Things are actually changing!

Over the past few weeks or perhaps months some events taking place here in big Sudan indicated that positive change is taking place in a few fields. Decades ago Sudan was a pioneer in shaping football (Soccer) in Africa but unfortunately we lost our place among the big shots in the game and struggled for years to put our name in the regional tournaments leave alone international tournaments. However, this year seems to be promising and joyous for Sudanese footballers. The two main clubs Alhilal and Almereekh are shinning in the African competitions. They both last month qualified to advanced stages in African clubs competitions. They not only qualified but also trashed big renowned teams. Alhilal finished the qualifications topping their group after trashing Egyptian Alahli. Alhilal shocked many observers when they displayed some modern football tactics and won the game 3 -0. Almereekh on the other hand was generous against the Nigerian club and gave them a 4 -1. Both teams performed well and won in most games.
This week Sudan had to play its last game in their group qualification stage to the African Nations Cup finals in Ghana. Sudan was playing Tunisia and both had already qualified so they were just playing to decide the group winners. Regardless of the fact that they both qualified, Sudan and Tunisia played for a win and the game was everything but easy. Two penalties, a red card, and 5 goals are the headlines. Sudan won 3-2. Congratulations!!!
The other indication is the telecommunications industry in Sudan. Sudan is now among the leaders in this industry in the region when it comes to services offered in terms of Mobile phone services, wireless broadband Internet, wireless land line telephony, etc. There are now four companies competing, three of which are affiliated with international companies such as MTN, MTC, and Etisalat. Last week the pioneer company in mobile phone services had a launching ceremony announcing the change of their name and brand after it was bought out by MTC. The ceremony was simultaneous with other ceremonies in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan where MTC launched their new Zain brand.
Globalisation .. Telecommunications
Hope all this will move us to the next level...
Lets be part of the Change!!!

Car accident or time waster

Yesterday was just another typical day where I work. I get a couple of emails and calls asking me to drop off all my taskings for the day and focus on accomplishing one task of getting a programming software for our VHF radios used in the field. Now this is really urgent because we depend a lot on VHF due to poor cellphone coverage and also put in mind the non predictable situation in the region our project is located. Luckily that task was already under process and followed up by the supply folks. By the end of day the software is delivered, great. But guess what it is a pirated copy and one cable was damaged but hey at least it will do the job or so I hope. Today however, was different. A colleague had a vehicle accident and yes he was at fault. So we rush to the accident spot and luckily it was a minor one but we had to go through the traffic police procedures. Thought this was easy but the poor driver as soon as he gets to the traffic police station gets locked in!! what? why? he has a driver's license and comprehensive valid insurance!!!We rush to the place to get him out on bale (another should be simple task) but no more was still hidden for us. We get there and we are told just wait while we get the paper work done with the Attorney General. After about 45 mins we enquire and we are told the docs are not yet back. Not yet back? from where? well they were sent to the main office down town. You got to be kidding me man; sshh****t! We chill out for sometime and then we are told wait another one hour or so. While leaning on the wall, a traffic cop approaches me and tells me that it is not civil of me to be chilling like that I should sit down on the hard bench and wait. Ya right! I almost asked him is there anything civil there. The system is a joke, the place is dusty and dirty, its just all screwed up. But off course i didn't dare to say that. We went away for a bite and were roaming around then our poor guy calls up and says we can come now and bale him out. It was already night and we get there, I present my ID and then the cop says well you can't bale this guy because you live in a different area of jurisdiction (I live like 10 Km away). So we call up another colleague to come and assist. At last we get this "criminal" out. Basically it took about 5 hours to finish this mission impossible. I wonder if that is civil Mr. traffic cop!!!!! By the way just before we finished I saw Mr. Civil cop sitting on the same spot and same way I was sitting that he criticised me for earlier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We will probably have a better system in a few decades that is if we stop going backward or else....?

Fast approaching Fasting!

The second half of the month of Sha'aban in the Islamic calendar is rolling. In other words the holy month of Ramadhan (fasting) is approaching. People prepare for this month differently. Some start to panic and think about fasting and how its gonna be hard as if its the first time they fast. So they start to give more attention to food and drinks; I am not sure if this helps but I doubt it. Others feel good about Ramadhan and look forward to it hoping to gather its blessings and mercy. Some folks actually fast a few days in Sha'aban as it is the month that Prophet Mohammed peace be upon him fasted the most other than Ramadhan. Fasting a few days prior to Ramadhan is actually good preparation. I find it useful psychologically, spiritually, and physically. Ramadhan is very unique! apart from fasting we are expected to maximise in our prayers, reciting the holy Qur'an, be more generous to the needy, even the type of food prepared in this month is different. In order to get the most out of it we got to plan well and charge ourselves. Plan how much of the Qura'an I am gonna recite and how am gonna do it. How will I change my behaviour. Will I attend night prayers at the mosque. In addition, one needs to charge spiritually to gain momentum and fasting a few days in advance actually helps. Cut down on the sins; we are not perfect and we commit sins that we know we shouldn't. So we need to offload some bad deeds before setting to the fasting journey. And so on and so forth!!!!Well the bottom line is that am fasting today and its not that bad, may because i minimised activity for today hahah. I just made one quick run to the airport and that's it. After all I am fasting :) This is the excuse most of us will soon be using in Ramadhan when actually we should work hard and perform well to feel the hunger and thirst of the needy!! Unfortunately this year I didn't fast enough days of Sha'aban so I don't know if I will pass the test or not in Ramdhan. Lets pray for the best.
So guys you better start charging and get ready we are on final approach, fasten your seat belts and put your seats to normal positions. Hope you all know the safety procedures to survive any bumps while cruising through Ramadhan.
Have a blessed one.

Fresher!

Hey! this is my first post and am newbie to this; so lets see how its gonna go. Hope it works out well and becomes of some benefit to you and me. I will try to have frequent posts as much as possible. They will probably be different kind of postings; general, thoughts, personal, work, etc. Some of the postings might be weired and hard to grasp, these will actually reflect the real me that's complicated, unrevealing and cagey .

Thanks for stopping by and check in regularly. let me know what u think.

Cheers.

The Cracker.