YOU AND YOUR HEALTH.

(A) HOME HYGIENE.
(B) THE RIGHT FOOD TO EAT.
(C) DRUGS AND MEDICATION.

(A) What Is Hygiene?
       Hygiene is the practice of keeping oneself and one's surroundings clean in order to prevent the spread of   diseases.
        In order to have a full picture of hygiene in the home. You will find it under three major categories.
        (i) Personal hygiene,
        (ii) Home hygiene,
        (iii) Environmental hygiene.

1.      PERSONAL HYGIENE:
         Hygiene starts with cleanliness of the body.

         (a) Face: We should wash our face as soon as we wake up in the morning. This should be followed by cleaning of our teeth.
         (b) Teeth: Cleaning of teeth should be done twice a day, first and last thing of each day or as your dentist instructs you. This is to prevent teeth infection. If you don't clean your teeth, it will develop caries (decay) of the teeth which can lead to serious problem of the whole body. The nerves in the teeth ate interconnected to the ear and brain. If the teeth are infected, it can therefore radiate to the ear and the brain. Anyone who has experienced tooth ache before, will understand.
Apart from the fact that neglected teeth can cause disease, the beauty of one is in the teeth. Socially, if the teeth is not well kept, one can not confidently smile to show the beautiful set of teeth that God has given one. Moreover the mouth will smell. One will have bad breath (halutosis). Change your tooth brush every three (3) months. Remember the advertisement of Daily Need tooth paste which runs thus "I won't do it, till you've done it, till you've daily need". Visit the dentist at least once a year and when necessary.
          (c) Nose: Nose should be cleaned with handkerchief to remove the dirt trapped by the nasal hair. Some people are in the habit of cutting the nasal hair. This is not proper because the hair in the nose help to prevent too much dust and germs entering the lungs.
          (d) Eyes: Eyes should be cleaned after we wash our face. Be very careful on what you put on your eyes in the name of beauty.
           (e) Ears: There is natural oil in the ear (wax) that helps trap dust and germs. Clean the ear with cotton buds, but be careful not to damage the ear drum, and especially when cleaning baby's ear.
           (f) Hair: We have hair all over our bodies but there are areas where it is more dense, that is the head, armpit, chin and the pubic area.
(i) Head-Hair: This should be kept clean. Wash your hair once a week and use suitable shampoo even if you wear short hair and oil it with hair cream, then comb it. Women should plait their hair if they choose to and wash it at least once in two weeks preferably after loosening it. But if you plait a thousand braids, you can still wash it every two weeks while you keep it as two months or more. For men plaiting, it is not our culture, but if you choose to, please keep it clean. Don't breed lice as lice love dirty hair. Oil the hair once a week.
Perming: For people perming, make good styles and retouch your hair when it is due. The beauty of a woman is in her hair. If you wear short hair visit the hair cutter (barber) when necessary and please go with your own barbing kit, to prevent HIV/AIDS infection.
(ii) Arm Pit: It is very important to shave the hair on your arm pit. This will make your arm pit clean and prevent stains on your blouses and shirts. Use roll-on to mask the odour.
(iii) Pubic Hair: Pubic hair should be cut  because the area, if not taken care of serves as medium for growing microbes. If the hair in this area is long, it can cut the surrounding skin and because there is no much air circulation in this area, it can lead to bad odour. Shave your pubic hair. Women should wipe with tissue paper after urinating.
(iv) For men who keep beard, take proper care so that one will not look like masquerade for young children to be scared of. If you shave, do it at the right time.
       (g) Nails: Ideally nails should be cut short. For those who can wear long nails, please take care of them. Women who use nail cortex should make sure they use it rightly, i.e make sure the cortex covers the nail. If it is wearing of, renew it. Remember long nails can harbour germs and if we ingest the germs while eating, it can lead to diarrhoea and stomach upset. Cut your nails every week. Please when going to the saloon for pedicure and manicure go with your kit to prevent HIV/Aids infection. Prevention is better than cure.
       (h) Care of the skin: The skin covers the whole body. We must wash our bodies daily. Use toilet soap. Use body cream or lotion to prevent dryness and cracking of the skin. Bathing can be repeated after a long journey or a dirt or dusty work. The skin has pores (opening) where sweats and some waste come out of the body. Use body spray or deodorants to mask body odour.
       (i) Clothing: Like my Health Education taught us in Primary School, whatever you put on your body must be very clean and fresh. The ones touching the skin must be very clean and must be changed daily. Wheither you are a male or female, your under wears i.e your(pants, bra, vest/singlet, petit coat) must be change or as often as necessary.
The outer clothing must be clean and ironed. When you are neatly dressed, you will be confident to talk and move freely in the society. But if you are dirty and untidy you will be ashamed of even talking in the society.
Brothers a sisters, cleanliness is next to Godliness. So be clean always.

2      HOME HYGIENE:
 Sweeping: Our houses must be swept as often as possible. If people are many in the household, the sitting room could be swept once a week or more frequently depending on the number of people sleeping there.
Please open all windows and high dust before sweeping and damp after sweeping.
Kitchen: Your kitchen which must be a distance to your toilet must be swept and mopped daily. Concrete floors must be scrubbed (coconut) especially at the end of the day's work in the kitchen. Terrazo floor could be mopped after each cooking.
Bathroom/Toilet: Your bathroom and toilet must be kept clean. Flush the toilet after each use. Use vim to clean the bath, wash hand basin and the toilet seat. Put little JIK bleach in the toilet to remove the stain last thing at night.
People should try to use the toilet and not the bush for bowel movement. Pit toilet is ideal where there is no water system. Defecating in bush will lead to the spread of worms, that is, hook worm which can be spread by penetration into the skin while wading in the bush or grass.

3      ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE:
Our surroundings must be kept clean. The grass should be kept low to prevent rodents and reptiles staying around. The gutters should kept clean, and with free drainage which should be kept dry if possible to prevent mosquitoes breeding in them. Remove all broken bottles and containers in your surroundings.
Pure water plastic has become a nuisance in the environment. It is being re-cycled now in African countries. Don't burn it as burning contributes to environmental pollution. Put them in a bigger plastic and keep it for collection. Rather than pollute the air by burning, have your wet and dry dust bin separately. Bury your garbage in the ground so that after decomposition you can use it as fertilizer.

(B) THE RIGHT FOOD TO EAT

The right food to is the correct food that humans and animals eat. These are the natural food that will benefit our body system.
Food as we all know is grouped into: (i)    Carbohydrate (starchy) food- rice, yam and yam products etc.
                                                        (ii)    Protein (body building) food- meat, eggs, milk and milk products,
                                                                soya beans, beans, etc.
                                                        (iv)   Fat (oil) palm oil, soya oil, etc.
                                                        (iv)   Minerals/Vitamins.

Food Are Also Grouped Into FAST FOOD And JUNK FOOD.
Anybody will agree with me that junk food is not good for the body. Instead of one taking food that contains all the essential food values, i.e carbohydrate, protein, fat and minerals, junk takers only take biscuit, chocolate,soya drinks, candy chewing gum. This is not healthy. Chewing gum eaters are only applying for stomach ulcer, because as they chew, hydrochloric acid is produced to act on the supposed food in the stomach, and if there is nothing in the stomach, the acid will now act on the stomach walls to cause ulcer.

WHAT IS THE BEST FOOD FOR HEALTH?
A healthy food is the natural food which is cooked without destroying the vitamins. Eat lots of vegetables and fruits to help get rid of all the waste products in the body system. Vegetables and fruits contain lots of vitamins especially vitamin C which help in healing. It is anti-effective and it helps in preventing reactions. As we get older, we should avoid too much fat as it is not good for our health.
Vegetables and fruits in season are the best. Don't miss the opportunities. Take oranges, mangoes, pineapple, cabbage, carrot, ugwu, bitter leaf when they are in season.

As one is getting older, one experiences lots of aches and pains here and there. This could be due to taking the wrong food. We have to be careful. Some people over do things when they have the opportunity of free food. You will be doing a lot of destruction to yourself when you get free drinks and you decide to take bottles upon bottles of minerals, alcohols etc. Our natural drinks (kunun zakki) is very nourishing. Piata, njokoko, otache, and dawakazo are all alcoholic drinks and we should avoid them.

WATER: Water is the most essential drinks we must take. Take up to three (3) liters of water daily in divided quantities and you will be surprised at your good health. Water flushes the system.
Excessive meat consumption is not good because they are all converted into fat in the body. These fats go to block the blood vessels to cause stroke and heart attack. Eat more of dry fish, bush meat and local chicken or old layers.
As adults, avoid eating the yolk of eggs. That is where we have one of the highest cholesterol level. When you want to prepare isi-ewu, remove the brain of the goat, because it contains lot of cholesterol. Pig brain is worst among all brains.

Some important vegetables and fruits are: bitter leaf, (ugwu and kuka contain a lot of iron), water leaf, local salad (zogele), cabbage, lettuce ect. Fruits-like pawpaw, oranges, mangoes, pineapple ect.
Everybody should try to plant vegetables in their backyard to enable them eat fresh vegetables. The fresher the better. By the time you eat all these food you will feel better health-wise.

(D) DRUGS: These are chemicals given to people to swallow by doctors or nurses in form of tablets, pills, powder and liquid to treat or prevent illness or diseases. Some drugs come in form of balm and lotion for application on the skin.

It is not good to take drugs indiscriminately. Always take drugs with a prescription, because all drugs are chemicals and are poisonous if taken in excess.
The advice is for someone to see the doctor, who will check and know the right drug for your ailment. And you must follow the instructions of the doctor for your drugs and diet. Always go for follow up.

In conclusion-we should try to maintain high personal, home and environmental hygiene as well as eating health food and taking our drugs as prescribed by medical personnel.

A GOOD FRIEND IS A TREASURE.

What is a Friend?
I will tell you. It is a person with whom you dear to be yourself, your soul can be naked with him/her.
He/She seems to asked of you to put on nothing, but only to be what you are.
He/She does not want you to be better or worse.
When you are with him/her, you feels as a prisoner feels who has been decleard innocent.
He/She don't want you to be on your guard.
He/She can say what you thing, so long as it is genuniely you.
He/She understands those contradiction in your nature that leads others to misjudge you.
With him/her, you breath freely.
You can avew your little vanities and envies and hates and vicious sparks, your meaningnessess and absordities and in opening them unto him/her, they are lost, dissolve on the white ocean of his/her loyalty. He/She understand.
You do not have to be carefull.
You can abuse him/her, neglect him/her, tollarate him/her, best of all, you can keep still with him/her.
He/She makes no matter.
He/She likes you.
He/She is like fire purges to the borne.
He/ She understand. He/She understand.
You can weap with him/her, sin with him/her, laugh with him/her, pray with him/her.
Through it all and underneath-he/she sees, knows and loves you.
A Friend? What is a Friend?
Just one, i repeat, it is a person with whom you dear to be yourself.