Hey there, long time no talk. How have you been?

 It's been quite cold here right, thanks to Shanyi *covers face*.

Happy new month and welcome to the 2nd quater of 2016.

So much has happened in the space of 3 months, things I never expected. Some came as pleasant surprises while others came as 'SHOCKERS'.

Over the years, I have learnt to be a 'BOUNCE BACK PERSON'. Life can be a bed of roses sometimes but we should not forget that roses have thorns. When we are pricked with the thorns of life we should understand that it's part of the contract we signed at birth.

When you lose your way,

When you fall,

When you are disappointed,

When you are hurt by a loved one,

When life seems so unfair,

When you are denied of rights and privileges,

When you are frustrated,

When you have tried several times and failed several times,

When you don't get desired results.

Take a deep breath and tell yourself that it's fine. It's okay to fail, it's not a crime to fall. You are very normal when you have feelings of disappointment. It becomes abnormal when you remain on the ground after you fall, when you allow disappointment lead to depression.

My dear, you need to bounce back up, pick up the broken pieces and restrategise. When it seems like you can't do it own your own ask God to help you. 

Remember that your bravery in the face of challenges wins a thousand battles you can't see, because your bravery strengthens a thousand others to win their battles too. Your present set backs are a part of your future success story.

Today is a good day to review your goals and plans for 2016. Don't let past failure stop you from pursing your dreams. Set deadlines for yourself, take a step towards your goals every day. Stop complaining about the things you don't have,  use available resources to achieve your goals.

I have nothing but love for y'all. You are way stronger than you think you are.

Have a great weekend and an AWESOME APRIL.

Shout out to April borns, please don't forget to send my cake ;) XXX.

I am awakened by loud banging and shouts

outside the door. I am momentarily confused

until I see Odinaka hurriedly putting his

clothes on, his eyes wild with fear.

“chei they are here! We are caught!! Oh, may

our Chi have mercy, we are going to die

today! They will kill us both!” he sputters. He

stumbles over his clothing as the shouts grow

louder and the banging fiercer. My mind is

still dulled by sleep, my body too shocked to

make a move to get up from bed & get

dressed.

The door crashes open and I see a group of

men rushing in. They seem to pass Odinaka

and run toward - me! One of them slaps me

across my face as the other pulls my hair.

The force of my hair being pulled is enough

to drag me out of bed, my nakedness

apparent for all to see. I gasp in pain and

taste blood on my lips.

“Cover her up,” I hear one voice say, “ At

least let a bit of modesty be preserved before

we stone her.”

“Why cover the harlot up?” another cruel

voice that I recognize as Udoka, my

elder brother, hisses. “She has brought

shame upon us all and should die like a dog,

in shame!”

I use the opportunity to pull the sheet around

me loosely. I look around for Odinaka . He

must have used the ensuing chaos to flee and

preserve himself. Just like everyone in my

life. So much for love and standing beside

me through thick and thin!  A smile curves

on my lips and a small humourless chuckle

escapes before I have time to stop it. Another

slap cracks across my face. This time I

cannot stop the quick tears that come to my

eyes as a result of the pain.

“Shameless baggage!!You even dare to smile

and laugh over your sin?” my other brother,

Udoka spits. “You are nothing but a

harlot. A whore! You have been so from the

day of your conception and you will die as

one!”

I am dragged out from the room, through the

house and thrown out on the street. I barely

have time to recover when I am dragged to

my feet, beaten mercilessly as I am shoved

and pushed forward.

The crowd slowly swells as other men, full of

righteous indignation, join the ranks of my

accusers. Women look out of their windows,

pointing fingers at me and cursing. I can

hear some of them jeering.

“Where is your beauty now, 'onye-akwuna'..harlot?”

“Shameless woman! Be grateful you are

barren, for our Chi has spared your children

the shame of having a mother such as you!”

and the shouts went on.

I fall down again and feel a kick in my side.

I push myself up only to be slapped and

punched again. I feel my right eye swelling.

The physical pain is overwhelming but it is

the pain in my heart that threatens to undo

me. I remember my life: the misery, the

betrayal and pain I have had to endure over

and over again. I remember.

I was cursed with beauty. It was my burden.

I have raven black hair, wavy and

abundant. I also have almond shaped green

eyes, with luxuriant black lashes and a full

red mouth. I was born to seduce and tempt.

Or at least that is what I have been told from

the moment I was 12 years old. I remember

my father, a high ranking member of the

council of ndi-iche; chiefs, being told by his friends, “You had better marry that one off quickly before

she tempts a fine young man into sin.” I

didn’t even know what sin they were talking

about. Then my brother’s friends and even my father’s

friends gazed at me with lust from the time I

was 14 years old. That made my brothers

see the with rage and my sisters to boil with

jealousy. I tried to be modest, following all

our customs to remain proper and decent

but to no avail. Short of covering my face

entirely, there was nothing I could do. At 15,

I was married off to Mazi Ukanna, a man closer

to my father in age than me, an upstanding

member of the council of ndi-iche. I didn’t like him.

He looked at me like I was a piece of prized

palm kernel, a hideous glint in his eye. I remember

weeping the night before my wedding,

begging my father to release me from the

betrothal. That was the first and last time my

father slapped me.

“You will marry him and give him many

fine sons,” my father said, his eyes as cold as

winter snow.

Thus, my marriage began. I could not endure

Mazi Ukanna's forced caresses. There was no

love, no tenderness, only lust and anger.

When he saw my lack of response, he took to

beating me. Then, of course, there were no

sons or daughters..that was all attributed to

me.

“A curse on you, barren woman!” he would

shout often. His whole family blamed me for

my lack of children. I was distraught. I knew

nothing of love. I had not received more

than anger and jealousy at home so I knew

nothing else. Until I met Odinaka.

He was my husband’s nephew. He came to

stay with us under the tutelage of Mazi Ukanna,

with hopes of becoming a part of the

ndi-iche. He was tall, handsome and

showed me what I thought was love. He

spoke tender words to me under the

moonlight in the garden when the rest of the

household slept and my husband was off

gulping away in palmwine with his friends. I felt Our Chi had played a cruel joke on

me, and then left me to my fate. I felt that all

members of the ndi-iche and indeed

society in general were hypocrites – exhibiting righteousness in public and behaving no better

than wild oxen in private. It wasn’t long

before I let Odinaka into my heart and then

into my bed. I knew it wouldn’t last but I

had not expected to get caught presently, I feel myself being thrown to the

ground. 

The crowd has swelled in size. I

knew the end was coming soon. Then I heard

Udoka shout, “Onye nkuzi anyi..Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing

adultery. In our Law, our fore-fathers commanded that such a woman must be stoned to death. Now,

what do you say?”

Onye-nkuzi? Oh, yes, it must be that Jisòs I

had heard about. He was quite a popular

character. I had seen Him briefly once, in

passing. He was a rather non-descript fellow

- a typical righteous man with dark brown

wavy hair, beard who had the bearing of one

accustomed to manual labour. I hear He was the son of De Joe our famous carpenter. People said He

performed miracles and was Wise beyond

His years or experience. Well, maybe He

could perform a miracle for me now and

make me disappear, I thought wryly. I was

determined to die with dignity, I was not

ashamed. I had had a brief taste of love and

if I was to be punished for that, then so be it.

I lifted my chin up, determined to be proud

till the end. I wasn’t afraid to die, indeed it

might prove to be a sweet release for me

from my miserable life. By now, my right

eye had swollen shut but I looked up. My

eyes met briefly with those of Onye-nkuzi's and my

heart stopped.

Never had anyone looked at me that way.

Not with lust, or hate or jealousy. But with

love and tenderness so pure it seemed

otherworldly. And there was something

absent in His eyes: condemnation. I felt tears

spring up as inexplicable feelings coursed

through my veins. I felt shame, fear at the

same time. I wanted to throw myself at His

Feet and beg, not for my life, but for

forgiveness. He then stooped to the ground

and started writing.

A twitter passed through the crowd. He was

writing? On the sand? He wrote for what

seemed like an eternity then he stood up. He

said, so softly that if not for the deathly

silence He may not have been heard.

“Whichever one of you has committed no sin

may throw the first stone at her.” Then He

stooped back and continued writing.

I bowed my head, expecting the first stone to

come crashing down. I hoped it would be

quick. I heard a dull thud as a huge rock fell

next to me. Then another. Then another.

Slowly, the rocks were dropped as the crowd

thinned out. The last rock to fall was that

Udoka was holding. I looked up and

saw in his eyes loathing, as he dropped his

rock, turned on his heel and walked away. It

was just Onye-nkuzi and I in that narrow alley. I

slowly got up, every fibre in my body aching.

Then Jisòs straightened up and stood. Our

eyes met again and I had the overwhelming

feeling that I was standing in the presence of

Someone Great. I wanted to fall to my face

and pay Him homage.  He then said softly

again, His Voice like the soft humming of the

summer wind.

“Where are they? Is there no one left to

condemn you?”

I shook my head and answered, “No one,

Sir.”

He smiled softly and exhaled, total

forgiveness in His eyes. “Well, then. I do not

condemn you either. Go, but do not sin

again.” And just like that I felt the burden of

my past drop from me like dead weight. Not

just my adultery but my pain and anguish. I

felt new. I knew I had no home with

Mazi Ukanna or my family but I was not

panicked. I had felt the very presence of

Our Chi!! I felt like shouting with joy! As I

gathered my wrappings around me I looked

up and saw Jisòs..Onye-nkuzi anyi walking away, some men joining Him. I wondered if I could follow

Him. Perhaps I could for I heard there were

some women in His Party, one of them

da Mariam of Magdala, distantly related to my

side of the family.

Perhaps I could go to her.

-    Scripture from John 8: 4 - 11

Iyke Jacob.

Hi guys..

Hope your week is going well? 

I'm yet to get over all that happened on Saturday at the Naturals in The City event I spoke about here.
I attended the event for the first time last year and that was their 13th edition, I wrote about it here. I went there as a shopper and participant last year but as a vendor this year.

Since the launch of Shanyi Organics in January this year, we have grown and are growing beyond my expectation and I am so grateful to God, to you, yes YOU and all our awesome customers.

Preparation for the exhibition was hectic and super tasking, thanks to my amazing team members, you guys are the best.

The team. L-R: Ruth, Ibrahim, Mercy and Shanyi.

The D-day finally came and we got there quite early. After setting up and saying a word of prayer with the team I was so nervous and quite scared. People started coming in, checking different stands and shopping.

Our Stand

At the beginning it seemed like no one was going to come by our stand and we would probably not make any sales but before we knew it our stand was so full we could not attend to everyone at the same time. We had a good laugh with our customers, exchanged cards and bonded with some immediately. 

Words can't describe the joy that filled my heart that day, I could not believe what my eyes were seeing. One of the conversations went this way:

Customer: Are the products imported or made in Nigeria? 

Me: Made in Nigeria. 

Customer: Oh cool, by your mum or aunt?

Me: No??? By me..

Customer: You say what!!! You this 15 year old girl??

Me: Lmao, rotfl, loooooooooooool

Guys, am I that small?? A whole me 15 years old.. Can you believe that few days before that day some guys were seriously arguing that I am 26 years old.. Na wa o. Ok, let's do this, write what you think my age is in the comment box, let's know who gets it right. 

At a point my big sister said can we have exhibitions every day? We had so much fun. At the end we had a raffle draw and our winner won a Samsung Digital Microwave Oven, she was so happy.

Raffle draw winner.

Presenting her gift

Can you sight me and Ruth?

I could not go into the hall at all cause I had to attend to customers but you can read about the talks here.

If you have not placed orders for your Shanyi Organics products yet I do not know what you are waiting for o.. The reviews and feedbacks from our customers have been all shades of AWESOME, you can check our Instagram page here to read some. 

To order call 08183288590 or send a mail to shanyiorganics@gmail.com. 

Thanks for reading.
Stay POSITIVE and Start ACTING on those dreams and aspirations, very soon they would become REALITY.

Shanyi Organics was once a dream.

Hi guys..

It's Thursday already, this week went pretty fast for me but it has been really productive. 

In this post,  I talked about a 'surprise' I had to share, that is what today's post is about. It's not a surprise though, I'd call it a GREAT NEWS instead. 

So, the quarterly natural hair meetup organised by Natural Nigerian is coming up on the 12th of March, on Saturday and Shanyi Organics would be exhibiting for the first time there (yeah you heard me right, lol)

It's going to be a huge one for us but it's going to be awesome. So guys make sure you come around and don't forget to stop by our stand. 

Shanyi Organics would be having a raffle draw on that day and the winner would go home with a digital microwave. 

(E fit be you o!!)

Your favourite quarterly natural meet-up is back in less than two weeks, yay! We are pretty excited over here!

Cafe Neo, 6 Agoro Odiyan Street, off Adeola Odeku, Victoria Island, Lagos.

1pm to 6pm.

Established 2011, Naturals in the City is a quarterly meet-up in Lagos dedicated to encouraging you towards living better, embracing a (more) natural lifestyle.

When you know better, you do better. Our speakers are experienced, knowledgeable persons and they are always so open and generous with their wisdom at our meet-ups! A full statement of the agenda for NITC 14 will be published next week but for now, just know that the conversation will cover Hair, Fitness, Nutrition, and an extra something something!  So keep your eyes on the blog, watch this space!

Everyone is invited! All genders, ages, natural and relaxed.

I love meeting people at Naturals in The City. Love it. Pretty sure you would too!

Come to make friends, and if you are an industry person (natural hair or beauty writer or blogger, a maker of your own products, or interested in retail), NITC is the perfect place to network, so be prepared!

Really, you should make a quarterly date with us to stock up on all your favourite hair products! At NITC, we always have an array of vendors selling hair products and accessories. Come get your product fix, and discover new brands. Our vendors include, but aren’t limited to natural, organic, proudly Nigerian brands making amazing stuff! Come support the movement! It’s not too late to sign up for a stall at NITC. If you’re interested, simply email nn@naturalnigerian.com, or thekinkandi@gmail.com. You can also call 0909.213.2141

We’ve also got natural and organic vendors at Naturals in the City! Fresh, natural and organic produce will be on sale, at pretty awesome prices, trust us! You don’t need to struggle with questionable veggies at Shoprite that weekend (or ever), no you don’t. 

All that learning, shopping and connecting is sure to make you work up an appetite!

Food by Kitchen Butterfly will be available, and you can also get your coffee or pastry fix because we are at Cafe Neo. 

At our last two meet-ups, we have collaborated with two charities, and we are definitely continuing with this as a permanent feature of our meet-ups.

Please come prepared to support our charity of choice (details to be announced with the agenda).

Nothing is too small <3

Hi guys..

Hope y'all have been doing great..

Welcome to the last month in the first quarter of 2016, the year is flying by again. We need to work fast and smart so we can achieve most of all goals if not all. 

So, my phone (which served as a computer, camera, phone, drive and more) was stolen few days ago on the 1st of March, an incidence I'd rather not talk about because I am trying to totally forget about it. It was very painful to lose such possession at this point in time but I learnt some lessons from the incidence and I'm gonna share it with you now.

1. Due to my business and some other engagements like the blog, I am online 99% of each day, Either sending and reading mails, replying request for products and all of that. Few weeks before the incidence,Ii developed this habit of checking my phone first each morning when I wake up. I'd tell myself just 5 minutes but that would lead to 30 minutes and more. At the end I wont have time to talk with God before stepping out. I heard God warn me about it several times but I kept at it. 

The morning after my phone was stolen, I read 2 chapters of the bible and I prayed like I had not done in a while.

Moral lesson: As God's children, He wants to talk to us as much as possible, He wants to always communicate His mind to us and the best time to talk to God is in the morning immediately after we wake up, before our hearts and mind are polluted with the things we see on social media and on the internet. We need to get fresh grace and strength for each day and that can be gotten in that quiet moment spent with God. 

In the book of John, the 21st chapter, Jesus asked Simon Peter a question 3 times. He asked him if he loved Christ more than food (bread and fish) and Simon's reply was "Lord, Thou knowest that I love thee". Christ's repetition of that question was for emphasis, He wanted to be sure if Peter really loved Him.

If Christ was to ask us that same question today what would be our answer. Whether we admit it or not, most of us love these things (our gadgets, social media, etc) more than Christ. We constantly spend the time we should spend talking to God surfing the internet and instagram. We often forget that our God is a jealous God, He can't share His glory with anyone and anything. The earlier we correct this the better for us else we would learn the hard way like I did.

2. Please, please and please don't use one device for so many important tasks, so that when something happens to one you can fall on another as a backup.

I hope you learnt something from my experience. I should get a new phone soon so I'd be back on the blog. There would be another post later this week with a HUGE SURPRISE, so make you check out for it.

Till then, Stay HAPPY and POSITIVE...