Circumspecte

[Here's an interview that has been long overdue, but which, I guarantee, will have been worth the wait. This interview, I found to be particularly inspiring, especially for African youth, and I knew that no amount of literary craft could communicate the passion and enthusiasm relayed during the interview. So, we're going to let Peter F. La-Anyane Yobo and Pichon Duplan of iStandAbove  tell you all about their amazing initiative themselves! The motivations behind it, why self-esteem is important for youth, their thoughts on development in Ghana and Africa through our first Circumspecte podcast!  Enjoy!] Pioneering Pals     In addition to having similar backgrounds and first names starting with ‘P’, Peter F. La-Anyane Yobo and Pichon Duplan have another thing in common: South Africa. “ Class four, that’s when I pretty much met Peter coming back from South Africa. Well, in fact class two I went to South Africa for a year and a half. I didn’t meet ...

NB: This post is part of a GhanaBlogging event to commemorate World Water Day (March 22)  -- The word floating around in Ghanaian circles these days is oil. Since 'the great find' the hopes of numerous Ghanaians have been buoyed and politicians are having quite the field day using the 'expected oil revenues' as bargaining chips for one thing or the other. I don't share in that optimism, hence my delay in writing about Ghana's "oil miracle". Instead, I'm focused on another precious resource, one that has unfortunately become more of a commodity than a right. Water. Science tells us that water and oil don't mesh together. They just don't. But if what the analysts are saying is correct, the two might have more in common than we think. At the rate things are going, water is becoming increasingly scarce. So much to the point where it's expected that water could be the next oil : a precious element in the hands of few. Unless Ghana realign...

My anticipation about writing a post on international women's day (March 8) has been building up so much, but now that I'm here, for some reason, I can't decide which route to take. I kid you not when I tell you that I have written and rewritten this at least 3 times! First, I was thinking of talking about feminism. But I think that deserves a post on its own. Then I thought about writing about how exasperated or "overdosed" I've been feeling about all this "woman" or gender business in development, but that started sounding too textbookish. So now, I'm just going to go with the flow. I'm going to talk about what being a woman means... to me :)  Growing Up...Against the "Norm" Going with the norm, I probably shouldn't be here. I should probably be married by now, maybe onto my second, third, or even fourth child. I shouldn't be living alone, miles away from my parents and family. Heck, how dare I make certain "importa...

"On this day of your life, Jemila, I believe God wants you to know that a point of view different from your own might be well worth entertaining. Sometimes it is not easy hearing an idea that is different from the one you advancing -- yet it might be that second idea for which you were actually reaching for. Answers sometimes arrive in more ways than one. Sometimes they come through us, and sometimes they come to us. You will not have to think but a second to know exactly why you received this answer today." - March 17 "Conversations With God" Email ------- I got that email yesterday ago. A day after I received some really "harsh" feedback from my supervisor concerning an article I'd written. It's not easy hearing people critique your work, especially when you think that a piece of work is at its best. But take the pointers down I did. And then when I came home and read the above message, I figured I'd give the article rewrite a shot to...

Have you ever woken up from a dream, a dream about someone special, and wondered whether they had dreamed the same dream? Have you ever woken up from a dream, and patiently, but excitedly, waited to see them, only to see if they had dreamed the same dream? Have you ever gazed into their eyes, hoping, waiting, for the same glint in their eyes, the look that needed no words to say, I dreamed a dream…. Have you ever casually said hello, waiting, ever so patiently, with bated breath, for them to speak the words before you do, that last night, I dreamed a dream… Have you ever had the pleasure, of confirming what you knew certainly the moment you awoke, the pleasure of telling your beloved, I too, dreamed the same dream…. Have you ever set your eyes on them, and knew, the moment you looked into theirs, that surely they had not, but you still hoped, that they had dreamed the same dream? Have you ever spent time with your beloved, danced with them, laughed and cried with them, hoping that the...

Yes, I just went there. I dared say that it's time to tuck away our beloved Kwame Nkrumah , the Big Six, and all those other valiant Ghanaian men and women who have done more than their part in Ghana's development. We've lauded their deserving work for over 50 years. But guess what? It's a new decade, and whether or not we have things to celebrate in Ghana's future now depends on us. YOU and I. Each one of US. So yes, I went there. And guess what? I'm only getting started on the "ridiculousness". Why Ghana? Have you ever stopped to think, why Ghana? And I'm not talking about why Ghana was the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence, or why our Black Stars were the first African football team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Like I said, this is about you. Why did you end up Ghanaian or in Ghana? Why do you have these ties to a relatively small West African country, instead of the big shots like the US, UK, France, China, India and so on...