The latest addition to our family!

Meet the latest addition to our household! 

My kids always wanted a dog but I was always scared of dogs talk less of owning one. 

Helas,  I gradually conquered my fear of dogs and now we actually have one in our household. 

This is probably the most gentle and friendly dog I have ever met. He loves family moments! He enjoys watching the sunset! Ever since he came into our lives, he has been such a sweetheart! He has added an extra spice to our daily routine and we are  having so much fun as a family! It is such a pleasure watching him grow everyday. 

Eager to go on a school trip as Covid rules fade !

By Mabi Azefor Fominyen, My son's year group is planning a school trip and he is so excited about it. This is coming at a time when the number of Covid -19 cases has drastically reduced and the rules and regulations relaxed. Huuuuuuh! It feels like life is gradually returning to normal for most people the world over compared to the last two years. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most schools worldwide had been forced to embrace online learning or hybrid learning eventhough some schools in other parts of the world, remained closed for several months ( for example in Uganda), as the pandemic took an ugly turn killing thousands of people across different ages worldwide. It has been such a relief therefore to see school children and students return to school and to effectively carry on with on-campus learning for the most part of the 2021/2022 academic year. Students have been able to learn , interact with others and also taken part in several co-curricular activities. School authorities have also been able to plan a number of school events and trips for their students; like what obtained prior to the Covid-19 era! On a whole, most countries, governments, schools, offices, businesses etc; have begun easing various restrictions and protocols that were put in place to help control the spread of the pandemic. My prayer is that we all continue to be safe as we look ahead to better days. See Italy's new Covid rules -summer 2022 https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/italy-to-phase-out-all-covid-rules-by-summer-2022

My quick home-made pizza!

By Mabi Azefor Fominyen

 

Saturday morning craving.......! #Pizza

I decided to make a quick and simple  pizza this morning . 

It was quite easy especially as I used a store-bought pizza 🍕 base.  All I did was to pre-heat the oven, rolled out  the pizza base on  to the baking tray, added some tomatoes 🍅,  mozzarella , cheese, olives and I baked it for 15 minutes ! 

Yummy!

Hints on raising Girls!

On the occasion of the 2021 International Day of Girls I took a few minutes to reflect and share my thoughts on how to raise Girls holistically.Click and Follow this link  to watch more

Please take a moment to watch my video and thereafter, please feel free to join the conversation. 

It is also part an ongoing community education and sensitization project that I am currently carrying out.

You are very welcome to share and comment. 

Buying African food stuff in Rome- A food market adventure!

One thing I planned on doing upon my arrival in Rome was to go to an open international market to buy some African food items . Sooooo I rang my longtime friend Jeanne to help me locate one and yesssss....we set out to visit the "Emmanuel Emiele" market down town Rome.

You can tell by the excitement on my face!

Guess what....I  just spotted items like plantains,  yams, cocoyams, palm oil, stuck-fish, crayfish, yam flour.....almost everything I had on my market list. 

Now this feels like I am home! 

I am tempted to buy each item...and so my friend Jeanne is teasing me about wanting to buy the entire market ( laughing😃) . I am such a foodie guys so you can imagine how my face lit up right ....!By the way have you visited my food blog @ Akwe's cuisine? 

In Cameroon, we eat cocoyams in various forms. My staple food is achu served with achu soup ( yellow soup) . Achu is made from pounded cocoyams while the soup is made by using a combination of traditional spices, a variety of beef, palm oil, and limestone ( locally called kangwa) . I even saw kangwa at the market....yes "kangwa".

It was a great day we had exploring the market. We bought a variety of African food items before leaving the market. 

Thank you Jeanne for your immense help . 

Pictures courtesy of Jeanne Faye and Mabi Azefor Fominyen. 

I can't get enough of these!

By Mabi Azefor Fominyen 

Did I ever mention that I love eating grapes?  Well,  I simply can't get over these very sweet and juicy grapes. Since my arrival in Rome, I can't stop harvesting these fresh grapes 🍇 from our yard ! 

Simply irresistible!  

I can't stop eating them! 

I love having them after meals! Let me hurry up  now to wash these .....so I can leave them in the fridge to get cold a bit. 

Do you love eating 🍇 grapes? Let me hear from you . 

Another Christmas ... time to celebrate

By Mabi Azefor Fominyen. Christmas 2020 is fast approaching ! What a challenging year it has been for many people the world over, due to the ravaging effects of the COVID- 19 . As a result of this global pandemic, many families have lost their loved ones, colleagues have lost their team members, doctors , nurses, other essential workers have lost their lives on the line of duty , all because of Coronavirus. Many people the world over continue to suffer and die even as I write this post because of COVID-19. As the year 2020 ebbs out, I am just so grateful to be alive. I would like to wish everyone a beautiful Christmas holiday and a wonderful 2021. I can't wait to see what 2021 brings! In the meantime I pray we all continue to trust God even as we pray for protection, good health, wisdom, long life etc.