When I was going through some articles on the latest advancements in cellphone technology, I came across an article on textually.com about how farmers in Kenya are using SMS every morning to find the best prices on the market for their produce.

On a visit to Mbare Musika in Harare you will hear lots of complaints from farmers about low prices on the market for their produce. When you compare these prices at Mbare Musika with other market places you will find a big difference in pricing and one wonders how best these farmers can get such useful information before their produce to the market.

I imagine a farmer in Mutoko avoiding the hassle and pain of selling her tomatoes at a give-away price by just sending an SMS to different market places in Harare and getting instant feedback on where to sell at a better price. This will also help vendors to know where to buy at low prices.

Kenyan farmers use SMS to beat climate-driven price uncertainty

MERU, Kenya (AlertNet) – William Muriuki and his wife are inspecting their vegetable farm in the tiny village of Karimagachiije, some 15 km outside Meru town in central Kenya. Cabbages, onions and Irish potatoes are ready to go to market. But the question is where?

Identifying the best market never used to be a problem, explains the 73-year-old farmer. “It was easy to tell what vegetables were in season in a particular area, so we knew the most appropriate places to sell our farm produce.”

But changing climatic conditions have disrupted market patterns. “It is no longer as predictable as it was,” he says. “We have to physically identify places with high demand.”

Even fairly recently, local farmers could be sure the rains would come around March 25 each year. So by the end of April, most vegetables would be in season, meaning low demand at nearby markets. In much of Eastern Province though, the rains would be delayed or not arrive at all, so farmers from the central region knew they could get a good price for their produce there.

But that’s no longer the case. “In the past few years, I have seen rains come much earlier than expected, or very late,” says Muriuki. “At times, it rains in Eastern Province much earlier or at the same time as it does here, or it fails to rain in both areas.”

In these challenging conditions, Muriuki and his farming colleagues have turned to technology to help them find the right market. Read the full article on here

The Sunday Mail of Saturday 23, April 2011 reported that 68 people were killed between the Independence and Easter holidays, with the most terrible accident being reported on Good Friday near Chivu where five people from the Musoni family lost their lives. In the report the accident was caused when the driver of a Nissan pickup tried to overtake, but the driver of the car in front was just selfish enough on the busiest and narrow highway which our government has taken ages to widen and resurface.  The talk of widening Zimbabwe’s major highways is only heard when an accident like this one happens. The only progress seen so far is that of pulling down trees and digging ditches along the roads stretching just as far as Pambudzi (close to Boka Auction Floors) on the way to Masvingo. With this kind of progress one can see the completion of this task in 2050 or even beyond.

Though easing transport woes in the country the influx of second hand Japanese cars has also contributed to the road carnage with all sorts of bad drivers now on the highway. These cars are affordable and most of them are automatic which makes the task of changing gears easy even for my niece in primary school.  I am not advocating for the banning of these cars but just to be responsible when driving and to make sure that you get your car checked for mechanical faults. One can be a good driver but if you are on a bad road with bad drivers chances are you will be involved in an accident.

This may have brought hope to some men out there but it can end up in disappointment. As for me I would rather stay with what the Good Lord gave me. If you are man who is not satisfied with what you have and you fancy a big one or an extra large, well you can give it a try, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

According to this article in Sunday Times of April 19, 2011 entitled  “Some penis products may work” I found it to be fascinating though it’s a bit scary to experiment with yourself.

Some non-surgical methods for increasing the length of the male sex organ do in fact work, while others are likely to result only in soreness and disappointment, a review of medical literature has shown.

Surgical procedures, however, can be dangerous and have an “unacceptably high rate of complications,” according to the study, published this week in the Journal of the British Association of Urological Surgeons.

“An increasing number of patients seek urological advice for the so-called ‘short penis’,” the researchers reported.

This is true despite the fact that “penile length is normal in most of these men, who tend to overestimate normal phallic dimension.”

A male member — measured on the dorsal, or upper, side — can be considered normal in length if it is at least four centimetres (1.6 inches) when limp, and 7.5 centimetres (three inches) when rigid, noted several of the studies evaluated.

Some allowances, they added, must be made for a man’s height and his body-mass index (BMI), which measures deviation from optimal levels of body fat.

To determine the efficacy and safety of both surgical and non-surgical techniques for so-called “male enhancement,” Marco Orderda and Paolo Gontero of the University of Turin in Italy canvassed scientific literature.

They found 10 relevant studies. Half reported on surgical techniques, performed on 121 men.

Among the non-invasive methods, tested on 109 subjects, so-called penile extenders that stretch the phallus through traction were shown to be most effective.

One study reported an average increase of 1.8 centimetres (0.7 inches), while another measured an extra 2.3 centimetres (0.9 inches) in a flaccid state, and 1.7 centimetres (0.67 inches) when erect.

But the regimen for achieving these gains was arduous: six hours of daily traction over four months in the first case, and four hours every day over six months in the second.

Another device, known as a “penis pump,” uses a manual or motorised pump to create a vacuum inside a hard cylinder sheath, stretching the phallus.

Six months of treatment, however, “was not found to be effective for penile elongation, although is provided some sort of psychological satisfaction for some men,” the researchers said.

So-called peno-scrotal rings — expandable or rigid bands that fit around the base of the scrotum and penis – “might help to augment penile size and maintain erections in men suffering from anxiety”, they reported, but only two cases were evaluated.

Advertisements claiming that another popular technique – so-called “penile lengthening exercises” – can add centimetres or inches to one’s manhood are unfounded, say Oderda and Gontero.

Even the methods that did show some increase in length did not result in a gain in thickness, they noted.

But nor was their shrinkage.

“It is interesting that no girth decrease was reported with traction therapy, as one would have instinctively thought,” the researchers said.

Source

They go through harassment, torture and some of them are subjected to domestic violence. They forgive, motivate and inspire so that there is always unity, love and peace. In order to be recognized in the society they put in twice the effort than men do.

Everyday we read stories of women who are doing a lot for their families, community and for the country but very few are getting the recognition they deserve. Every man needs a woman for support. Its either she is your wife, girlfriend, sister and the most important of all “mother”. With Mother’s Day just around the corner, I have been thinking what I can do for my mother. She deserves the best especially for everything I have put her through. It’s a terrible experience for a mother to see her son in prison with leg irons. With high blood pressure and sugar diabetes she managed to endure the long court sessions and the visits each day to prison. Instead of crying she always had this smile of hope on her face and it gave me courage and strength.

So to every man out there . . . if you have a wife do something for the mother of your kids and if you have a mother spoil her on Mothers Day because these women deserve to be happy. Show some love on Mothers Day by doing something simple, like the laundry, or take care of those naughty kids at home just for a day. Even a cup of coffee will do wonders.

The recent violent clashes experienced in various parts of the country are politically motivated and youths have become victims as well as perpetrators of violence. Instead of fighting for leadership positions, youths are seen fighting each other to defend old politicians to stay in power. Political parties in Zimbabwe have realized that there is power in the grassroots and have taken advantage of the high unemployment to use youths in election campaigning and to perpetrate violence. The situation in Zimbabwe currently portrays youths as unorganized, violent and undisciplined people.

Youths in Zimbabwe are not economically empowered with enough resources to sustain themselves. Whenever there are elections youths are promised jobs and a better future but these promises are never fulfilled.

The recent uprisings in North Africa have seen youths at the forefront in campaigning for change. Unemployment has been the primary driver of their involvement in the protests.

Politicization of public places like Mbare Musika and Gulf Complex has seen youths especially from ZANU PF going around beating people and stopping them from conducting business at these public places. On the other hand ZANU PF blames the MDC T leader, Tsvangirai, for making comments that incite violence. Youth representatives from opposition parties say that violence in Zimbabwe can only be stopped if police start doing their jobs rather than being used as a mafia tool of the State.

At a meeting held in Harare hosted by the Youth Alliance for Democracy, youth representatives from political parties acknowledged that the current trend of events in Zimbabwe shows that elections and violence go hand in hand and that youths have become dangerous weapons at disposal of any political party.  Youths should unite and campaign for an environment, which they can participate in, rather than continue to be used as agents of destruction.

Election campaign messages that date back as far as 2005 can be seen on Chiremba Balancing rocks in Epworth. Due to limited advertising space in public media various political parties resort to putting their campaign messages on national monuments. Chiremba Balancing Rocks were declared a national monument in 1994 and are located 13 km southeast of Harare. The granite balancing rocks lie within a natural breathtaking scenic environment. These rocks were a famous feature on some of  Zimbabwe’s bank notes before the currency was changed to American dollars.

With another round of elections on the cards more graffiti is expected to besmirch these magnificent rocks since the site has been turned into a mere billboard. One would wonder if the ideas and energy taken by the people who spray painted these rocks is put to action we wouldn’t be having problems in marketing our country  to the outside world. Instead of showing their advertising and marketing skills by bringing more tourists to this place they decided abuse the place with political party messages.