>Election Fever in Ghana

>They are all the same!

The esteem for politicians is not all that high in Ghana. Some of the sentiments, I can relate to, maybe it is the universal gossip about the boss, but what is different here is the accusation of everyday corruption. My fellow Ghanaians blame their politicians for “chopping money” – meaning eating it as in buying big cars and offices for themselves, or giving contracts to relatives who know little about building roads/hospitals/etc. or simply spending more time outside Ghana talking than in Ghana making change.

The elections are coming up in December and the frontrunners are Nana Akufo-Addo and Professor John Atta Mills. Akufo-Addu is the flag bearer of the ruling NPP and Mills is currently in opposition with NDC.

I am planning to write one post each week about the election fever until we know who is the new president of Ghana.

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>Thankful in Traffic

> In the quite chaotic Ghanaian traffic there are a number of things that brighten my day. These days we tend to mostly complain about the many car crashes, the traffic jams, people failing to adhere to traffic rules and regulations or the regulators of the traffic flows being outright silly.

As a counter balancing act I here will list my favorite elements of the Ghanaian traffic, you are welcome to add to it!

1. People are friendly and will let you in to any queue, no matter how slowly it moves, if you give a sign like twitching your headlights or raising your eyebrows.
2. Funny vehicles like the pearly white Mercedes with the Registration “JESUS 1” (Oh Lord, won’t you buy me…), the itsy-bitsy small truck that is loaded with chocolate (Think Ompa-Lompas) or the hot pink pick-up (Barbie’s car!).
3. If you make a mistake, there is room for it, because mistakes happen all the time…
4. When reversing out from a tight spot there is always someone there to direct you.
3. FAVORITE The random messages displayed in the back windows of the public transport Tro-tro’s, like the one in the picture above, “THEY ACT AS LOVERS”.

What do you make of that?

Im clueless. Is it an accusation? A biblical message? A warning to the public? A general statement being true in different situations?

Thinking about this I have a happier and even a bit thankful drive to work.

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>Important Vacation

> In three short weeks I had time to meet up with a bunch of friends and family members, eat “sill” and “kräftor”, take walks on the beach and talk, talk, talk in Swedish. It is extremely important to reconnect with your base as an expatriate. This I’ve learned from among other aliens Agneta Nilsson, founder of the SWEA. She is able to live in two worlds (LA and Sweden) by sustaining her contacts in Sweden even though she lives in the US since many years.

I feel better grounded now somehow, I know my friends still care for me even though I moved away and a further reassurance was the gut feeling that came to me already when I walked to the gate for the Accra flight last Sunday – it is clear that Ghana is my home now.

My lovely vacation is hereby over and there are a lot of things to sink my teeth into back in Ghana. Among others a slow launch of the website aponkye.com, a new go at my migration research proposal and a Ghana bloggers meet up on Thursday.

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>Swedish Silence

>I am leaving Ghana for my native Sweden for a few weeks on Saturday. I so much need the chilly wind of Sweden, refueling of Swedish foods, singing in Swedish, sleeping in silent Swedish nights and spending time with family and friends over there.

The past week and the current is busy with work and even though I started some ambitious posts they now lay dormant awaiting an end/a crucial link/a perfect picture (the Ghana bloggers will know what I mean).

So, I think I will chose to stay silent until I return from my trip. Hopefully I will be back relaxed, slightly less tanned with many stories and a renewed ability to finish posts.

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>Friendly Faces

>Stumbled across the blog The Face of Afrika (FA) and liked their approach, to “report various constructive initiatives by African people”. The blog does that, and much more like linking to a bunch of interesting African websites. However, who is behind this initiative? Are you writing from Africa or elsewhere? The faces of the four writers of the blog remain invisible. On the right hand bar of the blog the writers names mysteriously link to other African web pages without explanation.

Still, whoever you are I especially liked the FA vision, a webpage that is almost like a collage, filled with inspirational quotes and friendly, highly visible, African faces. Ayekoo! (Well done!)

Just as Toke, I also ran into Chioma who has the blog Celebrate Africa. I acctually read about her blog one day on Toke’s blog and was introduced to her by a friend the same evening! A small world, to say the least. From an ‘on the ground’ perspective Chioma explores a very similar topic by traveling around this fascinating continent. Right now, she should be in Burkina Faso is she still on schedule. Loved what she wrote on Accra, “Africa’s melting pot?” and the link she gave to the intresting essential oil producer here in Ghana.

I get really happy when I get to know about things like these as I am myself trying to write about the positive aspects of life in Africa and Ghana. But maybe one should ask oneself – is there inflation in the subject?

I’d say no, we are not there yet. To balance out all the singlehandedly negative reports from this lush and vivid continent, even a lot more accounts written here and now are needed.

What do you think?

In the pic some friendly faces from an unrelated event.

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>Ghana in London

> I just returned from a fantastic long weekend in London, or shall I say Little Ghana? I knew London has a big Ghanaian population, but I was unprepared for the massive scale. Many Ghanaians have settled in the southern suburb of Croyden where I my first night in UK had rice balls and groundnut soup. And it tasted just like it should! And two days later I was offered fufu!

Apart from the food, I continued the weekend with speaking Twi about as much as I do when I am here in Ghana (me ho ye paa!), swinging by the Ghanaian Restaurant Accra Nima, discussing Ghanaian politics and best beaches, listening to hip life and then also of course doing the city. Westminster, Big Ben, Tate Modern, London Eye, Tower Bridge and Covent Garden were all the backdrop to my Ghanaian weekend in London.

The lovely colorful pic borrowed from yourbestlocal.com

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>Inspiring People II

> Earlier, I have posted about people in motion, people who want something and who are in themselves an inspiration to others.

For the Swedish speaking crowd, I proudly recommend the radio program with my friend Emilie Persson. She is a truly inspiring person and uses her “hour of fame” on Swedish local radio to discuss political engagement and explore how she went from being a tired student who saw herself as a make-up artist, to someone who is an expert on fair trade, CSR and organic agricultural production and uses her knowledge to lead and engage people. She also talks about her trip to Ghana and says her three months here were exclusively positive. “If you don’t think you don’t dare to go to Africa, take a chance! Ghana is a fantastic, wonderful country!”

For the English speakers, Emilie plays some good music like Ghanaian hip-life (Ofori Amponsah), South African reggae (Lucky Dube) and American hip-hop (Erykah Badu).

In the picture, Emilie is smelling the flowers in Aburi Gardens in Ghana on a visit last year.

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>Bloggers in Ghana

>Here are some pics from the Bloggers Meet Up in Accra earlier this evening.

Six bloggers and a bonus showed up and we talked about how we became bloggers, what we post and never ever post, why and how one should care for readers and a whole lot of other blog – and life – related issues…

We also had some ideas on how to work together. We decided on meeting again by the end of next month, so if you are a Ghana Blogger who missed this Meet Up, come to the next! (email me and we go from there)

Evidently, this won’t be the last post about Bloggers in Ghana. More likely, its a whole new chapter.

Thanks to all who came!

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>Offline Excitement

>I am officially getting excited about the Ghanaian bloggers meet up Maya and I are organizing later this week (inspired by the meet up Petite Anglaise organized in April 2006 in Paris). There are so many creative and interesting storytellers out there, some which I read daily, all of them live and work not far from me – and soon I will get to see them face to face. Lately I have made several good friends out of my blog, so my expectations are rocket high!

Report will follow after the meet up!

Are you a blogger in Ghana who wants to attend? Drop me an email!

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>Inspiring People

> An inspiring person, just one, can change your whole outlook on life. When you see someone talk with that sparkle in their eye, work hard and deliver the most amazing outcomes and move around life as if the situation was custom made for him or her – then I want to do the same. My interest in my surroundings, work morale and heck – even joy of being alive – gets a boost.

Some inspiring people that has crossed my lucky path recently here in Ghana are June Arunga, a young Kenyan woman who works in the IT industry here in Ghana, gives globalization speeches and have traveled the continent in the TV program The Devil’s Footpath. She is fast and fun and a person I am just getting to know (including her inspiring book shelf, thanks June!).

Michael Boampong is youth activist and founder of the NGO Young People We Care and one of the 40 most active in Taking IT Global, an online community which seeks to inspire, involve and inform young people. I have not had the opportunity to meet with him yet, but through Internet I know of him and maybe he soon knows of me as well! (all this also inspiring, isn’t it?)

I sat down with Nii Mantse just last week who is the editor of Jive, a magazine covering entertainment in Ghana. He has also worked in TV production, for instance with Studio 53 which covers Africas 53 nations, but also with Ghanaian television. We spoke about what matters at work, what young people like to do in Accra and an hour flew by.

All these three people have that energy/drive/sparkle in their eye that inspires me.

Migration Research Update: June has also done a documentary on why the educated youth leaves the continent called “Africa’s Ultimate Resource” and Michel wants to be a “migration expert” in the future. I think I need to talk to both of them in preparation for my upcoming migration studies.

In the pic the Ghanaian fertility symbol Akuaba to illustrate the mind fertilization and inspiration in this post.

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>Medal? Yes, Please But First A Good Pension!

> Recent debates over the costs for the National Awards that took place on July 3rd in Accra make me think of the campaign in my birth country long before I was born where social democrats fought for social benefits before medals to the affluent. It seems like that is still a battle that needs to be fought.

Apparently only the medals for this big gala with the theme “Branding Ghana for a Prosperous Future” cost more than 1,4 million USD. Of course that annoys people in a country with many, many problems that could be helped significantly by that same amount.

Not surprisingly, the sitting president defends the the gala and claims all the medals were “legitimate” and “constitutional”.

Its been a whole circus, starting when the opposition leader was nominated for a big medal and later turned down the honor. Others were happier saying that this exercise proved that Ghana was a real democracy. Then there were information that there had been no bidding for the medals, then that the contract, and thus cost, was given to provide medals not just for this year, but for the following two. However, the biggest discussion has been around the most expensive piece of gold, the “Grand Order of the Star and Eagles of Ghana” or the medal President Kufuor created for himself – as the newspapers write, he himself suggests it is an insignia which each new President will be given as he or she is sworn into office, to be worn on all formal national occasions and be given a replica when stepping down only if desired.

The president’s spokesman’s addition to the same discussion was not convincing:
“We hope no one is suggesting that the State Chain to compliment this sword should come in brass.”

– Ehrm, yes! Brass would have been wise and done more for the “Branding of Ghana” than the dusty ol’image now provided of an Africa with leaders in gold chains and big palaces oblivious to the strife outside the castle walls.

Pic of the discussed piece of gold, borrowed and slightly cropped from ghanaweb.com

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>The Birth of A Good Health Policy

>Since July 1st of this year, maternal health care in Ghana is free. I have seen this fantastic policy being carried out in front of my own eyes since my husband’s niece gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on July 5th. She did not know about the new health care initiative and a few weeks before the birth she asked me for the 90 GHC (as much in USD) to be able to go to the hospital for the arrival of her baby. The alternative for her, as for so many other Ghanaian mothers-to-be, was giving birth at home.

Then the policy came into effect and in stead of providing the money, I was there to help out with acquiring the free care. Together we filled out numerous papers and forms, searched for a photographer take four (!) passport photos (the day of the checking out was a Sunday so the photographer had gone to church). The mother had to sign up in advance (she did so on the 3rd, two days prior to the birth). I believe that together all these things possibly can serve as red tape, making it too difficult to obtain the free policy. But if you do succeed, and this is very good news, all care and medicine related to the pregnancy is free. South Africa has the same policy since 1994 with very promising results.

According to one of Ghana’s main newspapers, this initative has already become a success in Ghana. Over the last two and a half weeks, over 50 000 expecting mothers have registered with the scheme which is funded in collaboration with the British Government (42 million pounds over 4 years).

Maternal mortality rate is a big problem in Ghana and with the spotlight given to it by the UN Millenium Development Goals (“Improve Maternal Health” is Goal No 5) finally, a big step has been taken to improve the situation for mothers in Ghana.

Update: I found a BBC web-discussion on how to stop the maternal deaths in Africa with some interesting insights from fellow Africans.

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