The Smart Woman Mag || Believe In Your Dreams - March 2019 Edition

Opening words from the Editor:

My name is Ngumabi and I am the editor in chief of The Smart Woman Magazine. I'm so proud to present to you this first edition. This magazine is tailored to inform and support the ambitious woman through her journey of becoming her best self; career, beauty, fashion, culture, relaxation and health-wise.

I hope that through these monthly publications you will be inspired and informed about people, facts and cultures that will push you to take action to make your life better and also build your mind to confront the better life that awaits you.

It's a pleasure for me to contribute to your level up journey through my blog posts and now through this magazine that is meant to build your mind intellectually and culturally.

I originally thought of making this magazine a free downloadable magazine but it needed some more expertise and time to do it. And all I wanted to do was start to publish this month of March. So just some days ago, I had the idea to create the magazine right here on the blog, until I can make it an actual magazine that you can download, read and share with your fellow women.

I was so excited when I realized that my dream of creating this magazine and putting out all these ideas and content for you guys was still possible from this month. of March.

Hope you enjoy this first edition because it covers the amazing and inspiring story of Dr Tererai Trent who never seized to believe and work for a dream that she buried in the ground. And despite all the difficulties and obstacles she faced, she realized that dream. Her story is so inspiring so please take time to read it.

In culture, we are also going to be talking about etiquette when attending events. In beauty, we will learn the various beauty hacks you can do with honey. We shall also get some career advice which will be about the necessity of having multiple streams of income in this new age. We shall also be discussing health where we will talk about how to eat properly to avoid falling sick while working hard for your dreams. To relax, we will visit fun and relaxing outdoor activities that can help you build a stronger bond and connection with your loved ones.

It's going to be an interesting first edition. But before we get into all of these stories and tips our magazine begins with top interesting facts and what made the news during February.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the Smart Woman Magazine and don't forget to leave your feedback in the comment section when you are done.

Happy reading!
Ngumabi.

News

One should be wondering what else could have made news in February other than the fact that it was the month of love with red roses and wine flowing to celebrate it. But apart from Valentine's day, some other surprising stories painted the month of February.

Let's begin with the Gucci "Blackface" campaign which got many black people and anti-racists in their feelings for weeks. The tea is Gucci put up on their website a black pullover for sale which covered half of the face and had wide red lips. This got people tweeting and replying to Gucci on various social media platforms that this fashion outfit was purely racist as it reminded people of the representation of black people in movies and cartoons in the past.

Though Gucci publicly apologized for the incident and withdrew the sweaters from their site, the most intriguing questions are "How could they not know that this looks racist?" "Was it done deliberately to pull attention?". Stories like these can only leave you wondering why.




In politics, as the presidential race is building up in America, other presidential races have come to an end in countries like Senegal and Nigeria this month as Presidents Macky Sall and Mohamed Buhari win second terms in office.

Those were the stories that made waves in February 2019. Other stories like the testimony of President Trump's ex-lawyer Micheal Cohen are on the rise and you can follow that story on CNN, BBC or any other world news channel.

Spotlight:

Tererai Trent: A Girl Who Buried Her Dreams In A Can - The reward of perseverance and persistence 

From being a child bride in a village in Zimbabwe to becoming a PhD holder and Oprah's all-time favourite guest.

Here are her story and the lessons we can learn from it.

She has given into marriage by the age of 11 and by the age of 18 she had already given birth to 4 children. One of the children died because she couldn't produce enough milk to breastfeed the child. Being a wife in a polygamous home was the tradition of her village and it was followed by her grate-grate-grand mother, her grandmother and her mother.

When she was a little girl, she used her brother's school books to read and write. She even did his assignments for him. When the teacher found out about it, he asked that Tererai should be let go to school. She attended just two terms of school and then was married off at the age of eleven.

This tradition and marriage she followed kept her silent for a long time though she wanted an education. She didn't like this life and tradition but because there were no role models and she didn't know any other way out she went on living like that.

Her husband knew about her desire to go to school but will beat her every time she talked about it.
It wasn't until a certain American woman called Jolack who visited her village in 1991 asked her alongside other women "What are your dreams?"

While the other women talked about having food security and educating their children, she said she wanted to go to America, have a degree, then a master's degree and then a PhD. She was 18 years at the time and expecting her 5th child. She also never had a high school education.

This woman told her that if she believes in her dreams then she can achieve them. She was confused because she knew that she didn't have a secondary school certificate. So she wrote to her mother telling her about the American woman who told her that she can achieve her dreams. And her mother said to her that if she believes in her dreams and achieves them, then she won't only be a pacesetter and role model for other women but also for the children she brings into this world. Her mother also told her to write down her dreams and bury them in the ground so that she will not forget where she comes from no matter where she goes in search of her dreams.

She wrote her dreams down and buried them. The fifth dream she added was that she wants to come back and help the girls and women in her community. Her mother made her write the fifth dream and Tererai says that she understands why. She says our dreams make more sense when we use them to help others. This fifth dream made her want to build schools, especially in her community to help other girls who have dreams and prevent them from going through what she went through to achieve her dreams.

It took Tererai 8 years to get her GED (an exam certificate that is equivalent to a high school diploma). She will struggle to get money to study and write the exams in her country and then send the results to the post office every time. She kept failing the exam and kept writing it until she passed it after trying it for eight years.

Then she was admitted into Oklahoma State University where she got a degree in agriculture and then a master's in Plant Pathology and of course a PhD.

But all of these achievements didn't come without trials and obstacles.

She moved to Oklahoma, America with her husband and five children. Her relationship with her husband was abusive to the point where he was deported for continuously abusing her. Life became so hard for them as she was going to school and worked four jobs to take care of her family. One day she saw the gums of her kids bleed as they brushed their teeth and she realized that it was because they weren't eating fruits and vegetables. She asked for help from her school and was directed to a store which accepted to give her fruits and vegetables that were going bad and were to be thrown away. She would select the fruits and vegetables from the trash can, wash them and feed her kids.

During this difficult moment, what kept her grounded was thoughts of gratitude. She felt grateful that even though her kids ate from the trash can, other kids ate from trash cans which were not as clean as the one she and her kids ate from. She was also grounded by the thought that despite the uncomfortable place she lived in there were other women who lived with their kids on the street and she wasn't one of them. These thoughts made her grateful, they kept her moving on and remaining persistent with achieving her dreams.





She printed t-shirts with the words "Tinogona" meaning "it's achievable" written on them in her local language. But she sold only 20 of them and so she couldn't raise money to open schools back home in Zimbabwe.




She is invited to give talks all over the world by organizations like the United Nations to talk about the importance of girls' education.



She built 11 schools which support more than 6000 children. She is an inspiration and role model for her community.

Tererai believes that if you truly believe in your dreams and work hard for them and never give up then you will achieve them. As she often says 'It is achievable' and she is living proof of that.





Her book "The Awakened Woman" is a guide to help women ignite and remember their secret dreams. Her book teaches essential lessons that encourage women to uncover the power hidden within them so that they can achieve their dreams. This book is written to help you achieve your dreams.


Her book is available on her website and other sites like Amazon in both audio and e-book format.


She also wrote this book titled "A Girl Who Buried Her Dreams In  Can: A True Story" which talks about the true story of her life. You can get it in audio and downloadable e-books as well.

Memorable moments for Tererai.

Terarai's face and reaction when Oprah told her that she will donate $1.5 million to realize her dream of building schools.




















The school in her village was not in a good state because the walls were falling apart, children took classes on the bare floor and teachers had no material to help them teach the children.