when grace WIELDED POWER.

Today we look into four social media accounts and what I like about them. Here we go. 

Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town (UCT).

@FabAcademic,Twitter. In the African context, forgive me for stereotyping but leadership is usually synonymous with power, opulence and those come with distance from the proletariat save for few oratory occasions. She, however, is an exception, unique, worth her weight in gold. Wait, now that I think of it, I never saw our VC on campus when I was at varsity 🤔, anyways, how many of you can say they held a conversation with their VC's 👀? Deputy mother actually interacts with people on campus and social media. This makes her human and benevolent, I'm sure not only for me.

She gives of her time and resources, reaches out to all races and creeds sharing from her reach experience, considering how busy she is, that says a lot about her. We cannot comfortably say this of most if not all of our African Leaders especially in the political sphere, can we now? Her ethos and work ethic are laudable. "Growing up, she attended school in Marapyane village and Ga-Rankuwa," coming from a low-income background did not deter her. I imagine it was her drive to achieve such success. She is a beacon of light, especially to girls and women, transcending all stereotypes to the helm. Hers is a story that says, yes child it can be done, through grit and sweat regardless of your background. 

The laureate makes blending of her nurturing motherly side with her complex work seem so effortless. Maybe my bias lies in the fact that I truly believe that leaders ought to be servants of the masses in whatever sphere of influence they occupy. Her innate compassion, empathy coupled with wisdom and experience make her "the" incarnate. A lot of African leaders can and should take a leaf from her book, we can do with more humane and empathetic leaders.  I learn how to be human first and most, how power can be handled with grace and humility, how to hold change by the hand, and usher her in than heralding an ever coming messiah from the deputy mother. May we have more serving leaders like Professor Phakeng.

@ryane.c, Insta. He is a great storyteller. I always love stealing his eyes. It's easy to assume that your perspective is shared, "what makes you so confident that everyone sees blue the way you do?" He's an old soul, sees past and through things and it's expressed in his photography and expressions. So I'm always learning there, learning how and what to ask.

national GEOGRAPHIC, Insta. Life in pictures, seen through the eyes of many people from all over the world. The home of diversity. It's amazing seeing through another's eyes, to traverse the universe in frames. Seeing captured laughter, joy, pain, sorrow, life, darkness, and light with and from distant relatives the world over. I truly love how they tell their stories.

"Children in a class holding up their work in Yombo, in the Central African Republic. The country is affected by war, a third of the children never go to school, and 42% of the teachers are just parents without qualifications, but paid by the community to teach the village's children. About 38% of the schools have been (attacked, looted or occupied by fighters) during the inter-communal fighting that started in 2013."

Picture by @williamodaniels.

"A woman from Mbororo community collects water near the village of Gouwa in Chad. As happens all the world, the gruelling task of fetching water falls to women and girls. They spend a collective 200 million hours each day doing it, and it's becoming increasingly difficult as climate change makes freshwater more scare."

Picture by @amivitale.

@Afrobloggers, Twitter. like dah, of course, it's home, home of writers. A place to hang with like-minded folk. To glean, network, and grow. It's a privilege to be able to socialise and learn from people all over the continent and globe. It's a water hole of sorts, kana zuva rorereka, miranzi yezuva ichipenya pamvura (as the sunsets and her rays are reflected off the water) we share and nature each other.

#winterabc2020 #winterabc #afrobloggers #day9