My Blogging Year 2015

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Summary of my blogging year:

My blogging year started out with a  resolution: to finish my Phd. How that went, you can see in the blog a created solely for my doctorate: Student Migration Aspirations. In February, dumsor got worse, the following month, I thought about the tech community in Ghana and started a nice convo about what is wrong with it. In April, I shared the top 7 tips on how to sleep during light off, in May I went to BlogCamp, Ghana Blogging and Social Media Awards and the #DumsorMustStop vigil, in June I didn’t write one single post (but thousands of words on my dissertation, in July, I submitted it!). August was spent in Sweden on vacations. In September, I was back with a life-(and blog-)crisis! In October, I decided to write more personal stuff here. Thanks for the positive feedback, especially to the first post on how much one should have in common with a spouse. The world changed with refugees flowing into Europe and Zone9 bloggers being freed in Ethiopia. Towards the end of the year, I introduced the Sunday Reads and increased my posts on politics and personal issues.

While the year started slow, I must say with dumsor and research slowing me down, I am happy the way I managed to find my passion for blogging again.

Did you read these three highlights?

1. Most read post:

The Power of Social Media – the case of Nana Aba Anamoah of TV 3

My view on this is that this is a historical moment for social media in Ghana. This sector has been seen as not “real”, something that happens outside of work. Hence most media personalities in Ghana have their own personal accounts, powered by their appearance on a legacy media channel, but run solely by themselves without any support, training, equipment, as well as away from attention from their employers.”

 

2. Most underestimated post:

Freedom is corruption?

“How does one cope on a personal level with all of this?

I have to say: I don’t know. I think do not cope very well! I get so angry and disturbed I cannot focus on much else on many days. I tweet, blog, and rant. I make plans to leave, I take deep breaths, and I laugh about it all. I try to balance the impressions.”

 

3. Most fun post:

Top 10 #NDCarols

“This Xmas season, Ghanaians have again used humor to deal with life situations. Under the hashtag #NDCcarols where NDC of course stands for the ruling party National Democratic Congress, Ghanaians have written their own renditions of famous christmas carols.”

 

Thank you for reading my blog. Happy new year all readers, please continue to follow me in this space – and if you want a reminder when a new post is out –  follow me on Facebook or Networked Blogs in 2016!

 

 

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My Top 10 #NDCCarols

This Xmas season, Ghanaians have again used humor to deal with life situations. Under the hashtag #NDCcarols where NDC of course stands for the ruling party National Democratic Congress, Ghanaians have written their own renditions of famous christmas carols. Here are my top 10.

10.

9.

8.

7.

6.

https://twitter.com/Etornam233/status/676841811671937024

5.

4.

 

3.

2.

1.

Happy holidays!

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Life without Engagement

It was a xmas holidays some years back, I was lying in my bed utterly exhausted. Tears crowded in the corners of my eyes from just thinking about emails flowing in, someone sending a WhatsApp message to my phone, or – THE HORROR – social media timelines ticking their constant stream of things I should be aware of. I thought I would never again be engaged in anything outside salaried work.

I stayed out for a while. Focused on my close ones, on the garden and flowers, on issues immediately next to where I live, and then slowly, a project came to mind. An event I’d like to help out with seemed like a good idea, a situation that just needed a few emails…Before long, I was back in my engaged life.

I call it my engaged life, because it is the life where I volunteer my time, effort, and best ideas for the benefit of the community where I live. It goes beyond my little garden, my family, and even my city. It goes beyond donating a pile of money. My engagements are – like they should – built on rather lofty and grand goals like CHANGING THE WAY PEOPLE THINK ABOUT POLITICS, or BRINGING ART TO THE MASSES, or CREATING FUN JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE and so on.

My engaged life is often the last thing I think of before going to sleep and the first thing I think about waking up. I believe my engagement is what gives my life meaning, excuse the pretentious language. On a practical note, it creeps into my to-do-list, has taken over my inbox, and it stresses me out, often on a weekly basis. I then complain, sleep, and start my engaged life over once again.

What engages you?

 

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Sunday Reads 6 December

sundayreads

  1. The most in-depth analysis of the Pistorious case I have read by Jacqueline Rose, and I think I have read almost everything on the case. Its a very long article, winding through among other sub-topics a psychological analysis of Pistorius and a biography of his first judge, but the gist of it is: “The killing of Reeva Steenkamp was either a sex crime or a race crime.”
  2. Another article from BBC on returnees to Ghana (I mentioned one recently on my colleague Kobby). I learned a lot, also about the people in the article I know. Why the young and talented are returning to Ghana by Yepoka Yeebo.
  3. A summary from Forbes what is at stake in the 2016 elections: Ghana’s prosperity hinges on next year’s election by Daniel Runde. An interesting point was how the timing of the Ghanaian election – one day ahead of American elections – might affect it.
  4. Nicolas Henin: The man who was held captive by Isis for 10 months says how they can be defeated
    by Adam Withnall. This summary here is that the refugees fleeing was a blow to IS, but bombing IS is not a solution.

Inspired by personal role models, Ory Okolloh Mwangi and Chris Blattman, I want to share articles I read with my followers on a somehow regular basis. I hope to make Sunday Reads a weekly feature to be shared here and on Twitter!

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Global Corruption Barometer: Corruption in Ghana

Ghana’s shocking corruption levels were in the news again this morning. Here are some fresh numbers from Transparency International in collaboration with AfroBarometer:
  • An estimated 75 million Africans paid a bribe in the last 12 months.
  • 76% of Ghanaians say corruption has increased over the last 12 months, only South-Africa has a higher figure.  75% of Nigerians say the same.
  • 36% of public service users in Ghana payed a bribe in the last 12 months.
  • 53% of Ghanaian believe ordinary people can make a difference in the fight against corruption.
I wholeheartedly recommend a download of the full 49-page People and Corruption: Africa Survey 2015 report here filled with infographics and analysis!  See especially Anti-Corruption progress in Senegal on p. 11.
Change is possible! 
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