Skip to main content

[Re-Post] Good News Ghana: Solar Energy & Innovative Maternal Health Advocacy

It's the month of May! I should be working on my capstone paper, but I couldn't resist sharing two pieces of good news I came across. The first is energy-related and the second is maternal health related.

If you read my "Living in Darkness" open letter to President Mahama you probably noticed a subtle plea that he become the courageous president to tackle Ghana's energy issues. Well, from what I hear there is still intermittent power supply BUT things are in the works. From all indications it seems President Mahama has made this a priority and I'm considering reserving the title "energy presido" for him IF he continues on this trajectory :)



So, the first bit of good news? Ghana commissioned its first solar energy plant in Navrongo, Upper East region! Finally, we are putting our abundance of hot sun to use! Take a look at a photo of the solar plant below. The plant is expected to generate two megawatts worth of energy and expects to become the second largest in Africa. Needless to say, I'm sure this is good news not just for average Ghanaians but also for businesses, investors, and so on. Let's hope things work out as planned.

Also, it seems  Bui Dam is generating power as it was recently inaugurated by President Mahama. A Chinese-funded hydro-electricity project, the Dam is expected to produce 133 megawatts worth of electricity. Of course, it was former President Kuffuor and his government who jump started the project, so credit must be given to them as well for the foresight! (Although I can't help but wonder what Ghana had to give up for this deal :P). Just goes to show how much can be accomplished when there's continuity and collaboration between governments! Can you imagine this light off business continuing indefinitely without these expected sources of energy?

solar
Photo Credit: US Embassy Ghana (Twitter)


Photo Credit: GBCGhana.com
To the second bit of good news. I'd recently read a Guardian article about the Maternal Health Channel (MHC) in Ghana which is using film to educate and address materal health issues in Ghana. I think it's an awesome pursuit and a good example of the kind of role communications and media can play in fostering awareness and development. A friend shared one of their videos with me, I haven't watched the entire thing - I'm studying, remember :P - but from the snippet, it looks very well done. Head over to MHC's Vimeo page to watch the video and check out their Facebook page too! Don't forget to share the good news too! Till the next!


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review of 'The Perfect Picture' & the Ghanaian Movie Industry

The Ghana-Naija movie industry saga. That's always a tough one where I'm concerned. On the one hand is my allegiance to Ghana - my motherland, homeland and basically where most of my formative years were spent. On the other hand is my undeniable connection to Nigeria - my birthland and the land of my ancestors. Even though I barely remember that much about Nigeria, I do joke about when I will "finally return to my birthland." Maybe it's this umbilical connection, that makes me slightly biased towards Nollywood when it comes to the Ghana-Naija movie saga. Truth be told, I barely paid Ghanaian movies enough mind when I was growing up. I was more likely to watch a Nigerian movie instead, and even then, I was picky. Ramsey Noah or Genevive Nnaji had to be part of the cast. Why this bias towards Naija movies? It's simple really; their acting was generally better. These days, I'm more willing to watch anything Ghana-related. For one thing, the surges of homesi...
6 comments
Read more

Lifestylz GH Interview: Sangu Delle

As part of Lifestylz GH’s interview series, we bring you our premier interview with Sangu Delle. Profile: Sangu Delle Sangu Delle is a senior at Harvard University. He was born and raised in Ghana, and is the youngest of five children in a bi-religious family (his father is Catholic while his mum is Muslim). He attended Christ the King Catholic School (CTK) and went on to study at the Ghana International School (GIS) until his O-Levels when he transferred to the Peddie School (a college preparatory school in NJ) on scholarship. His areas of concentration in academics are Economics and African studies, with a particular focus on development. Aspirations To be involved in the development of Ghana and Africa at large in some capacity. In the past, he was more involved in non-profit and development work, but has increasingly become active in entrepreneurial and business ventures; a testament to his belief that there should be “less foundations and more entrepreneurs” in Africa. In his own ...
5 comments
Read more

Interview: Maame Sampah, Emmanuel Lamptey, REACH Ghana

Circumspect interviews Maame Sampah and Emmanuel Lamptey, Executive Board Members of the Representatives for Equal Access to Community Healthcare (REACH) Ghana to find out how they got started, what projects they're currently working on, and what they're looking forward to. -- Circumspect: Tell us about yourselves. Maame Sampah (M.S.): I’m currently a graduate student. I’m with an HIV group right now, and so I basically do HIV research. Before then, I did undergrad in biochemistry and French at Grinnell College. I’m doing grad school at [Johns] Hopkins now. I went through the Ghana education system - Wesley Girls, Bishop Bowers before then. I can give you the name of my nursery school. And yeah, so here I am. I’m going to be in school for a while, and basically I’m going to end up in a career in clinical and research medicine. I have a huge family, I have four siblings. My parents both live in Ghana. My siblings however are kind of scattered in the U.K and here [U.S.] an...
6 comments
Read more