As Somalis, a nice car, villa or visible wealth is what matters to most. They do not understand that all that waste and extravagance is against every principle and long-term prospects.

Just watched news of Japanese soldiers collecting qashin and digging water cisterns etc back in jabuuti; now, its easy to see why many are not that attached to it or care about the place (starting with educated ones in Paris, Montreal etc). Things would have been totally different with even much less "aid" or revenues (incredible inequalities). Basic or primary care and litteracy, food vouchers and social shelter for some, priority technical skills and infrastructure, ie all that really matters require roughly $100 per head/year if honestly and efficiently spent (twice that amount cover all important needs and more). The only tricky issue could be the financing of massive essential infrastructure but PPI, no string roads upgrade as done by Turkey, Kuweit etc and other alternatives exist for roads and electricity. In Djibouti, the State alone spend roughly $700 per head a year with even the most basics needs of many not covered (places such as Cuba spend less but get education and healthcare for all that surpass many others, eg Cuba health results surpass that of the USA). Exactely the issues those in Hargeysa need to avoid instead of holding Djibouti as an example by doubling internal taxes against elites, keeping the fight against corruption, trusting no foreign entity and above all holding equality as the key goal just like those communists did to get top rankings in all that matters (equality, education & health) with so much less. .

^Many of those maids and relatives are abusive too; I clearly recount and have physical marks of being marked by a hot ironing machine very early, beatings (some serious), some emotional abuse etc. Of course, I was also the most beaten as being more active than the rest of the siblings (it is culturally accepted as if an active, exploring or bored kid is "bad"). The presence of our maternal ayeeyo later and other factors were mitigating those abuses though, and the maids were seldom lasting very long etc. It is a challenge of its own to prevent it fully even in the local Somali mosque, where even adults and teachers could be bullied (a bit of progress lately with sanctions for physical violence). Too many violent and insecure individuals are out there, who tune in their behavior according to the receiving end, and they even play the victim or group card if exposed (good at hypocrisy). Children physical and emotional abuse, is even much harder to detect and is thus another important issue of its own, though sadly again overshadowed by the usual petty ones

Odayga da'du kama muuqato, plus always smiling... did I not say plenty of vitamin D is key to everything gotta join him there....

Nurturing your children is the most vital job, teaching them etc; would it makes senses to pay very high amounts (top tutors earn more than surgeons) for another one to stimulate or homeschool them so they are ready for Harvard or medical school even before 16? I know this father who kept at home his children and his son is Sheikh at his teens years, so well behaved, yet he also taught them English etc; nothing beats that...

You need to be less of a sponge absorbing the negativity on your periphery and realise you can't save the whole world, just focus on those you can help. True, but it's not really the issue: level of optimism and nostalgia are. I guess mum etc constantly complaining about her hospital, the health department etc plus the early awareness of all that is going on in that African area (not to add all the relevant world issues) played some part (she was perfectionist and worried too, maybe some genetics at work). What is the issue is to let go nostalgia, learn to think that the future may be as good as the past, even more so than worrying for self-destructive relatives. In other words, how to accept the past will never be fully re-enacted and learn to be optimistic, believe that even though people will change and many gone, there may still be happy moments to come in the future despite all the changes or losses.

My kind of worrying has to do with my idealist wishful thinking that people must be rational and acting on information; it's clearer now that they seldom bother, act more on impulses, peer pressure etc. I was very sentimental and compassionate as a kid too, some say it's a sign of giftedness (along with curiosity etc). Well, apart from being irritated with how irrational and ignorance preferring we tend to be (too much suffering preventable with a bit of cautiousness and research), or sheer caring and attachment (people are what matters, can not forget someone), there is this partly selfish motive. Since my happiest moments were as a teen surrounded by some relatives and acquaintances, my thinking goes that preserving them as before may re-enact those nostalgic moments or at least keep the possibility of ersatz innocent moments ("happiness is the past"). I was nostalgic even back then, though much less so, and this sentimentality seems foreign to my more pragmatic siblings. To my defense, it's true that blissful innocence and merriness is much harder when fully informed about the countless cruel ways this world operates and its constant risks of all sorts, when grown up and disillusioned on many fronts. At least, back then, I could pretend that with knowledge and some preaching, things will improve (no more destitute crowds, patients etc) but it's as if some things get worse even if others improve and nobody cares much about suffering or logic, what works and getting informed thoroughly. Thus, some optimism and less sentimentality would helps me a lot but it's so uncoherent with my nature that I just often envy the aloofness and optimism levels of others...

What really matters should be equality and how education fit and helps achieve that, just like with healthcare. Scarce resources means the focus must be on litteracy, which has also the greatest returns in many areas, but the state may support some vital vocational courses such as nursing or practical skills training that are absolutely musts for national key priorities such as healthcare or jobs (farming, construction etc). The middle-class will find it easy to pay fees and state support should only go to underprivileged students and key priority skills; colleges and courses in non-priority sectors must be disincentivised (non-technical or coherent with planned priorities). As for the benefits of broad education, those are immense but still a luxury for it to be publicly funded before achieving other priorities; Djibouti and other African states are cases in point where theory and snobism prime over practical skills (mini city-state Djibouti devotes 1/4 of its budget or $150 millions to education yet the sector is way behind its intentions, too onerous, and utterly disjuncted from local realities). Thus, it all depends in fine on national priorities, on whether equality is the key goal. The state must focus on fostering litteracy and curiosity (the Japanese public was fond of foreign litterature on science, health etc even before the Meiji era), public libraries, regulation and vocational priorities (support in those areas for the underprivileged), rather than to try and do it all as the countless failed examples (traditional education systems are far from optimal anyway). PS: On a sidenote however, traditional classroom education seems too wasteful in terms of time, too inefficient and nefarious (as if orphanages have been made compulsory). Children ideally need to learn by doing, from real life and adults, rather than being forced to spend much of their life next to other kids, with all their deficiencies (a child need only 1 or 2 children to play with, wheter it be another sibling or brother). After the more crucial social, discipline or emotional skills (patience, empathy, ethics etc) that are learnt in many natural ways (mini chores or work, guarding or tutoring younger ones, discussing or learning with adults etc), academic skills are learnt much more efficiently according to one's goals, abilities or readiness (after all, school systems seldom succeed in teaching even litteracy in one langage, basic maths and science to most of their children even after so many years). Those reasons and behavior concerns are the reasons why homeschooling is so popular in the USA and among many parents but there may be a role for the state in public libraries, books subsidies and regulation, standard tests or college entrance etc (there are already exams such as the GED or 1 year access courses accessible with just basic langage ability or litteracy etc). Again, I'm not expert but just noting the latest trend and findings; everything reposes on the intentions and priorities behind the education policy.

I have always found the concept of A-levels simply maddening. For the continental lazy lycéen, it's the ultimate dream. Just imagine: you not only get to choose the subjects you're going to be assessed on at the end of your school years – a mere three subjects in most cases – but these are, needless to say, the subjects you're best at. Easy peasy! No surprise then that voices in Britain regularly express their concern about "cheap" A-levels and ask for the introduction of the baccalaureate, a system where teenagers are assessed on a large variety of subjects, in which they necessarily rarely all fare well. With the baccalaureate, the incentive to improve in the topics you're not good at is therefore an existential motivation; your passport to higher education simply depends on it. I know many of my British friends who would never have been accepted to the prestigious universities they went to had they taken "the bac". Their overall mark would have been too mediocre. This week, the Royal Society vented its frustration at seeing a drop in "difficult" subjects such as science taken as A-levels. You bet. Do you think we would have chosen to take three languages (other than our mother tongue), physics, biology, mathematics, history, geography, French, Latin, philosophy, drawing, economics and statistics? Those are the subjects my class had to take to pass their bac. The Royal Society reveals that "across the UK, just 17% of 16- to 18-year-olds took one or more science A-levels in 2009, and British universities produce fewer than 10,000 science graduates each year". This week, the Royal Society vented its frustration at seeing a drop in "difficult" subjects such as science taken as A-levels. You bet. Do you think we would have chosen to take three languages (other than our mother tongue), physics, biology, mathematics, history, geography, French, Latin, philosophy, drawing, economics and statistics? Those are the subjects my class had to take to pass their bac. The Royal Society reveals that across the UK, just 17% of 16- to 18-year-olds took one or more science A-levels in 2009, and British universities produce fewer than 10,000 science graduates each year. [url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/16/baccalaureate-a-levels-royal-society">Why the baccalaureate beats A-levels PS: whether we wanted to study biology or english, we had to excel at advanced maths (proba, integrals etc and even some number theory as option), physics and many other subjects. Now if you wanted engineering, you had to get admitted to a selective 2 years intensive prepa school (14 hours/week of pure maths, almost as much of theoritical physics, philo, arabic, english etc: 40 h/week of classroom only, almost as much of homework etc). All that just to prepare over 2/3 years the competitive entry exams (one of the reasons why an engineer means something totally different in the French system than in some other countries). Even the medicine admission exam at the end of 1st year univ was easy in comparison.

Still more marital dispute, balwad and other family issues to address; one of those shabab re-education centre would be ideal for many to be interned in. Do you see family issues as your main concern or am I too compassionate/sentimental for my own good?

To Ngonge and his tol: do you know a certain Ali Yare who is Habar J. (Ab. Omar sub-clan), who used to sell khat in London in the 90s.? He's needed to locate the children of another HJ/AO called Darwish, a seaman who died in a North England town but left metis children. The children: Michael, asha etc are from an English mother. Thanks again if you can find him or find an HJ/AO that could help.

The staff is serious Ngonge, what I suspected was the courier delivery man or the system IT procedures to be misleading (crazy to insist on items never being received from Amazon when everything proves the opposite). Can't imagine the post doing that. Ok, did you now few dates/almonds are great for stress or nuts very filling and healthy in particular. never forget regular garlic too (great for blood pressure and all the rest).

^Sax, Sheikh Mukhtar looks like a model for Somali leaders. Samir iyo iimaan walaal MMA.

Refereshing indeed. All that is uncontroversial brother Chimera save arts and fashion as described may seem too liberal to traditional Somalis.

hate drafting endless mails but the denials are beyond belief: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My colleague had investigated your query and was informed by the operations department that the item was not received by CitySprint. Can you confirm when your neighbour was approached by the courier so I am able to investigate this further? Also for future reference, your address states you are at so you will need to update your Amazon account otherwise all future deliveries will go to the incorrect address. Kind Regards, Abbi-Leanne Haynes ...................................................................................................................... thanks for your efforts but the discrepancies are actually double: the pawnbroker lady, in particular, was approached yesterday at 12 at (the wrong door: mine is), We were also told yesterday that Amazon did not send the items while city sprint very own tracker confirmed the opposite with full data: dispatches, times etc. Thanks again for clarifying to us how could both discrepancies occur in such flagrant ways: the tracker dispatches timeline and the failed delivery (the tracker timeline is still visible). .................................................................................................................. I would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused. I have confirmed with the courier that he did have your item on board. The Tracking has not updated which is why inaccurate information has been provided by the operations department. The courier was unable to deliver as the address provided is incorrect and he did not want to leave it with a neighbour as he was not sure if he was at the right address. He also attempted to call you but the contact number on the parcel is an international number starting which he could not call. Please confirm your full address and contact details to enable me to process a redelivery. Kind Regards, Abbi-Leanne Haynes ................................................................................................................. But the tracker was accurate, confirmed by the neighbors. What was misleading was the triple mail confirmations, including one reporting from the operations division, that the items were not received (when the tracker was all along and is still displaying the correct timeline). Thanks in advance for your diligent investigation and full clarifications of those mails confirmations. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The tracking does not show that the courier attempted the delivery. It only shows me that the delivery was assigned to the courier and then removed from his file. This type of occurrence usually indicates that the item was not received as the tracking should have updated to say so. I can confirm that I have now processed a redelivery for tomorrow with the correct address. Can you provide a contact number in case there are any further issues? ..................................................................................................... Thanks you very much for such prompt clarification about the tracker/operations discrepancy. This is then an issue of the tracker displaying dispatches timeline in cases of failed deliveries while operations consider such items not yet received; thus the redirections to amazon. PS: Im not buying any of these, unless their system is badly designed and misleading.

The most lucrative and versatile one, with vast medical uses, would be this: Mentioned in Islamic medicine or Quran, increasingly used as surgical dressing etc. Our region is the ideal, year round, organic honey area not yet contaminated by modern beekeeping or pesticides (honey is already a serious sector in Yemen with strong local and Gulf demand). From $10 to $200 the kilo abroad, even a large Somali demand is unmet (at 30$ the kilo, any little authentic supply here is immediately exhausted). Sadly again, the little pure supply in Djibouti, Hargeysa or the Diaspora is often sourced from Ethiopia and the extraordinary potential in the South marginally exploited. Few Somali families are already living well out of it even in drier areas: Beekeeping in Somaliland. PS: I was surprised that even in Arabsiyo, we do not farm our own greens and keeping chickens or bees is not widespread: we would have done anything as children or teens to have a bit of land as gardening and chickens were our favorite summer passions (my tomato tree had fructified in a month back in 1996 using our charcoal ash as fertiliser). Greens can be grown in the shade of fruits trees while benefiting them (ignorance about associated farming or how basic is beekeeping if you tolerate few absconding colonies).

Things are artificially expensive, in contrast to say Ethiopia, due to foreigners causing inflation but if you live like locals and avoid big stores for expats, life is not much more expensive than in Hargeysa (with much more customer choice, top telecom services in Africa etc if that matters). The Mercer report factor in heavily the cost of secluded compound villas rent for expats that cost $3000/month, one of the ways in which locals milk them (a relative rent two of them to Dubai port exec etc and others are entering this renting niche). The real difference with Hargeysa now that utilities are totally transformed is the rent and some AC expense if staying over the summer (many go to Yemen, Dire-Dawa, Borama etc), but then again there are rent/buy and social schemes not available there, while salaries are much higher ($1000 for starting teachers, $400 for French tutors etc). PS: the inequalities (the 40-60% that may struggle) are not yet the priority and a formal safety net would act as a regional magnet but cereals, bread, fares etc are subsidised or capped while public services are free and taxes, transport or hidden costs almost inexistent. Upgrading health services, social housing, social tariffs are the typical answers but the real struggle for the authorities are Qat and labor intensive industries that would spread the growth. .

^maya laakin waad lacag jeceshahay uun was talkin to the teen cousin shalay when I asked him to stop talkin French as those spoiled kids, how is ur somali: anuu habar j baa ii dhashay sideen u oqoon, in woqooyi accent he replied I think the only and worst pb down there in jabuuti is the French, their curiculum and influence; they look innocent. Just constated the delivery adress of the whole voip phone set was few doors away mistaken, hope the post will sort it out as I went the extra mile too when working there.

This is another cliche with irrelevant statistics to some extent, unless you care about daily French yoghurts and fruits ferried by plane or want 24/7 ACs (luxury imports rather than living like middle-class locals). Bread and cereals are state subsidised and cost pennies, restaurants usually as cheap (around 1 euro for a full, large meal) etc. Electricity is down 30% and telecoms by almost 100% since April, all that is left is more of better insulated/cheaper housing (some ongoing construction). Transport needs are minimal and buses fares capped anyway. With the Ethio hydroelectricity just starting and other schemes, prices are bound to go down even further. So from $4oo/month, without rent, should be enough for an average family. PS: One of the younger cousins confirms me they rent their Prado $150 a day most of the year to those wasteful NGOs, tourists or expats, while getting free fuel vouchers (for Education civil servants etc); seems that mere teachers with big families could live comfortably there over time if not addicted to khat or wasteful (returnees and younger ones are impatient). No real income tax, no parking fees or fines etc.

Having long alluded to generic drugs (same active principle but no brand label) and other solutions that dramatically lower healthcare cost (less reliance on machines, more centred on prevention, nurses and other less expensive clinicians etc), many not interested or informed about healthcare could now realise that there is tremendous scope in optimising such systems without quality loss. However, health as a right needs everyone of us and can only be made a national priority through collective focus, with leaders similarly focused: the Cuban internationally celebrated success is a case in point, with Fidel influenced by his mentor Che, the most well-known doctor and revolutionary (Cuba now train doctors for much bigger, richer countries while sending experts and drugs worldwide). Many innovations come from India too through necessity (low-cost maternities through leasing buildings, very affordable cardiac surgery centres), though lobbies and other interests do some obstruction just like in the case of generic drugs: eg, cheap eye surgery on the model of Mac Do burgers or the Aravind Eye Care System (why not make routine surgery accesible if burgers and other trivialities could be optimised). Thus, just like in education (focus on litteracy via Somali), the best answers are not necessarily chic or sophisticated but come through a a focus on the bottom line (litteracy, reading or curiosity culture, practical job skills) while avoiding to do everything for everyone, including what do not really help; eg, requirements of fluency in foreign langages, or general education for all students, including those not yet ready or extremely deprived, as in the case of Djibouti with its over-ambitious, costly education system that yet fails the economy. Among the ironies are that foreign langages such as French or English are learnt through immersion and motivation (job training stage) not in classrooms; those willing and with the right immersion mediums (middle-class) would have learnt it anyway or afforded the private sector. When the only goal becomes to rationally guarantee minimal rights to the masses, everything else fall in place with minimal cost: eg, the world leading education and healthcare in "poor" Cuba where the right to health is enshrined as constitutional right, or Kerala successes in India with even much less resources etc. Again, this basic right requires very little: Telecoms taxes or cattle exports licensing would suffice even in Somalia, which is better off or comparable to many Indian States (eg, just mere clean water and hands would halve our shockingly sky high maternal mortality rates at birth). All that is needed is you to drill such message almost like an obssesion into everyone and this starts with basic healthcare & prevention and the concomitant litteracy as an immediate right to be guaranteed, the criteria through which local actors must be judged.

I think some points need to be stressed: The principal influence on children are other childrens as experts now recognize: they spend, after all, most of their time with their friends. A functional family that is not deprived, relatively speaking, makes a huge difference: litterate or engaged parents whose children will not be tortured by spending years next to children who are spoiled with gadgets, brands etc, while living in a highly materialistic society. Therefore, life in a western country with distant relatives or overburdened ones is already a recipe for disaster on many counts for the majority. The odds are vastly improved if you homeschool (popular in the USA) or find decent schools that promote values, create some better environment (calmer neighborhood or religious community), while parenting closely (much more than back in Africa). Of course having financial stability and some education makes also things much easier, again even more so in the West (alienation and bullying are two others big issues too). The parents, or wider family in our context, are fully responsible since they chose the neighborhood, school, amount of quality time vs TV, whether to act as models (behave as you want them to behave: discipline, no foul langage or tantrums, reading at home and prioritising learning above anything), the kind of friends their children will come accross from the very start, outdoor activities and travel or family visits (no need to build homes, invest in them) etc. What I always found astonishing is that children from educated parents, stable families from the middle or upper class that value education succeed largely in getting their children disciplined and educated, often in top schools or courses abroad, back in Africa, despite often coming accross as deprived by Western standards, with minimal comfort, with dysfunctional schools, absent or unmotivated teachers, no libraries or internet, few books etc (not to mention the Asian parenting). PS: there are no 100% guarantee in life but that is besides the point, if around 80% is assured, the rest can be addressed (the few children still astray would still be better off anyway and have solid foundations that will help them later to go back to, guide them etc). Some children are born with less mature self-control or ability but that is not an issue in itself and has even its uses (humans will never be similar); prevention through lifestyle and location does not triumph over illness but reduce it to a very large extent, while making the rest more manageable (even declared cancers).

Due to a long shared history, Arab partners have long financed key infrastructure and hospitals in East Africa; Abu Dhabi aid, Dubai established trade with the region and other links have spurred a new model of co-development that catalyse sustainable growth through key infrastructures (port corridor), coordinated multi-sectorial investments and long-term funding, without neglecting human capital and the environment (Abu Dhabi rulers champion sustainability through aid, Masdar City giant project etc). This is a model of development not previously envisioned and which targets primordially Africa as the new frontier, former French colonies such as Senegal, Djibouti or Rwanda: Articulating a "Dubai Model" of Development: The Case of Djibouti, Ethan Chorin Within the course of a decade, Dubai grew from a prosperous Gulf trading city into one of the most dynamic metropolises on the planet. Thus was born the notion of a "Dubai Model," a term that has been variously used to denote something to be both admired and emulated (a formula for self-actualized growth and inter-ethnic and religious tolerance) and denigrated (an unsustainable urban spectacle). This paper argues that there is indeed a strong case to be made for a "Dubai Model of Development. The best evidence for this model is not to be found in Dubai, per se, but in parts of the developing world where Dubai-based entities have invested heavily. Within this field, the most obvious example is Djibouti—that African state with which the Emirate has had the longest and deepest relationship. While heavily informed by techniques and strategies pioneered in Dubai--e.g., dynamic connections between ports, free zones and airports--the basic model is definitively catalytic as opposed to emulative. Djibouti did not simply decide it wanted to be the "next Dubai," it sought Dubai’s assistance as a source of strategy, expertise, and capital. Dubai did not just lend and invest, it created a broad scale of interlocking public-private partnerships that encompassed everything from a super-modern container port, to a network of clinics that serve communities and truckers along the trunk road linking Djibouti with Ethiopia. The story as it unfolds below is extremely interesting not only for what it says about Dubai, but also about what it potentially offers a certain class of developing countries: an alternative (or complement) to a number of failed or incomplete solutions proffered by individual states and multilateral lending organizations. Articulating a "Dubai Model" of Development: The Case of Djibouti (PDF file) "the Dubai-Djibouti relationship has encouraged neighboring Somaliland’s aspirations for port-led development, based on its well-positioned port at Berbera, which is already used as an entry point for Ethiopia-bound". "As with replicability, sustainability works on many levels. There is the sustainability of the implementing agent—Dubai—, the sustainability of the associated partnerships and projects, communities and environment. Ironically, part of the proof of Dubai’s own robustness is to be found in the sustainability of its international infrastructure investments. Djibouti has helped shield Dubai from the worst of the slump by adding a counter-cyclical, high-growth component to its portfolio. With respect to the “investee,” Djibouti, for one, was apparently doing well enough to proclaim itself “immune” to any financial difficulties facing Dubai as a whole". "What we have seen in Dubai’s experience in Djibouti is a model of “assisted growth,” whereby together, Dubai’s public, government, and non-governmental constituencies may have created something approaching a “Big Push,” the holy grail of 20th century development economists, who postulated conditions under which an industrializing country might escape the “vicious circle of poverty.”" Chorin served from 2004-2008 as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, posted to Libya and the United Arab Emirates. During the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, Chorin was a member of the Obama campaign’s Middle East Policy Group. Chorin holds a Ph.D. in Resource Economics from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.A. in International Policy Studies from Stanford, and an undergraduate degree in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures from Yale. A two-time Fulbright recipient (Yemen, Jordan), he speaks Arabic, Farsi and French. Chorin is the author of Translating Libya: The Libyan Short Story (Saqi Press, 2008). His translations and Op-Eds have appeared in Words Without Borders, the Financial Times, and L’Orient Le Jour. ethanchorin.com

One of the greatest blessings overlooked apart from eemaan or health is having sincere relatives even if far away; "friends", including the pseudo-religious, tend to be double-faced (too much xasd among Somalis etc). This brother of mine is a league of his own in terms of akhlaq; he too never backbites, envy or ask anyone anything (even well-off keen close relatives), even a mere loan for his studies (he's gifted, from top school but has got to save for his pilot licence etc). The difference, with say the elder bro, is that he keeps contact with everyone, insists to send free equipment for free/local rates calls to abroad so we all stay connected via phone, insists in helping out with some financial commitments etc. Many relatives of mine are not models and we are a complicated family but it's exceptional to find such qualities in someone (outside few sheikhs) and prove humanity has good sides too...

Concerning medical malpractice or errors, this reminded me of the Atul Gawande surgical checklist as a simple yet great idea: Dr Atul Gawande's checklist for saving lives. It is incredible how even "educated" people believe it costs much to get decent healthcare when countries such as Cuba manage it without generic drugs, aid, through embargo etc and even sums of between 10 to $40 spending per head a year could literally do miracles with sincere political/public will and emphasis on prevention (a commitment of 20% of national budget would be a start). Things such as hands washing or subsidised beans rations are literally life-changing for the next generation (and at birth, just clean water and hands halve the sky high maternal mortality rates, regardless of the malnutrition and deficiencies of the baby). I know Somalis pettiness but we need to realise very little can change quite a lot or almost everything if well targeted, starting with our clueless jago-raadis and elites... PS: Upload the pics on a host like flickr, then copy the links on the share section; then paste that link here as directed (bbcode is explained at the bottom of the sol forum): as the simplest exemple, using the bbcode. The headaches start when posting a slideshare from flickr or photobucket using the bbcode as I vainly tried; few pictures are straightforward though.

Well, we were used to C&A etc clothing bought in Paris by hooyo mainly as children; later, when in France, the "soldes" in January/July made the Armand Thierry or Springfield accessible (one thing I liked about France). The Yves Dorsay chemises were even sold at few euros the piece at the local Carrefour last time a whole package was sent to everyone (they cost much more back home and the Benetton was then more or less the sole decent men clothes shop in Djibouti). I always thought authentic quality outfits will make a good business opp (YSL chemises were at great Discount in Sports Direct at around £5 as luxury markets were hurt by recession). These were the kind discounted at Carrefour: http://www.yvesdorsey.com/fr/product/chemises/ PS: I believe in macawis/tee-shirts at home/xaafad (shared with the bros and cousins of course...as with everything else). Viva simplicity and African socialism.