Genevive Magazine and the Jegede-Ekpe HIV/AIDS Saga

I hope I am not belabouring this issue but Molara Woods view nails it! Just bumped into the link below:

http://www.nigeriansinamerica.com/articles/1888/1/Genevieve-Betty-Irabor-and-AIDS-PEOPLE/Page1.html

Enjoy!

Las Vegas

I came out here on the 19th of July with my kids for our annual vacation.

We took a flight from MM airport Lagos to Schiphol, Amsterdam and spent about 6 hours on air. We also had a waiting time of 3 hours before we connected to North Western NW to Detroit. That was another tiresome 8-9 hours on air. We got into the American airspace and had to go through Customs and Border protection CBP officials. There the officer looked my passport up and asked what I had spent the longest period in the US in '04 doing and I confirmed that I had my last baby during that period. Having said that he went on to enquire what I/husband did for a living, If I was pregnant again and how long I was staying on this trip. I answered him to the best of my ability because their system never lies.. from there I knew he could tell where I worked because earlier on in '07 I had toured 3 US cities -NY, DC & Houston AND we had had a running march with the CBP at NY airport. We came for an Investment promotion roadshow for my company and so had tons of promotional materials which they labelled commercial merchandise (though branded with our logo!). We spent 5 hours at the airport with them arguing and basically trying to get the duty down. So I know for sure that that info would pop up alond side my name.

I was not pregnant and without much ado he gave us up to Jan 08 the mandatory six months window to stay.

My kids and I just barely made it to the next NW flight to Las Vegas and that was another 3-4 hours on the air.

We had in all logged about 20 hours of flight time and I did this with children btw the ages of 8 and 2. It was great self-fulfilling prophesy of agony!

Finally we got picked up by our gracious hosts, Eudy and Pete and we proceeded through the rustic, dusty and Xtreme hot highways of Vegas passing through exciting landmarks that I only got to know about through James Hardley Chase novels and lastly the very recent, Ocean's 13 movie.

Proud to say that I keep very well indoors and out of the merciless sun which is akin to what you would find in the hot deserts of the Sahara and maybe the borders of Chad republic. Where I can only imagine that the hottest temperatures exist.

I have taken to night crawling i.e, coming out only at night to get groceries and to shop. While we sit waiting for my first son's appointment with the doctor's for minor surgery, I bid my time to update you each day on the beauties of Vegas.

So stayed tuned to this page.

Sankofa Multicultural Festival 2007-Houston, TX

Houston, USA – The city of Houston, Texas was set aglow as many International people sought to reclaim, understand & appreciate their roots during the 3rd Annual Sankofa Multicultural Event on June 30 th,2007 at the Bella Aida Gardens.

A collection of African Empowering performers gathers in Houston to strut their stuff at the Sankofa Festival.

In addition to art and music, a multitude of family activities took place including Head-Tie Living arts demonstrations by Segun Gale, a bona fide kiddies Old school march dubbed Change your style, NLN the best women are from Africa contests, "African Kirk Franklin" Sammie Okposo Guest appeared, Delighted Poetry reading from the audience and splendid performance by Inertia Justice and much, much more!

Moderated by the producer of the show Linda Johnson Ofukeme and 2006 Miss Kenya "Eunice".







Visit www.sankofafestivity.com

My Friend Hard at Work at the Spa!

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Sights of Lagos

Could not resist this shot.

This is one day in the life of the average Lagos market woman, buying bulk produce for retailing. If you look carefully at the truck you can find baskets of tomatoes and tubers of yam ready for the local markets where they reside to sell. These women take care of at least 2 or more children and their households with the income they make from this petty trade.

The average woman in the Lagos metropolis works or does some sort of trade. The commercial viability of the city often helps. Any hardworking person in this city can afford not to go hungry if the person can put together small amounts of capital to start a petty trade either in roasted/boiled groundnuts, roasted plantain, roasted yam, pure water (satchet water on-the-go) and many other food items hawked along the streets of Lagos on daily basis to raise income to keep body and soul together.

In Ghana and certain parts of India, micro financing has helped petty traders to live a life of their dreams. These people usually fall below the radar of lending from banks simply because they are regarded as un-bankable due to size. So discerning social entrepreneurs provide relief by offering at least $100 each to market women/men. Such lending is done on the back of the already existing local contributory credit system called Osusu common among the west African countries.

The women know each other, trust each other and act as surety for one another and repay the loans from their weekly profits. Most times a failed debt becomes the debt of the entire group and this keeps default rate low.

In African culture where the woman is often left in charge of the household, transforming a woman's fortune is akin to sustainable development as it means better education, health care and nutrition for their offsprings and indeed society!

Hot Water and Heart Attacks

This is a very good article. Not only about the warm water after your meal, but about heart attacks. The Chinese and Japanese drink hot green tea with their meals, not cold water, maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating.

For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this "sludge" reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and may lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.

Lagos Metropolis - Imagined

This is something I came across on Jeremy Weate's blog. It makes for interesting viewing!
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