Binta Lola

🇸🇪 TODAY IS ELECTION DAY IN SWEDEN. 🗳️

If you haven’t voted yet, please go and do it. Polling stations are open until 8 PM tonight, so there is still time. Bring your ID, check your voting card to see where you should vote, and use your voice.

To me, voting is a responsibility.

We sometimes talk about the right to vote as if it has always been there. It hasn’t. Just over 100 years ago, Sweden looked very different. Generations before us fought for the right to have a say in the country they lived in.

That is something we should never take for granted.

For me, this election is also about what kind of Sweden I want to leave to the next generation.

My Sweden is not a hostile Sweden where people are constantly turned against each other.

It is not a Sweden where those who already have the least are expected to carry the heaviest burden.

It is not a Sweden where the most vulnerable are pushed further down the list of priorities, or where compassion is treated as weakness.

My Sweden is a country where we take care of one another. Where children have opportunities regardless of the postcode they grow up in. Where our elderly can feel safe. Where healthcare, education and welfare are protected and prioritised. Where a person’s worth is never determined by their income, background or where they come from.

Today, I’m voting Red-Green because I want OUR Sweden back. ❤️💚🇸🇪

The Sweden I recognise.
The Sweden I want our children to grow up in.
A Sweden where solidarity and compassion still mean something.

You don’t have to vote the same way I do.

But please — VOTE.

The polls are open until 8 PM tonight. There is still time. 🗳️

Democracy is not only a right we have. It is something we have to participate in if we want to protect it.

A time was definitely had 😂☀️

A summer filled with beautiful memories, good food, family, laughter and a little chaos in between.

Not every moment was picture-perfect, but looking back at these photos, I feel nothing but grateful. Alhamdulillah for the big moments, the little ones and the people I got to share them with. 🤍

And now… I’m surprisingly ready for autumn. Cosy evenings, hot drinks, cute layers and a fresh start. 🍂

Thank you, summer. You were good to me.

Are you holding on to summer or ready for your autumn era? 🤎

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram! 🌸🌸🌸🌸

Binta Lola C Secka (@bintalolaa) • Instagram photos and videos 14K Followers, 796 Following, 491 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Binta Lola C Secka ()

Guys… I’ve been a little unwell for over four weeks now.

Nothing serious, just a stubborn issue that seems to have made itself very comfortable. 😅

I’ve still been able to work as usual – just with a few extra cups of tea each day.

Because I mostly work remotely, I’ve been able to skip the commute and take things a little easier while working.

And I’m genuinely grateful for that.

Because it hasn’t always felt this way.

I’ve worked in places where simply calling in sick caused stress. I’ve also experienced the other side, where routines required me to “chase” employees in an effort to reduce absence.

Calling according to a set schedule.
Asking when they would return.
Talking about absence in percentages.

I didn’t fully agree with it then – and I still don’t.

Of course, employers need to follow up and offer support. But there’s a big difference between asking:

“How are you, and what do you need?”

and:

“When are you coming back?”

According to the Swedish Work Environment Authority’s *Work Environment 2024* report, around 45% had worked at least twice during the previous year despite feeling too ill to work.

When nearly half of employees do that at least twice, it adds up quickly in a large organisation.

One in four said that one reason was not wanting to be seen as lazy or unproductive.

That says quite a lot.

If we want to create healthier workplaces, we need to:

→ Make check-ins feel like care, not control
→ Offer flexibility and adjustments whenever possible
→ Create a culture where illness isn’t associated with guilt
→ Build organisations where everything doesn’t fall apart when one person is absent

Low sickness absence may look good in the statistics. But the goal shouldn’t be for people to work while they’re ill.

The goal should be to create the conditions for people to genuinely feel well at work.

Do we talk enough about presenteeism – working despite being too ill to do so?