#Corruption leads to bad roads

Collective failure! For so long we have bought the lie about "peace" in Cameroon and this is a result of it. Each time I talk about these roads since I came back from Cameroon late last year I literally break down and weep. I am weep for the suffering of the masses, those that have been taken captive by an egoistic, selfish, self-centered, greedy and wicked elite. The ruling class has failed the country and has been covering it for a long, long time. Now their wickedness is being made manifest and nobody likes it. We drove from Bamenda to Yaounde and the axle of our car fell off when we arrived Yaounde, this was a direct result of the mammoth pot holes on the road. For more than twenty years drivers have paid toll on this particular road, we too paid toll to and from Yaounde. Where is the money? Why is the road not being maintained? Is it because we celebrate and reward the plundering of public resources? When was the last time you challenged your own relatives who are part of this mafia to amend their ways? Have you amended yours? Are you still on the Cameroonian government payroll, but living in the diaspora? Shame on you! Call immediate and stop it.

We cannot continue to point fingers at others when our hands are not clean. The issue is not with the amount, it is the spirit behind your action. The spirit of stealing, embezzlement, wickedness, lies, deceit and greed.

Let this road situation be a wakeup call for all of us to amend our ways and make the necessary changes. Let is start with you. Share this if you want change!

What is the #Truth?

Last week I promised that I will continue my write up on truth. The reason being that no matter what circumstances are surrounding you, only the truth can set you free. The truth is so important that you cannot afford not to find out about the truth concerning your business, occupation, marriage, where you come from, why you are here and where you are going. There is no aspect of our lives that is not governed by some type of truth. According to the Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary truth is defined as, “The body of real things, events and facts. The quality or property of keeping close to fact and avoiding distortion or misrepresentation.” Truth is not based on popular culture. Truth is not based on how you feel, or on what you like or do not like. Truth is truth even if you believe it or not. Truth is not relative. Truth speaks for itself. Take for example, if you have been diagnosed with a life threatening disease you will seek for the best doctors that know about the illness and have a track record of helping others. Nobody in their right mind will go to a plumber to seek for help. On the other hand if you have a broken faucet at home you will call the plumber to come help you. Nobody who wants to receive a law education enrolls in a biology degree program hoping that at the end they will be awarded a law degree. The truth is that they will get a biology degree. If you have not opened a bank account with a bank, you cannot drive up to the ATM to get money. The truth as we all know is that you have no money in that bank. You may dismiss all these example by saying they are obvious and every normal person should no. You are correct, but unfortunately those who break banks think they can take money where they did not deposit. This is an example of truth being rejected. Each time truth is rejected negative consequences follow. If you are suffering from a bacterial infection and decide to ignore the truth by tacking aspirin instead of antibiotics you will die. You cannot afford not to know the truth about your spiritual condition as well. The risk of not knowing is extremely high and may have eternal ramification. There is spiritual truth and you should do all to find it. When you do it will set your free from spiritual disease that plaques all humans. This terrible condition is SIN and it is manifested through greed selfishness, anger, murder, racism, hatred, anxiety, theft, etc. More than two thousand years ago a bold declaration and profound statement was made by Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He declared, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free”. Those who were walking with him, pressed in at one occasion and Jesus answered, “I am the way a bnd the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Nobody has ever made this claim. Therefore we have to take him seriously. We all know that Jesus ended up on a Roman cross because of what he believed and thought. One of them is that he is the truth. When it comes to your spiritual condition Jesus says he is the truth and will help you out. It is left to you to find out about him. Do that today and you will be happy you did. Next time I will focus on why truth is often rejected.

Nepal needs your own #1

On Monday during break at work pictures of the devastation brought upon Nepal by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake kept my colleagues and I speechless. We continued eating our lunch and watching the news feed from the giant monitors before us. Our conversation shifted to the terror those on the path of the snow avalanche at the base camp on Mt. Everest must have faced. We quickly drifted to talking about doing geologic field work in Antarctica and the perils associated with it. Nothing was mentioned of what we could do to help the thousands affected by this devastating event. Part of the challenge is that the problem is affecting people far away from us and the problem is bigger than any of us can solve. We have become incapacitated by the enormity of the challenge. According to CNN Money, it is going to take more than 5 billion to rebuild the country (http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/27/news/economy/nepal-earthquake-everest-tourism/) Who can come up with such a huge amount of money? Well, if all the 6 plus billion people on each gave a dollar each, the money to reconstruct the country will be raised in a day. Let it start with you. Look for a nonprofit organization that you trust and donate. Do something, give your own one dollar today and encourage others to do same. Together we can bring about the relief that the people of Nepal need. Thank you for giving and spread the word.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nepal-needs-your-own-1-eric-tangumonkem-ph-d-

True marks of a transformative dream: the case of HOTPEC #ORPHANAGE

A dream that truly outlives you is one that is born out of a deep and sincere desire to put the needs of others above yours. It starts with the identification of a need in your community, followed developing a desire to make a difference; believing that you can make a difference, telling others about what you want to do and doing something about it. I have simplified this into a four steep process (#See, #Believe, #Speak and #Act), but one of the most crucial components is time. You have to understand the role of time and process to keep the dream alive and see it fulfilled.

In 2011, I was passing the night at HOTPEC ORPAHNAGE located in mile 15 Bokowa on the slopes of mount Cameroon and the cry of a baby woke me up. My room was close to the baby unit, so I got up and went into the baby unit to see what was happening. What I saw made a deep and lasting impression on me. I saw one of the care givers cuddling an infant who was less than two months old. I asked about the history of the child and was told his mother gave birth to him and his twin sister; abandoned them and disappeared. There twins were brought to the orphanage to be raised. As I stood there a lot of things ran through my mind, but one word stuck in my mind. Hope! The orphanage has brought hope in a hopeless situation and is making a difference in the lives of this twin and the more than one hundred and forty children in the orphanage. The director and founder of the orphanage Rev. Zadoc Mugri conceived the dream to start an orphanage in 1983 after he found out the plight of abandoned and orphaned children in his community. Part of his motivation also came from this Bible verse in James. “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”

He started telling people about getting land and building an orphanage and many people said, it was not possible for him to do it. Since he had no money, and was not even a trained social worker. All the negative criticism did not deter him. A few years later he got married and shared the dream with his wife Mrs. Beatrice Mugri who decided to stand with him. In 1995 after 12 years of dreaming and talking about the dream, the couple did the unthinkable and established HOTPEC orphanage on a borrowed piece of land with few wooden buildings and took in three children. Many people told them to forget about the whole idea of taking care of orphans and move on with their lives.

Over the years this small seed that was sworn in 1995 without any guarantees or support from any donors has grown into a premier orphanage in the South West Region of Cameroon in Central Africa. All wooden structures have since been replaced by modern concrete structures. The orphanage no has electricity and running water and the kids have a safe and secured place to sleep and study. There is still much to be done to keep this dream alive. That is why last year, I spent three days at the orphanage and was the keynote speaker at their end of year graduation and price award ceremony. I was there to hand over funds our organization raised to provide elementary education for more the orphans.

You too can become part of this dream and make a difference in the life of an orphan in HOTPEC orphanage, here is an opportunity for you to offer hope in a hopeless situation. All donations are tax deductible. If you want to bring hope by you can donate here http://erictangumonkem.com/orphanages/ If you will rather mail in a check or money order send an email to support@hotpecorphanage.org The founders of the orphanage saw a need, believed they could make a difference, started talking about it and finally did something. You too can do something and you should. Maybe be the least you can do it by sharing this with your contacts.

Nana Lukezo "Bonganga"

2-Day Me - Langaa Research and Publishing Common Initiative Group

2-Day Me - Langaa Research and Publishing Common Initiative Group

#How to put on work gloves in #corporate America

Yesterday morning I started getting my garden ready to plant some onions and Georgian collard greens. It occurred to me that I was wearing gloves, usually I like working without gloves, because I like the feel of the soil on my hands and the connection with the plants, seeds and soil that comes with it. This is a legitimate feeling and a good one for that matter, but it comes at a price, dirt enters deep into your fingernails, your fingers, get pierced by sharp objects, your hands get cold during winter. After you are done gardening, you have to clean your hands thoroughly to get rid of all the dirt. Even after a thorough cleaning your hands are rough and callous for some time.

All these issues can be avoided by wearing gardening gloves. The advantages of gloves cannot be overemphasized, in the case of gardening you need physical gloves, but if you are working in corporate America you need to put on a pair of gloves each morning as you get ready to go to work. Working in the garden and working in corporate America may appear to have nothing in common, but there is a lot in common as you are about to discover. In the garden you are dealing with, dirty soil, sharp objects in the soil and the potential of being hurt. In the corporate world, you are dealing with the potential of a toxic work environment, loaded with jealousy, strive, envy, discrimination, hatred, gossiping and bullying. You can agree with me that the likelihood that you can be emotionally and psychologically impacted is high. That is why you should make it a habit to put on a pair of gloves each day before heading to work. This will protect you from harassment, hatred, jealousy, envy, anger, victimization and many other perils associated with a toxic work environment. You can put a pair of solid cooperate work gloves by doing the following each day:

1) Avoid negative conversations. Some people are experts in spreading negative information around the office. Make it a habit to always look at the bright side of things, for there are always two sides to every coin. Remind yourself that every situation has two possible outcomes, a positive and a negative one. Even if your company is going under and all of you are going to lose your jobs, you can still stay positive. Yes, you will suffer loss in the interim, but better doors will open in the long run. You cannot draw any conclusions about the future that you have not yet lived. Stay positive, speak positively and think positively to the best of your ability. Be bold enough to interject a positive thought when everyone else is being negative. In some extreme cases, change the topic of the discussion completely.

2) Avoid office gossip. It feels good to hear about the failures, short comings and calamities in other people’s lives, but it will leave a bad taste in your mouth. Think about the negative consequences of feeding your mind with information that is not healthy and may not be true. If you are approached by somebody who says, you should not tell others what they are about to tell you, calmly and softly tell them that you will tell others, for you are not a dumping ground. If they insist, tell them that you are not interested in hearing what they have to say. Do not forget that gossiping erodes trust among teams and it will eventually lead to a toxic work environment. 3) Stop believing that in order to move up you have to pull others down. This attitude leads to dysfunctional teams. You want to move ahead at the expense of others. For example, if you find out a faster, cheaper and better way of getting results, you keep it to yourself, because according to you, sharing the information with others will make them equal to you. Remember Paul the Apostle said, “It is more blessed to give then to receive.” If you share information, encourage and mentor others you will be a winner in the end. Withholding information and bring others down in order to move ahead will create a toxic work environment and it will eventually hurt you and others. 4) Focus on the big picture. You are part of a team and eventually part of a company. For you to succeed your team and the whole company has to succeed as well. That is why you have to be more than a team player, be a company player. 5) Take responsibility for your actions. You are not at the mercy of anybody. It may appear that those who are harassing you, discriminating against you, hating you and gossiping about you have the upper hand. The truth is that you have the final say, for how you react to all these toxins will determine the final outcome. Do not let this toxin get to you, stay positive and refuse to drink from the fountain of hate and revenge. Paying back is a formula for disaster, avoid it at all cost.

6) Pray. If you are a person who believes in prayer, you should pray for your job, colleagues, and management. According to Paul the apostle, “Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Put on your gloves today and no matter how toxic your work environment is, you will thrive. If this has been helpful to you, please share your thoughts. Thank you. www.erictangumonkem.com

5 things that will #guarantee a successful #2015

1) Let go of the past. You are not the only one who made mistakes in 2014. All you need is to ask others and you will be surprised by how many made the same mistakes you made. Therefore forgive yourself, let go of last year and move forward. 2) Forgive others. You have to forgive those who wronged you in 2014 for your 2015 to be successful. 3) Keep your goals simple. It is not the number of goals that matter. Do not try to get too much done and finally get nothing done. Goals no matter how good they are will not do you any good if they are not achieved. Therefore set achievable goals and do not overdo it. 4) Be optimistic. Your attitude will make or break you. Like any other year, 2015 will come with challenges, but you will be successful when you keep a positive outlook. 5) Be yourself. This is a reminder to you that you are unique and there is no other person like you. 2015 is another opportunity for you to find your place and occupy it. Add your own thoughts to the list and begin to make life better for others. Thank you for sharing and happy 2015.