving into Watin de Apin. In my two weeks  away from the blog I was pleasantly surprised to receive emails and messages with inquires from people who were concerned and wanted to know how I was doing and why I  hadn't posted in weeks. To you all I say a heartfelt thank you, I really appreciate the love. And to answer your questions, I haven’t given up on my blogging resolution, I just had to take some time away to deal with health issues.  In my very first post I came out about my ongoing struggle with depression and anxiety and admitted to seeking help.  Though  I am handling it much better these days compared to prior to seeking help, I still experience bad days.  The past two weeks has been one of those times, during which I just want to be alone and do absolutely nothing. I can’t afford to do that right now  because I have a lot on my plate at the moment. It is my final semester of graduate school, I am juggling my course work,  writing of my (mini) thesis and my current job along with preparing for a possible relocation to Sierra Leone after graduation, job hunting and trying to stay healthy and sane. My solitude has been my space of comfort these day. I look forward to my “me time” more than anything and have I been listening to my favorite artist and girl India Arie (yup in my head we are bffs) to soothe my soul :-) This is my current jam of the week.

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Okay now that I have updated you about myself. Let’s move on to Watin de Apin. A lot has happened during my weeks of hiatus giving me numerous options for this week’s list of the good, bad and ridiculous.