Pastors' Wives Conference

Okay so I'm two weeks late on this one...could be worse right?

The Saturday before last, Uzima hosted a conference for pastors' wives. There is a large community of married pastors in the area so we had a wonderful turn out. Mama and I co-taught a whole-day seminar for them. We spoke about beauty: I spoke about outer beauty and Mama then came in and supplemented my lecture with one about inner beauty. 

Often times women are told that inner beauty is what matters. This is true, but it is also true that our outer beauty can feed confidence to express beauty from within. This was what I spoke about to the pastors. I focused on three main avenues to physical beauty: nutrition, hygiene, and exercise. I began with nutrition by teaching them about the food groups and the nutrients that foods from each group tend to give you, highlighting how it is important to maintain a well-rounded diet. I also spoke about hygienic cooking and the science behind boiling water, peeling vegetables, and washing our hands before and after cooking.

Next I spoke about hygiene. This was the main topic because the need for hygiene education was greatest. After the presentation, I was told that the best part was that my teaching was relevant to their needs and lifestyles. For example, when talking about the specifics of bathing, I emphasized that it is important to use body soap instead of the soap that we use to wash clothes. The women also liked how I put a science-y edge on everything I taught. Instead of just telling them what to do, I explained why scientifically it helps your body thrive. For example washing your face at night does not only help you feel clean before bed, it clears the dirt and bacteria from your pores so that your face can breath and rejuvenate overnight.  

Many of the women took notes the whole time, which was both flattering and motivating

The final part of my presentation was on exercise. This was the curveball. Initially I planned to only speak about the importance of incorporating convenient exercise into your day. That is how exercise usually occurs here. People exercise by walking to work or cleaning the house. They stay fit by being active in a natural way. These women however wanted to learn muscle strengthening exercises and aerobics. Not only that but they wanted ones that they could perform in a culturally appropriate manner, this meant in their dresses. This is how the final thirty minutes of the seminar turned into Aerobics 101. I had them lunging around the lawn and doing arm reaches  to stretch their torsos. They LOVED it. 

We ended with a question and answer session that lasted for another 45 minutes. They had some wonderful questions, and thankfully they were all ones that I felt comfortable answering.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my part of the seminar and was glad to find that it was highly effective. After the seminar ended, Princely, Charity and I played football and had a jam session with the New Life students who came to play music during the breaks. We sang gospel songs til it got dark and the sky opened. We rushed all the instruments inside before they could get damaged from the rain and made popcorn as a snack for the students before they went home. 

One of my beautiful listeners