The 'Other' Family...'Household'

This is what I call the family 'other' family. It is very clear that there is a vast distinction between my earlier post of The Family to this one which is more rural than urban!
Families may take any form, shape, size and even colour depending on one's geographical location. In Africa, the family is what we term as 'Household'-where families reside or co-exist in an apartment or a single room unit. Such occupants may be a nuclear family or an extended family for that matter who share basically a common space. Lets look at a typical rural household where the livelihoods of the family is basically farming. Families whose means of subsistence is farming, lack a lot of  infrastructure and other basic amenities that is readily available to the urban family unit but their values of survival does not diminish with deprivation or a mere lack of these.

Survival is the name of the game amongst many rural households in many developing African countries. The family lives on the produce of the land (which is sustainability at its prime!) :) and ensures there is constant reproduction on their lands by practicing sustainable farming. Little do these rural folks know about the word "sustainability" but they are not only cutting cost but also protecting the environment and ensuring their survival which is their main aim. In instances where they are able to produce more than what their family need, they sell the rest for some money to cater for other basic necessities as water and in rare cases put their children in local schools.

What comes to mind at this time of blogging is the support of the family in such deprived rural areas. For us Africans, the family value is held in utmost high veneration. Barbara Bush once said and i quote "To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there" unquote. I love this quote personally as it does not speak only with regards to the family but to the entire human race. We ought to care and love one another as the scripture says in 1 John 4:7-8 ---
"Dear friends, let us love one one another, for love comes form God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love". (NIV)

The Family

The Obamas are the first First Family of African American descent in the United States. They are adorable and so real. They have been on the tabloids since their victory to the white house and continue to make the headlines.


Who really make up the FAMILY unit? Most often than not we depict a family as the image of a mother, father and children. This is defined as the Nuclear family in most of our societies. The Extended family on the other hand normally goes beyond just the parents and the children but comprises cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and even sometimes foster relations.

Lets take a glimpse at the new family in town!


Congrats to Kimora and Hounsou for their new inclusion to the family. Baby Kenzo is a cutie and so are Ming Lee and Aoki Lee.

Baby Kenzo


Baby and Mommy



Baby and Daddy

Mother and Child

"Children are a gift from the Lord" Psalm 127:3

and so are mothers who brought them into the world.
Right from birth, the baby and mother cohere. This is a natural thing (no offense to papas) for children to be attracted to the mother at that early stage in their lives.

I was told that it is always good to keep the new baby close to the mother’s chest after delivery for the baby to feel her heartbeat. Anyone has an idea why this is so?

Knowing that the child is God's precious gift to us, how do we treat such precious and priceless gift? Do we love them with all our hearts or neglect them? It's pitiful seeing young girls and boys of school-going age hawking on the streets. Being me, I pause and ask myself: "where are their mothers and why are they not in the classroom at that time of the day"? These children are most often than not, left to their own devices. What can we do about this people? ........ The answer lies within. Share your thoughts on this pressing issue.

Proverbs 29:15 says; "the rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame" (KJV)

The mother

The real religion of the world comes from women much more than from men - from mothers most of all, who carry the key of our souls in their bosoms. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
In our society today, women are assuming the positions of men and mothers are doing great in combining their roles as keepers of the home and senior executives in the work environment. I was told growing up in Africa, that mothers (generically women) only took care of the household and could not do what the men did. Thank goodness there was the Beijing Conference which aimed at achieving greater equality and opportunity for women.--yeeehaaa!!
Sometimes i wonder why we get this cold shoulder from our men who feel career mothers are a threat. Hmmm!! Are you one of such by the way?
The question we need to ask is......
Should mothers be full time housewives or do both (i.e. combine their career with the home obligations)??

The Child

'Train a child the way he should go; so that when he grows he will not depart from it.--Proverbs 22:6.
A child is naturally attached and dependent on his mother who carried him in her womb for nine months. From the time a child utters his first words....which is most often than not the word 'ma...ma..' to the time he walks, he seeks shield from the mother's bosom.