Wednesday, May 2, 2012

My CD!!! Pictures included

I'm officially the worst blogger out there!!! I promised to continue my CD post last Monday, not this one that just passed, the other one, and I'm only NOW putting up the post.

Pleeeeeeeeease forgive me :( I'll buy you cake, ice cream, and shawarma!

Anyways, now that you've accepted my apology, I shall give you a look-see at what my CD's like.

During camp, several companies and organizations visited us, touting their businesses. These organizations were brought to us by the  JASA (Job Awareness and Skills Acquisition) Centre of NYSC. I'm not sure if this option's available outside Lagos, so you'll have to check and see for yourself.

What is JASA? 
As the name implies, this arm of NYSC is there to promote the learning of new skills and possibly bridging the gap between prospective employers and corps members (I can't confirm the second bit). In an interview with the Head of JASA, she also mentioned that an NYSC Job Research Portal was developed for corpers to search and apply for jobs (again, I can't confirm this). On the Skills Acquisition part, several businesses and firms have partnered with NYSC to teach various skill sets and courses at a heavily discounted price to corps members. Some of the skills include but are not limited to:


  • Bead design (which I'm doing)
  • Shoe making (I've seen some of the corpers work, and they were actually not bad)
  • Tailoring
  • Soap/Paint/Detergent making (different classes - I don't feel like listing them separately)
  • Wedding accessories (which I'm also learning)
  • Hat making
  • Events decoration
  • Make up/over classes
  • Catering
  • Microsoft Certification
The list goes on and on.

So, I've had a passing interest in jewelry and sewing. I have made stuff in the past, without any instructions or classes, but wanted to improve on my skills. As soon as I found out about this opportunity, I jumped at the chance. If nothing else, the prospect of sitting down at CD (like the regular ones I talked about in the previous post) with nothing to do, was not appealing to me at all. Unfortunately, tailoring was not available on a day I liked, so I signed up for: Bead Making, Wedding Accessories, Gele Tying, and Make Up. These 4 classes should last throughout the service year, so I won't get bored.

I'll now show you some examples of things I've done/made since I started the classes in February... Erm, please don't be upset that my face is blurred out. People have been able to identify me from just seeing my lips alone, so...

Bead Making

1. Black/Grey necklace

2. This was for homework


3. Just playing around with some beads I had


4. These earrings turned out a tad longer than I originally planned. I'm going to make shorter ones, and a matching bracelet and necklace, maybe.



Gele Tying

I count myself as one of the worst gele tie-ers in the world... that is, until 2/3 weeks ago! FINALLY!!! I have seen the light. And fine, I only remember 2 styles out of the 5 that were taught, but it's a start, innit?! I PROUDLY showcase my "national theatre" gele tying :)




*RANDOM THOUGHT ALERT!!! I think I look like Rorshach with my blurred out face!!!! *insert BB straight face*

I can tie gele sha o. Y'all should clap for me wherever you are. As in, I tied them on my head all by my oneses.





Wedding Accessories

Just started this class two weeks ago. At the end of it, I'll have made a fascinator and a fan. Will post pictures accordingly.





Make Over

Gawsh! I only signed up for it cos I was bored, truthfully. Well, maybe I'll do somn to my eyes and take a picture, just for you. Uno momento...

5000 momentos later, I must put a disclaimer: Make up is not something I'm overly interested in. So... please be nice in your judgement of my before and after shots.


BEFORE


AFTER







What do you think???

So this is my CD. I've been enjoying it, truthfully, and I'd implore any future corpers to really think about what they want to do for their CD choices.

Ok, I have to say that I've enjoyed doing this post :) And now, I gotta run.

I'm considering doing a Style Post on the NYSC Kit aka Uniform... Yes? No? Let me know...

Toodles and cupcakes!

Berry.

8 comments:

  1. Awww.. that sounds like fun stuff and I would so do exactly what you chose. Nice work BerryBerry ;)

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  2. i'm pleased to see this aspect of CD. must be the best part of NYSC. love the jewelry. how much did the classes cost?

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  3. @ YES - Thanks!

    @ Jum - The classes range from N1000 to N4000, depending on the amount of materials needed for the class.

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  4. hey Nita berry!!!i also took those clases during my service year..trust me ur gele is 100percent better than mine...atleast the bead making part stuck with me...Im glad ur going thru ur service yr and letting it go through you...like i always say, its a once in a lifetime experience..

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    Replies
    1. Thanks gurl!

      I've seen your beadwork too - trés cute.

      And yeah, we just have to make the best of the experience (even though it can be frustrating).

      Hugs!

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  5. I wish I knew this was an option because I love makeup and jewelry. My CDS is medical and sadly its pointless- with all the healthcare issues we have in Naija youd think itd be productive.

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  6. Hi Berry,
    Please what LG/LCD are you attached to? I'm interested in the bead making ish...I may have been 'gisting' when the organisers came to talk about it (because I actually recall one woman advertising some classes)
    Newooz, I'm in Education, and we used to go teach before, but for 'Nigerian" reasons, we don't go anymore.

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    Replies
    1. LG - Lagos Island.
      CD - NYSC Lagos Secretariat - JASA


      Sucks @ your CD. I just dunno why nothing's sustainable in this country. If they started something good, they shoulda kept up with it. Ooooh, why don't you ask your leader to bring it back?

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