|
The Ugandan Diaspora in UK recently gathered to discuss the condition of Uganda with member’s of the Ugandan parliament as well as friends of Uganda.
I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Uganda’s First Lady as well as Minister for Karamoja one of Uganda’s poorest regions and here is how I got on
Do I what?
OK, let me start from the beginning. Seven years ago, I was super active, my working day started in the gym, I had corporate membership at what was called Holmes Place and then Virgin gym and I used it. Somewhere along the way I gave it all up and things went down hill from there until I was jolted out of “this thing” ( I don’t even have a name for it) by an associate about a month ago now.
We had not seen each other for a few months and to cut a long story short he thought I was pregnant and I thought that is it. I have to do something. I had for sometime been feeling rather sluggish unable to walk for a few minutes without feeling really tired and wanting to sit down just after 5five minutes of walking. If I am honest, although I knew that I had to do something about this state of affairs, I also knew I had no will power whatever and one thing I was certain about, I would not join a gym as that would be a waste of money. I lacked the motivation to justify a gym membership and nothing would change that.
I told my fellow Birds about my predicament and interestingly a few felt just like me, so we resolved to get fit together, well through Facebook anyway. My good friend Sally Church kicked us off by acquiring a swanky gadget called the FitBit and even started a group called Fit Birds added us all to the group. Sally posted her daily FitBit Stats and at last I could see something that would help me overcome my motivation problems and I would get fit in the process. So I resolved to acquire a FitBit too
So what is a FitBit
Put simply it is a pedometer that measures the steps you take daily. But this is not any odd pedometer, as you can record your sleep pattern, calories, water in take, daily activity etc. The best bit is that you have a daily report by syncing your FitBit with your computer via Wifi or a USB cable. You have a chance to tweet this out to your friends and there is an App for your phone too that enables you to input food and water intake, activities etc and all this works out your calorie in take and burn off. I could not believe that for instance 2 hours of ironing burns 404 calories.
Motivation
I really like the FitBit because it has done wonders for my motivation as far as exercising goes and this arises from that end of day report. The basic number of steps that one should take a day is set at 10,000 and I always work towards this number although most Saturdays I don’t achieve this number. I don’t know what it is about Saturdays.
You also get a few badges for certain milestones, like climbing 25 floors, 50 floors etc, these badges are put in such a fun way too, like “you climbed the Eiffel Tower” etc, which serves to motivate me to work towards another badge and of course get fit in the process.
I am now more likely to take the stairs than a lift so I can achieve the “10 floors climbed” as the very minimum daily. I almost walk everywhere within reason and even venture out on public transport something I used to dread and this is so I can make up those steps and floors. Most days, bar Saturday, I walk two miles first thing in the morning (10-15 minutes), another two to three at 1pm (20-30minutes)and another one or two (10-15minutes)late afternoon.
OK, I am sure you get the picture and if you are really good at reading between the lines , you have worked out by now that I am becoming obsessed with this stuff
But with reason!
I am feeling fab within me, that feeling of sluggishness is almost gone. I have lost 3.5 Kgs in weight in 5 weeks. I have not changed my diet but I have become more aware of the size of the portions of food on my plate.
The downside
The FitBit costs nearly £80 which might be out of the reach of some folk but for me I could not have paid enough for the motivation to exercise and if you can’t find the time to exercise this is the best thing to own. As you can fit in the walking at work by walking to colleagues’ desks instead of sending email or picking up the phone, you can take the stairs instead of the lift, walk to the kitchen to make tea for others etc
I am yet to put the Sleep monitor facility to use, as when I tried it, I was awake for the best part of the night!
Go on, get yourself a FitBit if like me you lack the motivation to get your bottom to the gym! In this post I would like to share with you an essay I wrote in the Human Rights class I attended a few months ago- here is s synopsis
If you would like to read the rest of the essay please download it at Human Rights for Gay people in Uganda in the light of the Anti-homesexuality bill
A week ago or so now, I got into an engaging discussion with someone on Twitter regarding the Spanish PM’s text message SPAIN IS NOT UGANDA and unbeknowest to me the BBC was watching
I remembered the words of a good friend- NO ONE SAYS NO WHEN THE BBC CALLS and I wasn’t going to! Here is how I got on, start watching at 24 minutes Happy New Year folk. How are you getting on with your New Year’s resolutions? I had a year of mixed blessings last year and I am determined to have a more proactive approach to life and work. So how am I doing so far?  source: Nikkipilkington.com A few days ago I accepted a challenge to review Nikki Pilkington’s e-book called 30 Day Twitter Challenge . Now I am not quite sure why as Nikki is the expert and I have been her student for sometime now. When I joined Twitter in 2008, I had no clue what it was or how to use it effectively and I turned to Nikki’s 50 day email twitter course, there is an updated course here. I also completed her 30 day blogging challenge last year and here is what I learned over those 30 days
Back to the 30 Day Twitter Challenge e-book, I found it easy to read but have not started the challenge as yet. This review is therefore based on content rather than results I achieved having undertaken the challenge. The e-book is not designed for new comers to Twitter so if you one opt for the EMAIL course it is instead ideal for folk that use Twitter for Business. The book is written in simple English and it is very easy to follow through a daily challenge. The challenges are interlinked and each is explained simply with examples and if you still don’t get you have email support via Nikki. It is cleverly designed to so you are not tempted to cheat! If you skip one of the challenges you will get stuck on the next one! So be ware! Some challenges require the use of Twitter applications and you are pointed to the best applications out there so you don’t have to find them yourself. They are tips on how to find people that want your offering, how to prospect effectively on twitter- I loved this bit as it provides examples so you avoid being seen as SPAMMER, there also tips on how to tweet in a way that allows you to develop relationship on twitter including with folk that are your competitors. There is so much contained the 48 pages and I really don’t want to give it all away here so pop over to the 30 Day Twitter challenge page and grab yourself a copy. It is a real steal at £8 as there are several articles and resources at the end of the challenge that you will find useful. And if you think Twitter is whole lot of twaddle this book will concentrate your mind! I will be taking the challenge so please come back and share your experience. Oh and don’t forget to join the Facebook group where all those taking part in this challenge share their experience https://www.facebook.com/groups/115886208510191/ Happy Tweeting!
30 Day Twitter Challenge Ebook
The year 2011 began just like any other year. I was in Uganda and folk were afraid of going out since Al shabab had thrown bombs amongst folk watching the world cup finals at the city’s rugby club. So we stayed home, lit the BBQ and sat back to take in the fireworks at Sheraton Hotel from a vantage point of our back yard. As the year unfolded it turned to be quite memorable. This post is about some of the events that stood out for me. When I got back to the UK I hit the road again this time to Libya. Gaddafi had called a conference to discuss the state of the African Diaspora in the Europe and I was to address 600 people on issues that affect African Women in the Diaspora. The conference gave me an insight into life in Libya. I got an opportunity to meet Gaddafi face to face as well as spending time in his infamous compound. In Ivory Coast there was a political impasse and the livelihood of cocoa growers was threatened A gay man was killed in Uganda- what was that about? We saw international donors threaten withdraw Aid from countries with poor record of gay rights – the jury is still out on this one. In the same month I lost my dear cousin Doreen due to poor maternal health care in Uganda, things didn’t improve in February as my niece miscarried twins whilst a dear friend lost her new born baby. In February I had a guest a appearance on the SHOOT THE MESSENGER show to discuss issues that concern Africans in the diaspora
In March I was voted as one of the 20 most inspirational African women in the diaspora what an honour!
Between April and June I worked hard on the Water project in Ruhanga SW Uganda. One of our goals for the year at LET THEM HELP THEMSELVES OUT OF POVERTY was to get clean water into this village and we pulled out everything we had. I even managed a 5k walk in Virginia Water Surrey to raise money for this programme. I was back in Uganda at the end of June to catch up with progress on this water project In Uganda a new form of protest led by the opposition WALK 2 WORK caught the government there by surprise and the world watched as the opposition leader was dragged through the streets of Kampala I got to see my childhood singer Janet Jackson at a live concert in London In July there was bad news at Ethnic Supplies we had hoped to join the Oxfam’s Supply chain but we didn’t make it because of they had to cut back due to the poor economy. Africa got a new country South Sudan and the worst food crisis in decades continued to kill children in Somalia In August London and other cities in the UK were set on fire for reasons that we still don’t understand several months although most have argued that it was due to systemic poverty . The phone hacking scandal hit the UK, as head rolled, the Met Police lost its Chief and News of The World Britain’s favourite tabloid closed. September was a sad time in Ruhanga one of our 4 year old WITNESS lost her life in a hit and run accident. The bad news did not stop there, our application for a grant from Comic Relief was turned down. Although this year marked 100 years of Women’s day a woman in Uganda was allowed to do die on a labour ward because she could not pay her hospital bill of £66 My plans to get started on that Masters degree fell to pieces in October. I was gutted and I am hoping that I will pick this up in the new year. In November I was honoured to address a Business fights poverty gathering about my work in SW Uganda and I had to pack my bags again. In Uganda I caught up with the folk at the Uganda Coffee Development Agency and introduced them to Carmel Dennis a friend from England. We toured SW Uganda and got as far Kisoro on the border of Rwanda and Uganda. I was saddened to learn that things had not improved much for women in that region. The beginning of December was end of term at Ruhanga Community Development School and the “turning on the taps” in Ruhanga! The village finally had piped water . I can’t tell you what that felt like and of all the things I have done this year being part of the team that brought clean water to that village is the one thing I am most proud of. And I hope that before the year ends I can add one more achievement! BUILDING A GIRLS ONLY TOILET at Ruhanga community school. Please support my effort http://www.lethemhelpthemselves.org/news/gender-equality-the-girls-want-a-toilet-of-their-own
Technology has played a big role in my world this year and even a bigger one in shaping world events. It appears that ordinary folk are finding it easier to fight exclusion and the big men of politics can only ignore their citizens at their peril
How 2011 for you? Sometime last year I got into a conversation with a woman on Twitter whose twitter handle was simply SMT95. We exchanged several tweets and she asked for my number. I gave it to her and she called me. She introduced herself as Sadia Sisay. We spoke for 2 solid hours on anything and everything. But mostly about Twitter, the point of black history month and not being able to find underwear that complimented our skin colours. By the end of that conversation Sadia told me that she was going to start a new enterprise producing underwear for women of colour! A few months later and I get a call from Sadia informing me that she was on her way to Paris to meet an experienced lingerie designer! Me: So you have done it? You are going to bring knickers especially designed for black women on the market? Me: Good luck dear and let me know what I can do to help We remained in touch and I followed her progress and the ups and downs of having to nurse her mother through ill health for a whole year.She remained focused through it all. In the mean time I had taken on the role of curating Africa on the Blog and Sadia was one of the first people I contacted when I was looking for contributors. There was a passion about her on all manner of things concerning the African Diaspora and I wanted everyone to hear that passion and what Sadia had to say. We eventually met face to face in October last year. After all of that hard work Sadia’s dream of bringing underwear for women of colour to the market has been realised and she has called this brand new label beingU But like any new product on the market folk need to hear about it and in this case lingerie retailers are reluctant to stock it until folk are actually Asking for it So to help Sadia along I have designed this simple questionnaire and I would be grateful if you would please spare 1 minute to take part
Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool. A few months back I took up a challenge known as NikkiP 30 Day Blogging Challenge over at Ethnic Supplies blog I took longer than the 30 days the challenge was supposed to last. But I did finish and this post is all about what I learned from the experience. The challenge was interesting, fun and a great way to learn about blogging as well as being disciplined. What I learned from the challenge
I found the 30 day blogging challenge an easy way to grow my blog and it meant I often didn’t have an excuse not post something.
I am now psyching myself for the next change which is the 30 day facebook challenge
You too can take part in these challenges by signing up at http://www.30daychallenges.nikkipilkington.com/
I thought I would revisit this topic if only to shout out a about a woman in my network I admire greatly and one of the the most generous people I know in my network. If you missed the previous post on the issue of being generous to those in your network you can catch up here
Let Them Help themselves out of Poverty I was pleasantly surprised when her and lovely hubby dropped in one evening to understand what I do and how they can help, bearing in mind that they lived in Liverpool at the time. Ces’ generosity is legendary amongst those of us in her network. She is currently running a free- yes a free Promotion for producers of handcrafts in UK and if you would like to participate in this promotion please click on the diagram below
I decided to revisit this topic primarily to acknowledge a woman that understands the meaning of networking and being generous to those in your network. Secondly those who know me will be familiar with my community work in South West Uganda . I am not a rich a woman by any stretch of imagination and one of the questions I get asked a lot is Where does your funding come from? The simple answer is that from my networks both on and offline- in other words the generosity of others enables me to help those less fortunate than I am and Ces is one of those that help by volunteering her skills and as such saving me a time and money. She never expects anything in return! Unfortunately some of us do not get this whole notion of networking being about building relationships, sharing what you know and have with those in your network without expecting anything in return. I recently approached someone for contact details of someone in their organisation. I went through my work and explained that I was trying to reach that person at the organisation he works at to find out if they would be interested in sponsoring an event we are organising to raise money to complete a water project in SW Uganda I was unprepared for the answer I got back
I must admit I was taken back by that answer and was at a loss of what to say and mumbled something along the lines of “hopefully God’s blessings” I am not sure what was behind that question and 2 weeks on I have not heard back from that person. I have asked myself a few questions following that exchange
I don’t have any answer to those questions but I am grateful to people like Ces that have reached out to me
If you have any branding questions or would like a fresh look for your website Ces can be contacted at ces@creativelyminded.co.uk
In my last post I was on my way out to Uganda from where I am writing. But before I left I had a telephone conversation with one of the sponsors of the VILLAGES IN ACTION and CEO at Business Fights Poverty asking if I would represent his company at the conference and in return he would cover my airfare! This is someone I met by joining his online forum!  Team ORANGE I have written about how the actual day went over Ethnicsupplies.org therefore this post will deal with the Social Media story in relation to the conference There were several people involved in bringing this conference about and the actual idea came about from a conversation on Twitter and I was pleasantly surprised to meet at least 7 people in person, in Masindi, people I had been “talking to ” on Twitter and Facebook for nearly two years or so but had never met in person. But the real story of the day call it a miracle if you will is the power of technology to narrow the world quite literary.
 SOLOMON, THE SUPER GEEK CHECKING OUT THE WIFI INSTALLATION Orange™ Uganda co sponsored this event and provided free WIFI on the day which enabled folk from 6 continents to experience the event on several social media platforms right from their living rooms/offices. A camera crew was hired to record the event and were linked into the Ustream account of BUSINESS FIGHTS POVERTY an online forum hosted by NING. the final analysis indicated that 570 people across the globe had tuned in/visited the video stream and those that tuned in were tweeting about what they were watching. At the event itself at least 8 of us were tweeting about the event whilst some had a running commentary on facebook. Those following the event on twitter were able to ask questions of the panels and tweeted the panels answers to the questions. We took advantage of the free high speed WIFI and uploaded photos on Flickr, Ning , facebook and video clips on twitter and this served to bring the event alive for those that were not there in person  SOME OF THOSE WHO TWEETED AT THE EVENT What is amazing about all this is the fact this was going on in the middle of a field with no electricity or telephone line as you can see from these behind the scenes photos from TMS RUGE MEDIA I understand from the organizers PROJECT DIASPORA that the entire source of funding for this event came from Social Media sources/contacts. I am not privy to the exact costs involved but I doubt very much if they got much change out of $17,000! how about that for crowd sourcing I don’t know about you but this for me is the biggest Social Media story of year, if you have one that beats this one lets hear it |
 |
|
Copyright © 2013 Ida Horner - All Rights Reserved |
|
