Circumspecte

The current wave of African storytelling is largely driven by access to social media and citizen journalists who literally break the news as it happens. But there's still a lot of content yet to be created - especially in Ghana, Africa. BloggingGhana  has been at the forefront of social media and citizen journalism in Ghana since it's inception in 2009 by a group of 8 friends. Now, the organization has hundreds of active members who contribute to news, information on Ghana, Africa, from the ground up. After five years of meeting and working in cafes, auditoriums, schools, and so on, BloGH is finally coming home. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to BloGHome. With the launch of its #MoreStories fundraising drive, BloGH hopes to raise $10,000 to furnish its newly procured office in Accra (see below). Per it's Indiegogo fundraising page , BloGHome will include a training area for training students, civil society, government actors and organizations on using social media ...

So I just finished voting in Ghana's first social media awards - an initiative of BloggingGhana - and I must say, it was such a tough decision. But that's a good thing. It means there's a ton of great content out there! What's more, I found out about some blogs I never knew existed and of course I immediately followed their owners via twitter. Congratulations to all participating blogs! Also, Circumspecte.com (Yes, this blog!) is a finalist under the "Best Citizen Journalism Blog" category. I've never actually described myself or this blog as "citizen journalism", so it's really humbling to be considered as such. Why? Because it means that all this writing - something I simply enjoy doing - counts for something. That in itself is enough. Thanks to all who've read, written to me, challenged, supported and egged me on. You can vote till March 8 at www.blogcampghana.com/voting  I couldn't have wished to be in better company....

This morning, while doing my daily inspiration rounds, I felt an urge to dig back into the archives of this blog and read something from a younger me. I do that sometimes. It's not just fascinating, but also inspiring to see the growth in one's life. Also if I'm lucky enough,  younger Jemi might just have some sense or two to teach me. Anyway, I dug all the way back and that's when I realized: October 13, 2012 was Circumspect's 5th Anniversary! Wow. Not because I actually didn't realize it at the time, but because it's been FIVE years since my first post . Half a decade! People often ask why and how I started this blog. Like most other things, I didn't have a grand plan. I just wanted to share my love for writing . It wasn't to educate, teach, learn from, interact with, or even inspire others, nor was it to put myself out there and maybe garner some opportunities. No, the initial intention behind Circumspect was to share passion . But it did beco...

I'd suggest watching the video full screen, especially for the demo part. Also, please note, the address is www.blogger.com -- made a typo in the recap section.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been contemplating switching back to real journal writing ie. using a pen and a notebook made of paper. For some reason, I find it more personal, more enjoyable and more artistic than sitting at a PC typing away. Especially considering the fact that the ideas for my book project just seem to vanish when I open up Word and attempt to build up the characters, setting and what-not. So yesterday, I decided to head out to South Hadley's very own Odyssey Bookshop, and make it official. I got a journal for personal thoughts (I hardly ever stick to writing daily entries so I wonder if I should even call it a journal = journee/jour in French = day) and a regular notebook for my book project. For me, finding the right journal is a very personal thing because it is in essence a documentation of my very existence. Sure, there's the birth certificate, but if someone where to find that a good number of years after my demise, it wouldn't tell them muc...