MIA'S WORD

  Amina's Musings is my weekly podcast that focuses on my life's journey. Being jobless, self-employed and starting a business.  Click here to listen to the podcast. Feel free to follow me in the available channels for updates when I post. I promise to walk you through an enlightening journey that will be filled with aha moments, inspiration and great lessons. 

It is true, my friends. Ask, and it shall be given to you! Let me share with you some of the good news I received during the pandemic. It hasn't all been doom and gloom. I have been out of work for a year due to this pandemic. I went through many emotions during this time (still am), but I have been coping in my own way. (I went into how I cope in a  previous article .) Well, I have some great news to share. I am not just using words to motivate you, but I want to share the good things that I have received because of the pandemic.  I have been trying my hand at a few things to earn money. I started my own business, Amina Digital Solutions (I'll leave details at the end if you would like to know more). I have joined online merchandising platforms (I will share once I get to master this), online surveys, online entrepreneurship and more. I went through so many webinars that promised great money once I did some great work. Well, I learnt a lot from the webinars for sure. The only...

We have all found ourselves adjusting to the new normal. For companies, they have had to embrace new ways of working. From remote working , having skeleton staff in the office, moving meetings to virtual rooms instead of the physical meeting rooms. They have had to lay off some staff, had to take pay cuts, had to let go of contractors and so much more just to stay afloat.  But what did this mean to you and me? Everything going online. Well, for some of us it was about time! For others, it has been a headache. I know this for a fact since I worked with some really technically challenged individuals. Now that most of the work has to be done remotely and online, they are facing the Goliath of their work. I have received calls to help people with small tasks, as small as editing a document on Google to sharing a folder with a team to collaborate etc. Things that to me seem like a normal thing but someone else seems like algebra or very difficult math problems.  Challenges with g...

We have all been there, broke and in need of a way out. A vicious pattern we can not seem to shake.   I have been there, well, who am I trying to kid. I am still there. Trying everyday to figure if out. So if you are just like me, take this journey of financial freedom with me. But first, let me introduce myself.  I am Amina aka Miamicia :),  a young lady that is trying to make it in this concrete jungle. A lady that believed so much in the words of our parents and the motivational songs they sang to us. A song that comes to mind " Someni vijana.... mpate kazi nzuri... "  I don't quite remember the song but someone who does can share and take us down memory lane. Okay,  I digress! I knew for a fact that all I had to do was study hard ( there was nothing like study smart back then. If you know, you know ) and the rest would fall in place. Like a great job with good, actually, great pay. I'd live in a furnished apartment that would overlook the Nairobi skyl...

This art of duping someone of their money, belongings among other things started years ago. Most of them were very smart, using it as a means of making easy money. Some because of necessity while others it was because of what some would say their genetic code. The thing to note is that just like the superheroes in the movies there is always two sides to a coin. In most scenarios there are three sides to a coin. But let us look at the two sides first. The first way to look at these common day con artists is as criminals. They dupe people of their hard earned money because the times are hard. The other side is of those duping the rich that seem to deserve conning since some of them rob the common people blind. Some form of justice for them, quid pro quo if you would want to look at it that way. Though I might say that these type of con artists are rare. They have to be master minds, and on top of that considered as vigilantes.    Todays, con artists are everywhere. Preyin...

Barbara, the artist Beauty and brains is today's choice of a model for you. They also need to have drive, passion,talent and a worthy course. Well, not all the people with these qualifications become models. Some become executives, others teachers and even artists. Which brings me to my topic today, local artists. Local artists in Kenya have got little recognition. Take the graffiti guy in Nairobi  town who did the art work on politicians. That is talent with purpose. That kind of talent can not be let to waste. They need motivating to pursue their passion. In my case I motivate the beautiful Barbara. She is a young lady with an attractive personality as is her face. She is fun to be with and very smart. A student of IT and very responsible.For one to understand the paintings you need to know a little bit about the painter.  Some of her art, actually, most of her art is abstract but like her it is versatile.It involves current issues as well as her passions.  T...

My African Queen - Yuster Mwamburi Michuki Everyone has a beginning and mine starts with the beautiful African queen called Yuster Michuki, my beloved mother. I would like to let you all in on the woman that has to shape me into who I am. Like every ordinary child, I grew up knowing there is no one more beautiful, smart or amazing than my mother. Everything she did was magical. Secondborn to a family of seven, she is a humble Taita brought up by two loving parents, the late Mr and Mrs Mwamburi. I could not share the childhood that she had but from all the stories, I could picture it. A young bubbly and full of life girl. This brings me to look at her as a person, not this mystical angel and then the lens shifts. Everyone has there ups and downs, but how you handle them is what sets us apart as people. Now you may think I am saying this because she is my mum but no, this woman could be going through the toughest of problems but still manage to smile. She once told me, "Keep smili...

STOCKHOLM SYNDROME Also known as Capture-bonding is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness. It can be seen as a form of traumatic bonding which does not necessarily require a hostage scenario, but which describes “strong emotional ties that develop between two persons where one person intermittently harasses, abuses, threatens, beats or intimidates the other.” In 1973, two men entered the Kreditbanken bank in Stockholm, Sweden, intending to rob it. When police entered the bank, the robbers shot them, and a hostage situation ensued. For six days, the robbers held four people at gunpoint, locked in a bank vault, sometimes strapped with explosives and other times forc...

It is one that is brought up with good intentions but has harsh repercussions. The government has set up a way to cater for the poor if this bill is passed into law. They are offering them funds to help deal with the rise in  the cost of living due to the Value Added Tax on basic commodities like maize, wheat flour, sanitary towels, processed milk and others.  There are over 400 items in the present constitution that are zero rated. It could be noted that those products could help raise the deficit needed by the 2013 budget.  It is true that the current proposed bill will cut across all social classes.Whether it is implemented or not all the people in the country will be affected. The lower class will feel the pinch more because their income is in the lower side. Most of them are living below a dollar a day. That means that even with the government opting to offer funds to offset the imbalance by offering subsidies the poor will still be at a disadvantage. To solv...

I was at a bus station awaiting a parcel one day when i happened to find myself in the midst of two mothers talking about schools today. I could not help but listen in and they were more than willing to have me as a participant in their conversation. What they were saying at first struck me as ignorant talk. I later fond out that I was mistaken. The conversation was about the heated well-known debate about private schools and public schools. I know you are put off by now but bare with me for a few minutes. There argument was that public schools are better than private and they had a compelling argument. Most private schools today have resorted to scheming parents of their money. I call it scheming because today, a child going to private school and public have little to no difference. The grammar spoken by them is bad and in dire need of help. To top it all off they are trained to pass exams and not to learn to gain knowledge. When it comes to job seeking, they are at a disadvantage...

NAME:   Nelson Mandela OCCUPATION:   Civil Rights Activist , World Leader,  Journalist BIRTH DATE:   July 18 ,  1918  (Age: 95) EDUCATION:   Clarkebury Boarding Institute, Wesleyan College,  University College of Fort Hare, University of London,  University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg PLACE OF BIRTH:   Mveso, Transkei, South Africa FULL NAME:   Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela AKA:   Nelson Mandela AKA:   Rolihlahla AKA:   Madiba ORIGINALLY:   Rolihlahla Mandela He turned 95 years old last week. The past months have been very harsh for him. The last we heard of his condition, he was critical but stable under life support machine. Now we hear of some uplifting news that his health is improving. The man was a strong one having gone through torture during the apartheid. He rose above all trials to reach the peak of his career and life.  A mural of Nelson Mandela in Ireland  At 95...

The teachers are justified to strike seeing that they have been doing it for years. This is a sad realisation and reality. The government  and the people of Kenya may be fade up with the strike but the fact of the matter is that this shows a huge problem. the previous month was a time for the people of Kenya to mourn as something died in the parliament building, the conscience of our elected members of parliament.

THE DARK AGES. I can not believe that there was a time when we called the era of before electricity the dark ages. Those times were not dark. The people of the 21st century are the ones living in the dark ages. Yes, we are. Look at the things going on around us, bestiality, greed of leaders at the expense of civilian lives, mass murder and suicide, wars and clashes fired by leaders for selfish gain. If this is the dark age then i accept to be corrected. We have sang the same song over and over that we need to stand up for ourselves and be independent, well am glad to see that being implemented. Now what we need is resilience,not accepting defeat until we get what  we want. Is it not common knowledge that  'nchi' ni wewe na mimi as the Uwiano advertisement for so clearly puts out. Then fight on we shall till the neo-colonialism stops. We appointed the leaders so they are working for us not their bellies. Do not get me wrong am not in sighting anyone to get up in arms and do a...

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia I never expected that a day would come when we as Kenyans would be at the edge of our seats keenly following the electoral process. We all came out for one cause. The beginning of unity among us started when we saw our brothers and sisters dying of hunger. W e came out and stood together to pull funds neede d to end t he sorrow and ho peless ness that they had . We did t hat all by ourselves when the off icials that we put in the G overnm ent did nothing but add their pensions an d s alary. I hope now that we as Kenyans have realised the power we hold and the politicians have realised that the power they had over us is gone with the wind. We should not  let ourselves end up in a helpless situation again. Ignorance is bliss but not in the digital era. If you remember, those that were ignorant when the digital era begun, suffered the consequences. We are going into untested waters, we need to work together to make it in this new jungle. Naivet...

We are truly living in the digital era indeed. The past is no longer what it used to be. Rumor has it that a famous influential person has been apprehended for atrocious acts against humanity. I can not confer the name of this official as the case is still open but it is shocking to know the extent to which people could go. It is not only in the movies that murders are committed so that one can progress in future. It is also true my fellow Kenyans, our police force has changed and is not playing around. Proof is slowly coming our way. we just have to be patient. Rome was not built in a day. We need to keep our eyes open, ears to the ground and our minds free from rigidness and old fashion thinking that has got us nowhere but in abject poverty and economic crisis. These politicians are going to play mind games with us during this trying time. Let us not fight their wars. Our time comes and they are never anywhere to be found to help yet we put them there to do just that (just ...