The Fatherless daughters & sons

Being Raised without a father is something that you may not readily see the magnitude of the impact.Because as parents you may not readily see the maginitute but you may see signs or not even recognize some at all. The child is the one that battles the weight of the impact.

The fatherlessness can be as an orphan, rejected child, runaways from home, Children raised by single mothers, children who barely see or spend time with their fathers etc .

For the fatherless daughters & sons, Sometimes you don’t even understand why you behave in a certain way or do certain things or why are you inclined to certain things that are just hard to shake off.

In the video on the link (https://youtu.be/eJ4f7MaCPt4?si=M54Vj6rHUQiJMUlw) I share my story of life without my father, moving from the life of my parents having a separation, custody battles to being an orphan in the shortest period.

About two years or 1 year and some months( age 6 to 8) of my childhood that I experienced a shaky relationship with my dad messed up my childhood, teenage years and most of my adulthood. That by God’s Grace my life was restored.

I share some insights on how I have been able to heal daddy issues or the impact of life without the father in the picture on the video in the link below https://youtu.be/eJ4f7MaCPt4?si=NHzkkRRHcf3S7EBx

Author: Ajal Mary Theodorah

June 11, 2024 0

The African informal education system & transfer of traditions!

Africa has a rich and diverse culture, each with a unique way of transferring skills, knowledge, and traditions.

I am from Eastern Uganda, in my culture like many cultures in Uganda, we pass on traditions, skills & knowledge, etc. through storytelling, riddles, and proverbs among others.

As a little girl back in the day, I and many children of different age groups gathered inside and around my grandmother’s small grass-thatched kitchen in the evenings. We mostly helped with dinner preparations but most importantly we gathered inside the smoke-filled kitchen to listen to African stories from Grandma that were packed with so many lessons.

Evenings were the best part of the day; we learned new riddles and sometimes we took turns retelling some of the stories.

Indiscipline cases during the day were addressed in the evenings with a story that dealt directly with the kind of indiscipline.

In my family, a special dialect was used only known to the family. It was to be used to communicate in times of emergency or in the presence of a visitor to inquire about something without offending the visitor or passing information that only concerned family members if strangers were around.

As a young girl back in the day, I learned the importance of hard work, listening to advice from elders, respect for elders, greeting, when to speak or not to, community, planning and so many things from the stories, riddles, and proverbs.

HARVESTING HONEY WITH GRANDPA is an African storybook for children that celebrates the African informal education system and the transfer of traditions. It’s a book dear to my heart inspired by true events.

“Harvesting Honey with Grandpa” children’s book is now available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Saxo on the links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/HARVESTING-HONEY-GRANDPA-THEODORAH-MARY/dp/9913979803/ref=sr_1_1?crid=5XJIRXGCFOHB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pmxb_7KQntXLVFmZX9vyEg.pYLkHsch-fffor51jt0fHdVhjzhPcPweSnc0M2RBf_o&dib_tag=se&keywords=harvesting+honey+with+grandpa&qid=1714245006&s=books&sprefix=harvesting+honey+with+grandpa%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C174&sr=1-1

Barnes & Noble : https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/harvesting-honey-with-grandpa-catherine-tuka/1145465148?ean=9789913979801

Saxo: https://www.saxo.com/dk/harvesting-honey-with-grandpa_bog_9789913979801

Share with me in the comment section some of your favorite African stories, riddles, and proverbs or how does your culture pass on traditions and knowledge to the next generations.

Learn more about Harvesting Honey with Grandpa children’s book Here

Author: Ajal Mary Theodorah

May 22, 2024 0

Harvesting Honey with Grandpa – Children’s book

I am happy to share that I am finally a published author. My first book, a children’s book, “Harvesting Honey With Grandpa” is a story inspired by my childhood days with my maternal grandparents.

“Harvesting Honey with Grandpa” children’s book is now available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Saxo on the links:

Barnes & Noble : https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/harvesting-honey-with-grandpa-catherine-tuka/1145465148?ean=9789913979801

Saxo: https://www.saxo.com/dk/harvesting-honey-with-grandpa_bog_9789913979801

It has been an exciting journey. My writing journey was born in my darkest moment in life, it was something I stumbled upon when I was grieving the death of my father as an 8-year-old girl trying to process grief.

Today I am honored that I can share beautiful and happy stories with the whole world.

I am privileged to have an amazing partner Dr. James Ajal who has been patient and loving and has been my happy and safe place to grow and evolve. Thank you “La Pal cunya” for supporting me and making this dream a reality.

A special thanks to my mother, who introduced me to writing. My mother’s diary inspired my writing journey.

And to my late maternal Grandparents Raphael and Sofia, you did an amazing job raising me, May your gentle souls rest in eternal Peace.

I am Looking forward to your support and feedback.

Kind Regards

Theodorah.

April 27, 2024 0

Find your space & Mark it

Invest in finding who you’re which makes it easier to get your place in the world rather than duplicating someone else’s Life .

You have something special in you, let it shine, don’t strangle it because of self ignorance & Misdirection of efforts.

Happy week ahead 🥰

Author: Ajal Mary Theodorah

January 15, 2024 0

EPISODE FOUR: BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

THE ROLE OF INDIGENOUS FOODS AND PRACTICES FOR FOOD SECURITY -SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS

Uganda is one of the top 10 most biodiverse countries in Africa (Butler, 2016) with at least 1,742 known terrestrial vertebrate species, 4816 plant species, 600 fish species, and 24 vegetation types. However, this has greatly declined due to land use and habitat changes (BIODEV2030 project launch 2021).

Growing up my family home was just a few Kilometers from the iconic Tororo Rock which is home to various kinds of animals like monkeys etc.

About 22 or 25 years ago, I remember one evening my uncle never returned home, he worked at the iconic Tororo cement industry then. My grandmother was greatly distressed, phones were not very common so there was no way to communicate with him to find out what had happened. At about 7 am early the next morning, my uncle came home pushing his bicycle and had several bruises all over his body. He narrated to us then, that the hyenas had attacked him, and he ran and climbed a nearby tree that’s where he stayed the whole night.

As a child then, I laughed, let alone I had never seen a hyena and the way he described the events was hilarious in my native language. However, we had also been cautioned by adults that while walking you don’t swing your hands because hyenas can grab it.

In the late 90s, I had the privilege of seeing different kinds of animals at Tororo Rock because that’s where we gathered firewood, wild fruits, and some herbs too. I remember seeing various animals like Kwach it’s a kind of big cat maybe like a leopard or cheetah or something in-between, maybe if any of our readers recognize the name will help me translate it into English.

Other animals included deer what we call amuthe, tortoise what we call ofuk, etc. Most of these animals cannot be found visibly except for the monkeys that have now become a terror to the communities around. The Iconic Tororo Rock is being mined for making cement and gradually it has shrunk in size and the fauna and flora around it have disappeared too.

I could say as a young apprentice to my grandparents, they always emphasized never leaving the land bear with crop rotations relay cropping, fallowing, and incorporating shrubs and trees in the land.

Also, whenever we went to harvest food whether it was millet, bananas, or cassava, etc., we always left some for other wild animals to feed on.

Those were the golden days.

Author: Ajal Mary Theodorah

Photo Credit: Isabella L, Busitema Forest Reserve

January 8, 2024 0