Long Time

Wow..it has been a long time since I have written. I am not even sure I am capable of doing so...I joined this blog back in August 2008 and I have not had the strength nor the courage to publicly write about my thoughts. Maybe I am too critical of myself and cannot come to the realization that I do love to write. Why is that?

So I am going to do my own therapy. Growing up, I was asked to study hard, go to college, secure a job in a well established company and never move from it. A career in the arts, literature, non profit was out of the question. So I did what was required of me and achieved all of it. I hated my job and loved the fact that my father loved me back for what I had achieved. But I was unhappy. How could I get out of this miserable life while still having the love of my father (enter daddy issue). Growing up I was never pushed to explore my creativity and was given limitations on what I could achieve. I guess at the ripe age of 35, I am sort of struggling with that despite the fact that I resigned from my boring job and started two projects that I have in my mind for a very long time. The first projects which is dear to my heart is Yakoly.Org, a non profit organization which assist innovative villages in developing countries in their quest to erase poverty.

The name Yakoly comes from a village (Yacolidabouo) in western Ivory Coast where lay my roots. The language spoken in the region is Bete, which I do not speak but I can relate to all villagers as human needs are a necessity for all.

Founding Yakoly.Org gave me a chance to reconnect with Africa simply because I grew outside of the continent; I like to say that I grew up up in France and became a woman in America. I was never fully accepted by Africans because I grew up in France and I was never fully accepted in France because of the color of my skin. In Africa I was called uprooted, so America was the best land for my personal development. Set aside any feminism and/or racism, I felt that I belonged to a culture in America. See, the creation of Yakoly.Org gives me a chance to reconnect with Africa at a different level. It is not a question of identity but rather a question of humanity.