Nonprofits: Business Plans Versus Grant Proposals

This post by Patrick O'Heffernan, Are you a business plan or grant proposal social entrepreneur?, on the Social Edge blog comes at a handy time when I've been wrestling with writing a business plan for my nonprofit.

When it was first suggested to me that I write a business plan (about 2 years before I would actually set-up the organisation), it seemed that its purpose would primarily be to determine the feasibility of the world-be organisation. Fair enough. My friends sent me templates and I picked the simplest looking one and started work. Only it was much harder than I had hoped. Along the way, I dropped it meaning to continue with it at some point.

Anyway, fast-forward a couple of years and the nonprofit had started operations. Again I was advised to develop a plan, which which both help map-out the organisation's plan of action, and serve as a fund-raising tool. Fair enough, I thought again.

However, working on it has not been easy, however I have a semblance of a sort-of -ish plan. But, this was not the NGO school I came from. In my previous work experience, our source of funding came primarily from grants, which we got after slaving over proposals or completing often complex and multi-layered application processes. This is what I am used to and was expecting. The notion of asking companies to invest in your idea is a novel one; though perhaps one can think of grants as a form of investment in an approach or person who is going to address a social need.

I have experienced life in the nonprofit during an economic downturn before and it definitely wasn't fun to wake-up each day not knowing if this was the day your position would be axed as part of cost-reduction tactics. I remember feeling that it was crazy that our ability to do our work (not to mention our livelihood!) was dependent on whether we were given money or not, and I vowed that if I remained in the nonprofit world, I would find a better way of doing things.

Maybe that is the opportunity presented by this option to go a more business and bottomline-oriented route.

Patrick O' Heffernan highlights some advantages to starting a business to accomplish social goals:

• Quicker and sometimes easier to get investment capital
• As long as there's a market need for your products and you're well-priced, your revenues and profits will keep you in business regardless of the latest fads among donors
• You are responsible for your income and you decide what needs to be done to keep it flowing, i.e. no being at a donor's mercy
• Flexibility, because market changes and competition (and not grant agreements nor program officers' requests) drives your business decisions

Naija Bloggers Award

Nominate a blogger (or yourself) for a Naija Bloggers Award. Visit, naijabloggersaward.blogspot.com for more info.

Sefi Atta's Swallow

I finished reading Sefi Atta's Swallow this weekend. I had dragged on for too long on what is a fairly small book.

This review on NEXT.com, Sefi Atta's Hard Swallow, captures some of my sentiments.

Book Readings: Seffi Atta, Toni Kan, Karen King-Aribisala

Sefi Atta will be reading from her books Swallow and Lawless and Other Stories this week. She will be joined by Toni Kan (author of Night of the Creaking Bed) and Karen King-Aribisala (author of Our Wife and Other Stories).

When: Wednesday, February 25 2009 (5 - 7PM)
Where: Multimedia Suite, British Council, 20 Thompson Avenue, Ikoyi, Lagos, and

When: Friday, February 27 2009 (From 6PM)
Where: TerraKulture, Tiamiyu Savage Street, Victoria Island, Lagos

Visit the Guardian website for information about other literary events.

Social Enterprise Lessons from Funmi Iyanda's Change-A-Life Project

I am sure that you'll have heard about the 7th edition of journalist Funmi Iyanda's Change--Life project. It's been all over the papers, airwaves and blogosphere.

She was a guest of Ireti Doyle's on Today on STV this morning and I caught part of the interview, where she talked about Change-A-Life, her motivations and her hopes for it. Being in the media herself, she's undoubtedly an interviewer's dream: chatty; witty; and very interesting to listen to.

She spoke about the way she runs the project, which made me think about some of the things I have been reading about keeping social enterprises afloat in these tough economic times.

With Change-A-Life, she:

• Keeps her operations lean and mean: This means that she does as much as she can with as little as she can. You don't necessarily need a hugely-staffed organisation to make an impact.


• Recognises that government has an important role to play in alleviating societal problems: In fact, that is what we believe to be their main job. However in our part of the world, we typically see governments abdicating this responsibility and this work being taken up by able and interested individuals and organisations. F.I reminds us and the government that our efforts should complement and not replace theirs.


• Taps into her resource network: Acknowledging that she can only do so much, she draws from people she knows who have time, expertise, money, influence and other resources to share.

To find out more about Change-A-Life, visit Funmi Iyanda's blog.

Miami

Photo Credit: Barbara P. Fernandez for The New York Times

It's been a while since I blogged about traveling. Well, hopefully I will get to visit many interesting places this year and have the opportunity to write about them.

I saw this article about how Miami Beach is coping with the economic recession. Miami is one of my favourite places to visit and is all about ostentation: the glitz, glam and very gaudy. It's long shed its former image as the place where American senior citizens go to retire. Re-reading one of my favourite childhood books, Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself, indeed showed me a very different Miami from the city that I know and love now.

There's a cool slideshow on the NYT site with quintessential MIA images.

The Anita Borg Awards

Nominate deserving women for the Anita Borg Institute awards for women leading technical innovation. The categories are:

* The Anita Borg Award for Social Impact and The Anita Borg Award for Technical Leadership: Established to recognize outstanding leaders who embrace Anita Borg’s lasting vision to change the world for women and for technology.

* The Denice Denton Award: Recognizes a man or a woman under the age of 40 who has demonstrated a significant leadership capability and positive impact of the lives of women through technology.

* The Anita Borg Change Agent Awards: Honor technical women that live and work outside the United States.

Learn more ...

New 'Policy and Internet' Journal

The Policy Studies Organization (PSO), the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), and Berkeley Electronic Press are proud to announce Policy and Internet, the first major peer-reviewed journal investigating the implications of the Internet and associated technologies for public policy. The journal's first articles will be available in summer 2009.

Read more about P&I and about submitting your work.

Change.Org: Social Entrepreneurship

Have I shared one of my favourite blogs, Change.Org's Social Entrepreneurship channel? Not sure if I have. I started following this blog when it was launched a little while ago and the information I've found there have been valuable for my work.

Pitched at people working in the nonprofit and social enterprise circles or interested in making positive changes in their communities, this blog is frequently updated with thoughtful posts and links to what others in the field are talking about.

Yesterday, I read The Entrepreneurial Presidency: Five Ways to Govern Like a Startup, which is most appropriate in this economic downturn. It's very useful information for nonprofits, which are widely expected to perform miracles on a shoe-string budget. However, this is not always the case, especially here in Nigeria where "NGO" is an evil acronym for organisations expert in churning out successful grant-winning proposals, where the money goes straight to the founder's bank account.

It captures 5 key things to do:
5. Do more with less
4. Harnessing your team's talent around a meaningful mission
3. Find the right partners
2. Learn from everything
1. Iterate and scale success

Then Charity's Existential Dilemma: Are We Really Making a Difference? explores the feeling of helplessness that many people in nonprofits experience regularly, i.e. Is all this slaving away under difficult working conditions having any sort of real impact? Wouldn't I be doing more by handing over my life to a corporate behemoth in return for lots of money, which I can spend on and help boost the economy?

International Women's Day: Call for Participation

It's almost time for 2009's International Women's Day (Sunday, March 8) commemoration and the Women's Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) is inviting participation in this year's celebration of women's achievements all over the world.

Here's what you need to do:

To commemorate IWD, please write about your ‘shero’. Who is a shero? This is a woman, who you admire for the things she has done to encourage and empower other people – particularly other women. This could be a woman you know personally or are yet to meet, whose life story you have drawn inspiration from because of the challenges she has overcome, the positive changes she has led in her community, her achievements, or acts of kindness.

Your write-ups will be published on the W.TEC blog.

Please send your write-ups to info@w-teconline.org by Monday, March 2 2009.

W.TEC is a Nigerian non-governmental organisation working to encourage Nigerian girls and women to learn how to use technology as a means of empowering themselves socially and economically (see www.w-teconline.org).

Twittering

I have been wondering what to do with my Twitter account. It seemed rather pointless to have if I can't use it with my cell phone. I've tried twittering from my phone by sending SMS's to the UK number but that didn't work. Maybe there have been delays verifying my phone, but since Twitter doesn't send out SMSes to non-US numbers it's difficult to find out.

Today, I learnt about twe2.com, which allows non-US and Canada people to receive tweets. So I signed-up for that today and the one direct message I've received didn't come into my phone. I checked on their website later and found out that they are back-logged in confirming new accounts.

So, I'm thinking.... It would otherwise have been such a useful tool and I'm keen to explore the possibilities.

Update (18/2/2009): My Twe account has been confirmed and I just received my first direct message. Now, let's see if my mobile number has been confirmed by Twitter.

Update II (18/2/2009): I stumbled across this post with tips on making more effective use of Twitter.

Standtall Wins BlogHer '09 Award

Congrats to Standtall of The Activist. She runs a vibrant blog where she discusses and rails against all forms of gender-based discrimination.

Why are congrats in order? Because ST was nominated for and has been awarded a scholarship to attend BlogHer '09, the annual meeting of the online community of women bloggers (see this NYT article). This award is for 5 activists who live outside of the US and who are using their blogs to raise awareness about and address societal problems.

ST wins a full 2-day conference pass to BlogHer'09, a round trip plane ticket to and from Chicago, IL for the conference, 3 nights stay at the Chicago Sheraton during the conference and the opportunity to present her work during a session at BlogHer '09. This is a well-deserved award.

A Fellow's Experience @ TED2009

Joshua Wanyama of African Path shares his experience at TED2009 in Long Beach and as one of the inaugural fellows.

Check out the rest of Joshua's blog for other posts about TED2009 and the TED website to watch the talks.

The Hope for Girls Project: Empowering Girls Through Basketball

Have I mentioned that Today on STV is one way in which I find out about things happening around town?

Well, on this morning's show a young lady and an older gentleman (shame, I can't remember their names now) were interviewed about an initiative, which they coordinate called the Hope for Girls Project. HFGP seeks to mentor and empower young women using basketball. This is about the second such project I have heard of in Nigeria using sports to reach out to young people (I heard about the first also on Today on STV, but that was focused on boys, if I remember correctly).

The very first time I heard about using sports to educate, empower and mentor young women was in Nairobi last year with the Binti Initiative, which brought young women together to play football matches, and afterwards shared with them information on sexual and reproductive health.

Back to the HFGP interview, the young lady called Bola used to play for the First Bank women's basketball team. She now works as a financial analyst for ESPN in the US, but is still involved with HFGP. This year they will hold their first basketball and empowerment camp for young women between 11 and 19 (I think!).

I was very impressed with the way she spoke about the need to impress on young Nigerian women of their worth, especially in a society that does not frequently appreciate them and where their value tends to stem from external factors like family, marriage and children.

Ireti Doyle countered that very often how we are treated is a direct result of how we carry ourselves and that perhaps Nigerian sportswomen weren't demanding for their rights. Bola responded that typically female athletes aren't in a position to demand for *anything* and this is even more so in Nigeria with its unequal treatment of men and women (And this is on top of the general lack of support for sports that affects both sexes).

More for information about the Hope for Girls Project, email hopeforgirls.ng@gmail.com or get in touch with Today at STV.

Update: A link found for this project, http://sportforchange.changemakers.net/node/16603

Info-Activism Camp, Bangalore

The Info-Activism Camp is an initiative of Tactical Technology Collective and taking place this February in Bangalore, India. It promises to be a hugely exciting event.

What is Info-Activism, you might ask? According to TTC, "info-Activism is an approach which helps rights advocates tactically utilise information, communications and digital technologies to enhance advocacy work."

The event blog features interviews with many of the participants, where they share their thoughts and experiences using ICTs for their advocacy work. Check it out: www.informationactivism.org/blog/.

Here Ms. Christiana Uyoyou Charles-Iyoha, executive director of Nigeria's Centre for Policy and Development (PolDeC)
shares a bit about her work, including research undertaken by PolDec exploring uses of mobile phones for activism.

Competition: Invent our World

See the opportunity below:

Come up with an invention – a new or adapted technology – and enter the Invent Your World Challenge.

Ashoka GenV and the Lemelson Foundation will support 50 young inventors in using their inventions to create positive change – by providing mentorship, seed funding, networking opportunities, and even a $20,000 scholarship.

Submit your one paragraph idea before March 15, 2009.

Prizes and opportunities include:
* Seed Grants: Up to US$1,000. May vary from region to region.
* Trip to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology): Awarded to five top invention ventures. Each winning team can send two members to take part in a global youth summit on climate change. Each team will also receive an additional $1,000 cash prize.
* Scholarship: US$20,000 awarded to most outstanding invention venture. Scholarship may be split among lead venturers.

This competition is open to youths between the ages of 12 and 20 in North America and Europe and 12 and 24 everywhere else.

Visit the website for more information.

Generation Make It Happen

My friend Oghomwen Ehigie is setting up the blog Generation Make It Happen, to profile people under 30 who are "making it happen" in their communities.

The blog will feature mini documentaries directed by Oghomwen, about young people who are creating some positive changes in Nigeria, through their work, activism, businesses, art, NGOs, and other area. She will profile young people whose personal stories are inspiring and who had to surmount mountains in the pursuit of their dreams.

If this sounds like you or someone you know, please get in touch with her by email, oehigie.auditions@gmail.com.

Here and There: Curled, Twirled and Crimped

This opinion piece by Amma Ogan in today's issue of Next newspaper explores why so few Nigerian women are wearing their own hair.

My Mornings with STV

I always watch Today on STV when getting ready for work in the mornings. It has become an essential part of my morning routines, the same way I used to get ready to The Today Show all those years ago (Wow! How time flies. Well, that's a topic for another day).

I was happy to see Today on STV increased by thirty minutes from one hour. I always thought that one hour was much too short. And I always felt that the show really needs to start from 6AM.

One thing that has always struck me is the quality of guests they have on. While some have an obvious reason to be there (knowledgeable about a subject and have relevant contributions to make to the ongoing discussion, promoting an album, film or event); some patently do not.

It's very painful to listen to a guest talk a whole lot without saying much. It's perhaps even worse to hear them start a sentence only to leave the rest hanging in the air - maybe in the vain hope that viewers will pick-up their message by extra sensory perception? The guests spouting fake Americana and Britico accents (the former tends to be more common) are possibly the worst of the lot. Hmmm, no, on second thoughts perhaps that honour would go to those guests who obviously don't know what they are talking about, which begs the question .... Well, why are you here?

I often wonder how the presenters manage to keep a straight face when faced with one of these types of guests. I guess that's where the professionalism of the interviewer comes in.

This morning, I watched a segment with a guest whose inability to articulate himself left me feeling quite irritated (and this was in both English and in Pidgin). That interview did not last very long and I wondered at the end of it what the point was.

The Jazzhole Faaji Sessions - #4

Apologies for posting this late.

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Lekan Babalola, Afro-Jazz percussionist with Cassandra Wilson and Kate Luxmore, a classically trained clarinetist, collaborate with the legendary Faaji master, Fatai Rolling Dollar and master guitarist, Sina Ayinde Bakare, on new songs from their forthcoming album on the Jazzhole Classic recording label.

Lekan Babalola, is a master percussionist and has played with Jazz greats like Roy Ayers, Fela Kuti and Ernest Ranglin. presently, he is touring around the world with Blue Note recording vocalist Cassandra Wilson, but in between gigs has managed to slip into Lagos to work on a number of Jazzhole Classic Recordings.

Lekan, is currently producing the rootsy, high-life guitarist, Alaba Pedro, fusing his Afro-Cuban rhythms on another Jazzhole Recording due for release later this year. The last time these great musicians performed together was during one of the memorable concerts of The Starcomms/Jazzhole Collaboration held a few years back.

Venue: The Jazzhole, 168 Awolowo Rd, Ikoyi
Date: Saturday 31, January 2009
Time: 6 - 9p.m prompt (limited space)
Gate: N1500 per person

NB:Fatai Rolling dollar and Sina Ayinde Bakare, will also be performing together at Salamander Café, Abuja on Thursday 5th of February, 2009.

Theatre@Terra Presents Sizwe Banzi is Dead

Starting this Sunday ...

The classic stage play on the universal search for identity.
When: Every Sunday this February at 3pm and 6pm,
Cost: N2000 for adults
Where: Terra Kulture, Tiamiyu Savage Street, Victoria Island.

Natural Hair Inspiration

I receive occasional emails from my fellow natural haired sisters. Some want advice on where to go to get their natural hair styled, some are just happy to find someone else who wears her hair natural.

I've been bereft of any inspiration lately, so I've taken to browsing the web for ideas of styles and support. Within the last few days, I've found the following:

• How I Freed Myself and Embraced My Locks: Funnily enough, I've visited this writer's hair album (don't worry if you didn't get that; I think only natural haired women chronicle their hair adventures in this way) and she has an amazing amount of hair.


• Black, Kinky and Proud! I was so happy to discover this post and read it joyfully, noting along the way that the author went to my alma mater. ONLY for me to click on the comments and see that I have not only read this post, but my comment was the first. LOL!!!


• Essence 'Natural' Hair Styles 1 and
  Essence 'Natural' Hair Styles 2: Note the sarcasm. I hate it when magazines try to pass off wigs, weaves and anything else that is OBVIOUSLY an artificial hair piece as natural hair. But, it's worth a look for the ideas, if nothing else.


• Then, the best one, which I saved for last is the author Tayari Jones, who wrote the fabulous book The Untelling. She as a Flickr album, which I don't think (hope) she won't mind sharing since it's linked in multiple places from her blog. She has a lot of natural hair and always seems to have the coolest styles.
  Tayari, please share your hair tips. Better still, kindly send your stylist down to Nigeria to help me with my hair.

Wikigender

Here's a new resource: Wikigender.

Wikigender is your online platform to find and exchange information related to gender equality. Users are invited to comment on or improve existing articles, and to create or upload new documents.

Check www.wikigender.org for more information.

The International Museum of Women - IMOW

In the spirit of discovering new online resources, I’d like to share the website of the International Museum of Women (IMOW).The mission of IMOW is, very simply put, "to value the lives of women around the world". This they do, by documenting and showcasing the lives of women all over the world. IMOW is unique among museums, because its exhibitions are available only online.

The latest exhibition is Women, Power and Politics, which chronicles untold stories of women recognising and using their power. It ran from March to December 2008, but the exhibition is permanently archived on the IMOW website, so you can still check out the art and poems, download podcasts, watch videos, and read stories of women doing great things in their various communities.



There are quite a number of resources to view about Nigeria, including an overview of women’s political participation, a write-up about women’s protest against exploitation by oil companies, a look at artist Chinwe Uwatse, who uses traditional Igbo art to celebrate Igbo women’s political activism and a profile of the women’s human rights organisation, BAOBAB.

There is a wealth of information on this site, but it’s not overwhelming for the viewer because you can browse by topics, like Biology, Appearance, Environment, Religion, Voting and Organising.

This is not a collection that invites passive observation, but one that encourages you to do explore, claim and celebrate your power to create positive change. For instance, the exhibition features a toolkit, which compiles resources that can help women engage with power more effectively. I was very excited to see this collection, with categories such as Learn to Lead, Speak Your Mind and Run for Office; I was especially happy about Empower Young Women and Start a Non-Profit Organisation ( Heeeey! I wish I had found this last one a year ago. ).

This is not just an exhibition where you sit back and absorb the information presented. If that wasn’t quite inspiring enough, there is a list of 100 actions that can be taken by women to exercise their power.

There’s obviously been a lot of thought and time put into this exhibition, so it’s not a resource that you will sweep through in one go. Rather, it will be a space that you re-visit from time to time. I certainly will and I’m sure I’ll refer to it in future posts.

Competitions/Funding Opportunities

Apply and share:

Vodafone Challenge - Deadline Feb. 2
The Vodafone Americas Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of its Wireless Innovation Challenge, a new competition that seeks to identify and fund the best innovations using wireless related technology to address critical social issues around the world. Three winners will be awarded prizes of $300,000, $200,000 and $100,000 for unique, late-stage wireless innovations that offer the best potential for creating social change in the areas of education, health, economic development, the environment and access to communication. For more information and to submit, visit: http://challenge.vodafone-us.com/

Intel's Inspire Empower Challenge - Deadline Feb. 17
Intel's INSPIRE•EMPOWER Challenge is looking for ideas from individuals, developers, organizations, and the public at large for using technology to address a global issue in the areas of education, health care, economic development, and the environment. Winners will get $100,000 USD to get their idea off the ground!
For more information, visit: http://ga0.org/ct/A1_e8YS1ET2C/

Out of the Box

This year is about trying new things. LOL! Isn't every year come to think of it?

One of the things I'm doing is discovering some new blogs. For so long, I've had my old faithfuls saved in my blog aggregator. This is actually great when you're busy, however the downside of the upside is that it's so easy to get stuck-in-a-blog-rut, which is where I am now.

I've recently started looking for blogs that chronicle experiences that are as different from mine as possible (while still being an entertaining read, but of course).

So far, I've found Confessions of a Pioneer Woman about Ree, who used to live in L.A. but who is now married to a real-life cowboy (well, cattle rancher, aren't they the same thing?) and lives somewhere "in the middle of nowhere."

Then, there's Being Brazen, which I'm having problems subscribing to at the mo.

Dooce, which is not really a new discovery, but which I've been meaning to add to my blog aggregator and which I just did. So that's kind of new, because now i'll be reading it regularly.

I'm looking forward to reading Tokyo Girl Down Under, the tales of a British woman who has itchy feet (much like myself), who married a German, lived in Tokyo (which I really want to visit) and now lives in Australia.

Project Rungray, because I'm getting into fashion these days.

Then there's Bangladesh From Our View, featuring posts from young female bloggers in Bangladesh.

Well, that's enough for now. I've got to wake-up early tomorrow (today) for my Pilates class.

The New Gym

I recently joined a new gym (Proflex), because my old one (Eko Sauna) had opened a new branch and closed it's former place down. The new spot was out of my way, so I decided to shop around for a new fitness home.

It was a sad day, I admit, when I saw the notice of their impending closure. It's funny, because when I first started going there, I was so unimpressed with the condition of the gym and the state of equipment (mostly out-of-commission). I was happy to pay per visit rather than join the gym, because it meant that I would not be bonded in anyway to *this* place.

However, over time, as these things annoyingly seem to happen, I actually grew to like the place. By the time, it closed, I would say that my feelings for the crummy gym had blossomed even more. Eeek! They hired a new fitness instructor, who decided to push me far beyond my zone of comfort. And, where I had plateaued, I started seeing some changes in my physique. It must have been some really dramatic changes, because all of a sudden, EVERYONE I met would exclaim upon seeing me:

You've lost SO MUCH WEIGHT!! What did you do?

In general though, there was a very laid-back attitude among the gym patrons. Not so, in the new place. Everyone here appears to take their workout so seriously. Everyone seems to be so focused and knows what they are doing. I don't see the 30 second workout -- 20 minute rest, jisting, phone break -- 10 second workout routine that was so common in the old place. The difference is like Lagos and Abeokuta.

Already, I've spotted quite a few defectors from Eko Sauna. So that's where they've been all this time... And I thought they were just being lazy. If only I knew.

The Pursuit of Balance

I was talking today in my office about why many people seem to find more time to spend on social networking sites, like Facebook, as opposed to their blogs (if they have one).

Reasons we came up with was that social networking sites are a very easy way to connect and catch-up with friends; they tend to be less 'work' and more 'fun'. How else can you explain how much time you can spend checking out peoples' photos and commenting on them, when spending the same amount of time composing a blog post is unthinkable. Then, of course, blogging involves a lot of writing and most people I know do not like to write. Add on top, everyone's seemingly busy schedule, well, blogging goes right down to the bottom of the priority list.

This led us to discussing time management tactics. ST shared that she jots down ideas for blog posts on paper, in the bus on her way home, and on her phone. She also types out her posts in MS Word and copies and pastes them into Blogger when she gets online.

I used to do many of these things, but have definitely slacked over the years. Blogging more regularly for me usually meant late nights spent composing posts. Once I decided that I no longer wanted to sacrifice my sleep, that put paid to me almost daily blogging.

This makes me think about how we can achieve balance in life. My conclusion is that real balance is almost impossible to achieve. Something has always got to give. Something suffers slightly. From time to time, we swing between devoting too much time to one thing and less to some others. For me, right now, my blogging has taken a bit of a back seat, but the pendulum will swing back sometime.

Speaking of balance, I came across this article on S&F Online, titled Exploding the Myth of Balance, or Superwoman Bites the Dust, which explores the idea that women can have it all, i.e. a perfectly balanced life in which work and family lie easily alongside. It looks at two women - both feminists - but who made very different career and family decisions, and how they came to terms with their choices. It makes for an interesting read, because it examines that all too familiar situation when our ideals do not align with our realities, and we find that we need to make some difficult decisions.

Watching the Obamas

The world excitedly awaits the swearing-in of the United State of America's first African-American president. Some watch and wait to see what his presidency will bring. Some watch his wife Michelle's sartorial choices.

Prettyfying the F-Word

Making feminism more appealing? An article on Times Online explores this movement.

Women in Business

There are quite a number of funding and micro finance opportunities targeted at women only. Helping women is in. Apart from being part of measures to address gender imbalances, many companies are keen to tap into the potential economic force that they represent.

New York Times examined this trend last December, profiling Goldman Sach's 10,000 Women initiative. As part of this initiative, Goldman Sachs is sponsoring Nigerian women for a four-month Certificate in Entrepreneurial Management program at the
Pan-African University in Lagos.

Visit the 10,000 Women website to read more about the program. I just realised that the latest round of applications ended on Friday, Jan 9. However, you can visit the Pan-African University website to learn about possible future opportunities.

Vintage Ads

Kellog's PEP, originally uploaded by SA_Steve.

I found this album of vintage ads on Flickr. It's incredible the kinds of behaviour and thinking that used to be the norm. Some of these ads are so sexist, that all I could do was laugh out loud.

This particular ad shows how the person who tells the story or who conveys the message has the power to shape or reinforce our ideas of what is acceptable or normal. It's an encouragement to be the storytellers and not mere passive observers in the narratives of our lives.

Anyway, you've come a long way, baby .... or have you?

Paid Blogging Opportunity: Amplify Your Voice

I received an email from Joe Sonka, managing editor of Amplify Your Voice. He's interested in linking up with young women bloggers (age 15 to 24). Sorry to all the 'oldies' on the list, but feel free to pass it on to any women you know who fit the requirements. The position pays $100 a month.

See the details below:

• Amplify Your Voice is a new blog/activist website focused on sexual and reproductive health and rights for young people (http://amplifyyourvoice.org)


• The blog is an interactive community whose content comes directly from young people, tackling society’s approach to sexual health


• They are currently hiring a team of front page bloggers for the site, with a position for a talented young woman from the African continent who is interested in sexual and reproductive health


• The position is for anyone 15-24 years of age, pays $100 a month, and the requirements are 6 blog posts a month.


• The application info is here: www.amplifyyourvoice.org/u/AFY_Joe/2008/9/25/AMPLIFY-WANTS-YOU--to-be-our-front-page-writer

The NEXT Paper du Jour?

I've been hearing about this for a little while, and now NEXT, a new daily newspaper by Pulitzer-winning journalist Dele Olojede has arrived. The Beta version of the website is online. NEXT also includes an SMS platform and an online TV station.

Their mission is not child's play either: they aim to be one of the best newspapers (and news websites) in the world in the next 12 months.

Well, I'll be on the lookout for the newspaper. It will be great if NEXT can make me excited to read the papers again.

A Private Experience: Short Story from Chimamanda

New short story from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on the Guardian website.

My 2009

I used to avidly read the advice columns in newspapers when I was in primary school. Since then, I've grown to dislike the 'advice' they give that comes from a strongly conservative and traditional perspective. And a lot of the suggestions they give are just plain stupid.

I love to read Dear Margo and Dear Abby. I love their no B.S, pull-no-punches approach to advice giving. They make life seem so simple and I realise how many problems are self-inflicted or aggravated by our inability to honestly assess a situation and take a decisive step. Yes, I am very guilty of this myself, so in the spirit of new beginnings, 2009 is my year of honesty, frankness and simplicity.

The Appeal of the Web

Source

Women in Web 2.0

This is a November 2008 article in Fast Company by Saabira Chaudhuri, on influential women in web 2.0. It's a U.S-centric list, but an interesting observation is that a significant number of women in I.T. do not come from a techie background. On this list and from women I know personally, degrees in varied degrees like languages, arts and the social sciences feature prominently.

A common trajectory is to have to learn a particular tool in order to get specific tasks done, which leads to an interest in other tools or a desire to learn more to be more efficient. For many women, I believe, getting things done efficiently and effectively, is a priority because the reality is that we are forced to wear many hats in our lives.

Another observation from this article is the hostile reactions it generated from some men, prompting another write-up, Sexist, Sexist and More Sexist, by Ms. Chaudhuri.

She asks where these feelings come from and concludes that the anonymity which the Web offers allows people to say whatever they truly think. And the fact is that, as we know only too well, sexism is alive and well.

WeMedia Competitions

There are 2 exciting competitions for aspiring social entrepreneurs being run by WeMedia.

The first, ReImagine Media offers the opportunity to win up to $50,000 in seed funding. Sponsored by WeMedia and Ashoka's Changemakers, they are searching for the best new ideas for inspiring a better world through media and technology. These could be either business or non-profit venture ideas.

Learn more and apply at the Changemaker's website. You can also review the competition.

The second, PitchIt offers up to $25,000 in seed capital to the owner of an innovative idea to build a better world through media and technology.
Finalists will be invited to pitch their ideas at next February's WeMedia conference, an annual conference that brings together leaders and ideas shaping media, business, communication, technology, education and participation in the connected society.

Learn more about PitchIt.

Deadline for both is January 21, 2009, 6PM EST.

December Farafina Event

For people who missed last Saturday's Farafina event.

BlogHer '09 International Activist BlogHer Scholarship

So many great programs around. This one is the BlogHer International Activist Scholarship Program.

This scholarship will bring 5 activist women bloggers from around the world to the BlogHer '09 Conference in July 2009 in Chicago, U.S. to present their work.

If you or someone you know is a woman blogger, outside the United States, blogging to raise awareness, consciousness or funding to change their community, region, country or the world, then please nominate yourself or such a blogger to win one of these five scholarships.

Scholarship winner will receive:
# A full 2-day conference pass to BlogHer'09
# Round trip airfare to and from Chicago, IL for the BlogHer '09 annual conference
# 3 nights stay at the Chicago Sheraton during the conference
# The opportunity to present their work during a session at BlogHer '09

The Criteria:
If you review the nomination form you'll see that we're asking you to describe not only the mission of the blog/blogger and how they are affecting change In Real Life, but also how they could benefit from their BlogHer experience.

The deadline is January 31, 2009.

The Origins of Human Hair

Bella Naija features a story on U.K. pop princess Jamelia's investigation into where human hair weaves and wigs come from. I'll give you 1 guess.

Okay, trite remarks aside, the article was interesting. By the end of it, Jameila vows never to wear any hair piece made from actual human hair, because much of the human hair trade involves exploitation of the hair donors - including under-paying for the hair, and getting the hair from supposed cultural practices (Not all human hair trade involves exploitation, mind you).

Some of the commenters believed that since hair grows back, it's no big deal. It's particularly not that serious because many of these women are South Asian and "their hair grows faster than ours." Hmmm, exploitation is exploitation.

I can understand the appeal of weaves: within a couple of hours (and without making any drastic changes to your own hair), you can have a dramatic makeover. What's not to love? However, when it stems from the desire for a more Euro-centric look to the denigration of your natural roots, that does bother me.

A few weeks ago, I made a change from my normal braided look and fixed a human hair weave. The change was great. The tautness all over my head was not. The wispy strands that kept getting into my mouth were most definitely not. Even worse was the heat at the back of my neck (Ore, how smart was it to get a long, heavy weave in this wilting December heat?). However, with hair, we take the good with the bad. After all, as that popular mantra goes: "beauty is pain."

What really spooked me was seeing a long grey strand of hair framing my face. That really brought it home to me that this was someone's real hair. All along, "human hair" to me was little more than a clinical-sounding term, which I could disassociate from being someone's real hair. Does that make any sense?

Then I thought about who this woman was, whose hair I was wearing; and the circumstances under which she gave this hair. I tend to think that there's much more to life than what we see on the surface. Hair is just hair is just hair? I don't know.

Blogging Positively

Here's a Google map showing HIV + bloggers, caretakers and related resources.

Modern Love

I wanted to share Modern Love, one of my favourite columns, published in the New York Times about love and dating in .... what else? .... the modern world.

Kids Vision: Photographic Works by Children

I went to Terrakulture to see Death and the King's Horseman. As usual, I went to the gallery on the 1st floor of the main building to see what was new.

What was new was Kids Vision, an photography exhibition by children which started from Dec 10th and was ending today (the 14th). Lucky for me, I thought! I love photography exhibitions and I am especially interested in seeing how young people view the world.

The exhibition was organised by African Child Development Initiative (ACDI), a new NGO with a vision "to promote lasting improvements in the lives of local under privileged children." This exhibition was the result of a two-part project, where children from a private school in Ikoyi (Lagos Preparatory School) and from a disadvantaged school in Iwaya (Premier Foundation School) were taught the fundamentals of photography and then given cameras to take pictures based on some specific themes: My friends; My family; My home; My school; and Myself. The second part of this project involved giving 200 children disposable cameras to capture images of "their Lagos."

This reminds me of a documentary I watched a few years ago that chronicled a project very similar to this, but which was set in a Calcutta slum. I can't remember the name now, but it won an Academy award for the best foreign film, or was it best documentary (is there such a category?). Well, I'm sure it'll come to me later.

The photographs ranged from the fun, the witty to the poignant and the fascinating. And while I might have expected the subjects or the approach to somehow indicate that the pictures were taken by a child, I have to say that this wasn't the case for me. I think some people (young or old) just have an interesting way of viewing the world and this is reflected in their photographs. And so there were the fair share of photos that made me stop and look closer.

My only grouse was that some of the photos appeared to have been printed out with a regular office printer on copier paper, and so the beauty of the photograph was somewhat diminished. There was however a beautifully printed coffee table book available for purchase. My only other complaint is that I discovered this exhibition too late to let people know about it.

Visit ACDI's website at www.theacdi.org for more info.

NB: Okay, the film whose name I couldn't remember is called Born into Brothels.

Theatre@Terra in December - Death & the King's Horseman

This December's offering is Death and the King's Horseman

Where? Terra Kulture, Tiamiyu Savage St, Victoria Island
When? 3PM & 6PM (Every Sunday in December)

For tickets and inquiries, call 0702 836 7228, 0808 123 9477 or e-mail laspapi@yahoo.com.

Why I Hate Salons

I went to the salon this week to get my hair braided. And I was reminded of all the reasons I hate to go to salons.

This was my 3rd visit within a month, which is unheard of for me, as I prefer to have the stylist come to the house to my hair. Also, I hate the long hours of sitting in uncomfortable positions that doing your hair requires, so I try to do this as infrequently as possible. This means keeping a style for as long as I can get away with.

This week I went to take out a weave that I had put in about 10 days before. This was my first weave since 1996. Let's just say that I am not a big fan of weaves. I can appreciate a well-done weave on someone else, but I feel very artificial with them on me. The Indian curl, which I liked from afar was a logistical nightmare for me; from tangles and knots that required constant brushing to be kept at bay and flyaway strands that kept straying into my mouth. Then I hadn't bargained for the heat at the back of my neck.

Anyway, so I decided to take out the weave and return to the familiar terrain of braids. The weave specialist took out the weave, washed, steamed and blew-dry my hair. As she dried my hair by sections, my hair swelled from a short wet mop to a formidable billowy cotton ball. I think this must have scared off the other stylists, because the lady who was supposed to braid my hair feigned off with an excuse that I didn't quite get. The next lady kept stealing glances at my hair and mumbled that she would be right over as soon as she had finished with the head she was working on. She never did come over.

Eventually, a third lady came over and started on my hair. She worked fast. Then, a second lady came to join her and this was when my annoyance began. As she worked, she complained about my hair being too hard to braid. Initially I kept on reading my book, but at a point I had to ask her why she was experiencing so much difficulty when the first lady apparently wasn't. She responded that she didn't know.

We went on. After about 20 minutes the complaints continued and then I asked her to leave the hair if it was too tough for her. She didn't of course but I really wish she had.

I can't believe how basic customer service principles are so lacking. I mean common sense alone would suggest that it's not a good idea to piss off the client.

And on top of that, the idea that our hair in its natural state should be avoided at all costs ...... Let me not run the risk of sounding like a broken record, because these are not new laments for me.

Well, the braids turned out beautifully and I've been getting a lot of compliments on them. However, in the future I'm definitely not going to sacrifice my peace of mind for a beautiful head of (fake) hair.

Farafine Magazine Event

I'm late with this, as it's been all over the internet already. Click the image to see a bigger version.

Check out the blog, The Farafinist: http://thefarafinist.blogspot.com/

WAXAL Blogging Africa Awards

The WAXAL Blogging Africa Awards are an initiative of Panos Institute of West Africa with the partnership of Highway Africa.

WAXAL (pronounced WA-HAL) means “speak” in Wolof (Senegalese language) and the word captures the essence of the evolution of the worldwide web as a platform for conversation and for the raising of marginalized voices.

For this first edition, the WAXAL Awards will seek to recognize the production of blogs by people working as journalists (from all kind of
media: print, online, radio, TV) and by African organizations working to favour the production of alternative information and citizen expression.

3 categories have been chosen: Best French-speaking Journalist Blog; Best English-speaking Journalist Blog; Best Citizen Journalist Blog produced by an African Organization.

Each winner of the first two categories will receive a cash sum of F CFA 1,000,000 (about 2,000 USD). The organization winner of the third category will receive a cash sum of F CFA 2,000,000 (about USD 4,000).

All the blogs showing a good quality will also be promoted.

Nomination Deadline: 7 December 2008

For more details on conditions of submission of entries, see:
www.highwayafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=53

Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Programme 2009 - Applications

The Oxford Internet Institute is now accepting applications for its OII Summer Doctoral Programme 2009, to be hosted this year by their partners at the Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia.

More info below:

********

OII SDP2009: Brisbane (6-17 July, 2009)
www.oii.ox.ac.uk/teaching/sdp/

The programme aims to stretch the thinking of all students on a range of issues, to provide valuable advice and support for students' thesis research, and to establish a peer network of excellent young researchers. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the thematic focus this year will be on 'Creativity, Innovation and the Internet': our partners on the SDP since 2003, the Creative Industries Faculty is at the forefront of pioneering international research initiatives in creative industries policy, applied creative industries research, digital media design, and the creative and performing arts.

As in previous years, the programme will involve daily research seminars and panel sessions given by leading academics, with students having the opportunity to present their research to their peers in informal seminars. Break-out sessions will allow groups to focus more narrowly on research questions of mutual interest, and time is made available for individual research and informal contact with tutors and fellow students.

Email sdp@oii.ox.ac.uk for more information.

World AIDS Day Film Screening

Another event.

Film director and producer, Lisa Russell invites to the online screening of a film of hers that profiles AIDS activists from Burkina Faso, Uganda, Nigeria and Zambia. It has a well received run on U.S. T.V. network PBS this past summer.

To watch, tune into SnagFilms anytime on Monday, December 1.

For more info, visit her Facebook Invite: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=36013480781.

**************

Lisa's latest project, Myth of the Motherland, is described by her as follows:

"MYTH OF THE MOTHERLAND is intended to address myths and stereotypes about Africa and Africans. Following the creative writing journey of young spoken word poets from NYC--who are armed with notebooks and video cameras--MYTH OF THE MOTHERLAND intends to give "the mic" to African scholars, writers, poets/griots, entrepreneurs and others in order for them to tell their own stories, in their own words."

You can also visit her blog: www.lisarussellfilm.blogspot.com.

World AIDS Day Live Chat

To commemorate World AIDS Day, Rising Voices will be hosting a live chat on Wednesday, December 3rd at 3 p.m. Nairobi time (which I believe is 1pm, Nigerian time):

Read more:

The chat will be facilitated by Serina Kalande and Daudi Were and the discussion will build on a similar chat that Serina and Daudi organized back in April of this year which asked the following question: "how can citizen media be used to supplement and improve the mainstream media's coverage of the AIDS epidemic?

This chat will start out focusing on two Rising Voices grantee projects, REPACTED in Nakuru, Kenya and AIDS Rights Congo based in Brazzaville. We will learn how both organizations have implemented blogging and video outreach programs to spread awareness about their initiatives in AIDS prevention and advocating for the rights of HIV-positive individuals.

Other discussion topics include: What are the factors to weigh when HIV-positive bloggers go public about their status? How can blogging support networks form online? What about online forums? What are other new media tools, such as mapping mashups, that can be used effectively?

If there are other topics that you would like to discuss during the chat, please respond with your ideas. I hope that as many of you as possible can make it.

As a primer to the conversation I encourage you all to take a look at a recent post written by Juliana Rincón on Global Voices about AIDS awareness through video. Especially fascinating is a video podcast produced by QAFBeijing, which interviews South African grand justice Edwin Cameron, the country's only government official who has gone public about his HIV status.

New Finds!!!

See Jane Compute, a blog by an assistant professor in a computing field. So far, so funny. Was I a clueless student, like some of hers? I don't think so!!!

Jhumpa Lahiri on NPR talking about her struggle to feel American. Like the Americans would say, "I love me some Jhumpa Lahiri".

Ushahidi - Tech in the hands of the people

As we continue to explore the role of ICT - and the Internet, in particular - in fighting against violence against women, it's interesting to read about a woman who is using these tools to report violence.

Ory Okolloh, one of the co-founders of Ushahidi, a mash-up used by Kenyans to report the post-election violence and which has since been used in the DRC, is featured in this Forbes article.

Day 1 - 16 Days of Activism against Violence against Women

Day 1 of the 16 days of activism against VAW. Take Back the Tech is running their annual campaign, with activities planned for each day. They are fairly easy to do. Please join in.

Visit TBTT for more information on today's action.

Let me use this opportunity to showcase a project I learnt about at last week's AWID Forum: the Cyber-Quilting Experiment.

What is cyber-quilting? It's a creative way to use internet-based technologies to network social justice organisations, to enable them share resources and work together. This is something that is taking place quite frequently by many groups and individuals already, but I liked the term 'cyber-quilting.' It really seemed to symbolise the symbiotic process of learning, teaching and cooperation that takes place online. Let's see how we can use our email, blogs, websites and social networking site accounts to speak out or do something about violence against women.

technorati tags:
ds_newline="directory">takebackthetech

Updates

- I'm back home and enjoying catching up on sleep.

- I can't believe that we're so close to Christmas and the end of the year. I went to Ikota Shopping Complex on Friday and was momentarily taken aback by the number of shops with Christmas decorations and selling Christmas cards. I can feel harmattan in the air, with the heat and dust. Also, I noticed that there are more ants towards the end of the year. And they're usually trying to climb all over me.

- I took out my recent kinky twists (my signature do) and thinking about my 'Christmas do.' The Christmas do is a fairly new concept for me; never having distinguished between hair styles at any other time of the year. It's time for something completely different.

- I'll be getting the latest season of my beloved favourite show The Wire. And to get ready, I'm re-watching season 4. I'm giddy with anticipation.

- I've been very dedicated with my return to book-reading. I recently finished an anthology of stories about women written by men called We-men (edited by Nduka Otiono and E.C. Osondu), and started Cinnamon Gardens by Shyam Selvadurai. It's a collection of stories set in Sri Lanka, a country that hasn't featured in much of my reading.

- After the FTX workshop, I'm really psyched about learning more about free and open source software, particularly Drupal and Linux. So I guess that will be on my to-do list for 2009.

Ghetto Radio

Ghetto Radio (which consists of the Ghetto Radio station in Nairobi and through the website) set up to reveal the fuller picture of ghetto life and culture by being a channel through which ghetto inhabitants, artists as well as regular inhabitants of slums and ghettos, can tell their own stories (through music, graffiti, blogs, comments, news items, stories, poetry, etc.).

Tack Back the Tech Blogathon

Join the Take Back the Tech campaign against violence against women.

"We want to take over the blogosphere for 16 days.

ka-BLOG! is a 16-day blog fest for the Take Back the Tech Campaign. It is open to anyone and everyone - girls, boys, everyone beyond and more -- who wants to share their thoughts, write poetry and prose, post graphics / pictures, rant, rave, heckle, make snide remarks, stick their tongue out at violence against women, and how online communications can exacerbate or help eliminate VAW.

If you are blogging, don't forget to tag your posts so we can aggregate them on this site, and amplify your voice!"

Learn more about the campaign.

The Tech-Savvy Obama Presidency

Everyone loves Obama, it seems. In particular, everyone it seems is impressed by the tech-savviness of his campaign. I think I've heard it mentioned in every single plenary here at the AWID Forum.

Guardian explores his use of information technology on his campaign and in his presidency - starting with the launch of his weekly broadcast via YouTube to the American public.

FTX & AWID

It's been a little while. But the last 10 days have been rather busy. I feel so lame saying that, because it feels like I'm *always* saying that. Okay, well they have. I've been away at 2 events; the first being the Feminist Technology Exchange and the second being the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) Forum, both in Cape Town.

FTX was a 3-day workshop exploring feminist practices and politics of using technology. So what does that mean in plain English? You can think of it as ways to use existing tools to further women's rights. Yours truly was a trainer on the social networking track and that was fun and inspiring. Since it was an exchange, the model was not so much as a lecture-type format but a sharing of experiences, resources and practices all round.

AWID has been a wonderful experience. I've been wanting to attend it for the last 6 years and finally I'm excited to be here. It's been a packed 3 days, so far. And as with some conferences I've been to, there's a lot to pick from. My one grouse is that the really fabulous sessions are all packed in the mornings and I have to struggle to choose which one to go to. Then in the afternoon, there's nothing I want to go to. Since I am not a trainer, I have been able to relax a bit. My presentation is tomorrow morning, so hoping that goes well. It's the last day of the conference, which could be good or not. People will be tired and 'conferenced out.' Many will want to sleep in or even better go shopping or sight-seeing.

Update: Uzoma Okere

An update on Uzoma Okere, the lady beaten by the naval ratings. Read the article in Punch.

Other bloggers have taken up this story, including No Limit and Funmi Iyanda.

There's also a Facebook group set-up to seek redress, Petition for Justice: Uzoma Okere. There's another one, New Naija, to discuss steps for a better Nigeria, including the Uzoma Okere incident.

So who will protect us from the people who should be protecting us?

A friend, I, called me yesterday and sent me a text about a colleague of her family member being beaten and stripped naked. I didn't have any more information. However today, she sent me a text to Google the name "Harry Arogundade." In the meantime, another friend, A, called me to ask if I had heard about the lady who was beaten up. I could only think back to the info from I.

So, I checked online and found the story on the Punch website. The victim, a lady Uzoma Okere, was dragged out of her car by the "boys" of naval rear admiral Arogundade, beaten and her clothes torn for allegedly not moving fast enough out of the way of the rear admiral's convoy.

This is one of the aspects of life in Nigeria that irks and angers one: this "big-man" syndrome and flexing of muscles. The police and military convoys, which demand that cars manned by civilians leap out of the path, are an utter bane in the life of Lagosians, where the endless traffic jams with cars lines in tight succession on all sides makes this inconvenient, not to mention impossible many times.

Apparently the lady Uzoma was blamed for holding on to the men as they beat her with a horse whip and the butts of their guns.

More info on The Village Square and a video on CNN iReport.

Theatre in Lagos

It's good to see more people taking an interest in the arts. I went to see The Lion and the Jewel at Terra Kulture today. And it was refreshing to see more than 10 people in the audience. Theatre@Terra has gradually gained in momentum since its inception a little over a year ago. However, I remember the early days when there could be 5 people in the audience. I guess what we lacked in numbers, we tried to make-up in terms of audience reaction.

At today's 3PM performance there were about 33 people (yes, I counted) and I am sure there were even more people at the 6PM showing because I think that tends to get more of a crowd.

Although the numbers might not appear worth jumping over the moon for; particularly for the director and producer who have slaved to pull the production together, I think it is somewhat encouraging. Especially considering the numbers of people I know who have any interest in the theatre.

Last Sunday I went to see Aluta & Osusu Owo, a dance-drama production by the Crown Troupe of Africa at Studio 868. Crowne Troupe used to perform the Bukateria series every 3rd Sunday of the month at Terra Kulture, before Theatre@Terra took over. I wasn't sure what happened to them, but a friend told me that they have been performing at the National Theatre for a while. Now they are extending their performances for the island crowd at Studio 868 (on Bishop Aboyade Street, VI). This takes place every last Sunday of the month (I believe) at 3PM and 5PM.

I really enjoyed it last week. Although both featuring strong elements of music and dance, the Crowne Troupe's production is very different from what you will see at Theatre@Terra. CT features skits and shorter pieces as opposed to one story. The pieces are intended to be a witty and sometimes sarcastic commentary on life in Nigeria. The performances also featured the folk music group Nefertiti, as well as a troupe of children dancers and drummers called Footprints.

There were not many people at the show though - maybe 10 (and I have a feeling most were family and friends of the performers). I suppose it takes time to build up some momentum. Word-of-mouth seems to be the most powerful way to draw people to a show, so I'm telling you to go if you can. I'll put up the dates of the next shows.

Arts Events

This is for the art lovers ....

Kaleidoscopes
New works by Moyo Ogundipe @ Terra Kulture Art Gallery, Tiamiyu Savage Street, VI, Lagos
Date: Nov 1-6 2008

MUSON 2008 Festival

The Divorce (a play)
Date: Sat, Nov 8 2008
Venue: AGIP Recital Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos
Time: 3:00PM, 6:00PM
Gate Fee: N500 (students), N1,000 (everyone else)

Choral Concert
The MUSON Festival Choir, conducted by Emeka Nwokedi, will be performing excerpts from Mass in B minor by J.S. Bach and Choral Africana
Date: Sun, Nov 16 2008
Venue: AGIP Recital Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos
Time: 6:00PM
Gate Fee: N500 (students), N1,000 (everyone else)

My Reading Updates

I finished a book today!!!! You don't know what a big deal that is for me these days. For me, it's blogworthy! Although, now that I think about it, I do feel like I recently completed another book..... What was that?

Okay, I remember now. It was The 'Girl Entrepreneurs' by Ibukun Awosika. I'll write about that soon. A few minutes ago I finished Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. Although I'm a fan of her work, I hesitated before buying this book, because I thought "Short stories! Again?

I thoroughly enjoyed The Namesake and was hoping that her next book would be a novel. However, some of the stories in UE were almost novel-like in scale and atmosphere - if that makes any sense; especially Hema and Kaushik, which makes up half the book. I'll write more about it later.

I attended a book reading today, though I should say "attended" with inverted commas, because really I arrived at the end of what appeared to be a vigorous discussion. However, I was just in time to talk with the author of the day, Ekene Onu, who wrote the book The Mrs. Club. I met her once back-in-the-day in Boston. I also used to read her e-zine, Nouveau Africana, which I looked forward to with almost the same degree of anticipation that I awaited my monthly Essence.

She recognised my face and I told her that we had met in Boston. Then, she asked me if I was Ore of Ore's Notes? I love it when that happens, because it's always so unexpected. She told me that she loves my blog and reads it regularly. Well, well, that was rather nice, because I tend to forget that a few people check in on this blog from time to time. I typically feel like I'm talking to myself. Anyway, she wrote a cool note in my copy of The Mrs. Club, which will be the next book on my list.

National ICT Youth Rally – Nov 7, 2008

The 2008 edition of the National ICT Youth Rally is scheduled to hold on Friday, November 7, 2008, at the National Stadium, Surulere in Lagos. The theme is "Nigerian Youth: Plugging into the ICT Revolution".

The National ICT Youth Rally is the principal gathering by and for the Nigerian youths for the purpose of bridging the digital divide. It offers a unique opportunity for brainstorming, sharing of ideas, interaction, mentoring and display of ICT projects/works by young people in the country.

Activities at the National ICT Youth Rally 2008 include the finals of the ICT Quiz Contest, ICT debate, SMS competition, workshop/special project exhibition, scholarship/sponsorship opportunities and special guest appearance from Nollywood and the music industry.

Ernest Ndukwe, executive Vice Chairman, NCC, is billed to deliver the keynote address while Prince Ademola Adeniji-Adele, commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development, Lagos State, a seasoned technocrat and youth development enthusiast would serve as chief host.

Read more about the event.

PRI Social Entrepreneurship Podcast

Another podcast on social entrepreneurship. This one is brought to us by PRI and supported by the Skoll Foundation (www.skoll.org).

Do We Still Need Telecentres?

Here's an article based on a report commissioned by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC). The report, written by wireless expert Ian Howard, explores sustainable ICT and the need for wireless internet access for development (W4D).

The article "Rural communication: Is there still a need for telecentres now that there are mobile phones?" is also available in French and Spanish.

Fellowship Opportunity @ Stanford

The Center for African Studies at Stanford University requests applications for the African Leadership and Economic Development Fellowship.

Fellows will receive training in economic development from the Ford Dorsey Program in International Policy Studies. Two fellowships will be offered. Awards will support tuition for this two-year master’s degree. A stipend will be included to help cover housing, books and other expenses. Upon graduation, fellows will be expected to return to their respective countries of origin where they will take leadership positions and make significant contributions to their country’s economic challenges.

Eligibility: To be considered for this fellowship, all applicants must be from Africa. They must be admitted to the Master of Arts program in International Policy Studies. Applicants must possess strong academic records and demonstrate commitment to economic development in Africa. We especially welcome applications from women.

How to Apply: Visit http://ips.stanford.edu for details on how to apply to the Ford Dorsey Program in International Policy Studies at Stanford University.

African Women Bloggers

Looking for information online can be so difficult. It's so easy to get sidetracked with one thing on the other. Reading the Technorati report, I decided to check the page for my blog there and saw that Ore's Notes was listed among Afrigator's top 45 female African bloggers (and just one of 3 blogs by Nigerian women).

Of course, this is drawn from blogs listed on Afrigator (Afrigator is an African social media aggregator), which is dominated by South African blogs (I used it last year to search for blogs by African women).

One good thing from this discovery is finding some new blogs to peruse.

Technorati State of the Blogosphere 2008 Report

I'm reading up about the use of blogging to build, promote and sustain social movements - particularly among women's groups. It's hard to find truly concrete examples of the use of blogging to do this and what I have found is anecdotal (nice, but if you have examples, please forward them to me0.

I am reading Technorati's 2008 State of the Blogosphere report. Their findings are not so surprising.

On a global level:

• Two-thirds are male
• 50% are 18-34
• More affluent and educated than the general population
  
  • 70% have college degrees
  • Four in ten have an annual household income of $75K+
  • One in four have an annual household income of $100K+
• 44% are parents

48% of bloggers live on North America; 27% in Europe; 13% in Asia; 7% in South America; 3% in Australia; and a measly less than 1% in Africa.

Of course, this is based on who responded to their survey, and so is not necessarily a true reflection of the actual number of bloggers.

However, if these figures are anything to go by, then blogging emerges as a still elitist activity and you can understand why blogging is having limited real effects particularly in Africa and among women.

The Future Awards: Nominations Extended

The Future Awards is a celebration of young people by young people. The event was recently launched at Studio 868 with nominations formally declared open. Judges for this year include Mo Abudu (Moments with Mo), Bolanle Austen-Peters (Terra Kulture), Siene Allwell-Brown (Nigeria LNG), with Dr. Reuben Abati remaining as the Chair.

The original deadline for nominations has been extended until at least Nov 10th, so if you know of any inspiring and accomplished young man or woman (ages 18 to 31, I believe), please send them in via the website, www.thefuturenigeria.com.

The winners will be unveiled at the awards ceremony on the 18th of January, 2009, in Lagos .

I met Emilia Asim-Ita, the Future's PR Director online and am yet to meet her. I finally saw what she looks like when she appeared on Today with STV. She now hosts a segment on books and reviewed Madeline Albright's autobiography. This morning, she appeared with the Future's Operation Director, Adebola Williams talking about the event.

I'm so glad that celebrations like this are emerging, where we are finally learning to appreciate young people more, especially in a culture that *still* believes that young people should be seen and not heard - despite so much evidence that we are capable of so much.

10th Lagos Book and Art Festival

Theme: Literacy and the Global Knowledge Society

Date: November 7-9, 2008

Venue: Exhibition Hall, National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos

Key Literary Events: Panel Discussions, Dialogues, Conversations, Arthouse Parties

Details on www.lagosbookartfestival.com; or visit the CORA secretariat at 95 Bode Thomas Street, Surulere, Lagos; or contact Toyin (0805.762.2415) or Jummai (0802.368.3651).

I attended last year and it was fun. The panel discussion I attended (the topic was on Diaspora writing) was on was hugely entertaining with the speakers passionately defending their points of view. There were also lots of stands to browse. And in my great tradition, I bought books that I still haven't read yet.

Oxford Internet Institute: MSc in Social Science of the Internet

The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) has announced its new Masters program in Social Science of the Internet. See below for more info:

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We are delighted to announce that the application process for our new MSc in Social Science of the Internet is now open. The first application deadline for the course is 21 November 2008 (for start in October 2009). The next deadlines are: 23 January 2009 / 13 March 2009. The same deadlines apply to our DPhil course in Information, Communication and the Social Sciences.

We are seeking applications from outstanding candidates, who have already achieved excellence in their chosen field and who display deep intellectual and practical curiosity about the many social aspects of ICTs. Further information about these courses, including course structure and reading lists, potential funding for students, and application process, are available at: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/teaching/

Best wishes,
Dr Victoria Nash
Director of Graduate Studies
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/teaching/

'Be Bold' Podcast: Social Entrepreneurship

If you've heard the term "social entrepreneurship" and are unclear what it means; or if you have heard the term and are thinking about related career options, here is a podcast that you might want to check out.

I haven't listened to it yet (my currently highly unsatisfactory internet service won't permit me to), but Echoing Green, the organisation behind this podcast, are great supporters of social entrepreneurs (infact it's all they do), so it can't be half-bad. If you are able to listen to it, please share your feedback. It'll be much appreciated.

Internet Woes

My internet access has been so patchy this past week that reading and responding to emails has been virtually impossible. Seeing as it would take on average 7 minutes to open an email (IF I was lucky), I only selected those emails that appeared to be absolutely important. Btw, this is the Visafone that I just got hooked up with. My Starcomms connection at work has been just as bad (and it's usually the worse one). Then, my Dad's 21st Century was also not working, so I assumed it was a general problem. Until a friend mentioned that MTN's 3G service is working just fine. Hmmmm......

Anyway, FINALLY after only 1 week of being virtually offline, I find my service seemingly working okay (at 1.25am, thank you very much)! I called Visafone's customer service to harass them anyway for good measure. The lady I spoke with said they are "experiencing some downtime." Whatever that means. However she was sure that "it would be working soon." Again, whatever. I asked her if their customers would be compensated for a week of service paid for, with no service received. She said that she was sure that "they would do their best."

I hope this week is a better one, internet-wise.

Gbenga Sesan is Awarded an Ashoka Fellowship

It's a season of winning for Nigerians. I just had to share this great piece of news. Gbenga Sesan, executive director of Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN), one-time IT youth ambassador and ardent ICT champion has been honoured with an Ashoka fellowship.

Ashoka is a global organisation that supports leading social entrepreneurs in the work they do to make the world a better place. Fellows are selected following a rigorous screening process and become part of a prestigious group of changemakers.

Congrats Gbenga on this incredible achievement.

What a Day

What a day! Most of it was spent sitting in a car in traffic. I can honestly say that I got almost not work done today. There was crazy traffic on the mainland; really bad traffic on the way from the mainland to the island; and crippingly slow traffic on the island. I really don't know what else to say. And Lagosians lamenting about the traffic feels as cliched as British people talking about their weather. I ended theday in the gym and worked harder than I have in a while, so I feel less stressed and ready to take on the rest of the week.

Here's a series called Nigerian Women Speak Out on the PBS website. It's rather old, but still makes for some interesting reading. Interviews include Hauwa Ibrahim and Chris Anyanwu.

Chimamanda Wins MacArthur Genius Grant

Old news now. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was awarded a 'genius grant' from the MacArthur Foundation. The fellowship, which comes with a grant of $500,000 spread over the next 5 years, is awarded annually to "support individuals across all disciplines who show exceptional merit and promise of continued creative work".

More info is available on the Guardian and MacArthur Foundation websites.

Atrracting Women to FOSS

It's been a busy blog morning. I was sent this article entitled Ten Easy Ways to Attract Women to your Free Software Project. It explores the ways in which women are discouraged from participating and contributing more to free and open software software (FOSS) projects. It has implications and useful knowledge for projects beyond FOSS and makes for good reading.

Google's Project 10 to the 100th

Social Enterpreneurship seems to be very in right now. Google has launched Project 10 ¹⁰⁰ (pronounced "Project 10 to the 100th", aka "googol" - what should have been the company's name), which is a call for ideas to change the world, in the hope of helping as many people as possible. They are committing up to $10 million (USD) to fund 5 ideas.

This should be a big idea which a huge reach. Read more and apply.