Kajsa Hallberg Adu, Ph.D, Personal Blog
One weekend morning I am walking around in our green backyard with only a cloth around my waist, aka with a naked upper body. Cheerily, I turn to my husband:
– Look, now it is like a African village here!
He looks at me and quickly replies:
– Or a European beach…
Touche!
For you who like drooling over real estate here is a very special one from Ghana:
How about your own 27 acre paradise island?
Sandy beaches, safe swimming and fishing in Lake Volta, pleasure boat cruising, bird watching and both “adventure and therapeutic” is promised by the excited seller.
I say “adventure and therapeutic” on a paradise island close to Ada Foah is exactly what I need for x-mas! If you buy this island, please remember where you read it first!
So my Swedish summer is over and I am back in Ghana with all that it entails. So far:
1. A Ghanaian wedding in which a vuvuzela played an important role.
“Do you take this… VUUUU! VUUUU!”
2. Getting the updates on our backyard farm from my husband.
“…And here we have tomatoes, watermelon, two kinds of plantain, cassava, paw-paw and there ginger. Don’t step on the pepper!”
3. A visit to the drivers licensing office, DVLA. I was there for an hour and did of course not get my license. I did however read an article about the corruption at the DVLA while I waited.
4. Returning to work where E-V-E-R-Y-B-O-D-Y greeted me whith a heartily:
“Akwaaba! How was your trip?”
5. A function at the University of Ghana where I, to my surprise, got the chance to pitch my research idea to Former Secretary General of UN Kofi Annan.
“I am interested in why Ghanaian students leave this…” Kofi Annan interrupts me excitedly:
“…WONDERFUL COUNTRY?”.
“Yes, exactly, this wonderful country”. When he found out I was married here in Ghana to a Ghanaian he and his Swedish wife Nane Annan smiled and said a warm “congratulations!”
Yes, I am back in Ghana! This wonderful country!
I just got an email from a reader with the subject “Am I getting cheated or not?”.
As it is not the first email on this topic, I thought I’d publish my answer – minus the personal details here on my blog.
Basically, a Swedish person has gotten in touch with a Ghanaian person over Internet. They have had contact for half a year and now the Ghanaian wants to “move” to Sweden, but needs money from the Swede to do so and has even produced some kind of official document stating the sum of 2000 EURO.
Now the Swedish person is wondering what to do and asks me for advice.
Dear XXXXX,
How nice you have gotten to know someone in Ghana.
You asked for my advice and here it is. For a relationship to work, especially between someone from a rich country and a poor one, it is not a good idea to start that relationship with sending money. Internet frauds, “sakawa“, are very common in Ghana and poverty makes people sometimes follow a hungry stomach rather than a loving heart.
But even more important, I think you should meet a person who wants to “move to you” before he or she does so. The smallest problem you can come to have is that you lose 2000 EURO.
As far as I know, there should not be any demand of showing any money to a “migration office” to be able to travel, however a passport, Visa (see Danish Embassy in Ghana for detailed info), plane ticket, insurance, transfer etc is of course needed.
In conclusion, I’d recommend you to travel to Ghana (see the Official Tourism site Touring Ghana for example) and experience this green and exciting country and meet your friend XXXXX in a more neutral situation where you both can back out should expectations not be met. Also, I would recommend you to not in any circumstance send money to a person you have never met.
What do you think? Is this a sound piece of advice? Or is love bigger than the risks involved?
I got this very poignant comment on my last post from fellow blogger AntiRhythm:
And that, Kajsa, is all there really is about it. The only prize in participation is not to win. When the best in the world turned up, Africa was there. And for a long time, we competed well. We were in the final 8. We were 1 kick from the final 4. Being number 1 in the football world would have had only limited (emotional) benefits. Now, let us compete favourably with the rest of the world in:
Ending poverty;
Growing our economies;
Deepening democratic values;
Restructuring education to ensure real social development;
Fighting health scourges, especially Malaria, HIV/AIDS and TB;
Eradicating neo-geopolitics (ethnocentricism)
Harnessing the powers Information Technology to accelerate development, etc.
I could not have said it better myself. All in all, there is a lot to do also after the World Cup in South Africa is over.
After the devastating last minutes of the game and penalty series, Facebook and Twitter explodes. So many messages, surprisingly to me, messages of unity and good will. Here are some examples:
“Please, tonight is not a night for tears. GhAfrica’s Black Stars bowed out GRACEFULLY!”
“Oh! asamoah…but welldone guys!”
“My head is still up! Proudly Ghanaian! Well done Black STARS!”
“THAT WAS A GREAT RIDE! THANK YOU SOUTH AFRICA, THANK YOU AFRICA.”
“If there is anything like team of the tournament (like there is man of the match), I think it should go to the Blackstars”
“I stand proud. Whatever happens”
Also, for the first time ever, Ghana is a trending topic on Twitter along with Asamoah Gyan…
Say what you want on Ghana and the Black Stars, but sore losers we are not!
While I wait for the World Cup game tonight, Ghana-Uruguay, I have found these two videos to get into the (winning) mood.
1. Y? da mo ase
Ghana Black Stars! • y? da mo ase (Thank you) from MVMT on Vimeo.
2. Black Stars Dancing
I never saw myself as a fotball fan, but I suprised myself by adding a Twibbon, a little Ghanaian flag, to my Twitter icon in support.
Go, black stars, GO!
An hour ago the news reached me in Sweden that Ghana scored favorites (?) Serbia in the opening game for the Ghanaian Black Stars in the South Africa FIFA World Cup. Wohoo! Go Ghana!
In my room in Sweden I imagined the celebrations going on all over the crazy fotball nation that is Ghana and was lucky enough to stumble across the lovely and vivid pics on fellow Ghanablogging blogger Nana Kofi’s photo blog.
Pic of teary eyed Black Stars fan borrowed from Nana Kofi Acquah’s post on the Ghana vs Serbia celebrations in Accra.
While the eyes of the world are fixed on the BP oil leakage in the Gulf of Mexico outside of Louisiana, US, another much less publicized leak has been ongoing for decades in the oil rich Niger delta in Nigeria, reports the Guardian (and today Swedish newspaper DN).
The Guardian article states:
In fact, more oil is spilled from the delta’s network of terminals, pipes, pumping stations and oil platforms every year than has been lost in the Gulf of Mexico…With 606 oilfields, the Niger delta supplies 40% of all the crude the United States imports and is the world capital of oil pollution. Life expectancy in its rural communities, half of which have no access to clean water, has fallen to little more than 40 years over the past two generations. Locals blame the oil that pollutes their land and can scarcely believe the contrast with the steps taken by BP and the US government to try to stop the Gulf oil leak and to protect the Louisiana shoreline from pollution.
What can Ghana and our emerging oil industry learn from this mess?
Pic borrowed from Veronique de Viguerie / Getty Images at Pikele.
Now the world is spinning too fast.
Grading, art project, did you see my email? contract, research, graduation, lunches, Google conference, malaria. Twice. (hope its gone).
And tomorrow evening I am supposed to fly out of Ghana for a long vacation. Seven weeks. Lazy days. Newspapers and coffee. Dinner with long lost friends. Hugging my parents. Surfing on fast, fast broadband. Speaking Swedish. Being one in the crowd.
My plan is to keep posting here on my summer. Hope you are ready for vacation!
But before the lazy days – am I ready? What shoes should I wear? Do I have a gift for my sister? Did I read your email? Where’s my phone charger?
My speech at the Astrient Foundation Women’s Forum (with as many men in the audience) on Monday went well.
As the other scheduled speaker could not come I on short notice found myself with plenty of time with the Ashesi students, alumni and other young professionals. I chose to expand on my favorite topic – blogging.
I also shared some stories from my own brief career focusing on confidence, communication and character. An interactive discussion followed.
I was impressed when the participants wrapped up by taking turns with letting their peers know what they had taken from the session. So many insights, some work related stories, central messages and fine details.
It was a reminder that even if we sit in the same room, experience the same discussion, we’ll hear different things.
Photo: Phoebe Selassie Acolatse
After having sweated though the weekend, I am now assuming my malaria parasites are all gone and I will start my week with something interesting. Monday evening, I will be speaking at an Astrient Foundation Women’s Forum event.
Initially, I was hesitant. For the event with the slightly puzzling title “Enhancing your Work Image in the Corporate World” I felt I was not the right speaker as I wasn’t even too sure about what ‘work image’ was…but after some explanation from the director Phoebe Acolatse, I have prepared to talk about my blog and how I have enhanced my own career.
The Astrient Foundation provides, among other things, scholarships, community educational programs and these women’s networking seminars.
If you are interested, this is the time and place:
Astrient Foundation Women’s Forum
Ashesi University College, Labone
Building 3, Lecturehall 4
6-8pm, Monday 31st May, 2010.
And I am no more hesitant, but looking forward to this experience!
