YOU WILL BE MORE CAREFUL ABOUT WHAT YOU EAT AFTER READING THIS

Iron is more essential to our bodies than you think! 

When I wrote the last article about iron deficiency (click here to find it), honestly, I hadn’t thought it would be so much of a big deal. I had only responded to a cause I felt obliged to be a part of, being a woman myself. However I must confess the responses that followed the article have been nothing short of an eye opening as well as encouraging.

Despite my busy schedule, I painstakingly followed the post on all the blogs it popped up on and read reactions from some the readers but I was particularly impressed with Anna who wrote on Bella Naija about her personal experience dealing with anaemia. Her case verified my claims and made my fear even more intense and since I already found Knorr to be doing something about it, I continued my research. 

I later realised they were going to hold an activation at Carm Wisdom College somewhere in Makurdi to educate young girls and their moms about the same issue. Coincidentally, that was the same school where I did my one-year youth service and oh, how I have missed the pounded yam and white stew. This looked like a perfect opportunity, so I decided; I was going to attend just so that I will be able to access the level of Knorr’s involvement and how practical their teachings are. Let me mention that I went in disguise o so nobody could have even suspected that was me. 

I arrived the school on the morning of the event, dressed like a typical Northern woman; I had my pashmina as my veil and even used fake gold teeth just so no one would see through my art. Once I got to the venue, I met a student, Zakariyau Memunat an 18 year-old brilliant girl of the school. She told me how excited she was to have been shortlisted for the big day. I could see through her innocence, she spoke so joyfully about all she had learnt about iron deficiency and how to prevent it. Curiosity got the better of me and I probed further but the more I probed, the more she impressed me with what she had learnt from participating in the Knorr programme. She told me the event had kicked off 4 weeks ago when the organisers came to their school and lectured them about iron deficiency and all after which they were tasked to research more and come up with meal samples applying all they had learnt. For young Memunat, she had found a tool and she was grateful to Knorr. 

Her story was similar to Halimat Usein, Roqiyat Hassan and several others. 

But the young girls weren’t the only beneficiaries; their mothers were too and they couldn’t hold back their joy. For them, it was a whole new experience and they couldn’t have been more grateful. 45-year-old Habibat told me she had been suffering from dizziness all her adult life and didn’t know the cause. She said it had embarrassed her severally and this has been an opener for her as she not only know the cause but how to deal with it. 

As I sat in the hall and watched the girls and their mothers cheer excitedly, I couldn’t help but quietly applaud whoever thought of this great idea and more importantly for the Knorr brand to have invested in such a worthy cause. But hey, we shouldn’t leave the fight for the Knorr brand only, let’s play our part, let’s educate more people, let’s join hands with Knorr to fight iron deficiency in Nigeria; it starts with 3 simple steps right there in your kitchen, TOSS, STIR and CRUMBLE! Cook your meals with Knorr seasoning as it is the only seasoning cube that has the right measurement of iron needed to fight anaemia. I think it’s a really fun way to cook, the sight of those tiny bit of vegetable in your stew. 

In case you are still curious or wondering if all these actually happened, then, check out some of the photos from the induction and celebration parties...