“I don’t know if I continue, even today, always liking myself. But what I learned to do many years ago was to forgive myself. It is very important for every human being to forgive herself or himself because if you live, you will make mistakes- it is inevitable. But once you do and you see the mistake, then you forgive yourself and say, ‘Well, if I’d known better I’d have done better,’ that’s all. So you say to people who you think you may have injured, ‘I’m sorry,’ and then you say to yourself, ‘I’m sorry.’ If we all hold on to the mistake, we can’t see our own glory in the mirror because we have the mistake between our faces and the mirror; we can’t see what we’re capable of being. You can ask forgiveness of others, but in the end the real forgiveness is in one’s own self. I think that young men and women are so caught by the way they see themselves. Now mind you. When a larger society sees them as unattractive, as threats, as too black or too white or too poor or too fat or too thin or too sexual or too asexual, that’s rough. But you can overcome that. The real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself. If we don’t have that we never grow, we never learn, and sure as hell we should never teach.”
― Maya Angelou

A New York-based group has filed a lawsuit in hopes of forcing a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, to stop detaining new mothers who can’t pay their maternity bills.

NAIROBI, Kenya — The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he’s accused of: detaining mothers who can’t pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it’s the only way he can keep his medical center running. Two mothers who live in a mud-wall and tin-roof slum a short walk from the maternity hospital, which is affiliated with the Nairobi City Council, told The Associated Press that the hospital wouldn’t let them leave after delivering their babies. The bills the mothers couldn’t afford were $60 and $160. Guards would beat mothers with sticks who tried to leave without paying, one of the women said. Now, a New York-based group has filed a lawsuit on the women’s behalf in hopes of forcing the hospital to stop the practice, a practice Omondi is candid about. “We hold you and squeeze you until we get what we can get. We must be self-sufficient,” Omondi said in an interview in his hospital office. “The hospital must get money to pay electricity, to pay water. We must pay our doctors and our workers.” “They stay there until they pay. They must pay,” he said of the 350 mothers who give birth each week on average. “If you don’t pay the hospital will collapse.” The Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the suit this month in the High Court of Kenya, says detaining women for not paying is illegal. The hospital is associated with the Nairobi City Council, one reason it might be able to get away with such practices, and the patients are among Nairobi’s poorest with hardly anyone to stand up for them.

Maimouna Awuor was an impoverished mother of four when she was to give birth to her fifth in October 2010. Like many who live in Nairobi’s slums, Awuor performs odd jobs in the hopes of earning enough money to feed her kids that day. Awuor, who is named in the lawsuit, says she had saved $12 and hoped to go to a lower-cost clinic but was turned away and sent to Pumwani. After giving birth, she couldn’t pay the $60 bill, and was held with what she believes was about 60 other women and their infants. “We were sleeping three to a bed, sometimes four,” she said. “They abuse you, they call you names,” she said of the hospital staff. She said saw some women tried to flee but they were beaten by the guards and turned back. While her husband worked at a faraway refugee camp, Awuor’s 9-year-old daughter took care of her siblings. A friend helped feed them, she said, while the children stayed in the family’s 50-square-foot shack, where rent is $18 a month. She says she was released after 20 days, after Nairobi’s mayor paid her bill. Politicians in Kenya in general are expected to give out money and get a budget to do so. A second mother named in the lawsuit, Margaret Anyoso, says she was locked up in the hospital for six days in 2010 because she could not pay her $160 bill. Her pregnancy was complicated by a punctured bladder and heavy bleeding. “I did not see my child until the sixth day after the surgery. The hospital staff were keeping her away from me and it was only when I caused a scene that they brought her to me,” said Anyoso, a vegetable seller and a single mother with five children who makes $5 on a good day. Anyoso said she didn’t have clothes for her child so she wrapped her in a blood-stained blouse. She was released after relatives paid the bill. One woman says she was detained for nine months and was released only after going on a hunger strike. The Center for Reproductive Rights says other hospitals also detain non-paying patients. Judy Okal, the acting Africa director for the Center for Reproductive Rights, said her group filed the lawsuit so all Kenyan women, regardless of socio-economic status, are able to receive health care without fear of imprisonment. The hospital, the attorney general, the City Council of Nairobi and two government ministries are named in the suit.

http://news.msn.com/world/kenya-hospital-imprisons-new-mothers-with-no-money

Sin And The Corruption Of God’s Creation

Adam sinned, and because of his action, sin and death has infected all his offspring to this day. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, their death was certain. On the day they sinned, they obviously did not die physically, for they lived many years after that. Rather, they lost their perfect connection to the Creator, the seeds of physical death were planted in them, and their corrupted human nature would dominate them throughout their lives until they died physically. [1] Also, their disobedience brought other grievous consequences upon them and all their descendants.

Genesis 3:16-19
(16) To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
(17) To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
(18) It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
(19) By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

These verses show that sin is the root cause of all of mankind’s subsequent suffering. It is important to realize that one reason suffering is a part of life is that the inherent nature of all things has been corrupted. The original garden of Eden (“Eden” means “delight” or “pleasure”) had no thorns, thistles or dangerous animals. For example, one aspect of the “cursed ground” that God spoke to Adam about is that while the earth does not naturally produce wonderful fruits and vegetables, “thorns and thistles” grow naturally in abundance.

These consequences will plague mankind until “the Last Adam” completes the perfect restoration of Creation. Because of Adam’s sin and Satan’s subsequent dominion over the earth, suffering is a part of life, and will be until sin and death are no more (Rev. 21:4). Furthermore, when the Lord rules the earth in his Millennial Kingdom, there will again be an abundance of food, no dangerous animals, no war, perfect justice, and the earth will again be a delightful place. The curse on the earth, with all its ramifications, will be totally removed when God finally creates a new heaven and a new earth for all the righteous (Rev. 22:3).

Romans 8:19-22
(19) The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
(20) For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one [Satan] who subjected it, in hope
(21) That the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
(22) We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

We hope that the following analogy will help illustrate the corruption of Creation, that is, the overall corruption of all forms of life, related to and determined by the advent of sin into the world. Suppose your local convenience store had a “Win The Mona Lisa” contest. Suppose you won. Imagine your friends gathered around as you unwrap it in your living room. “What an awesome masterpiece!” “Look at that gorgeous creation!” “That Leonardo guy was amazing!”

Just then your young son spills a pitcher of raspberry juice on the painting. Try as you will, you cannot remove the stain. “Oh, no! But hey, it’s still the Mona Lisa, and it’s the only painting we have, let’s hang it up.” When people looked at it, what would they see? They would clearly see that it was once an exquisite masterpiece done by an incredible artist, but they would also plainly see that it has been indelibly marred. There is only one solution to this problem, and that is for the original artist to re-create a similar masterpiece. That is exactly what God, through Jesus Christ, will do. He will create a new earth for all who have believed in Him.

At this time we have no choice but to live amidst a corrupted Creation. “A rose by any other name is still a rose.” True, but now it has thorns! “This is for you, darling.” “Ouch!” As we saw, thorns came into being after man’s original sin. Satan, who already had the ability, had gotten the authority to alter the genetic structure in a rose. We believe that in Genesis 3:18, “thorns and thistles” are representative of all corruption due to Adam’s sin.

You’re holding a beautiful little baby boy, and you marvel at his physical symmetry, his intricacy, his precision and his potential versatility. What a masterpiece! Then he throws up on you. You bask in 70 degree, low-humidity sunshine on the deck of your oceanside home. Fleecy clouds drift by and a soft breeze caresses you. What a glorious day! Then the breeze becomes a hurricane and your oceanside home is six inches high. Why? The corruption of Creation.

Scripture makes it obvious that when God originally created the world, He anticipated the possibility of its ruin, and planned for its necessary restoration. As we will see in the next chapter, this plan is still in the process of being fulfilled through Jesus Christ, the Last Adam.

Kingston, Jamaica ( Shuzzr & Mpr Consulting): STING 2012 is dubbed as one of the “Greatest One Night Reggae Dancehall Shows on Earth” and over the years its been filled controversy, raw energy, on the spot creativity and the end of many artiste careers as well as the birth of others.

Dancehall Artiste Blak Ryno is no stranger to the show as he’s not just only performed on several occasions but entertained fans who tuned in to watched online or those who went to see the show live. This year the artiste wasn’t formally booked for the event but just as how over the years spontaneously artiste made surprise performances, the artiste was about to the same.

Blak Ryno who went on when Popcaan was on stage performing hoped to give his fans and those who may not be a well wisher a show/performance many have been wanting to witness since his departure from the controversial group Portmore Empire more popularly known as GAZA.

After he made his entrance on Stage to much surprise, the artiste long anticipated clash came to an abrupt end when Popcaan made a cowardly move and push him off stage. Blak Ryno who attempted to make a second entrance to settle all scores lyrically was stopped by security personnel. The artiste who had no intentions of physically engaging his opponent was shocked by his cowardly move after he thought given his pronouncements of being the best young act, wouldn’t have a problem engaging in a lyrical battle.

Blak Ryno who is historical about the whole incident said “dis a all fun thing… popcaan a prove a point dat he’s really afraid of Blak Ryno not just lyrically”

Blak Ryno is getting ready for his upcoming tour and the release of new videos and single.

DI PEOPLE DEM SEH DIS IS A JUICY COUTURE SUIT AND BLAH BLAH.. BECAUSE MI NUH BUSINESS WID BRAN MI NEVA EVEN KNOW JUICY HAD A MALE LINE…………THANKS BE TO GOD FOR GOOGLE.. BUT WEDDA JUICY DID HAVE A MALE LINE OR NOT…WHICH MAN WOULD REALLY WANT TO WEAR SOMETHING WHEY SEH JUICY?? …OK DEN HIM LIKE AND RATE JUICY CLOTHES..BUT WHY IT DID HAFFI BE ROSE PINK WID PINK STUDS? THIS WAS NOT FROM THE MALE JUICY LINE…IF SO I GUESS JUICY A CATER TO THE MALES WITH A TIP ….WELL MORE THAN A TIP… A DASH OF FEMININITY ..MY QUESTION IS RIGHT NOW…AFTER UNNO TEK IN THE WELL OILED AND PRODDED FEET…A WHEY KONSHENS REALLY DEH PAN?

NUFFY GAVE RHYNO THE MIC DEM TOO LIE!