THE MIRACLE MEAL

When you hear the world miracle meal, what comes to your mind? The world can bring different thoughts or meanings to heart. So many people around the world have different perceptions of this term. Most times, their perceptions are highly influenced and based on their understandings, experiences, and thoughts from their subconscious mind.

To Christians, the miracle meal refers to the Holy Communion. According to the bible, the miracle meal otherwise known as the last supper was taken with Jesus before he was betrayed by one of his disciples. (Matt 26:17- 30)

Some Christians see the Holy Communion as something that binds or seals their covenant with God. In some cases, people who have been expectant for a miracle use the last supper to seal covenants with God.

Some other Christians believe in the healing power of this meal. They believe it is some sort of supernatural emblem that has significance in the spirit and when they take it, they get cleansed from all of their sicknesses and diseases.

Other Christians believe in its protection power. These set of people have come to the understanding that when they take the communion, it protects them from whatever evil may come their way. They believe that the communion is a shield from attacks in the spiritual realm.

However, the understanding one has about this meal is dependent on his or her mind. As the bible says that “as a man thinketh in his heart so is it.” So the communion works for you based on what you think and believe.

Written by Oduyemi Oluwatomisin

Beautiful Africa

Africa, when people of other continent think of the continent their taught can be predicated. Some people think of starvation, some think of poverty, some think of illiteracy, some other think of sickness and diseases, etc. No one thinks of the beauty that Africa hold. The continent is very big and diverse in culture. As diverse as the people are, the beauty is also divers in nature. It has different beautiful culture and historical sites. Some of the beautiful places in Africa are stated below.

Africa as a continent is not just about it wonderful animals, spectacular deserts and beautiful savannahs. It also houses the most amazing cities and towns that are rich in history and culture in the world. It is full of charming cities and towns.

Places like Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town is one of the vibrant and colourful city in the world. It has stunning beaches, beautiful mountains and also fine vine yards. It has beautiful views and good facilities. It has historical site.

Kigali in Rwanda is also a beautiful place in Africa, it is the cleanest and safest capital city in the continent. The city is so green and hilly adds to the appealing attraction of the place. It is considered as one of the most liveable cities in Africa. With the remarkable urban progress plans and efficiency in road construction, Kigali has become a well organised and structured city that gives its visitors and inhabitants a feeling of peacefulness and tranquillity. Nothing can beats the views that you get from the top of the many beautiful hills.

Another place is Essaouira in Morocco. It has an ancient medina and radiant fortifications which date back to the 18th century, kilometres of spectacular beaches, and a charming harbour and fish market to stroll around. Essaouira is one the most attractive towns the continent. It promises moments of peace and serenity far away from the chaos of the big cities. As the wind and currents are quite strong, it is the perfect spot to windsurf and kitesurf. It is a place for relaxation and pace.

There is also Luxor in Egypt. It is an ancient Egypt’s capital called Thebes. Luxor is one of the places which has attracted many travellers and Egyptologists since the 19th century. People come in search of the ancient wonders that still govern the city’s landscape. The name ‘Luxor’ translates as ‘Palaces’. Luxor is a beautiful, vibrant city with remarkable Nile decor and desert landscapes.

Djenne, Mali, is another place in Africa that holds the beauty of the continent. The town is one of the oldest in the country. It can be dated back to 800 BC. It is a charming and beautiful place with mud brick houses. As a matter of fact, it houses the largest and most creative mud-made building, i.e. the Grand Mosque. It can be said to be a unique town, because of its magnificent mud-made sights.

Another wonderful place is Stone Town, Tanzania.

It is an island that combines a fascinating and rich history with attractive white sand beaches and crystal clear waters, and Stone Town is its cultural heart. Little has change in the city for over 200 years. Extravagant houses with carved wooden doors, the Sultan’s palace, winding alleys and narrow streets, and energetic markets make Stone Town a fascinating place to visit. This Swahili coastal trading town is classified as a UNESCO world heritage site.

Mozambique City, Mozambique is a one of the fascinating places on African continent. It is landscape is full of decorative ideas. The architecture reflects the melting pot of cultures present on the island. Portuguese influences, just as much as local ones, and Arab and Indian traditions to a lesser extent can all be felt. This extraordinarily lovely town is today, one of the most attractive towns in the county and continent.

Namibia’s largest city and capital, Windhoek, is a organised and modern city with fabulous pastel-painted buildings and traditional German houses. Travelling through the city heart of Windhoek will immediately reveal the splendour of the place. The environment there is usually laid-back. As the place is a somewhat small, pedestrian-friendly city, it is walkable. Together with the modern skyscrapers, neobaroque cathedrals and German ‘castles’ that dominate the city’s skyline, Windhoek is a hassle free and multicultural city.

Lamu in kenya is a very relaxing and easy-going coastal town in

Kenya. The one thing that could rarely disturb the peace of this town, is the loud donkey or the call to prayer from the mosques. It is one of Africa’s best conserved Swahili settlements and it is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Bahir Dar in Ethiopia has beautiful wide streets with lines of palm trees and fabulous river views. The gorgeous capital of the Amhara region, and the third biggest city in Ethiopia. Located on the shores of the fabulous Lake Tana, the city is home to some of the oldest monasteries and churches in the world. The Blue Nile Falls are also one of the most remarkable sights to see in Ethiopia and are only a short distance away from Bahir Dar.

Africa is also has beautiful places like, Victoria Falls, with its native name called Mosioa- Tunya, the ‘Smoke that Thunders’ located On the Zambezi River and the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. Pyramids of Giza, located just outside Cairo on the fringes of the Libyan Desert. Sidi Bou Said, located in Tunisia. Rwenzori Mountains located at western Uganda and part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This are a few beautiful place in Africa. So when people talk about Africa it should not be associated only with war, suffering, poverty, corruption, diseases, and sickness and any negative and ugly taught. African is a beautiful place that houses a lot of the beauty and historical things in the world. Africa should be seen as the beauty that it possesses.

Akin-Adetoro Adedasola

Easter Festival in Nigeria: Celebrating God in a Difficult Economy

Easter is an important Christian celebration that marks the beginning of hope for the church. It is a day that Christians mark the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Easter is a public holiday in Nigeria, a country which is deeply religious country with a population that is evenly divided into almost equal numbers of Christians and Muslims.

Easter is a joyful occasion commemorating Christ’s victory of death and his ascension into heaven to take his place on the right hand of the father. It is also a time of feasting, singing, dancing, and drumming.

In many ways Easter celebrations in Nigeria are like those in other parts of the Christian world. However, there are also some festivals and celebrations held that are unique to Nigeria. Some of those celebrations combine the pre-Christian practices of honoring dead ancestors along with the worship of the resurrected Christ.

Good Friday is observed with somber, prayerful gatherings at local churches. Some of the Easter Sunday celebrations see people take to the streets in colorful traditional costumes dancing and singing songs of joy, happiness, and salvation. The festivities have a very distinct West African flavor.

Only about 40% of Nigerians are Christians. They are primarily from the Igbo and Yoruba people. While there are Christians living throughout the country, the majority of them live in the southern part of Nigeria. Hence, the livelier Easter celebrations take place in the south of the country. They include song and dance, all-night vigils, and sunrise services.

The 8 days between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday are known as Holy Week. They include Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Gloria Saturday. That week is also called the Passion of Christ. It comes at the end of a 40 day period dedicated to fasting, prayer, penance, and contemplation known as Lent.

Easter is a movable feast. It does not fall on the same date each year. The First Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. established Easter Sunday as being determined by the lunisolar calendar. It is held on the first Sunday after the new moon on the March equinox.

Easter celebrations are very important to Christians in Nigeria. There are no Easter eggs or bunnies. Instead, Easter is a time family members travel from far and wide so the family can be together to celebrate the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus. Families gather together, pray, and remember the sacrifices of Jesus throughout Holy Week. Everyone is expected to make it home by Good Friday to attend church together.

Everywhere one turns the one finds men, women, boys, girls irrespective of tribe or creed lamenting the prevailing economic hardship and the attendant high prices of food items in the country. Staple foods such as rice, beans, pepper, tomatoes, onions, vegetable oils, Palm oil are now out of the reach of average Nigerians.

A recent market survey conducted in some markets in Lagos reveal that prices of some foodstuffs are now higher than what they were in the previous year even during a period of fuel scarcity that adversely affected the distribution of goods and services. Random investigations in the last week show that a 50 kilogram bag of rice, a popular staple now sells for N16, 000 as against its price of N11, 000 last Easter. A bag of beans is now N39, 000 as against N21, 500 in 2015.

However, Unlike Christmas which goes with much funfair and commercial activities, Easter is more solemn in nature. Having faithful dedicated themselves to a 40-day period of fasting, repentance and abstinence; it is only natural that activities of the preceding days still carry with it some elements of solemnity and penitence.

According to the Catholic cleric, while it is true that the economy is still in a dicey state, it is not expected, however, to dampen the spirituality associated with Easter. As Christians, one is not expected to take care of the body only. One must give prime priority of the soul which is the real essence of who they are. While it is good to eat and nourish the body with good food, etc. One must equally nourish the souls by constantly reading the word of God, talking to God in prayer and meditation and also striving to live righteously.

AKIN-ADETORO ADEDASOLA

References:

Eyoboka, S. (2017, April 16). Home page. Retrieved March 7, 2018, from Vanguard: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/04/easter-2017-celebrating-god-difficult-economy/

Home Page. (n.d.). Retrieved March 7, 2018, from Public Holidays Global: https://publicholidays.ng/easter/

Okolie, F. (2014, April 14). Home. Retrieved March 7, 2018, from Multidox: http://www.multidox.org/blog/8/post/82.html

DIABETES AND HYPERTENSION: THE SILENT KILLER

To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear thus sickness and disease like diabetics and hypertension renders one in a vegetative state. Diabetes mellitus (DM), commonly referred to as diabetes or silent killer is a group of metabolic disorders in which there are high blood sugar levels over a prolonged period. – It is call the silent killer because it can manifest itself in a person for a long time without showing any symptoms till it has gotten very worse. Makes me remember the Yoruba adage which goes “Kokoro ton je efo, inu efo lowa”… The insect that eats the vegetable, lives in the vegetable,

Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough insulin or the cells of the body not responding properly to the insulin produced. There are three main types of diabetes mellitus: Type 1 diabetes accounts for about 5 percent of diabetes cases, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body does not produce enough insulin. With the help of insulin therapy, anyone can learn to manage and live with type 1 diabetes. Symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, fatigue, blurred vision, and increased hunger.

According to the ADA, type 2 diabetes accounts for at least 90 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. Risk factors are family history, prior gestational diabetes during pregnancy, impaired glucose intolerance, lack of exercise, and being overweight. Gestational diabetes is the third main form, and occurs when pregnant women without a previous history of diabetes develop high blood sugar levels. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease caused by deficiency in insulin secretion and by decreased sensitivity of the organs to secreted insulin. These shortcomings results in attendant diabetic complications such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, postprandial hyperglycemia and diabetic neuropathy.

Hypertension also known as high blood pressure is a common condition in which the long-term force of the blood against your artery walls is high enough that it may eventually cause health problems, such as heart disease.  Hypertension or high blood pressure is one of the long-term complications of diabetes. Both are interrelated metabolic diseases.

Diabetics and hypertension in one of the global health concerns shaking up the world. The prevalence of this disease is increasing annually and the number of diabetics is projected to rise above 300 million before 2025. This disease can be inherited or acquired. The combination of hypertension and diabetes can be lethal, and together they can increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke. Having both conditions also increases the risk of kidney disease and problems the blood vessels of the eyes, which could lead to blindness.

Hypertension and diabetes generally coexist because they share similar risk factors, including being overweight, following an unhealthy diet, and living an inactive lifestyle. When hypertension and diabetes co-exist, the effects of one disease tend to make the other worse. This makes for a deadly combination.

Uncontrolled diabetes is not the only risk factor for hypertension. The chances of having a heart attack or stroke are further multiplied if other risk factors exist, in addition to diabetes. Some of them  include: having a family history of heart disease, stress, having a high fat or high sodium diet, not being active, advanced age, being overweight, smoking, overconsumption of alcohol, low levels of potassium or vitamin D, having another chronic condition, such as sleep apnea, kidney disease or inflammatory arthritis.

There are several preventive measures such as weight loss, drinking alcohol in moderation, not smoking, Treatment with medication, Healthy diet choices like the saying, ‘You are what you eat’. Regularly checking your blood pressure is vital, as there will usually be no symptoms to make you aware of the condition. People with diabetes should try to minimize these risks as far as possible, for example, by choosing a healthy lifestyle. Healthy Lifestyle factors are the best way to lower the risk of high blood pressure and to maintain normal levels. There is a wide body of evidence, which demonstrates that controlling blood pressure in people with diabetes reduces the risk of complications.

Learning about the disease and actively participating in the treatment is important, since complications are far less common and less severe in people who have well-managed blood sugar levels. People with or without diabetes can benefit from education about the disease and treatment, good nutrition to achieve a normal body weight, and exercise, with the goal of keeping both short-term and long-term blood glucose levels within acceptable bounds. There are several awareness programs educating  people on ways to reduce the risk of having this disease, how to  identify early symptoms- similar to the expression, ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’, self-monitor via finger stick testing, the signs of hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia and other diabetic complications.

Adapt the remedy to the disease. This is a popular Chinese saying, in essence, being a patient of diabetics and hypertension is not the end of life, life goes on, if you would live long, open your heart, all that is necessary to do is to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

-AKIN-ADETORO ADEDASOLA

Water Pollution

Over two thirds of Earth’s surface is covered by water; less than a third is taken up by land. As Earth’s population continues to grow, people are putting ever-increasing pressure on the planet’s water resources. In a sense, oceans, rivers, and other inland waters are being “squeezed” by human activities not so they take up less room, but so their quality is reduced. Poorer water quality means water pollution.

Pollution is a human problem because it is a relatively recent development in the planet’s history: before the 19th century Industrial Revolution, people lived more in harmony with their immediate environment. As industrialization has spread around the globe, so the problem of pollution has spread with it.

When Earth’s population was much smaller, no one believed pollution would ever present a serious problem. It was once popularly believed that the oceans were far too big to pollute. Today, with around 7 billion people on the planet, it has become apparent that there are limits. Pollution is one of the signs that humans have exceeded those limits.

Pollution from toxic chemicals threatens life on this planet. Every ocean and every continent, from the tropics to the once-pristine Polar Regions, is contaminated. Throughout the world, human use of water and bad planning have led to drier and polluted rivers, lakes, and groundwater resources with dramatic effects on the natural ecosystems. Nigeria’s vast freshwater resources are among those most affected by environmental stress imposed by human population growth, urbanization, and industrialization.

Disposal and management of wastes in Nigeria present serious environmental problems. The usual methods of waste disposal in the country are: land filling, dumpsites, land spreads, water disposal, and incineration. Each of these methods has serious environmental implications because of their potential to pollute and contaminate underground and surface water bodies in the country.

Major cities in Nigeria face serious water pollution crises, in which lack of environmental control of water-dependent activities (including domestic, agricultural, and industrial) play an important part. Fish and marine resources in the country face total collapse or extinction, due to over-fishing and destruction of marine life and natural habitats by pollution of water bodies.

Unregulated and excessive use of pesticides for fishing and the deliberate disposal and dumping of toxic and hazardous wastes into water bodies are significant causes of massive fish kills and loss of aquatic life and habitats in the country.

The protection of water quality and aquatic ecosystem as a vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life, development and environment is of utmost importance to prevent further pollution and degradation of Nigeria’s freshwater resources.

There is no easy way to solve water pollution; if there were, it wouldn’t be so much of a problem. Broadly speaking, there are three different things that can help to tackle the problem. There is education, laws, and economics and they work together as a team.

Integrating operational measures for safeguarding adequate levels of protection of endemic habitats remains a major challenge. There is therefore a need to examine in tandem the entire range of uses to which freshwater is put, and to design services which neither squander precious resources nor fail to respect other, competing and complementary water needs.

AKIN-ADETORO ADEDASOLA

References:

Adeyemo, O. K. (n.d.). Home Page. Retrieved March 7, 2018, from SpringerLink: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:ENVR.0000031357.89548.fb

Woodford, C. (2017, June 4). Home page. Retrieved March 7, 2018, from ExplainthatStuff: http://www.explainthatstuff.com/waterpollution.html

INSECURITIES OF A GIRL

Insecurities in a relationship are inevitable happenings especially from the side of a woman. Most women, no matter how they present themselves to the outside world, have been seen to have a few nagging uncertainties especially when it comes to dating. Indeed, the dating world can be rough, and while men also have their share of insecurities, they tend to stress about very different things. There are certain generalized phrases that may actually seem true and since you have put that at the forefront of your mind. You tend to have negative reasons why any affair you have will not always last long.

Looking at this literally, being a girl is sometimes really tough, and sure, guys get insecure from time to time, but girls either have more insecurities or just more open to discussing them. I mean, girls get insecure when their hair does not come out the way it should or when they dress in a comfortable way, yet people keep stirring at them awkwardly as though they are the worst dressers the world has ever known. However, their predominant insecurity lies in the hands of guys. A girl could see this really cute guy that would actually want to have a thing with her but then, this very strong feeling of cheating always keeps smashing their heads and gets them really scared. ‘I can’t devote all my love and attention to you just like putting all my eggs in a basket and then you come from the blues and break my crate’ is the thought of various women. Wow! You never want to experience it.

It could be perfectly acceptable to casually date more than one woman at the same time but Nah, it can’t work for me. Personally, I always get paranoid with the fact that these men never actually mean love, they just want to lay hold of that which is in between my legs and he acts to soon or too good to be true, girls get really suspicious and annihilate  the whole relationship even when what he felt for her is genuine. All that is needed is absolute sincerity and reciprocation of love because that is the only way you actually keep a girl going as your bae for as long as time tells.

-Okeze Stephanie

 

CUT US SOME SLACK

Growing up in a Nigerian society, on the Island and going to a good school, having amazing parents, financially comfortable and all, may all seem like wow! She has everything.  Well yes, some people might say that at first, but then at a second glance it is not all that, when you have a sickness that you are constantly tagged with. I am SC genotype, you might be wondering SC? Is there anything like an SC genotype? Well yeah and it is what I have.

So let me shed more light on my genotype, since I have noticed many people actually are not aware of it, and it is really not taught in biology classes, so basically, SC variant is when one gene is mutated to the S form (as mentioned above) and the other is mutated to the C variant, which is also abnormal. Again, people with just one hemoglobin C mutation usually do not experience any medical issues from it. Even if both hemoglobin genes are mutated to the C form, usually only mild anemia results. For people with one S and one C mutation, called sickle cell-hemoglobin C, they have less episodes of their blood cells clumping together than do people with SS, so they have less pain crises. However, they also have more significant degeneration of bone, retinopathy (degradation of the retina), and increased risk of experiencing priapism. Again, it is important for you to see your doctor if you suspect that you have either of these conditions, in order to be appropriately tested for them and treated if necessary.

Well yeah, it is not as bad as the sickle cell anemia, but just having that genotype tagged to your name is. As a teenager in secondary school, life was not easy for me, most people where ignorant of my genotype and when they didn’t understand, they automatically termed me as a sicker which I am not, and because of this, I had to be given ‘special preference’, special preference is good in times of trouble and maybe other times but I DID NOT LIKE IT AT ALL. I am not a sickler and I actually do not get sick regularly, yes I have body aches and joint pains at times, but I never actually had a crisis. I am not trying to discriminate or insult sickle cell anemia patients, the SS and SC genotypes are similar and SS patients actually face a lot and I am so sympathetic because I can actually understand them, but I am just trying to make a point known that I am not that fragile, and I can actually do most things healthy teenage girls do.

I used to get special preferences a lot, and a kind of exclusion from normal activities in school, which I could actually do. For instance, I was not allowed to participate in sports, even sports like just golf or tennis in school, and I was actually good at those sports. My teachers never allowed me, even though I explained time and time again. I was practically termed as feeble and inability to do anything apart from my academics, and it was really depressing.

People need to be educated both on the SS and SC genotype and not only the SS, there is no awareness made for SC genotypes. A lot of effort has been put into awareness but still ignorance prevails, Sickle cell Anemia patients actually have a life, they can do stuff, some are so active and unless the occasional crisis, you might not have an idea. If some sickle cell anemia patients can do this, how much more SC patients, who are more active and do not usually have crisis. This genotype (SC) also needs to be brought to light, people need to know the difference, people need to understand and enlightened. We should not be rejected some certain jobs; just because generalizations were made, an SC person can do so much more than people are limiting us to, we actually have an advantage and we can do much more than a SS patient. So please cut us some slack, cut both the SS and SC genotypes some slack.

-Avoseh Sesi Mogbekeloluwa

 

SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES: ARE THEY REALLY EFFECTIVE?

Do they really work? Great question.
It is quite obvious now that every copy produced will most likely have incentive stimulus in it, to portray a meaning that is beyond the surface of the context. Many people believe that products, goods and services are not likely to sell if there are no provocative instincts to buy them. Due to that, advertisers now send messages that are beyond the literal meaning to appeal to the subconscious minds of the consumers.

Funny how even in movies, children cartoons, on billboards and posters, subliminal messages are very pronounced. I really feel this is indecorous and unnecessary because rather than passing a true meaning of that which they want publicized, they implant bad seeds in the minds of the readers, viewers and/or listeners. Children are prone to character modification based on the things they see, hear and feel and children obviously love cartoons not to mention teenagers and their love for movies.

With this in mind, what are we going to say about the fact that we are unconsciously damaging the minds of these children? And the unfortunate thing is that we can’t deprive these kids from what they gain pleasure in doing so if you say you want to stop a child from watching cartoons, you will eventually bore the child to death. The most painful part is that we can’t really pinpoint subliminal messages even while we are looking at them.

Reality has it that this mechanism spreads activation in your semantic networks. Your next question will probably be how? Okay, here is how it works; the manufacturers of these message puts all odds in their favour by influencing individuals to think of a particular thing not by mentioning a relative concept but by mentioning a bunch of semantically related ideas which triggers multiple associations and increases the spreading of activation which boosts the chance of the individual to think about what you want them to think of.

The problem is not the fact that it is hidden, but the fact that these messages usually mean something negative and always show tendencies of influencing the minds which will later evolve and cause a change in behaviour.

OBODOEZE MIRACLE OYINYECHI

Silence or Violence

There are times when we as individuals, we experience conflict because of our different characters. But in the moment when there’s a very tough decision to make, do you keep quiet or retaliate?

Let’s take time to define these two terms. Silence is to become silent; prohibit or prevent oneself from speaking.  Violence on the other hand, is behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something.

When there is a conflict or an argument we should think of our actions and the consequence before carrying them out. It might look like walking away will make you look weak or stupid but trust me you have saved yourself a whole lot of trouble. There’s a quote I saw sometime last year, it says “sometimes silence is golden and other times its plain yellow”. In other words, sometimes you have to stand up for yourself. Don’t get me wrong in standing up for yourself you do not have to hit someone or break the person’s heart with hurtful words because, there is such a thing as assertion which is standing strongly by your belief.

There’s a popular saying “violence is never the answer” and this is not far from the truth. This act has caused a lot of damage in our society today at home and abroad. A lot of people have lost their lives, families have been torn apart and wars have erupted.  A very sad story is one that occurred in my secondary school few years back, two boys were arguing about a bucket who owned it and who didn’t. now instead of settling it amicably or one person should have just walked away, they started fighting and in the course of that one of them hit the iron bucket on the other boy’s head and he lost his memory and a part of his brain was damaged. This is just one of the many bad things that violence has caused and we have to stop amongst ourselves before talking about stopping world violence.

Globally, violence resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.28 million people in 2013 up from 1.13 million in 1990.Of the deaths in 2013, roughly 842,000 were attributed to self-harm (suicide), 405,000 to interpersonal violence, and 31,000 to collective violence (war) and legal intervention. In Africa, out of every 100,000 people, each year an estimated 60.9 die a violent death. Corlin, past president of the American Medical Association said: “The United States leads the world—in the rate at which its children die from firearms.” He concluded: “Gun violence is a threat to the public health of our country.” For each single death due to violence, there are dozens of hospitalizations, hundreds of emergency department visits, and thousands of doctors’ appointments. Furthermore, violence often has lifelong consequences for physical and mental health and social functioning and can slow economic and social development.

In 2013, assault by firearm was the leading cause of death due to interpersonal violence, with 180,000 such deaths estimated to have occurred. The same year, assault by sharp object resulted in roughly 114,000 deaths, with a remaining 110,000 deaths from personal violence being attributed to other causes.

The bible says Proverbs 10:19 “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, But he who restrains his lips is wise”.  If we can learn as individuals not to react to everything, be silent and just walk away, the world will be a much better place and the issue of violence will be minimized.

“Silence is argument carried out by other means.” -Che Guevara

-Chuks-Emmanuel Penuel

The Shape Of You: Thin or Thick

Often the question ‘is being fat okay?’ is asked and till now no one is really sure of the answer. “Though science has come up with a lot of analysis and breakdown as to why being overweight is dangerous to health, the question now is ‘are thin people free of diseases?’

During the early years, people who were fat were considered as healthy and rich. People who could fend for themselves comfortably, but these days reverse is the case. Fat people are now seen as unhealthy and ‘helpless’, people who need support to live life as a result of their overweight body and high rate exposure to diseases. But the truth is that even thin people are not excluded from having diseases, just that chances are low.

Everybody needs some muscle to fat ratio for vitality, warm protection, and other body capacities. In any case, having fat excessively can prompt genuine medical issues. The more fat you have, the more striking your hazard for diabetes, kidney infection, coronary illness, and different issues. It is thereby advisable to maintain a fit body.

But how do you achieve this?

Address your specialist about a health improvement plan that is ideal for you. New research demonstrates that a get-healthy plan ought to incorporate three parts to be fruitful — eating regimen, exercise, and conduct alteration.

1. Eating routine-make less, serve less, and then you will eat less.
2. General exercise, for example, strolling, running, swimming, biking etc. Take an alternate course on the plan than not go by an enticing fast food put.
3. Also, intermittent fasting tends to help you burn fat and retain muscle. It also makes your life easier because you have one less meal to cook and clean”. However, it’s essential to understand that what you eat will always be more important than when you eat.

With these few tips, you should see yourself with your dream, fit body.

-Olusanya Ayomide Paul