Thomas Longosi,a thirty three year old man,who makes bird portraits using feathers,a special paper,cotton and saw dust,he not only makes bird portraits but also makes the sounds of those birds.

Thomas,who resides at Donholm in Umoja,says he entirely depends on the business to earn a living.He started the business when he was seventeen years old,where he made some funny portrait and his dad laughed and said it was amazing.From then,he had so much desire to keep on making the portraits.

To many, bird’s feathers have no meaning after they are slaughtered, but to Thomas it’s one of the most important raw material which he uses.His customers are mostly women since women love decorations in their houses.He also sells the portraits in restaurants where he attracts his customers by making sounds of the birds.He makes eagles,peacock and many other different kinds of birds.

He gets the feathers from butchers where they are sold to him in kilos in a sack.He also needs wood so as to make the frames of his pictures.He puts saw dust to act as the background of his portraits plus also uses paint to make the portraits attractive.

This artistry is called collache and it’s need keen ness and patience as the big portraits take at most three hours and the small ones take two hours.He makes the portraits at his open store.

He says that before the internet he used to know different kinds of birds by visiting the museums and once he saw the pictures then they would be stuck in his mind.

He also faces challenges in his business,since many people didn’t believe in him when he started plus the market is not that profitable but since it is his passion he keeps on striving and struggling.

He hopes to get tenders from the government and that the government can support him in his business.

Slavery,how do you define slavery!According to me,it is the most inhumane act and no one should experience it nor be a subject to it.

Slavery did not just end during the colonization era.We are still facing this horrendous act.Let me go straight to campus.In one way or another we are slaves of either someone or something.

A lot of intellectuals argue that we are no longer slaves but hush!we are.Campuses still have whites as tutors yet a thousand of learned african lecturers are out there unemployed. Lots of universities contain white students yet a lot of Africans miss places in universities and even miss on scholarship opportunities.

A lot of African students opt to go study abroad forgetting that we have better universities in Africa and tutors prefer teaching abroad,accepting to be brainwashed and go teach some white kid in perhaps America,yet that one african kid needs your knowledge.A bit confusing right!

Let’s make it African to African,students are slaves to grades,they’d go to any extent to get good grades even have an affair with their lecturers which to some is a walk in the park.Not a big deal.For students to live luxurious lifestyles they would be slaves to anyone either their fellow students, tutors or some rich white man along the sandy beaches of Coast.Not being a racist either but we have to free ourselves from things that seem to chain us.

In one way or another,we are still slaves to something.Anything that you depend on.One can be dependent on their friend as they provide them with benefits.That is where friends for benefits come in.Once you get dependent on anything or anyone they start treating you differently.They feel like without them you are nothing! Which is true.

I had this friend of mine,who had a guy that provided him with everything.She had designer bags the likes of Louis Vuitton stuff,the latest shoes and changed hairstyles every week an expensive yet legit lifestyle.The lady depended so much on the guy that when the guy decided to get some other “toy”… She literally went mad,she was devastated, frustrated name it!She even had suicidal thoughts because of thinking of means of survival.Dependence on someone or something is dangerous.It is slavery!!

Let us be proud of who we are,take control of our territory.Allow no one to replace any black person.Say no to modern slavery and not forget our roots;where we come from.

Today,let me talk about politics in campuses.

Politics,a dirty game and at the same time a very smart game.It needs skills,influence, money of course and fame.Campus politics is something I have witnessed.Students basing their political views on their specific tribes,electing or nominating leaders as per their tribal lines.Other students even inciting others, and that,brings a lot of violence and hatred in campuses.

One who wants a position in a campus has to have not only good communication skills but also smart ways of persuasion.Why should we elect you?Why should we trust you?One should give valid reasons as to why they should be put to power.Money!a very important factor,one can easily be bribed by money.If you bribe me with a thousand to buy soda,I’m definitely voting you in, perhaps you will give me more when you get into power.

Once leaders get into power,they forget every promise they kept.We as students just greet them on our way to class,smile at them but nothing is being done.The same old excuses “we are looking into that” is all we get from the “superiors”.

Yes,we expected change,but our hopes were shunned simply because of arrogance and too much power.The leaders feel so important and powerful that they forget we put them there and we can impeach them as well.

Students should choose wisely the leaders they want based on their skills and how best they can handle the school and not elect just for the sake of it.We should be the change we want to see.Leaders won’t change unless we change them and show them how we need the school to be handled.

Campus..A new world to most students,freedom and all that it takes to achieve a goal.As soon as students get to campus they feel that their end game is almost there.Four years and pap!You are done,get a good job,build a castle,buy a car among other luxurious imaginations one could ever have.When they now face the real life in campus,it strikes them hard of how a struggle it is.Notes,assignments,bedbugs in the hostels, insufficient pocket money,relationships,coping up with fashion..Mahn!!so stressing right?

I find it so difficult for ladies,we can atleast say,men are survivors,not being a chauvinist either.Before class a lady needs to wear makeup which takes at least half an hour,looks for the most killer dress,put some gel on the hair,body spray and cologne plus wear that smile while on their way.Get to class,snap pictures,take notes and call it a day.Maintaining that lifestyle ain’t easy for campus ladies,most parents,if not all,send rent,fee and money for food ration that’s all.They expect you to wear the long dresses you had from home.This is campus mama!!We don’t do that here.So a girl baby,looks for either a part time job or the easy way a baby daddy we call them, alias a sponsor.Easy money right?In exchange for what..You know what it is!!!If not baby daddy,then weed would do! piles of assignment lecturers give us,procrastination of work and supplementaries..stress..weed would definitely be the solution,get high,talk to yourself,laugh at flies,become dumb and that becomes a routine as life in campus goes on.

Life in campus is not easy,it needs keen ness and willingness to achieve what you came there for.Many students are dropping out for one reason or another.So make sure you stick to your goals and become that one person who survived the journey to the future.

Ms.Fadhil