Ripple Effects of Poverty: Child Marriage

Photo by Dick Scholten on Pexels

by Grace Anaja

Child marriage is a plague that affects millions of girls all around the world. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) describes child marriage as 'any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or another child.' In countries like Niger, Nigeria, and Central African Republic, 36% of girls are married before age 18, and 10% are married before age 15. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights also states that marriage must be entered by individuals who are fully consenting and at full age.

Changing 'Narratives' at the Borno Book and Arts Festival

Book Chat with Isa Umar Tela

by Adetayo Adetokun

The Borno Book and Arts Festival is the State's first arts and creativity festival, celebrating arts, culture, storytelling, and creativity. The festival featured panel discussions, workshops, poetry and local musical performances, art exhibitions, cultural displays, and book drives. 

Walk 4 Education: Taking Steps to Advocate for Quality Education in Nigeria

Cynthia Umeh, our Audio and Video Editor, at the Walk4Education event in Abuja, Nigeria

by Cynthia Umeh

Another fun-filled event!

Shades of Us Storytelling Initiative for African People ('Shades of Us') was invited for Walk4Education, a fitness and advocacy walk organized by FlexiSAF Foundation to commemorate World Human Rights Day on December 10, 2022, at the International Conference Center. Nothing was better than exercising while advocating for the rights of out-of-school children and wrapping up the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence campaign, which began on November 25, 2022.

Killing Me Softly...With Your Words

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels

by Grace Anaja

Verbal abuse is one of the major forms of abuse that is less spoken about or addressed. It is pretty detrimental because it usually affects individuals emotionally and psychologically.

Cheating (vrb). Women (n).

Photo by Ogo on Pexels

By Grace Anaja

Men cheat. 

And yes, women also cheat. 

The Future of Health Conference: Investing in Nigeria's Future

Group photo after the second-panel session at the Future of Health Conference in Abuja.
Image Credit: Nigeria Health Watch

by Adetayo Adetokun

The Future of Health Conference is an annual conference hosted by Nigeria Health Watch. The conference aims to provide a visible platform for critical stakeholders in healthcare, finance, politics, and other allied sectors to discuss the factors that influence Nigeria’s health policies; how political, social, and economic factors shape individual and population health outcomes; health service development within the economic and political context; and how to create a national health service that meets the needs of all Nigerians.

Lessons from the 2022 World Health Summit

General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director, World Health Organization

by Adetayo Adetokun

We attended the World Health Summit from October 16 - 18, 2022, and had insightful takeaways, especially from the sessions curated for African healthcare and food systems.

'Rape for Grades'

Photo by Charlotte May on Pexels

by Grace Anaja

Rape for grades is a well-known phenomenon. It involves dangling academic grades in exchange for sexual favors.  Even if one party – in this case, the students – consents to trade sexual favors for improved grades, the power dynamics between the school’s employee and the student means that one cannot consent without the niggling fear that their refusal may mean failure. Thus, it is considered rape.

Red Card to 'Sextortion'

By Grace Anaja

We attended the RedCard2Sextortion Campaign launch and panel discussion organized by Devatop Centre for Africa Development and supported by the United States Embassy in Nigeria on December 9, 2022, at the Raw Materials and Research and Development Council, Abuja. The discussions aimed to highlight and address sexual violence to commemorate the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

Spotlighting NGOs Working to Help Survivors of Gender-Based Violence

Photo by Eye for Ebony on Unsplash

by Ifeoluwa Ogunjobi

Victims and survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) suffer devastating short- and long-term consequences to their physical and mental health. These Consequences may include severe physical injuries, unwanted pregnancies and exposure to HIV or other sexually transmitted infections, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the limited ability to complete daily tasks, suicidal thoughts among others.

Hiring: Volunteer Graphic Designer

Photo by Vojtech Okenka

Job Title: Volunteer Graphics Designer  – Shades of Us

Location: Abuja (Hybrid – 75% Remote)

Employment Type: Short Term 

Duration: Six Months

Openings: 1

Dear Men...Here Is How You Can Fight Gender-Based Violence

Photo by Thirdman on Pexel.

By Eneojo Innocent

Men and boys can be great allies in the race to stop gender-based violence. Ending the menace that is gender-based violence is a global priority and requires a collective effort.

Here are 10 ways men and boys can fight gender-based violence.

Hiring: Audio Editor

Photo by RODNAE Productions

            Job Title: Audio Editor  - Shades of Us

Location: Abuja (Hybrid - 75% Remote)

Employment Type: Short Term 

Duration: 2 Weeks

Openings: 1

We. Are.

Photo by Askar Abayev

For all the Shades of Us,

Tones of black,

Hues of white,

And all that holds in between,

Moving strong in harmony.

Undefeated!

We are Elephants!

A Gathering of Women in Film

Panel session at the National Female Filmmakers' Congress.

“Women belong in all spaces.”

All We Learned at Google For Africa 2022

We attended the first Google for Africa event in 2021 and were impressed by how much Google was investing in Africa to improve educational, technology, entrepreneurial and developmental indices across the continent. We learned of the plan to invest $1Billion over a period of five years to support a range of initiatives from improved connectivity to investment in startups to help boost Africa’s digital transformation. 

Fun Times to Commemorate the Global Week to #Act4SDGs

Young advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals.

As an organization, we can be serious but…we also love to have a good time. 

Allow Us to Re-Introduce Ourselves

Shades of Us Storytelling Initiative for African People (‘Shades of Us’) is a non-profit organization using storytelling to address the socio-economic issues affecting Africa, Africans and people of African descent. This is with a view to facilitating open and honest conversations that lead to introspection, analysis and perspective change towards the greater goal of a redefined continent and people.

Volunteer Roles at Shades of Us

Photo by Jep Gambardella

On May 13, 2022, we got our certificate of incorporation as a non-profit organization from the Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission. Since then, we have been looking to expand our operations and impact lives across Africa and with people of African descent. As a direct result, we are hiring volunteers to help us chart the course of our organization's direction and growth. 

An Ode to Nigeria (For Country, For You and For Me)

Photo by Tope A. Asokere from Pexels

By Ojonugwa Yahaya.

 

When you continually tell even the most beautiful creature... hmm, maybe even more beautiful than Agbani Darego 🤔... that she is ugly, in no time she may start believing it and even start looking ugly... that is how dynamic nature and human psychology work.

Functional Illiteracy in Nigeria

Photo by RF._.studio from Pexels

by Vanessa Oyiwodu Audu

illiteracy

/ɪˈlɪt(ə)rəsi/

noun

1. the inability to read or write.

2. lack of knowledge in a particular subject; ignorance.

Women's Rights in Conferring Citizenship

Photo by Dayvison de Oliveira Silva from Pexels

by Emono Bwacha

A citizen of a country is basically someone who has legal ties to that country. One of the most common definitions of citizenship is that it is “the sum total of rights and duties ensuing for a given person by reason of his legal affiliation to a certain State”^[1] The concept of citizenship legally ties an individual to a particular region or country. As a direct result, the individual has obligations to said region or country and in return, the region or country grants the individual rights to enjoy as a citizen.

Happening in September: The 2021 Abuja Literary and Arts Festival

We. Are. Excited. About. #ALitFest21!

Partnering for the Health and Wellbeing Young People

Practical session during the 'Data Made Simple' Training-of-Trainers Capacity Building Session for SWAG Initiative

One of the global goals that Shades of Us has adopted is Goal 17: Partnership for the Goals. 

Patching Things Up

Fixing Potholes.
Credit: City of Ekurhuleni

When I moved to my current neighborhood, one of the things that convinced me to take the house was the road. Oh! The road was bad, but I saw that the potholes were being filled up with sand, so I assumed the roads would be repaired in time.

I should never have assumed that.