With all the negativity in the world, I figured a feel good post with a light touch might be the order of the week. I find myself spending so much time obsessing over the genocide in Gaza and Congo, the unfolding situation in South Sudan and the unnerving right wing politics sweeping Europe that sometimes it doesn’t seem like there’s any good news.
The local economy too seems depressed and for the life of me and my small enterprise we just can’t seem to make that life changing breakthrough. However, with all of that said, the sun continues to come up. The birds continue to sing, and the snow capped mountains make for a post card aesthetic.
Last week Saturday on my breakfast show we were going through our weekly newspaper headline wrap up. It was so difficult to find a good news story, but we persevered and ultimately did.
Our road fund will be headed up by a lady. A former diplomat who will undoubtedly steer the ship admirably. I think women occupying leadership rules is both important and necessary. We have always held our matriarchs in the highest regard, and this ought not change in the corporate environment.
Along with that I noted that the streetlights remain on, the road maintenance projects are ongoing and low and behold the price of beer has come down! The Basotho new year took place just the other day when the new moon was sighted so quite frankly that price cut couldn’t have come at a better time.
A doctor friend and business partner of mine also informs me the first ever spine surgery done in country was completed successfully. This big dreamer tells me this is the first of many as we try to beef up orthopaedics in the country such that Basotho no longer need to cross the border for those kinds of surgeries.
A word on this; not only will it save the state a great deal in resources, it will also greatly improve the lives of Basotho. For too long these injuries have meant permanent or semi permanent disfigurement for our people.
The cold conditions have been stressful but in this glass half full column, its also worth mentioning that the price of fuel went down a week ago, taking illuminating paraffin with it. On the snow day a couple of weeks ago we used every heating implement we had in the house, the gas, paraffin and electric heaters all played their part!
Yesterday I was pulled over by a delightful policeman who took a great interest in what I do for a living and even downloaded the Sky Alpha HD app. He promised he would listen to our show every Saturday and Sunday am. You should too, that notwithstanding I now need to get my license disk in order such that I don’t fall foul of the law.
As much as I’m lamenting our small enterprises’ lacklustre growth, there are still green shoots. Our friends at the US Embassy have undertaken to partner with us on our Digital Innovators Summit, a campaign we cannot wait to present and engage. We must ventilate the issues around AI, digital connectivity and the future of media and content creation. The summit will hopefully tackle all these matters and grey areas in between.
I did a quick whip around on my social media platforms asking people to share some good news that would act as inspiration for this column. Three people told me they were in good health, we agreed that was priceless. One told me in spite of life’s many challenges he continues to live and breathe.
A big brother and mentor told me of a significant development in his business affairs, I found that very exciting indeed and finally my beautiful wife reminded me that I’m loved by her. After I assured her the feeling was mutual, I reflected on the responses and realized the glass is indeed half full. Even as I type this, the sun is up, my belly is full and I am in rude health. I will have a recovery session at gym after touch rugby yesterday and my day will go swimmingly no doubt.
It really isn’t all doom and gloom…
