#HowWeSpent2020: From water weeds to artisan products
While this year has been challenging for most, we’re spotlighting non-profits and social enterprises that have worked hard to continue making an impact despite the added challenges that 2020 brought. If a story connects with you, please support the organization and founders in this series. Be part of our community of outstanding women by joining She Leads Africa today. In a bid to deal with the abundance of invasive water hyacinth plants clogging up local waterways, Nigerian entrepreneur Achenyo Idachaba-Obaro founded Mitimeth, a startup not only improving environmental sustainability but also producing beautifully-handcrafted artisan products. Where others saw a pest, Idachaba-Obaro saw an opportunity Water hyacinth, she explains, is a species of aquatic plant with violet flowers. It looks attractive, but this invasive weed is actually horribly destructive to the communities along the rivers where it grows in thick mats. The plant keeps fishermen from reaching the fish and students and others from traveling on weed-choked waterways. It may look pretty, but it’s actually devastating to a whole way of life. Water hyacinth at first appears to be an utterly worthless invader, something that just needs to be ripped out and thrown away. But Idachaba had other ideas. Working with local communities, MitiMeth takes water hyacinth, an evasive destructive weed, and upcycles it into personal and interior accessories. “We are making this product in Nigeria, and we are making a product that has global appeal.” — Achenyo Idachaba-Obaro In the face of this global pandemic, Achenyo had to take immediate action by protecting the level of the impact of her organization. Achenyo shut down operations way before the local authorities imposed the lockdown. The next step was assuring her employees that she would do everything in her power to keep them employed, “we’ll make it through this together” she said. Immediately she could see the positive change it sparked within their attitudes as they knew they had one less thing to worry about, contrary to the tales they heard from their mates and neighbors who had been furloughed. Not all hope was lost The government in Nigeria went on to close state borders and introduce other aggressive responses to COVID-19 in the form of travel bans. This heavily interrupted the supply chain of Mitimeth. On the environmental level, Mitimeth continued to make an impact as their artisans continued to harvest the water hyacinth for weaving. However, the products could not make their way to the main production hub. “If there’s one silver lining from the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that it’s helped expose vulnerabilities in their supply chain” – Achenyo mentioned. At present, there is less demand for their products since home decor and accessories are hardly seen as an essential service. “We see this problem trickling down the supply chain. So we find ourselves with a warehouse full of raw materials because we made a commitment to our artisans that we would take all their products”, Achenyo said. Instead of seeing it as a setback, they took this time to do some much-needed R&D and they’re currently exploring the possibility of using the water hyacinth as a textile. “Since most people are sheltering in place, we have seen the consumers’ affinity towards wanting to make their outdoor spaces more appealing. And so we have been afforded the opportunity to expand our outdoor and garden collection”. New ideas are also brought into the communities MitiMeth works with. MitiMeth essentially provides distribution platforms for the community and match up the appropriate skills with the products to be created. The company provides training for communities the company works with through collaborations and partnerships within the public-private sector. This involves running workshops, held within the communities to understand how things work. “Funding definitely has been a challenge this year for the organizations that we partner with. So we are seeing some reductions in the number of training we do. But I think the important thing is keeping the momentum going. And I’m glad that with one partner that we’re working with, in the next two weeks we’re going full steam ahead with the training despite the situation that we’re in right now.” Achenyo adds. One of the challenges the organization faces is they’re unable to hold the training using online tools since the communities they work with are reside in network-deficient areas. “Perhaps in the future, there could be the provision of smartphones which can enable remote learning along with the training seminars for the artisans.” Most of the funds Mitimeth gets are plowed back into the business, having more than 150 artisans and a commitment to procure their products, nocent goes to waste. They also have to take care of the operational costs of the business including shipping and wages. Due to the drastic drop in sales, Achenyo had to ensure that they maintained sustainable financing by making good use of their cash reserves from previous years. “A big lesson this year taught us was it’s important to save for famine during the seasons of abundance.” Hard work certainly pays off as Mitimeth was able to open a new branch in Lagos on the 21st of June. “It’s been tough, but we certainly don’t regret making that decision. So we still grow even during this time”, she said. Achenyo went on to invite other women on her journey. “They can support what we’re doing, by purchasing our products, knowing that with each purchase, they’re actually supporting a fellow African woman or a fellow African youth, and it is going back into the economy, it’s going back to help people fulfill their obligations.” There is a United Nations Environmental Programme Map, which illustrates where water hyacinth is prevalent in different parts of the world. If you look at the map of Africa, 44 countries have this infestation problem. Achenyo makes a call for action that if other women can replicate this business model and solution in several other countries, the impact would be amazing to those communities most affected by it. If you would
Ingressive For Good is Impacting the Lives of Women in Tech all over Africa
Stella Fii had always wanted to learn more about programming and coding, but she never really had the resources and time to take courses. This year, Stella went to visit her brother in Kaduna after writing her JAMB exams and then he told her about Ingressive For Good (I4G), a nonprofit equipping young Africans in need with tech skills to help them impact and contribute to the development of Africa, socially and economically. She inquired and found out about the I4G Coursera program; Ingressive for Good had partnered with Coursera, the world’s leading online learning platform to offer scholarships to 5000+ African youths in tech to help them develop high-demand skills in technology, personal development, and career development. It also provided access to over 4000+ courses and highly sought-after professional certificates like the Google IT Support Professional Certificate from leading universities such as Yale, Michigan, and Stanford, as well as industry leaders such as Google and IBM, designed to train people with no tech background for IT jobs. She took courses in programming in less than 2 weeks, she was able to code a landing page from scratch. This skill has not only opened a new earning opportunity for her but has inspired her to pursue a formal tech education and career. Another woman, Folashade Fapohunda, worked in a hospital as an accountant but COVID19 cases started to increase and she was at risk. The hospital closed down and she lost her job. She casually picked up an interest in Graphic design. That was when she came across the I4G. Folashade enrolled in the Coursera design courses. These courses gave her the confidence she needed to start freelancing and so far, she has had over 3 paying design clients, with payments worth more than her salary as an accountant. True to their promise, Ingressive for Good is impacting Africa and the economy. Two key indicators of a country’s GDP are the economic power of citizens and the percentage of gainfully employed youth. However, 30% of African youth are unemployed. Ingressive For Good (I4G) is looking to change that with their mission to increase the earning power of African youths through tech training, job placement, and community. In the last 3 months, I4G has aided the training of over 20,000 African youth, built a community of over 17,000 youths, provided tech tools and resources for over 10,000, and placed over 100 in jobs. “The I4G community collectively has the strategy, the network, and most importantly, the passion to actually change Africa.” Sean Burrowes, the COO and Cofounder of Ingressive for Good said. “The more our community grows, the less I4G feels like a charitable foundation. It feels more like a Pan-African talent development revolution, powered by Africa’s tech-enabled youth.” With collaboration at the heart of Ingressive For Good, is impacting the lives of Africans, one youth at a time. During this pilot phase, I4G partnered with Coursera, Facebook, Datacamp, HNG, SemiColon, Tekedia, CareerBuddy, FindWorka, Live Your Dreams, Covenant University, StudentBuild, Bankole Williams, and so many amazing organizations to reach the Africans in need and provide training, scholarships, job placements. “Ingressive For Good has not only distributed the most licenses of all of DataCamp’s Giveaway Partners so far, but their learners’ adoption and engagement levels on the platform are some of the highest as well. This exemplifies the enormous impact a nonprofit run by caring and talented people can have on communities big and small, local, and abroad.” Nathaniel Taylor-Leach, Community Partnerships Manager at Datacamp, the leading interactive learning platform for data science and analytics. “Folashade’s success story is one of many young Africans who have been impacted through one or more of the Ingressive For Good programs. Many have gotten access to courses that were cumulatively worth thousands of dollars for free” – Blessing Abeng, Director of Communications at Ingressive for Good. Watch the success story of Christabel Omuboye, another woman in the I4G network and one of the I4G x HNG Internship finalists who received new MacBooks from Ingressive for Good to help her improve their tech skills. She has transformed from selling soap to support herself into a programming whiz ready for a tech career: In the last 3 months, I4G has surpassed its pilot goals in tremendous ways. This is the impact so far: View the full report here. To benefit from other Ingressive For Good Opportunities, join the I4G Network of over 17,000 tech enthusiasts across 55 cities across Africa. To join I4G on this mission to increase the earning power of African youths and eradicate poverty from Africa, send an email to hello@ingressive.org and Follow @ingressive4good on social media to stay updated. About Ingressive For Good Ingressive For Good (I4G) is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating and increasing the earning power of African youth through tech training and resources. For more info, partnership, or donation, contact: Blessing Abeng, Director of Communications, Ingressive for Good on communications@ingressive.co Find out more about Ingressive For Good here.
4 Bad Money Habits That Will Keep You Broke Forever
Bad money habits are kind of hard to break. We do them over and over without even realizing it. We all want to be rich. I mean, who doesn’t? But it’s one thing to fantasize about the many things you can do with a big paycheck and it’s another thing to muster the discipline you need to make it a reality. If you have bad money habits, you’ll get into a lot of financial trouble. For so long, I had no clear plan for my financial journey. All I knew was there was money and it had to be spent. Are you having issues saving? Do you feel like it’s a load of work putting some money down for the future? Well, I’ve got a couple of tips that can help you. Here are 4 bad money habits you need to quit this minute if you want to become more financially independent: Procrastination This is personal for me. I put off starting an investment plan for a later time. And I just kept pushing it farther. Not that I was super busy or anything, just plain laziness and a lack of self-discipline on my part.It wasn’t until I told myself the hard truth: that I can either continue pushing it later or just do it now and get organized. I realized that time was running out and that I had no clear financial goals. The Fix No one is coming to do it for you so you better get on with it. If you keep procrastinating, you’ll end up broke with lots of debts. Impulse Purchasing/Buying We’ve all been here. That urge to buy something. We give ourselves all the reasons why we need to have it. Impulse buying is all in the name. You see a bag and immediately want to buy it. You don’t even stop to consider the cost or whether you actually need it. You buy it before you stop to think whether you need it or can afford it. The Fix You need to first recognize this is a problem and keep track. Before you find yourself reaching for that candy or new pair of shoes, ask yourself if you have the resources and if you really need it. Don’t be in a rush; be certain you need it before you do. Not Budgeting A lot of people live on more than they make. If you don’t have a monthly budget, your money will disappear and you won’t know where it went.A budget allows you to see how much money you’re bringing in and where it’s all going. It enables you to make changes that help you save more money and avoid going into the red each month. Pro-tip It doesn’t have to be a big chore. It can start with only carrying a small amount of cash with you each day. You can also sign up with a money-saving app that automatically tracks your spending for you. Here’s an easy budget template for you. Love of Convenience Once a while, it’s okay to make a convenience purchase. These are purchases that are routine and take little thought when being bought. However, if you find yourself regularly making convenience purchases, it’ll cost you. Pro-tip You can start by cooking instead of buying fast food every day. Make a regular weekend event of preparing a dish that can be separated into freezer containers for future use. You can also stop getting that expensive breakfast on your way to work every morning and rather get up 5 minutes earlier to prepare something. I know waking up early might be hard for me so, I cook when I come home. At least I know lunch for the next day is sorted out. So, there you have it, 4 bad money habits that are keeping you from attaining financial independence. Which of them are you guilty of?
5 Important Questions You Must Ask Before Taking A Small Business Loan (Avoid “Had I Known”)
This article is sponsored by the FCMB SheVentures proposition. FCMB SheVentures is empowering female entrepreneurs, helping them build their businesses, and improving the overall success rate of businesses owned or run by women. Please click here to learn more about how FCMB SheVentures can support you and your business. A loan can be your saving grace as a small business owner but you have to shine your eyes if you plan to take one. Securing a loan can seem confusing or difficult so this piece will break down 5 important questions you should ask before taking one. (If you do not want a case of “had I known?” after you take a loan, then this article is definitely for you.) How much do I actually need? Sis, do you know how much you actually need to take your business to the next level? When last did you take a look at your books? A detailed look at your books will help you determine how much you need and where to put in the money. If you are not very knowledgeable about finances, get someone you can trust to help you take a look at your books and advise you. What is the interest rate of the loan I am taking? You need to be aware of what the interest rates are for any loan you plan to take. No matter how urgently you need to take a loan, you should never skip the interest rate calculation. Sit down and decide what you can realistically pay as an interest rate. Do not take a loan with an interest rate that will give you sleepless nights, sis. [bctt tweet=”Make sure you do not take a loan with an interest rate that will give you sleepless nights, sis.” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] What am I willing to put down as collateral? A good number of loan offers on the market will require you to put down collateral. Collateral is usually an asset that you forfeit if you are unable to pay back the loan during the stipulated time. While most offers that require collaterals have a lower interest rate, it is not advisable to take this route if you don’t think you can pay back within a certain time. How long do I need the money for? Asking this question will help you determine if you need a short, medium, or long term loan. A short-term loan requires you to pay back the amount borrowed and the interest in under a year. A medium-term loan requires you to pay back in 3 to 10 years while a long term loan requires you to pay back within 20 years. The FCMB BOI Gender Loan is a great example of a medium-term loan because, at an interest rate of 13% per annum, it requires you to pay back in four years. Where can I find the best loan offer for my small business right now? When looking for the best offer for your business, be careful not to jump at the first offer you find. Some loan offers are specifically created to serve women-owned businesses like yours. A great example is the short FCMB Zero Interest Loan that helps you address urgent financial needs without saddling you with a high-interest rate or in fact, ANY interest rate at all! [bctt tweet=”Need a business loan quickly? The FCMB Zero Interest Loan helps you address urgent financial needs without saddling you with a high-interest rate or in fact, ANY interest rate at all!” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Take your time to really answer the questions above. Review the loan options you find, and evaluate them with your business needs in mind. If you can, walk into the bank or call to ask further questions. Taking these steps will help you make the right choice. —————————————————————————————————————————————- This article is sponsored by the First City Monument Bank (FCMB). FCMB is passionate about empowering female entrepreneurs, helping them build their businesses, and improving the overall success rate of businesses owned or run by women.
Visibility In The Workplace – The Why and How
Do you believe that out of sight is out of mind? Is remote work affecting your visibility in the workplace? When remote work was introduced, it was perceived as a step in the direction of work-life balance. For many people, it allowed them to combine carrying responsibilities and work more easily while others struggled with remaining visible. In this article, I will be sharing the importance of increasing visibility in the workplace and some of the potential ways to achieve this. The importance of standing out from the crowd at the Workplace Exclusive access to opportunities If you are constantly hitting those numbers, delivering results and solutions, everyone would want you on their team. Let’s face facts, everyone wants to work with the 5-star performer. It gives you that reassurance of success. If you have exhibited great skills and abilities and other people in the organization are aware of them, there’s a high likelihood that you will be picked for the next opportunity in your company and beyond. I speak from experience when I say, great work reputation travels fast in the job market. So work hard on building that visibility so when next there is a big-money event, you are top of the list. Continuous learning and improvement Good work requires that you work with people often. Most times, you might be working across teams with different people and this, in turn, exposes you to more learning opportunities. As you work on something new or take on new projects, you can acquire valuable learnings that add to your experience. Stellar Appraisal Ratings When an employee gets very good appreciation and job appraisal after working for the year, the chance of their stability involuntarily increases alongside promotions. People would always advocate for you during those meetings and this helps your manager justify your performance. The quality of work comes first i.e. your performance on tasks will get more weight but an endorsement from other managers in the organization can go a long way in your cause of getting a good rating or promotion. In summary, the benefits include exclusive access to opportunities, stellar ratings, promotions, and an opportunity to learn. Tips on how to go from invisible to visible Speak up in Meetings A closed mouth during meetings does not provide recognition or visibility. Do your research well in advance before team meetings, ask good questions, make solid recommendations, push back on ideas that you do not find feasible during meetings. Contribute, speak up, and let your voice be heard. Participate in Learning Opportunities Make time to be part of team learning sessions, individual training sessions, and utilize resources that have been made available to the team. Acquiring more knowledge would not only improve your ability to function effectively but improve your expertise in a particular product, service, or process. Once you’re an expert on something, people will always come to you to ask for help in that matter. This is effortless visibility. Demonstrate Your Expertise Most organizations admire employees who can bring something unique to the company. If you have some creative idea/skill which could improve organizational processes, reduce cost, bring more revenue, increase employee satisfaction, or reduce cycle time, etc. do not hesitate to bring your skills to bear. If the idea is implemented, you become a star in the organization. There are chances the idea may not be implemented, don’t feel discouraged because management will appraise the fact that you’re making an effort to do something different and unique. Strengthen your relationship with your boss A good relationship with your boss is one of the most important parts of your success story. It may be helpful to align on goals and see things from their perspective. Understand their priorities and preferred mode of communication. Focus on the positive, everyone has something worth respecting. Try to get to know your manager on a personal level by engaging them in conversation on topics beyond work. Participate in team activities You might work or an organization where different teams are working on different projects/tasks. Try to find an opportunity to collaborate (on a specific project/task) with other teams than your existing one. You can seize this opportunity to highlight your skills and abilities in different teams. Besides, this will show your drive for initiatives and developing a positive image for yourself. In the world today, being good at your job isn’t the only requisite for getting ahead in your career. If key people aren’t aware of you, you’ll likely miss out on opportunities to improve your skills and take on interesting assignments, despite your hard work and good performance. This is especially important if you work remotely because people might forget about you if they don’t often see you in person.
FCMB Commemorates World Women’s Entrepreneurship Day with Loan Facilities in Ogun State
This article is sponsored by the FCMB SheVentures proposition. FCMB SheVentures is empowering female entrepreneurs, helping them build their businesses, and improving the overall success rate of businesses owned or run by women. Please click here to learn more about how FCMB SheVentures can support you and your business. In commemoration of this year’s World Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, FCMB SheVentures in collaboration with the Office of the First Lady of Ogun State, has granted zero interest loan facilities to women business owners in Ogun State. Additionally, the beneficiaries received the opportunity to participate in capacity building initiatives, to ensure they scale up and become positive contributors to the growth and development of the Nigerian economy. At the presentation event which held on Thursday, November 19, 2020 in Abeokuta, the First Lady of Ogun State, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun commended FCMB for its commitment to ensuring that female business owners are not left out in the success story of the Nigerian economy. Similarly, the Executive Director, Business Development, FCMB, Mrs. Bukola Smith assured the female entrepreneurs that they can count on FCMB’s continued support as they pursue the growth and profitable expansion of their businesses. Also present at the event were the Former Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Alhaja Salmot Badru; Former Speaker of the State House of Assembly and Commissioner for Trade and Investment, Mrs. Kikelomo Longe; the Iyalode of Yorubaland, Chief (Mrs.) Alaba Lawson; The Regional Director, FCMB South-West, Mr. Emanuel Comla; and Head, FCMB SheVentures, Mrs. Yetunde Moito.
“I Made This Costly Mistake In My Business So You Don’t Have To”- Meet Onome Ikhimoya, Founder of Mistics Couture
This feature article on Onome Ikhimoya is sponsored by the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) SheVentures proposition. FCMB SheVentures is empowering female entrepreneurs, helping them build their businesses, and improving the overall success rate of businesses owned or run by women. Please click here to learn more about how FCMB SheVentures can support you and your business. Onome’s love for fashion is only rivalled by her drive to be the best and her businesses are proof of this. Onome Ikhimioya is the founder and CEO of Mistics Couture and Mistics Sparkles. Mistics Couture is a fashion outfit that specializes in making bespoke outfits. Their outfits include English wears, traditional wears, casual wears, beach wears, and so on. Mistics Sparkles is an arm of Mistics Couture that brands and designs t-shirts, fabrics, throw pillows and much more. She has styled celebrities like Yemi Alade, Kim Burrell, Oge Okoye, Funke Akinokun, Ngozi Ezeonu, and so on. This piece discusses Onome’s journey in the fashion industry. It also talks about some struggles she has encountered and insightful advice she has learned from past mistakes. Running Mistics Couture requires you to be very creative and that can take a toll if you are not inspired. So my question for you is, where do you draw your inspiration from? God inspires me. Every inspiration I have comes from God because he is the creator of the world. He sees me through my day to day life and guides my path. Secondly, my inspiration comes from a knowledge of myself. Knowing that I have a lot of talents in me, seeing that I have a whole lot to actualize in my time here on earth. After my first degree and my Masters, I did not want to work for anyone. I think I worked for a while- maybe like a month before I started my own thing. I felt like I had a lot in me waiting to burst out and I was not going to be able to let it out while working for someone else. One talent I have is that I can look at you and sketch what will suit you. I can do a lot of stuff with fabric generally. So I decided to go into fashion design. My inspirational fabric- if I can call it that- is Ankara fabric. Looking at Ankara fabric gives me this joy that I don’t understand. I look at the fabric and I want to do a whole lot of things with it. My mum is another person that inspires me. Growing up every Sunday, people would come out and peep at my mum on our way to church and they would call her, “to match, to match.” Even till now in her 60s, she dresses so beautifully. Her age has not really made her step down in her dress sense and she has a lot of strength, faith and hope which she passed on to me. So in all, I get my inspiration from God. From my belief in myself, the fabrics that I love to work with and my mum. Learn more about the rest of Onome’s journey on the FCMB Business Zone.
3 Life-Changing Tips On How To Juggle Your Side Hustle And Full-Time Job From Dios Dlite Founder, Adebimpe Osanyintuyi
This feature article on Adebimpe Osanyintuyi is sponsored by the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) SheVentures proposition. FCMB SheVentures is empowering female entrepreneurs, helping them build their businesses, and improving the overall success rate of businesses owned or run by women. Please click here to learn more about how FCMB SheVentures can support you and your business. If there is anything Adebimpe cares about intensely, it is business- talking about it, running it and growing it. The normally introverted business founder comes to life when she is asked about her experience as a business owner or about healthy mouth-watering treats. Adebimpe Osanyintuyi is the founder and CEO of Dios Dlite– a healthy food company with outlets in Lagos, Nigeria. Dios Dlite’s products include healthy yogurts, salads, sandwiches, fresh juices, and so much more. Before leaving the corporate world in 2018, she worked in marketing and branding for companies like GlaxoSmithKline and Nutricima Limited. In this article, she shares her wealth of experience with Dios Dlite and gives valuable tips on how to manage a demanding business and a full-time job amongst other things. Hungry? Check out these delicious treats from Dios Dlite, sis! What inspired you to start your Dios Dlite? Starting the business was not out of a financial need because when I started Dios Dlite in 2015 I had a great corporate job. I ran the business for three years before I decided to resign in July 2018. I have a sweet tooth so I wanted to have healthy alternatives for all the sweet things I enjoy. Most times, when we think of healthy food, what comes to mind is boring food- food that doesn’t look or taste nice. I wasn’t going to settle for that. Frozen yogurt appealed to me because it is a healthy alternative for ice cream which is delicious but has way too many calories. So I started with frozen yogurt and we kept to that for over a year. It was going well but along the line, our customers started requesting fresh yogurt. They wanted to be able to take it to their homes and not have it melt or spoil. So we decided to cater to this and along the way, we were getting helpful feedback from our customers. You mentioned that you were working a corporate job when you started Dios Dlite, how were you able to manage both commitments? The processes I put in place made it easy for me to manage both. On some days I was too tired from work to stop by the store and see what was going on. Other times, the outlet may have closed before I am done with my work for the day. Some of the major things I did to manage this was: Invest in software– One major thing that helped was sales-tracking software. With this software, my staff would punch in their sales and I could easily look at the numbers. I could see which products were slow and which products were doing well. That software helped me to have a hold on what was going on in the store without necessarily being there. To learn more about Adebimpe’s journey, read the rest of this article on the FCMB Business Zone.
FCMB Supports Women Led Businesses With The She-Ventures Program
This article is sponsored by the FCMB SheVentures proposition. FCMB SheVentures is empowering female entrepreneurs, helping them build their businesses, and improving the overall success rate of businesses owned or run by women. Please click here to learn more about how FCMB SheVentures can support you and your business. We’ve seen time and time again that we are only going to be able to move forward as a community, if we all use our skills and talents to support each other. Over the past three months, several incredible women served as mentors for the FCMB SheVentures Program. These experts shared, connected, and bonded with the fourth cohort of this mentorship program supporting women-led businesses in Nigeria. Some of the feedback from the mentees, shows how impactful this program was to entrepreneurs across Nigeria. To learn more about how SheVentures supports the growth and aspirations of Nigerian women in business, visit www.fcmb.com/she-ventures.
The Sonia Nabeta Foundation: Giving kids with diabetes a fighting chance
On August 5, 2015, Sonia Nabeta succumbed to a sudden hypoglycemic attack that had barreled through her defences and Type-1 diabetes won. She was merely 24 years old and had fought the disease for 16 years. Back in 1999 when Sonia was first diagnosed, it almost seemed like she was the only child in Uganda with the condition. Her parents looked in vain for support groups and medical personnel that understood the condition. Schools had no idea how to handle Sonia and the requisite support and awareness did not exist. They felt alone, and more importantly, Sonia felt alone. Throughout her life, Sonia journalized her dream of one day changing the state of affairs for children with T1D (Type 1 Diabetes) in Africa. As such, it became incumbent on her family to carry out her wish through the Sonia Nabeta Foundation. Pressed with other contagious diseases it is difficult for African governments to prioritize T1D. The Sonia Nabeta Foundation aims to work with governments and other partners to alleviate the hefty cost of treatment and provide holistic mind, body and spirit healthcare for low-income, children “warriors” under 18 with T1D in Africa, starting in Uganda. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimates that there are 542,000 children under the age of 15 years with type 1 diabetes in the world. Around half of them live in developing countries. 463 million adults (1-in-11) were living with diabetes in 2019 and the number of people living with diabetes is expected to rise to 578 million by 2030. Diabetes is not only hurting people both at the personal and national levels. T1D is a financially backbreaking disease at a cost of at least $700 a year for basic tests and supplies. In commemoration of World Diabetes Day, the Sonia Nabeta Foundation has partnered with rē•spin, a health and wellness platform created by Halle Berry, to host a “Wellness Warriorthon”. The Wellness Warriorthon, taking place on November 14, 2020, at 10 am PST, is designed to be an annual event aimed at raising worldwide awareness about diabetes. In line with the Sonia Nabeta Foundation’s goal of hosting holistic wellness camps that integrate the mind, body and spirit into the T1D care and management regime, the Wellness Warriorthon will do just that. This virtual event will comprise of workouts cooking and wellness sessions, discussions on diabetes and COVID-19, conversations on racial inequities in diabetes care, and presentations on diabetes technology all aimed at bridging conversations across the globe. The event will provide the opportunity to learn, grow and walk away more informed about your health and wellness as well as diabetes, both domestically and globally. As a sister, daughter, mother, aunt or friend we hope you recognize the importance of this event as lives are in danger, today it could be you, me or someone you know. Join us in the Wellness Warriorthon where your participation will have a transformative impact on the lives of these children. Make donations and find out more about the Sonia Nabeta Foundation through this link: https://www.wellnesswarriorthon.com