TEDWomen Talk: Liza Donnelly 'Drawing Upon Humour for Change'

At the recent TED Women conference, cartoonist Liza Donnelly talks about humour as a tool for social change.

Inspiring Woman: Tosin Ototoju

Photo Credit: Jide Odukoya for BellaNaija

I just read this interview with Tosin Otitoju on BellaNaija. Tosin is an incredibly accomplished woman whose story is very inspiring.

She graduated from Queens College, Lagos in 1996 with the best SSCE results in the entire country, graduated top of her Electrical Engineering class at Howard University in the U.S and was accepted to a PhD program at CalTech. On top of that, she was awarded a national honour in 2004.

Despite achieving immense academic success, she had the courage to take a break from her PhD program to explore other interests. So many of us get caught up by the trappings of success and stick with life choices which we no longer find fulfilling.

GenderIT.org CSW Newsletter: Can Technology Transform Women's Reality?

As the next United Nation's annual Commission on the Status of Women starts on February 22, the gender and ICT website genderIT.org releases its special CSW newsletter.

This GenderIT.org's special CSW edition brings together some of the work that
the Association for Progressive Communications is doing on these issues - including the latest recommendations on science and technology from the experiences of women and girls on the ground, how girls in the Congo are using SMS to stop teacher abuse and if are Simputers in rural women´s hands are empowering or generating e-waste.

The 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will be held in New York from 22nd February to 4 March 2011. The theme for this year's session is Access and participation of women and girls in education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women's equal access to full employment and decent work.

The National Stadium

Image credit: http://www.skyscrapercity.com

I paid a visit to the National Stadium today. My previous visits had been to attend Sunday services organised by God Bless Nigeria.

Today’s visit was actually sports-related. Following my recent decision to start a swim club, my love for the sport bubbled-up afresh within me and I decided to buy a kick board. A kick board is a rectangular board that swimmers (typically learners) hold on to while they practice their kicks. More experienced and competitive swimmers also use it for exercise and to improve their leg movements.

I’d been scouring Lagos’ sports shops (at Silverbird, the Palms, City Mall, the various Nike stores) looking for one to no avail. On a chance suggestion to try to stadium, I decided to give it a shot.

As I entered the complex, I looked around for the sports SHOP and instead I saw a square of several sports SHOPS. I was spoilt for choice. My sister and I parked and went into the first shop. They had a kick board … a child-sized board. We went into the next shop. The same story. Don’t adults use kick boards? Maybe they can all swim. Or more realistically – from my experience – maybe they can’t and can’t be bothered to learn.

Since we had a lot of options, I eventually found what I was looking for in one of the shops. I also met an acquaintance looking for tennis whites. The most amazing discovery for me was that this gem for sports people exists in Lagos. Each shop stocked a plethora of sports accouterments from equipment like punching bags, weights, balls, rackets, to machinery like treadmills to clothing to accessories like trophies and medals. Not only that, for the large part, the sales staff also seemed knowledgeable about their products. Then, of course the prices beat those I’d seen in island shops hands down!

The stadium has certainly fallen into quite a state of disrepair. Nevertheless, it was vibrant with activity as people abounded rollerblading, playing football, taking tennis lessons and running around the complex. It was heartening to see these activities even though institutional sports in Nigeria is much neglected and under-funded. One simple contribution that we can make – location permitting – is to check out and use the stadium facilities and to support the shops.

Swimming Blogs

I found a list of top 50 swimming blogs as ranked by Guide to Online Schools.

The Swim Club

Photo Credit

After my swimming lessons ended last November, quite unbelievably, I have not swum a single stroke. How that happened is rather like a mirage to me, but the hard fact is that it’s due to work (an incredibly busy schedule, not enough hours in the day – that kind of thing …).

My sole form of exercise these days is walking, which I do for 1 to 2 hours every Saturday morning. A friend joined my sister and I today and we discussed the local running/walking club, which meets unfailingly every Saturday to sprint/amble/crawl (it’s open to different levels of ability) around our estate.

I mentioned that I wished for a similar association for swimmers. My sister – ever practical – retorted “Well, why don’t you start one?”

Hmmm. Now, why didn’t I think of that?

So, I started to mull over the idea. Well, why not? The lack of a readily available (and let’s be honest, cheap) pool might be an obstacle. Then another potential problem could be that I know far more people who cannot swim than who can. What else? Well, among the few women I know who can swim, most don’t because they’re averse to ruining their carefully coiffed hair dos and often monstrously expensive weaves. On top of that, Thursday’s surprise and very heavy downpour reminded us that the rainy season is on its way.

However, once I’m sold on an idea I tend to look beyond the challenges and trust that God will make a way.

So, the long and short of this is that I’ve decided to start a swimming club. What will we do, one might wonder? You mean, aside from swimming?

Swimming is a wonderful activity, but one that can get boring when done alone and frequently. Often once I find my rhythm, I enjoy the routine of the strokes, however some days I swim a lap or two and then can’t get out of the pool fast enough.

Swimming with other people would certainly be a lot more fun – especially when you’re there to swim and not just chit-chat. Though if you want to chit-chat too, there could be time for that. Structured routines and healthy competition could improve swimming performance. Then, we could share techniques too. The benefits are endless …..

So, now all we need are people who love to swim and somewhere to swim. I suppose an idea of how to go about this would help too.

I follow several swimming blogs and some mention swimming groups. My favourite blogs are:

www.swimwellblog.com
rorylbuck.wordpress.com
swimmingiseasy.blogspot.com
www.goldmedalmel.typepad.com

If anyone has ideas, resources and favourite blogs/sites to check out, I would certainly love to hear them.

What's Reading?

I recently finished No Country For Old Men, which I really enjoyed. It was a taut, fast read - just the way I like them. It was my first Cormac McCarthy book and a good introduction to his writing. However, from what I gather, it's different from the rest of his books which meander their way through telling a story - or sometimes not, from one of the book reviews I read.

Then, I started Lionel Shriver's So Much for That, which I could not wait to read. Unfortunately, that experience was not what I expected. It was evident from the pages I read, that Ms. Shriver was passionate about the provision of quality, affordable health-care, which many would say is not available in the United States (where the book is set). However, her disdain for the American health-care system, which disenfranchises people with no money (unlike the U.K's National Health Service) was sharply evident in some of the characters' lengthy, impassioned rants. It was a bit too much for me and I've since put the book aside for now. I enjoy it when points are made a bit more subtly through the plot, as opposed through the dialogue.

Since I love Lionel Shriver's writing, I will go back to it at some point. I have since started what's her most famous book, We Need to Talk About Kevin. I am also reading Marian Christy's Conversations: Famous Women Speak Out.

I particularly want to highlight the new book by Nigerian writer Teju Cole. His first book Every Day For the Thief was published a few years ago in Nigeria by Cassava Republic. Now, he has his big international outing, Open City coming out this month, published by global publishing giant Random House. Read an interview with him on the literature social networking site Goodreads.

Contest: Blogging on Development Policy

The Communication Initiative (The CI) and the BBC World Service Trust (WST) invite entries for their first contest for blogging on development policy, soliciting persuasive critiques and encouraging discussion on development policy issues. CI Network members from around the world (as well as those who wish to become CI Network members) are requested to submit their opinion pieces to the collaborative blog at Communication, Media, and Development Policy.

THE CONTEST: OVERVIEW

The principal audience for the blogs is development policy makers and those interested in engaging with them. These include people working in donor and multilateral organisations, "mainstream" development non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil society organisations, governments, and others who inform development policy. The aim of this contest is to highlight the relevance of media and communication to wider development policy concerns, and particularly governance concerns.

Bloggers must be/become registered members of The CI Networks in order to participate in this contest and process. If you are not registered please do so at www.comminit.com/user/register.

The top 10 outstanding bloggers from the network, as judged by The CI/BBC WST, will receive a stipend of 240 UK pounds each to support them writing 3 additional blog posts between March 15th and June 15th 2011.

The top 2 controversial bloggers from the network, as judged by The CI/BBC WST, will receive a stipend of 50 UK pounds to acknowledge their skill in inspiring dialogue.

For more information, please see www.comminit.com/en/node/328581/36 or contact Deborah at dheimann@comminit.com.

Find Your Polling Unit on the Nigerian Map

Voter registration for the upcoming Nigerian elections start on January 15th.


Visit the Enough is Enough Nigeria website to find the nearest polling unit to you. The polling units are shown on a Google map with information provided by INEC. To find your polling unit, zoom in by using the + sign and zoom out with the -. You can navigate up, down, left and right with the buttons above the +/-. Please note that the INEC map is work in progress, so all polling units have not been included.

Check the EiE site for more information.

Women and Mobiles

Watch interviews with some of the presenters from MobileActive.org's Women and Mobiles Tech Salon. How can mobile phones help women around the world improve their lives? And who are some of the women working in this amazing field? The tech salon looked at both questions, bringing together women in the M4D field to present their work.

Lessons from a Radio Competition

What a great start to the new year (from December 1, I'm already living in the new year)! I entered a radio competition on Thursday on Smooth FM for free memberships to a gym. My current gym subscription ends in January and I have been thinking about whether to renew or go somewhere else.

After answering a ridiculously easy question, I knew that the winner would be selected randomly from a pool of people who got the right answer.

So much for that, I thought. Afterall some people seem to have all the luck with raffle draws and the such; and some (like myself) hardly do.

So it was a huge surprise to get a call today from the station saying that I had been shortlisted for the prize and to stay glued to the station, as the winner would be announced in 5 minutes.

That was excitement enough for me, but then as the minutes ticked by, I started to think that maybe the joy would end there.

Until my phone rang and it was the station again!! And then I was on air screaming like an unsophisticated loon. I had won a free membership to Eko Sauna - I don't know how long for as the line was crackling and of course I had to turn down my radio volume. But it doesn't really matter. It's exciting to win something, especially when it's an unexpected win. And, best of all, it meets a need that I have now. It's perhaps silly to take so much away from winning a radio competition, but it makes me feel that when we truly desire something and are open enough to go after it (in this case, entering the competition), something wonderful could happen.

Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook COO) on the Lack of Women in Leadership Positions

Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook COO) talks about why there are so few women in leadership psoitions and what needs to be done to address the situation.

The Options of a Woman

Thanks, O, for the link to this beautiful article by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that neatly captures the dilemma of the modern Nigerian woman. Or rather the modern Nigerian woman who is frustrated by the pervasive system of gender inequality that typically relegates her several places behind her menfolk.

Do you react angrily to every attempt to 'put you in your place' or do you demurely defer to others?

Notes from the 3rd African Feminist Forum

The 3rd African Feminist Forum took place in Dakar, Senegal in October 2010. Here are some reflections from the meeting.

MUSON Jazz Festival

Imole Africa

It’s was a wonderfully artsy weekend for me. There was so much for me to feed my senses on.

First off, there were 2 big jazz events taking place this week: the Lagos Jazz Series and the MUSON Jazz Festival.

I would have loved to attend both, but there’s only so much time so I opted for the MUSON Jazz Festival. I had heard of none of the acts, but that was no deterrent to me. Together with a friend we went to take in the best of the scene.

The evening started off with Yemi Sax playing the national anthem. Then OluJazz, a saxophonist, covered some popular songs including hits by Asa and TuFace.


My friend asked me if that was jazz, which made me wonder what makes music jazz. Obviously, I believe I know what jazz sounds like and can quite confidently pull it out of a line-up of close affiliates.

However, I remember when the lounge Jazz Sessions was open in Lagos. For the few months that it was in operation it drew huge crows – especially considering the deplorable state of that stretch of Ozumba Mbadiwe Way at the time. The name of the lounge would suggest that the music played there was jazz. However, what I heard whenever I was there were live covers of popular songs, which made me wonder if it’s jazz when the music is played by a live band. (Obviously I know this is not true, but it feels sometimes like that’s a big criterion around here). But I digress.

OluJazz did a great job warming-up the audience and so I felt quite indignant on his behalf when the MC for the evening kept calling him “YemiJazz.”


Pure and Simple

The guitar duo, Pure and Simple, were up next and I was endeared to them almost immediately, because they both appeared nervous. Their playing was fantastic and their “short” pieces were actually not, but rather lengthy but accomplished renditions.

There were a lot of artistes on the line-up and I guess all the acts must have been given a time limit, so I wondered about the need for the MC to move onto the stage and almost drag some of the acts off the stage. It was quite distracting to see him wandering amidst the playing artistes and it did not make for a very dignified exit for many of the acts. However, it did keep things moving along quite nicely without that prolonged wait period that you often get at concerts with multiple artistes as they move their staff on and off the stage.

Mike Osadolo was a musician whom I recognized from my church and from an evening at Motherland. He confidently took charge of the audience with his dynamic playing.

I couldn’t really describe Imole Africa’s music well enough, except to say that it sounded simultaneously deeply Yoruba and avant guard. I especially loved the first piece they played, which sounded like claps of thunder set to music.

Biodun & Batik

Then came Biodun & Batik, which was probably my favourite act of the evening. It was amazing, but somehow I loved all the songs they played. Biodun is the band leader and Batik is the band and together they played both covers and original compositions. I felt I had to run out and buy their CD (alas I wasn’t able to, but I have a birthday coming up so that’s a gift idea. ☺).

Herbert Kunle Ajayi (HKA) was maybe my next favourite act. Both he and B&B played what sounded the most like traditional jazz, but with a freshness that kept them from sounding boring.

Ayinke Martins

There was a lot of anticipation built-up for the final two acts of the evening: Ayinke Martins and Lekan Babalola. Ayinke Martins was the big jazz vocalist of the night and had a voice like velvet; while Lekan Babalola had the biggest band of the night with correspondingly majestic melodies. Unfortunately, I could not stay until the end of the concert. At 11.30pm, Lekan Babalola was outlining his repertoire and it sounded like he planned on being there until 1am. I had an early start the next morning and regretfully took my leave.

It was an extremely satisfying evening for the humble sum of N2,000, however the program notes showed that due to the difficulty in raising money for the event, it very nearly didn’t take place. I felt sad about that, because the big companies appear to be stumbling over themselves to sponsor comedy and reality shows. So kudos go to the companies who did support the jazz festival. I look forward to next year being even better.

Omenka Gallery presents: Reconstruction in Reverse

Omenka Gallery presents Reconstruction in Reverse, a photographic exhibition.

Reconstruction in Reverse is an exciting and challenging exhibition analyzing the role and impact each individual Nigerian has on our collective identity as a nation and how we define ourselves in an increasingly contemporary world.

RECONSTRUCTION in REVERSE or deconstruction brings together portraits of the famous, infamous and non famous, but just as important! The intimacy of portraiture will enable the audience to gain an increased perspective and understanding on issues relating to self discovery and awareness.

The exhibition employs deconstruction as a strategy of critical analysis and seeks to challenge the displaced and misinterpreted Nigerian identity forced on us by addressing commonly held social stereotyping and assumptions. In constructing the photographic identities of the subject many of the portraits on view are taken in various environments and situations which provide a graphic beauty and simplicity as well as a distinctive narrative content in the theatricality of human action.

The exhibition will feature thirteen of Nigeria’s prominent contemporary photographers including Adolphus Okpara, Ebikware Okiy, Isaac Emokpae, Jide Adeniyi-Jones, Jide Alakija, Kelechi Amadi-Obi, Lolade Cameron-Cole, Mudi Yahaya, Nnamdi Ijiomah, Tam Fiofori, TY Bello, Uche James-Iroha and Yetunde Ayeni-Babaeko.

Exhibition started on November 6 and ends on November 12 at Omenka Gallery, 24, Ikoyi Crescent, Ikoyi, Lagos. RSVP: +234 (0)803.312.9276, (0)808.366.1101

Apply: Davis Scholars Program (U.S.) for JSS 3 - SSS 1 students

The Emma Willard School for girls in the United States and the Shelby Cullom Davis family have established a program to attract highly motivated, potential future leaders.

For the 2011-2012 year, the Davis family has arranged to provide two $20,000 scholarships to qualified international candidates. Grants are needs based and, if a student qualifies, she may be eligible for financial assistance up to an additional $25,000. Students may be enrolled in the 10th and 11th grades (equivalent to SSS 1 and SSS 2).

Upon graduation from Emma Willard School, Davis Scholars are eligible for continued scholarship support at any of the 89 Davis United World Scholars colleges and universities in the United States.

Emma Willard is one of the U.S' preeminent girls' schools, grades 9-12 (JSS 3 - SSS 3), fostering in each young woman a love of learning, the habits of an intellectual life, and the character, moral strength, and qualities of leadership to serve and shape her world.

Find out more about the Emma Willard School: www.emmawillard.org. Contact Jeffrey Pilgrim, the director of admissions (jpilgrim@emmawillard.org) for more information.

Ghana Internet and Mobiles Entrepreneurs Forum‏

The PearlRichards Foundation and the University of Ghana Business School, Ghana , are organizing a one day forum on Internet and mobile entrepreneurship in Ghana. The forum seeks to showcase the innovative use of new media – internet and mobiles – by entrepreneurs to address the socio-economic and development challenges in Ghana. This year’s theme is Building Ghana through Internet Enterprises and Mobile Innovations.

The forum has two interrelated objectives, namely:
1. To offer participants an opportunity to share, discuss and learn from individual career experiences and profiles of Ghanaian Internet and Mobile entrepreneurs.
2. To educate participants on how to use Internet and mobile resources and applications to support and promote their creative ventures.

The forum will take place on November 5, 2010 at the University of Ghana Business School. GIMEF 2010 will encourage open minds, critical thinking, self-examination, creativity, and sharing ideas.

Technology entrepreneurs presenting at the forum include: Excelle Ghana, Silky Productions, Mobile Content Ghana, Txt Ghana, Funeralsinghana and Esoko Ghana. Visit TESS Africa, www.tessafrica.org to read more.

The forum is a pre-conference towards the Africa Internet and Mobile Entrepreneurs Conference in Uganda, December 10 (www.afiec.com). GIMEF and AFRIEC are both events organized by the Technology Entrepreneurs Seminar Series (TESS Africa www.tessafrica.org). TESS aims at inspiring African Youth and Graduates into Technology Entrepreneurship and it is supported by the PearlRichards Foundation (www.pearlrichards.org), PC Tech Magazine (www.pctechmagazine.com) and Uganda Telecom.

We look forward to your participation.

Richard Boateng, PhD and Longe Olumide, PhD
Forum Conveners

Click here to read online.

The Group by Mary McCarthy

I finished reading Mary McCarthy’s The Group over the weekend and I have to say that it is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time to come.

It follows eight graduates of the exclusive American college for women – Vassar – as they find their places in life. Except for the fact that The Group is set in the 1930s (and written in the ‘60s), you could almost be mistaken into thinking that it is set in modern day New York, which just goes to show that the issues that women face has changed very little (careers, relationships, marriage).

Kay, Dottie, Pokey, Polly, Libby, Priss, Lakey and Helen are very different women and although most of them share a solid friendship with the others, some relationships are rather more tenuous and their very existence speaks more to university’s ability to bring together people from very different economic and social classes, who might not otherwise meet or become friends.

The book doesn’t pull any punches at all and deals quite frankly with issues of sex, marriage, infidelity, motherhood, ambition, rape, mental illness, death and even sexual orientation. It might seem too much for one book, but with each chapter focusing on aspects of each woman’s life, it never feels overwhelming or less than believable, because you get pulled into the character’s life and worldview.

The book starts off with Kay’s wedding and ends seven years later at a funeral and during that time, the friends have matured and lost some of their post-college shiny-eyed idealism. In her foreword, Candace Bushnell writes: “As Vassar graduates, the women of The Group believe they will change the world. What they discover is that not only can they not change the world, but their survival still depends on their acceptance of being ‘the second sex.’” To put it concisely – reality bites!

I liked this book because it explored many issues that are dominant in my life – and every other woman. I also enjoyed it, because I could see myself in one or more of the characters (I identified most with Polly).

It wasn’t a quick read for me, because it was dense with description, which did not lend itself to reading within the odd 10 or 15 minutes that I could snatch during my days and nights. Rather, The Group is the type of book that you want to devote a few hours to, settled in a comfortable chair.

I Whip My Hair Mash-up

There seem to be no end to the number of hair-related videos in the news this week. This one is a mash-up of Sesame Street's "I Love My Hair" and Willow Smith's "I Whip My Hair."