womenofrubies Archives

In self development April 6, 2018 By Women of Rubies

FUNKE ADESIYAN OPENS UP ON HER DEEP INSECURITY BECAUSE OF HER TRIBAL MARK WHILE GROWING UP

In a Instagram post, actress and business woman Funke Adesiyan has shared her experience with her beauty marks and how she battled with deep insecurity as a result of it.

She said,

“Growing up as a child, I was a slim, tall, leggy beauty I was the girl everyone wanted to be friends with. Most guys would lie to their friends I was their girlfriend. Cars would follow me home from the bus stop and my Grandmother (God rest her soul) would haul all the insults at me for walking provocatively on the street. I’d argue with her it’s what my job ethics called for as I was a top model with Modela Agency and the street is our runway most times. Arguments would end on a slap note for talking back at her or keeping mute on her! Parents!!! You are never right with them. How I miss you Alhaja.

“Everyone admired me and would shout “hot stepper” when I walk. But this hot stepper had one pain she nursed in her heart- my facial marks. I felt it was a hindrance to me being a beauty queen, being a supermodel, being a flawless model!

“Each year, Uncle B, Modela, would prepare me for the big stage and I’d chicken out last minute for fear of my “flaw”. The only person I shared this with was my other self when I looked in the mirror. I would spend minutes wishing I know the old man who marked my face and question my parents why it had to be me of all my siblings.

“Fast forward many years later, I realized the only person who stopped me from achieving my goals as a would-be beauty queen was myself. My self-esteem was so low I suppressed myself on many frontiers… maybe I’d have been the first beauty queen with facial mark.

“It’s ironic how people wanna be you and all you see about yourself is a chubby face or a flabby belly. Not so cool. We need to constantly see beyond our supposed flaws, they are all in our heads. If you do not feel beautiful skin deep, you can’t feel beautiful on the inside. No one can love you than you. If you like to kill yourself in the quest of looking “perfect” because of a man or a woman, you will still see yourself like a bag of shit on the inside. For true perfection is inside out and it’s a place only you can find.
Would I remove my facial marks today? Hell NO! I love how artistic they look. Moreso I need no one’s validation to feel beautiful or live life. You like me, Thank you. You don’t like me, I don’t expect everyone to.”

View her post below.

In Career Gems April 6, 2018 By Women of Rubies

VETERAN ACTRESS, JOKE SILVA TALKS ABOUT SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE MOVIE INDUSTRY

Veteran actress, Joke Silva has revealed that the pressure on young actresses to offer sexual favors is very high.

She revealed this while being interviewed by newsmen on Tuesday, April 3rd at the launch of ‘Disowned’, a book by Nina Anyianuka about sexual abuse and harassment, at Terra Kulture in Lagos.

She said the pressure on young actresses to offer sexual favors is very high

On actresses being harrassed for sex.

“Unfortunately, the casting couch issue is alive in Nollywood,”

“Sometimes there is this hunger to get the work. Maybe you’ve gone to several auditions and you haven’t gotten the work, then somebody tells you that it is because you are not doing what you should do that is when you are not getting the work.

“What I say to them is don’t believe it. By the time the producer, director, production manager or whoever insists on sleeping with you, it is very likely you will end up not getting the work.

“Some of the sad stories we hear is that because some people are so desperate, they end up getting passed around.”

Her advice for entrepreneurs and upcoming actresses

“There is no need for that, to compromise one’s dignity,” she said.

“As an entrepreneur, you go round looking for money and you are probably going to get several noes before you get your eyes.

“It’s the same with an audition. You must keep your dignity. Find something else to keep body and soul together.

“That is why you hear that abroad people wait tables or work in restaurants because they need something to keep body and soul together until that break happens.

“You should be proud as long as you are earning honest money. If possible train yourself in audition skills.”

On more women in positions of power and authority in Nollywood being able to stem the tide.

“We need more women producers, more women scriptwriters, and more women stories so that we can then absorb a lot of women in the industry.”

In Career Gems April 6, 2018 By Women of Rubies

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS FIGHTS AGAINST SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN PORT HARCOURT

In June 2015, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known in English as Doctors Without Borders, in partnership with the state Ministry of Health in Port Harcourt, launched a comprehensive programme dedicated to victims of sexual violence in the city.

(Photo: Daily Post)

The programme not only provides free and confidential medical and psychological care, it also organizes local activities aimed at raising awareness among Port Harcourt communities about sexual violence, its medical consequences, and the available services in MSF clinics.

Dr Chuku Adanda, the medical doctor in the MSF clinic of Orogbum area, in Port Harcourt, expands on the MSF’s mission and why it focuses on education:

“We encourage people to seek health care as early as possible after a rape or sexual assault, ideally within three days. However there is a lot of misconceptions and sometimes it can prevent a victim from accessing these much-needed services.

In Port Harcourt as elsewhere in the world, there are many misconceptions about rape and sexual violence, their consequences and how someone can prevent them. Some people consider that rape affects children and teenagers only, whereas, in reality, it can happen to everybody.

It happens to men, to people who are in a relationship and to many other people. Whoever is forced into any kind of sexual activity is a victim of sexual violence and need medical attention as soon as possible.

Rape can happen to anyone, and it is never the victim’s fault!”.

The MSF team regularly visits universities, schools, health facilities, police stations, and local markets to encourage discussion and spread accurate information. They have been doing that through a series of online videos posted on social media, seeking to reinforce the dissemination to a larger audience.

MSF now currently operates in two clinics in Port Harcourt: Orogbum health centre and Eliozu health centre. Services are free of charge and confidential. The comprehensive healthcare package includes prophylaxis for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, vaccinations for tetanus and hepatitis B, medical first aid to treat injuries, emergency contraception, and psychological and social support.

In 2017, MSF team treated on average 75 new cases and provided 350 consultations every month. In 2018, the number of new cases treated every month increased to about 100, but many more remain ignored and do not get the urgent medical care and attention they require.

Source: konbini.com

In Interviews&profile April 5, 2018 By Women of Rubies

MEET THE SOUTH AFRICAN LADY CREATING AWARENESS FOR MENTAL ILLNESS THROUGH RUNNING

South African, Zanele Hlatshwayo is creating awareness for mental health through running

After losing her father to suicide, Hlatshwayo cried a lot. The mourning process got so close to affecting her mental health that she started looking for ways to deal with her emotions. Eventually, running turned out to be her coping mechanism.

Speaking with IOL, she said:

“When I started, I was running away from the situation. I didn’t want to deal with it anymore but the more I ran, the more I realized it is helping me deal with it.”

It’s been more than 10 years since she started road running and she’s still going strong. Now she’s taking it up a notch by running 18 races around South Africa in just seven months!

(Photo: Wits Business School via Twitter)

To show she means business, Hlatshwayo has already completed seven races since January. With 11 to go, she has partnered with the crowd-funding platform, BackaBuddy to raise R180,000 (more than N5 million) for the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG).

Explaining how running relates to mental health, she said:

“Running also signifies pain that people who are depressed go through because in many instances, when you run…there’s a lot that you go through, physically and emotionally. It’s a similar process for those who suffer from depression.”

Hlatshwayo will cap off this feat with a 180km race in the Eastern Cape by the end of July.

Source: konbini.com

In Career Gems April 5, 2018 By Women of Rubies

GOOGLE HONOURS AMERICAN WRITER, POET AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST, MAYA ANGELOU ON HER 90TH POSTHUMOUS BIRTHDAY

Google has honoured Maya Angelou, late American writer, poet and civil rights activist with a beautiful doodle on her posthumous birthday at 90 on Wednesday.

Angelou, author of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” touched the lives of millions around the globe through her teachings, her writings, her voice, and her actions.

Angelou once said: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

The American writer, poet and civil rights activist touched the lives of millions around the globe through her teachings, her writings, her voice, and her actions.

She was born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4, 1928, in Missouri and raised in rural Arkansas.

Her life was blighted by tragedy aged just seven when a sexual assault rendered her mute for five years.

During that dark time, books and poetry became her solace and constant companions, eventually helping her find her voice again.

Angelou provided eloquent commentary on race, gender and living life to its fullest in writing which brought her wide acclaim.

She wrote more than 30 books and was a Grammy winner for three spoken-word albums.

Her memoir, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” was published in 1969, and she went on to write a further six autobiographies as well as many books of poetry.

She worked on civil rights issues with leaders ranging from Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama and even became the first African-American woman to write a produced screenplay, “Georgia, Georgia”, in 1972.

Angelou read the poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at the 1993 inauguration of President Bill Clinton, and was honored in 2011 by Barack Obama with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

She lived in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she was a professor of American studies at Wake Forest University.

Angelou died at her home on May 28, 2014, aged 86.

Credit: Pulse News

In Career Gems April 5, 2018 By Women of Rubies

NIGERIAN AUTHOR, CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE BECOMES THE FIRST WOMAN TO BE FEATURED ON THE COVER OF PORT MAGAZINE

Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the latest cover star for the new issue of PORT Magazine and she is the first woman ever to appear on the cover of PORT, which was launched in 2011 as ‘the magazine for men’.

The cover story for the biannual style magazine was written by Catherine Lacey, and photos were taken by Mamadi Doumbouya.

The new issue, PORT’s 22nd, will be out on newsstands in mid-April.

Talking about putting a woman on the cover for the first time ever, Editor Dan Crowe says:

We launched as ‘the magazine for men’, and, while we’ve dropped that tagline (as it started to seem quite militant), we initially ran with accomplished men on the cover who we felt were under-considered by our youth-obsessed media. After we had established our brand and made this point, we chose to exercise more freedom.

We had wanted to feature the novelist Chimamanda Adichie for a while, but it took a long time to arrange. We’ll be featuring more woman and a younger guy (now that we’ve bucked the trend) from time to time in the future. But we will always have time for the iconic men associated with classic Port covers.

In the issue, Chimamanda talks about her extraordinary books, the complexity of recent gender movements and her next big project.

Speaking about choosing Chimamanda, the magazine wrote,

“The writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is one of the foremost intellectual voices in the United States today. The author of Half of a Yellow Sun, Purple Hibiscus and Americanah – as well as of one of the most viewed Ted talks in the organisation’s history, that was featured in a Beyoncé song – Adichie transcends the barriers between literature, art and music”

In Interviews&profile April 5, 2018 By Women of Rubies

THE AMAZING STORY OF ALHAJA ASIATA ONIKOYI WHO HAS LIVED WITH SICKLE CELL ANEMIA FOR 93 YEARS

Alhaja Ashiata Abike Onikoyi-Laguda will be 94 years old October 2018 and she still lives a robust life though she has the highly feared SS genotype.

Alhaja Laguda, as she is popularly called, said during an interview with The Nation, that she stopped having Sickle Cell attacks since she turned 40, though her genotype is still the same.

Here are a few things she said:

On being sickly

“Doctors see me and wonder what a miracle I am.

She recalled that being sickly was tougher at the time she was growing up because nobody knew about sickle cell anemia. She was always sick to the point that in a whole year, she may attend school only about three months of the entire annual school calendar while she spent the other months sick and at home. She was given all sorts of concoctions to cure her illness due to the ignorance surrounding the ailment.

“I was taken to the hospital; then they still brought all sorts of concoction from the Igbo tribe, from Yoruba people and from Hausa part of the country, because it was a very serious sickness. I just took everything that they gave me. They would cut me on every part of my body but I gave myself to them because I wanted to live.”

When the illness attacked her hands, she recalled that she would not be able to use them for anything – not even to eat. When it attacked her legs, she would not be able to walk, and whenever she was at home, she must be by the fire-side, to keep her warm.

On shame and insults

“They called me ‘abiku’ and several other names, but thank God things have changed today. Also, the government is doing everything within its power to enlighten the people about the disease.”

On how her father cared for her

She said her father pampered her because he feared he could lose her at any moment. So he mostly kept her away from school.

She said: “If he didn’t die, I probably wouldn’t have been educated because he said I should be left at home so that they can watch over me every time.

“He insisted that because of my nature, no teacher should beat me. He would say I should be left at home even when I was not having any attacks; but when he died I had no choice because my mum insisted I went to school. That, in a nutshell, was how it became possible for me to go to school.”

Before she took a fall

Before I fell, I used to walk from my house here in Ilasamaja, Lagos to Mushin and Oshodi market as a form of exercise because I believe walking is the best exercise one can engage in. I walked like that until I was 90 when I fell and had to stop.”

Prior to her fall, Alhaja Laguda used to go to hospitals to talk to people living with Sickle Cell anemia, lecture them, and encourage them.

On raising sickle cell children

She called on parents with children suffering from sickle cell anemia to take care of the children very well, feed them well and show them lots of love.

“This will make it easier for them to live with the disease. When it is cold, keep them warm; don’t keep them at home because they are always sick; let them go to school, it is very important,” she said.

On if she wants to live longer

She said she hopes to leave this earth soon, adding: “I want to go but God has not killed me, so I have no choice but live.”

Credit: The Nation, Fab Woman

In Interviews&profile April 4, 2018 By Women of Rubies

MEET SALMA AL-MAJIDI, THE FIRST ARAB AND SUDANESE WOMAN TO COACH A MEN’S FOOTBALL TEAM

In 2012, Sudan’s Islamic Fiqh Council issued a religious banning the formation of a national women’s football team in the country. Their reason? It’s an ‘immoral act’. While the order has made most Sudanese women abandon their dreams of becoming professional footballers, Salma al-Majidi has gone around it by becoming a football coach instead – and her players are all men!

Acknowledged by FIFA as the first Arab and Sudanese woman to coach a men’s football team, al-Majidi started dreaming about a career in football at the age of 16. Confident that what a man can do a woman can also do, she approached a coach in charge of a boys’ team and asked to work with him.

Speaking with AFP, she said:

“At the end of every training session, I discussed with him the techniques he used to coach the boys. He saw I had a knack for coaching and gave me a chance to work with him.”

From there, she started coaching under-13 and under-16 teams. Now at 27, not only does she have the CAF “B” badge – meaning she can coach any first league team across the continent – she has coached four Sudanese men’s clubs so far. Two of the clubs even topped local leagues under her coaching.

Determined to succeed, al-Majidi looks forward to coaching an international team someday.

Culled from konbini.com

In Career Gems April 4, 2018 By Women of Rubies

BRITISH TOP MODEL, NAOMI CAMPBELL MEETS NIGERIAN CHILDREN DANCE CREW

Top model, Naomi Campbell has been in Lagos over the past week for the ARISE Fashion Week. Prior to her visit, she posted on social media in anticipation of what she’s looking forward to doing in Nigeria, mentioning specifically how excited she was to meet the dance crew, Dream Catchers.

The dance crew have been gaining steady recognition from super stars such as Rihanna, Diddy, and Naomi Campbell as they all took to social media to appreciate these young children. The Dream Catchers are a group of young underprivileged kids, whose welfare — from education to shelter — is taken care of by the founder, Seyi Oluyole who uses dance to encourage them to stay in school.

Naomi Campbell had earlier announced on an Instagram live feed that she was only in Nigeria for Arise Fashion Week and to give back to society (specifically children).

Check out Naomi Campbell’s visit to the Dream Catchers right here:

In self development April 4, 2018 By Women of Rubies

ACTRESS BIODUN OKEOWO SHARES SUCCESS STORY AND HOW HER UNPLANNED PREGNANCY CHANGED HER LIFE

Yoruba actress, Biodun Okeowo, popularly known as Omobutty has in a post on Instagram shared her success story and how she made it despite what people thought of her

In her words:

“Eighteen years ago, I got pregnant. A mistake I thought has ruined my life. People laughed, jeered and mocked me… #YetIwon#
The embarrassment was too much, that it gave me strength to decide I must go back to school. I enrolled at L.A.S.U (part-time)

With no support from anyone except my mum. I did so many menial jobs to cater for myself and the new baby.
I fried doughnuts and Chin chin, which I supply to retailers on campus.
I sold rice outside mummy’s shop on days that I have no lectures.
I sold hair extensions, make hair, ‘stay awake overnight to make hair for people (one million braid) was in vogue then.

I remembered a particular day I fed my son with soaked garri! Yes, I couldn’t afford a tin of even the cheapest ‘My boy’ baby food then.. #yetIwon
I struggled, refused to beg, worked, toiled, laboured to be able to stand on my feet. Whatever you are going through be strong, positive, hardworking, and steadfast.
And No matter how poor you are, invest the little you get into something.

Fast track to 2006 I joined the movie industry after my IT at The Lagos State Television Agidingbi. Acting is another chapter in my life. I experienced mockery, intimidation. I was called different names, looked down upon, aliases like “Biodun oni cut and sew” and “Tolani Alankara”

I could not afford the expensive cloth/costumes. I was not sophisticated enough. #YetIwon.
Dresses/dressing didn’t pave way for me neither did it stop my success. However, my God given talent make it all possible and easy.
The name people call you today doesn’t define you… be focused, strong, determined and be content with whatever you have.

I almost quit because of intimidation, but that strength of “i must make it” came into play. I refused to be intimidated,bow to pressures,or borrow.
I was contented with my “cut and sew”. #yetIwon

Then came the trial that pushed me into becoming an entrepreneur.! For two years I was ignored, no movie jobs, not because of inexperience but because of… yet I persisted. #yetIwon.
I prayed,fasted, and believed in myself. Thereafter, I did a movie that launched me back into reckoning .”…… Full post on her Instagram page to continue reading

womenofrubies