Inner Wheel conference: Keep girls in School

Yesterday was a busy and rewarding day.

At Inner Wheel, we organized a conference local high school Lycée Delafosse with the group of girls who benefit from our sponsorship program to keep them in school.

Actually, one of our main action poles is education as a tool for girls empowerment as girls are "in the making" for becoming tomorrow's leaders.

For yesterday's conference, we invited two wonderful ladies from the organizations OneWorld and ACTIONAID. Both ladies were from Benin and were just balls of energy. One representative from UNESCO was also there, as she happens to be this year's president of our group. UNESCO blessed us with goodies, as they actually partner with us on this project.

We kicked off the conference with exercises to break down on stereotypes imposed by tradition on what a woman represents in Africa and in the developing world in general, what it means to be a muslim girl in today's world and challenges, what it means to get an education and what it does for a village, a community, a country, a world!

At the end, we - Inner Wheel ladies, the women of the Rotary International Club, as well as teachers who attended, the panelists, and the high school girls - left with a renewed sense of our role as leaders of this world = a role we, too often, deliberately and conveniently choose to release.

"Help my hand write my future!"

 

 

 

We did a few role plays and exercises to bring the leaders out of these more than intelligent girls.

Is everyone just so damn busy?

I asked myself this question today, as I was rushing from one professional engagement to a social gathering, before finishing the day in front of the computer.

As I'm preparing for the inauguration of the new space of my concept spa-boutique (not very far from where I was before), I try not to feel overwhelmed by the fact that I am basically on my own. From the first drafts of the project, to dealing with picking out fabric, renovating old furniture, dealing with repair work and then, doing more sophisticated tasks as coming up with new formulations of products or thinking and producing packaging, I must say that I sometimes wish I could share the "burden".

Then, I think about the powers of words, and as soon as I catch myself thinking "what if", I immediately get myself back on a place on comfort, self-confidence and faith.

Then again, I love what I do. I enjoy the process and I enjoy every moment, hoping the outcome will not be the end of things, but just another step of the whole thing. I live this lifestyle and being able to share it with love and warmth, what more can I ask the Universe?

So, more enjoyable moments:
yesterday, I had a surprisingly bright experience. A few weeks ago, I ran into a friend of a friend, who's also a photographer. At the time, I wasn't really thinking I would want to do a photoshoot or even needed photos. But you never know, right?

I've never been a big fan of being photographed. I always kinda feel awkward in front of a camera and never really know how to pose or what to do in general. So that experience is usually a quick and not so painful one. Yet, with my boutique picking up and starting to make my skincare line more visible outside of my *privileged and private* circle of clients, I thought I could always use photos (maybe) for press reviews and things like that.

We'll see! One thing is sure: I did enjoy the experience and will be glad to renew it, though, maybe not so soon! lol.

Glam event in Lagos

Some shots of the UBA CEO Awards, taking place at the Meridien Eko Hotel & Suites in Victoria Island (called "V" Island by locals).

 

My honey love actually won a trophee. So grateful !

 

And this is me, rocking a gown made of traditional African fabric. This is my second time wearing it. I designed it myself and had a local tailor make it for me. The true one-of-a-kind.

Week-end in Lagos for glam event

*** Part 1 ***

FRIDAY

This past week-end has been quite eventful for me. I have to say that I have travelled quite a lot lately. I suppose, as a LOA believer, the old say is true "Be careful what you ask for as it might just happen!"

I'm not complaining, though. So far, it has been great, challenging, and my thirst for discovering new cultures and meeting amazing people has been greatly satisfied. But I want more..... :-)

Have you every noticed how hard it is for us women to pack for travel? My goal on this trip is to pack everything in ONE and only suitcase. Mission accomplished (though, I don't feel comfortable as I may not be ready for improvisation :(

This is me falling deeply asleep on the plane. Even though I was in a very comfortable seat, the plane to Lagos did not have any TV on. I worked on my computer for a while, with some relaxation music on; no need to explain what happened next.

"Please, wake me up when we get there!"

* * *

SATURDAY

We arrived yesterday in Nigeria, the second greatest country in Sub-saharan Africa, after South Africa.

My first impressions were so-so. At first glance from our encounters with airport people is that there is a certain degree of rudeness or harshness in the choice of words that people use to speak to you. Secondly, the airport itself was not so different from any other airport of the country. We waited what seemed like an eternity for our luggage to appear; yet none of the airport workers seemed surprised or even dignified our concerns with answers other than “It’s coming!” When we finally got our bags, I couldn’t help but notice how rudimentary the place itself looked. Not a great start for my Lagos-week-end extravaganza L

But all that was nothing compared to my surprise at the way the drivers get around. Our own driver probably hunked the horn a dozen times for a 20-minute ride to our hotel. Our car as well as the other ones seemed to follow their own driving rules, from a manual only Nigerian certainly own! Imagine in a city of more than a dozen million people, how it can be to drive around. And as cherry on the cake, the pollution: from the ambient smell of gasoline to all the dust. Let’s just say that my first hour in Lagos was not the most exciting one!

We arrived at the hotel, feeling (and maybe) looking like wet mops (one of my grandma’s favourite made-up expressions). We picked the Meridien Eko Hotel, because that’s where the event we are attending tonight is taking place.

I’m going to skip my impressions on the service at the hotel, quite nonchalant. Noone will take the extra-step to make your life (as a customer) easier. I had to call three times just to have a set of towels in our suite and the mini-bar had no drinks and was barely working.

Despite such as modest beginning, I finally perked myself to thinking positively and be excited about every single thing that would happen to me. Which is what I did. This morning, I gathered myself, put light make-up on and got a driver to make me visit the city. 

I got up early as usual, to have time for myself to meditate, pray, do a bit of yoga and work a little bit. My honey had a few meetings to go to before the event. We're going to meet right before heading to the awards ceremony. Thankfully, I already planned my travel to the very detail. I'm starting the day with a yoga class.

Previous to taking my flight, I had contacted the first yoga instructor I found on google. I was pleasantly surprised as I emailed him very very early, at around 5:30 AM to ask him for information and see whether there was still space for one more person, he replied to me withing 5 or 10 minutes from his blackberry phone. A reactivity I certainly did not expect. Luckily, he told me that was giving a class on Saturday morning. Perfect for me! It was in a wellness institute and he was using a room for the class.

Those pics were taken after the yoga class. For my article on the yoga class itself, check out the post on: http://myayurvedabeauty.blogspot.com/2013/02/yoga-class-dayogastudio-in-lagos.html

My yoga stuff: Shreyas yoga bag, little purse for "in-case-of" money, 
sun glasses and local mineral water (500 ml)

After yoga.... getting ready in the locker room

 

I may not have time to do my hair so I venture to a hair salon for
a simple shampoo/blow dry. Crossing fingers!