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"See that sexy girl from Ghana, she too fine, one of a kind..."

December 20, 2013, 3:33 am
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"Girl, your behind is a killer". No, I am not talking about Victoria Hammah. Her behind only killed for herself and eventually she was left behind for not having much more than it. Vicky is cool though, I think she should launch a talk show with some reality TV angles and name it Victoria's Hammer. She can use her interest in politics and the interest in her to hammer societal issues. Think about it. Yeah, it would work. You can launch the show on Twitter and add the hashtag #vickyleaks. Just don't make this Gobe song your soundtrack because I am not talking about you.

Just yesterday, I was watching 1 Night in Vegas again in preparation to finally write my review about the movie. That Sarodj Bertin chic is fine. But this particular chic is fly. And she's from Ghana. 1 night ago, "he was with some fine chic". "Tonight he was with you". I don't know if it's an affair, I don't really follow the news or the gossip so I couldn't tell. I do patronize Hot Gossip in Accra though. Khona. Maybe I'd see you in the corner of that club one day? Walaahi! Is that a yes or no? If I saw you, I would send many texts to that number to make sure my message to you shows on the Hot Gossip screen. You better watch. See Gobe.

I saw her again. But couldn't say hi. Hi is so understated. It doesn't foster conversation. It has to be some sort of pick up a chat line. Not a pick up line, this one is different. See Gobe. I mean, see.I met you last time at the Smiles for Christmas event at La Villa Boutique Hotel. If you took a picture with me, I will have many smiles for Christmas. Is that what I should have told her? Or let's see. I met you at the time bedtime conversation thing premiere. If you met me for lunch at Auntie Muni Waakye tomorrow, I would show you the best bedtime conversation tomorrow night as well. Would that be any better? I might very well use it. I just can't use a third line like I met you at the time the m do do do ti dot happened because yea, I didn't actually meet you.

"Good things come to those who wait, so I am ready to sleep outside your gate". So yeah, I wouldn't say anything now or even try to get to know you. Because I believe I will see you again. I just believe so. I still haven't seen the lady who did me antenna earlier this year, but I know that time is coming. And at the time, I go deal with you personali. I no go lie. Everybody is talking about your behind? Davido sang this song for you. Nobody is praising the other fine qualities about you? Not true. You're a fine lady. We've seen you show your brains, we've seen you display your brawn. We celebrate you, Ghanaian woman. Keep it up. If you tweeted more vim before, I would say more vim to you.

"I've been to many places in this world, searching for the kind of girl. Enter the net". Work. I can take you places that you've never been, though you think you're all that. You're all that. No, I am not taking my three points right now. But I will love to take them later because you be the Tonga. We are celebrating the Christmas with the Tonga song but you won't be a big part of mine. We'll celebrate you, Ghanaian woman. For your beauty. For your behind. I finally spent some quality time in Koforidua this year and a lot of people were talking about (yes, you guessed it) Koforidua Flowers. Koforidua Flowers actually come from an Adinkra symbol. It has come to refer to beautiful Ghanaian women in general. Like this one I saw the last time.

I would write more about you, sexy lady from Ghana. A Ghanaian lady is coming over. So I would leave it here. See that sexy girl from Ghana, she too fine, one of a kind... I call her... Oh, you want to know her name? Oh Na na, what's my name? She's a Ghanaian woman. #Thatsall. Adult Music! If they play that Kwabena Kwabena song anywhere I am tonight, I go dance papa! You'd be my inspiration. In searching for a picture for this blog post, I thought of you, what would be the best picture for this blog post. I did a Google search and the first picture is what I've chosen. The link was to my blog sef. Full circle.
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Transforming our communities in Ho with New Attractions, New Culture, New Champions

December 23, 2013, 5:40 pm
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+Barcamp Ho 2013 was organized on October 26 at the +Ho Polytechnic SRC auditorium on the +Ho Poly Campus. This was the third Barcamp Ho event and it was themed "Transforming our Communities: New Attractions, New Culture, New Champions". +Gameli Adzaho, who came up with the theme, was actually thinking of "New Champions" as the youth feeling empowered to lead change in VR and then promote the attractions the region has to offer. Focus was to be on the work and transformation going on on the ground. The theme generated a lot of charter, a lot of which was local and very relevant to Ho and the Volta region. This made it a special event.

The event started with a discussion around the theme, Ho and the Volta region itself. It was led by King David Suitor who runs the Wake Up Volta magazine. I led an ice-breaker conversation about sitting in front. I asked attendees for good reasons why they sat in the back of the room instead of the front at events. They were a lot of submissions and discussions on this. For me, leaders sit in the front. For the first time at a +Barcamp Ghana event, there were breakout sessions on the event's theme. 7 groups were formed due to seating arrangements at the Barcamp and they separately dissected and discussed the theme. See a Storify about Barcamp Ho.

The event continued with the speed mentoring session. The speed mentors (resource personnel) had 1-on-1 mentoring sessions with attendees for 10 minutes at a time. The mentors included King David Suitor (of Wake Up Volta Magazine), +Dzidudu Darkey-Mensah (Playwright), Philip Lartey (Volta Premier FM), Asiwome Dzineku (Stanbic Bank), +Yayra Tay (Brand consultant), +Akua Akyaa Nkrumah (of +Green Ghanaian), +David Nikoi (Ecobank), +Seyram Freddy Ahiabor (Rancard), +Donald Ward (of +GBG Ghana & +Irokko Concepts) and Leila Djansi (Movie Director & Producer), and yours truly, amongst others.

There were various user-generated breakout sessions. +kofi yeboah from the +Barcamp Cape Coast team led one on blogging and social media. +Enock Seth Nyamador of +Planning WIKIMEDIA GHANA  led another one on putting Ghanaian content on Wikipedia. There was a session on tourism, especially as the Volta Region has become a great desitnation for tourists in Ghana, with several attractions. This was led by Julius of Ho Poly SIFE and +eli aidam who also talked about the upcoming premiere of the "A Weekend in Volta" movie in Ho. King Norbert & Philip of Volta Premier also led a breakout session on radio & journalism at Barcamp Ho. Jerry of Ho Poly, also a teacher & motivational speaker led a session on human capital and resources. See a Storify with updates from the breakout sessions.

Barcamp Ho 2013 was the 25th +Barcamp Ghana event. The organizing team was made up of +Courage Christson Tetteh +Eric Tackie Tawiah Ankrah +Gameli Adzaho +Ousman Saidy +Shika Brown +Mark - Hero K. +Elvis Bomasah. Many other thanks and kudos to the various +GhanaThink Foundation members who played great roles to make the event successful, especially those who were present like Seyram, Kofi, David, Donald +Ali Bukari Maiga +Rachel Hormeku and others. Check out #bcho on Google+ and Twitter. There were various action items noted, paramount of which would be to revive the blog and social media presence created for +Miawoe Zor at the 2011 event.
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Enegerizing the resource base in Sunyani to act

December 23, 2013, 6:10 pm
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+Barcamp Sunyani 2013 was was organized on November 9 at the University of Energy and Natural Resources in Sunyani. This was the second +Barcamp Sunyani event and it was themed "Enegerizing our resource base to act". Last year's event was held at the same venue though it was a KNUST Faculty of Forest Resources Technology. The theme was a play on words of UENR but very relevant to Sunyani and the Brong Ahafo region. The Barcamp featured a lot of teenagers, with many attendees from the Dumasua Junior High School. It was a bit of different vibe to the Barcamp due to large presence of teenagers.

The event started with a discussion around the town Sunyani. Attendees who weren't originally from the Sun City were asked to share their opinions about the town. Many maintained that the culture in Sunyani is made it serene and clean but also not very ripe for good business. It was noted that Sunyani was home to a new public university in UENR and a fledging private one in the Catholic University College in Fiapre. The Brong-Ahafo region was identified as a region producing a lot of top Ghanaian footballers and footballing clubs as well.

The event continued with the speed mentoring session. The speed mentors (resource personnel) had 1-on-1 mentoring sessions with attendees for 10 minutes at a time. The mentors included Sunday Aderemi (Stanbic Bank), +Comedian David Aglah (StanChart), +Kobe Subramaniam (of +GDG Ghana & +Barcamp Cape Coast), +Jean-Baptiste Mantey (Multiplex Technology Evolution), +Peter Nimbe (Catholic University Lecturer), Anthony Fesu (www.edwaaso.com), +Joachim Danbo (Prestige Research), Sarah Kyeremeh of (J-Life FM), amongst others.

For the breakout sessions, the attendees were divided into 7 groups. They each dissected and discussed the theme of Barcamp Sunyani. Read our Storify about the unconference here. Many of the young students contributed well to the discussions. The teacher +patrick Boakye who had brought them to the event was proud of his students and they really thanked him for bringing them to the event. They learnt a whole lot and their outlook on many things changed. There were other senior high school students who attended and also expressed interest in +Barcamp Ghana's sister program, the +Junior Camp Ghana program.

Barcamp Sunyani 2013 was the 26th +Barcamp Ghana event. The organizing team was made up of +Kofi Kafui Kornu +Francis Owusu +rose meda donkor J B Mantey +Kwabena Akuamoah-Boateng and +Nana Wireko. Many other thanks and kudos to the various +GhanaThink Foundation members who played great roles to make the event successful, especially those who were present like +Ali Bukari Maiga Kobe and others. Check out #bcsyi on Google+ and Twitter. It was decided that there would be a clean up competition for students at the JHS and the winning class would receive some prizes.
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Growing a community of change makers in Koforidua and beyond

December 23, 2013, 6:48 pm
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+Barcamp Koforidua 2013 was was organized on November 23 at the All Nations University College in Koforidua. This was the very first Barcamp organized in Koftown as the team had been a work in progress for over a year. It finally all came together last month as various residents of Koforidua came together to form a team to organize the event. The theme was "Growing a community of change makers". Koforidua became the 10th location for a +Barcamp Ghana event and the Eastern Region was the 8th region to have a Barcamp in Ghana.

The event started with a discussion around the town Koforidua. It was revealed though Nkawkaw was not the capital of the Eastern region, it had more commercial activity because of the Accra-Kumasi route. Attendees praised the local transport system though as it deals very well with traffic even during rush hour.We learnt a lot about Koforidua Flowers, its origin as an Adinkra symbol and present stories, etc. It was surprising to note how a good number of people commute to Koforidua for work each day. See a storify post about the buildip to the event and reactions and updates. Koforidua Pro-Links, a company to network professionals in Ghana was introduced to the attendees. Storify about getting Barcamp Koforidua underway.

The event continued with the speed mentoring session. The speed mentors (resource personnel) had 1-on-1 mentoring sessions with attendees for 10 minutes at a time. The mentors included +Nkansah Rexford ( +Planning WIKIMEDIA GHANA), +Samuel Tinagyei (Optometrist & Writer of Smart Money), +Bubune Sorkpor (Cedinomics), Beatrice Ani Asamoah (+World Reader), +Africanbaby Kmj aka Klexx Maxwell Justice (Vision FM), Whit Alexander (Burro Biz), +Fiifi Brakatu (Tema General Hospital), Mary B Wilson (ANU Lecturer), Vivian Amoako Atta (Enterepreneur & Bead maker), Pastor Love (ICGC Jesus Temple), +Eric Amonoo (ANU Lecturer), and others.

There were a number of presentations afterwards. Ernest Matey talked briefly about the much publicized Cant satellite they launched and made at All Nations University. +Nkansah Rexford spoke about +Planning Wikimedia Ghana as well. Whit Alexander talked about the Burro Brand business as well and the business opporunity. The various breakout sessions were "Building trust in a corporate world" by Pastor Love, building self-esteem led by an ANU student called Phoebe, application of sensors & transistors led by ANU Lecturer Samuel Mari-Twum, and open education session led by +Victor Ofoegbu of the Open University of West Africa. Read a Storify with updates from the sessions.

Barcamp Koforidua 2013 was the 27th +Barcamp Ghana event. The organizing team was made up of Eric, Rexford, Samuel, Samuel Mari Twum, +duncan qwame, +Jemima Abochie and +Xatse Lionel. Many other thanks and kudos to the various +GhanaThink Foundation members who played great roles to make the event successful, especially those who were present like +Seyram Freddy Ahiabor & Bubune. Check out #bckdua on Google+ and Twitter. 
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What you missed about Barcamp Accra 2013 captured on social media #bcaccra

December 24, 2013, 8:29 am
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+Barcamp Accra alone, the 28th +Barcamp Ghana event since its inception in December 2008, happened yesterday. Because we at the +GhanaThink Foundation care too much, we created multiple +Storify posts to capture what happened yesterday. I've been using Storify a lot this year and I love it. I like how it's improved over the course of 2013 alone. See a series of slide shows where you can catch up on #bcaccra. You can watch our recorded live stream here& see #bcaccra.I felt like putting each of these in a separate blog post. I know I have a lot of blog posts left to meet my 233 target, but that would have been way to many blog posts about Barcamp Accra.







Kudos to my fellow Barcamp Accra team members for organizing a great event - +Doris Anson-Yevu +nii nai-kwade +kofi yeboah +Kuukuwa Manful +Nehemiah Attigah +Worlali Senyo +Bubune Sorkpor +Ela Asare and +Mac-Jordan Degadjor. Many thanks to +Seyram Freddy Ahiabor +Donald Ward +Edward Amartey-Tagoe +David Nikoi +Senam Aseye Bridget +Rachel Hormeku +nathaniel ALPHA +Watson Bedzrah and all the other volunteers who supported, especially @Albert wright and +Cecil Dadzie.

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Exercising Ethics to Engineer Excellence while fighting corruption in Ghana

December 24, 2013, 1:18 pm
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+Barcamp Accra 2013 was organized on December 23 at the +World Bank Ghana office in Accra. This was the 7th Barcamp organized in Accra. Throughout the year, many Accra residents saw how we had +Barcamp Kasoa, +Barcamp Tema, +Barcamp Tamale, +Barcamp Cape Coast, +Barcamp Kumasi, +Barcamp Ho, +Barcamp Sunyani and +Barcamp Koforidua. Accra's turn had finally come. The organizing team had chosen corruption as the major talking point in Ghana this year. The theme for the event was formed around and we ended up with "Exercising Ethics to Engineer Excellence". We had to have it on a Monday as per World Bank wishes so many people missed the event due to work. Many would have missed due to weddings and other engagements on the Saturday before too.

The event started with attendees mentioning what they felt was the most important or interesting thing to happen in Ghana in 2013. Many of the answers had to do with corruption. See a storify post about this intro session along with the anticipation of attendees in building up to that point. The emcees were +Ela Asare, +Mac-Jordan Degadjor and +Kuukuwa Manful. The event continued with the speed mentoring session. The speed mentors (resource personnel) had 1-on-1 mentoring sessions with attendees for 10 minutes at a time and we later switched on to 3 people at a time because there were so many attendees. The mentors included +regina agyare (Soronko Solutions), Leticia Browne (Ghana Angel Investor Network), Gloria Yankson (PlanIT Ghana), +Eric Osiakwan (Angel Africa), +Michael Ocansey (Kuzima), Kobby Parker (United Bank for Africa), Bill Boglo (Legacy Pension Trust), Valerie Labi (Clean Team Ghana), +Hannah Acquah (Acumen Fund), Joseph Hudson (Tigo), Freda Adu (HR), Frederick Ofori-Mensah (Weston Capital), etc.

Panel discussions about the event's theme followed. We had 3 separate rooms with the emcees moderating. Esi Ansah (Axis Human Capital & Ashesi) and +Golda Addo (#1SimpleStep) led one session, +Kwame Gyan (Airtel) & Gloria Yankson (PlanIt Ghana) led another, while +Kinna Likimani & +Nhyira Addo (+Citi97.3FM) led one too. The agenda for breakout sessions was built after and appreciation shown to sponsors - +Google Africa, World Bank, DKT International, Nandimobile, Gold Coast Clothing, Multi TV, +Mpwr Show, Team1000Words, +Spy Ghana, etc. Lunch was provided by Auntie Muni Waakye, many attendees loved that. 

The first set of breakout sessions ensued. +Jemila Abdulai & Eric led a session on personal branding. +Jojoo Imbeah led a session on building a mobile app to fight corruption. +sampson oboh led a session on the Young Power Revolution. +Enock Seth Nyamador of +Planning Wikimedia Ghana organized a session on putting Ghanaian content on Wikipedia. +Ela Asare & Arden had one on volunteerism (check out the +Ghana Volunteer Program). +Danny Kofi-Armah led one on business ethics while one of the YPR reps held one on health. The second of breakout sessions were as informational and interesting. +Collins Nartey and other Google Student Ambassadors organized a session on Google tools. +Edward Amartey-Tagoe organized one on Women in Leadership. Aku led one on using audio visual media to fight corruption. +Kinna Likimani led a session on creative writing. +Akua Akyaa Nkrumah led one on sanitation corruption. +Edem Kumodzi organized a internet security session.

Barcamp Accra 2013 was the 28th +Barcamp Ghana event. The organizing team was made up of +Doris Anson-Yevu +nii nai-kwade +kofi yeboah  +Worlali Senyo +Nehemiah Attigah +Bubune Sorkpor the 3 emcees and me. Many other thanks and kudos to the various +GhanaThink Foundation members who played great roles to make the event successful, especially those who played various roles like +Seyram Freddy Ahiabor +Donald Ward +nathaniel ALPHA +Rachel Hormeku & +Senam Aseye Bridget. Check out #bckdua on Google+ and Twitter. 
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My personal National Volunteer Day story

December 24, 2013, 11:56 pm
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In the run-up to National Volunteer Day on September 21, I wanted to spend that day in Kumasi. It'd been a while since I had seen my parents and wanted to spend time with them at home in Kumasi. +Barcamp Kumasi was coming up as well so I was going to use the weekend to get some planning going. I wanted to get various people to join me to go to the King Jesus Charity Home to teach the kids there about various things. I had been to King Jesus twice before, both times to donate provisions, gifts and money. I did this under the 'Smiles for New Year' umbrella which emanated from 'Smiles for Christmas'.

I pushed these ideas into Barcamp Kumasi activities in order to gain some more accomplishments for that. I want things I do to be more popular than me. I want things I am doing to be run through programs and projects I am part of. Get the drift? :-) I posted a blog post and shared a sign up form which a few people filled. Some others expressed their interest via Facebook. A couple of days to Founder's Day, I contacted those who had signed up to remind them of our activity on Saturday. I reached out rather late and couldn't get all of them to join.

On September 21, I took a Starbow flight to Kumasi to participate in NVDay. My mother picked me up from the airport with 2 gentlemen, one of whom was the driver. While driving on the main Kumasi-Accra road and passing by Tech junction, I looked out at the main KNUST gate and saw the new zebra crossing. It had been painted by the Rotaract club of KNUST that day. More vim! A lot more happened in Kumasi that day. Thanks to Storify, you can relive some of it.
I got to the King Jesus Charity around 12 noon and waited for the other volunteers. Longtime childhood friend Ofosu showed up with another Odadee, Benjamin Adjei-Peprah. +Watson Bedzrah & +sampson deklu, 2 +Barcamp Kumasi members also arrived. They were joined later by Sadia Mohamed and her friend, Sayada, who I got to know through +Ali Bukari Maiga and some Rotaract Club members. Ofosu did a reading class for some of the kids, teaching them new words. Sampson took some of the kids through drawing lessons. I organized a math class for those lower than primary 6 while Benjamin handled one for those older than that. Sadia and her friend organized a writing class while taught some of the kids music and dance. It was a lot of fun. The kids cooperated and were eager to learn, you'd have thought they had an eye on food we were supposed to give them instead.

My aim was to show the beauty of math to the students. I helped them understand the 2 times, 3 times, 4 times, and 5 times tables. The class 3 girl could tell you to the 2 times table but couldn't tell you what 2 times 43 is. "46! 68! 64!" Their first instinct is to try remember and then guess. And they'd guess with authority too. When I was their age, I figured out that all digits of all multiples of 9 added up to 9. Take 18, 27, 63, 171, 288, etc. All multiples of 6 have their digits add up to 3, 6 and 9 and are even numbers. Etc. When the students could answer questions that challenged their understanding of math, I was proud. We got into doing high-fives. They loved those. The kids enjoyed learning similarly in the other 'breakouts' ;-) See pictures.

After leaving the King Jesus Charity, my phone was dead as usual. I went over to +mFriday's Tech Hub to use their space. This was especially because +Sygil Media had stationed there gathering data, info and media on National VOlunteer Day and live-blogging its activities. See the blog they created here - volunteeringh.wordpress.com. It's going to be the home for the +Ghana Volunteer Program, which we launched on International Volunteer Day. Proud of what we achieved on National Volunteer Day. Check out pictures from this Google+ event. Many of us could individually say "I Made Ghana Better Today" (#IMGBT).
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December to Remember concert - Twitter the revisitor

December 27, 2013, 6:51 am
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I was supposed to be singing "Obi nka sɛ 24th kɔ wo kurom" on December 24th as I made my way towards Kumasi to spend the holidays. However, I spent a little too much time working earlier that day that by the time I was going to head to Kumasi, it was a bit too late. That's when I made the decision to go to +Citi97.3FM's December to Remember concert - #D2R2013. I sought a ticket and then got one. I was exhausted for reasons I can't remember that evening so I took a nap. I woke up and spent more time blogging. It wasn't until I heard +M.anifest had gotten onto the stage that I proceeded to go to the Accra International Conference Centre more seriously. I picked up a friend of +Seyram Freddy Ahiabor's, himself and some short bread for +yorm ackuaku and we were headed to #D2R.

We arrived and were welcomed by +Mawuli Tsikata who handed me a ticket and +Donald Ward who handed Seyram one. "Tweet plenty and write a blog post", said Mawuli. Once I entered and saw Yorm, +Nehemiah Attigah, +Nana Fynn Class-Peters, +Kojo Akoto Boateng and the +Party Crew squad and co, the enjoyment had begun. But when I saw that screen showing #d2r2013 tweets, it was clear I would be doing a little more tweeting than dancing. Here's the evidence.
Revellers were asked to come in white top and blue jeans. Not everyone followed it, but many wore white and the uniformity was superb. It prevented crowdiness and many other things not enjoyable about going to concerts in Ghana.
What are you waiting for? 2014?
I do a typo sef. But yeah, if you have an Airtel Money account, use it more seriously at airtelmoneymarket.com - buy music, video, ebooks and more.
People loved seeing this tweet on the big screen. Whether this girl noticed it is another topic. My guess is she was too busy dancing to pay attention to Twitter even when it was on a huge screen right next to her.
Thanks for the shout out guys! I plussed the +CitiFM Fanpage long time! Y'all rock! :-) cc +Kwame Gyan
Wore my #bcaccra T-shirt to the concert. Repping +Barcamp Accra!
Yeah, @ienyonam
Kaakie is one of the dancehall queen heavyweights in Africa already. She gained more respect from me when she remembered Nelson Mandela.
Joey B has a top song in Ghana now. All because of tonga, tonga, #tonga!
I saw him emcee the Intel Explore & Learn launch in Lagos and then this December to Remember concert in Accra. Going places.
Tic Tac is a great guy! I wish that he continues to remain relevant as long as he makes music and long after he's done. Obrafour too!
Elom Adablah is my mate from Presec. Surprisingly, a lot of people don't know he's an Odadee. +Elom Adablah, do something about that :-)
CITI FM's cameras caught me and then I was on the big screen in this tweet. Guess what I was doing in the picture? Tweeting :-)
Castro Destroyer came to destroy the devil. Figuratively and literally. The concert ended with a standup praise and worship service. Early church service for many revellers. It was a great concert.
Kudos to the CITI FM crew and the organizers for a great concert.
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Recapping CITI's FM December to Remember Concert with tweets

December 27, 2013, 7:28 am
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M.Anifest came to do "some way bi" things. Footprintz paved the way for Bisa Kdei as they joined to do 'Jackie Appiah'. Bisa then showed us Azonto would live even after it dies with Azonto Ghost, notwithstanding Metanfo and that everywhere he is, it's an Azonto Fiesta, so just 'Give it to Baba'. The international fisherman, Gasmilla, came in with a canoe to do Aboodatoi and take his 3 points. Guru came and put on a show without DJ LiWin, performing Lapaz Toyota, Mmaakuo, etc and doing the Alkhayida dance and all. Boys abrɛ! Yea, I had missed some great performances. But I wasn't going to miss the whole December to Remember concert organized by +Citi97.3FM. It was around this time, that I settled into my seat and then started tweeting and dancing away. Enjoy reliving the experience.
What are you waiting for? 2014? Follow now.
Her many dancers helped created a very enjoyable neke neke performance. The kids on stage stole the show as usual.
Keche performed Gogo gaga, as well as Pressure, Alunguntugui, Slow Motion and more.
Massive song, this one. It's a special one for me too, my bestie calls me Gui :-)
Isn't this shot just beautiful? This all-white attire was a great great idea. Kudos to the organizers!
Kaakie performed alone and held her own. She also performed Too Much, Bumbum cha, DC Turn Up, Zuulchiya, etc.
After performing Strawberry Ginger, Joey B finally performed Tonga. Tonga is the song Ghanaians are chopping Christmas with. Join the hype lest you are left behind.
Tonga has been such a massive hit and so sudden too. But if the song rhymes with Khona and people keep on asking what Tonga is, what do you expect? Popular opinion says Tonga means - "The Only Nice Girl Available".
Yea, we have a dance. Follow us, come join us and we'd show you :-) cc +Donald Ward +Seyram Freddy Ahiabor +David Nikoi +Nehemiah Attigah +Nana Fynn Class-Peters.
Hehe, Tonga is now the culprit for battery killing. cc +Atitsogbui Patrick Keli.
Dunno if I meant to say Sobolo here. But I do have obolo joy for Sobolo. Bissap is whatsapp.
+Elom Adablah is a very talented guy. I really love his music videos too. He performed Halleluyah, Kaalu, One Ghana, etc.
Apparently, Nathan Quao performed the official D2R song. +Gary Al-Smith, his colleague, was proud of him for his short solo. The guy can rap! Someone should sign him up!
Have you seen those white girl azonto videos on YouTube? This was a real life version.
Castro also performed Concentrate, Odo Pa, African Girls, Do da dance, etc. He took us way back and had us singing Toffee, Boneshaker, Back and Front, etc.
+Party Crew always brings the party. Everywhere we go!
Ghanaians can switch from secular to religious in a heartbeat. Castro gained a lot of cool points by finishing off his performance and the concert with the praise and worship songs.
December is the season to be in Ghana. Let PartyCrewGH be your guide. Become a a fan of +CitiFM Fanpage and CITI FM if you are not already.
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Joining my father to give back to society on Boxing Day

December 27, 2013, 8:18 am
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My father has been a farmer for many many years. More than 10 years, he moved the poultry farm which was in our backyard of our house on the KNUST Campus to Appeadu in Kumasi and then later on to a small village called Kwaso-Deduako. Over the years, the village has grown as his farm - Ulzenapp farms - has grown as well. He moved the family tradition of killing a goat to mark each New Year to the farm as well. My father is a people's person. It is in this light that he started giving out Christmas gifts to the children in Kwaso-Deduako. He'd normally pick a good day in the festive season to do so. He'd especially pick a day that I was present to join him do so. Yesterday on Boxing Day, I did. Here's an account.

I knew he was going to give out the 'gifts' on Boxing Day but I also really wanted to watch the English premier league games. While watching Manchester United come back to win a game with vim, my father called asking if he should pick me up. There were more games to watch after this ManUtd encounter, but I couldn't say no. Daddy came by the Senior Staff Club with his longtime buddy Mr. Asamoah to pick me up and we headed out. I'd miss the 3pm games and come right back to watch the big top-of-the-table clash - Manchester City versus Liverpool.
We arrived at the farm and started the gifting journey. Daddy's van was big enough to take him, Mr. Asamosh, me, Agya Boadu (the farm caretaker) and two other farm workers. I sent these Whatsapp messages to my siblings to update them on how we were spending Boxing Day as they could not be in Kumasi at the time. I later tweeted them for all and sundry. And now I'm keeping them in this blog post.
Ulzenap farms has the best chicken and broilers in Kumasi. They've sold out already this festive season. They are so good that you have to book a month in advance. My Daddy's a champ! We shared a big pack of biscuits and 1 Kalyppo drink for all the kids who were 6 years and younger. This is likely one of the few times the youngest in Ghana enjoy over the older ones.
Like I said before, my father has been sharing these gifts for a number of years. His name is now 'Dada Kalyppo'. I told him that we should get him a Santa Claus hat next year.
Daddy does things on merit like I do. But then again, even Santa Claus gives presents those who are naughty but nice. So yeah :-)
Translating the Twi into English --> "Here is the King! God should bless all of us, you should go (and walk) with God". So we also said Medaase (Thank You) as much as they did.
Translating the Twi into English --> "And this man, where is he from?". I am Ghanaian o! Please don't tell me I don't look like one, you will break my heart. I am not Santa Claus either.
Translating the Twi into English --> "White man, how is it?""I'm not a white man o, can't you see I am speaking Twi?""Are you married? I will get you a woman to marry okay?". 'Tis the season to be merry. 'Tis the season to be marry. I captured that in this tweet as well. I go marry eh. Smallest time o, find my wife one o!
This year, my father added the old men and women in Kwaso-Deduako to the gift recipients. They each received packed food - jollof, chicken or fish and egg.
Quite a statement right. My father gives back to society. But then again many Ghanaians do things like this during the festive season. Join the club. 
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Re-Connect - Spend your Christmas in Ghana strengthening ties & connecting potential

December 28, 2013, 5:11 am
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When we organized our very first +Barcamp Ghana event in December 2008, we wanted to connect the many young Ghanaians who had been coming home on vacation to other young Ghanaians doing interesting things in Ghana. It's continued since, we always have a Barcamp to connect these groups of people around Christmas time, the latest of which was +Barcamp Accra 2013, which happened on December 23rd. Re-Connect has happened once in Accra and there's another happening on December 30th. The theme is Strengthening Ties, Connecting Potential. It is happening at Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel, Accra on December 30, 2013 from 18:00 to 22:00 (GMT.
Organized by Re-Connect GH, Re-Connect 2013 will be a unique networking mixer. Re-Connect GH is leveraging the number of individuals that return to Ghana for the holidays and creates an event that showcases the aspirations, innovations, and expressions of young professionals driving change and contributing to the economic growth of their local communities and the global market. As a professional networking event, the aim of Re-Connect GH is to strengthen the ties between professionals in Ghana and the Diaspora. 

Many individuals return to Ghana for the Christmas and make the traffic more unbearable but they bring more positives than negatives. They bring ice that when melted spreads more Christmas cheer. They make the various concerts and parties more enjoyable too. Traditionally, many of these individuals come home and spend time with family and friends socializing, and attending weddings. It's very important that they connect and network with young professionals and students in Ghana, learn and share. That's what Re-Connect GH is also helping solve.

For more information, please visit www.reconnectgh.com or email media@reconnectgh.com. Advance tickets can be purchased for 35GHS from Cafe dez Amis, Cahaya Lounge, S.E.E. Decor, Starbites, Finethings in Accra. Tickets are 50GHS at the door.
The +GhanaThink Foundation is a partner for the event, some of our members will be attending while a few would be networking facilitators +sampson deklu +Watson Bedzrah and +yorm ackuaku. Kudos to the organizing team of +Jemila Abdulai +Maame Boakye +Stephanie D +Sena Kpodo amongst others. 

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How my pot belly ended its wait and I lost the weight

December 30, 2013, 11:55 am
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Msiniseme, kma anpenda kula. Don't tell anyone, that I love food. If you think I started writing this blog post because I'm hungry, You lie bad. I have had 3 huge meals today and I had to refuse another meal because I had had my fill.

After I'd arrived in the US in September 2001, I realized I had grown quite tall. I gave credit for that to all the 'gaso' I'd been having at Presec. 'Gaso' or 'gas oil' is the sauce that accompanied rice, waakye and other meals we had at Presec. It was some sort of diluted stew, but not quite as rich as a soup. I had a lot of it. Many Presec prefects didn't patronise the dining hall but I did. Maybe it was the beginning of my love for free food.

I used to eat so much while in college at MIT but I never grew big. I was always lean and slender. People would always ask me how I never grew bigger in spite of the garguantan amount of food I would eat. "Where does all the food go?" So many people questioned me so I made up a story. "I have a tapeworm within me. When I eat, it shares the food with me". People would find it funny but how.

I discovered that I also had a very active metabolism. I remember my cousin chiding me one time for visiting the loo too often and at times that I was just about to eat or had finished eating. "You are clearing space for too much food, stop". Yea. This could have also been a reason for my remaining a lean mean machine. In fact, when I tried really hard, I could showcase my six-pack :-)

While at Stanford, I ate even more. Grad students are known to fish for free food, but for me and some grad school friends, we took it to another level. In fact, we would carry things to carry food home. My tapeworm didn't desert me but I had another thing working in my favour in the fight to remain lean - activities. I biked all the time everywhere I went due to the humongous Stanford campus. I also played a lot of soccer, sometimes every single day of the week.

When I returned to Ghana, I started losing out in this fight. I couldn't bike any more. I was riding in cars all the time and being driven. I wasn't quite driven to exercise because I felt my metabolism would hold up. And then I started eating waakye more seriously. While at Stanford, I would go to bed at 2, 3, 4am, a long while after dinner. In Ghana while working, I would routinely get home at 9pm. I would get off work earlier but I would spend the evening hanging with people and having meetings. I would have dinner at 9pm and go to bed at 10:30 because I was exhausted. This kind of behaviour doesn't bode well for remaining lean. But man must eat, no be so?

Before I realised, I was growing bigger and bigger. But in the wrong place mostly, my belly. One of my best friends called 'eating time' good belly news. This was bad belly news. My stomach, ahem pot belly, was growing. I was enjoying gaining weight but the pot belly was not sexy. The tapeworm? Maybe the Ghanaian sun had burnt it to death. Eventually, because I am so hooked on this particular number, I told myself, I would try get to 233 pounds and then start losing weight.

I made it to 226 pounds and then decided that I would go bigger no more. I knew what had gotten me to this weight so I had a fair idea of how to lose it. I started making sure I didn't eat past 7 or 8pm and if I did, I waited at least 2 hours before sleeping. I started walking more when I could and did a few sit ups here and there. And then I lost weight and came down to about 180 pounds. But I am not as lean as I was before I moved to Ghana. I like that. Now, all I have to do and find a way to get that six pack to show when I mean it.

So yeah, that's how I gained and lost weight. Easy eh? If it doesn't work for you, just understand that the value is not the same.

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Learnt to say "I'm hungry & food" in 23 African languages

December 31, 2013, 1:58 am
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If you think I started writing this blog post because I'm hungry, You lie bad. I have had 3 huge meals today and I had to refuse another meal because I had had my fill. Africans like food and we have many different types of food from our many cultures. There must be many opportunities to say 'I'm hungry' in Africa. Or ar the very least, food. So here, with some help from my African friends, we have a list of 23 to work with. 
  1. Akan: ɛkɔm de me. Aduane. Pretty easy to say. You don't want to have to say a mouthful when saying such important thins. :-) Bonus in Fante - ɛkɔm dzem. Edziban. Yea, you've heard of Kwame Dzokoto's show? I love it!
  2. Ga: Hɔmɔ ye mi. Niyenii. Definitely heard the statement before, Havne't quite caught the name fot food until +Naa Oyoo Quartey told me. 
  3. Ewe:  ɛdɔ nyɛ wum. Nududu. +Seyram Freddy Ahiabor taught me this. I wonder if it's alsmost the same thing the Ewes say in Togo too. I ate a lot of food there. :-)
  4. Dagbani: Kum n malma. Bindirigu. a I will know how to break down these sentences and pick out 'I' and 'hungry'. Many thanks to +Jemila Abdulai for teaching yet another thing to say in Dagbani.
  5. Hausa: Ni fama da yunwa. Abinci. I think I learnt Abinci the first time from +Esi Cleland-Yankson when she started +Nududu Delight via +Fienipa. Learnt the other from +Ali Bukari Maiga.
  6. Swahili: Naskia njaa. Chakula. Can't believe I didn't know how to say the first one in Swahili. Chakula? Easy. One of my favorite Swahili songs is about food - Usiniseme.  
  7. Kinyarwanda: Ndashonje. Ibiryo. Learnt this from +Matilda Mutanguha. This just one thing that got me ..... Rwandese chocolatay ;-).
  8. Siswati: Ngilambile. Kudla. Yea, if you only know one person from Swaziland and that person is  +Phelele Fakudze, you're doing good. :-)
  9. Zulu: Ngilambile. Kudla. Phelele speaks like 10 languages. So yeah, I didn't have to go asking and waiting on anybody else. Especially, when it is the same in both languages.
  10. Xhosa: Ndi lambile. Uku tja. Learnt this from +Eyram Deede Ayayee's friend Nomcebo who I met in Johannesburg. I would love some pap.
  11. Setswana: Ke tshwerwe ke tlala. Dijo. That's a bit too much to say if you are looking for food but it makes up for it with a duo-syllabic word which can carry the same message. +Manteba S'rurubele, ke a leboga!
  12. Yoruba: Ebi n pami. Ounje. I want eba and egusi stew and then some moi moi on the side. Top it up with some semolina and a Champam to drown it all after. E se, Mimi. and then.
  13. Igbo: Agu na agun. Nri. I can't differentiate between Yoruba and Igbo food now. Thanks to +Emeka Okoye for teaching me this one and +Ekinadese Osayande too. 
  14. Sesotho: Ke lapele. Lijo. Learnt this from my Ghanaian brother, +Kojo Baffoe, who's based in South Africa.
  15. Nyanja : Nimvela njala. Vokudya. I chose this "How to say" after a conversation with +Mwana Ba Afrika about this. Now I can say, "Napapata, nimvela naja, give me vokudya. 
  16. Bemba: Naumfwe insala. Ifyakulya. Thanks to +Chisenga Muyoya, I learnt this one. I am looking forward to eating nshima in Lusaka. 
  17. Shona: Ndiri kunzwa nzara. Chikafu. I'm pretty sure I've seen Chikafu somewhere. It's a cool way to say food too. +Chisenga Muyoya taught me this too, though she's from Zambia and not Zimbabwe. She told me this via Whatsapp while at the border post, as she was going o visit her sis for a few days. :-)
  18. Amharic: Megeb. Ene erebognale. I learnt this recently from +beza tesfaye. It's been awhile since I had injera, need to find some in Accra.  
  19. Wolof: Dama khiff. Lekeu. I learnt this one from +Oumoul Khaïry Sow. I am not a big fan of yassa from the last time I ate it but when in Dakar, the first thing I'd like to eat is jollof. Like real jollof.  
  20. Djiula: Konkon be nela. Domounou. Note the similarities between this and what these are in Bambara. +CYRIAC GBOGOU has helped me prep me better for going to Abidjan.
  21. Bambara: Kongo be na. Dumouni. Fellow Global Shaper Aminata Niang from Mali taught me this one. I told her, "Aniche". 
  22. Lingala: Nzala. Bilia. My Google buddy +Mandi Nanga taught me this too. I'm trying to guess how to pronounce it :-)
  23. Luganda: Enjala enuma. Emele. I learnt this one from +Terry Karungi. Now I can ask for matooke in a better way ;-)
This follows the "Thank You", "Let's Go, "Money", "I Love You", "How are You and I'm Fine", "Please"& "Yes & No" posts in this series. Share how to say "I'm hungry & food" in other African languages via the comments. I could have said a few more in other languages, but we had to stop at 23. Please, I don't need to tell you why. 
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Thank you for your Happy birthday wishes on Twitter

December 31, 2013, 4:22 am
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Just a selection of Happy birthday tweets so far. Thank you all! Accept my gratitude and thank yous in 23 African languages.
































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More vim birthday wishes from GhanaThink members

December 31, 2013, 4:38 am
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I work with a really awesome team at the +GhanaThink Foundation. Seeing the team come together this year to do more than +Barcamp Ghana has been really great. Now we have +Junior Camp Ghana, +Ghana Volunteer Program, +Party Crew, #FiestaDebates and more to come. Kudos to the whole team. Thanks for making this year a great one. More vim to all who've been involved in the +GhanaThink Foundation's +Barcamp Ghana events - +Barcamp Accra +Barcamp Kasoa +Barcamp Kasoa +Barcamp Tema +Barcamp Ho +Barcamp Koforidua +Barcamp Kumasi +Barcamp Kumasi +Barcamp Sunyani +Barcamp Sunyani +Barcamp Tamale +Barcamp Takoradi +Barcamp Cape Coast.

Thanks so much for your birthday wishes! Here's a selection of some. I'd be adding more.












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Guess who's also born on a 31st December?

December 31, 2013, 6:25 am
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I share my birthday with some awesome people. Here is just a number of them.

+Emmanuel A. Gamor is someone I've known since Presec and we've done many things together. We are both members of the Global Shapers Accra hub. +Mac-Jordan Degadjor & +Jemila Abdulai wished us both today.

Just discovered Gloria Buckman Yankson of Plan IT Ghana Events is also a 31st December born. I met her briefly at TEDxSpintex Women and she was a speed mentor and panelist at the recent +Barcamp Accra. +Elijah Ekow Atta-Aidoo & +Kuukuwa Manful let me know.

I met +Chioma Ileagu at +Barcamp Cape Coast 2011 and we've been close friends since. We've seen our ups and downs too and our friendship is going strong.

Yaw Owusu of Ghana Cyber City was also born on a 31st December.

Also discovered today on Twitter that Raquel Soni, who interviewed me on +Homeboyzradio HBR in Nairobi in 2011 was also born on this special day.

I also share the same birthday with a mate from MIT - Hubert Roberts and then one from JSS - Nana Asantewaa.

Guess who else is also born on 31st December? The greatest manager of them all! Sir Alex Ferguson. +Lolan Sagoe-Moses reminded me about that today.




I am going to ask my mum how come I was born on this day. 
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A poem for the The Mighty African

December 31, 2013, 7:04 am
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Look at this cool poem that Cecilia Amoafowaa. This is too awesome!

Ɔdadeԑ bԑsene abrempong
Ɔdadeԑ a ↄde neԑmapa wuso wiase
Yԑbԑfrԑ wo nnyuma akrobԑto

The unsinkable ship,
The unshakable great tree,
Your birth must be noted with grandeur!
The MIGHTY AFRICAN with the spirit ‘CAN DO’
Lie on your back and take a rest
Yes! A well deserving rest
In just a day out of the many,
Where you restlessly fret to see life’s best for all.
Celebrating life’s celebrant must be done with sewn wordsthat sparkle
This is the only gift from afar I can give
For you to see the impact of your birth
No need to say more, the sun is shining it out
Beckoning the world to pay its respect
On the score of the MigHTy AfriCan!

Ɔdadeԑ Ato Ulzen Appiah a ↄsene abrempong
Ɔdadeԑ a ↄde neԑmapa wuso wiase
Yԑbԑfrԑ wo nnyuma akrobԑto       
Happy, happy birthday!
      Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia for the Mighty African Ɔdadeԑ Ato Ulzen Appiah.
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Learnt how to say "Happy birthday" in 13 African languages

December 31, 2013, 1:24 pm
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Today is my birthday. For all of you who've been wishing me Happy Birthday, I will like to say Thank you in these 23+ African languages and in these 16+ non-African languages. I asked my friends for how to say Happy Birthday in African languages. Some exist. Now you can wish birthday celebrants in an African language. With some help from my African friends, we have a list to work with. I wish I could get to 30 but I've tried ahh. 
  1. Akan: Mema wo awoda pa. Mema wo awoda mu anigye.  You have another version? Add it in a comment. :-) The +kasahorow gurus like +Paa Kwesi taught me this.
  2. Ga: Afi o afi. You have a better way to say it, Let's hear it. Otherwise, this from +Naa Oyoo Quartey & Naa adjeley hold.
  3. Ewe: Dzigbeza bɔkɔɔ nawo! h +Enock Seth Nyamador of +Planning Wikimedia Ghana wished me this via Twitter today. So I didn't even have to ask gurus like +Seyram Freddy Ahiabor & +Doris Anson-Yevu yet :-)
  4. Swahili: Siku ya ulizaliwa njema. I've used this for a long time. I think +Eric Mibuari taught me this. I'm sure there's another way.
  5. Xhosa: Min'e nnandi kuwe. That's what Nomcebo said o. 
  6. Siswati: Lusuku lwekutalwa loluhle! Imini emnandi yakho yokuzalwa! +Phelele Fakudze told me this once on my birthday. Orgasmic! :-)
  7. Setswana: Letsatsi la matsalo le le ntle. A bit long as +Manteba S'rurubele herself would admit. Am sure it sounds really good when said. 
  8. Yoruba: Ku ayeye ojo ibi. I learnt this from my friend Mimi as well. 
  9. Igbo: Gbaa ubochi omumu gi nke oma. I learnt this from +Chioma Ileagu who shares the same birthday as me. Isn't that tres cool?
  10. Lingala: Mbotama elamu. My buddy +Mandi Nanga taught me this one. 
  11. Kinyarwanda: Umunsi mwiza w'ivuko.  Learnt this from +RICHARD RUSA, who I know my Google times.
  12. Bambara: Sambe sambe. Aminata Niang said there isn't really anything like in this Malian language but this comes close, it stands for benedictions.
  13. Dagbani: Naa dwam dali. +Jemila Abdulai learnt this from her mum and then taught me. Like just some minutes ago.
This follows the "Thank You", "Let's Go, "Money", "I Love You", "How are You and I'm Fine""Yes & No""I'm hungry"& Please posts in this series. Share how to say "Happy birthday" in other African languages via the comments. I wish I could have gotten to 23, but I just haven't gotten and I want to post this today. So we are stopping at 13. Lucky 13 eh? Help us get to 23 by adding comments.
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A year of #233moments - posts at 2:33pm & 2:33am with Ghana in mind

December 31, 2013, 2:29 pm
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2013 has been a great year. Here is one of the recap posts I am writing. For this, am choosing to share some favorite #233moments tweets. Praying and will work to make 2014 an even better and more interesting year :-)































Join us. I don't set an alarm to post at 2:33pm or 2:33am but if I happen to see it approaching, I make sure to post it as close as possible to that time. :-)
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A year of #233moments - moments that made us think of Ghana

December 31, 2013, 2:49 pm
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233moments was started as a hashtag where we'd share where we are and what we are doing at 2:33pm and 2:33am in honour of Ghana. This year, it's become more than that. People have shared various things they call Ghanaian moments as #233moments. In fact, it's become a hashtag to promote and brand Ghana, as captured by +Donald Ward & +Edward Amartey-Tagoe in a tweet below. Here are a few top and selected tweets to capture the essence of this in 2013.


Huge props to +Efo Dela who's really helped drive #233moments and added more flavour to it. There've been many other contributions from +Nana Fynn Class-Peters +Enock Seth Nyamador +Kofi Kafui Kornu +Kobe Subramaniam +Kajsa Hallberg Adu +Prince Boadu +Claude Ayitey, etc
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