Mental Clarity Space

“The time is always right to do what is right,” Martin Luther King. It was 5.00 a.m. and Abdillahi Youssouf was keen not to miss the morning's magical skies. In his meditation, he reflected on the events and journey that had led to visit one of the greatest Islands in the beloved continent. He has been the longest-serving President in Djibouti. The country was, however, undergoing political tensions during the uprising of the Arab Spring. He was privileged to gaze at the slothful sea, ebbing so gently, a reflection of peace in its Neptune-blue glory. The pink beach felt soft like he was walking on a blanket of candy floss. Shimmering pink sand swept around in a scythe of the shore, howling in by towering cliffs. Far out of the ocean, rays saturate the surface with a golden gaze. The horizon seemed woven with a line of silver. Abdillahi was in awe of the aura, as it felt like paradise. The calmness of the ocean reminded him how Djibouti was when he first rose to power. He assumed th...

The tropics presented our village with the longest dry season we had ever experienced. Heat rained down on us like a breath of hell. The scorched sand shimmered in the intense white rays of the sun. We were sweaty and the arid heat burnt our lungs. No one would have moved in this penetrating heat unless they were desperate and we were. It had been six months since we experienced the rains; the season had been the worst experience of our days. We wished for the world to end our suffering at once, but the universe had it all wired differently. We cursed the government, hated the system, blamed ourselves, appeased the ancestors but the situation only got worse. The pain of losing our loved ones and everything we termed as wealth. I was growing weary and tired. I had promised myself never to quit on life, but life was vividly quitting on me. I had lost control and the life I was accustomed to was slowly turning to my worst nightmare. It was nightfall, and we had no hope for the future. We...