self development Archives

In self development January 31, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

OYIBO HOSANNA: STRESSED OUT?

I am stressed out! This sentence you hear from most persons in this modern age. The abundance of activities that have streamed from increased knowledge and technological advancement, has made us seen stress as a negative feeling.

WHAT IS STRESS?

Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to life experiences. It affects people of all ages and walks of life, and there are aspects of your life and environment called stressors that trigger this reaction. These triggers can be your finances, work, relationships, responsibilities you carry and other situations seen as a threat to your well-being.

Your body responds to stress by releasing larger quantities of hormones: cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline, which increase your heart and breathing rates, sweating, alertness and heightens your muscles to respond. Hence, you can see that your adaptability in life is largely due to the changes and stressors that you have faced and mastered.

FACTS ABOUT STRESS

Stress affects everyone, while some people may cope with stress more effectively or recover, others may not.
Short-term stress can be helpful, but long-term stress is linked to various health conditions.
Stress can be a motivator for people to prepare or perform at a task, and can even be life-saving in response to some dangerous situations.
Some stressors are particularly associated with certain age groups or life stages. Children, teens, the newly married, working parents, single parents, and the elderly.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF STRESS

Frequent headaches, jaw clenching, and grinding teeth
Cold or sweaty hands and feet
Difficulty breathing, constant tiredness, and Insomnia.
Excess anxiety, nervousness, anger, Depression, frequent or wild mood swings
Increased or decreased appetite, which leads to improper weight gain or loss.
Difficulty concentrating, learning new information, forgetfulness and confusion.
Social withdrawal and reduced work productivity
Increased smoking, alcohol or drug use.

EFFECTS OF STRESS ON THE BODY

Increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (blood pressure, stroke or heart attack) due to a rise in pulse rate rise from heart muscles trying to meet body needs.
Stress hormones decrease your immune system defense and response to foreign invaders
Chronic stress may increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Respiratory Health conditions like asthma are intensified by stress, making breathing difficult.
Increased stress lead to decrease mental alertness and sleeping disorder.
Sexual desire is affected as stress is exhausting for both the body and mind.
Chronic stress may also increase the risk of infection for female and male reproductive organs.
For women, stress can lead to an irregular menstrual cycle and hasten menopause.
The rush of enzymes and stomach acids can cause diarrhea or constipation, and the inefficiency of the digestive system.

WELLNESS CUES

You can prepare for stress by imbibing self-management and lifestyle changes.

Recognize the Signs of your body’s response to stress and take action to renew yourself
Set Goals and Prioritizes. Decide what must get done and what can wait, and learn to say no to new tasks that will overstretch you.
Get an adequate amount of sleep, eat a healthy, balanced diet.
Get Regular Exercise. Just 30 minutes per day of walking can help boost your mood and reduce stress.
Stay Connected with people who can provide emotional and other support.
Schedule steady time for relaxing or stress managing activities such as meditation, deep breathing, massage, and yoga.
Avoid tobacco use, excess caffeine and alcohol intake.
Setting aside time for hobbies, such as reading a book or listening to music
Seek for help from a health professional, when you are overly crippled and losing your sense of life.

Whether as an entrepreneur or an employee, changing the stress mindset not only minimizes its effects, but it also enhances your productivity and appreciation of life.

About Hosanna

I am Hosanna Oyibo, a Public Health Coach. I am an avid reader, personal development enthusiast, network marketing professional and a volunteer. I’m also interested in travelling, gardening, and sports. You can read about me and visit my blog with a click on this link https://about.me/hosannaoyibo.

In self development January 30, 2019 By Women of Rubies

OMAWUNMI AND WAJE: BEST FRIENDS TURNED BUSINESS PARTNERS

Waje Iruobe and Omawumi Megbele are two vocal powerhouses in the music industry. These media personalities have combined their talent, industry know-how and business sense to establish a new media company called Hermanes Media.

The bosom friends-turned-business partners shared that Hermanes Media was founded in order to create solutions and provide innovative and creative ideas for the industry.

According to Waje,

”We both have a considerable amount of experience working in and navigating the media industry. We believe we can put this knowledge to good use”.

Both Waje and Omawumi expressed their recognition of a gap in the industry that needs to be filled.

According to Waje,

” We need to start telling our own stories, and we need to be more expressive and innovative about it. Hermes Media is our way of taking a step towards making this a reality”.

The media company will reportedly provide services such as film/tv production, TV adverts, content curation, brand event activation, and creative digital marketing.

Credit: fabwoman.ng

In self development January 30, 2019 By Women of Rubies

LOLO CYNTHIA: SHAPING THE MIND OF THE GIRL CHILD THROUGH STORY-TELLING

“Eze Ada, you are meant to be a boy”- this Is a phrase that has been said way too many times to me by mother and I have always wondered why; was it because of the way I walked- as a fast walker, did that mean I didn’t possess the grace that a woman was meant to have or was it because I have always rebelled for independence regardless of the consequences- was being bold a trait exclusive for men?

As a young child, I have always known that I had something in me – a force that stirred me to push for what I wanted, to be vocal with my demands and seek to attain success. Success to me has always been my ability to be the best version of myself – and the best version of myself as a child was envisioning Lolo as a career woman; which seems like a ‘normal’ dream for many girls but from where I was standing, it was a daring goal.

I grew up in an Igbo dominated community where most of the women were 2 things- housewives married to rich men who resided abroad and always ensured that they were financially sorted; a status symbol that women craved and women who had shops opened for them by their generous husbands. I didn’t wake up to the image of women turning on their car to go to work or staying up late to meet deadlines, all of that was a foreign concept that I only saw when I watched a Hollywood blockbuster.

So imagine me with all my drive, that fire burning inside me with no one to look up to– no one to say “Wow! This is exactly who I want to be when this fire finally consumes me”. I had to diminish this fire in me because there were no women around me with the same spark, but no matter what I did to suppress it, to push myself to be the girl that the society expected me to be, the stronger the flame grew.

I knew I wanted to be more than a housewife with an abroad husband or a woman who had a shop, but the only people who I saw achieve that were men! Only men woke up early to get ready for work, only men looked stressed because they had deadlines, only men couldn’t sleep because their children’s school fees had not been paid. So I thought to myself, just maybe my mother was right, maybe Eze Ada was meant to be a boy.

So I rebelled, I had to find my kin, which meant breaking free from stereotypical female traits like passiveness, timidity, sluggishness and the need to be rescued. But rebelling regardless of how attractive the idea is, isn’t always black and white- because if you rebel just enough, you walk right into the arms of the wrong crowd- Abuse becomes a normal phenomenon because as a teenager you are oblivious to what a healthy relationship entails.

My WAEC was done; it was time to travel- the ultimate Nigerian teenager’s dream- to study abroad. I moved to South Africa with the belief that what I seek in life was only attained and desired by men but upon my arrival, what I witnessed shocked me. I saw career women both on TV and in real life- all the famous soapies had strong female characters that didn’t derive strength from their “bottom power” as I noticed in almost all the Nigerian movies I watched as a child.

I couldn’t believe my eyes, these women were bold and seen at every corner I turned, but that wasn’t my country so it didn’t change much and as a Nigerian girl those dreams I had were still exclusive to men.

It wasn’t until I came back to Nigeria as an adult that I was able to find strong women in their different career paths but as an adult I had already connected with a wider audience- I knew that I didn’t the validation anymore but I couldn’t help but ask myself – Where had they all been hiding? Why didn’t I ever see them on TV or real life as a child? What was going on?

The Need for Representation

The media is so powerful; it had the power to validate my dreams as a child because it would have shown me other women who had the same dreams and achieved them. But the media in Nigeria never showed me that, there were rarely any representation of what a fierce career would look like, that I often wonder what would have become of me if I had decided to accept what the community and media told me I could only amount to, or the thousands of young girls with that force that stirs them to push for more, the girls who believe that there must be something wrong with them!

In the world we live in, where we are constantly fighting for gender equality and girl- child education, I worry that we women in media underestimate the power we have to make that a reality. What stories are we putting out for the masses to consume? How are we portraying women; Do we still show them as weak and timid, looking for a rich husband to act as their backbone? What images are we planting in the minds of young girls who grow up in communities where the women are not empowered to demand more in life? Do we fill their heads with images that support their dreams or their everyday reality of what women should be?

We as women in media owe it to our younger selves to showcase women that exhibited traits that we possessed as children before it was beaten out of us, to tell young girls that their dreams are valid, that their boldness is indeed also a virtue in women.

Representation matters!

How do we discuss female politicians? Are we still asking them about work and family balance or do we ask them about policies? What about female engineers? Have you ever witnessed one in a Nigerian movie? Or a female teacher who’s passionate about her job, Or that market woman who sells fish and cares for her family’s finances from proceeds from her sales?

Let us tell more stories of successful women who continue to strive to be the best they can, and I am not discussing only successful women that we measure by their wealth– I am referring to everyday women who looks just like our mothers, aunties, and sisters taking charge of their lives.

There’s a widely known restaurant called Belgium situated at Mile2 Lagos that many people do not that the owner started with less than 5 chairs but 30 years later it’s become a household name with branches everywhere- word on the street is that she sent all children to university from proceeds from her “mamaput” restaurant. And then when you come over to Century Ago- Okota Lagos we see a 24-hour shop run by three generations of women- grandmother, mother, and child.

Our stories of strength, resilience, and determination as women are endless but we need to do more to show that! We can no longer expect men to tell our stories for us because only we women can give the true representation of what we as women can do and become when we set our minds to it.

*This article first appeared on African women in media

Lolo Cynthia Is a public health specialist, sexuality educator and founder of the social enterprise LoloTalks, that employs all forms of media (online and offline) to create awareness and sustainable solutions to our contemporary social and health issues in Africa. She also doubles as a documentary and talk show producer and lends her voice on issues regarding interpersonal relationships, sexuality, gender, and social issues through her YouTube channel LoloTalks and her blog.

In self development January 29, 2019 By Women of Rubies

NIGERIAN WOMAN DECLARED MISSING WITH HER KIDS ALLEGEDLY RAN AWAY FROM HER ABUSIVE HUSBAND

Yesterday, LIB shared the story of a woman and her two children who have been missing since last week Friday January 27th. A twitter user Lawrence Olanrewaju who shared the story online, said Shalom Sam-Ogbaji, went missing last week.

Well, some people online are saying that the lady might have absconded from her matrimonial home with her two kids because of her husband who is alleged to have been subjecting her to domestic violence. Read some comments posted on LIB and twitter below…

Credit: LIB

In self development January 29, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

GRACE ORISAKIYA: TEAMING UP IN A RELATIONSHIP

No man is an island of his own, there will be times you will need people’s contributions, opinions and help. Working together with people has been useful in different circumstances and has contributed to productivity and time management. Team work is essential in the organization and management of tasks. Team work isn’t confined to the corporate world, you could have teams in schools, religious gatherings and some couples even consider their relationship or family a team. When managed properly, there will be a positive impact on the team goals and its members. Have you ever been friends with someone and one day you get to know people are being selected for different teams and you wish to be in the same team as your friend. After a while you hear you names announced under the same team, if this were you, how would you feel? Teamwork can contribute to having a higher sense of purpose with its members. This article will concentrate on how a relationship/marriage can be seen as a team. Some factors that shouldn’t be ignored when building a team includes;

A common goal-

Without a common goal and interest, it is considered a group. A team is usually formed with the desire to achieve a particular goal and all members of the team will be interested in accomplishing this goal. For instance if you consider your relationship a team and decide to achieve a common goal which is ultimately to build a future together, you both should make it your priority, talk about it and plan to make it achievable.

Compatibility –

Two or more people can’t work together if there is no compatibility. I don’t just mean in personalities, you might not have compatible interest or future plans. Although some won’t mind as long as they ‘love’ each other but how sustainable can love be when faced with issues that could have been avoided? Being realistic about your compatibility is huge step in becoming a team.

Team size

A team consists of people with a shared goal, since this article addresses relationships becoming a team, it should consist of TWO individuals who love each other, have the desire to build a future together not Two individuals and some people by the side. If you wish to include your children, that is totally fine as long as the size is restricted to your family. Being in a relationship and having others by the side destroys trust, respect and the overall purpose of the team. Being committed to your partner is of essence in becoming a team.

Shared task –

Like any other team, a relationship team should have shared task. This can be developed or identified by recognizing each other’s strengths. What are you good at? How will the bills be shared? Who will take the children to school in the morning? Who will pick them up? And so on. It is important to discuss tasks that should be performed, failure to do so might lead to expectations and disappointments.

Conflict management –

As long as two people are involved, there will be disagreements. How do you plan to manage conflict? What’s you apology strategy? What can you do to make things better. Don’t assume that there won’t be conflict as this is considered failing to prepare or assume that there should always be conflict as this is considered preparing to fail. Sometimes conflict can be avoided when there’s understanding in the relationship and when it occurs, the ability to resolve quickly depends on how you are willing to make it work.

A leader –

First of all, I believe everyone should do what they are comfortable with. Some believe men are the leaders or head of a relationship/ home while others believe both people in the relationship are leaders. In my opinion, my husband being the leader doesn’t make me a weaker member of the team. It has been that way right from our dating phase. Let’s face it, What are the qualities of a leader? They should be willing to communicate, guide, direct, listen, give constructive feedback and so on. A leader sometimes may need assistance in taking a decision and he will consult his team member. That goes to show how much he’s interested in your opinion.

In summary, making your relationship/ marriage a team requires commitment, understanding and a common goal.

About Grace

Grace Asemota is a Business Psychologist (M.Sc) and a Certified Life Coach. She has partnered with Organizations and solopreneurs to grow their personal and professional brands and has coached students and staff in different institutions and organisations.

She continuously coaches and trains on the importance of goal setting, happiness,personal development and self- confidence in a wide range of organisations and institutions by motivating staff to develop a collaborative culture and identify key factors that can enhance personal growth.

You can follow her on

LinkedIn @Grace Asemota-Orisakiya

In self development January 28, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

DOROTHY ODHIAMBO: FEAR OF BRANDING

Branding. The first thing that comes to mind when you hear of branding is the typical assigning of something a name or label. Branding can be negative or positive depending on the term used to identify the brand. In our case today, we are going delve into negative branding that most women trying to rise to the top in their careers or whichever profession often fall prey of.

Most women in corporates, military and even politics are often afraid of being who they really want to be in terms of how they do their work or in other words leadership skills and often coil back to being reserved in the fear of what people will think of them, in the fear of being negatively branded. You want to be softer to your seniors, juniors and even equals for you not be perceived as a hard one. You want to strive to get along with everyone at the same time exercise authority for things to be done correctly. In such confusing situations, what do most
women do?

In this case, I will use an example of one woman who has by all means broken the corporate glass ceiling and is still excelling at her profession, Ginni Rometty. To me the first thing I think of when I mention the name Ginni Rometty is the company that is in the top 15 at number 12 to be specific in 2018 worlds’ most valuable brands. This company is none other than IBM which is being led by the very capable Ginni Rometty.

When you look at the rise and rise of Ginni Rometty ever since she joined the company in theyear 1981, it is clearly open to everybody that she has had to work hard to get to where she is right now. She once stated in an interview that growth and comfort don’t usually coexist. To succeed one must be willing to push through barriers. This is the barriers that most women in their careers and even those in entrepreneurial stage are afraid of breaking. As a woman, you have to work twice as hard to level up.

Negative branding might come along the way and you might receive all sort of it but most at times they are only meant to slow you down.If you are a single woman, you have to prove that the results of your work define you and not your looks or marital status and if you are a married woman, apart from your looks, you have to
prove that you can multi task and do it good.

You have to be a mom at home and a boss at work and you don’t have any room for letting your personal life get into your work lest people see you weak. This is the daily fight that women trying to rise up to the corporate ladder are dealing with. You always want to prove yourself that you are capable. Quoting Meryl Streep, an American actress often referred to as the best of her generation, she says, ‘People will say to me, you’ve played so many strong women’ and I’ll say, ‘have you ever said to a man, ‘you’ve played so many strong men?’ No! Because the expectation is (men) are varied. Why can’t we have that expectation about women?’ Why do women have to work extra hard in order to be recognized in their fields?

We want our women to excel but the moment they start doing things out of the normal, the moment they start being brave enough, we start branding them to make them cower and make them feel like they are not ready. It is time women come to the realization that no great woman reached those coveted tittles without obstacles. Negative branding happens to be one of them. We cannot stop negative branding of women at work places or in any growth sector but we can empower our women to rise above it. There is nothing more fierce and determined
than an empowered woman. Through this empowerment, instead of the negative branding acting as a motivation killer, it will in turn act as a motivator itself.

About Dorothy

She is currently a front desk agent/cashier at Acacia Premier Hotel Kisumu .Passionate about writing articles that has direct impact on women. She is 24 years old,determined to empower fellow women and just shed light on different relevant issues.You can contact her via her email address ; odhiamboodorothy1@gmail.com.

In self development January 28, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

JANE UDOKA: THE TRANSITION FROM DEPENDENCY TO INDEPENDENCY: WHAT NO ONE ACTUALLY TOLD US

Children are a gift from God, from the moment they are born, to their first significant life moments like their first baby step or their first word, those are all delightful times for their parents. The parents take it upon themselves to guide and steer their kids towards the right paths as they grow and usually the first educational step they take is enrolling the kids into schools as soon as they’re old enough. Henceforth that first milestone, it is always a parent’s pride and joy to see their ward grow and advance up the educational ladder. A parent would gladly sacrifice a lot just so their kids lack nothing and would do so with joy knowing in the years to come, their reward would come when the children are out of school and could fend for themselves and their parents as well.

And for us the children, from the moment we graduate from High school or secondary school as the case maybe, we look forward to being admitted into college, graduating from the university with a degree and basically starting our lives independently. Once, admitted into the university there is sort of a countdown on both sides : the parents and the child. They all both envision the world becoming better after graduation. The parents dream of finally relaxing and reaping the fruits of all that sacrifice and the child dreams of rewarding everyone who’s been there through the journey.

And alas! , it’s graduation day, the daughter/ son is a graduate and ready to go into the world. She/he is ready to take the reins from the parent’s and whilst, this is basically how it should be it sadly isn’t in most average cases!

For the child, the string of finances stops coming in from the family or the former sponsors. In return, they start expecting help from you instead. In some lucky cases, the child gets a well paying job and lives up to expectations but in other cases, it’s hard cause then you realize eventually what no one told you that would have better prepared you. Here they are:

Be prepared to go broke:

The transition from full on dependency to independency is not an easy one. In most cases, it will be tough cause you’ll be going from the care and reliable finances you had coming in, to fending for yourself. Just before, it becomes stable and better through hardwork, just be prepared to go low on finances.

Get a skill

Not everyone is lucky enough to actually make a living from their college degrees. A skill in programming, management, business or whatever sector you find interesting would go a long way in the transition.

Be prepared to be your own cheerleader

This is really important, the world is a tough place and only the best and tough people can survive in it. In as much as your family loves you, there will still be expectations from them and no one will really understand what you are going through. So, on the bad days, the times when it seems you can’t handle it anymore, you have to be able to brace up and cheer yourself on.

Be ready to take risks and try new ventures

There is really no script to life, so be ready to try new ventures not even related to your course of study. It always helps to look within you and figure out what other skills you have, embark on them and you might just have that smooth transition you desire

All in all, it’s never easy transitioning but just like every other change, it’s a constant and one we must learn to adopt, no just in going from dependency to independency but also in other spheres of life. Goodluck!

About Jane

21 year old Udoka Jane O is a trained Engineer, She is a professional freelance writer on Relationship and healthy lifestyles. Jane has written a number of mind engaging articles….

In self development January 28, 2019 By Women of Rubies

TWO TEENAGE GIRLS PRETEND TO BE BOYS FOR 4 YEARS TO SAVE THEIR SICK FATHER’S BARBERSHOP

Jyoti Kumari, 18, and her 16-year-old sister, Neha, from Banwari Tola, in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, took over their father’s barbershop in 2014 after he suffered a severe paralytic attack that left him bedridden. The girls were only 13 and 11-years-old at the time, but the barbershop was the family’s only source of income, so they had to do something to put food on the table. At first, the barbershop was closed, but as the family savings evaporated, Jyoti and Neha reopened it and started running it themselves. But things didn’t go well at first, as some men were skeptical about having girls shave their beards and trim their mustaches, while others treated them badly. So they started disguising themselves as men.

Photo source: Gulfnews

“This was indeed a tough job but we had no option as well. So we transformed ourselves [to look] like boys. We changed our names like males, dressed ourselves like boys, sported boys’ hairstyle[s] and also behaved like boys,” Jyoti recalled. “But for our efforts, my family would have died of starvation and our study would have been affected.”

The teenage girls cut their hair short, started wearing stainless steel bracelets normally worn by men, and changed their names to Deepak and Raju. Most of the people in their village knew their real identities, but men from surrounding communities had no idea they were really girls. The disguises allowed the girls to keep the barbershop running and earn about 400 rupees per day, enough to provide for their family, pay for their father’s treatment and continue their studies.

Some of the people in the village kept mocking them for posing as men, but the two sisters ignored them and focused on their work, as they had no other choice. They managed to conceal their gender and real identities for four years, but as time went by, they became more confident and recently started revealing their secret to more people.

“Now we have gained enough confidence and don’t fear anyone,” Jyoti Kumari said. “The majority of people have come to know that we are girls.”

Photo source: alArabiya

After a journalist from the nearby city of Gorakhpur published their incredible story in a Hindi newspaper last week, Jyoti and Neha earned the praise of an entire nation and were even honored by local authorities for their grit and determination in the face of adversity.

“Unfazed by taunts coming from society, they carried the family’s responsibility on their shoulders and arranged livelihood for their parents, braving all odds. This is a wonderful story which the society must be told [about] and they indeed deserve honors,” local official Abhishek Pandey told reporters. “They are [a] brilliant example of women empowerment and we have recommended to the state government [that they get] suitable rewards.”

The girls’ father, who only recently started walking again, also declared himself incredibly proud of them: “They have run the family showing highest level of grit and I am proud of them.”

Source: www.odditycentral.com

In self development January 28, 2019 By Women of Rubies

NO DRUG CAN SHRINK OR PASS OUT FIBROID -SURGEON

Dr Olowojebutu, also the Founder, Benjamin Olowojebutu Foundation (BOF), an NGO, has revealed that no drug can shrink or pass out fibroid in a woman, at a news conference on Saturday in Lagos.

Fibroids are non-cancerous abnormal growths that develop in or around the womb (uterus). The growths are made up of muscle and fibrous tissue, and vary in size.

The surgeon advised women that instead, they should visit a doctor and get examined when they suspected to have fibroid.

The foundation helps indigent women suffering from various conditions such as Fibroids, Breast lumps, and Hernias.

There are lots of fallacies and superstitious beliefs around fibroid that you can take medicines to shrink or pass it out from the anus; that is what is killing many women today.

Some women have been taken herbal drugs for years and instead of shrinking the fibroid, it is getting bigger.

We want to create awareness to let people know that there is help for them, Olowojebutu said.

The surgeon said that this had contributed a major challenge to the reason many people sought other alternatives rather than visiting the hospital.

He said that his foundation was willing to meet the needs of women who could not afford to pay for surgeries.

According to him, we are targeting 1,000 women for free surgeries in 2019.

Olowojebutu said that the average cost of surgery was N500,000 in the Mainland and about N1million in the Island, both areas in Lagos State.

So, imagine somebody earning N4,000 a month. How long will such person save to be able to pay for surgery.

The goal of BOF is to, in the long run, change the healthcare space with love and compassion.

Our project for 2019 is called Journey To 1,000 Free Surgeries; our aim is to be able to help 1,000 indigent patients suffering from Fibriods, Lipoma Breast Lumps and Hernia.

We have started already and we just concluded the Ikorodu outreach where eight fibroid surgeries took place.

We are off to Cross River, Imo, Abia, Edo, Rivers and Ondo States from the Feb.1, he said.

Olowojebutu said that fibroid was very common in African women and also in Nigeria.

He said, however, that the risk of developing fibroid could be reduced if a woman married early and there was a break in their menstrual flow.

Women who menstruate early, let us say at 10 years old and you are now 35 years old, that is 25 years of bleeding without a break.

When there is no break in your menstrual flow, that is, the longer you are menstruating for, you stimulate the oestrogen hormone to produce fibroid.

Women who have many babies may not have fibroid, because there is usually a break; one year of pregnancy and another for breastfeeding, which is two years of break.

So, the oestrogen hormone cannot stimulate their wombs to grow the fibroid, he said.

Credit: pulse.ng

In self development January 26, 2019 By Women of Rubies

“I’VE BEEN RAPED TWICE AND BATTLED DEPRESSION ALMOST HALF OF MY LIFE” – TOPE DELANO

32-year old Nigerian journalist, Tope Delano has just shared a very touching story of how she’s been raped twice, survived post partum depression and how she’s lost almost everyone she loves.

According to her, ‘I was molested between ages of 7 and 11, raped twice, battled depression almost half her life, dealt with post-partum depression, lost 4 persons in a space of 1yr 5 month’.

Follow her story below…