Intense Week!

Music for You: The Swan

We are fortunate In Westport to have Beechwood Arts and Innovation, a nonprofit in support of music and the arts. Right now they are presenting a series of programs they are calling Amplify. “Join us in standing with and amplifying the voices of black artists and performers from the Beechwood Community and beyond,” they say on their Facebook page. “From June 15 to June 26 visual artists will be creating a river of amplified voices and performers will be recording and streaming compelling performances in our Music Room and under the 400 year old Copper Beech Tree.”

I was looking at the list of coming events when I spotted the video here. This was from a few weeks ago, still in lockdown time but not part of Amplify. I found it so compelling I wanted to share it with you. Frederic Chiu, the pianist, with his wife Jeanine Esposito, are the people behind Beechwood Arts. Frederic is at the piano in this performance of Saint-Saens’ The Swan ( Le Cygne ) from Carnival of the Animals.

I found it incredibly moving! Did you?

Intense Week of Webinars!

The Beechwood video was just one event in a week packed with webinars and videos to watch.

Action for Nutrition

On Tuesday I watched “Reviewing the National Strategic Plan of Action for Nutrition (2014 – 2019).” I hadn’t known that Nigeria had a plan of action for nutrition. I have been researching statistics on obesity and malnutrition in Nigeria for the last chapter of my book, Food Cultures of Nigeria: Recipes, Customs, and Issues. So when I read, “The webinar will bring together policymakers, individuals and organisations involved in putting together the plan as well as those involved in its implementation, and individuals with a broad interest in nutrition,” I was intrigued and signed up.

It was useful, especially the plan itself which I read ahead of time. The audience of at least 120 was mostly African and from all over the continent.

I was surprised to learn that 56% of Nigerian women of child-bearing age are anemic; that seems so high that I’m not sure I heard correctly. A sad fact mentioned by another speaker: there is mistrust between industry and government so instead of encouraging food production, it stymies producers.

Speakers agreed on the importance of encouraging use of local nutritious foods. There was talk about preserving or adding micro-nutrients, a topic new to me.

At the Q&A at the end I asked if any of the panelists could provide an example of a successful intervention. I was excited when my question was chosen out of the 15 or so waiting!

And the answer was yes: Delta and Rivers States have both undertaken successful initiatives to encourage mothers to breast feed for a longer period. It seemed that many mothers wanted to stop even earlier than 6 months.

Agriculture in the Time of COVID-19

On Wednesday I attended a virtual conference presented by Africa.com in collaboration with McKinsey & Company: “Safeguarding Africa’s Food Systems Through and Beyond the Crisis.” Again I was looking for information for my book! The conference featured “experts working with agricultural companies on development strategies, introduction of technology and creating sustainable employment opportunities for the continent’s burgeoning youth population.”

But I was also intrigued because Kola Masha was one of the panelists. Kola’s American mom, Glenda Masha, was my friend, fellow pianist, and colleague in Nigerwives.

Kola founded Babban Gona, “the first for-profit social enterprise in history to be awarded the prestigious Skoll Award, due to its financial sustainability and highly scalable impact.” Kola gave a TED Talk a couple of years ago.

The conference was excellent. A major take-away from Kola was that Nigeria should replicate the US farm credit system!

Igbo Conference Also Underway

The 9th annual Igbo Conference, a Virtual Symposium titled “Disruptions: Breaks and Ruptures,” started yesterday and ends tomorrow. The sessions  are on YouTube and can be watched anytime after they first premier on the YouTube channel.

I’ve only watched 1 and a half sessions so far. I will definitely watch my cousin Cheluchi who is presenting tomorrow at 1:15 pm. But when I can watch anytime it’s harder to sit down at the time of the event! Still there are several I will look at in the next few days.

You can probably guess what the opening ceremony was. Tell us in the comments and I’ll give you a link to watch next time! (A clue – it took me back to Clem’s Memorial Service and made me cry!)

My New Role

On Tuesday night we had a Zoom church board meeting. I was elected president for the coming year!