My weekend

Hey everyone,

How was your weekend? I hope you had a nice one like I did.

On Friday night, Cakes' brothers wanted to hang out and go clubbing. I was kinda skeptical because I really don't like "joints." As much as I enjoy fresh air, I really don't enjoy sitting out at night because my skin/blood has a special ingredient that all kinds of insects are addicted to. Well, sure enough, it was one of the joints in Lekki - Hedges and Smith. We were there for about 30 minutes before I started feeling tired and ready to go home, but Cakes managed to keep me there for an hour longer before we headed home. There was an interesting conversation that I will blog about later on in the week.

On Saturday, my plan was to stay home ALL DAY LOOOOOONG, but I had completely forgotten about a Food/Cooking event arranged by the Connect Group/Ministry at my church. Luckily I checked my email and rearranged my day. For this meetup, people who came were treated to a live Master Class by Chef Fregz! He chose to make his yummy Omawonder, and 2 lucky guests were randomly selected to cook along :)

Random Thoughts

Just thoughts that enter my head...

1. Beauty bloggers are constantly reviewing products like eye shadow palettes, lipsticks, foundations, etc. I know a lot of them get the products for free, but don't a lot of the products go to waste? You can't possibly use up a 24 eye-shadow palette in less than 6 months, can you? It'd take me a year plus.
   
2. I'm beginning to get confused because I could have sworn it was pronounced "Nigh-Jee-Ria." But you put on the radio or TV and the broadcasters pronounce it as "Nigh-JEH-Ria." Someone said it's based on region, but I'm sure it's because of people trying to speak with an accent and now they've forgotten how to pronounce it.
   
3. Why is juicing such a big deal now, especially given the fact that it doesn't contain fiber? I thought fiber was a good thing. :-S
   
4. I'm thinking of starting up a website - NaijaPees.com - This website would basically be a photo-based public-shaming of all these men in Nigeria that feel the need to pee in public!!! It's so bloody annoying. Basically, if you see someone peeing in the streets, run up (actually drive so you can run away quicker), take a snapshot on your phone, and submit it to the website.
   
5. I wish I had a driver. I mean that was one of things I most looked forward to before I moved back. It's been almost 3 years (WOW, time flies) and yet, no driver. The thing that scares me is getting someone who will disappear with the car, or get into an accident. Yes, I have stranger-trust issues, but who doesn't?

That's it on the randomness for today :)

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Saturday in Bariga

This is a late post that should have come up on Monday, but I was kinda out of it and didn't post anything. But it's better late than never, right?

On Saturday morning, I woke up earlier than I like (since it's weekend) but it was for a good cause. At my church (The Waterbrook), there's a periodic series of classes called Cafe Rouge. It's meant to give you a deeper insight into God's word, build you up spiritually, connect with other church members, and give back to the community. I've been in 2 cycles, and in the first one we helped raise money for a local school in VI. For the second one, we decided to help out the Bethesda Child Support Agency, which is aimed at securing educational opportunities for children in disadvantaged families/communities.

Part of the group contacted the agency and inquired about what needs they had, and it was decided that we would raise money to build a borehole at one of the agency's schools, located in Bariga. I wasn't part of the group that went to visit the school beforehand, but we were shown pictures to help us with the fundraising. Long story short, the project started in November/December and last week Saturday, we were invited to commission the borehole.

So I woke up early, Cakes decided to come along so he could run errands afterwards. We headed to our church office, and we all drove in a convoy to the school. I've been to villages before, and I'm not sure I can even call Bariga a village, but the school's surroundings were a veritable disaster. I was in shock. I don't want to talk too much, so I will just share pictures I took with my phone.

This just makes me sick

Cafe Rouge group

Can't remember her name. Might be Ijeoma - she works with Bethesda

The engineer who made sure the borehole was put together properly

Pat of the school yard. The grass is cut every 2 weeks. At the right corner is the school toilet

This is the school. As in, just the 2 containers. 

Desks inside one trailer

Teacher's desk

At the end of the day, I thank God that we were able to raise the money for the borehole. The children and the community now have access to clean, filtered water and it was by God's grace and people's generosity. If you want to contact them, visit their website here or this link here.

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Hair Talk - Bringing out the UGLY!

Hi friends,

Okay, I half-promised my friend that I wouldn't talk about hair on my blog anymore, after the post about the definition of Natural Hair. However, dear friend, I must apologize to you for breaking my promise.

What is it about hair discussions that make people turn down right UGLY and NASTY?! From debating hair (natural vs relaxed vs weaves vs braids vs bald) on different platforms, you see comments that basically attack people's personalities. How does a conversation go from,

"I like my hair relaxed" to "You're an insecure person who thinks the White man is supreme." 

"I have natural hair" to "You're ugly, unkempt and self-righteous." 

"I like to wear weaves" to "You're obviously a runs girl/prostitute." 

"I like to wear wigs" to "You're fake and there's nothing real about you."
"I like my hair loc'd up" to "You're irresponsible and don't have good work ethics."

????????????????????????

The only style that seems immune from attack is braids :p

Now, some of you reading might say (and have even said) that I think I'm supreme because I have natural hair. For whatever reason, none of them have noticed that I wear wigs sometimes, braid once or twice a year, and have never once told anybody that natural hair is better than relaxed hair. Neither have I tried to convince anyone with relaxed hair to go natural. The most I will do is answer questions that are asked of me. Do I think everyone CAN carry natural hair? Yes, regular moisture and stretching are your friends. Do I think everyone SHOULD carry natural hair? No, because it's YOUR prerogative.

What I find annoying and baffling is that because of your hair choice(s), idiots IDIOTS feel the need to attack your person, your character, your being.

#OkayAllDone

NB: This post is NOT about #TeamMyHairIsLikeThis. This post is asking why the discussions/debates turn into hateful arguments.

FYI - If you don't have anything constructive to say about this post (i.e. if you decide to reinforce this post by being insulting, demeaning, condescending or hateful) don't bother commenting because I shall not approve your post.

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Shout-out to...

Just a quick shout out to 1 Plus The One, who blogs over here.

She's a Christian blogger and has very uplifting and encouraging posts. Yesterday she posted on how God answers prayers (which coincidentally is the meaning of my Ogoni name, and is part of my blog's name).

In addition, you should check out her Waiting and Loving It series, which features couples who chose abstinence. Some chose to wait until their wedding night to "do the deed" and some took it even further and didn't kiss before the wedding day - talk about STRENGTH! Even though I didn't wait (one of my biggest regrets in life - sorry mummy and daddy), I want to encourage those who ARE waiting or thinking about it (whether you're a virgin or not).

God bless!

Berry.

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