Thai Citizens Association Bids Farewell to the Ambassador of Thailand

Members of the Thai Citizens Association in Abuja (under the Chairmanship of Mrs. Amy Uzoewulu) organised a Farewell Lunch in honour of their Ambassador, H.E. Manop Mekprayoonthong, and wife, on the 24th of September 2011 at the residence of the ambassador.

Ambassador Mekprayoonthong's tenure in Nigeria is over and he and his wife have gone back to Thailand.

Posted by Araceli Aipoh

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Nigerwives Celebrate White Cane Day with a Bazaar and Food Fair

The annual WHITE CANE DAY & INTERNATIONAL FOOD FAIR organised by NIGERWIVES NIGERIA (NW) Abuja Branch,was held on the 15th of October 2011 from 10am to 4pm at the FCT School for the Blind, No. 15 Audu Ogbeh Street, Jabi, Abuja.

Nigerwives Nigeria is a registered association of foreign women married to Nigerian citizens, and it has branches in many parts of the country.

Nigerwives Nigeria Abuja Branch has been involved in various charity activities, adopting the FCT School for the Blind as its pet project when the school was still located at the College of Education in Zuba. Nigerwives organize reading sessions and math lessons, and generally look after the welfare of the children. A milestone in this collaboration was the formal opening of a computer center at the School for the Blind on July 15, 2011. The children can henceforth learn how to use the computer, thanks to a special 'talking' software.

Most of the proceeds from the WHITE CANE DAY BAZAAR & INTERNATIONAL FOOD FAIR will go a long way in satisfying some of the needs of the students at the School for the Blind in terms of Braille books, basic medical care, basic equipment,

Photos by Araceli Aipoh

Thai restaurant opens in Abuja

The Sawadee Oriental Cuisine which serves Thai foods and located at No 42/45 Kumasi Crescent in Wuse 2 has just opened for business here in Abuja.

I was invited to the Grand Opening on 13th October 2011 and had a chat with Dr. Ratanaporn Dhamakosol (co-owner) and Mrs. Supporn Jong (manager) who gave assurances that they are fully prepared to satisfy their customers with authentic Thai dishes prepared by cooks from Thailand, and using only the finest ingredients.

Sawade is owned by Dr. Dhamakosol from Thailand and her Nigerian partners, Mr. Feyi Agagu, and Mr. Oluwadare Bello, Chairman of Citec Group.

Sawadee Oriental Cuisine is definitely worth a try for those who are looking for something new to satisfy their palate as well as those who are familiar with Thai cooking.

I took these photos during the Grand Opening.

Posted by Araceli Aipoh

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Crossed Perspectives - A Visual Arts Competition, at the 6th Spanish Cultural Week

As part of the 6th Spanish Cultural week, a competition on visual arts, tagged Crossed Perspectives - Nigerian Young Artists Interpreting Spanish Contemporary Masterpieces, was held at the Hilton Hotel on October 11, 2011.

According to the Ambassador of Spain to Nigeria, H.E. Alvaro Castillo Aguillar, the great Spanish painter, Pablo Picasso, saw an exhibition on African art in the Tracadero Museum of Ethnology (now the Musee de l'Homme) in Paris, and the colours and forms of the African masks and sculptures inspired him (Picasso) for the rest of his career. 

"Bearing this anecdote in mind," Ambassador Aguillar said, "we wanted to give our participants the opportunity to get to know Spanish masterpieces, which could serve as a source of inspiration for the works they would present in the contest."

In other words, the participants in the competition were shown photos of works by Spanish artists and were asked to interpret these works. The winner, Henry Osaretin, interpreted a work by Joaquin Sorolla, with a painting that Osaretin calls A Wall of Defence, showing a man helping a woman in tying a wrapper around her body (see photo No. 2 below).

Here are some photos taken during the awarding ceremony.

H.E. Ambassador Aguillar and Mr. Ignacio Garrido of the Spanish Embassy with
Mr. Abdullahi S. Muku (with cap), Director General of the National Gallery of Art, and another guest.

First Prize Winner, Henry Osaretin, who won an all-expensed paid trip to Spain.

Second Prize

Third Prize

Spanish Embassy staff and guests. Top left t is theAmbassador of Spain chatting with
the Ambassador of Venezuela

Guests and staff of the Spanish Embassy

Published by Araceli Aipoh

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The Expansion of the City - An Exhibition

Embassies of France, Italy, Portugal and Spain in Abuja in collaboration with the Federal Capital Territory Administration held an exhibition entitled THE EXPANSION OF THE CITY on October 4-16, 2011, at the FCT Archives House in Garki.

“The Expansion of the City,” according to the brochure distributed during the exhibition “reflects the challenge of 13 cities of the South of Europe facing the phenomena of fast growing urban population. The exposition is the result of a series of seminars on urban development with the occasion of the Universal Forum of the Cultures in Barcelona in 2004 and has been hosted ever since in Milan, Bologna, Madrid and Nouakchott.

"The lessons learned from the experience of these 13 cities could give food for thought for the challenges faced by Nigeria, with an increasing urban population, and Abuja, a city created from scratch and in continuous and fast pace urban development.

"The Expansion of the City presents an inventory of the territorial transformations that took place in thirteen representative European urban regions. The repertory/collection gives us an overview of the changes and it offers the most significant aspects of current projects. Furthermore, it includes theoretical reflections of prominent authors, as well as a selection of projects and territorial proposals from the thirteen regions that the exhibition deals with.

"The exhibition is the result of an investigation carried out by the Urban Development Chair of the Faculty of Architecture from Valles in the  Technical College of Catalonia, Spain. Thirteen work teams with French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish investigators collaborated in the project that includes the following European urban regions: Barcelona, Bologna, Donostia-Bayona, Genoa, Lisbon, Madrid, Marseilles, Milan, Montpellier, Porto, Valencia and Venice.

"The FORUM Barcelona 2004 hosted The Expansion of the City for the first time . After this event, the exhibition has been shown in Bologna, Milan, Madrid, and Nouakchott."

(Culled from THE EXPANSION OF THE CITY brochure)

Photos by Araceli Aipoh

10 Words and Terms That Ruin a Resume - Monster.com

10 Words and Terms That Ruin a Resume - Monster.com

Computer Centre Officially Opened at the School for the Blind, Jabi



A centre with computers installed with special software for blind users was officially opened on July 15, 2011, at the School for the Blind, in Jabi. Working to make this project happen are members of the Abuja branch of NIGERWIVES NIGERIA, LIKEMINDS PROJECT, and PUSONG PINOY ASSOCIA-TION. The centre was opened by Mrs. Fely Ramos, Consular and Cultural Officer, Embassy of the Philippines, who represented the Philippine Ambassador. NIGERWIVES NIGERIA is an association of foreign women married to Nigerian citizens. They are into various activities that aim for the smooth integration of their members into the Nigerian society. Also involved in charity works, Nigerwives produce Braille textbooks for blind students across the coun try. LIKEMINDS PROJECT is an Abuja-based non-governmental organization. PUSONG PINOY (which means Heart of a Filipino) is a duly registered association of Filipinos in Abuja. It made a cash donation to purchase some of the computers for the centre during the tenure of its past president, Grace Abrazado.