No life in Africa without...

In the BBC competition for Africa, listeners and readers describe what they could not live without out on the continent.

Here entrants cannot imagine life without palm trees, refugee cards, Bob Marley and a string of prayer beads.

Celestine Mel-Ikpa, Nigeria

I cannot live a day without the palm tree.

I cut the branches of the tree and use the leaves to make the mats with which I roof my hut.

Palm trees have umpteen uses

I cut the tree trunk into timber for building, and the remaining part of the tree forms habitation for maggots called nten, a rich delicacy for dinner time.

The leaves are processed into brooms that I use to sweep the compound everyday, to keep it neat and tidy.

When my mother fetches firewood from the forest, she peels the stalk into twine to tie the firewood into a bundle.

The outer cover of the fruits produce the all-important palm oil for our cooking, while the seed coat, when broken, serves as fuel for the fire, as well as a stone-like base when mixed with cement to erect concrete buildings.

Healer

I grind the seeds into powder food for our domestic animals.

Fresh palm wine drunk with bush meat is a perfect combination Celestine Mel-Ikpa

My grandmother heats the seeds to produce mmanyanga, the palm-kernel oil that has legendary potency to ward off witches when rubbed on the door or put in a bottle and placed on the floor in the house.

I use this vegetable oil to make delicious stew and I am told, the oil also cures several illnesses when drunk undiluted.

It is also used in big factories, to produce body cream and soap.

After a hard day's work, I relax over a few bottles of palm wine with friends, to talk about all the happenings in town.

Fresh palm wine drunk with bush meat is a perfect combination. My siblings and I sit under the palm-tree, to take in the moon-light and learn from our father's folktales.

I cannot imagine what life would be like without the palm tree.

Dak Marial Buot, Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya

The refugee registration ration card is the essential item so that I can be recognised by UNHCR staff as a refugee in order to be given food rations, clean drinking water and good treatment whenever I fall sick.

The late great Bob Marley was a prophet Tapiwa Matemba

I cannot live without it here in the camp because even whenever I want to travel within the country, I need it for police identification.

If you are ever found wandering aimlessly without it, you fall victim to crime, then in the hands of the police you curse the day you were born.

I came to understand quite well the importance of the refugee's ration card when I applied last year for resettlement.

My application was automatically accepted simply because of the refugee ration card.

Though it is taking me so long to organise this I strongly believe one day I will go to the mzungus' (white man's) land and this will be because of this card... so I could not live without it at all.

Sheikh Mohamed Conteh, Sierra Leone

As a devout Muslim and teacher of Islamic studies my most cherished possession is my chaplet - my string of beads.

The beads guide me in interpreting dreams Sheikh Mohamed Conteh

Firstly it performs a very valuable service in the five daily prayers of Islam. I use it to count the recitations from the Holy Koran and to control the mode of prayers generally, especially in congregational prayers.

Secondly my chaplet enables me to foretell future developments and events in my community.

This is possible through continuous incantations, reading of portions of the holy book and an in-depth interpretation of the different chapters and verses.

Thirdly, this all-important possession guides me in interpreting dreams. People from all walks of life visit me on a regular basis to tell me their dreams.

While this is going on, I count the beads of my chaplets and chant silently.

At the end of this process, I tell them to listen carefully while I tell them the interpretation and implications of their respective dreams.

All this is possible through the help of my chaplet.

In my silent moments, I sometimes ponder what life would be for me without my chaplet. Indeed, I could hardly live without it.

Tapiwa Matemba, Zimbabwe

I just can't live without listening to the music of the late great Bob Marley.

Truly this man was a prophet. What he sang about in the 1970s is actually happening today.

Everyday, my stereo is always blasting one of his songs, as Africa Unite and One Love are now my daily bread.

I just can't live without this legend and his music.

Your Life Without

Enter the BBC's competition for Africa - No Life Without. Let us know what brings most meaning to your life in Africa that you could not imagine living without - perhaps a mobile phone, a car or your husband?

If you have photos to accompany your contribution send them to [e-mail], otherwise use the form at the bottom of the page. Entries should be no more than 300 words.

The best will be published on the BBC News website and broadcast on the BBC World Service's Network Africa programme. Some will receive small prizes. Use the form below to send your entry.

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