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WOMEN AS AGENTS OF SOCIAL CHANGE

Speak Wednesday, Uncategorized /

According to Wikipedia, Social change involves alteration of the social order of a society. It may include changes in social institutions, social behaviors or social relations.

Family is considered the first agent of socialization and women are seen as the primary caretakers of the young ones in the family. Women play an important role in facilitating or hindering changes in family life which affects the society inadvertently. Women are naturally the doctors, educators and caretakers within the family, and they become the glue that holds the family together and connects it to the larger community to address common needs and concerns. As women take up essential roles within the family, the roles naturally expand to the community, nation, and world, because they are raising the next generation of people who will become contributors to not just the family but the society at large.

There is a growing consensus that women’s equal rights and opportunity is linked to peace, prosperity, human development and democracy. How a country taps the talents and capacity of its women greatly determines its economic, social and political progress. Women in most societies, whether developed or developing are regarded as currency with which political and economic alliances are established.

In Nigeria, women have made some remarkable impact in contributing to the development of the nation. Such as the late Mrs. Margaret Ekpo, Prof. Dora Akunyili, Mrs. Janet Mokelu, Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Hajia and Mrs. Maryam Babangida. There is also able Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who in her capacity as Finance Minister in Nigeria, instituted various reforms in Nigeria, thereby making the country one of the best economies in the world.

Truth is envisioning a world where girls and women are fully active agents of change means planning a change for the better.

 

Speak Wednesday is an initiative of Centre for Family Health Initiative (CFHI) to address issues of gender based violence and gender bias. Join us every Wednesday on all our social media platforms for more episodes. 

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The Economically Empowered Mother of Four

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Joy Umoru is a reactive mother of four children who resides in Gosa community . she has a viral load that is undetectable because she adheres to her drugs.

During the time of enrollment, she had nothing doing, she was living with her four children with no means of livelihood to cater for their education and well being.

She was then empowered with ten thousand naira (N10, 000) in May through the house hold economy empowerment which she used to start a business of yam flower. She started selling with 10 mudus of yam flower, which she sells to her neighbors and supplies from house to house.

After a while, She joined the savings group (SILC) in the community, where she was consistent in attending meeting and saves money regularly. Now, she has a space in the market where she sells and has advanced from 10 mudus of yam flower to buying in bags, she also added garri and maize to her business.

Feeding is no longer a challenge as she continues her business and pay bills from the little profit, she makes from her Yam Flower business.

Joy Umoru said she is grateful to CFHI and her funders for adding value to her family.

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The Story of Favour Odibo

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As an adolescent, Favour became a member of the DREAMS club. As a complementary package, CFHI enrolled her for one year tailoring skill acquisitions, during her apprenticeship, she did exceptionally and as such she was empowered with a sewing machine as a startup kit.

Being an intelligent girl, shetook advantage of the pandemic and began to produce facemasks which was in high demand, this in turn increased her turn over. Today, Favour is independent and owns a tailoring outfit in front of her house where she makes dresses for her customers. From the income generated from her tailoring business, she has been able to support her family financially and this has improved the livelihood of her family.

The Odibos are grateful for this great opportunity giving to their daughter.

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SPEAK WEDNESDAY

40 Comments / Gender, Speak Wednesday, Uncategorized, Women /

WOMEN DEALING WITH EMOTIONAL ABUSE

According to Tracy, N. (2012, July 29), emotional abuse is one of the most common forms of abuse that occurs in close relationships. It is also known as psychological abuse. Emotional abuse Is when something is consistently said, implied or done intentionally to hurt someone’s feelings over an extended period of time. It is about one person maintaining power or control over another person which usually takes place between intimate partners.

Emotional abuse can include verbal assault, dominance, privacy invasion, economic subordination,  control, isolation, gas lighting, ridicule, or the use of intimate knowledge for degradation. It targets the emotional and psychological well-being of the victim, and it is often a precursor to physical abuse. Studies show that women are at a disadvantaged point and have a higher chance of being abused emotionally due to the deep-rooted patriarchal nature of the society and of men controlling ‘their’ women.

Emotional abuse may be less obvious than physical abuse, but can still have devastating effects on the mental health and wellbeing of the victim. Effects of emotional abuse on women could be short or long-term. According to different reports, psychological or emotional abuse in women can be linked to poor relationship satisfaction, anxiety, depression, insomnia, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, increased physical health problems (such as migraine, indigestion, stomach ulcers, chronic pain and chronic disease), among others. Emotional abuse may be contributing factors to the development and/or severity of illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.

Victims of emotional abuse often times feel embarrassed to report or open up about issues of emotional abuse especially those with no physical evidence. However, it is necessary to seek help or counselling either from a friend, a doctor or a relationship or family counsellor to avoid the adverse effects it may have on your general well-being.

Speak Wednesday is an initiative of Centre for Family Health Initiative to stop the cycle of domestic violence by breaking the silence around gender-based violence and gender bias. Join us every Wednesday on all our social media handles for more episodes.

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MONDAY HEALTH BURST

Drug Abuse, Drugs, Health, Uncategorized, WHO /

DRUG ABUSE

According to Environmental and Public Health Journal in December 2018, drug abuse refers to the use of drugs to treat self-diagnosed disorders or symptoms, and the continued use of a prescribed drug for chronic or recurrent disease or symptoms. It is “the taking of drugs, herbs or home remedies on one’s own initiative, or on the advice of another person, without consulting a medical expert. Also, according to Dr. Ananya Mandal, drug abuse or substance abuse refers to the use of certain chemicals for the purpose of creating pleasurable effects on the brain.

Medical Life Sciences reports that there are over 190 million drug users around the world and the problem has been increasing at alarming rates, especially among young adults under the age of 30. Apart from the long term damage to the body drug abuse causes, drug addicts who use needles are at risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis B and C. Not only does this affect the drug abuser directly, the family members and the society at large are affected negatively in one way or another.

Drug abuse in regards to the usage of antibiotics is reported as being highly prevalent and common in developing nations in Africa, according to World Health Organisation, which can pose a risk to the abuser. Another drug that is constantly abused is Paracetamol and Vitamin C tablet. Research has it that the excessive use of Paracetamol causes the inflammation of the liver and weakens the immune system, and high doses of Vitamin C can cause neurological symptoms, such as tingling and numbness, and possibly permanent nerve damage.

It is essential to consult a medical expert before treating any form of illness. Centre for Family Health Initiative continues to sensitize people especially in rural communities to the dangers ascribed to drug abuse on their health.

Monday Health Burst is an initiative of Centre for Family Health Initiative (CFHI) to tackle issues of basic health concerns. Join us every Monday for more health related articles on all our social media platforms.

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MONDAY HEALTH BURST

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DANGERS OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Substance abuse is defined as the harmful or hazardous use of psychoactive substances, including alcohol and illicit drugs.

Commonly abused substances include stimulants, cocaine, opioids, heroin, sedatives, alcohol, prescription pain killers such as tramadol and many more. The use of these psychoactive substances can lead to dependence syndrome- a cluster of behavioral, cognitive, and physiological phenomena that develop after repeated substance use and that typically include a strong desire to take the drug, difficulties in controlling its use, persisting in its use despite harmful consequences, a higher priority given to drug use than to other activities and obligations, increased tolerance, and sometimes a physical withdrawal state.

The dangers of substance abuse are quite numerous and varies depending on what is abused and the length of use. However, the biopsychosocial health of an individual is affected at large.

Biological effect such as: increased heart rate, hypertension, end organ damage, blood dyscrasias, malignancies, seizures, blood-borne diseases like hepatitis or HIV, impotence or infertility, learning and memory problems, lung damage, respiratory depression and coma.

Psychological effects include: tolerance, dependence and drug addiction, withdrawal symptoms when trying to cut back or quit, mental disorders, among others.

Social effect include; jeopardizing relationships with friends and family, neglecting work and school responsibilities, involvement in criminal activity and a greater risk of being victimized by crime.

Drug addicts did not start abusing substances in one day, they did gradually. Hence, it is important to totally abstain from substance abuse to maintain a healthy biopsychosocial life.

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MONDAY HEALTH BURST – COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

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MONDAY HEALTH BURST – COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

About five months ago, the world woke up to the news of a new Corona virus, a Novel virus which led to Nigeria’s decision of locking down her major cities to slow down the spread for the past 5 weeks.

During the recent address by Mr. President, it was stated that the stay at home order will be lifted by May 4th. However, it is important that as we go back to work, we need not throw caution to the wind and return to business as usual. It is expected that we remember why the lockdown was enforced in the first place.

According to worldometer figures, we are presently at over 3.2 million confirmed cases of the corona virus (Covid-19) and more than two thousand deaths. This means all hands must be on deck.

As we leave the lockdown, kindly follow the prescribed WHO guidelines of:

Hand hygiene; Washing hands with soap under running water for at least 20 seconds or use of an alcohol-based sanitizer.

Wear a face mask; WHO encourages the use of non-medical face masks for the fear of shortage for medical professionals.

When coughing or sneezing; Cough and sneeze in a flexed elbow or into tissue/handkerchief and dispose of it immediately.

Clean all surfaces; Regularly clean tables, counter tops, door handles, windows, etc, with bleach or disinfectant solutions.

When sick, stay at home; If you notice any symptom of Covid-19, stay at home and call NCDC hotlines in your state if need be.

Avoid public gatherings/places; As much as possible, regulate your movement till this pandemic is mitigated.

Keep social distance; Do not mistake eased restrictions to the end of Covid-19. Social distancing is very essential. This is not the time to visit or hold parties.

As much as possible, maintain the routines as stated while on lockdown. Spread the awareness not the virus. Let us all do our parts to flatten the curve and together with our medical professionals we will beat Covid-19.
#Stay Safe

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SPEAK WEDNESDAY – GENDER THEORIES (PART ONE)

Gender, Uncategorized, Women /

 

Simone de Beauvior’s gender theory – One is not born a woman, one becomes one, differentiates sex from gender.  This theory believes that gender is an aspect of identity gradually acquired. Everything we are is as a result of choices and what we build from our own resources and those which society gives us. We don’t only create our own values, we create ourselves.

It is said that sometimes, it is hard to become a woman because of the struggle for human freedom in the apparently disadvantaged female body. De Beauvoir argues that it is not the biological condition of women per se that constitutes a handicap: it is how a woman construes this condition that renders it positive or negative.

Becoming a woman takes conscious efforts and deliberate actions. What feminist philosophers like de Beauvoir aim to achieve is to open the space for that freedom to flourish. To her, gender was decided by the way parents treated and raised their children. Hence, gender identity is decided very early in life. This means that a girl is built up emotionally as the weaker sex, not to have a voice and a decision when she is with her “Male folks”, to always live as an assistant rather than a leader, not to dare or have a dream greater than a male.

This theory from Simone de Beauvior serves as a reminder that we are first human before gender, creating awareness so that we can change certain things about our societies for the better. It also calls attention to the negative effects of the way women are treated differently in the society.

Join us next week on Speak Wednesday for more gender theories.

#Gender #Womeninspire #Genderinequality.

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MONDAY HEALTH BURST – PROPER HYGIENE AND SANITATION

Health, Hygiene, Sanitation, Uncategorized, WHO /

MONDAY HEALTH BURST – PROPER HYGIENE AND SANITATION:

Simply put, hygiene is the personal practices we imbibe that contribute to healthy living like hand washing, hair trimming and keeping nails short and clean, bathing, brushing of teeth morning and evening, among others. Sanitation on the other hand, is the actions and use of tools we combine towards keeping our environment clean, safe and healthy. These include effective drainage and proper waste disposal, how we prepare food, maintain toilet facilities and washing stations.
According to WHO, these practices are important towards the availability of clean water, combating Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTP) like helminths via contaminated soil and water, lymphatic filariasis which affects 1 billion of the world’s poorest people in about 149 countries. It includes prevention of water borne diseases like diarrhoea, cholera and breeding of organisms that cause malaria and onchocerciasis.
Globally, 2.4 billion people lack access to proper toilet facilities, hence, the high rate of open defecation. Over 946 million people worldwide practice open defecation according to a WHO report, leading to contamination of the soil and nearby water bodies, often resulting in diseases affecting communities.
To ensure we understand the scope and scale of the need for hygiene and sanitation, we need to start with us as individuals, making sure we imbibe hygienic practices and sanitize our environment by disposing waste properly, recycling, cleaning of our homes and surroundings, culminating in the next step of community led sanitation. Communities can provide proper latrines and waste disposal means which is an important part of sanitation and can drastically reduce diseases in the communities.
To help build and maintain a healthy community and personal health, especially in this prevailing pandemic, we must embrace proper hygiene and sanitation.
#HygieneAndSanitation #MondayHealthBurst #Stayhome #Staysafe

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