Nyabo (Madam) — Why Are You Here?: The Truth About Living in Service, Love, and Personal Power

By Akosua Dardaine Edwards

This is my story. This is a story of returning to me. This is my story of travelling to Uganda, Africa. This is my story of how I left my island of Trinidad and Tobago to go to Manchester, United Kingdom, to complete a PhD programme and ended up working with women in Uganda and other parts of Eastern Africa.

Nyabo (Madam) Why Are You Here?

To write this, I had to live it. These stories has given me the opportunity to share from the teachers I met throughout my time on the African continent. Sharing these stories has provided me the privilege to learn wisdom, love, life, joy, spirituality, sharing, authenticity and peace. What you learn you teach. I do this with the hope that someone, anyone will take it and make his or her life a celebration of what is possible. To use it as a guide to live his or her life in authenticity, freedom, passion, joy and service.

Akosua Dardaine Edwards is the founder of the Enabling Enterprise Project. The Enabling Enterprise Project is a progressive and interactive pilot project, which aims to partner Caribbean and international womens business support agencies, policy makers and women entrepreneurs from all over the world for the enhancement, empowerment, exchange of ideas and experience and best practice of womens enterprise and entrepreneurship worldwide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Mar 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504328661

Akosua Dardaine Edwards

Akosua Dardaine Edwards is the author of What Did I Learn Today- Lessons on the Journey to Unconditional Self love and Nyabo (Madam) Why Are you Here? The Truth About Living in Love , Service and Personal Power. Akosua continues to share through her workshops, programs and coaching, the lessons she has learned with the intention of demonstrating the power of choice, authenticity and community.

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NYABO (Madam)

Why Are You Here?

The Truth about Living in Service,

Love, and Personal Power

Akosua Dardaine Edwards

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Copyright © 2015 Akosua Dardaine Edwards.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-2865-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-2866-1 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 03/02/2015

Contents

Prolouge

Introduction

Show up As Yourself

Who am I Becoming?

Getting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

Getting Over Wanting it to be Over

Know Who You Are

Meet me at Yourself.

How Does Free Look on You?

Step Into the Light

Act Like You Know

Clearing the Clutter

The Universe Wastes Nothing.

Now What?

Letting Go Means Making Room For More.

Another Side of The Story

I’m Worth It.

The Kingdom

Just Like That.

Power to the People.

It Pours Out of You

Going Home

Epilogue

Some things are priceless, take the price off of YOU, take the price tag off your hopes and your dreams and who you are because you are priceless, you can’t put a price on them.

Priceless does not mean worthless. Priceless just means that it can’t be bartered, bought and exchanged for nothing, that it is too infinite to put a price tag on! You’re priceless, priceless! Catch that, breathe that in! Peace!

Heritage by Countee Cullen

What is Africa to me?

Copper sun or scarlet sea,

Jungle star or Jungel track

Strong bronzed men or regal black

Women from whose loins I sprang

When the birds of Eden sang?

One three centuries removed

From the scenes his father’s lived

Spicy Groove, cinnamon bite?

What is Africa to me?

This is my story. This is a story of returning to me. This is my story of travelling to Uganda, Africa. This is my story of how I left my country of Trinidad and Tobago to go to Manchester, United Kingdom, to complete a PhD programme and ended up working with women in Uganda and other parts of eastern Africa.

Nyabo (Madam) why are you here?

To write this I had to live it. This story gives me an opportunity to share from the teachers I have met throughout my time on the continent. Writing this has given me the opportunity to pick out the nuggets of wisdom, love, life, joy, spirituality, sharing, authenticity and peace.

I wanted to share these lessons with the hope that someone, anyone, will take it and make his/her life a celebration of what is possible. To use it as a guide to live his/her life in authenticity, freedom, passion, joy and service.

To really value Nyabo (Madam) why are you here?

Peace!!

Acknowledgements

Recognition, Love and Gratitude to:

My family (Marva, Sheila,Claire, Onica- My Sana)! They are always there for me no matter what!

The Ugandan Crew – Charles, Sylvia, David, Issa, Veronica, Faridah, Josephine, Nmazzi, Polly, Barbra, Vivian and all the women whose names I never got but who always shared their stories.

To my language consultant Bishop.

Balbao Press and Crew for giving me the opportunity to tell the story.

Supporters through and through, encouraging and believing in me – Kerlean, Lisa, Neive, Maxine, Fadda, Tricia, Keisha, Katy and Renee.

The Universe and the Most High who always, always,always, have my back and reminds me that God’s grace is sufficient for me!

Give thanks!

Prolouge

I insisted that I drive myself! Denis looked at me with an uneasy expression. Denis has been my driver from the time I moved to Uganda over 13 months ago. A patient and quiet man who looked half his 50 years with a flat stomach broad shoulders and big hands. He never said a lot or gave away much on his face.

Madam, are you sure? Will you be very fine?

Yes, Denis, you can just give me the directions and I will follow them. I will be very fine as you say.

Madam, are you sure? You will be travelling late at night and have never done this before; this is a complicated type of road.

It’s fine Denis, I have been here for over a year, I’m one of you I chuckled!

Denis gave me his blank stare!

Okay Madam, you take the road all the way to the big roundabout with the clock then you remain straight onto Entebbe Road. Keep driving for about an hour and you will be okay

That easy, Denis? Come on please, I will be fine.

OK Madam.

I was scheduled to go Entebbe Airport to collect a friend who was visiting. I wanted to be independent, just in case I had to wait or we wanted to hang out before going back into town and having Denis waiting would not be acceptable in the wee hours of the morning. He always somehow got into trouble with not getting his overtime pay when taking me on my so called joy rides.

It was an unusually quiet night in Kampala. The ‘jam’ was minimal, traffic moved freely from Mbuya all the way past the main roundabout. I put the radio on and at the same time stole looks at the full moon. Nothing beats an full African moon! I always felt that I could touch it and it would light up my whole world.

Whenever I saw it I said a short prayer of thanks at the awesome opportunity to be able to see it in person. The moon must be different in Africa; no one could convince me otherwise.

As I approached the roundabout with the big clock I thought to myself, did Denis say right, left or straight? oh boy I cannot remember and it must be about 15 minutes to midnight, no chance of calling him to verify.

Oh well, let me just go straight. If it’s not the right way I will simply turn around. Kampala has very little street lights, which makes the full moon even that more relevant. I continued along.

Hmm okay, this doesn’t look like the road we took before when Denis was driving and there are no familiar landmarks.

I looked around to see if there was anyone that I could ask for help, the streets were unusually clear, not a person in sight. I began to get anxious. This is definitely not where I needed to be.

I stopped the car turned it around. Just as I get on the opposite lane a policeman in a blue camouflage outfit and a big gun on his shoulder appeared out of nowhere and was standing in the middle of the road in front of my small Rav4 jeep.

Stop this car! He must have swallowed a microphone as his voice was loud and strong.

Oh boy, here we go! I stopped the car. I won’t be chancing speeding off with that big gun as his backup.

Get out, park it and get into the van and hand me the keys, you are driving dangerously.

Excuse me? Officer I am lost.

Did you hear me? Get out of the car.

But Officer, I just told you I am lost.

Get out of the car, right now.

I got out of the car and walked around to the front.

Please step into the vehicle. There was a vehicle parked on the opposite side of the road.

Officer, I am not from the area and I am lost.

I do not want to hear what you have to say. You made a mad turn on a one way street.

I am lost and there are no street signs.

He was not backing down; my stomach was doing somersaults. Am I really going to a jail? An African jail? I have heard so many stories about jails in Africa which may or may not have been true but at this point my mind was imagining the absolute worst.

What about my friend at the airport, travelling for two days now, how will I send a message?

All of these thoughts happened in what seemed like a flash. As I looked up I saw an open tray black pickup truck with six policemen all with guns, and two men seated in front, approaching slowly down the road that I now stood pleading my case.

I don’t know what overtook me but I ran towards the van. I approached it and started talking right away.

Officer, I made a wrong turn because I was lost. Now I am being asked to go to jail.

"Madam, what are you telling me, what is wrong Madam?

I am lost.

I was speaking to the policeman, the only one in the van with brown camouflage in the van, seated in the passenger’s seat. He had an air of superiority to the other police men in the van. I automatically assumed he was the boss on duty.

I am lost, I made a turn here and he told me to park the car and come with him to jail.

He turned to the policeman who stopped me and spoke to him in his language; I didn’t know what they were saying.

He turned to me.

Madam, the fine is 300,000 schillings; you pay it at the police station

But Officer, I am lost. Have you ever been lost before?

That is no excuse for making that turn.

Really? I didn’t know that this was a one way there are no signs at all!

He got out the van and told me. Let us go to your car, maybe we can work this out.

What do you mean?

Get into your car and drive to my instructions.

I swore that water was running down my leg.

Where are we going?

I will show you.

He got into the car, sat in the front seat and adjusted it all the way back to the point that he was almost lying down, placing his hand on my seat.

You drive, you hear me Madam?

Do you want some money?

That is the first thing that came to my mind and flew out of my mouth, just as it came out I thought to myself well it’s worth a try, could it get any worse?

How much money do you have and where do you stay in Kampala?

I have 55,000 schillings ignoring the other question completely.

Ha! 55,000? Are you mad? You must be mad Madam. That is not good enough at all.

Maybe 60,000, if I search around the car.

I looked in the rear view mirror and this time I thought it was another pee in my pants moment; all the policemen were following me in the van!

I started praying.

Stop the car right here.

What, here?

Right here Madam, right here his voice going a tad bit higher.

Okay!

I stopped the car. One policeman from the van following came to my car window and spoke to my new officer friend seated rocked back with his hand on my seat, in their language.

He turned to me, We want at least 200,000 Shillings and we let you go.

Let me go? Let me go? These bloody men are nuts! Okay stay calm.

I only have 55,000, that is a lot of money officer.

No we want 200,000 so, keep driving.

Should I crash the car and run, but where am I? I have no clue, what is the best option at this moment?

What should be my next move? I’m talking to myself and asking the angels.

The angels that have been guiding me over the year that I have been here living and working. There was nothing to convince me otherwise. Every time I was in a jam, a situation, a decision to make I would call on these angels and they always seemed to be ready and waiting to guide me.

"What about if I can get the money and I drive to the cash machine, I can get you