Yvonne Sobers

I am an educator and author, and mother of grown twin sons. I write fiction and have so far published two non-fiction works:

* "Delicious Jamaica! Vegetarian Cuisine" (Book Publishing Company, 1996); and

* "Lifelines: The Black Book of Proverbs" (Random House, 2009, with foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu)

I learned proverbs from my grandmothers in Jamaica where I live. I spent four years in Ghana, and realized that many of these proverbs had changed little in the journey from Africa. They represented wisdom distilled over the centuries and still applicable today. As one proverb says, ""A proverb is to speech what salt is to food."

On my blog: Lifelines - African Proverbs for Daily Living - I share proverbs that have meant a lot to me in my life. I also provide commentaries to show how these proverbs apply to daily living, for example when we face issues related to:

1. Health and healthcare: “Medicine left in the bottle cannot help.” (Yoruba)

2. Economy: “The poor person does not experience poverty all the time.” (Ghana)

3. Peace and War: “It is better to build bridges than walls.” (East Africa)

4. Spirituality: “The darkness of night cannot stop the light of morning.” (Burundi)

5. Collaboration: “People sailing in the same boat, share the same goal.” (Wolof)

The blog includes success stories, and explores ways of living life a little more fully each day.