Tag: enang ukoh

Staples

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Black pencil skirt

Black pencil skirt-BeginHey guys!

Taking a quick break from the Nigerian Woman series to bring a style post cause I feel I haven’t done one in a while!

So I made this skirt ages ago and took the pictures a long while back but for some reason I just have not posted it until now. You know how you buy a ton of stuff but you only end up using a select few on a regular basis, same thing happens when you sew. I’ve made a lot of things but this is one of the few that I have worn A LOT! That’s possibly why I hadn’t posted this yet because I got so used to having it in my closet that I forgot to blog about it.

This was pretty easy to make. I started off with stretchy fabric; if you’re going to replicate this I suggest using something thick just so you don’t have to worry about lining it or how it clings to every bump and crevice -_-. I cut out a rectangle with the length of the skirt and the breadth was wide enough to go around my hips. From that point, I just added darts to taper the waist and took in the side seams till I was satisfied with the shape of the skirt.

Black skirt-Enang Ukoh

Now this was probably not the most efficient way to manage the fabric but it definitely seemed easier. When I had finished the skirt I cut out another rectangle which was 4 inches wide and the length of my waist and used that to make my waist band. For difficulty, I would rate this project a 3/10, it really was that straightforward and I’ve gotten so much use out of it!

I’m thinking of giving more details of how I create certain pieces, almost like an outfit recipe…we’ll see how that works out 🙂

 

Pictures by Willyverse

The Nigerian Woman| Afrolems

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Atim Ukoh

Atim Ukoh Begin

Hey Guys!!

This series wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t consider the role that cooking plays in the average Nigerian’s life. Nigerians love their food if nothing else and there is the very vibrantly expressed opinion that every Nigerian woman must know how to cook (-_-). For this post, I spoke to my sister; CEO and creative director of Afrolems. She stays slaying in the kitchen and while I try, real has to recognize real!! I loved reading her post because while we’re sisters, our experiences and perspectives are pretty different plus she made me laugh :P. Anyhow, I trust that you would love reading this just as much as I did!

Who are you ? (What are the things that make up your identity, likes, interests, quirks)

My name is Atim Ukoh. I am in my late 20’s, currently a food blogger and a digital marketing strategist. I like to believe I am generally a lighthearted person even if I end up panicking about a lot of things. I am too stubborn for my own good. In recent times, I have discovered I love travelling and exploring new cultures. I believe in living life to the fullest. I laugh a lot at any thing. Ask my mum. Sometimes I think it’s nervous laughter because hey you might be boring and I am not sure how to fill in the gap of your awkwardness or you just might be genuinely funny. You never know.

What do you feel being a Nigerian woman means?

A Nigerian woman means being very adaptable. Adaptability is generally a trait popularly associated with Nigerians in general. Moving to Canada reinforced this trait in me. As a Nigerian woman who spent 18 years in a tropical country, the Canadian winter was not the easiest situation to adjust to.

The dating scene was also different. In Nigeria, women are used to being chased aggressively, wined and dined even before you truly find out about her. It took a bit of effort to adapt to the Canadian way of dating which involved giving a guy your number and waiting 3-5 business days to get a text saying “hey I still have your number”.

The society has several expectations of you as a Nigerian woman. There are expectations that you would naturally be domesticated, which may not always be the case. In general, there are societal opinions that need to be taken into strong consideration. Now I am personally not a believer of that fact but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s still something to consider. I believe in creatively playing the game and being strategic to get what you want from the society.

What role do you feel food plays in the life of the Nigerian Woman?

Being that I am from Akwa Ibom in Nigeria, there is an additional expectation that I should also be a great cook and it should be a huge part of my DNA. I sometimes believe when Nigerian men see their women, they see a walking pot of soup. There is an expectation that a pot of soup or rice would come out of her being around them for over two hours. I believe food plays a very crucial role in the lives of Nigerian women. Grandmothers and mothers for generations have forced their daughters into the kitchen to learn a thing or two about cooking because they believe the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

When did you fall in love with cooking?

I fell in love with cooking when I successfully made my first tasty pot of Indomie noodles. I realized that I could walk into the kitchen, climb on a stool because I was too short to reach the stovetop and stir my way to perfect noodles fit for consumption. It was the best feeling ever.

What are you most proud of regarding your Nigerian identity?

I am proud of the fact that we are a resilient group. Regardless of what life throws at us, we manage to smile through it, adapt and keep moving. I love the richness of the cultures that exist within Nigeria. I love the fact that we have unique traits that differentiates us from other Africans and even sometimes makes them a tad jealous. I love the fact that we are an enterprising group of people. I would not trade my Nigerian identity for the world.

What are your hopes for Nigeria in the coming years?

I would like to see Nigeria truly get its act together. Be a place that people want to visit, become a place that is synonymous with great inventions both in the arts and sciences. I’d like the Nigerian woman to have a stronger voice in the rural communities, as that would reduce the rate of poverty within these communities.

Where can people find you and your work?

You can find me through my blog Afrolems or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @afrolems

Picture by Willyverse

The Nigerian Woman|SSR

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Shully Sappire-Rubinstein

Shully T-Sr Begin

Hi Guys!

Firstly, I’m so thrilled at the response to the first post in this series! Thank you so much to everyone who read and commented! Here’s the second piece in the series. I was particularly interested in her story for a few reasons; 1) Shully is smart and awesome and hearing her opinion is always great! 2) Being biracial in Nigeria is a pretty unique experience.

As someone simply observing, being biracial seems to draw so many different reactions; bullying, admiration or indifference and often times all these reactions could come from a single source. Shully pulled me into her thoughts and experiences and I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

Who are you (What are the things that make up your identity, likes, interests, quirks)

A while ago I read a tumblr post that said “’I’m having a conversation with one of my friends and I ask him, “What defines you?” and he responded with, “Nothing. A definition excludes the possibility for change.” When I think of my identity, I think of that statement because I feel I am constantly negotiating what it is. That being said I will say the things that currently make me “Shully” lol. My names, my Israeli name and my Nigerian name define me. Shulamit means peace and Temitope means “I’ll always have something to be grateful for”. I am not somebody who people typically think of as peaceful and for a long time I was laughed and told I was named wrongly and so I stopped telling people the meaning of my name. It took me a long time to understand the significance of the name and now I can say without any hesitation I was not named in vain. Temitope reminds me to pause and look around, to be thankful and to recognize the little and big things. After that rant lol, other things that define me would be reading,most especially works of African authors, developing my writing craft, my somewhat obsession with cleaning, extreme organization and arrangement. I also need to be early to everything or I freak out internally. And finally being an introvert but also a weird person according to my friends.

 What do you feel being a Nigerian woman means?

I think being a Nigerian woman means different things depending on where you are from in Nigeria. I think it has a lot to do with understanding the history of women in Nigeria, in your family, culture and understanding the relation to you. I think of strength and perseverance when I think of Nigerian women, of survival, of many lives lived. I think we carry a certain level of pride with us, a Nigerian woman is complicated but wonderful lol. I think of the relationships with sisters and aunties, female friends of the community of women and strength of sisterhood whether in churches or markets

What was it like to be bi-racial in Nigeria?

For me this is a complicated question because I often find I had a different experience than most bi-racial kids in Nigeria. I was bullied for most of elementary and middle school for the reason of being bi-racial. I was also extremely religious, like go to church 4 times a week-earlier-than-service-starts-and-leave-2 hours-after-it-ended religious. My sister and I were always the two “oyinbo” children, easily noticeable and always talked about in church. When I was in Nigeria, I found that I always claimed Israel more, my Nigerian-ness needed no explaining although between my sister and I, she was the one that “looked” more Nigerian. My blond hair and green eyes constantly attracted stares and comments

Has your identity as a Nigerian ever been questioned? Why and how did you respond?

I think this is kind of related to what I was saying before about looking less Nigerian than my sister. In that regard, people are always shocked when I say I’m Nigerian and often people ask if I have been there and are surprised when I say I lived there all my life. Then they ask if I can speak pidgin or where I lived in Nigeria. Almost like a standard test to verify my Nigerian-ness. I usually go through the routine with them, answering questions, laughing at surprises. It only thoroughly bothers me when my experience is questioned and dismissed but mostly I am used to interrogations lol.

What is your favorite thing about Nigeria?

It’s the jokes, the comments, the slangs that make you laugh. Being able to see a meme or a comment or a status and be transported back to a time it happened or remember several experiences. Even to show it to another Nigerian and have them share in that with you. To be miles away from home but still the ability to experience a homier you, that is what I love. Food. Strength and laughter in people, families and communities.

What would you change about Nigeria if you had the chance?

I would change the dependence and crutch on churches. I think people in Nigeria are taken advantage of by the churches. There is too much money going in to churches and too little being put back into taking care of the people you see on the way to your church. It needs to change.

Where can people find you and your work?

You can find me on tumblr – forshalom is where I post up most of my work. Visit, tell me what you think.

Live!

Published on by maksu20136 Comments

my fourth year in review

This entire school year I had one goal; to live. To truly take advantage of all the experiences that I could and just get out there. This was kind of a fall out from my whole “turning 20” crisis where I just had no clue what I had achieved in 2 decades of living. Anyhow with this new quest for life outside my comfort zone I packed on a lot of activities that made my fourth year awesometastic. Here are my top 10 favorite memories.

10. Taking a course that had nothing to do with my major

I took a couple of these actually; Graphic novel, Anthropology of Youth Culture and for a little while I took Computational thinking (aka programming for the arts student). I truly valued this experience because it gave me a chance to breathe from all of the social justice thinking for a little while and gain fresh perspective.

9. Travel

Okay I didn’t do a whole lot of travelling but I did go to San Francisco and it was absolutely beeyoutiful! Wasn’t nearly as warm as I had hoped it would be but that was a great trip with a truly awesome tour guide (Shout out to Afrolems!).

San Fran_Begin

8. Network

This year, I feel like I put myself out there a bit more than I normally would. I went to networking events, signed myself up for responsibilities (may have overdone it on this one) and really tried to engage people out of my immediate circle. The pay-off? Amazing friends that I may never have made if I didn’t try and being inspired to do a little bit more.

7. Work

Praise Jesus I had a job in my fourth year. I was the mentorship assistant to the student life coordinator working in the Dean of Students office. Can you tell I love saying that? I don’t think I could have had a job that was better suited to me in my last year. They were always so understanding and eager to offer me opportunities that I may not have known about on my own. I already miss everyone there and I’m so grateful to have met them.

6. Singing in front of people

So in keeping with my whole pushing out of my comfort zone, I volunteered to sing a solo part in my choir (UTGC whoop whoop!!). Singing in front of people makes me pretty nervous so for the most part I just sing around my family and a few of my friends. I was definitely taking a bit of a leap with a solo. I had planned to sing it an octave higher than I did but when my mouth opened and my voice wouldn’t do what my brain told it to I just went with it and it all worked out! Or well so I think :p

UTGC_Begin

5. Getting featured in a school newspaper!!

Now this one had me all kinds of excited. I was asked to comment as President of the Nigerian Students Association on a Nigerian issue. That was one of the few moments where I felt responsible for my team and communicating a strong positive message to whoever read the article.

http://ryersonjournalism.ca/2015/01/28/what-makes-one-horrific-event-more-newsworthy-than-another/

4. Cooking for a crowd

Now as the daughter of 1qfoodplatter you would think that cooking for people is something I do on the regular and while I would like to agree with you, that is a LIE! I lived on residence for all four years of uni and I had a meal plan so the need to cook was very minimal. Anyhow when your student group is trying to maintain its finances, you’ll do things you weren’t sure you could. That is the very basic story of how I cooked for 30 people 0_0.

3. Getting an Award

I don’t think of myself as an overachieving student by any means. I think I was rather modest in my overall involvement and well if I didn’t feel like doing a reading I just didn’t do it (sorry Mama&Daddy). That being said, I was very pleasantly surprised to be awarded the UC Merit Award “for my contributions to student life”. Getting an award in my graduating year was a goal I set for myself so this was a real kicker

Enang Ukoh_UC Merit Award Recepient - Copy

2. Terracotta!!!

Oh of all the things I did this year, Terracotta was right up there on my scale of challenging! Just to clarify, Terracotta is the culture show presented by NSA UofT.  This year I directed the show. The tears, the hours, the stress but also the people in this show made this an unforgettable experience. I also made costumes for the show which was pretty fun!

Enang Ukoh Terracotta_Begin

1. Presidency

So many of the things I did this year and the people I met were a consequence of my presidency. I learned a lot about myself and I feel like I was better for this experience. Sometimes it felt like I took on way more than I could handle but time after time I received strength to do a little bit more. I wasn’t a perfect leader by any stretch and I’m still learning from some of the mistakes that I made. Through it all I’m very grateful to God for getting me through.

Enang Ukoh_Begin

In four years I made a lot of memories and I grew and changed every single year. Thank you UofT for my most challenging four years yet. I wouldn’t trade this for anything.

Watch your tongue

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Language, Culture and Colonialism.

sew-willyverse-Ibegan

okay so I had originally planned to post my year in review next but life happens so I have a whole new post that I hadn’t really planned to write. Now this might not appeal to all people so if you’re reading this and getting really angry or bored well, not really sure what to tell ya buddy. Oh and you should know this is going to be a long one 🙂 .

Anyhu, a while ago and well every so often this argument bubbles up within my Nigerian circle “why don’t people our age speak their native languages?”. Usually this question is followed by a huge eye-roll from some people (*cough* me) and then the never ending back and forth of how we’re letting our languages die and what shall we do. Now don’t get me wrong I wish I had the diversity of tongue that my parents do. I wish I could sashay between languages without even realizing it and I certainly wish I had a stronger command of my language than I do but somehow it just didn’t happen for me as with many of my peers.

Finally one day as I was thinking in the shower, it finally made sense! We have been discussing the symptoms and completely ignoring the real issue. Language has no basis without culture. No really think about it, has anyone ever told you that in order to learn a language you need to visit the place and truly be immersed in the culture? Same concept! So by this am I implying that Nigerians are losing their culture? Yes and no. Of course as Nigerians I feel most of us can attest to having an undeniable “nigerian-ness” that you just can’t shake, whether it was in your upbringing, your craving for spicy food or the way your body moves when the beat drops and you just can’t deny the gbedu. However how many of us know our history? No I’m not talking about the history we learned in high school that starts at slave trade and continues through colonialism and lands us in this present day confuffled political collective. I mean the history of your people before they ever saw a white man.

Yea its a little more foggy isn’t it? Oh I’m so sure someone is reading this and thinking “well its not like they wrote us a diary to preserve that history” and I would ask you; have you become so heavily dependent on your colonial education that you completely disregard traditional ways of knowing that very effectively passed down knowledge up until a few generations ago? Language is simply the medium through which we tell our stories but if we don’t even know what those stories are then language is nothing but a strange combination of letters that have no value. In order to effectively partake in the intricacy of language, you must first situate yourself in the culture. So are you Yoruba or Edo or Igbo or Efik simply because your parents have told you that’s what you are or do you see your tribe as a fundamental piece of your identity. The honest answer to this question might explain your language proficiency in your native dialect.

Now seeing as I have written this entire post in English I clearly have no issues with a person speaking English or French or Portuguese or whatever the language of your colonizer was. BUT!!! I am no longer content with this cultural cluelessness. For example, why are different traditional marriages conducted the way they are? What is the significance of some of these practices or are we just all kneeling down and pouring alcohol on the ground cause its cool? Why do we eat the way we do? Why do we greet the way we do? Why do we dance the way we do? Without knowing the answers to any of these, language is really just one more thing that I’m barely holding on to.

Picture by Willyverse

Gathe-red

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Gathered Skirt

Full skirt-Enang Ukoh

Hey beautiful people!

So I know I make a lot of skirts but I’m really not sorry. Winter has forced me into a rotating schedule of long sleeves, sweaters and pants. While that’s not all together horrible it gets boring after a while you know. I need to stick it to the weather and expand my skirt collection, I shall overcome!red midi skirt

This time I decided to make this gorgeous gathered skirt and I felt it came out really nice! I was inspired by a skirt my sister has and had hoped to make this a midi skirt but the amount of fabric I had wouldn’t have allowed that happen, nevertheless I am satisfied.

Red skirt- Enang Ukoh-Begin

Making it was relatively easy, I cut out a rectangle 3 times the circumference of my waist (lessons learned from my first midi skirt). After that I set my sewing machine to the largest straight stitch setting and sewed along the edge so I could gather the skirt. After gathering, the rest was simply putting the ends together. I included a zipper which was a little difficult but not horribly so and I finished it off with a little pearl button. Overall I would rate the difficulty a 4/10.

Turtle neck and Skirt- BeginOoo, well this is completely unrelated but I’m really loving the flat twist crown in my hair…Made me feel very princessy 🙂

 

Pictures by Willyverse

Another Year Older…

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I can’t believe I’m 20!

This was the age I looked up to when I was little and I imagined I would be so grown. I imagined I would have done so much with my life and everybody would know my name. Well 20 doesn’t quite look like that :/ . I have spent the past few days/weeks leading up to today reflecting on what I have achieved. What I’m learning is that everybody has their own path in life. Of course you determine what that path looks like through the choices that you make or don’t make but each person’s journey through life is uniquely theirs. Yes I’ve felt a bit anxious about this birthday, what it means, the next phase of my life but I’m happy still. I’m happy to have made it this far. Happy for growth and the people I have met along the way who have helped me grow. I’m happy for the moments; big or small that have made me smile, cry or just feel. I’m grateful for who I have become and who I am becoming. I don’t know if I’m any wiser than I was a couple of hours ago as a 19 year old but hey! I’m ready for 20, ready to move forward and ready to be “grown”. This doesn’t mean I’m getting rid of all the “childish” things in my life (for those of you that had hoped for that :p ) but I’ve been working on being a responsible member of society so that should be sufficient for now.

Begin another year older

#tanapp

Picture by Willyverse

Friday Night

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Showered, changed, sitting in bed…

 

There’s something about Friday night that makes me not want to do squat. My hair is only half finished but I can’t be bothered right now. I certainly don’t feel like studying, as a matter of fact anything “productive” just seems too much right now. I was hoping to come up with something profound to say, something that I would read months from today, maybe years down the line and say “mehn I’m good”, but I simply can’t be bothered. I just want simplicity tonight.

Tonight reminds me of a painting I did a while back.

Friday Nights- Begin

It really didn’t have some deep meaning, it was just fun to do and it made me feel good. I didn’t have to explain it, in fact an explanation would have soiled it. Tainted it with pretentious depth. I guess this Friday night is one to be alone with my thoughts. The utter randomness of this post probably testifies to that.

I’d probably paint my nails and watch Friends and pretend to have no responsibilities. Or maybe I’d try to think of a solution to world issues and then stumble on an amazing idea. Or I’d watch a disney movie, cry at the sad parts, then think of how the movie had underlying themes of gender or class inequality. I guess it really doesn’t matter what I do tonight. Not everything has to be deep and profound and meaningful. Like my professor told me today; “sometimes its enough to just notice certain things and not assign any meaning to them”. Tonight, I will explore my mind, its been a while since I just pondered for pondering sake.

I would make myself some tea but that requires moving. ughh. Yea I’d just sit here and not do that thank you very much.

Goodnight 🙂