FROM AFRICA WITH LOVE

Written by people of African heritage- this a space for Africans to tell their stories in their own words and for others to learn about Africa-

in reference to: Africa on the Blog, the voices of Africa from all over the world. Multi author, bloggers with African heritage (view on Google Sidewiki)

February 2009

Ida's random thoughts: Women and Hats

Ida's random thoughts: Women and Hats

Women and Hats

I am at the BBC Gardener's World Live at the NEC in Birmingham and I have to say I am having a great time.

However something has left me utterly confused! Women's attitudes towards hats! Ethnic Supplies has superb straw hats handcrafted in Madagascar from Raffia and they come in a range of colours. The best way I can describe them is DRAMATIC!









I love the hats for their drama. I can't remember an exhibition where they failed to draw people to my stand and this week hasn't been any different. Women in particular have been drawn to my stand and said how beautiful the hats are, having seen me wearing one.

For some this has encouraged them to buy, some have simply said not for me but it looks great on you, a good number said " I am not a hat person" and whilst for some the hats brought back bad memories of husbands and boyfriends who ridiculed them when they wore a hat. One woman in particular was almost in tears as she recalled the incident. I put on my killer smile and a gave her a hug as she was visibly upset.

I have to say I met such a man today, when his wife chose a yellow hat, she asked me for my opinion and I told her it looked good on her and her husband sniggered and asked why I wasn't wearing it myself and I said it would clash with what I was wearing that is why I had a more suitable colour on.

The man turned on his wife and said "you heard what the woman said, don't buy something that will not agree with you" But the woman stood her ground and said I would like a hat but perhaps I will chose a colour that is more likely to suit the majority of my clothing and she DID!


I found myself having to reassure more and more women that in fact any woman could wear a hat and it all had to do with confidence/attitude!

A thought crossed my mind, Could I in fact I could be wrong and there is possibly more to it!

I decided to get to the bottom of this thing WOMEN AND HATS. So the next woman that said "ooh No I don't wear hats they don't suit me" I took her aside and asked her why it was that so many women felt they could wear a hat.

She told me it is an English thing, the generation of hat wearing women is gone and that the weather doesn't help, but simply English women don't wear hats although this may change due to climate change!! Hmmm, Maybe she is right I could not pick out any female english friend that wear a hat, but come to think of it nor an African one for that matter

I said I didn't come from a hat wearing tradition either but I had no problem wearing one.

"oh, but you African women ordinarily wear head scarves and things on your heads, which we English women don't do"

Now this I found intriguing as my own African tribe rarely wears head scarves apart from the rare occasion, funeral, bad hair days etc. I thanked the lady for her time as I had lost to will to convince her that it was all a matter of attitude as far as I could see.

I was even more confused by next customer. She bought two prints and looked at me and told me you look amazing in that hat. I can't ever see myself in a hat. I went through the same why is that routine. " oh hats don't agree with she said. Look at how I dress, where exactly would I fit a smart hat? She was African!


Then was a West Indian lady who couldn't decide which colour suited her best she bought two!

By the end of today I was no where near getting to the bottom of why some women love hats and some appear to loath them?

Ladies please enlighten me! I am wrong when I say IT IS A MATTER OF CONFIDENCE?
Is there more to this?




At the Common Wealth Education fund 2007 Fundraising event


2008 Commonwealth Education Fund fundraising event

oooh Remember Her? doesn't she look fab in the Yellow hat?


Suhad showing off the colourfull hats from Ethnic Supplies

Ethnic Supplies: Food distribution in Uganda

Ethnic Supplies: Food distribution in Uganda

Housing Allowances for UK Member’s of Parliament

I listened to BBC R4’s world at one as the rights and wrongs of MP’s Housing Allowance claims were discussed. The latest culprit is the Work minister Mr McNulty who is said to have claimed in excess of £60000 since 2002 for using his parent’s home that is only 11 miles from the House of Commons!


As I listened I couldn’t help but wonder if some of the rules that apply to those in receipt of Housing benefit (housing allowance mostly for those out of work or low income) would go some way to resolving this issue once and for all.

Why?

If you apply for this type of Housing Allowance you have to provide proof that you liable for rent at the address for which you are claiming.

If you are a parent claiming this allowance you have to prove that household members are not what is referred to as non-dependants (mostly adults that should be at work all things being equal).

The person they were interviewing (I am afraid his name escapes me) seemed to be surprised that an MP should claim a Housing Allowance and yet the House for which he is claiming is his parent’s home.

I did wonder if the MP’s parents are in receipt of Housing Benefit and therefore they would have to declare that their non- dependant son, leaves with them for part of the week. Just a thought

And the other rule of course is which home counts as your principal home. I do wonder whether this is where it goes so wrong for MP’s. Cant’ they tell which home they can and can’t claim a Housing Allowance for?

Other folk would not get away with claiming on two homes, exception is only made in very rare/ exceptional circumstances.

What do you think?

JADE GOODY: Is there such a thing as a useless person?

An odd question you might think and according to my late grandmother the answer to this question is NO.

My grandmother was an interesting woman and had a real interest in people. Her home was always full of people from all walks of life, mostly refugees from Rwanda.

When she became frail she moved in with us. I remember my brother getting a lecture from Grand ma, who had overheard him describe someone as "useless and a complete waste of space".

"There is no such thing as a a useless person, every person on earth is valuable and useful, Our challenge is to discover that" she told my siblings and I time and time again.

For some reason I have found myself preoccupied with these words recently, as I have followed the news about Jade Goody. I am not a fan Big Brother and that kind of television, so I had no idea who this girl was until the Shilpa Shetty affair, and the effect it had on channel 4, by way of complaints.

I recall asking a friend what the point of Jade Goody is having seen a clip on the news where she appeared to have lost it completely as she "tore" into Shilpa. My friend's response was "she was on Big Brother" Oh Well!

There has been a lot of news about Jade as she battles with terminal cancer, the rights and wrongs of her decisions to sell her story.

However one particular news item about Jade stopped me in tracks.It was reported on ITV news that by agreeing to live out her days in the public, she has encouraged many women to go for a cervical smear test, the numbers of women turning up for these tests have been so great that the NHS and the government jointly could not have achieved them.

And that will be her legacy or the POINT of Jade Goody!

So you see my grandmother was right all along every person is valuable, there is no such a thing as a useless person and our challenge is to discover that in others!