In Search of the Queen of Sheba

The figure of the Queen of Sheba spans religion, history and geography. She came from the South as a queen of trade to embark on an affair which changed the course of humanity. She is an icon, a temptress, a political power. She is claimed by at least two countries, Yemen and Ethiopia, by art and by many societies. She stands for black empowerment. Is she real or did we need to invent her? Sarah Sands, a celebrated British journalist, goes on a quest to find her, ending up setting sail in a warship up the Red Sea on her trail.

Inciting Change

Whilst being homeless for two years and living on the peripherals of society, many an hour was contemplated to realise what is paramount in one’s life. Together, with the support and help from specialised agencies, I now have been housed and working for 13 years.

Eternally grateful for prayers answered, I hope that through the sharing of my words, others can gain insight and inspiration from a different world of thought and experience. It is hoped that the reader may realise that “coupled with consistency, the right support, love, and timely opportunities, one can conquer adversity!”

To those currently struggling with adversity in their lives, whatever their circumstances may be, I sincerely pray and hope for a better tomorrow. I regained my faith in God and humanity and pray you do too. If my words have by some measure helped in the process, I am humbled.

Indigenous Knowledge on Traditional Upland Rice Farming in Sierra Leone

“Learning can be acquired by reading books, but the much more necessary learning, the knowledge of the world, is only to be acquired by reading men, and studying all the various facets of them.” (Phillip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield).

Indigenous Knowledge in Traditional Upland Rice Farming is a result of living and studying the rice farmers in the southern region of Sierra Leone, West Africa, over years of extension and rural development work. It is a result of years of effort trying to unearth how farmers generate and share information from their knowledge which remained unknown to professionals who attempt intervention projects aimed at addressing the constraints the farmers faced.

These ventures often fail to get the desired results with a waste of time and resources due to the lack of knowledge and understanding on the underpinning knowledge in a system they want to correct. It gives an insight into this farming system in a way that can be applicable to other farming systems in the country and elsewhere around the world. Fortunately, the information collected into this book was done before the rebel war in Sierra Leone, which claimed the lives of the majority of the seasoned and knowledgeable farmers. There is currently a drive by the government of Sierra Leone to encourage entrepreneurship in agribusiness around the country to improve agriculture and food production, in order to alleviate the problem of food shortages in the country.

This book offers an opportunity for those with the capital to grasp the fundamental principles underlying the practices in the farming system, the major source of food production in the country, as an insurance for their capital investments. This book can be translated into the local languages for the adult education of young farmers in the country who have not had the opportunity to have learned from their parents and older farmers through the method of oral traditional learning, as a result of the decade of rebel war which may have claimed their lives.

Infiniti

Like many other books, this book is about a journey. But unlike other books, the destination of the journey is the point where the parallel lines meet. The narrator is locked inside the book. The only way he can get out of it is by persuading one of the other characters in the book to finish off the writing process for him. But before he can do this, he has to make a journey.

On his travels, there are a number of waypoints where he must stop and collect materials which are pasted into the book. When the book is completed, he can leave the book by delivering it to the individual whom he will meet at the point where the parallel lines meet.

This journey, which is accomplished across his lifetime, takes him from the birth of Christ to the near future, with the author bending time by complex double time schemes, riddles and mathematical formulae. Every waypoint appears incredible at first, but we are in the world of weaving narrative into fiction but not fantasy. Every one of the waypoints is historical fact.

There is no trickery. The narrator does indeed take us to the point where the parallel lines meet. It had been staring at us in the face all along.

Insanitus

Make it to resemble a man

Sans emotions of any kind

Ignorant of pain and pleasure

Cold: bereft of heart and soul

One to kill at my command.

From  ‘PANDORA’

Is There a Monster?

Mummy! Daddy! I can’t sleep! There’s a monster in my bed! Words that strike fear into a parent’s heart.

Now you can have a defence against these dreaded beasts, and promote a good night’s sleep all round.

Is There a Monster? tackles the problem head on, while taking the subconscious down a road that conquers its worries and promotes positive dreams. All wrapped up in rhyme.

Isaiah’s Mountain

May 1901. Jo stands alone, ready to meet her fate, as British soldiers come thundering up the dusty track of her farm. She has not raised a white flag, it is pointless; the British are burning homesteads to the ground. Choked by the acrid smell of farmlands and livestock, blazing in the valley, Jo struggles to find her voice and the words she needs to save her home.

A strange twist of events transports Jo back to a time when, as a young teacher in the tiny Karoo town of Kweek Valley, she was drawn into the troubled world of a boy named Lukas Bester. A time past when nothing was as simple as it seemed and the truth lay silent and festering beneath the surface of the pious community. A time when she was Joanna Shepherd, an entirely different person…

If she is to survive, Jo has to find the words which uncover the truth as she navigates her way through grief, betrayal and the violence of war.

It Was Good

Hate crimes involving anti-Semitism, racial bigotry and sexual preferences are growing exponentially in all societies. This book is a simplistic attempt for young minds to understand how hate can be instigated. Through this story, children learn how to overcome prejudice, violence and celebrate each other’s differences. The answer to understanding others is through education starting at a young age. Now more than ever, the subject of this book is badly needed.

It's About the Living

Every reader becomes a part of this story. Charles Benford is a very ordinary man who finds himself called upon to make the kind of choices he is not equipped to make, choices that nobody should ever have to make.

Read it and perhaps think how you would have done things better or just differently given the time scales involved. Or become one of any number of the people who occupy the centre stage of the book for a chapter or two. Perhaps it is a memorable character; someone easy to recognise as part of ourselves or someone we know. Experience their fears and emotions as they flit across the pages, enduring pain, grief and, for some, death. For others, there is a huge feeling of guilt, mixed oddly with love and happiness.

This book will leave you intrigued and will make you want answers. But most of all, it will make you think.

It's Hard to Be Good

Times were hard in the 1940s and early '50s: kids went hungry and food was rationed; some families had to beg, steal or borrow to survive. But Charlie found his own way out. On a routine basis, together with his childhood gang, they became kid grafters (bang into crime). They did what they had to do, providing food to put on their family's table amongst other things. 

In 1953, aged 13, Charlie and his gang were always bunking off school. He went on to make further progress with his life. With his baby face and dressed as an office boy in a blazer, shirt, and tie, he was darting in and out of buildings in the city centre of Liverpool, buildings which provided rich pickings as he raided their cash drawers and safes.

Charlie meets his mentor: an older woman, who was a professional in the business. She teaches him how to rob high-class jewellers of their expensive diamond rings: a well planned-out scene which is typical of the classic, highly rewarding cases of jewellery robberies of the time.

Here's what Charlie has to say about his younger self: 'In 1954 and at the age of fourteen, I was earning more money than a professional adult. I was the richest poor teenager in Liverpool.'

Jack Wolf

You will be brothers, you will see death and destruction, you will be expected to run into fire when every other living thing runs away, you will work long shifts, days, nights, Saturdays, Sundays, high days and holidays, Christmas days and your birthdays. You will be injured and burned, and don’t kid yourself it won’t happen to you, it will. And consider this: On average two firemen are killed each year in service. You are expected to do this job for thirty years. Nobody wants to pay you decent wages, they will tell you that you sit around all day, play snooker and squirt water for a living. You will be like Cinderella… you will live, eat and sleep behind the red engine house doors and when called to serve, when the fire bell rings you will answer their call, their fear and their alarm. You will risk your life for a stranger, someone you never knew or will ever know and when the alarm has passed, when you are exhausted and done, you will return to the fire station, close those red engine house doors behind you and lick your wounds.

We are their insurance; they never want us, until they want us, then briefly, briefly, we are heroes.

Jack, the Pirate with a Secret

This is a fun, action-packed story with a twist at the end to allow for discussion between reader and listener. This could be used as a focus for discussion in PSHE lessons or as a one-to-one chat between the child and parent/carer.

Jack, the main character, is a very likeable and charming pirate. He appears to be extremely courageous. Throughout the story, he is portrayed as a very brave character who steers and leads his ship, The Mucky Duck, through a storm to a place of safety. Clearly, his crew look up to him for inspiration and guidance at a time when they are very afraid, but Jack performs his duties without hesitation. The story frequently reminds the reader/audience that although Jack appears to be brave, he has a secret! The story ends with the crew and The Mucky Duck reaching an idyllic cove where everyone is safe and happy!

A land filled with:

‘Treasure and gold and jewels,

palm trees and coconuts!’

All that Jack wants to do is to go to sleep in his cosy bunk in his cosy little cabin and dream of his adventures all over again!