The Best Sermons Are Lived, Not Preached.

Whoop whoop, TGIF. *mentally moonwalks to techno beats* It has been a really long week. I hope I will have time to catch some rest on Sunday because my Saturday promises to be just as packed. I was sent the write-up below and I just had to share it. Let's live life and not let life get us wear us down with the daily challenges it throws at us. :)

Enjoy.

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1.  Today, I interviewed my grandmother for part of a research paper I'm

working on for my Psychology class.  When I asked her to define success in

her own words, she said, "Success is when you look back at your life and the

memories make you smile."

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2. Today, I asked my mentor - a very successful business man in his 70s-

what his top 3 tips are for success.  He smiled and said, "Read something no

one else is reading, think something no one else is thinking, and do

something no one else is doing."

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3.   Today, after a 72 hour shift at the fire station, a woman ran up to me

at the grocery store and gave me a hug.   When I tensed up, she realized I

didn't recognize her. She let go with tears of joy in her eyes and the most

sincere smile and said, "On 9-11-2001, you carried me out of the World Trade

Center."

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4.  Today, after I watched my dog get run over by a car, I sat on the side

of the road holding him and crying.  And just before he died, he licked the

tears off my face.

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5.  Today at 7AM, I woke up feeling ill, but decided I needed the money, so

I went into work.   At 3PM I got laid off. On my drive home I got a flat

tire. When I went into the trunk for the spare, it was flat too.   A man in

a BMW pulled over, gave me a ride, we chatted, and then he offered me a job.

I start tomorrow.

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6.  Today, as my father, three brothers, and two sisters stood around my

mother's hospital bed, my mother uttered her last coherent words before she

died. She simply said, "I feel so loved right now. We should have gotten together like this

more often."

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7. Today, I kissed my dad on the forehead as he passed away in a small

hospital bed.   About 5 seconds after he passed, I realized it was the first

time I had given him a kiss since I was a little boy.

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8. Today, in the cutest voice, my 8-year-old daughter asked me to start

recycling.  I chuckled and asked, "Why?" She replied, "So you can help me

save the planet."   I chuckled again and asked, "And why do you want to save

the planet?"  Because that's where I keep all my stuff," she said.

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9. Today, when I witnessed a 27-year-old breast cancer patient laughing

hysterically at her 2-year-old daughter's antics,  I suddenly realized that

I need to stop complaining about my life and start celebrating it again.

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10. Today, a boy in a wheelchair  saw me desperately struggling on crutches

with my broken leg and offered to carry my backpack and books for me. He

helped me all the  way across campus to my class and as he was leaving he

said, "I hope you feel better

soon."

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11.  Today, I was feeling down because the results of a biopsy came back

malignant.  When I got home, I opened an e-mail that said, "Thinking of you

today.  If you need me, I'm a phone call away."  It was from a high school

friend I hadn't seen in 10 years.

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12. Today, I was traveling in Kenya and I met a refugee from Zimbabwe. He

said he hadn't eaten anything in over 3 days and looked extremely skinny and

unhealthy.  Then my friend offered him the rest of the sandwich he was

eating. The first thing the man said was, "We can share it.

Nurture A Future: FIVE CHILDREN, FIVE STORIES

We opened CLC at Imota Ikorodu on the 20^th of April and it has been a thrilling experience meeting the kids. We have a total of 150 students at our center, all of them exceptional in their own way with big dreams even though they live in a small town. We want to give them hope, all 150 children and even more. They have more stories than we know about, they yearn to learn to become better.

None of these children was born with a spoon, not even a wooden spoon. They don’t have luxuries afforded to them but they have the resilience and are ready to grow if we let them.

At different times, I found myself having a conversation with these children. Here are four interesting ones:

Fathia Abass

Every afternoon she sits at the steps of the learning center, waiting for the doors to be opened. The moment she sights me, her 12 year old face lights up with an excellent smile. She rushes to collect my purse and all my ‘don't worry' means nothing to her innocent heart.

'I want to carry your bag aunty', she responds to my protest. Then she says “Let’s go carry the book” 
We walk together to the office, I steal a glance at her and she just smiles
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” I ask, she thinks for a moment then says
“Accountant “
“That's nice. What does an accountant do?” I ask
She looks at me, smiles again then says 
"I don't know. I just like the name.'

Olakolu Emmanuel

That's him looking right into the camera. Bless his heart. :)

A brave young man of outstanding intellect. 10 minutes after the CLC has begun, I see his 10-year-old feet running in the sand as he makes to enter his class.

'You are late Olakolu' I tell him with a smile.
'I’m sorry ma. My mother asked me to help', he replies apologetically.
'What does she do? “  I ask.                                                                                                               
'She sells Palm oil but one day I'll take care of her and buy her a big house.”  He replies then walks away.

I watch him enter the class eager to learn.
I stand before the blackboard in Olakolu’s class. We are about to play a ‘Word Game’ so I ask ‘can someone give us an example of a word?"

“Aunty I” Olakolu says, wagging his hands in the air.
' Yes Olakolu"
"Pneumonia" he says pronouncing the word with the p
' The p is silent' I tell him. “Do you know what that word means?” I ask him.
“No ma, I just like the word.”
“You should get a dictionary so you can learn the meaning of words” 
“I don't have the money ma”

Adetoun Babington

Always at the steps in her school uniform every day. She is 12 and has very neat handwriting. Once I stopped and asked her to read what she was writing. She looked up at me, twisted her face then said

“Excuse me ma, I can’t read it.”

“You want to learn to read?” I ask her.

‘:I don’t know” she replies

 “What do you want to become when you grow up?”

“Nurse” she says

“What do nurses do?”

“They treat.”

“But if you can’t read, how will you treat and give people medicine?” I ask

She twists her face again “I don’t know ma. I try but I can’t read”

“You’ll learn to read here in CLC” I promise her. She goes on her knees and says “Thank you ma”

The day Toun was able to read a sentence in Queen Primer, she ran to me with a huge smile
'Ma look, I got it. I’m knowing it”

Sultan Adepegba

Strong young man always in a basketball jersey; I remember the first time I met this 12 year old boy. A week after CLC begun and the centre was full. He walked up to me, looking sullen but saying nothing.

“What is it?” I asked him. He clutched his two books and Biro to his chest then said slowly

“I want to enter” he waited for me to say that we already had to many students in classes. Instead I asked him

“What’s your name?”

“Sultan” he replied

“That’s a cute name.” he smiled.

“Thank you ma. I want to be a pilot when I grow up.” He told me

“That’s great. So what do pilots do?”

“They drive the thing that flies.”

“An aeroplane”

“Yes I want to fly aeroplane” he says. A beat then he asks “Can I enter ma”

“Yes Sultan” I tell him as I see a big smile form on his face.

All of the stories up there are true. We at Nurture My Future are trying very hard to educate these children and help them stay in school. However, Nurture My Future is a non-profit organization and there is little we can do without support.

Please we appeal that you donate to this cause and help many of these children. Help Fathia read and learn about other professions. With your donation, we can buy a dictionary for Olakolu and others in his class so they can learn new words. Adetoun can get a chance to own her own queen Primer and get the chance to practice at home. And Sultan can work towards becoming a pilot.

Your N200, N500, N1000, N10,000, N20,000 will be shaping a future. Your donations will go a long way. We also really need people to commit to monthly donations. A monthly donation as little as N1,000 will go a long way.  If you would like to become a monthly donor, please send us an email at nurturemyfuture@gmail.com

None of these children have chosen this path and you can choose to change things. To give them hope and a future. 

Please donate here:

Account Number: 0062011205

Nurture My Future Organization

Diamond Bank

Paypal: nurturemyfuture@gmail.com

You can also visit our website at www.nurturemyfuture.org

To contact us: Please send an email to nurturemyfuture@gmail.com or call 08185251889

Please help a child through school.
Thank you.

P.S. Editing this post as it was sent to me left me tearing up. I implore everyone to please come through for these children and be #AllHeartsAlways for them. Thanks a million.

We Are A Peculiar People.

How can some people not understand that a crime is a crime even if it committed by their relative, spouse or friend? Or how else would you defend sweeping a corruption case under the carpet because the person is from your constituency or political party? Shouldn't that make you angrier that such a person looted and squandered money meant to develop your local government area, state and country?

This country has far more resources and capacity to be very well developed and even rubbing shoulders with the likes of Singapore, America, U.A.E, etc, alas, these looting politicians have simply refused to allow us be great.

If anyone is found guilty of looting and corruption, they should be left to face the music. Not only should they be jailed, the stolen wealth must be recovered and put to good use. It is not enough to send people to a year in jail and set them free to enjoy the stolen wealth which wasn't theirs to begin with. Until people begin to see what ought to happen to looters, they will not desist from aspiring to do same when presented with the same opportunities.

A crime is a crime regardless of who commits it. Let us stop celebrating and indulging these people who have put us in the present dire situation we are in and let's start holding them accountable. You must not go unpunished if you have spent money meant for the good of the masses. You must repay what you stole and do time for your crime.

I remember seeing the picture of Ghadaffi's son and the headline that he had been sentenced to death and the very first thought that crossed my mind was 'oh no, all that fine-ness is going for ever'!!  *covers face* Immediately afterwards, I recalled the reason for the death sentence being handed over to him and  my brain was reset instantly!!! Truth be told, he committed horrible crimes and he must face the music. This just means, fine boy or not, elder statesman or not, former governor/president or not, present public office holder or not, if you commit a crime, you must do the time. And no matter how much we feel a little sorry for them, asking that they walk away free is not an option. Simple. Also having a sicky-sicky-pity-party would not and should not get you off the hook. That last bit was a sub.

I like to think that the 'Crater' side of our dear president is still very much in action. You can run to the ends of the earth but we will find you and crate you right back to pay back what you stole. I'd like to think Nigerians would let him get justice for us. :)

iSpy In Naija

The sort of things I see in Nigeria are as dangerously bizarre as bizarre gets. I really can never understand how we improvise on things up to the point of risking the lives of others. 

Anyways, I was on my way to a wedding a couple of weekends ago and I saw this commercial bus filled with people but missing a petrol tank cover. I mean who replaces that with a stuffed cloth? I couldn't believe my own eyes.

SMH.

Smell Good, Feel Great.

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All day smelling good ;)

Contact Tina on 08033434603 for purchases. 

For purchases in the USA and UK, add Bee up on BBM 56997890. 

For Men.... :)

With Love From Moi....

I am having a helluva crazy busy week and the week won't end for me until Sunday and next week promises to be half as busy as well. Between sleeplessness, heavy work load, events lined up and migraines, I am getting through this week come what may. I can't even begin to list the events I've got lined up for this weekend but I know I will survive it. :)

Just thought I should drop a few lines right about now. I miss writing and blogging and I will be back with a vengeance. *inserts evil determined cackle* Buhahahhaha. 

Have a fabulous weekend ahead  dears.

Together, We Did It.

I would like to thank all those who made #LetsRoof a success. The school's roof is now up and the dear pupils are safe, warm and dry as they should be. 

Even though we all know that it is the responsibility of the government to fix these things, sadly they don't. Rather than wait for them to do what they ought to do, while the society suffers for it, I reckon it is up to you and I to do what is right by acting.

Special thanks to all those who donated towards roofing the Wasimi Community Primary School, the anonymous donors, Qualitec Industries Ltd., Seventh Day Adventist Church, Bluebird Communications Ltd., Divas & Divos, Harvest Place Church Wasimi Community Development Association, School P.T.A. and S.B.M.C.

Extra thanks to Mr. Babalola and Mrs. Egwim who saw this project through.

God bless us all. Well done everyone and please keep being #AllHeartsAlways.

Before renovations

During renovations

Brand new roof

Modern America Is Getting Scary

 

I came across the picture below on Facebook and to say I am appalled is to say the least. It feels like Blacks (in America) have been automatically programmed to fail at achieving anything with their lives, while the Whites have been programmed to see them as a threat always. Or why else would they use the picture of a young black male as GUN TARGET PRACTICE????

Imagine a young adult going for training everyday at such a range and shooting at such an image daily for weeks, in his mind he begins to see things and when he so much as perceives a threat, albeit nonexistence, he aims and shoots and thus hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter are born.

Remember the story of Eric Garner I wrote about here and here? Well, some justice was gotten from his case. I say some because, the city paid his family the sum of $5 million but they also cleared all the officers involved. It was so glaring in that video what happened yet the officers were cleared even though Eric gasped "I can't breathe" 11 times before he was choked to death.

There's a new case of a young lady, 28-years-old Sandra Bland, who went for a job interview, got the job, cheerfully stopped at a restaurant to enjoy a meal which she shared with her followers on instagram and then as she made her way home she was stopped by the police for a traffic offence and roughly taken into custody. I saw a video of her being rough handled by the police even as she protested that then police had slammed her head on the ground and hurt her while arresting her without batting an eyelid. Shortly after Sandra was taken into custody, it was reported that she had died by committing suicide in the cell. How is that even possible? What the hell is going on?  There are so many more cases like these almost on a weekly basis.  

If you go through Shaun King, a columnist's Twitter handle (@ShaunKing), you will feel your blood run cold at the height of Black deaths in the hands of police. 

Something needs to give and quickly too. 

By the way IALEFI stands for International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors. Sigh.

I know for a fact that no matter how such issues are set up to have certain effects, the choice to be better and not succumb to prejudices always lies with us. Make the right choice by making the most and best of your situation. Don't let anyone put you in a box, remember that you hold the power to make things right.

Happy Eid Mubarak

Here's wishing all true Muslims around the world happiness and joy on this day.

Think About It......

So I read that a pastor in Vermont, USA has been sentenced to a year in a federal prison after refusing to wed gay couples and I am a bit miffed. While I think gays should be given their rights to love themselves and wed themselves because they are adults and are entitled to their decisions, I also think it is ridiculous to punish others who do not support their views. Handing a prison sentence to a pastor is also infringing on his human rights to decide on what his beliefs are. Why would they gays even approach the pastor when they already know what their religious stance are on these? I don't know how these rulings would end but if care is not taken, it won't be pretty.

I think we can all live and let live amicably.

Think about the words in the picture below and kindly share your thoughts about it. :)

Pepper Challenge That Got Me ROTFL

Ok, I felt bad for laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my face but this video is hilarious to me because I have been there before. Way back in my under grad days, I went to a popular restaurant outside the campus to take a plate of pepper soup and after I had placed my order, I was told the only slightly cold drink available was Lacasera, an apple soda drink. Now what they did not also mention was that their peppersoup was 90% pepper and 10% soup. LOL 

I naively asked for a bottle of Lacassera and the pepper soup and boy o boy, did I learn the hardest way that sodas and peppers do not MIX WELL AT ALL. Watch the video below to understand better. :D

We Will Not Forget #BringBackOurGirls

I've featured awesome singer Alex Boye a few times on my blog because I really love his music and focus on life. I only just saw his cover of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On and once again, he's won me over with his purely awesome music. 

A couple of days back, I realized that it had been 444 days since the Chibok girls had been kidnapped from their dear parents and it broke me that humanity had sunk to such a level as we're at. Very sad. This song is a remembrance of all victims of terrorism. We will not forget you all. We will overcome evil with good yet.

Looking Chic Around A Cheeky Child :)

Hi everyone, how are we all doing? I do apologize for being M.I.A over the weekend. I really couldn't help being away from blogging. I will do better by you all. ;) 

So I want to share an experience I had with my daughter on Saturday. I was getting dressed to go out and I wore a lovely sleeveless white top which I thought looked fabulous on me (ahem ahem), but then little Miss Swags walks in and this happened;

Me: *preening in front of the mirror, feeling fly and all that*

Daughter: Mummy, are you a nurse?

Me: A nurse? o______O

Daughter: Yes, you look like a nurse!

Me: How? Is it because of my white top?

Daughter: Yes. It makes you look like a nurse. It doesn't go with your trousers.

Me: O__0 Ermmm, OK. *hurries away to rifle through wardrobe for a quick change*

Me: *Changes into a top with a closer colour to the pants I had on* *Mutters under my breath at the cheek of her* *Embarrassed much because I was really feeling myself earlier before little madam came with her big opinion* *Surprised at the transformation*

Me: *The change actually looks far better and more suitable than the white nurse's top* Well, well, well.......* :)

Daughter: This is much better mum. You look beautiful. :)

Me: *Melts into mushiness* :)

The lesson I took away from that encounter was that people see things differently, and the sooner you realize and accept this fact, the less arguments you would have and the better you would feel always. I actually got a lot of compliments and admiring looks regarding my outfit that day. It goes to show that wisdom and good advice can come from anyone, taking up the advice is entirely up to you.

#DontDull #NoOneKnowsItAll #LiveAndLearn #EnjoyYourWeek

TGIF - Meet Heavenly Joy :)

Oh me, Oh my. If she isn't the most adorable girl ever on a talent show. This made my day, I hope it makes yours too.

There's been so many bad and sad news everywhere in recent times and it's getting people down a lot, so sharing this video was pretty easy. Chin up people, things will get better no matter how tough they may be right now. There are still good people and things happening around us.

Special shout out to Bibi. ;) 

When You're Good, You're Good

Wow! The video below shows that no matter what your circumstance may be, your true talent will always shine through and get you through tough times. The video below is about a homeless man who stuns some tourists and locals with his world-class piano skills. 

Donald Gould, a 51-year-old ex-US Marine has been homeless for years ever since he became addicted to drugs and alcohol after his wife passed away and he lost custody of his son. It is a sad story, how his life had turned out but looking at him sitting on that stool and producing such amazing music, tells me he is a survivor who is making the most of his present situation. 

A passerby recorded him playing on the streets just a few days ago and the video has been seen millions of times already. I sincerely hope he gets another shot at a far better life than that which he is living presently. Bless his heart.

I'm Speechless.

I came across this article and I just had to share it because I'm finding it really difficult to process the barbaric contents. Sigh. What a world we live in. Being a woman in most parts of the world is an outright nightmare. I just don't understand how people cannot control themselves. :(

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Please take some time to read this.

On 19/4, a water park in  Hanoi, Vietnam called ‘Ho Tay’ opened for free admission from 8AM-10AM (GMT+7). The chaos was terrifying, when the staff decided to close the gate due to overcrowded. Many people tried to climb over the fences to get in.

However, that was the least of the problem.

Inside, at the lazy river area, around 70 to 80 guys (even men who already had wives and kids) went together in groups. Whenever they saw girls, they started attack them by splashing water and WORST part was, they pushed her head down, DROWNING her and at the same time, RIPPED OFF HER BIKINI and started MOLESTED her. Some girls fainted and despite all the crying and screaming for help from friends, the group of animals won’t stop. They even PULL girls standing near the river down and started doing all those nasty things. AT LEAST, 20 girls were being sexually assaulted.

There was a girl with her bikini torn apart and all the guys surrounding her, cat calling: Link 

Below is some photos of the incident.

The victims after they went home had anonymously leave confessions. Here are some of the confessions:

#1: We were holding onto the swim ring at the lazy river for about 3 minutes. Then we heard a commotion at the back, as we turned around we saw hundreds of boys crowded the whole river, screaming and going towards the three of us. I was shock and choked on water, many arms pushed my head down. I felt my breast and my private area being grab and pull and scratch very painful, my butt was groped too. My bikini top was pull up to my neck and the bottom was pull till my knee. Even though i was choking, but i felt clearly someone was fingering me, my legs was spread apart. My head was still pressed down, I was out of breath and I thought I was going to drown. The water go up my nose to my brain, my throat. Those arms scratch and pull me up, my head hit the coping. Then there was people grab my hair, my arm to pull out of the swimming pool. I was coughing really hard so I didn’t even realize I was completely naked…

#2: I was swimming in the lazy river with my friends. Behind us, all the boys kept splashing water like crazy, we were so freak out that all of us decided to go out of the river. As we just got out, one of my friend, who were still near the river, were pulled down and dragged to the centre of the river and was being splashed water and her head was pressed down. We saw our friend being surrounded by bunches of guys, we kept crying and called out: please help my friend, someone please help my friend. Around us, people kept on using phone to record and laugh like they were at the circus.

#3: My sister went with her friends. When they came back, they were crying their eyes out. Their necks, shoulders and thighs are full of scratches and bruises.

#4: It was too crowded so my boyfriend and I just played near the swimming pool coping. Suddenly I saw on my boyfriend head some milky fluid, when I touched, it was slippery and a bit thick. I dragged my boyfriend out of the pool immediately and asked him to wash his hair and we went home right after. Those animals masturbated in the swimming pool.

The Facebook of the guy who started all these nasty thing had been tracked down. (This is the link)

And many other guys went home and updated their Facebook status about their “achievements" at the water park like how many boobs they had grabbed or how many girls they’d molested on that day.

However, the Vice Managing Director of the water park said that “There was NO such thing as sexually assaulted at the water park, it’s just their bikini quality" regarding about the girls who had their bikini ripped. (Source / please note that it’s in Vietnamese) despite all the evidences and feedback.

Those guys are currently trying to take down photos of themselves and Facebook statuses that they’ve updated (click here for the photo of some of them). But luckily, all of those have been screencapped. Most of their identities are revealed and all over the internet.

Even worse, when all the news are up, the comments make me sick to my stomach, many of them said that it’s THE GIRLS FAULT for wearing bikini.

LIKE HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DRESS TO GO TO WATER PARK? ARMOR? 

THOSE ANIMALS THOUGHT THEY’RE GOING TO GET AWAY WITH IT AND APPARENTLY AT THIS RATE, THEY WILL.

SO I AM HERE TRANSLATING THIS INCIDENT TO YOU GUYS HOPING THIS WILL SPREAD AS FAR AS POSSIBLE.

PLEASE SHARE AND POST WHEREVER YOU WANT. YOU DON’T HAVE TO CREDIT ME OR ANYTHING. JUST SHARE AND HOPEFULLY IT WILL REACH BIG NEWS SITES OR ORGANISATIONS.

PLEASE HELP THE VICTIMS GAIN JUSTICE. I HOPE THIS WILL GO BIG ENOUGH TO PUT PRESSURE ON THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT TO PUNISH THOSE GUYS. 

---

UPDATE: A professional psychologist with a Master’s Degree of Education said: “It’s THE GIRLS’ FAULT for not knowing how to protect themselves.”

He said “First thing first about this issue, the one who should be BLAMED THE MOST ARE THE GIRLS, in the environment where people are naked 80% or more, the action (referring to molestation and rape) is inevitable.”

He also mentioned that it’s the environment that can cause someone to lose their control over excitement and that’s why the girls should know how to protect themselves, like if you want to protect your valuables, for example, motorbike, then you should locked it carefully etc. (source)

Another VICTIM BLAMING by a person who has high education. I’m so fucking done with all this shit.

Happy New Month

Hello good people, here's wishing you a splendid and prosperous month ahead. Do something different today such as setting a goal for yourself this month. It doesn't have to be huge, just a little something to improve yourself on. Give it a go and see how you feel at the end of the month. :)

All the best.

Be #AllHeartsAlways