giant corpse flower

Absolutely amazing!!!

South Africa

South Africa

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REFLECTIONS

I look into the mirror and what do I see?
I see a saddened face looking back at me.
The depth of my sadness extends deep in my heart,and the journey to my cure is , oh so very far.


This face in the mirror reflects unsuccesses and at times regret,
though I know it is all the decree of Allah ,the all wise , he knows best.


With this in mind , I know I must be strong , steadfast, and increase my faith;
so the mirror to which I look will reflect a happier face .
I must be patient with Allah's decree and constantly seek his forgiveness and mercy.


This sadness that dwells is from shaytaan , I know.
He wants me to be ungrateful and to think that I have nothing.
But indeed , praise be to Allah I have sooo much more than many.

So now I look into the mirror and what do I see ?
I see a happier and brighter face looking back at me .
The depth of my happiness extends deep in my soul,
and the journey to my cure has reached the end of its road .

Faith in Allah , not man.

In the news there are many stories of tragic accidents that have claimed the lives of many;. Often investigations and speculations are made as to the reason for these tragic accidents ,but with no answers.

We must remind ourselves that sea crafts , air crafts , cars , and all these other machines , are just that ; machines built by man.While we pray and hope that while using these devices we will not experience any tragic events , the possibilities of such events happening always hang in the balance.I recently did some reading about the tragic fate of the Titanic ship and was very shocked to read that the ship was considered to be 'unsinkable'; again another man made craft in which it was believed that no harm could come to it .

It is so important for us to remember that only in Allah (God) alone can we place all our faith and that only he can protect us from any tragic accidents .But this is the problem , many of us fail to remember that Allah alone is in charge of our affairs. No matter how perfect we deem a man made device , it is all in Allah's hand to make it function or not, and to keep those of use using these machines safe from any accidents.

Allah the most high and majestic , said :"Every soul shall taste death", this Quranic verse simply means that that every one must die. The thought of us or our loved ones dying is a scary one ; but we should deal with it with patience and prayer.We must live each day as if there is no tomorrow, striving hard in the way of Allah;fearing and loving him , for none of us has been promised tomorrow. Death creeps up on us at anytime and at any place , it cannot be avoided or prolonged except it is by the permission of the most high .


"Beware of procrastination for surely be with your current day and do not be with your tomorrow and if you have a tomorrow
then do tomorrow the same as you did today, and if you do not have a tomorrow then you will not regret what you lack in today." Hasan Al-Basri


Strive hard toward the obedience of the most sublime who has created you and trust in him in regard to all of your affairs ,and remember him always with every breathe and every movement of your limbs , so that he may remember you and bestow his mercy upon you.

{This naseehah is first to myself then others , I seek refuge and forgiveness from Allah from anything I have written with knowlegde and seek his reward for the good in it . ameen }

My Own Detox Program:

I have read the many detox programs advertised on the internet , and while I think that a few of the programs are okay .In my opinion ,none is better than the one I have come up with myself .


Well... All you need are two ingredients : A piece of an Aloe plant and water.
First you remove an inch and a half sized piece of the aloe jelly from inside it's green outer covering.Place the jelly into a quart of water and let it sit for a while {preferably a few hours}.Every day in the morning I drank a cup of this 'Aloe Water' and most days I drank a cup at mid day after lunch. {WARNING!!! This mixture is bitter to taste}.In addition to drinking my 'Aloe Water' daily, I cut down on eating greasy foods ,reduced my sugar and increased my water intake .

The results? Well I experienced a bowel movement twice daily , and after about a month I saw some major , mind blowing improvements with my skin and I was more energetic . At the time , I was suffering from acne so I was using cleansers and making an effort to eat right and take care of my body. I believe that drinking the 'Aloe Water' helped me a great deal.

What do I know? I am no herbalist or doctor , but I am aware of the many healing affects and abilities of the Aloe Vera plant; and I would use it first as a treatment; before using alot of other products or remedies.

BLESSINGS

Prophet Muhammad {Peace and blessings be upon him} said:

"Look at the one who is beneath you, not at the one who is above you, so that you will not look down on the blessings that Allah (God)has bestowed upon you."
{sahih sunan at-Timidhi by sheikh al-Albani}


This is such a profound and powerful statement,we as human beings tend to always look toward the achievements of others , and we use it as a measuring stick for ourselves.For some of us looking at the achievements of others makes us work harder toward our own goals and for some of us it causes envy to raise his evil , ugly head. We rarely ever look or contemplate the misfortunes and trials of others.If we did , we would realize that Allah the most high has placed us above so many , no matter our situation.

Take the man who has lost both his sight and a limb , he cannot work to support himself because of his disabilities ;but everyday he thanks Allah the majestic for another day, for his ability to hear, his ability to speak, He thanks Allah for the people that help him , for the food and shelter that he {Allah} provides each day . "Which of the blessings of your lord will you deny?" {surah Ar-Rahman}

Indeed when we look at those that are less fortunate than ourselves , homeless, starving,jobless, childless .....etc. we will thank Allah for keeping us away from those very trials. And how do we show our gratefulness? we show our gratefulness by sincerely striving to obey his every command and obeying his messengers; by running toward that which he loves {such as performing prayers and other acts of worship} and keeping far away from that which he hates {such as lieing , stealing, gossiping and other forbidden acts}.

It maybe that Allah has kept riches from some of us because it will make us arrogant,miserly and weak in faith ,as is the case of so many people whom Allah has given wealth , health , knowledge and the like.

The prophet's wife Ayesha {peace and blessings be upon them both }said: That the prophet stood in prayer at night until his feet began to swell .she said ,"Why do you do this , O Messenger of Allah , when Allah has forgiven your past and future sins?" He said , "Shall I not want to be a thankful slave?"

The prophet , who was the best in character; was forgiven all past sins and future sins, and to show his gratefulness toward his lord ,he strove hard toward that which Allah loves {which is his worship and obedience}.

Look to those beneath you , for when you think you have nothing , someone else has even less. You should reflect on what you do have and reflect on the many that don't have; be patient,and content and hasten toward showing your gratitude to Allah the glorious,the most high for the mercy that he has shown toward you and the blessings that he has bestowed upon you."Which of the blessings of your lord will you deny?"

As the prophet {peace be upon him} said:
"The religion is advice.......to {Allah's}messenger,to the leaders of the muslim and their common folk." {sahih muslim}

Parenting tip

I have a three year old toddler who is very strong minded, by this I mean ; if there is something she desires to have , she has to have it at the time of asking.At times giving into her requests poses no problem at all. But at times I must say 'No', and being a toddler she doesn't understand that;so she cries and screams the roof off as a result of not getting what she desires.

As a parent these times can be especially difficult , especially for those that may not have any tolerance for cries and screams .Patience is definitely required in situations such as this .But for those that do not have much patience, just try to put your toddler in a safe, comfortable spot on the chair or bed , leave the room and let your toddler cry it out.If your toddler follows you while you are leaving the room , then I suggest maybe wearing some air plugs to drown out the noise.

Of course the best way is to try to comfort and distract your crying toddler with other than what he or she has asked for .Some parents who do not have much tolerance ,get frustrated and hence resort to spanking their toddlers.I cannot stress enough , that this action will not help to calm the cries of your toddler.Also, why would you actually be spanking your toddler? for crying! Instead of spanking the poor darling for his right to cry, walk away , they will stop crying eventually and perhaps even fall asleep as a result.

This may seem a bit harsh to some folks , but you can't give a child everything they want all the time.Sometimes what they desire is not what is best for them and it becomes necessary to say 'No', and when you have said 'No' it is important that you do not give in . Your child will eventually learn that when you say 'No' , 'NO' means 'No'.Saying 'No' can be a tough job for any parent , but it sometimes has to be done .

what are you using on your hair??

Ladies, it has long been said that a woman's hair is a part of her beauty;I will add that for some of us it is a large part of our beauty. Therefore , it is very important for us to take great care of our hair. Now this task can cost you next to nothing at all using items that are already in your refrigerator, cupboards or dresser tops.

For many years I had not taken the time to take care of my hair. I thought that if it was growing it must be healthy.It did grow , but I suffered from breakage all the time. I used hair bleaching products, I permed my hair whenever and didn't oil my hair often or sometimes not at all.

A year ago I learned and adopted the tradition of the Yemeni people. Every two weeks or every month I mix a cup and a half or two cups of henna , one cup of yogurt , a half cup of oil (any hair oil of my choice), an egg or maybe two. I mix all the said ingredients together and apply it on my head and place a plastic bag or cap tightly over my head of henna .I remain like this for four hours or more if I am able .

After four hours I rinse the henna from my hair and then apply a moisturizing conditioner for maybe a half an hour , with a plastic bag or cap tightly around my head.Afterward I remove the conditioner by rinsing and then blow dry my semi dry hair (I use a blow dryer with a comb attachment). The results??? silky, soft hair with lots of sheen .

The very first time I tried this , I was soooo impressed. The extra treat is that if done repeatedly you will begin to notice an orange red like colour.An important note is that frequent oiling of the scalp and hair shaft is very important,so I oil my hair and scalp everyday; especially since I suffer from dry scalp at times. It is really worth it to try this mixture , when you think about it what do you have to loose ? But then again , don't think about that , think about all that you have to gain!!!

Know your stuff !!

In addition to being prepared with the appropriate and needed materials for your tutoring session.I suggest that you review the lessons that you intend on teaching for the next session.Take the time to research rules or topics that you have little or no knowledge about. This habit has helped me a great deal, as a result I am not caught off guard during teaching.

A few tutoring tips

Well ,today was my first day tutoring and I was completely nervous, but so far so good. I have two students who understand a little English , they are able to read ,so that has helped to make teaching a bit easier; a long with the fact that we have chosen to use a book that the students and I are comfortable with .


Some important things that one must note when tutoring ;whether it be at home or another location is to ensure the chosen site is conducive for learning. Ensure that the environment is clean , safe and free of distractions. Also , it is important for you to have the needed materials readily available , such as books , a chalkboard , markers . pens and other items that may be needed during teaching. Be organized and always be prepared !

Teaching and learning:My experience (2)

Another experience I have had is teaching my four year old daughter. Each day we do memorization of letters and their sound combinations, writing and coloring activities for about two hours.

Teaching a child takes more time and patience than with an adult , because the attention span of a child is much shorter than that of an adult.For the first ten minutes into the lesson my daughter is very attentive , afterwards she becomes distracted and I have to say many times to her 'keep still' or 'pay attention'. During writing activities I have to help her along and at times she writes slowly . There are times when it gets frustrating, because I feel that we can
do more in a session or that maybe she is taking a bit long to move on to the next level. I have come to realize however, that I have to be patient; because each student learns at a different pace ,and should not be pushed beyond his learning capabilities and also, bieng a child she will naturally take a little more time to work with as opposed to someone older.

Through the experience of teaching my daughter , I have found that students love to be praised for a job well done from their teacher. My daughter is very happy when I commend her on a great job and she looks forward to her fun filled activities . As a result, she hurries me each morning to begin her lessons. She has motivated me by displaying a desire to learn and displaying her enjoyment and I have motivated her through praises.

It is the responsibility of the teacher to make learning as interesting as possible for the student for this will help to make learning easier.A good teacher observes the way his/her students learn and adopt teaching methods that would appeal to the students method of learning.A student should not be pushed beyond his learning capabilities for this may lessen the student's desire to learn.

Just as teaching is difficult ,in that students on different levels have to be made to understand an idea or theory. It should be noted that learning has some difficulties as well. A student must realize his own learning method and pace and apply it to his learning, this can be a
difficult task for some students. Both teaching and learning take a great deal of motivation , patience and hard work. If you have a motivated and happy teacher ,you will have a motivated and happy student.

Teaching and Learning : My experience (1)

Learning experiences are trials and observations through which people gain knowledge and form opinions that help them along throughout their life's journey .I will share two experiences that have shown me that teaching and learning take motivation and patience .Learning also has its obstacles but the task of teaching is one that wieghs heavy in its responsibilities.

I have been studying a second language for a year , during this time I have had two teachers .The first of them was a qualified teacher whom I feel did not have the right intention, I dont feel that she had the desire or intent of teaching so that I would learn and understand. My teacher started off very diligently at first ;but shortly after she began coming late to class , she began missing days without making them up. The classes that were two hourslong were shortened to an hour and a half. Her lessons were never prepared and she often gave me incorrect information.What was interesting though, was when pay day drew near ;she came to class on time and appeared interested in her teaching ,but then after bieng payed she went back to bieng late and missing classes .

I felt that this teacher's focus was only on the financial gians , she saw teaching as an oppurtunity to make money only and not as a responsibility that takes time and preparation.She did not realize, I felt; that a teacher has to sacrifice in order to ensure that his or students learning. I felt that my teacher made no sacrifices , she did not take the extra time to explain things in depth if it went over the lesson duration, I was not given assignments unless I requested it . Neither was I tested regularly to measure my progress. As a result of feeling that my teacher was not interested in my learning, I became uninterested and therefore I did not study or pay attention during class time.

From this experience I have come to believe that a teacher must first have a desire to teach , he /she must want to see their students excell in learning what is bieng communicated . A teacher must not only see teaching as a job , but as a job that carries great responsibilities . A teacher is a possessor of knowlegde and his / her job is to impart that knowledge in a way that it can be understood to his/ her students. At the end of the day , that student should be able to impart that knowledge to someone else .I feel that a teacher who shows interest in his or her students becomes a source of motivation for his/her students.

Finding your talent

Many of us have a hard time finding our talents, or the thing that sets us apart from the next person. Even I have asked myself many days ‘what makes you special’? Some people God have blessed with exceptional talents, some of us are very good writers, painters, seamstresses, accountants, hairstylists and the like; and then others of us are not good at anything or seemingly not anyway.

I have come to realize that in order to realize our talents we must know who we are. We must find something that we enjoy doing, even if we don’t do it well. Then, when we have found that special something that we love doing, we must take the time to find ways to develop it. Don’t be afraid to try out your new developments, making mistakes only makes us better . Most importantly look at all criticisms positively, and use them to help you to develop your talents into something spectacular and beneficial for yourself and others.

Faith in the face of adversities

Unfortunately , many people during times of trails and tribulations give up hope.We see this trend happening and increasing especially during these times of recession.Negative situations , whether it be the loss of a job, the loss of a spouse or loved one and other such experiences can be very difficult for anyone.

However, we must not allow the adversities that we will definitely experience to dictate the path we take .Instead , we must tap into and rely on our faith to carry us through times of hardship.When you have faith in God , you know that only he can get you through your difficulties .

If you really think about it, you will discover that your trials for the most part do not last very long.Or you may have found that being patient allowed you to take advantage of opportunities that may have occured as a result.To illustrate ,let's say you lost your job, it will perhaps be very rough for you for the many months ahead , but if you are patient and tough it out you may find a job that is better in many ways than the previous job.

Faith and patience only succeeds in strengthening you and making you a better person.
So let us employ faith in God in our daily lives, I guarantee you will be more patient and happier ;especially during difficult times.

How Easy is it to Teach the Communicative skills?

The teaching of any skill can be difficult , though some skills are more difficult than others to teach.From the communicative skills I think that speaking can be the most difficult of them to teach. Teaching a student how to read entails that the student memorizes letter and sound combinations; which can be difficult at first . With sufficient time and practice , I think this can be done easily .

Writing entails that the student memorize the letters of a word and the upper and lower case form of the letters.Based on my experiences in learning to read another language it has not been difficult. I learned to pronounce a word and learned how to spell and practice writing it as well. After learning letters an sound combinations , reading and writing becomes a matter of practice.


Listening skills may not be so easily attained as with reading and writing . Like the other skills , its acquisition take time and practice . Some students have very short attention spans . A student can be taught listening skills by having the student listen to audios and dictations and have them listen for specific information. This skill can help students in their speaking as well.
They can listen to the speech of others who speak the language better , this can help with the students with their own pronunciation.


I had assumed that once I was able to read and understand ,that speaking would become easy, but for my self and some of my companions,I found that this was not the case. Speaking entails knowing how to place a word in a sentence correctly , that is in correct grammatical order.
Though I have found this easy to do in my writing, it is difficult when one has to speak on the spot . This difficulty may arise for different reasons , such as the students confidence in his own ability to speak. A student can be taught grammar rules , word structure and conjugation,
but learning how to speak comes from listening to people and lots of practice with people of the same language. Speech develops over time , as the student discovers new words and sounds that may be he or she didn't learn in the classroom.


Since the target language is not the native language of the student , it can be difficult for the student to speak confidently.Some students are reluctant to speak in front of others , especially in front of native speakers; because they have no confidence in their own ability to speak the language.


I think that all of the communicative skills pose some difficulty for the teacher at some point of teaching.But I also think that all of them can be acquired successfully in the classroom and can be learned in a shorter time span , all except speaking. A native speaker can speak without
giving any thought to the sentence structure or grammar. This however, is not the case for one learning to speak a new language. The student has to give thought to word conjugations and grammar. As a student of a second language , I have found great difficulty in speaking on the spot .I always find myself conjugating a word in my mind and trying to structure a sentence while having a conversation. Though speaking can be learned over time and practice ,
in my opinion it requires a whole lot more time and effort than listening , reading and writing.

The Battle of The Pounds: Can I Win

Are you one of those people that struggle with weight loss? Well I am certainly one of the hundreds or thousands of people that do.The thing is though , I have never had a problem with loosing weight until after my second daughter was born and it was all down hill from there . I thought,' Although I am a little less active than I use to be , I still do a lot of walking'. So Why was I gaining these ugly pounds?

Well I have discovered that my eating late at night , my heavy lunch and breakfast was the problem, not drinking enough water and the list goes on and on .Okay , so I decided to get my self together and win this battle once and for all.

Every morning for at least 15 minutes, sometimes 20 - 3o minutes, I did aerobic exercises with Billy Blanks at home of course. I should mention that I did my exercising most times a half hour after I ate breakfast . Believe me , after exercising I feel like I can take on an the entire world and then some. My new found energy allows me to keep sooooo very busy , that I only have time for small portioned meals and lots and lots of water.

Yes , I know , I didn't mention any pills or diet plans . But that is the beauty of the whole experience , all I had to do to shed a few pounds and gain a couple of mountains of energy, was remain consistent with my exercising , cut down my meals and increase my water intake.

Can I win ? Oh yes I can and I sure did !

Thinking of Home

Many , many years ago when I was a young girl on the island , I remember our holidays consisted of going on the beach frolicking in the sand and splashing in the sea. After the beach we would take the long route home, driving around the island with my father , mother and siblings. We often stopped on the side of the street to pick sea grapes and cocoa plums . Ahh!! I can smell the salt water now .

I remember when I was in elementary school our 'uncle' (he isn't my uncle but that is what we called him back then) would pick up his daughters, my sisters and I from school in his lil' yellow buggy, yeah that's right his lil' ole buggy! lol.It seemed like he always took the long route home ,but we didn't mind as we sung and made jokes all the way home.Those times were always fun for us .

My uncle, my father's brother ; always spoiled us . He never failed to lavish upon us toys and money .He always tried to give us , no matter how little he had. Even though so many years have passed , he is still like that today.(smile)

I remember those days when my sister and I would fight over who got the last piece of jelly coconut and and who didn't get enough coconut water. Or sitting on the steps of the house or under a tree on a crate eating juicy mouth watering mangoes .

I miss mama's macaroni and cheese , fry fish, potatoe salad and a whole lot more .The delicious fresh leave you wanting for more conch salad at the dock. Oh yeah, and how can I forget the delicious crack conch Bamboo shack I comiiiin'!!

In those days we were so young and happy , we didn't have a care in the world . My sisters , peers and I lived as if there was no tomorrow. Those were the good old days , the great old days.

I would never trade the island life for the fast city life. Back on the Island , every body knows you or knows someone that knows you ,lol. Back then a sense of community seemed to exist. It is common to see people hailing each other from across the street in the midst of traffic (susieeee, hey susiieee!!!). Or neighbours greeting each other from their houses across the street . I remember my grandmother's neighbour , would shout Mrs. Maryyyyyyy , oohh Mrs. Mary ; good morning Mrs. Mary!! every morning as she left for work from her yard across the street (smile).

No matter where my life travels take me , I will always be an island girl at heart. I will always want to taste , and experience a piece of that good old island life that I shared with my family and friends back in the great old days in The Bahamas.