independent skies magazine 12th issue

twelfth issue

| 2 | Independent Skies Magazine | Issue 12 April 2013

4. ConveyIng And Ab-SorbIng feedbACk

erneSt MACkInA

10. ProvertyMohAMMed AlIkAbI

8. A fACebook PoSt...fArAh hAddAd

12. JudICIAry IS An Inde-Pendent InStItutIon?

SunItA nAyAb gIll (Adv)

14. tAkIng entrePre-neurShIP In AfrICA to the

neXt level IhAv


Since time immemorial, man has come up with sev-eral innovations that have advanced the standards of living to pinnacles that were previously unimaginable. This has been made pos-sible by a myriad of factors but one key step that has been part of the success of the communication of ideas and the expression of inno-vations has been the effec-tiveness of conveying feed-back and its absorption.

Understanding feedback

The academics at Oxford University Press (2012) agree that feedback is in-formation given in response to a product, a person’s performance of a task and is used as a basis for im-provement. Improvement? Yes! Through feedback, an individual can lay the foundation for their self improvement. Self improve-ment translates to self-em-powerment and self em-powerment is a celebration of freedom, after all, it’s all

about freedom.Feedback is a product of an open system and an open approach that indicates cur-rent performance against set standards. It involves a critical assessment or the use of suggestions aimed at improving performance.Through the varying con-versations and interactions that one has in different setups, be it in the public spheres, at the work place, at college, places of wor-ship or in the community, the process of feedback is taking place. As a result, it is pertinent for one to re-alize the need to engage in avenues that foster the transformation of that feed-back into a useful resource for character building and reputation boosting.The modern world which we inhabit has experienced a shift to an era where one’s image is everything. As such, one should cre-ate avenues that enable the transmission of feedback so that the process of commu-nication becomes full circle and not a one way route like traffic.

Why engage feedback?

Feedback is vital, at the workplace, at school, in the community and areas of worship and most impor-tantly at the individual level where it only makes sense in this present-day in age to treat oneself as a brand. Through feedback, one is able to receive feedback as an output and return it to its input in order to regulate future outputs. In simple terms, feedback can be used as a resource for one to better themselves and it grossly fuels self improve-ment.

Types of feedback

There are different types of feedback. Namely, con-structive feedback which aims to let people know how they are perform-ing and negative feedback normally characterized by unkind comments or a negative response to some-thing as well as construc-tive feedback which builds

ConveyIng And AbSorbIng feedbACk | erneSt MACkInA

Conveying and absorbing

feedback ErNEST MAckINA

| 6 | Independent Skies Magazine | Issue 12 April 2013up on something under analysis through positive criticism as well as destruc-tive feedback which tends not to be truthful and leads to an individual having a fabricated impression about something under analysis. Feedback can also be posi-tive and this often moti-vates and encourages the person receiving feedback.

How do you enhance feedback?Take a deep breath, calm yourself down, learn to give feedback impartially and receive it without a sense of being subjective. Commu-nicate objectively with your colleagues and companions to build ‘goodwill and bet-ter friendship’. Ask your-self as you relate to others ‘is it the truth?’ Subtract emotion and instead use wisdom, because when it speaks - experience teach-es!!!Cease looking at convey-ors of feedback as enemies

and inculcate a culture of separating people from the statements they say.Strive not to be emotional about feedback, instead separate the subject from the person relaying it.Once again, take a deep breath, the statement you are about to utter might change someone’s lifestyle and decisions!!!When relaying feedback, have a partner help you in demonstrating how you want something done, in an objective manner without any intention of killing char-acter or finding blame. The blame game normally ends with a torn relationship.

Make a person understand, do your utmost to make a person understand and not condemned, it defeats the purpose of feedback to point fingers.Learn to attack the act and not the person, try saying the same thing from differ-ent angles. Study the peo-ple whom you want to relay or obtain feedback from and appreciate the golden rule, after all, people are different and this translates to a need for them to be treated differently.Learn to give positive feed-back.You can show applica-tion of how this article has helped you out by giving me feedback on it!!!

Ernest Mackina is an amateur photographer, blogger and poet from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe . For more of his articles log his blog Untitledchronicles (www.mackinaer-nest54.blogspot.com ) and get to read more of his “handwrit-ten thoughts...”

ConveyIng And AbSorbIng feedbACk | erneSt MACkInA


I wanted to take a break from studying for my exams. Unexcit-edly, I started scrolling down my Facebook newsfeed. I saw that my friends in my neighbourhood had posted things like: “they ruined my neighbourhood”, “those monsters destroyed our house”… Terrified, I called my mother and she reassured me with her shaky voice that every-thing was okay, and that only a few people died due to a bomb explosion. She was choking on her own words. Patience, be strong. I started getting flashbacks from this summer (2012) when I was in Da-mascus and it was raining bullets and bombs. Smoke was coming out of buildings. We were safe, but that was our view from the window. We were safe, but whoever lived a few blocks away was not. A baby in the opposite building bursts into tears. The blasts keep echoing in my head.

Two days later, as I was killing time on that same ‘newsfeed’, Marcel posted: “I am alright, don’t worry!” I scrolled down some more and was swamped with posts about the 13 Architecture students who were killed on their University campus. Their colleagues were

running away from the cafeteria covered with blood, as were the plastic chairs on the floor. Noor had posted about how her brother survived a missile that landed in his school. Ali was talking about how he had just passed Baramkeh Street when a car blew up. Dania posted a picture of her cousin who was murdered because of sectar-ian violence. Saba posted about the refugees in Zaatari who froze to death during the snowstorm, and then about the refugee who died in a fire. I got a message from my best friend back home and he told me all about his experience be-ing tortured at prison after getting caught protesting.

As I pursue my education conti-nents away from my city, all I can do is watch. Over the past two years, sitting behind my computer screen, I’ve seen how people’s posts on Facebook have been changing. They changed their pro-file pictures to black, and their cov-er photos to one of the two flags to indicate which “side” they support. They posted nasty comments and backed their arguments with videos of body parts and tortured cadavers. I would wish that it were only in this virtual world that these

things are happening, but that was only a fraction of it. But then, I saw bravery, hope, and a huge deal of strength in my peers. Who would have thought that anyone would dare to say a word about the presi-dent before the revolution? Who would have thought that the Syrian flag would be raised in Palestine, Iraq, Morocco, Egypt and many more non-Arab countries as well.Syrian students continue to insist on going to schools and universi-ties no matter how dangerous it is, because they know very well the end to this situation is peace reached through education. Those who had to leave the country, con-tinue to be so deeply attached to it. I for instance know that I left my heart and mind in Syria. Although I feel helpless at times, my hope in the Syrian youth never fails me...I logged off of Facebook, because all I could do was watch, from behind my computer screen. But, then I decided to do something and this article is just a first step for many to come.

No matter how small the things you do seem to you, just remember that humans start young and grow it is a law of life. So you can either feel miserable and watch or stand up and do something.

A fACebook PoSt... | fArAh hAddAd

A post...Farah Haddad


PovertyWhy are there poor people in our world

They got money for war, but they can’t feed the poor

- Tupac Shakur

Mohammed Alikabi

Proverty | MohAMMed AlIkAbI

Poverty has existed for a long time now and it is extremely uncontrolled. Mankind has to fight for human rights, the right we have to fight for is that every human should be able to afford food and drink everyday.

A human in Africa can survive with one dollar per day, many people think that donating mon-ey to the UN is not helpful at all, but when you actually think about it, it is extremely helpful, with only thirty dollars, you can feed thirty people in one day, or one person in thirty days, if like one million people donate, then they might be able to make farms or/and rubber factories, because Africa is the perfect place for planting rubber trees.

If we jump away from Africa to Asia then we can see much richer countries that include wa-ter, food and materials, but there are still many poor people that fight every day to fill their stom-achs, if we transfer some money to the Asian countries, then they would be able to build new schools for people and advance

the regular schools. Almost all of the problems in these coun-tries are caused by the people’s lack of knowledge. Many people do idiotic stuff like stealing and killing to survive and that is obvious. Some children start to work at the age five, these chil-dren won’t receive any educa-tion. The analphabetism in the country rises and along with it the lack of knowledge and that leads to increased criminal ac-tivities and that creates a chaot-ic future that occurs when these children get older and yes, that does not always occur, but since it often occurs, we have to act and make a stand.

It is really dangerous, because only one man is needed to create terror and chaos in our world, Adolf Hitler is an exam-ple. School should be obliga-tory, at least till 9th grade and it should be free, like in Swe-den and other countries. Many people dream about going to school, but they are too poor to do so, I can imagine how much they would work if they got ac-cess to a school, there are many

smart people in the world, but they are forced to work or not go to school, all because of their lack of money.

Why is it like that?

The key of victory for many countries is democracy. Many leaders, especially in Africa do not allow the UN to do some-thing in their countries, even if they allow UN to enter, they kick them out within months. They do not always accept medical help like vaccination against danger-ous diseases that infects both children and adult, because of greed, the UN does it for free, but the leaders are too afraid of revolutions etc. They do not want to lose their money which actually is not their own money, it is their countries’ money.

Another example is how some leaders try to start wars instead of focusing on trying to solve the economical issues of their countries. We need democracy in our world. so the people that have suffered won’t be forgot-ten.


Judiciary Is An Independent Institution?

In every country, there are three organs that run the affairs of the country and maintain peace and order in the country. These three organs are legislature, execu-tive and judiciary. Legislature make laws, executive enforces and judiciary interprets the law. Judiciary plays a very important role in the interpretation of statutes and laws. Judiciary has played a pivotal role in the development of law. It develops law by giving judgments, which later become a precedent that is a source of law.

In many countries, the judicial system is very weak and does not act as an independent institution. The

In Pakistan, the judiciary is strongly influenced by politicians, landlords, governments, media and businessman. The landmark case in the history of Pakistan is “Maulvi Tamiz-ud-Din Vs Federation of Pakistan (1955)”. In this case, Maulvi Tamiz-ud-Din filed a writ of Quo- warranto and mandamus against the Government because the Governor General dis-missed his constituent Assembly and the Sind High court gave the decision in favour of Maulvi Tamiz-ud-Din but later on, when the Government did appeal, the Court gave the decision in favour of Federation of Pakistan. First time the “Keelson Theory” was intro-

reason behind it is the political system, the govern-mental structure, feudalism, economic and social stability and most important of all the Thana System (Police Station). Countries where the governmental system is quasi-parliamentary and quasi-presidential, the judiciary is not an independent institution. Where the one governmental system prevails whether parlia-mentary or presidential, the judiciary is an indepen-dent institution, like in USA and UK.

In USA, their presidential system president has im-munity, but he cannot interfere in the matters of judiciary. So, the judiciary there is completely inde-pendent. In UK, there is a parliamentary system so the judiciary is not a wholly independent institution, but we can say it is independent. In most of the Asian countries, the judiciary is not independent. Like in Pakistan, the judiciary is not an independent institu-tion and it is striving for the independence of the ju-diciary for the last several years. In developing coun-tries, the judiciary is to some extent independent but not entirely. It is influenced by the political system prevails in those countries.

duced in Pakistan in this case and Justice Munir took the plea that it is the “Law of Necessity” and gave decision in favour of Federation of Pakistan.

So, in Pakistan the judiciary has never been an in-dependent institution. In 3rd of March, 2009, the judiciary is restored when the Chief of Justice of the Supreme Court is restored. Now after that, the judi-ciary of Pakistan became a little bit independent but still it needs more time and struggle to be free and work as an independent institution from governmen-tal and political pressure.

Recently, the Supreme Court of Pakistan took a bold step in Swiss cases and dismissed the Prime Minister for court of contempt but very next case the judiciary step back when the son of Chief of Justice is involved, he didn’t take a bold step because his son is involved in this case and gave a biased decision in favour of his son. So, it takes a time to become an independent institution.

Sunita Nayab Gill (Adv)

JudICIAry IS An IndePendent InStItutIon? | SunItA nAyAb gIll (Adv)

Judiciary Is An Independent Institution?


TAKING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN AFRICA TO THE NEXT LEVEL

According to an article written by the Vice President of the Africa development Bank Profes-sor Mthuli Ncube half of Africa’s population is below the age of 20 with a median age of 18, this being a serious indication that the continent is facing a youth bulge. As the continents’ popula-tion continues to grow questions are raised about the issue of economic opportunities for the young Africans. The global recession that has been go-ing on has seen the economies of most African countries weaken, and this has also been char-acterised by low levels of economic growth and pervasive poverty that has made it difficult for them to create equal opportunities for all social groups in their respective countries. In some

of them lack an entrepreneurial mind. Accord-ing to research, the average mind amongst every university graduates is that they look forward to high-paying jobs after graduating from university and living a really good life but in most cases this is not so, as the shrinking job market cannot ac-commodate the ever increasing numbers of uni-versity graduates that are being churned out of the system every year. The biggest concern with African youth of today is thus the lack of jobs and this is becoming a global issue. Unemployment among youth and university graduates is a seri-ous and growing social, economic and political problem in Africa and the continent needs to start paying greater attention to the matter In this month’s feature we cover an in depth

countries economic meltdown caused by politi-cal instability or civil unrest like in the case of Zimbabwe, DRC and to some extent Malawi and the Mozambique has seen a surge in unemploy-ment percentages to alarming levels and this has greatly affected the youth of these countries.

Although the young constitute around two fifths of the continent’s working age population, and three fifths of the total unemployed little is being done by African governments to address issues of unemployment in their respective countries. A sizeable number of these youth are enrolled in universities scattered across the continent, the problem however lies in the lack of innova-tion from these students, who see themselves as potential employees and not employers as most

feature on a nongovernmental organisation that was recently started in Africa by a Ghanaian lady Christabel Ofori , an organisation for young African entrepreneurs called iHav Foundation. It is in this article that she explains the history of iHav Foundation and how the organization is tackling this issue of unemployment amongst university graduates on the continent through the creation of opportunities that foster entrepre-neurship amongst University graduates.

IHAV FOUNDATION

IHAV, an acronym for I Have A Vision, was start-ed by a group of young African visionaries who saw the need to create a forum where the youth

tAkIng entrePreneurShIP In AfrICA to the neXt level | IhAv

TAKING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN AFRICA TO THE NEXT LEVEL

would come together to share ideas on address-ing the challenges in our societies, not just by thought or word of mouth, but through sustain-able actions as well. It was then was registered in October 2012 under the Companies Act, 1963 (Act 179) of the government of Ghana, as IHAV FOUNDATION. IHAV members are passionate about improving drastically, the quality of life across the continent and repainting a new image of hope and success for Africa.

IHAV has since October, grown and expanded to reach many young people, spreading out to over 10 countries across the continent.

In August 2012, I had the privilege of being se-lected as one of the outstanding participants of the South American Business Forum, in Argen-tina, to dialogue and share ideas on how we can change the world by being the change we want to see.I was gingered and poised for action. I knew I couldn’t allow my country and continent at large to continue to battle with the same challenges over and over again. It rested on us as young people, with all our exuberance and creativity and ambition, to be the change force for Africa.One September afternoon, during a road trip along some villages in Ghana, the idea to start IHAV hit me hard, as I observed the deplor-able conditions the people in these regions lived

THE CREATION OF IHAV

I have always dreamed about an Africa where the people enjoy a good quality of life, where the people believe in themselves that we can do it if we really try, an Africa where we would create our own wealth and not entirely depend on aid.I knew it was a stretch of imagination but I knew it wasn’t impossible. I have interacted with a lot of Africans who feel Africa could never make it to the heights of certain continents, but I have also interacted with a few optimistic ones who believed in Africa’s potential. Now the task was to get all these optimistic people together and prove to the world that all we really need to do is to put our vision in action.

in, their low quality of life, and yet the massive chunk of natural resources readily available. It dawned on me then; ‘we really need to come together as Africans, as bearers of our problems, to cut down on the many lectures, and for once practically work at finding solutions to these problems which are persistent in the different regions of the continent. Let’s nurture the youth to change our negative mentality and encourage them to dream change and act on it’.I couldn’t sleep that night; I was too excited. I couldn’t wait till morning to share the idea and start bringing it to life. The next morning I shared it with a few friends and they loved it. We started working at it right from that moment onwards, structuring our goals and the issues we wanted to tackle.


It is also exciting to note that our magazine “Independent Skies Magazine” is assisting in taking this African dream to the next level as it has already joined the long list of the conference spon-

sors as one of the official sponsors of this event that will be taking place in Africa. To find out more about iHav Foundation kindly visit their website www.ihavfoundation.org and get

more details about the conference, registration, and sponsorship.

Edited for Independent Skies Magazine by christopher chakwana (Independent Skies Magazine team)

tAkIng entrePreneurShIP In AfrICA to the neXt level | IhAv

Today, we have young people contributing to the vision of IHAV from all over the globe. IHAV, as you see today, is the result of a strong commit-ment towards something we are all passionate about; taking Africa to higher heights.

Our Vision is to raise a generation of youth vi-sionaries who will work collaboratively to provide sustainable solutions to Africa’s challenges. And our ultimate Goal is to see young people acting together to tackle and solve our societal challeng-es and needs through innovative and sustainable solutions.

From July 24-27, 2013, we are going to have our first conference, and the first of its kind in Ghana and Africa at large. Our theme for the conference is “AFRICA’S YOUTH, AGRICULTURE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP”. This conference will provide an entrepreneurial-nurturing and inter-

active environment that will bring together 100 outstanding and innovative African youth vision-aries and 10 inspiring leaders and change cham-pions to discuss pertinent issues in the continent and come up with sustainable projects particu-larly directed at improving the quality of life in Africa, and in the process creating employment for ourselves and others.

At this life-changing conference, we aim at pro-viding a platform for sharing ideas, encountering new perspectives, learning from others, experi-encing different points of views, enriching our-selves with different cultures, developing sus-tainable projects, and implementing these our projects within planned time scales.

As the night dies away, as the sun embraces the world in a warm hug a new day has come. Grey hearts rise, the world is full of anxiety. The world has already been barricaded by hate, we need that which can make us feel a part of a world that has done more bad than good to hu-manity. Young people across the world cry out to be heard. Life is a beautiful tragedy, however the future of tomorrow utters in de-spair, their cries go unheard, the leaders of today have failed and it is up to the young people to make a better tomorrow. As the thought crosses every individu-al’s mind, hope is reborn when

ISM PhotogrAPhy CoMPetItIon

Vincent WongThe tonal range in the photo is great, and it has a good balance of light and dark areas. The detail and the texture in the photo make it a feast for the eyes. The only issue is that there is no clearly-defined subject, as the photo is framed too close to the woman. Our eyes wander the frame, as such, we are left wondering, where the focus of the photo is.Thematically, it evokes a sense of awe and reflective wonder, and aptly, we find expres-sion of this in the woman’s face.

Imsouchivy SuosThis photo has a very lovely color and very high contrast because of the ceiling and the subject jacket. The dark spots also integrate very well. This is one good example of color composition/combination. However, the framing should have been better since the subject is almost outside the frame, which makes the audience confuse of what the photographer trying to communicate (con-flict composition and the rule of third). Not only that but the photo itself is blur and my guess would be the technical problem that the artist has with the low light situation.

Independent Skies TeamWe are very proud to announce that Rocio Rodriguez WON our 1st photography com-petition with a great snap of nature.

We would like to take this chance and thank everyone for their participation/support of the competition.

Hard luck to the people that did not win this time, see you guys in 3 months with our 2nd photography competition.


A DrEAMLESS DrEAM BY TEBOHO J. MTABANE

Like chasing a dreamless dream...I am living my nightmare:Like portraying oxygen molecules in the air...I am visible to no mind.With every beat… my heart is bleeding,Not bleeding with the emotions of pain,But bleeding in wonder....Like chasing the sun…My mind trembles the earth's sands and seas,With the air behind my back pealing through my flesh,Exposing my heart to frost that melts all my emotions to vapour.....My mind is shackled by sweet-bitter memoriesgathered from greater landscapes of adventure,To greater sunny blue skies,Ended by all the seasons of loneliness.....Like chasing a dreamless dream....My heart bleeds....is bleeding...Yet not from the emotions of pain,But from the pain of my emotions.


ABOUT THE POET

TEBOHO JOSEPH MTABANE

Teboho Mtabane, a son, a broth-er, a husband, a father, a writer and a poet, hails from Bloemfon-tein, where he grew, schooled and took furthered studies along the fields of Quantity Surveying and construction Management. His spark for literature was set alight whilst at a High School's debating team back in '97, and his first jot came about 11 years ago. Chiefly most of his jotted rhymes are emotion-propelled by daily encounters, from hurdles that make one trip and fall over, to spirals of joy and hope in life.

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independent skies magazine 12th issue

Documents

negative feedback

process of feedback

transmission of feedback

structive feedback

different types of feedback

destructive feedback

constructive feedback

self improvement