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8 hours ago

"Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough."
~ Og Mandino

Determination

Determination is the resolve to accomplish something. It is never giving up, no matter what! It is what people require to be successful, and to achieve their long-term goals. While success may give us a tingle of excitement, the road to achieving it would also appear to be incredibly difficult. So what must we do to stay determined to achieve success?

1. Set the right goals and constantly remind yourself of your ultimate goals. Create a system that serves as constant reminder of what you are working toward. Have a clear vision of what the school results would look like so you can imagine it on a regular basis, and then set aside regular time daily to prepare - read and practice!

2. Do not be discouraged by failure. Keep trying. A determined person is one who has the ability to work hard and respond positively to failure and adversity.

3. Face challenges. Determination makes you a winner, not a quitter!

4. Do the most difficult things first, and never set them aside. Putting them off now, will not make them easier later. Research has shown that our minds are sharpest in the morning, and that is when we should tackle the tough jobs.

5. Do away with distractions and time wasters. The majority of situations that do come up to distract you are not important, and do not require your immediate response – at least not while you are concentrating hard on your books. By not responding, you would have passed a message that you will not be bothered by less trivial matters.

Remember: You can achieve success at school by concentrating in class; finishing your assignments, and doing your best in every subject. It only takes determination— you can do it! ... See MoreSee Less

1 week ago

HEALTH TIPS

There have been reports about the incidence of Lassa fever in Abia State. Utmost care should always be taken to prevent the disease and measures should be put in place to avoid exposure.

Below are some key facts about the disease.
• Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic illness of 2-21 days duration that occurs in West Africa.
• The Lassa virus is transmitted to humans via contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or faeces.
• Person-to-person infections and laboratory transmission can also occur, particularly in hospitals lacking adequate infection prevention and control measures.
• Early supportive care with rehydration and symptomatic treatment improves survival.
Symptoms of Lassa fever
The onset of the disease, when it is symptomatic, is usually gradual, starting with fever, general weakness, and malaise. After a few days, headache, sore throat, muscle pain, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, cough, and abdominal pain may follow. In severe cases, facial swelling, fluid in the lung cavity, bleeding from the mouth, nose, vagina or gastrointestinal tract and low blood pressure may develop.

Transmission
Humans usually become infected with Lassa virus from exposure to urine or faeces of infected Mastomys rats. Lassa virus may also be spread between humans through direct contact with the blood, urine, faeces, or other bodily secretions of a person infected with Lassa fever.
Transmission is mostly found in communities with poor sanitation or crowded living conditions. Health workers are at risk if caring for Lassa fever patients in the absence of proper barrier nursing and infection prevention and control practices.

Prevention and control
• Prevention of Lassa fever relies on promoting good “community hygiene” to discourage rodents from entering homes.
• Effective measures include storing grain and other foodstuffs in rodent-proof containers, disposing of garbage far from the home.
• Hand washing is very important in the prevention of Lassa fever.
• Maintaining clean households and keeping cats. Because Mastomys are so abundant in endemic areas, it is not possible to completely eliminate them from the environment.
• Family members should always be careful to avoid contact with blood and body fluids while caring for sick persons.
• Basic hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, use of personal protective equipment (to block splashes or other contact with infected materials).
There is currently no vaccine that protects against Lassa fever. ... See MoreSee Less

1 month ago

HEALTH TIPS

Eat well

Eating well is not about counting calories or having tiny portion sizes. Check out the following tips to help you make decisions that you are happy with when it comes to your diet:

Eat a variety of foods: Each food contains its own unique vitamins and minerals, and in order for your body to have a balance of all the nutrients it needs, it is important to eat lots of different foods. The 5 main food groups, which are all equally as important when it comes to getting the nutrients we need:
Veggies and beans
Fruit
Grain foods, which are foods made from rice, oats, wheat (like bread or pasta) or another cereal grain.
Lean meats (meats without a lot of fat), poultry, tofu, nuts, fish, eggs, seeds and beans.
Milk, yoghurt and cheese

Drink lots of water: The human body is up to 60% water so it is no surprise that drinking lots of water is a really important part of healthy eating. It is recommended that we have about 8 glasses of water every day but the most important thing is to drink as much as you feel you need. Sometimes you will need more, especially when you are exercising.

Don’t fear fat: Fat is okay. Some fats, called unsaturated fats should be included in small amounts in your diet, and are important part of healthy eating. You can find unsaturated fats in things like avocados, nuts and olive oil.

Then there are saturated fats often found in things like butter, fried food and cake, which are okay in moderation. Do not be afraid to eat a piece of birthday cake or have some potato chips if you want a snack, just don’t get into a habit of doing it all the time.

Limit the not so nutritious stuff: It is a little bit heart breaking that hot chips are not nutritious. It does not mean you cannot eat them, just that you should not eat them regularly. Things like deep fried foods, pizza, cakes, pastries, biscuits and pies all fall into this category. If you are looking for snacks, try fruits, plain popcorn or wholegrain crackers.

Don’t forget the drinks: Soft drinks and fruit juices contain a huge amount of sugar and not a lot of the good, nutritious stuff.
Don’t forget about the fish: Fish is particularly excellent for our health. It is recommended that we eat 2 or 3 serves of oily fish each week. This includes fish like salmon, blue mackerel, trout and tuna, which are all rich in Omega-3 and protein (tuna is only rich in Omega-3 when it is fresh and not canned). And then there is the added bonus that fish is delicious.

Eating habits: Do not skip breakfast, eat regularly throughout the day (WHO, Children’s Health, WebMD). ... See MoreSee Less

1 month ago

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.”
- Pablo Picasso

Setting goals and targets

Do you feel like you have worked hard, but don't seem to get anywhere worthwhile? Do you often think about unhappy moments when you resolved to make positive changes, but ended up falling back to your old ways after a short period? A reason for this could be that you have not spent enough time thinking about what you truly want, and ultimately, have not set for yourself those formal goals and targets. First, you should consider what you want to achieve, and then commit to it. That's goal setting.

Susan Ward defines goal setting as the process of deciding what you want to accomplish and devising a plan to achieve the result you desire. First outline specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (S.M.A.R.T.) goals that motivate you and write them down, and then plan the steps you must take to realize your goal:

Specific: This is about being clear and unambiguous when setting your goal.

Measurable: Set your goals against concrete criteria. This will help you stay on track. When you can measure your goals progress, you will know when you achieve it.

Attainable: If your goal is not attainable, then return to the drawing board. Goals must be realistic and attainable.

Relevant: Your goal should be of importance and have meaning. The effort at working towards it, must be worth it to you.

Time-bound: Set a deadline and commit to it. There is a tendency to forget open-ended goals.

Finally, talk to somebody about what you are doing, and urge them to hold you accountable. Usually, when you have somebody to report to, you are likely to push through on days when you do not feel like working, but this will eventually see your goals through! Remember, once you have achieved a goal, absorb all implications of the goal achievement, review the rest of your goal plans, and observe the progress that you have made towards other goals. This would help to build your self-confidence. ... See MoreSee Less

2 months ago

Learning in Focus

“Every child has a different learning style and pace. Each child is unique, not only capable of learning but also capable of succeeding.” – Robert John Meehan.

The subject matter in focus for this week is “Understanding and Dealing with Learning Difficulties.”

Challenges of learning disabilities
Learning disabilities present significant challenges to learning. People with learning difficulties are held back in school and at work because they have difficulties in managing information that their brain receive. This can lead to frustration, stress, low self-esteem, depression, criminal behaviour or even drop-out from school.

Furthermore, in people with learning disabilities, one or more of the steps involved in the processing of information are hindered usually resulting from wrong wiring or links in the nervous system.

This often leads to difficulty taking in, organizing, and/or acting on information their brains receive from the senses. This will eventually result to difficulty in:

a. Understanding, remembering or producing language e.g. speaking, writing, reading, listening, spelling and so on.
b. Motor coordination – coordination of body movement.
c. Reasoning.
d. Noticing and remembering social information.
e. Emotional maturation.
f. Processing information.
g. Organization of things, time and/or space and so on.
h. Understanding simple instructions.
i. Limited awareness of interest in print, books, and other sources.
j. Colouring, copying and drawing.
k. Naming objects and colours.

Some pointers to learning disabilities at a glance
Some signs of learning disabilities present themselves in both childhood and adulthood. The following signs should be looked out for.

Early Childhood: Preschool Child (Below 6 years)
Difficulty understanding simple instructions.
Delay and difficulty in understanding or using spoken language.
Slowness in naming objects and colours.
Limited awareness of interest in print, books and other sources.
Difficulty in colouring, copying and drawing.
Problems with physical coordination.
Short attention span – can’t sit long enough to be read a story

Elementary and Secondary School Students (Between 6 -16)
Difficulty pronouncing words, reversing letters or transposing syllables.
Difficulty carrying out sequence of directions.
Doesn’t hear fine differences in words e.g. writes “pin” for “pen’, “tea” for “till”
Has problems stating thoughts in an organised way or describing math problems in word.
Confuses the order of letters in words or numbers in a math problem.
Doesn’t recognize words previously learned.
Spells a word several different ways; doesn’t recognize the correct version.

16 - Adulthood
Difficulty remembering something just read.
Difficulty concentrating when reading or writing.
Unable to tell important information from unimportant details.
Spells poorly.
Difficulty with mechanics of writing.
Problems taking notes or copying math problems accurately.
Difficulty organising and completing written projects. ... See MoreSee Less