I must be missing my native country Sweden, because yesterday I heard myself say this:
“Yes, successful socialism…”
“When I miss home, I read an IKEA catalog”
“From a Swedish perspective, how can you not like Obama’s health care bill?”
Cinderama – Review
KHA KHA KHA KHA
It gets 4 of 5 KHA’s.
Cinderama was a lovely and vivid play, easily the best I have seen at the National Theatre.
The play, which I wrote about last week here, was written by Efo Kodjo Mawugbe and had some funny and quirky details such as a storyteller who doubled as the Chief’s/King’s linguist or spokesperson and who switched between his roles with a comic “duty calls”. A prince who was studying in London and came onto stage with a hand luggage trolley. A main character in Cinderama who over all wanted to study “agricultural engineering” and who’s beads – not shoe – was left behind at the palace as an only clue to the one who caught the prince’s heart…
The direction of the crew of 16 by Fransesca Quartey was clearly successful in that the message came across (children have rights too!) and through imaginative and quick transitions between scenes (this is normally a problem in Ghanaian theatre). Also, I had to control myself to not shed a tear only 10 minutes into the play. We shrieked with laughter in other scenes. Well done!
Light and sound was coached by Technical Producer Tobias Stål and added a professional feel to the story. Afterwards someone said that the smoke maschine has not come on, well, we did not miss it!
Costumes were colorful and with that extra theatre glamour inclusive of glittering stones, gold threads and many costume changes by costume designer Fabiola Opare Darko and beads – which played an important role – by Kati Torda of Suntrade.
However, some scenes, particularly the one with the gravedigger was in local languages which left out parts of the crowd when others laughed seemingly without end. Throughout the 1,5 hours of the play the worst clichés were avoided, but towards the finale the fairytale ending became almost too sweet with Cinderama vowing to stay in Ghana to “help her country” and the prince nodding along. The interesting nuances in the evil sisters’ behavior earlier in the play were gone when curtains were drawn.
All in all, Cinderama is a heartwarming story.
And the best is yet to come, as the play now leaves the National Theatre and Accra and starts touring the country. I feel so glad many young people in Ghana will have the chance to embrace Cinderama and see family theatre at its best!
Ps. After touring in Ghana, the play travels to Sweden see schedule here or order your own performance here.
>New Favorite Blog: Silverjuggler
>
My friend Andreas is trying out life on a old-fashioned farm (well, minus the snow mobile and the website) in mid Sweden 7 km from nearest road and he writes beautifully about his experiences. The blog Silverjonglerier is in Swedish, but even if you can’t read it I recommend it for the beautiful, snowy pictures.
The blog posts are about the daily labor at the farm, including awe for the influential older worker – “gammeldrängen”, different types of firewood and work hazards – but also about the coffee breaks which we Swedes so affectionately call “fika”.
It is also about a modern human being being confronted with a strict schedule, physical work and silence.
Pic: from Andreas’ first day at Lillhärjåbygget.
>Blogging in Sweden
>
I came across some interesting information about blogging in Sweden, compiled by the Swedish research institute World Internet Institute – I wonder where similar information about Ghana could be found?
In 2009:
– 400 000 Swedes had their own blog.
– 6 percent of all Internet users in Sweden had blogs and 37 percent read others’ blogs.
– 20 percent of Internet users 16–25 years are writing or have been writing a blog and 60 percent of users in the same age group read others’ blogs.
Amazingly, figures also show that a third of the group “young women” what ever that means, have at some point had a blog and that two out of three in this group read others’ blogs. The overall number of 400 000 blogs is also impressive.
Two thirds of bloggers (64 %) write about everyday life, one fourth (26 %) about a hobby or special interest. Only 6 % blog on politics and 4% about work.
I don’t know how I’d categorize my blog, as I feel I write on politics, special interests (blogging especially!) AND everyday life. Also I hope to blog more on work…I should maybe call it a work blog to be more unique…
On a more serious note, the World Internet Project which the Swedish research institute discussed above is a part of does not have any partner organizations in any African country! How can they then be called the “World” Internet Project? Even though there are no figures (?) for Africa and Ghana, I have the strong feeling there is room among the 44,3 million Internet users for much more blogging! (and mapping of the same phenomena!)
Pic: The Africa Facts courtesy of World Famous Design Junkies via Holli and Scarlett Lion, thanks!
>Nobel Prize in Ghana
>
Image via Wikipedia
The 10th December every year is the day when the Nobel Prize is awarded. In my native Sweden, this is a festive day – “everybody” talks about the prize and follow the gala on TV. The medias are full of information about the laureates, their ground-breaking research – but also about the guests and their fashion, the Nobel menu and flower arrangements and the world class entertainment program. Also, students in Stockholm prepare, as they have a crucial role in the evening gala following the award ceremony.
I am proud to say the Nobel Prize was founded by a Swedish businessman, Alfred Nobel, and has become one of the most well known and respected academic prizes in the world. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, the other five (Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Economics) in Stockholm as Norway and Sweden were in a union at the time of the establishment of the prize. Although it is a Swedish/Norwegian prize, prominent researchers and personalities all over the world are awarded every year. A prominent example is Kofi Annan who shared the Nobel Peace Price in 2001. Other African and diasporan laureates can be found here.
The full list of this year’s laureates – among them Barack Obama (Peace Prize) and Ellinor Ostrom (Economics) can be found here. The touching lecture by this year’s Literature laureate Herta Muller about the symbolic meaning of handkerchiefs and other things can be read here.
Jusr now, I will cook something very nice and complicated for myself – maybe even open a small bottle of bubbly I have on cooling and enjoy the festivities from behind my computer screen. Geographically far away from the Blue Hall, but in my imagination right, right there.
Skål!
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>What a thing!
>I present without much further ado: translate.google.com.
As of now, Swedish articles I’ve written (and written about) will be possible to read in English, see for instance the UPDATE at on the Adopted article some days ago!
>Henning Mankell Talks about Imagination on BBC The Forum
>
Swedish writer and Africa-lover Henning Mankell was on BBC the other day in a very interesting discussion with Indian economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and Iranian British chilspsychotherapist Camila Batmanghelidj (love the “Batman-ish” name!).
Henning Mankell was making the claim that imagination is more than just an expression of creativity – sometimes imagination is used for raw survival. I was driving when I tuned into the program and it was so fascinating that I never wanted to reach my destination. Hear for yourself here.
Illustration by Emily Kasriel borrowed from the BBC The Forum to visualize the above described discussion.
>SIDA Jobs: Update
>In June, I wrote about a job scam using the name of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, SIDA here.
Today, SIDA’s information unit have made a statement (see it in full here) where they officially denounce this so called job opportunity.
Note!
Advertisements for recruitment to positions as Project Officer at Swedish International Development Agency (Sub Regional Office) in Ghana, have been published in local newspapers in Ghana. Sida has NOT published these advertisements. There are currently no posts available for Sida in Ghana.
>SIDA Fraud in Ghana
>
A few weeks ago, I saw a job listed on jobsinghana.com that looked interesting. It was with the Swedish International Development Agency, SIDA and they needed people for a medium term project. It sounded perfect. In fact, it sounded too good to be true.
Anyways, against my gut feeling I sent in my CV. I did not think of it again, until yesterday when an email reached my inbox:
Dear Applicant,
Thank you very much for your interest in being part of our team at the Swedish International Development Agency (Sub Regional Office). We are currently responsible for the coordination of the activities of SIDA in 8 West African countries and would be happy to welcome you.
I am happy to inform you that you have been shortlisted for the position of a Project Officer. You are however required to pass a management appraisal case study to be administered at the University of Ghana Business School (Executive MBA Room B1 (Second Floor)).
You are kindly requested to report for the appraisal test on Friday June 19th at 3:00pm. The appraisal is an analysis of a case study with respect to team building, conflict resolution in a project team and general project management issues. There will be only one case study to be handled in 30 minutes.You are requested to come along with the following documents:
a. A photocopy of your certificates (not necessarily certified, we will verify ourselves)
b. A photocopy of your passport or national ID Card (Information page)
c. The e-mail addresses of your two referees
d. A statement on your salary expectations for your position
e. A self address Global Courier Express International Envelope (You may contact Global Express Agencies at Accra Mall-Mother of the Year (Adjacent to Shoprite), Swanzy Shopping Arcade-Cover girl, Shop No 60, University of Ghana-Partners Bookshop (Central Cafeteria opposite Sarbah Hall), Javon Effects(Channel 5 Adjacent Preseco-Nungua), Challenge Bookshop (Adum- Kumasi). Your application documents are being processed in Lund-Sweden so get an appropriate envelope that can be sent from Lund.Should you require further information kindly send us an email. Please note that we have not mandated anybody to collect money from applicants, anyone who parts financial reward for assistance to any person purporting to have control over the process does so at his or her own risk. The application process is entirely free of Charge.
Several things seemed fishy:
1. How could I’ve been shortlisted without any interview? And what evaluative case study takes 30 minutes?
2. Also I noticed the email came from a gmail account, which seemed unprofessional for a development agency.
3. I checked SIDA’s official jobs’ website, but there was no trace of any projects in Ghana (but in Lusaka and Kabul).
I finally wrote an email to the Swedish embassy in Abuja, Nigeria and got my expected reply this morning:
SIDA har inget kontor i Ghana så detta är nog en “scam”. in English
SIDA does not have an office in Ghana so this is probably a “scam”.
Probably? It is, my friend! I have heard of these things before, to recieve your price (or job opportunity in this case) you go to some deserted place (University of Ghana has vacated) and you get…thats right: robbed.
So this is a warning to all job seekers, there is no SIDA job in Ghana.
12.20 PM Update: Fraudsters get cold feet?
After blogging about this, I decided to also notify the University of Ghana about the planned fraud on their premises.
Also, just now I recieved this email.
Dear Applicant,
Thank you for your interest in joining the project team at the Swedish International Development Agency (Sub Regional Office).
You have been shortlisted as a manager in one of our 8 project offices.We will communicate back to you by the close of the week.
However if you inadvertently received an email intending for shortlisted Project Officers to participate in a management appraisal test at the University of Ghana Business School, Kindly disregard it.
Sorry for the error. Thank You.
>Malaria in Ghana or Bengt You Could’ve Called Me
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I was just reading one of my favorite columnists in Sweden, Bengt Ohlsson. He starts as he often does, to comment on some quite ridiculous trait of the Swedes (this time the extreme dependency on the mobile phone). But then he surprisingly continues with a story about Ghana. He writes:
Men jag vill ändå påstå följande: jag trodde att jag visste vad vanmakt var. Det var innan jag stod på en grusig Medborgarplats i februarimörkret och min exfru ringde och sa att hon hade pratat med vår son och att han trodde att han hade fått malaria.
Det hade han nu inte. Det spelade ingen roll. Eftersom han var i Ghana hade jag inte ens haft en teoretisk möjlighet att dundra ombord på ett plan och åka dit, eftersom Ghana kräver visum och grejer och gula febern och dessutom har de inte ens någon ambassad i Sverige.
In my translation:
I thought I knew what powerlessness was, that was before I stood on a gravel covered Medborgarplats in the February darkness and my ex-wife called and said that she had spoken to our son and that she thought he had caught malaria.
It turned out he hadn’t. It didn’t matter. Since he was in Ghana I wouldn’t even have had a theoretical possibility to rush aboard a plane and go there, since Ghana demands Visa and things and Yellow Fever and don’t even have an embassy in Sweden.
Wait now. Malaria rarely kills, especially not people with funds to get treatment. But yeah, I also freaked out when my siblings caught malaria in Ghana last year. We rushed them to hospital and in just 24 hours they were feeling better. However many Ghanaians cannot afford treatment as highlighted by Swedish Medecins Sans Frontiers in their malaria campaign here.
And not even a theoretical possibility to go? What about the daily flights from Copenhagen, London and Amsterdam? Visa on arrival? Calling the Ghanaian Embassy in Denmark to help out? What about just emailing me or any other Swede in Ghana and ask us to check on your son?
I get the column was about how little you can do on the other end of a satellite phone call, but judgements like these without any facts supporting them do little for building on a truthful image of Africa. In 2006, 8565 Scandinavians ( and about half a million international tourists in total) came to Ghana and many more are discovering Ghana every year and I am pretty sure most of them survived (the only reason I am not saying all is due to dangerous traffic).
Those kids on the beach on the pic above are the ones who risk their life when contracting malaria.
>Socialist Sweden part 2 incl. IKEA and ABBA
>In this next episode, a socialdemocratic MP (also a former minister) is asked to apologize for the socialism he has been a part of creating. IKEA, ABBA and some surprised Swedish blondes also are used to explain the awful word s-o-c-i-a-l-i-s-m.It doesnt go too well…
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | M – Th 11p / 10c | |||
| The Stockholm Syndrome Pt. 2 | ||||
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Yngvild, don’t believe in everything you hear on The DailyShow.
>Ghanaian Comedian in Sweden
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Kodjo Akolor is a rising star in Sweden, this year on radio and as a presenter in a popular TV-program. Performing in Swedish and “African English”, I really enjoyed his politically themed stand-up you can view above, making fun of African elections, Nelson Mandela(!) and Swedish problems that needs to experience Africa
“I have a job, money, food and an apartment…and it is so extremely difficult”!
Remember where you heard about him first!