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Eradicating Poverty, Transforming Lives of Women in Uganda

Seun Tayo-Balogun
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A chance meeting ten years ago led three American women to establish an organisation that is turning the plight of impoverished Ugandan women around and will soon do the same for a million more impoverished  women around the world.
After Torkin Wakefield, Ginny Jordan, and Devin Hibbard met Millie Grace Akena stringing paper bead necklaces to sell in order to earn money to take care of her family, imagination was sparked and BeadforLife was born.
The goal of the organisation was simple, help women achieve financial freedom and independence by creating an international market for the beads produced.
But that one simple idea grew wings and flew to become Street Business School, an entrepreneurial training programme that is teaching women how to setup and run businesses in their communities and thus enable them take care of their families.
Train a woman and you train a nation is not just a saying. From one woman empowered, to an entire empowered community and nation, Street Business School has helped nearly 2,500 women set up businesses and in turn keft 98% of their children in school.
Their vision to eradicate poverty is fuelled by passion and funds gotten from the sale of the paper bead jewellery as well as donations from charitable individuals and institutions, and it is not stopping there.
Their goal now is to reach one million women globally by 2027. To achieve this, they are partnering with organisations worldwide to train members on how to implement the Street Business School programme in their local communities in order to achieve global success as has been recorded in Uganda over the past ten years.
The success stories are numerous. Of the 40,000 people reached by the programme in its ten years, 81% of women are still running successful businesses after two years of graduating from the programme.
The BeadforLife slogan says, “ignite potential, end poverty”, but the Street Business School does more than ignite potential, it is transforming lives and now, it is inspiring others around the world to do the same.

Inspire Monday: Okechukwu Ofili

Seun Tayo-Balogun
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Author, motivational speaker, success coach, entrepreneur, artist, trained and full time working engineer, and blogger, Okechukwu Ofili is a man of many interests turned into successful careers. His catchphrase, “addicted to the truth, allergic to bullshit” perfectly encapsulates the totality of his person as an inspiring individual not just for what he has done but for who he is.

As an author, his three unconventional books – How Intelligence Kills, How Laziness Saved My Life and How Stupidity Saved My Life – have inspired many to change their outlook on life, while his fourth and most recent book, a children’s book titled, Afro: the girl with magical hair, released late last year, is an inspiring African story that challenges the stereotypical western literature African children have been exposed to in the past.
As a motivational speaker and success coach, Ofili speaks frequently on how to think outside the box and beat the status quo and expectations of intelligence and success with the aim to get many to live more fulfilling and effective lives.

As an entrepreneur, Ofili is the founder of Okada Books, a digital publishing platform that allows writers connect with readers from all over with the aim to make access to books easier.

But beyond his art, entrepreneurship and writing, Ofili is inspiring because of his passion for helping people, whether it is children from low income families or families in low income communities. From raising funds for school children to return to school, to collecting donations to renovate a block of classrooms at a low cost school, Ofili does not just think of the change he wants to see in the world, he goes out of his way to effect it.

Life Goals anyone? Learn from John Goddard

Seun Tayo-Balogun
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In 1972, Life magazine published a story depicting the adventures of John Goddard. His story was one of undying determination filled with personal purpose. When he was fifteen, he heard his grandmother say, ‘If I had only done this when I was young.’ Determined not to spend his life playing the ‘if only’ game, John Goddard sat down and decided what he wanted to do with his life. When he finished writing, 127 goals came to being; he called it his Life List.

“to dare is to do… to fear is to fail” – John Goddard

John Goddard decided there were ten rivers he wanted to explore, along with seventeen mountains he wanted to climb. He decided to become an Eagle Scout; Visit every country in the world; Learn to fly an airplane; and dive in a submarine. He wanted to retrace the travels of Marco Polo and ride a horse in the Rose Parade. And this was just the beginning.

John Goddard committed himself to reading the Bible from cover to cover, reading the entire works of Shakespeare, Plato, Dickens, Aristotle, Socrates and several other classic authors. He planned to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica and yet have time to learn to play the flute and violin.

Marriage? Yes! Children? he has six, and his plans also included a stint with church missions, along with a career in medicine.

At forty-seven, 1972, John Goddard, had accomplished 103 of his 127 goals and according to the speakers source book by Glenn Van Ekeren,

“Goddard exemplifies the excitement of determining a purpose in life, setting goals, and pursuing them with determination”

At 84, John Goddard still hopes to achieve his remaining goals. He has just 18 more to go.

You may not have much interest in exploring rivers and climbing mountains, but how would you answer the question:

“What are your life goals?”

_________________________

Update:

I first published this article on my other blog in 2009, you can read it here

John Goddard passed away in 2013 at a ripe age of 88. At the time of his passing, the LA Times recorded that his son, Jeffery Goddard said his father had reached all but a few of his goals, but could not be exact. You can see the actual list of goals and the ones he achieved here. From the list of 125 goals, he had 15 more to go. 

The LA Times called him – “The real life Indiana Jones” and one of his expeditions, “the most amazing adventure of this generation.”

6 Amazing Online Resources for Kids

Seun Tayo-Balogun
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As a mom, one thing I wanted to do, was to ensure the kids get busy learning the right things. Over the past years, I have found several online resources that could be really useful in aiding how and what they learn. Here’s a list of my top 6 online resources for kids:

  • One of my favorite go-to websites is oxfordowl. This is one great website the kids love. We all enjoy reading and listening to the e-books together. The great thing is that because the e-books can be read out loud, the kids are able to improve their pronunciation skills. For me that’s key. Oxford Owl also combines math lessons and quizzes with advice for kids’ activities for children from the ages of 3 to 11. The website has up to 200 free e-books that can be accessed once you log in which is very easy to do. I also love this site because it provides teaching guides for parents and teachers.
  • Another great online resource I found very useful is a youtube channel called Kidstv123. Your child can take their first steps in the world of education in a fun and exciting way, by watching and listening to animated rhymes, and several songs that teach subjects ranging from numbers, planets, countries of the world, objects, shapes and much more.
  • Another online resource I found really useful is Scratch – a free programming language and online community where kids from ages 8 – 16 can create interactive stories, games, and animations, and share their creations with others in the online community. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.
  • It’s OKAY to be SMART is a helpful YouTube channel that teaches children all about science, the amazing universe we live in, and how it connects to every part of our life.
  • Incredible Science is a great YouTube channel because it is so fun for the children and even for me as a parent. The kids get to watch simple and fun science experiments and I like the fact that the presenter keeps the videos short and simple. It is a great channel for fun and practical learning, and the children are guaranteed to enjoy it and you will too.
  • For kids who love art, ArtforKidsHub is a must especially for visual demonstration. You will definitely have fun with your kids learning how to draw common objects, animals, and people and also learning to sculpt all kinds of cool things.

Are there other online resources or video channels your kids watch? Feel free to add to the list when you drop your comments.

 

Rotimi Williams (36), an entrepreneur that is changing the face of agriculture in Nigeria

Seun Tayo-Balogun
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Rotimi Williams (36), an entrepreneur that is changing the face of agriculture in Nigeria. The former journalist is the owner of Kereksuk Rice Farm in Nasarawa state, the 45,000 hectared second largest rice farm in Nigeria. With three degress in Economics, Finance and Development Studies, Williams is putting his education into good use with a dream to help Nigeria achieve economic sustainability through reduction of importation of specific consumable products such as rice.

Leaving his job in the banking sector to pursue his passion for agriculture while learning all he knows about farming through Google, Williams shows that where there is a will, a way will indeed be found. The farm is currently producing 8,000 metric tons of rice per year, a number Williams hops to double in the coming year.

But perhaps what is more inspiring is how he has managed to deal with the challenges of farming in Northern Nigeria, specifically, with the Fulani herdsmen prevalent in the region. Setting up an initiative that trains Fulani women in rice farming at the same time as employing their men as security while allowing them feed their cattle with the rice straws from the harvest.

This ingenious approach could just be the solution the Federal Government might want to employ to help greatly reduce incidences of clashes between herdsmen and farmers. If that doesn’t say inspiring, we don’t know what is.

Gbemisoke shoes an idea born from her own personal experience

Seun Tayo-Balogun
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Gbemisola Olateru Olagbegi (GbemiOO) is a media personality; broadcaster, presenter and producer who in a short while, carved a niche for herself on Nigeria’s air waves.

But that is not the only thing that sets her apart. She is also the founder of Gbemisoke shoes (an idea born from her own personal experience), the first Nigerian OAP owned shoe line to cater specifically to women with big feet.

Doing exactly what only great entrepreneurs and creators do, seeing a need or a gap in society and going out of their way to fill it.

To inspire is to push the boundaries of what can and can’t be done, Gbemi O. O did it and shows that if you believe you can, you will.

Microsoft Excel Magic | More Tips and Tricks

Seun Tayo-Balogun
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Microsoft Excel Magic | More Tips and Tricks

Recently, I have been working with my team on a client’s project. The client wanted a web based database application.

The client gave us large sets of data in Excel sheets, and then the data had to be restructured to a new format that will work with our app.

Working on this project reminds me of my love for Excel and its magical power. I have been busy doing many other things so I haven’t had the reason to dig into Excel until lately. But as I always knew, every challenge has a solution and a better way, so I am that type who always look for a more effective way to solve problems.

There are basic simple things that you can all do to improve your Excel knowledge and to help you work faster in any version of Excel. I am mentioning 4 major things we did on this project that tremendously helped to save time. When your formula is right, you don’t need to worry about data accuracy. In any case, for me, I usually still double check to be sure that my results are as expected.

  • The project required that we change the date format so it can fit into our new program: this formula will help change any date format in Excel: =TEXT(A17,”yyyymmdd”) – where A17 represents the cell that contains the old date format.
  • The project required that we layer data that were in different columns into a single column, (even if the column ranges from A to XY), this command will help you achieve that: =OFFSET(GDPTable,MOD(ROW()-ROW(MergedData),ROWS(GDPTable)),TRUNC((ROW()-ROW(MergedData))/ROWS(GDPTable),0),1,1). For this to work, you will need to first name the range of cells where the data is (in the formula above, the name of the data table is, GDPTable); and then name the first cell where you want the result to appear (in this case MergedData). Once you have done that, copy the code above into the first cell in the column where your results should appear and then press the enter key. The first result appears in the cell, you can autofill until the entire result for the table is now restructured into one column. Read this post on how to define names or follow this method if you are using office 2010 and newer versions. Select the Data Range, Click on the Formula Tab, Select Define Name.

 

  • The project required that we change data in rows into columns and vice versa: the Excel transpose function will help you achieve that. The formula for that is =TRANSPOSE(B11:B21); where B11:B21 is the range of the original cells, close the brackets and then press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER.
  • And lastly, we needed a clean number range without scientific notations (MS Excel by default changes all numbers in a cell that has more than 12 digits to scientific format e.g. 2.97E+24). To show the entire number, Just select the columns or rows with the numbers, right click, click on format cell, and then select number.

format-cells

Have fun experimenting with MS Excel!

XX

STB

Afeni Shakur, Great Quotes, Pictures and more of a Legend!

Seun Tayo-Balogun
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Afeni Shakur, Great Quotes, Pictures and more of a Legend!

“You can kill a revolutionary but you cannot kill a revolution”

Afeni Shakur Davis (born Alice Faye Williams), Legendary mother of a legendary rapper (Tupac Shakur), a black panther, poet, fighter, activist and much more died yesterday. She was 69.

Despite her background, she was different, she was strong and fearless, making her voice heard in whatever situation. In 1971, according to F. Kennedy Taylor, she represented herself in court and was acquitted on 156 counts and charges, and released from prison shortly before Tupac’s birth.

Interestingly, her name “- Afeni Shakur, derived from the Yoruba term for “lover of the people”– and a new vision for the future.” thereby identifying with her African heritage.

You can follow Tweets from around the world and tributes on her passing in this link.

She seems to me a phenomenal woman, who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to go for it. Some of her quotes that inspired me are below:

  • “We continue 2 fail these brilliant young people because they R not saying what our message was.”
  • “You can kill a revolutionary but you cannot kill a revolution”
  • “If you can’t find somethin’ to live for, you best find somethin’ to die for.”
  • “Don’t isolate me. If you do, it will relieve ordinary people from assuming their important roles.”
  • “It’s important to know the stuff you came from.”
  • “Life comes in cycles. When God gave war, he also gave peace. the most important thing is to b the best & most peaceful u can.”
  • “I guarantee that the seed you plant in love, not matter how small, will grow into a mighty tree of refuge.”

More importantly,

“Remember to keep yourself alive, there is nothing more important than that”.

Rest in peace, legend momma!

16 Thoughts that will make 2016 even more amazing

Seun Tayo-Balogun
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Here’s wishing everyone an amazing new year. Praying that this year – 2016, more of us will astound ourselves.

If you are like me, you’ve probably been thinking what’s going to make this year different from the others. Truth is, if we don’t do things differently, 2016 might not actually be different from the past years. To get me started, I have put together 16 ‘notes to self’ – a mixture of quotes and thoughts that I want to remember all through this year.

  • This year I will be fearless in the pursuit of what sets my soul on fire.
  • I will keep it in mind, as always that

the only way to excellence is to consistently improve myself every single day – Thomas J. Vilord

  • All those ideas running in my head, I need to start them now. I am getting up, I am on the move. I am not waiting for the magic beans to arrive; I am getting to work right away. It is so true, those who do not get up and move, do not notice their chains. I will make the most of my time. Therefore, procrastination be gone with 2015. The truth is time flies and I am the pilot. I don’t have tomorrow. I don’t have the next minute. I have only right now.

The man on top of the mountain didn’t fall there. – Vince Lombardi.

  • I have made up mind to continue to be myself in a world that is constantly trying to make me into something else.

Life is too short to be living somebody else’s dream.- Hugh Hefner

  • If I make mistakes, I am going to embrace them, because they make me who I am.

Doubt can only be removed by action – Goethe

The greatest mistake I can make in life is to continually fear I will make one. – Elbert Hubbard

  • It is so important to surround myself with the right set of people. I am not going to let un-supportive people drag me down.

Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself –  Edmund Lee

  • I have to remember to laugh all the time, to see the world as the most wonderful place. On this note, I could not agree more with E.E. Cummings when he said “the most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”
  • I will enjoy each passing moments. They are blessings and contentment is great gain.

I have everything I need for complete peace and total happiness right now – Wayne W. Dyer

  • To continue to keep momentum going, I am constantly going to create greater goals. – Michael Korda
  • And I have to remember to not be average. Average doesn’t win awards.

Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well – Jim Rohn

  • I will remember always to not try to do everything at the same time. More often than not, it doesn’t work.
  • I am letting go of passive. Rather, I will grind until my success is no less than massive.

If we all did the things we are capable of doing we would literally astound ourselves. – Thomas Edison

There is no passion to be found in playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living. – Nelson Mandela

On grinding – it means I will work hard and put in the efforts for remarkable success. More often than not, success is noisy but the actual process that leads to outstanding success is really discreet, quiet and very few sees it. It’s the same law that applies to planting and harvesting. This gradual everyday process that involves consistency, not-giving-up, perseverance, innovation, awareness and lots more makes all the difference.

  • I will read new books, and visit new places, I will open my mind to possibilities, because the world is full of possibilities. – My goal is to live the life of my dreams.

The more that you read, the more things you will know.  The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go – Dr. Seuss

The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.” –  Oprah

  • I will remember to rest well, because it is part of productivity.
  • I will commit all things to God in prayer, my prayer will be purposeful. So my life can inspire everyone around me.
  • And on a lighter mood, I will agree with Beyonce, ‘if you’ve been doing all you can and it’s not happening for you, go out and have you a good old time. Put on your sexy dress and move on.

xx

STB

Entrepreneurs Are Not Normal

Seun Tayo-Balogun
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You’re a freak.

That’s right. A freak. And so am I. Don’t be offended—it’s a compliment. Every single person you have seen on the cover of SUCCESS is also a freak. In fact, they’re super freaky, and that’s probably how they got on the cover.

Let’s define freak.
freak |freek| noun: a person who is obsessed with or unusually enthusiastic about a specified interest

If that’s not a definition for an entrepreneur, I don’t know what is. No doubt you have to be “unusually enthusiastic” and pretty freaky to get on this roller coaster. Most don’t have the courage to even step into the car of this thrill ride. But you do, and that is exactly why they will call you a freak.

Not only are you rare in your courage, but it turns out you’re unusual for even wanting to ride in the first place—only about 10% of people are entrepreneurs. That means the other 90% are “normal.”

Let’s define normal.
normal |nawr-muh| adjective: conforming to the standard or the common type; usual

Yuck! The “usual,” “common type,” or “standard” societal normal (that big, herd-like 90 percent) don’t like it when a “freak” steps out of line. That kind of nonconformity threatens them. It challenges their choices and identity. Rather than step out themselves, it’s safer for them to scorn your choices and attack you, in hopes of dragging you back into the herd so they can feel better about themselves.

So, yes. They will call you freak. They will call you crazy.

And that is good.

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” —Apple Inc. ad, 1997 after Steve Jobs returned to Apple.

So hello, crazy one! Welcome to the freak show! The good news is you don’t have to catch cannonballs, swallow swords, or breathe fire in order to join this freak show. (Unless, of course, your business actually is running a circus.)

Article Credit: Darren Hardy

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