Seed to Sequoia by Ruth

28/05/2025

The very first novel I bought ‘unprovoked’ was ‘Listen to the Child.’ I was under 13, in a motor-park headed for either a UNICEF Zone A Children’s Parliament meeting in Enugu or the National Children’s Parliament meeting in Abuja.
Somehow, I missed the “SuperRomance” I just confirmed was boldly written on the cover and thought that simply put, this was a book about listening to children. From a relatively young age, I had this unshakeable knowing that it was very important to listen to the child…
📕
I grew up very introverted. I was more observant than outspoken. I considered the events in every day life more thoroughly than an average person would have. I lived deeply (introspected a lot) and was not in a hurry to draw conclusions (till this day; I’m rarely a jump to conclusion person). My thoughts were usually well formed because I let them marinate and pass through the thoughtfulness and wisdom filter…

Even though I learned of and experienced the strength, virtue and power in my words written or spoken, I moved through a dominant culture that was quick to dismiss the voice, presence, sometimes essence of a child (worst still if you’re a girl child) especially in this part of the world.
I also had my share of being bullied as a child. I wasn’t physically harmed but I was psychologically inflicted.

So, I learned. I learned how to carry the burden of silence: holding pain, belief and wisdom to myself. I experienced it cripple some of the best parts of my being…
I have been on this seeming life-long journey of letting light and love do its work in me & while I keep surrendering, I share these today because I resonate profoundly with the 2025 Children’s Day theme:Stand Up, Speak Up: Building a Bullying - Free Generation.

Children bully children. Adults bully children. Some traditions are set up against children. Some “fun” jokes we make at the expense of a child’s sense of freedom, love and safety are rooted in unc bullying.

Bullied children could bully others. Bullied children can become the problem in society. Building a love-led approach to relating with children starts with me. I hope this is a resolution for you too

04/03/2025

Every year, I remain in awe of phenomenal ideas that are refined until they are rolled out, data-driven impact projects and programs delivered/executed with impeccable results. I am in awe of the resulting collective prosperity that actual people, communities, nations and continents experience because someone, a team, a vision, persisted till there were necessary results.

As a woman in leadership and business with an almost decade-long focus in the non-profit management sector, it is my joy to define, review, refine, strengthen and effect ideas and processes that optimise fundamental business (every expression as a business) outcomes in my areas of operation.

Over the years, my work across the for-profit and non-profit sectors has brought varying degrees of personal, professional and industry growth, fulfilment, accomplishments, challenges, joys, some woes, and a lot of opportunities.

While there is so much in store and already started in 2025, over the next couple of days and to celebrate Women's Month, I will share some women-led, impact-focused spaces, programs, and projects I am/was so proud to be a part of in the year 2024.
The beautiful part is that the strength of these projects was largely owed to incredible women supporting women with men as allies.

I hope that you're looking forward to this as much as I am 😀

Dare I say, Happy New Year and Happy Women's Month. 🎉

Ruth Diyan Ebe

30/06/2024

18 years ago today, I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior.

I was born into a Christian home and I was raised as one. I did not really ask what it meant to be Christian but I got my understanding from teachings and lessons were ever around me and from a witness in my own spirit. I believed in Jesus and dare I say, I loved Him. I had the kind of enthusiasm (however misguided 😅) that made me say at 5 or maybe 7 years, that if I sinned anymore or didn’t live in a particular kind of way, something horrible should happen to me (anyone else have that experience? 🤣🙈😮‍💨).
I truly wanted to live for God. I wanted my life to be given completely to Him but there was so much more to what I had known and had been taught.

On the night of June 30, 2006, (it was a Friday if I recall), I was lying on my bunk bed. My faith in God up till then had been a guiding light. God’s mercies and help had been my covering. I was an example to others in words and conduct but I remembered that I had been taught that a personal relationship with God required a personal confession. It was first a personal decision ; not an inherited gene.

There, in the quietness of our hostel, I asked for God’s forgiveness of my sins, confessed that I believed in the Lord Jesus, asked Him to come into my life, be my Lord and Savior…
I wanted proof that this was the real deal. I knew what the Bible said but I wanted proof that if I had given my life to Him, He had accepted me… 🤦🏽‍♀️😄

My journey as a child of God from a place of personal choice and conviction is the most profound experience of my life. I have learned so much and many times, I know (it seems?) I haven’t scratched the surface of what more there is to know.

This intimate dance with the Father keeps bringing me to the place of surrender, the place of a washing, a purification, an infilling, a sending forth.
Falling into the depths of love: the origin, source, wellspring of love. the depths of knowledge that reveal how everything that I need for life and for Godliness has been provided…
Washing. Pruning. Edifying.

To be continued…

Seed to Sequoia by Ruth

27/06/2024

7 Years Ago Today…
We got our final certificates and medical license and my journey since then has been a roller coaster of some sorts. 😄🎉
Hear me out. I know when we say roller coaster, we often picture tough, rough, etc. but a roller coaster isn’t just that. It’s a mix of funny moments, absolutely hilarious moments, moments you think you’re going to die a horror death even when you’re well strapped in, and moments when you’re terrified yet assured that you’re properly strapped in.
It’s saying you’re not getting on that ride if you survive it, yet, willingly giving your money to someone to let you go on that ride. Again.

7 years ago, I got my first certification as a medical doctor and exactly 7 years later, I’m sitting in the room courtesy of with some of Africa’s leading impact leaders because I love the business of social impact and I want to see more social impact businesses (yeah) get it right😄, I’m building 😮‍💨 😅 , and still trusting that God DID NOT make a mistake with the things He showed me or told me years ago; trusting that He did not make a mistake when He inspired ideas 💡 within me.

I sometimes thought I was going to be a pediatric neurosurgeon. I loved the complexity of it. I loved that during surgeries, my hands are the steadiest that they’ve ever been. If I was unsure of this, my time in pediatric surgery in Austria convinced me. I wanted private practice in psychotherapy too…

7 years has been a lot. I’ve moved countries, moved states, moved homes. I’ve taken career turns, experienced transitions in my relationships and communities and hey! even in the process of changing names.
I’ve moved away from so many things that I’ve known and plunged into many deeps. I’ve failed. A lot. A whole lot, but I’ve also won in many ways. I’ve outgrown a lot of who I used to be and even that is a story many days will have to carry.

I still have a lot of uncertain days but if there’s anything I’m experiencing and learning to embrace in faith (obedience) and thanksgiving, it is this: The answers will come. Some answers are here but not in the ways I thought. Not everything is clear in the moment but I am led. There is more. And while I make it through, this life that I have today is not a dress rehearsal. It’s the real deal.

God expects, God has provided that I steward it diligently and with joy.

Seed to Sequoia by Ruth

09/07/2023

https://open.substack.com/pub/seedtosequoia/p/reconciling-relationships?r=2k27z2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Super happy to be writing and sharing again!

Seed to Sequoia is an analogy to the process of transformation of a young, wise, girl called Ruth and relationships will always be a fundamental part of her life