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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!
>Ghanaian Internet Community
>
I have since some time back collected Ghanaian blogs. They are not easy to find, but every now and then I stumble over one. Last week it was Holli’s Ramblings with insightful comments on life in Ghana and hilarious comic oneliners. Today I found KOB, Fred and Nana-Kofi’s attempt to hype Ghana and Kofi’s/Annansi’s blog like mine trying to influence the image of Africa and Ghana (only that he in his business lingo calls it “branding”).
I have already discussed with another Ghanaian blogger bringing all of these bloggers together IRL. Until I do, if you’re blogging in Ghana and is not on my list, contact me!
The pic stolen from Holli.
>Morning Walk
>
I leave the house around seven thirty after having waved goodbye to my husband ( he leaves for work around 6.45 ).
I lock my gate with a heart on it and criss-cross through my neighborhood, saying my “goodmornings” to the people I meet. I turn onto Hospital Road and follow it for about 15 minutes. There is a lot of traffic, lotto kiosks, chicks, kids going to school, food being sold, craftsmen lining up their produce like sofas or baskets, and taxis that don’t mind me walking briskly in jogging shoes and stop to ask where I am going. Sometimes, a friend will drive by, like this morning the neighbor in the black pick-up. His window is already down so he just slows down, stopping traffic, and shouts to me across the road
So, you have started your exercise again?
I have. Interestingly, it seems like it is as much an exercise for the mind as for the legs. Walking is really the best way to think. I think about the car I am going to buy, what I will do this weekend and why dragonflies are not considered scary, but beautiful.
My legs move almost automatically.
I stop and become standing for a while trying to cross the busy Hospital Road to get to my destination, a pool. There I will emerge in the water to chill myself, because even though it is just eight in the morning I am sweating. Before I enter the pool premises I pass by the Christian Vertical(!) School. Kids are sweeping the schoolyard, attending to a fire of scraps and rubbish when they suddenly get interrupted by the bell. They line up as I watch them from the dirt road and start to sing.
God bless our homeland Ghana.
In the pic the jogging shoe that does not impress taxi drivers.
>I Am Not Alone
>
Sometimes when I think of what to write here on my blog I feel like my overall topic -“Africa can be nice”- is off the chart. What am I trying to do here? Convince all of you that there acctually is good news (aka “rain”) in Africa?
How can I think of doing this when there are very serious problems out there. When we all read about draught and floods, rebel leaders and dictators impressively cold to their subjects, continous cases of malaria and HIV/AIDS, diamond and oil findings making no change for people close to them, corruption being so widespread that it appears ironic and international aid hitting historical highs, people dying on the poor roads or in bloody rituals and yet again other Africans fleeing for their lives or to be able to use their degree to make some more money.
What can the other perspective (a crab running around in the backyard, a concert, a fellow blogger) really do? According to Ugandan journalist Andrew Mwenda it makes all the difference. See his TED speech here. Of course I agree with him to some extent, otherwise I’d stopped blogging long time ago – or blogged about something else, more likely. Now I am rather thinking about how to expand my writing on this topic I have become so passionate about.
Because – and this is what I am trying to blog about – there is also just enough sun and just enough rain to grow wonderful vegetables and fruits grow, good leaders and cooperation between people who have a lot to contest, there are nurses who work even though their workload is heavy and the pay isn’t much. There are small steps being taken to minimize traffic accidents an an example, there are rituals that are important and healing and many of those who emigrate send money home especially in support of education.
And I am not alone. Blog portals like Global Voices Online are out there trying to broaden the picture and maybe most importantly highlight that all media is being written/edited by individuals with an agenda. At the African Loft where, according to the site itself “the people and friends of Africa mingle” the Positive Africa is being debated.
The blog Africa Works basically does the same thing and also have a bunch if interesting links, among others to African newspapers. Also I found some more Ghanaian bloggers adding their perspective. I especially liked this one. See Blogs in Ghana on the right.
If we don’t talk about the good things that is going on in Africa we might be too tired and sad to critically look into the pitfalls of foreign aid, for instance. Or how to really combat corruption.
Isn’t this how the web ultimately should be used? Adding the news that doesn’t make it to print.
In the pic: A scared, hungry child hiding – or a content, joyful child playing hide-and-seek?
>Fashion Blog?
>
Faithful readers must not set their morning coffee in their throat, this is just a once – in – a – long – while post on fashion. Because I can’t help it. When browsing through a big online clothing store, I found this image of what we should look like this spring. The company continues with clarifying where they got the ideas for the matching make up line.
Inspiration: Ethnic culture in North Africa, India and South America
Oh, THAT “ethnic culture”…
…and since we’re going “ethnic” don’t forget the bronzing powder, good folks!
Bronzing: Powder and bronzing crème giving a sensual sun kissed holiday look, highlighted with golden shimmer powder.
Anyway, I will stop my multinational company-bashing here and instead offer an insight. In Ghana when you want something new and fashionable to wear, you go to your tailor, flip through one of her catalogues and “order” an item out of it! She will take your measurements and let you know how much material is needed. This means I can wear something inspired from the red carpet at the Oscar’s awards by next weekend if I wish… So, my point is, what will happen when the catalogue with this pic in it reaches the local seemstresses? Will the cool chicks here in Ghana order colorful turbans and tops in “African prints”? And then who’s inspired by who?
Above picture borrowed from hm.com
>Where has all the money gone?
>
Today all over the news we can read about the Canadian computer professor who got sacked from a Ghanaian university – or not had his contract prolonged as the university claims – because of critisizing the university administration on his and his partner’s blog. In the blog, the partner of the professor if I get it right, wrote about the upsetting fact that on campus libraries are poorly updated and water is scarce, but the most expensive SUV’s are used by the university staff.
She finishes her post by writing
Forgive me for feeling offended by the luxury cars bought with public dollars. The Ghanaians I’ve spoken to aren’t nearly as offended — most don’t like it but say “that’s the way it is”. Any attempt to speak out against wanton spending will earn one the wrath of the rich and powerful.
…and the next day the professor’s contract was not prolonged. However, Ghanaians hearing the news do not hold their peace in the comments field of Joy FM. Many salut the Canadians for speaking out and many agree with the critique
…these are the main reasons why we are not progressing. Authorities in every Institution in Ghana uses all the monies to purchase expensive cars…
This debate is crucial for Ghana and I hope it will live on in public fora. We must not let those with 4-wheel-drive interests succeed with putting the lid on.
In the pic some totally unrelated SUVs in a parking lot in Accra.
>Bitter Chocolate
>
Being an outsider in a place often leads to interesting meetings. In buses, marketstalls, outside my house and most lately at fotball games, I have come to engage in discussion with very different people. As of late, I have discovered what I would call a “new category” of people I talk to: Heartbroken African Men.
The men in this group are, often but not always, in their thirties, middle class (not enough money for a car, but often holding a licence) and they all tell me a surprisingly similar story. The man was in love. He was happy. He gave his whole heart and thought his girlfriend loved him back. But one day, she without prior warning left for a richer/more educated/more affluent/older man. The man begged, grieved, and called. But the girlfriend acted like she had never loved the man. Ever since (and this is normally years ago), he does not believe in women and has not loved again.
At first I thought this bitter story was maybe how moneyless Ghanaian boys chatted up a white lady in the bus line in hope of getting sympathy in the form of a bus ticket, but after having heard the same story from so many different guys, including a Ugandan professional, and a man who already had paid for his food in a popular restaurant downtown Accra, I have made a different analysis. This might be a grand narrative of the African man, not all that different from coming of age by killing a lion or something else oldfashioned and villagelike. The modern way of facing the world, stepping up to it, realizing its not all roses (if ever believing so) is getting your heart crushed by a decieving, mean and ever so beautiful woman.
The only consolation really is that it seems to happen to most every African man before he hits 30.
In the picture the bitter cocoa seed and fruits.
>Broad Smile
>
Yesterday, Ghana Telecom came to install broadband here in my house. The whole thing was quite simple since a phoneline had been installed last week. The process was tidious though since it started in the beginning of december, but I shouldn’t complain…because now I felt so utterly good!
I couldn’t really put words to why I felt so glad, until my friend A said that with the broadband, it was like I now have a real home here in Ghana. Obviously for us twenty-somethings Internet=home. And that is exactly it! It’s homey to be able to read Dagens Nyheter or The Economist for breakfast, to check in with my bank from home and update my facebook status with stuff like “having tea and checking emails at home”. Not to mention writing this from my dinner table listening to some muzac instead from a sweaty Internet cafe.
The cost for installing Internet here is about USD 100 and then there’s a monthly fee of USD 60 for a 256 kbps speed broadband. This is equal to what many people here take home as their monthly wage. I know a guy who makes USD 80 a month for working six days a week in a supermarket, for instance. Internet access more than anything highlights the gaps between people. And countries.
Four years ago Sweden had 756 Internet users per 1000 inhabitants (isn’t that something!) compared to Ghana’s 17 per 1000, calculated with the help of gapminder. According to the OECD which continously compare global communication prices Sweden had the cheapest broadband in 2006. Later this year the same organization is hosting a meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy. When talking about development, many hope that Africa will skip the step of laying cables and go straight for the wireless, and hence maybe become a player in the future OECD has in mind. However as of now, the guy in the supermarket can barely afford going to a cafe for Internet and even rich expats like myself can’t afford wireless Internet.
>Xmas on the beach
>
Here in tropical Ghana, I am trying my best to get the xmas feel with the help of santa-hats, jingle bells, candles, Swedish gingerbread, a few ornaments and with little help from my friends…
May your days be merry and bright!
>Destination Unknown
>
Last week I attended the graduation ceremony for University of Ghana where graduates from the student body of 27 000 was awarded their diplomas. The sun was shining over bright smiles as they one by one were called to the podium to be recognized. But after accepting the diploma, what happens to the graduates?
The research project I am about to start will investigate what people do leave Ghana for supposedly greener pastures abroad and what groups stay. For instance if half of the medical doctors trained in Ghana leaves for Europe and US, why do the rest stay? These days I am collecting and reading articles on the subject and spending time thinking about how to narrow my topic down. Will I focus on groups of university graduates and look at how migration patterns differ between the sexes? Or will I look at other groups too since the educated group is relatively small – although influential on the country’s development? What sectors should I choose? Will I compare the situation in Ghana to another African country? The destination is unknown both for me and for my fellow students in Ghana.
>Rains in Ghana
>
And people write me about the floods in Ghana – note the irony of that I write a comment on it on my blog “Rain in Africa”. Anyways apparently these floods make it to the news in Sweden, Spain and the US.
What has happened is extensive flooding in the north of Ghana, the three regions called Upper East, Upper West and Northern Region, in all an area that is poor and marginalized as it is. The reason for the flooding is heavy rains as of three weeks, but in the shared taxi I took today everybody seemed to be sure it was due to the dam built north of Ghana in Burkina Faso. The dam is a new enterprise and because of recent heavy rains also in Burkina Faso it is currently left open, according to my fellow Maybe the amount of water could also be due to climate change, the rains came late to Ghana and the Ghanaian dam in Akosombo reached a historical low some time ago. Now however, it rains cats and dogs and both casualties and property damage has been reported. About a quarter to half of a million people in Ghana are affected. However, most news reports here are about what has been given as relief support (bags of rice, a helicopter etc.) and not so much information on the actual floods. Today I read in the newspapers about one of the most serious damages destroying the one connection from Ghana to Burkina Faso – a bridge has basically been washed away. Just last week I was in a conference stating that Ghana needs more infrastructure to keep growing as an economy. Now we are going backwards.
As usual, a crisis cannot be seen off the TV-screne unless you acctually are at the scene. For us in the south of Ghana, the only sign of the catastrophe are trucks filled with goods for the north having parked, for indefinite time, close to the harbor in Tema.
Picture borrowed from bbc.co.uk
>Everchanging
>
Having a philosphical day. Everything is moving, floating and life will never again be the same.
Oh, no! Noone died – except for Pavarotti, may he RIP – it is just that this week is my last as an intern with the organization I have been working on now for a few months. I will not come here daily anymore or spend time with the same people. I will not work on the same projects or post my blogposts from this computer.
I acknowledge that there is a sadness to leaving something behind and to remedy it, I have already started to plan my life outside the office gates and I am looking forward to it. It will be a lot of reading, now mainly academic stuff and hopefully some long distance travelling and more time for being creative, business-minded and maybe even sporty (on Monday…).
Of course everyday is a possibility for a fresh start, but it would be exhausting to think about that daily. But today, I am embracing the idea that after tomorrow life will be different.