MULTIPLE AWARD WINNER, AUTHOR,, CORPORATE MC, MENTOR, PROMOTER & AMBASSADOR FOR PEACE -UNIVERSAL PEACE FEDERATION. WE PROMOTE THE SUCCESS STORIES OF AFRICANS & CARIBBEANS AROUND THE WORLD. CONTACT US NOW ON +447882809005
We are pleased to inform you that entries are now open for TONY TOKUNBO FERNANDEZ INTERNATIONAL ONLINE POETRY COMPETITION 2022
The aim of the competition is to encourage the art of writing poetry and promoting the work of people from different backgrounds living in different regions around the world
WHY NOT APPLY TODAY ? HERE IS WHAT TO DO
Send your poem entry and personal bio to afripoet@gmail.com with “TTF ” as the subject heading
The Closing date for the competition is Friday the 31st of December at 12 Noon.
Gold , Silver and Bronze Certificate Winners will be announced in the first week of January 2021.
For more info, SEND US AN EMAIL TO afripoet@gmail.com
Alina Barbu is a graduate of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, from the University of Bucharest, Romania, with a major in English and a minor in French. She has been working in higher education for more than 20 years. She is the author of 11 books with a focus on ESP (English for Special Purposes) and comparative literature. She is a Ph.D. holder in comparative poetry and her thesis was acclaimed by Romanian critics, being awarded a prize for literary debut in 2009. Ever since 2013, she has been teaching maritime English with Constanta Maritime University where she had the wonderful opportunity to teach a lot of 110 African students. This experience was extremely enriching for both teacher and students and the educational outcome was very fruitful. The exchanges of linguistic knowledge led to the improvement of students’ intellectual skills and cognitive strategies.
Therapy has helped me to cope with the many changes in my life; from living in different countries to working in different sectors alongside experiences of loss and change. The more we know ourselves the better the choices we make. I know what its like to feel scared, lost and overwhelmed. I know what it is like to lose people you love. Sometimes we are faced with difficult choices but avoiding them doesn’t make things better, it often makes it worse.
Through counselling, I hope to make a positive impact on the lives of others. I am constantly learning and reflecting. Hopefully, we can work together and I can use all my skills to support you at this difficult time. Contact me to see if we can work together.
My Back Story
I became a counsellor in 2007 following a diploma in Integrative Psychosynthesis at Re.Vision – therapy for the soul. I have always had an interest in human behaviour. I began my career in financial audit in the City of London and soon realised how different I thought and felt to the people around me. This led me to study Behavioural Sciences (B.Sc.) in psychology and sociology at university.
I followed this with a postgraduate (M.A.) in Careers Guidance at Reading University. This gave me the chance to use my knowledge of the world of work and psychology to support and guide teenagers in making a good choice for their future careers. I loved the job and making a difference in the lives of young people but the nature of the work and the politics around it changed and I felt called to work more therapeutically. I have since trained as a Counsellor with Re.Vision in London and completed several courses on Mindfulness and Therapeutic Writing. These are my passions and I will continue to offer counselling, talks and workshops that support people to find their voice in a noisy world.
Alina Barbu is a graduate of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, from the University of Bucharest, Romania, with a major in English and a minor in French. She has been working in higher education for more than 20 years. She is the author of 11 books with a focus on ESP (English for Special Purposes) and comparative literature. She is a Ph.D. holder in comparative poetry and her thesis was acclaimed by Romanian critics, being awarded a prize for literary debut in 2009. Ever since 2013, she has been teaching maritime English with Constanta Maritime University where she had the wonderful opportunity to teach a lot of 110 African students. This experience was extremely enriching for both teacher and students and the educational outcome was very fruitful. The exchanges of linguistic knowledge led to the improvement of students’ intellectual skills and cognitive strategies.
*Crowing of an African Queen* On 25 July 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/70/293, proclaiming 2016-2025 as the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III). In proclaiming this Decade, the international community is recognizing that people of African descent represent a distinct group whose human rights must be promoted and protected. Around 200 million people identifying themselves as being of African descent live in the Americas. Many millions more live in other parts of the world, outside of the African continent. As proclaimed by the General Assembly, the theme for the International Decade is “People of African descent: recognition, justice and development.” Saturday, 21/08/2021 at the Ambassador Bloomsbury Hotel, London saw the crowing of Ms Esther N. Osakwe being recognised as the MISS COMMONWEALTH AFRICA 2021/2022 at the MISS COMMONWEALTH INTERNATIONAL PAGEANT. Following Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II warm acknowledgement with appreciation of our introduction of the concept of Miss Commonwealth to her in July 2002, the Miss Commonwealth Pageant Organising Committee (MCPOC) had developed the 4-part ‘Miss Commonwealth Pageant 2003 programme.The Commonwealth International is a unique culture and charity beauty pageant where beauty is ageless and age is no barrier to participation because the organisation’s mission is delivered by real people of all ages as a life-long objective.We have an effective programme to building bridges, promoting community cohesion and working across religious and cultural divides. We also work to encourage these elements of the programme through the Miss Commonwealth Beauty Pageant readily obvious in the Style, objectives and activities.Working together by their respective national cultural charity queens and ambassadors, Commonwealth nations in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Euro-Atlantic and the Caribbean employ the Commonwealth International Cultural and Charity Evening TV-Special Showcase (CICCETSS) as a platform for the celebration of cultural diversity and promotion of the engagement of people from all cultural backgrounds in the pursuit of the common values of promoting the Quality of Life Improvement. Queen Esther (35), who represented Nigeria in the finals had this to say ‘ Winning this title has brought many things into perspective for me, such as the importance of using your platform for good. I intend to focus on nation building, welfare and wellbeing reforms as well as being an advocate for the unheard voice of the young ones. Queen Esther, is also a seasoned artist, author, Speaker & Well-being Consultant. She resides in England with her 3 children and pet rabbit. To get in touch please email her – lifeimprovedconsults@gmail.com For more information kindly visit https://misscommonwealthpageant.org/about/ https://www.un.org/en/observances/decade-people-african-descent— Osakwe Nonyelum Esther (HRH)Educator and ConsultantMental Health, Well-being & Fitness Coach. Tel: 01274 787072Mobile: 07597372302https://life-improvement-consults.business.site/
The power of the alternative path by Livy-Elcon Emereonye
In an emergency, the value of the ‘exit route’ which is an alternative path would be appreciated by anyone who found and used it. This same value can also be discovered and appreciated when any alternative path is put into use – maximum use.
An alternative primarily is a possibility of choice between at least two things or courses of action. A path is a way or track laid down for walking or made by continual treading. It can mean the course or direction in which a person or thing is moving; a course of action or way of achieving a specified result. In this context, other words for path include route, track, or way. In a simple term, the alternative path is an existing path that is not regularly used because there is a more accepted path or another easier route that is commonly used. It can be left to waste away or depreciate in value – and it may not be used unless the other better path gets bad or closed.
At every point in time and indeed in every place, there are many alternative paths in our lives that have neither been discovered nor used because we are very comfortable in our comfort zones. We tend to use the popular highway, following the crowd and doing what every other person is doing. To look good and be endorsed by others, we love to conform to the status quo. But conformists rarely beat history. To do something new and make an impact, there may be the need to do what others are not doing, and this may include treading the path not popularly used. There are opportunities – many great ones – before us that lay waste because we refused to look around and see things differently. We dread change and love not to dare but until we dare, we may not know our might – and without stretching our might we will not get different better results. It is by trying that we can succeed and set new records. Therefore, dare to be different. The life of exploration, with its inherent dangers, opens the doors of adventure and discovery, and every discovery has ways of designing a glorious destiny especially if it is something that has great value and touches the lives of many people. Developing the ability to see things differently would harness the capacity to change things for better. Whatever the calling and the circumstance, nature has a way of pushing us out, sometimes to experience harsh realities and to taste the other side of life that we move in search of a greener pasture even in a desert. When the inevitable happens, we look for ways to be more resourceful and productive. In the process, we may stumble into something new that if properly explored can bring about a total turn around with great outcome. You will see different colours of different intensity when you look deep even at a dot. Great preservation factors are discovered through a critical pry and probe. Rare discoveries are often made when all hope seems to have gone and there is no alternative to choose from. But the beauty of survival is that when pushed to the wall and there seems to be no exit route, we must discover a way of escape!
The world is not only big enough for all to operate optimally without silly competition but it is indeed full of opportunities which only those that earnestly task themselves searching for them can see. However, to make a mark, what is seen or discovered must be put into maximum use for optimal results. Task your senses and get value from your discovery. Just the same way necessity becomes the mother of invention, scarcity promotes prudence. The hard way is valued most at hard times. Those in tight conditions have ways of doing the unimaginable that can question the laws of nature.
When faced with challenges – tough challenges – we have ways of getting the best of ourselves. Yes, harsh realities somehow come along with the power to harness our potential. Even a tongue of a dimmed light is appreciated the most in the midst of deep darkness. Every solution is valued when faced with an insurmountable problem. The flickers of hope seem loudest with anticipation of a feasible, workable solution that comes with the exploration of the alternative route.
One of the things that define human beings is the experience of problems, and there is strength and excitement that come along with problem solving. In an attempt to solve problems, many options could be discovered and such discovery if harnessed can bring about uncommon breakthroughs. A sudden crash, an unexpected problem with inherent pains can lead to sudden or accidental life changing discovery.
At your spare time, probably a quiet time, probe into what can cause one to look for and use the alternative route. If you are at that point now, what alternative route will you use? What are the advantages of this alternative path?
Commercial commuters know the importance of alternative routes very well. During gridlock or heavy traffic jams they seek and use alternative routes to meet targets. They can stop at nothing to use any available route to get to their destination even if it entails putting up with deliberate threats and dangers. What matters most to them is results – timely results. When it seems that every other thing has been lost and life gets devastated, the alternative path can come to the rescue with new ideas and hope and properly used, such can be one of the greatest opportunities of a lifetime. Just develop the courage and the thick skin to persevere and you will discover at the end that the alternative path is indeed a special path for greatness.
Yes, when one door closes, another one will open so don’t be afraid to start all over again. Use the alternative path and continue the journey. Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others and move on. What you encounter where you are coming from, if put into good use, will help you a lot to get to where you are going in time without many flaws and falls but where they are inevitable, rise up, and continue. It is not over until the last breath. The most inspiring stories come from those who saw failure as a factor for success and thereafter embraced all odds to excel in their chosen endeavours. People can as well read your story and learn from it if you choose to because the ball is in your court. The determinant factor is the willingness not to give up no matter the challenge and the determination to succeed – and succeed real good – at all cost. Pay the price and you will get the prize.
TONY TOKUNBO ETEKA FERNANDEZ 