Circumspecte

Chale, how! Chale freeeesh! Depending on intonation, pronunciation, context, time of day, people involved, energy, mood, the Ghaniaan word " Chale " - apparently a localised version of "Charlie" - can mean very different things! In this case, it's the newest "street-talk" web series produced by the Fashionista GH and Excelsis crew which - according to the official CHALE! Facebook page - seeks to "c apture our very essence and the word on the street across an interesting mix of issues - some of which we easily gloss over." I mean, how can you knock that hustle? E be cool waaa. When Fashionista GH team lead Ob Absenser first sent me the link to preview, I was immediately captivated by the name and branding - ingenuous, I'm willing to bet that every konkonsa (gossip) session in Ghana begins with "Chale". Then came the sound bytes for M.anifest' s Blue (Charlie What Dey Happen) and it's street cred was sealed...

I had come home to find a stack of papers and brown envelopes in my laundry basket. Assuming it was my sister’s, I ignored them. That is, until I needed the laundry basket. They were mine: college applications, recommendation letters, letters from high school, the works. I ignored them still. Until I needed yet another excuse to delay my packing (procrastination becomes your best friend when you absolutely dislike packing). So, leafing through the stack of materials I’d long forgotten I had, I time-traveled to younger versions of myself and of my parents. Among the things I found were invoices, letters and notes from my first real job… straight out of high school. Now I must say that I didn’t get my job as an administrative assistant and sub-editor the traditional way. Applications? No siree. Connections – mum tells distant-not-really-a-relative aunt of so-so and so that her all-grown-up-distant-not-really-related-niece is all done with high school and looking to keep busy – nop...

On April 15, 2014 an estimated 200+ girls at the Chibok Government School in Borno state of Northern Nigeria were abducted by armed militiamen suspected of being members of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram. The girls had just returned to school to take their final physics exam following school closures across the region after targeted attacks by Boko Haram. Almost 20 days after the incident, over 200 16- to 18-year old girls are still missing, with about 50 escaping and returning to tell their harrowing tale. Accounts from nearby village inhabitants, who witnessed a mass wedding taking place indicate that the girls may likely have been "married off" to the militiamen, have left parents and relatives at wits end. There are also fears that the girls  may have been trafficked into neighboring Chad and/or Cameroun. Their parents received this information when they ventured into the wilderness with bows and arrows in search of their daughters. Two weeks after their dau...

Ladies and gentlemen, Entrepreneurship is IN! Not just because entrepreneurs are some of the coolest peeps ever, but because we Africans have a very real challenge on our hands. The dilemma presented by Africa's youth bulge: to either sink or swim in the face of youth unemployment and other issues. The good news is that there's a growing awareness of just how much of an opportunity or a challenge the youth bulge presents for Africa, and people and organizations like Christabel Ofori and the iHAV (I Have a Vision) Foundation are working on capacity building and employment generation by putting "Vision in ACTion!" with the IHAV Conference. What iHAV Conference: An annual conference "designed to raise a generation of young African entrepreneurs who will work collaboratively to create employment and provide sustainable solutions to Africa's challenge". 2014 Theme : Creating an Agribusiness Revolution with Africa's Youth. Topics: Embrac...

We danced. For months on end. The tango, the waltz, even salsa'd it up Amidst the swirling shadows, intoxicated by tune Daylight? T'was always the dark we craved Grinding against each other - wanting, denying, no sleeping tonight Heavy breaths in sync, bass tempo till light Staring. Breathing the other in.  Intimate, strange. Enveloped, conspiring; tearing the other apart. Remedy to the madness, but poisonous at touch Pure and utter insanity, the reasons to exile. Yet come night fall, we dance it up again. Deeper into the dungeon, velvety curtains drawn apart. Deadly passion, intoxicating yearning. Scratch marks the evidence of struggle. Copulate, then dilacerate. Copulate, then dilacerate. Pure and utter insanity, deeper into the dungeon we go. Nooks and crannies, monsters under the bed. The questions. The shadows. Therein all dwell. The darkness hath come and conspire with it we shall We dance. Over and over again. A mis...

We're excited to be partnering with Lean Startup Machine (LSM), a three-day workshop on starting a successful new business. Most new startups fail because they build something no one wants. LSM teaches you a systematic process for learning which products or services will succeed and which ones will not. Over 25,000 entrepreneurs have had their lives changed by the LSM experience. The date for LSM in Accra will be announced soon. Sign-up today to be notified and get a chance to win a free ticket to the event: click HERE . the lean startup machine - accra team  email:     lean.accra@gmail.com twitter:   @leanaccra facebook:  https://www. facebook.com/leanaccra website:   https://www. leanstart upmachine.com/cities/ accra/ dashboard