Do you want to find Happiness? Do you want to find fulfillment? I chose to volunteer and found happiness. PVI Uganda provides a platform for local and International volunteers to work in Uganda(Africa).Check out our Documentary and revisit our redesigned website
Website:http://www.pviuganda.org/
I have been off my blog for more than 6 months. I will be back soon to share with you my happiness or make you happy. I am in Africa and so my post will have a lot related to African context.
“It is our vocation to save life. It involves risk, but when we serve with love, that is when the risk does not matter so much. When we believe our mission is to save lives, we have got to do our work.”
These were the words of Dr. Mathew Lukwiya in the year 2000. He was trying to rally the support of his physicians and nurses whom he had recognized were not willing to work under such dangerous situation of the Ebola epidemic in Gulu, northern Uganda.
Dr. Lukwiya Mathew was the medical superintendent of Lacor hospital. He eventually died of the viral Ebola disease. He is now a national Hero in Uganda. When Dr. Lukwiya died, he didn’t die alone. Listening to his words was a young nurse Ms Olanya Christine. Just like Dr. Lukwiya, Christine listened and sacrificed her life for others to live when nurses kept off to be able to keep a live and bring up their children to realize their dreams. Christine knew the risk she was putting her self in, she loved her twin daughters as much as others loved their children but she placed her people and her country before her own children. She had hopes that her love would be reciprocated by another good Samaritan who would take care of her twins if she didn’t make it. She listened to Dr. Lukwiya and had the courage to face death in saving lives. She was a good servant to her master.
Like fate would have it, she also died in the process. Little did she know that a decade later her twins would be abandoned in a grass-thatched hut at the age of 16 waiting for male predators to take advantage of them. In her love and kindness as a loyal servant to her master, she did not know that her children will also drop out of school just a decade after she is gone. Today these beautiful twins Acen Caroline and Apio Catherine can barely feed themselves or dress up like children to hide their dignity. They have also dropped out like their mother in senior four because its then that she conceived. Will they conceive and loss every dream her patriotic mother had for them? Will they blame their mother for her courage and love for career and country? It’s only their souls and their God who can tell. Today, its Christine’s children, tomorrow it will be one of us. Should this vicious cycle of misfortune follow the African child because we care less?
Every week, I write about happiness. I am not happy. Yet I know doing good for others makes me happy. I have chosen to share with you the plight of two young girls who could have been your daughters or a friend to your daughter. They could have grown to be Doctors like their mother to save your life or the life of your children. I have committed my self to look for where they should stay and have what to eat. I am asking for any good Samaritan or person of good will to support their education. I don’t do this because I have much but I do this because I am a parent. I would have done the same like her mother if I had been called to serve my country and humanity. Only $ 5000 dollars could save their lives and guarantee them a future. By attaining the basic minimum education in a nearby teacher training college. Before Dr. Lukwiya died he said, “ I will continue fighting Ebola alone if necessary until the virus is beaten or until am dead”. They both died but he died with a partner. Please join me to save the life of two African girls by mailing me on mdaliker@gmail.com or call me on 256-701938508. Feel free to share or reblog this post; it could save the lives of these two beautiful daughters of my hero. In Olbert Schweiter’s words, “The only people who are truly happy are those helping others”.
What did your Pastor preach about last Sunday? This is a question many Christians might by now have forgotten.
Either they didn’t pay attention or the message failed to find itself in their long-term memory. I was touched by my Priest’s sermon. He made an analogy of the feast of ascension and boarding your international flight.
He referred to Jesus seated at the right hand of the father. The priest asserted that even when Jesus had a short ministry, he fulfilled his mission.
Whatever he could not do, he left behind his disciples to complete the task of building his father’s kingdom.
He concluded by calling on Christians to live up to this expectation that Jesus sacrificed his life for our sake.
In comparison, he referred to checking your luggage for an international flight. He said, for successful flight passengers are regulated on the weight and number of carryon bags they can carry along.
If you are not obedient to this regulation, you are denied your flight or else you are forced to damp your belongings until the required weight.
However, if you insist then you are over charged for the extra weight. This implies you have to identify what you want most and leave behind what you can do without.
If you are not to be denied your flight, you then need to be disciplined and follow the instruction to all passengers.
Having said this, just like Jesus’ death and ascension; as Christians, we need to clear the clutter in our lives to appear safe for judgment before the Lord when the time comes.
This means we must have priorities and drop the habits that deny us the happiness of going to heaven.
Every Christian wants to go to heaven but not all want to work hard to go to heaven just like we all want to be happy but not all want to be disciplined to work hard to find happiness in what we do.
Normally heaven and the skies where planes fly reflect happiness. We are either happy to fly in a plane or to believe we will go to heaven. But what we forget is that there is an opportunity cost to achieving this happy reality. CONTINUE
A study carried out to examine a group of women’s emotions revealed that marital satisfaction nose-dives after the first child is born and picks up again once the children leave home.
Basing on this theory, some happiness experts argue that although parents insist that children are a major source of happiness, this belief is not true.
So if you are a parent, is parenting making you unhappy? Jane (not real name) was a student of International Relations.
She had a great career until she got a baby. Her husband would not allow her travel for her office foreign trips with their baby.
She became so frustrated and considered whether to separate from her husband and pursue her career or to submit to her husband’s interest and remain home and take care of the baby or find a new job.
Many times we find ourselves in this conflicting loyalty but how do we find happiness in Parenting?Continue
The old African adage “The pot breaks by the doorway” could not be more meaningful than this weekend’s game between Man City and Queens Park Rangers (QPR).
Man City won the English Premier League title for the first time in 44 years. This win (3-2) snatched the trophy from defending Champions Manchester United on goal difference in the last two minutes of extra time.
This was one of most dramatic finals in the premier league history. But what do we learn from this experience? Continue
“Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.” ~Aldous Huxley
(This post is re-blogged from one of my favorite blogs,
“Meant to be Happy,” written by Ken Wert)
We talk a lot about happiness all dressed up and pretty. But what does it look like when it’s standing in nothing but its birthday suit?
As I’ve studied and practiced, researched and questioned, written and talked with people about happiness, I’ve become increasingly convinced that many of us define the term in very different ways.
This is no unimportant matter either. Because some of us understand happiness so differently, we can easily misunderstand what it takes to get more of it. And so we’re often found groping in the dark for something that was never put where we’re groping for it in the first place…
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I just thought this is a very meaningful blog post.Please read it if you are anxious or know some one who is anxious. I am anxious.
By Aliker David Martin
November 25th, 2011
This week, I spent time with a few kids from some of the riches and most affluentfamilies in California. My focus was to find out how different I was compared to them. Suddenly, an idea came in mind; can money buy happiness? Instantly, a friend came in mind. When I met him over a decade ago, he had a small beautiful family. He had enough not to struggle with the basics of life. He had around him friends from all walks of life. Today, he is by any global stands a wealthy man. He spends a lot of time in his business to make more money. He has little time for family and only hangs out with only business friends. Unfortunately, he is less happy. So while I met these folks from some of the riches and most affluent…
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By Aliker David Martin
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world”. Harriet Tubman
Fearless Dreamers
I have just finished reading a book, No More Nightmares. It’s a book by Beverly Ann Dexter, PhD. She writes on how to overcome nightmares by using planned dream interventions. It occurred to me that the most shocked people about my scholarship at University of San Diego are those who either thought getting an American scholarship by a Ugandan (African) was a broad day nightmare or I was not good enough.
When I was born, my parents named me after Dr. Aliker Martin. He is one of the pioneers to win an American scholarship in my village. He was so outstanding that village mates would stand by the roadside to receive him when he returned from studies. This is what happiness meant to me. I always dreamt of an American scholarship.
According to Ian K. Smith, a New York Times best-selling author of the book The Fat Smash Diet, dreams are the powerful creations of our imagination. They inspire us during times of difficulty and inspire us when we become too complacent. Even when I was hassling in the conflicts in Africa and struggling to find what to eat, I kept dreaming. I believe the happiest people are fearless dreamers. They use their imagination to create hope and possibilities.
I suppose, you are questioning yourself how dreaming brings you happiness. I have learnt that the act of imagining an outcome is enough to change your mood. Every day that I imagined the possibilities of success, my mood relayed a positive attitude on life. Even while I borrowed shirts in school to take pictures, it never stopped me from smiling for the camera.
Conclusively sometimes in life, you can be too close to the trees to see the forest. Mentally remove yourself from that difficult situation through imagination to get a bigger and clearer picture of the future. Believe in the power of imaginations to bring you happiness.
The Happiness nest 