Ways to keep yourself cleared for action at work

By caven masuku

1. Don’t fall into the pattern of documenting everything. In most cases people have a tendency of documenting all the documents that they lay hands upon. With the New media tools, an internet is the best way of communicating with other business partners. The chat facilities have made it easy to communicate around. A telephone call is the best way of contacting workmates and other relevant stake holders.

2. Accept authority. At work even if you a big, that is if you have subordinates you should not act big. Hence “be big but do not act big” The unnecessary acting is what takes up the time. There are bosses who are authoritative and forget that being a boss do not mean you have the ultimate control of some-body’s life. Respecting your subordinate will in some way strengthen your relationship at work and enhances health environment. People think that to be the boss you have to be feared. That is wrong, any leader be it at work or in the community have to be respected. Respect as a manner first and for most have to start with the boss and in turn the subordinate retains it back.

3. Do not resist authority either. Many people who give orders cannot take orders. They can criticize freely but even well-intentioned suggestions upset them. Leading needs communication competence. Communication is reciprocal. It is a two way process, which means both the leader and the subordinate have to accept each other to reach a mutual understanding. This puts the leaders/boss in the wrong mood and prevents them from executing and allocating duties at their best. Anyone given the right to command should first have to learn to obey.

4. Accept responsibility. Effective leadership needs a responsible person who can be entrusted with all the facts. Don’t run around for a crutch to lean on either some item of company policy to protect you or a decision by high up to hide behind. Such approach if practiced builds frail managers. Again it hampers progress in an organisation.

5. Take time to communicate with others who may be interested or involved with you. Communication builds trust, faith, togetherness and progress. A few minutes spent at the start explaining something can save endless hours afterwards should unintentional mistake need correction.

6. Stop vacillating. This wastes not your time but also that of others who are depending upon you for sound direction in an organisation. One should have firm of conviction, based on sound moral standards. Humpty-Dumpty is a fence-straddling egg-head, and when he fall there is no hope of reconstructing him.

7. Say “no” to some request made to you. Many managers fears to be looked down upon by their subordinates and as such relinquishes to their requests. Everyone is flattered by being asked to serve on numerous committees and functions where he shares his talents. Invitations at times are cruel demands of a supervisor’s time and energy. Learn to say “no” and go. People at times may interpret lingering as uncertainty, which may cause confusion.

8. Be honest. Make simple statements if you are invited to an occasion that you don’t feel comfortable to attend. Make a simple statement like this; “I am finding this difficult’. This may assist you to express feelings honestly and openly

Profile for English Literature Writer in Gweru (Zimbabwe)

By caven masuku

The City of progress Gweru is blessed with the Arts and entertainment activities, authors and story creators of stature in English Literature such as Ignatius Musonza.

Musonza is a full time author who started writing in 1997, and has vast experience in English Literature. According to Aristotle; “Literature is a psychological and emotional medicine that cleanses people of their evil thoughts and emotions. To him Literature is true, serious and useful as it sometimes portrays the decay of morals order.
Every progeny on a transient fashion stage need literature to elevate humanity and Musonza’s work of art is doing just that to the children who are his target audience.

Musonza, submitted his first manuscript to the Literature Bureau in 1976, while in primary School. Now he has published nine titles to his name and eight were published by Macmillan Education in UK, and other one was published by Editions Bakame (Switzerland/Rwanda. He is the author of Don’t Play in The Road (2000), Ikes plant (2003), The Great Writer (2003), Wall of Water (2003), The Hidden Spring (2005), stories from east and west et. Al (2005), Tanaka’s father (2004), Tonde (2005), Tamari of Tamarinda (2005).

Don’t Play On The Road is a self explanatory title. It’s gender sensitive and falls in a special category of books on health and Safety for beginners. It is a warning title to people of all age. It’s a book of few words and attractive educational big pictures.

Ike’s Plant is a book that awakens environmental and plants awareness in children. A call to make them look around, appreciate and care for what they see.

The Great Writer is a brief look into the hardship and experiences, faced by and leading to the success of a child writer. It carries lessons on the bicycle physical features and the relationship between the police and the public.

Wall of water arouses children to alertness for disaster, encourages, attentiveness to instruction in the face of one. Musonza has scooped several awards in his short stint at writing. He has been twice a nominee of the National Arts Merit Awards (2000) and (2005). He has been a facilitator at Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF) workshop 2004 and a ZBCD Resource person at the Children’s tent in 2001.
He also facilitated the Budding writers Association of Zimbabwe (BWAZ) writing workshop 2005. Musonza is planning to write more books, more travel, and more research and hopefully make lots of money too.
He is married to Winnie Hilda and has two daughters Tsisti and Whitney.

Attitude and AIDS

By Caven Masuku

Take care-no need to share. Engaging in clean practices will reduce the risk of coming into contact with HIV. HIV is the virus that can develop into AIDS and may be transmitted in shared body fluids.
Condoms are available to avoid the unnecessary spread of the disease.

To lovers, one way of avoiding HIV is to practice safe sex and for the youth it is through abstinence. One can exercise safe sex by exploring and enjoying sexual activities which do not involve any exchange of body fluids.

Drinking alcohol may make it difficult to practice safer sex. Pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV result from unsafe sex.

Mixing alcohol and sex is a disaster. It weakens the decision to practice safe sex. Good advice is “always carry a condom and use it properly to avoid getting infected”.

HIV is a virus which can go on to develop into full blown AIDS.

The main way to stopping contracting HIV is by postponing sex till marriage. HIV is spread through having unprotected penetrative sex with an infected person or sharing needles/syringes with an infected person.
Abstinence especially among the young is the rule of the thumb.

HIV/AIDS and Children

By Caven masuku

The HIV/ AIDS pandemic have had an enormous impact on the world. The increasing rate of HIV infection affects children in countless ways and in nearly every aspect of their lives.
The number of children living with HIV/AIDS continues to grow daily as children are born to HIV infected mothers, contract the virus from their mother during pregnancy and during birth.
In addition, there are millions of orphans who have lost at least one parent to an HIV/AIDS related illness. Although the number of orphans is staggering its effects are only just begging. Children who suffer from or have died of AIDS related diseases, such as tuberculosis are stressed with additional related orphans
Girls are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and the negative effect of the virus. They face the possibility of both physical abuse and the exploitation of labour.
The effects of HIV/AIDS on the children’s lives can be economic, educational, social and psychological.
Economic effects on children can be in the form of savings used for medications/treatment and children must work to supplement the family’s income. Such illness reduces the economic performance of the household.
Economic hardship makes it necessary to look for alternatives sources of income for example through prostitution, street children, or early marriage. When both parents have died or are enable to care for their children, they are shifted into the homes of the extended family, often taxing the financial stability of those households.
Furthermore, lower nutritional status in house hold with less income and many children make the whole situation worse.
More so, the pandemic affects children educationally; other responsibilities may cause children to drop out from school. Unsolved psychological trauma caused by the HIV/AIDS can undermine the performance of children at school. This worsens the whole scenario as the traditional skills, passed through the generations, die with the parent before imparting it to the children.
Orphans face stigmatization by other children even at school and this sometimes thwart their performance.

HIV has social effects in some communities since taking non-related children into one’s home can cause social unrest. It is a taboo that dying should not be talked about to children, so children do not understand what will be happening until their parents die.
Most of the times when a will is written it is disregarded by greedy relatives who leave nothing for their orphans children. In some instances children become the head of households and can not provide all the necessities.
Poor families are affected since losing a family member may impoverish them, moving from poverty to destitute.
Married ones let us join hands and fight this pandemic before it is late. Single ones let us be responsible for whatever we do with our loved ones so as not to impede someone’s life.
For sure AIDS is there and is wiping the population day and night, hence people should fight tooth, nail and claws.