Bula readers! A blessed Saturday to all of you. During the curfew hours I have been busy watching a few documentaries on world history and that brought back memories of my own journey during my school life.
It was here that I excelled in three subjects and that was history, geography and English, but unfortunately I was only average in maths and technical drawing.
This led me to pursue my favourite subjects with passion and American history was one of my areas of interest. So this week, I thought I would mix things up a little and have a brief look back at a former president of the US Jimmy Carter.
At 96 years of age and being 40 years into his retirement, Mr Carter is both the oldest living and now longest retired of any US president in history.
Born, Earl James Carter Jr on October 1 1924, he was raised in the Southern State of Georgia and graduated from the US Navel Academy in 1946 with a Bachelor of Science Degree.
After his father’s death in 1953, Mr Carter went and worked on his family farm growing peanuts.
This was not a glamourous job in the least, but it paid the bills and got him by so he could put food on the table for his family.
Mr Carter worked hard and built up the business and joined politics to make a difference to the common person as he himself was fully aware of what it was like to work hard and struggle to make ends meet.
In 1963, he joined the Georgia State Senate and became the Governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975.
Despite being almost unknown outside his State of Georgia, in 1976, Mr Carter took the plunge and decided to run as the Democratic presidential candidate.
With immense hope in his heart and his deep-rooted christian belief, Mr Carter against the odds won the Democratic nomination race to challenge for the presidency of the US.
In November 1976, Mr Carter became 39th president of the US.
He served in this capacity from January 1977 until January 1981. During this time the world was going through various economic crisis and armed struggles and Mr Carter was commended for trying to avert war and tension across the globe’s hot spots.
Once out of office, it was here that Mr Carter really showed his true colours, when he rolled his sleeves up and got actively involved in various charities and emerged as a champion of human rights.
In 1982, he founded the Carter Center which devoted time to issues relating to democracy and human rights.
Additionally, Mr Carter worked with Habitat for Humanity International, an organisation that works worldwide to provide housing for the underprivileged.
Through such projects, Mr Carter has maintained a high profile. He is often seen on television, helping with Habitat home construction or providing his opinions on the issues that effect all of us on a day to day basis .
Mr Carter has also served as a freelance ambassador for international missions, including mediating disputes between countries, observing elections in nations with histories of fraudulent voting processes, and advising presidents on Middle East issues.
To add to all of this, Mr Carter has also written over 30 books on many different topics from religious faith-based books to political science and of course about his time in the White House.
To top all of this in 2002, Mr Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his lifetime work on human rights, civil rights, and equality also his work with a host of charities and his important humanitarian work with The Carter Centre.
Today at the grand old age of 96, Mr Carter has managed through his retirement years to observe 109 elections in 39 countries, with his own hammer and tools, he has helped build and repair more than 4300 homes in
14 countries for Habitat for Humanity.
In the 1980s he took up painting and has produced over 100 works of art.
In June 2017 his oil painting “Monarchs and Milkweed” sold for over $F1 million.
The year before, Mr Carter’s painting of “Crab apple blossoms” sold for over $F1.5m with all monies going to charity.
Finally, the former president still teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Church in his beloved hometown of Plains, Georgia.
In addition to this he is still writing novels and of course still volunteering for a host of charitable causes.
Not a bad resume for a simple peanut farmer from the deep South region of America, who always put service for the people above himself.
Adios readers, stay safe plus be careful out there, and see you next week.
