Farewell Amor

Directed and written by Ekwa Msangi, Farewell Amor is the story of a Angolan family, a father, mother and daughter reunited after 17 years apart. They are now together in the U.S, strangers in the same one-bedroom apartment. Through the love of dance and music, they find their way back to love tuning themselves to the same united rhythm of their beating heart, saying goodbye to who they used to be. They grieve and rejoice.

It is a what-if story inspired by the author's uncle and aunt story who found themselves apart due to circumstances. 

It is a beautiful story of people who immigrated. the story is depoliticised. The tribulations and struggle that immigrants experience are unseen. Instead, we engaged more deeply about the heartbreak, longing and tension experienced by each family member as they redefine themselves as individuals and strive to find a united choreography as a block, a group, a unit

Dancers from the same company - who find within the tune of life their part. A part that is beautiful, strong, majestic, in harmony, in sync with the time at hand.

By choosing an Angolan family, the movie may be seen as an atypical African movie as the pan-european, Portuguese influences through music and dance - Kizomba, Kuduro - bring a different flavour and give the viewer a different perspective of what being an African in New York could be. They can be truly themselves through music and dance. They connect with one another and their roots through music and dance. Maybe the tune is an unseen person, an energy that cares for us to be more in tune, harmony and in sync than anything else.

Just dance, this person said.

Just dance

Light a Match Under Your Dream

'' You have to Light a Match Under Your Dream'' she said. This was the line of the character Madam CJ Walker in Self-Made.

It resonated so much with me that I had to stop the episode. What does she mean and what is my dream?

There is more than one - sometimes too many to even be able to focus on one thoroughly.

I decided to look through the internet to find out how one can possibly define their dream.

I keep waking up each morning and find myself having a new dream for my life. Remnants of the past or the day before are still there. Yet new in-roads are created for me to move forward.

I came across this article ''22 secrets to discovering your dream and living it''

I really did like Guy Kawasaki’s idea of creating a mantra as opposed to a mission statement for oneself.

Other elements that appealed to me was to have one purpose and to ask ourselves what we would like to be remembered for when we die.

it did sparked a lot of thoughts and then everything became so much simpler.

there is only one secret to discovering your dream

The United States of Hoodoo, Documentary by Olivier Hardt

 The documentary explores how African-based spirituality has informed Americas popular culture. The old African gods have taken on new forms since their arrival on North America's shores. Their spirit now manifests in turntable wizardry, improvisational skills and mind-blowing collages, performances and rituals. The film shakes up traditional and stereotypical ways of thinking about race, religion, rationality. Through meetings with musicians, writers and artists, healers, gumbo cooks and Mississippi Blues men, the documentary draws a picture of a culture which has always drawn on a unique mix of different ethnic influences to produce its cultural diversity, allure, and vitality (IMBD, 2012)

I remember being in the West Indies getting dressed up for the Carnaval, hearing the music and percussions up and down the streets. Not something you would find in metropolis France. But there on the island where African tradition meets a religious event such as Mardi Gras, all is transformed.

Watching the United States of Hoodoos put many things into perspectives for me on how the African Gods joined the Americans one and express themselves marvellously by sipping into culture sounds and images.

The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod

 My colleague A. came back from the holidays sharing how a book changed her life for the better. She entered the world of Miracle Morning. She wakes up miraculously every day at 5am happier, healthier, more successful, with more energy.

A trick of the mind

I am sure.

Out of curiosity, I pick up the book to find out what are the 6 best habits that transform the lives of millions before 8am.

In A Day, The Book is read and dusted with the main key learnings.

Wake Up at 5am and Embrace Life S.A.V.E.R.S. (silence, affirmation, visualisations, exercise, reading, scribbling)

My favourite part of the book was reading The Miracle Morning Mission:

"Change one million lives, one morning at a time"

A percentage of the royalties for each copy of the book is given to charities and non-for-profit organisations.

I am inspired.

 While relatively small quantities of water appear to be colourless, pure water has a slight blue colour that becomes a deeper blue as the thickness of the observed sample increases. The blue hue of water is an intrinsic property and is caused by selective absorption and scattering of white light.

When there is no water to draw, one can see blood. 
The world turns upside down.

It is exactly what happened when upon getting into the shower, he realises that there is no water. He goes down to the kitchen, no water. He goes up to the sink tap, no water.


M: ''I love my water''
W: ''Do you?''
M:''Yes, I like the feel on my skin, I like my big shower, It is like being in Africa right now.''
W: ''We have a bottle of water downstairs, you can brush your teeth with''
M: ''Thanks. Did I take a shower last night? Yes I did!''
W: ''Moving forward, let's buy some water bottles, so we are ok when there is no supply''
M: ''Good idea''
W: ''This gives me one more reason to collect water from our roof plus our greywater, I'll call the plumber today''
M: ''Good idea''
W: ''So the garden stays green when it dries up and your eyes do not turn red when there is no more''
M: ''I like my big shower, the transparent droplet of water on my skin, it gets me calm like the deep blue at sea''.



When there was no water in Braunstone Frith Leicester on 30th July 2015

Living at The Plaza Hotel

I indulged once more this year with opening Eloise by Kay Thompson - what a dream to plunge right into the world of this precious little girl who lives at The Plaza Hotel - a theatre where people come and go to experience what is a luxury while our little girl lives luxury every day because she is.

''Cabbage makes great hat'' she says and her mother knows Coco Chanel.

How wonderful to have this confidence and trust in one opinion and no one to tell you that you are prejudiced to believe in a dream and follow your desire such as pouring a jug of water in the hotel mailbox, just because you can.

I wish everyone to find their inner Eloise: talk to Martians one day, be a dragon or giant another, a mother of 40 children or a doctor. Make also your home, a place of fete and play where everyone is fabulous and loving, leaving you to do whatever you want!

Jump In

 "You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water" 

Here are the beautiful words written by Rabindranath Tagore, painter, poet, composer, playwright, philosopher and social reformer.

I read them in the preface written by Albert Chaitram Persaud, Founder CAREIF for the report "Improving the Mental Health of South Asian Populations in the United Kingdom" written by Gnanapragasam S.N. and Menon K.V. (2021) on behalf of CAREIF and Ethnic Inclusion Foundation.

One of the key recommendations in the report is to ''provide a culturally competent workforce with appropriate cultural competency training so that care provided appreciates cultural (religious/spiritual/faith), historical and gendered influences of South Asians''.

While further training is always welcomed, it should not stop organisations to jump right in engaging with communities from various ethnicities, cultures and backgrounds. As humans, we have the innate ability to create connections with others regardless of their characteristics. 

When starting Quetzal Breaking the Silence Initiative, a project that aims to raise awareness about the trauma of childhood sexual abuse and the value of counselling in Leicester South Asian Communities, I had to go through a process of decolonisation using the ABCD framework and develop critical thinking to recognise as much as anyone else that I am part of the South Asian Community as a representant of an institution. From there and by reiterating our main goal which is to support the mental health of our beneficiaries, we were able to collaborate and develop an initiative. In 2019, we had 11 referrals from South Asian Female Survivors - In 2021, we had 51. 

Yes, I had to learn on the go about cultural differences. It was a fantastic opportunity to appreciate another person culture and to share it with people who probably never engaged with South Asian communities in Leicester before. We always brought back our focus to a shared vision where female survivors of childhood sexual abuse and their families would know about our support. It is about bringing people together and reminding them that we have these innate abilities to connect with one another with the heart.

So stop, staring at the water, jump in, create a bridge between yourself and others