I made two good friends in the last fortnight. Folashade from Nigeria, a chubby bubbly woman taught me without meaning to, that the magnetism of a woman is not in looks, but in her charm and confidence. If you are not comfortable in your skin; if you are being deterred by the pimples on your face; or you are starving yourself to knock off that bump; if you rock bikinis to get men to notice, girl, learn from Folashade. She was not envying when she told me Uganda has the most curvaceous women she has seen. She was just observing. But those women have nothing on my friend with her mix of charm, brains and confidence.
Meet Kunle. Also from Nigeria. I was fascinated by his story of two conversions. Kunle quit a lucrative albeit boring job as a chemist to start from scratch as a journalist. Without rudimentary training in journalism, he was ridiculed as a rookie that will never make headway in his new career. Kunle kept quiet and got to work; spending precious nights studying the works of award-winning journalists, trying to crack the embedded mastery. When Kunle started winning prestigious journalism accolades, the skeptics grudgingly doffed their hats for him. Today, he is one of the best education reporters in his country.
Kunle's second conversion was quitting his Muslim faith and becoming a born-again Christian. In a country of predominant Muslims with many that still view Christians as infidels that deserve no less retribution than being stoned to death and having their churches burned down, it was not easy for Kunle. For years, he read the Bible secretly, and one night knelt down and said the prayer of conversion. All this time, his parents and siblings had no idea. But they couldnot miss the amazing transformation in him (what Kunle had become was akin to what the Bible calls the "light of the world"). And when the whole truth was eventually revealed, rather than condemn Kunle they wanted to be like him!
Take a good look around. Are you one of those chained by lack of self belief when you should be moving forward? Have you invested so much in a boring career and are afraid of foraying into something new that will send your adrenaline surging?
Listen, we are beautiful, clever and confident. Let us step out of the darkness into the marvelous light that is ready to receive whoever dares.
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| With the friends I made during the January 2012 WJI workshop in Kampala |
Kunle's second conversion was quitting his Muslim faith and becoming a born-again Christian. In a country of predominant Muslims with many that still view Christians as infidels that deserve no less retribution than being stoned to death and having their churches burned down, it was not easy for Kunle. For years, he read the Bible secretly, and one night knelt down and said the prayer of conversion. All this time, his parents and siblings had no idea. But they couldnot miss the amazing transformation in him (what Kunle had become was akin to what the Bible calls the "light of the world"). And when the whole truth was eventually revealed, rather than condemn Kunle they wanted to be like him!
Take a good look around. Are you one of those chained by lack of self belief when you should be moving forward? Have you invested so much in a boring career and are afraid of foraying into something new that will send your adrenaline surging?
Listen, we are beautiful, clever and confident. Let us step out of the darkness into the marvelous light that is ready to receive whoever dares.
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