One Year Of Blogging

It has been a year of being a part of the Blogville Family and I have been Inspired, Informed, Educated and Entertained.

To think that I have never visited a blog until last year, don't get me wrong, I knew about blogs but was just not interested until I stumbled on 'The dairy of a desperate Naija Woman' and 'Myne Whitman writes' and I became hooked and decided to start a blog as well.
I have been inspired to follow my dreams of opening a Bookshop, after reading books by Nigerian Authors I found online and growing my kinky hair,informed on the going ons in Naija and the diaspora, I have been educated on care of natural hair etc and lots of entertainment.
Thank you to all my followers and all who have read my blog and made comments.

My Passions for reading and doing more for others are coming true.

My Dreams are of a better Nigeria where we can live free and fair,a country where we the citizens will not not all be seen as criminals but where we can conduct our business in a legitimate manner.
My life is in the Lord's hands and I see his faithfulness daily to me and mine.
Thanks and God's Blessings to you and yours.
Here is to My PASSIONS, DREAMS and LIFE.

Busy...ness

It's been a while and I have missed you guys but life has been busy for me and writing has been challenging though, I still blog hop and read.
It has not been easy trying to start a business in Lagos or is it Nigeria as a whole?
Especially, as I have to import most of the books for the bookshop

Banks are not helpful, they send you to the black market to get the forex you need but they will help you transfer and collect multiple charges both on your domicilary and current accounts.
Shipping is another matter entirely, as most companies don't ship to Nigeria even if the claim to ship anywhere in the world and if they do, the cost of shipping is more than the cost of the books......na waah.
Finally found a credible(I hope) Naija cargo company. that can receive my goods and cargo to me at a reasonable cost, so I am moving ahead.
I truly admire all you business people out there and say WELL DONE.


PS.......

My bog will be a year old this month and I just might have a GIVEAWAY to one lucky follower. So, follow my blog and you might just be lucky.......Lol

Naija4life Launches the "Give a Book" Campaign

The Give a Book campaign aims to collect educational books which will be sent to Nigeria. The chief driver is Naija4life, the blogger behind A Pen and a Heart, a teacher and someone with a deep passion for education. Education has made a huge difference in his life and he says he will regard his life’s journey as unfulfilled if he fails to give back to society in any way he can. According to him, "we can be quite critical about the many wrongs in our society and most times rightly so. But I also believe we can take action by making small contributions that can only help improve our society. I’m a firm believer that whatever change we seek will only happen if we take action to accomplish them."

What is the purpose of this campaign?
Education remainss the key that will unlock Nigeria’s future. Good education can only be possible with access to books, something that many Nigerian children are denied.

How will this campaign work?
This campaign will involve awareness and invite people to donate old or used books they no longer need or are quite happy to give which are in fairly good condition. They can range from academic books, for primary and secondary school age, fiction, non-fiction etc.

Who can get involved?
This campaign is open to all. You can kindly donate a book or several books.

How can you get involved?
You can get involved by help spreading the word via your blogs, websites, through friends, family etc. This campaign is about the ordinary Nigerian children who have limited access to books and whom this campaign will benefit eventually. You can also get involved by choosing to become a co-facilitator of this campaign and be actively involved in its operations.

How long will this campaign last?
It will last for at least 6 months, up to the summer to enable the initial target of 1000 books.

Who will benefit from this campaign?
The plan is to partner with at least 3 schools especially in deprived areas in Nigeria in the first instance. The intention is to ensure that the books are donated for use in each school’s library for use by all students. Where a school library doesn’t exist then we can encourage them to set up one to enable students borrow or use these books for study. Do you know of any school that could benefit from this campaign? If so please get in touch and let me know how you can be of help in making the necessary contacts needed to get things started.

How will this campaign be funded?
This will be a 100% charitable campaign. They are not asking for money, only for publicity, and donations of old or used books for primary and secondary age or any book that will benefit young people. They'll also be soliciting for logistic support to send these books to Nigeria at the appropriate time. All books collected will be accounted for. At the end of the campaign, details of the schools where these books have been donated to will be made available. Regular updates will be made available on http://www.apenandaheart.blogspot.com/.

How can I send my book donations?
If you live in the UK or Ireland, please email me at: nnaija4life@yahoo.com or giveabooksaveourfuture@yahoo.com and you’ll be provided with the address where donations can be sent to. If you live in the US, Canada, or other parts of Europe, perhaps you may want to lead this campaign where you are which will be quite awesome if you can. Those in Nigeria, we would even rely on your massive support in recommending schools and mobilising where you are.

At the present, they've already collected about 100 ICT books which will be of immense benefit to Nigerian young people whose access to books is somewhat limited.

How can I get updates about the work of this campaign?
Naija4life will provide regular updates to show how much books have been donated and by who. Pseudo names can be used for those who don’t want their real identities revealed. He has contacted a media outlet in the UK (BenTv) and is currently in discussion to see how they may help get the word out to the Nigerian community and even others. He's also in the process of contacting VoxAfrica, another UK based media outlet for Diaspora people.

In whatever way you want to support, please feel free to send an email to nnaija4life@yahoo.com. Also please feel free to ask any questions you may have here as Naija4life will be coming over to answer them. He welcomes advice and constructive criticisms too.

OCCUPYING MY SPACE

This protest on removal of fuel subsidy na waah...... More and more people are on the streets daily and more are speaking out about the corruption and what the gorvernment consume.
The protest has gone beyond subsidy and am all for it even though I have lost a week's pay so far but this fight must be fought once and for all. Imagine my car now needs about N9000.00 to fill my tank and I use a full tank per week for schoolruns,work and need to buy extra if I more errands to run.... Abaah,how much is my salary? Don't forget my petrol generator also needs fuel, no power as I write.

Fellow Nigerians, It is time to call our leaders to Responsible Leadership and Accountability, they should be serving us and not us serving and feeding them.
I know the subsidy will eventually be removed but in phases after things like power supply,good transport etc are in place and the corrupt cabal is brought to justice.

So, wherever you are, Occupy your space and join in taking back our country. Remember that some people have lost their lives so far, do not let them die in vain

Remember, this our great country, our leaders and the protesters in your prayers

On the fun side. I am enjoying the time spent with hubby and kids. Quality family time.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year, my friends.
Welcome to a year of God's abundant Blessings and Happiness

May this new year bring us all joy, good health, peace of mind and prosperity.
May all our dreams and heart desires come true in 2012.

If you can

....HELP somebody as you pass along.
....CHEER somebody with a word or a song.
....SHOW somebody when she is traveling wrong.
....BRING back beauty to a world up wrought.
....SPREAD love's message the Master taught.....

THEN YOUR LIVING SHALL NOT BE IN VAIN

Have A Happy and Prosperous New Year.

GOOD HAIR;......... Do I have it?

Hello,
Seasons Greetings to you all. Hope you've been nice as Santa Claus or Father Christmas as he is known here is coming to town........ho ho ho.

I have had my hair back to NATURAL for nearly 2yrs now and it has been an adventure. I have been thinking of the damage to my hair after using relaxers for about 22years and I have seen my hair thinning down from the 'long lush thick mane' that was the envy of other women in the salon when I go to the 'thin uneven scraggly mop' it had become.
I decided to go for it finally after watching 'GOOD HAIR' early last year, had a Big Chop last year after transitioning for about 7months with my hair in locks.
See below

This was how I looked and I felt liberated
My fears of going natural,ranged from fears of how to manage my natural hair as I remembered it as thick,very kinky and hard, combing it was difficult and even getting someone to plait it as a child was difficult as no one liked doing my hair.
I also had fears of styling options as all Naturalistas I knew then either had a low cut or had it in dreads including my sister who had dreads.
The internet has definately been the most valuable source of info for me with people like the Natural Nigerian,Screwy haired girl,Chicoro and many more teaching and encouraging Newbies like me.
I have discovered that all my needs is a lot of TLC and moisture and my hair is not hard and stuborn as I thought and only breaks when dry .I now know the use of Shea butter,EVOO,Coconut oil etc
And for,styling, I sometimes lock,wear an Afro and have even fixed a Weave and right now have kinky braids and my Trick is not having a style on for too long except the Afro.

I also have gotten a lot of compliments and support from friends and family,they asked questions at 1st but right now, my mum,a sister in law,my closest friend and SURPRISE...... my HAIR DRESSER have all gone Natural and husband love it.

I think we are changing and loving ourselves more as original Lagos Babes and I definately have GOOD HAIR.

ps....sorry pics from old BB and not so clear

Hope you like the new design and colours of my blog page. Just want the Christmas feelings to show
YOU LIKE?