Dear Dali

I have a story to share with you. It’s about strawberries and more.

I walked into the greenhouse with the intention of issuing the instruction to pull it down. Then I looked at the beds of the neglected strawberry seedlings on the edges of the greenhouse. My instinct says- what if we grow strawberries in the greenhouse? I called the Assistant (Ba Simba) and gave him the instructions to transplant. Blank look- he is confused.  I had to demonstrate what I was on about. We prepare the beds. I lead in planting a few. Then I plant some more. We have 150 plants in one row.  At this stage, my family follows to see what’s going on. I have been gone for too long. They find me kneeling, planting in overalls. It’s a photo moment. Camera. Action. We finish planting on day 4. Then we water and wait.

It’s been a while since I gathered the courage to write anything meaningful here. What can I say life happens. We lost a dear friend, your godmother. One wonders why bad things happen to good people. All I heard in the eulogies about my departed friend was that she was a good wife, a good mum, a good Christian, a philanthropist, etc. I can personally attest to her philanthropy and that is the point of this piece. Happiness was a giver of her money, time, and compassion. She stood with me and your mum at a very difficult time when we could not have a child. Helped us in our prayers and then you were born. She always called you, her baby. I heard so much more from people who had interacted with Happi.

The idea is borrowed from Matthew 5:41 where the Lord Jesus Christ teaches that if one is coerced to walk one mile, they should go the extra mile. It is pregnant with various meanings and has been adopted into the English Lexicon to refer to instances of unusual kindness and service. Other organisations refer to themselves as 2-mile organisations in reference to their commitment to excellence or maybe a superior service.

Dear Dali

I am yet to come across stories of instant success.  They are probably there but I bet you they are just a handful. Life has been designed in such a way that we all go through trials, tribulations, and even failures before we make it. I think it has more to do with the fickleness that we carry. Imagine the egos if we succeeded instantly and all the time, we tried something new. God in his infinite wisdom has made sure to first build resilience and humility in you before He gives you success. There are many factors that determine individual success but today I will focus on the process that one must go through. My observation is that there are usually four stages to success.

One of the inevitable lessons about life is that one day you will lose money. It could be due to negligence on your part or someone else’s fault. But it will be your loss, nonetheless. Some losses are too big and some insignificant. The lesson is the same on all occasions. We live in a world where we don’t know everything. You can do everything you know and do it well- but still lose some money. That my dear Dali is called life.

Dear Dalitso

I was young and now I am getting older. In my life, I have made both good and bad decisions. Along the way, I have learnt several important lessons around money, joy, and contentment. I come from a background of poverty, so I had no real point of reference in my family. Almost all the lessons I have learnt about capital accumulation have come either from the church or independent research and let me quickly add that I am still learning. One of the most valuable lessons to date is the teaching/wisdom in Proverbs 24:27 (Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field, and afterwards build thine house)

Prisoner of Hope (2)

We are already way into 2024. In fact, the countdown of the number of days left in the year has already begun. So, what will you be in 2024? I urge you to consider being a prisoner of hope (see previous letter). I will use this quote from Jeff Bezos to summarize the essence of the previous letter. 'Complaining is not a strategy'. You must work with the world as you find it, not as you would have it be.

A brand-new Opportunity

Opportunities come in many ways, which could be financial, relational, position, or time. A new year is always a brand-new opportunity or maybe shall we call it a brand-new canvas. It is a new year with unlimited possibilities. It is literally up to you to decide what you make of it. In this 3-part letter, I will look at what a new year means.

Yesterday we were invited to a private dinner purely by accident/chance. We booked for dinner at our lodge, but it turns out that out of the other 36 guests we were the only ones who made the booking for the meal. The chef was also organizing a dinner for a private party. Smart guy thought to just include us in the private party, hopefully after consulting with the big boss who was hosting the party. It was a lovely and a welcome surprise for me and the family.

I have my own moments of doubt. Am I doing enough? Am I doing the right thing? Am I in the right place? I have always believed that my mission is to fight poverty. But at times it looks so presumptuous when I put it that way. It’s like something (the devil) taunting me and asking who are you to think you can fight poverty? Remember this- poverty has been our permanent condition for many years. I have argued that the common thread behind oppressive systems is greed. The converse of that situation is that the common thread of the oppressed existence is poverty. My doubt is in the tools that we use to fight poverty. To others maybe we should share the little we have- give what we have to others. That may work- but is there enough to go around.