October is a very special month – those who know, know. Well, it is actually my birth month!
And as usual, I go all the way out to celebrate it – because why not? Birthdays only happen once in a year, so to me, it is ALWAYS worth celebrating. It recently dawned on me that since 2017, I have always travelled for my birthday (that was a year after I finished my first degree). Phew! Talk about consistency…that means for the past 8 years, I have not celebrated my birthday in the UK! Praise God!
I went somewhere special – I enjoyed my day with nice and warm weather, with lovely people and saying ‘Cheers to life’.
I thank God for life, I am thankful for 32. I pray this new age brings me more fulfillment, career progress, good health and prosperity all round. 🙂
I normally don’t expect gifts on my birthday – the best gift is what I give to myself :). My wonderful colleagues however showed me love – this was unexpected but was a sweet gesture. Thanks guys!
I got to spend some time with my lovely nephew who I had not seen in a while. Missed him!
I attended a Development day for work – which was an interesting one :). It is always nice to get together with colleagues from other areas, catch up, share ideas and most importantly feel that someone cares and listens :).
Still on work, I caught up with my lovely colleague turned friend and sister, Linda, my colleague Chidinma and my lovely senior colleague, Rodney for a mini catch up and farewell for our sweet Linda 🙂.
I saw on the news that a Ghanaian woman, Afua Kyei is the most powerful black woman in the UK. She is the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) of the Bank of England. Way to go! These are the kind of things that inspire me and keep me going!
A friend also reached out to me to be a mentor on a fellowship programme (African Women Leadership Forum and Fellowship) she is currently running – it was a privilege to do so :). I always enjoy pouring into young girls – I may not not know it all (I do not actually) but having walked down certain paths – I am always willing to share my knowledge and experience with others – if it will help ease their journeys, why not?
Feeling cool and nice as I wrap up my birth month :). It was a good one 🙂
Now, there is a conversation circulating on Ghanaian media platforms about girls having to cut their hair for secondary school – as someone who went through this system, I have so much to say. I have actually talked about this on my Whatsapp status before but I believe I would need to write a separate blog post about it because the number of ignorant takes I have seen on this is alarming! The fact that you went through something does not make it right and does not mean everyone else has to go through it!
This is a foreign student in a Ghanaian secondary school with her hair but Ghanaian students in the same school have to cut their hair so they are not distracted. Make it make sense…
Thank you October :). I look forward to seeing you next year.
Thank you for reading my blog post. Looking forward to seeing you soon with another one 🙂
Happy new month in advance :). November already looks good!
Gertrude says...... 