Projecting Ho and Impacting Generations Through Global Shapers Hub

The Ho Hub of the World Economic Forum's Global Shapers community has been busy since its inception, this January, with various projects to impact the Volta Region of Ghana. Global Shapers are passionate young people from diverse backgrounds who work together in geographical hubs to make positive contributions to their communities. 

The unique Ho hub is the third one to be set up in Ghana, and I am glad to be a member. Under the leadership of Tsonam Akpeloo, we collaborate to execute projects that truly benefit Ho and its environs.

Global Shapers Ho Hub members interacting with market women at Ahoe market during the 'miatowo' project

Below is a round-up of key activities carried out across heath, education, and business to date. 

• The Water Purification Project addressed low access to clean water in a deprived school by providing a water purifier and training on its use
• One Shoe Per Child provided basic school pupils with shoes to enable them travel comfortably and safely to school
• Woekpor Digital Literacy Initiative introduced selected pupils and teachers to digital literacy and showcased use cases of common technologies for learning
• Miatowo empowered local female traders with basic financial literacy and business generation skills to increase their revenue generation activities
• Deviotoe complemented One Shoe per Child by providing books to pupils in the same school, with a goal to improving reading skills. 

Ho students learning to analyze topics through concept maps. What is digital literacy? #woekpor #digitallyconnected pic.twitter.com/Bud7yjPwzC

— Gameli Adzaho (@gamelmag) June 6, 2015

These projects tackled key barriers to well-being at individual and communal levels. They are not ends in themselves. Rather, they represent starting points through which Global Shapers, and other groups of determined changemakers, can contribute to making small or big differences to everyday life in Ho. By being involved in the worldwide Global Shapers community, we stand to benefit from the experiences and insights of international colleagues, while sharing local best practices.

Keep up with Global Shapers Ho hub's activities through the following channels:

Global Shapers Ho page at globalshapers.org

Global Shapers Ho on Facebook

Global Shapers Ho on Twitter

Short Summary of Third Ghana State of the Environment Forum

Environmental Film Festival of Accra (EFFA), for the past nine years, has been raising awareness on environmental issues through film. They have also organised workshops for young filmmakers, to encourage them to create quality content.

Their overall goal is to rouse the general public to take action on environmental issues. Last Tuesday, 2nd July, the third State of the Environment Forum, part of the festival, was organised by EFFA in collaboration with Creative Storm Network at the British Council, Accra. The theme was "The Environment and Health in Ghana". The forum attracted stakeholders from academia, government, civil society, community groups, the media and development community. I provided coverage for the event through BloggingGhana.

Nana Kobina Nketsia schooling the audience. "Tradition is that which powers a people forward" #GEF13 #EFFA pic.twitter.com/BEYV7Cwg2o
— BloggingGhana (@BloggingGhana) July 2, 2013

 After initial deliberations, the forum was split into four focus groups:

1.    Climate Change, Degraded Environment and Flooding

2.    Ghana’s Oil Industry and Fisheries

3.    Water and Sanitation

4.    Mining and Forestry

Breakout sessions were led by thought leaders for each of the thematic areas. Some of the outcomes were quite revealing:

Human activities have destroyed our lagoons and catchment areas, Ghana Water Co rep, #effa #environforum #gef13
— Ghana WASH Project (@gwashproject) July 2, 2013

Biosphere reserves and climate change- presentation from EPA #GEF13 #EFFA pic.twitter.com/dqqKutTmAp
— BloggingGhana (@BloggingGhana) July 2, 2013

In Accra, 2500 tonnes of household waste are generated each day, and est. 0.5 kg per person, says AMA rep at #effa #gef13 #environforum
— Ghana WASH Project (@gwashproject) July 2, 2013

Just presented @gwashproject #water #sanitation #mapping initiative Yeah! Lookin fwd to questions #lesstalkingmoreaction #effa #environforum
— Victoria Okoye (@victoria_okoye) July 2, 2013

Overall, I think the focus on health and well-being is spot-on as recent trends in Ghana such as e-waste, poor sanitation and galamsey are impacting negatively on our health. I also like the idea of involving school children in the larger festival, through events such as drama and film-making workshops. However, I think the organisers can achieve more by modifying the target audience to include people outside "intellectual spheres"; that way all who are affected will benefit from the information disseminated. Similarly, there are many pressing environmental issues affecting people outside Accra. The issue of galamsey and deforestation, for example, is well beyond Accra's borders. So, why focus all activities in this one small space?

Next year, the festival will chalk its 10th milestone. I trust the resourceful teams behind EFFA and Creative Storm Network would raise the notch higher in their advocacy efforts.

STAR-Ghana Grant Partners Discuss Strategies to Sustain National Development

Civil society encompasses voluntary organisations and NGOs whose programmes are aimed at preserving citizens' interests, as governments and businesses do not always address the aspirations of the people. In Ghana, STAR has been at the forefront of oiling the advocacy machine, and their efforts have resulted in significant strides. Their Grant Partners (GPs) recently convened at the plush Alisa Hotel, Accra, from 26th June to 28th June, under the theme "The Role of Civil Society in Sustaining National Development."

The conversations held were notably focused on the sustainability of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), post-2014, as the STAR-Ghana initiative reaches its five year mandate. Programme Manager Mr Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu spells out the focus of the convention:

On Day 1, discussions were centred on policy initiatives in the educational, health, energy and governance sectors. One thing that surprised me was the lack of emphasis on building local research capacity, particularly with regards to helping Ghana overcome her energy woes. Day 2 delved more into CSO sustainability and strategies that organisations can employ to remain effective and financially buoyant in the face of dwindling donor funding.

STAR-Ghana and Ghana Decides provided updates on Twitter under #STARGPC13 throughout the two-day conference. Pictures were also uploaded to STAR-Ghana's Facebook page. Find more tweets collected via Storify below. Enjoy and share your thoughts on what you think is the best approach to sustaining the gains made in social advocacy in Ghana.

Give a Little of Yourself this Christmas: Give Blood, Save Lives

Give someone the gift of life this Christmas by donating a little bit of your blood

BloggingGhana has joined health NGO St. Andrew's Clinics for Children, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and the Korle-Bu blood bank to organise a blood donation drive this Christmas season. This is in response to the limited supply of blood at the blood centre and increased demand at this time of the year. It is revealing to know that there are only 80 units of blood available, compared to the 200 units needed, forcing officials to contemplate closing down the bank.

According to one of the organisers, the enterprising Maame Aba Daisie:

This period is the most tasking for the blood bank. Having them close down means families with emergencies are going to have to look within themselves for eligible donors. 

I encourage everyone to support this laudable initiative by donating  blood. The dates are 22nd and 24th December at the Korle-Bu Blood Centre and 27th and 28th December at NMIMR, located on the University of Ghana campus. 

You can also support the campaign by sharing the information widely on social media especially Facebook and Twitter. Use the hashtags #GiveBlood and #savealife on Twitter.

Five Keys to Taking Control of Your Health

Today, we take a break from the usual tech, events, education and development stuff to talk about health. Guest blogger Dr. Carl Nutsugah blogs at GH Health Diary a Ghana-focused health blog. In this post, he sums up five critical steps for taking control of one's health. Enyoy!

 

Your health is a very crucial asset to you. Do you believe that? Usually a lot of people would say yes but the question is what are you doing about it.

Point is I know it aint easy to start exercising and eating some well ‘calibrated’ diets and all because trust me I also struggle with this. Before you start you need to work on your mind. Maybe you should read more about health issues and also visit the hospitals, lol, no don’t visit the hospitals. But make a conscious effort to take control of your health, resolve to enjoy your old age and also try to understand how crucial your health is to you.

Before you start just remember these five steps.

Start low
See it big but keep it simple. I have been in the same gym with first timers who start by lifting weights way bigger for them and guess what they never came back. You don’t have to jog for 5km on your first week if u decide to start jogging. You don’t have to start eating supper at 5 pm if you think eating late is your problem for the big belly. Start simple and gradually build up until you can take it a step higher. This makes it possible for a naïve body to all of a sudden get used to all the new stress.

Make it fun
This is a very important aspect of any health remedy encounter. If its not fun its not going anywhere because you would probably stop very soon and do something more relaxing like sleeping and watching movies. Make it spicy by involving likeminded people who share your passion and chose a place where it is more fun.

Make it sustainable
Sustainability is a very rare gem in a workout plan. Usually starting low and making it fun takes care of this but not necessarily always. Sustainability must include a plan that stands the test of time and is an objective approach for you. 

Diet! Diet!! Diet!!!
Diet alone can do the magic. Most at times all that stand between you and your workout goal is your diet. Even though I would talk more about dieting on a later post, it is important to put at the back of your mind that you are what you eat and you are exactly that.

Work on your mind.
They say the biggest sex organ is the mind, I say the biggest workout organ you have is your mind. Do not be psychologically defeated before you start working out and taking control of your health. Know deep within your mind not your heart, that you can take control of your health.

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR HEALTH NOW and enjoy quality life you are working so hard to achieve.
Follow @ghhealthdiary & @carlnutsugah on Twitter for up-to-the-mminute updates. Read more at  ghhealthdiary.blogspot.com & virgoinitiatives.blogspot.com.

Open Source and Global Health Unconference Held in Accra

Last week, from 20th to 24th September, a special unconference, aimed at improving the deployment of Health Informations Systems (HIS) in West Africa, using open source technology, was hosted in Ghana. I first learnt about the conference through a post on Intra Health Intenational's website. This is a great example of how technology can be applied to a pertinent area of development. The training was held at Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in InformationCommunication Technology (AITI-KACE).

What happened at the Unconference?

Assessment of the need to use local adaptations of technology in healthcare

Training in the deployment and customisation of open source tools for healthcare

Formation of a regional collaborative network

Reading through the reports coming in from the event, I got the impression that it was well attended and very educative. Hopefully, we'll see some improvements in the area of information management in healthcare as this is crucial to the overall progress of the healthcare system itself. Big thanks to West African Health Organization (WAHO), WHO, the University of Oslo, Health Metrics Network (HMN) and the CapacityPlus project for putting this together.

A Man-on-the-Street View on the Progress of the MDGs Part II

Yesterday, I reviewed the first three goals of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) from a lay man's perspective. Here's my analysis of the rest of the goals:

4. Reduce child mortality
From what I've read in the news and some reports, global under-five mortality has reduced significantly over the past 10 years. Child health campaigners herald a dramatic dip in deaths caused by measles for example. I agree that this achievement must be applauded, but a close look around one's environment reveal some disparities. Reduction in child mortality appears to be the preserve of a few countries. There are also obvious demographic gaps in the rate of progress- child mortality is improving in urban centres while the same rate of progress is not happening in rural areas. Further, even in urban communities, there are great disparities between the wealthy and the not-so-wealthy.

5. Improve maternal health
More women are having access to antenatal and postnatal clinics; this is bringing maternal mortality down and boosting the overall well being of pregnant women and lactating mothers. What is questionable however is whether these women have the quality care that they deserve. I say this because the numbers of doctors, nurses and public health workers lag behind that of an escalating global population. There is very little emphasis on the quality of health of new mothers compared with the urgency attached to keeping them alive. Another problem is the increasing rate of unsafe abortions and poor family planning practices, a situation the medical system is failing to resolve due to obvious differences with local cultures of many developing nations. This oft-ignored point must be addressed by health policy thinkers when they're formulating strategies to improve maternal health.

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
The global fight against infectious diseases has achieved mixed results. For example, parts of sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a decline in HIV/AIDs infection whilst Eastern Europe is reported to be experiencing a resurgence. Anti-retroviral drugs are also out of the reach of poor people in many countries. Progress in rolling back malaria worldwide has also been reported to improve, but the long queues at rural health centres indicate that more needs to be done. Many children still present at clinics with the most complicated forms of cerebral malaria, resulting in death. The fight against malaria must now take an innovative twist. There must also be a careful watch of the global pandemic situation as mutating forms of old bugs re-emerge to wreck havoc on the human species. I don't get the feeling that we're being cautious enough.

7. Ensure environmental sustainability
There's no gainsaying that the survival of future human generations on the planet depends on how sustainably we exploit the environment's resources. Climate science remains controversial, and even when certain facts are proven, global appear to lack the political will to take decisions for the overall good of the planet. The inconclusive climate change talks, COP 15, held in Denmark recently is a case in point. Back home in Ghana, there's a lot of work to be done on the environment. Our cities remain littered with rubbish from polythene bags, while our forests are getting depleted by the day. While we have not mastered dealing with the environmental requirements of our mining industry, our nascent oil and gas industry presents a new challenge.

8. Develop a global partnership for development
There seems to be lot of interest worldwide in the affairs of developing countries now more than ever. In 2005, in Gleneagles, Scotland, leaders of the G-8 countries came out with Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) to implement the call for canceling debt owed by poor nations. There have been other aid schemes all aimed at taking advantage of the international infrastructure to bring development to developing countries. Does the man on the street feel the impact of all the donor money coming to Africa? No! It has been argued that unfavourable conditionalities, corruption and mismanagement erode aid money as quickly as it comes. In spite of incessant calls for more trade globally, the markets of the developed world remain difficult to penetrate, due to extremely demanding regulations. The rules of global engagement are heavily tipped in the favour of the big guns such that smaller nations feel voiceless and have no sense of real power. If we are to guide international relations in a way so as to engender development, poor countries too must be given a voice in matters of global community!

To sum it all up, the statistics may point to some success in the attainment of the UN's MDGs. While this is noteworthy, what should concern world leaders is how these statistics reflect in the lives of everyday people. As it stands, it looks like more has to be done than is currently thought

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• Todd Moss: An Unexpected Dilemma at the UN Development Summit: How to Handle Success? (huffingtonpost.com)

Interesting Ways to Combat Malaria: Reflections on World Malaria Day

If there are two things that I can readily point to that I hate with a passion, they are the mosquito and the disease that it spreads, malaria. Last Sunday, 25th April, was World Malaria day, and as usual Ghanablogging decided to make it a blog action day. Below is my post:

Malaria is undoubtedly one of the parasitic infections of prime medical concern, as more than half of the earth's population are at the risk of this dangerous disease. World Health Organization (WHO) statistics show that the situation is particularly dire in Africa:

One in every five (20%) childhood deaths is due to the effects of the disease. An African child has on average between 1.6 and 5.4 episodes of malaria fever each year. And every 30 seconds a child dies from malaria.

In spite of this grim revelation, the incidence of the disease is actually declining in many countries on the continent. Most of the gains made in containing the spread of malaria are as a result of interventions such as sanitation campaigns, Insecticide-Treated Nets (ITNs) and combination therapy. In addition to the above measures, there are a number of interesting ways through which people hope to reduce the spread of malaria all over the world.

Short Message Service (SMS) Technology

Many organizations are taking advantage of the ubiquity of mobile phones in even the remotest areas to introduce innovative applications based on SMS technology to combat malaria on many fronts. One of the interesting solutions I found is called SMS for Life, which is a partnership between Norvatis, Roll Back Malaria, Vodafone, IBM and Tanzania's Ministry of Health. SMS for Life uses a combination of various technological tools to track and measure the delivery of essentials to rural health facilities. The pilot programme that was run in Tanzania delivered astounding results.

Genetically-Modified (GM) Mosquitoes

The vector of the malaria parasite, the female Anopheles mosquito, can be manipulated genetically in order to limit its ability to carry the plasmodium parasite. Since DNA ultimately controls biological processes in living organisms, this method promises to be very effective in controlling mosquito populations, and hence malarial infections. Further, male mosquitoes can also be sterilized, preventing them from fertilizing the female mosquitoes, thus depriving the malarial pathogens of a suitable host. Preliminary research have produced some successful results but it may take a while for actual application due to ethical reasons.

New Diagnostic Methods, New Drugs and Vaccines

The incidence of resistance observed in the Plasmodium parasite the world over presents a grave danger to malaria control measures. However, teams of researchers and scientists are rising up to the challenge, bringing out brilliant and innovative new diagnostic methods, drugs and vaccines. Immunochromatographic methods are fast gaining reputation as diagnostic methods of choice as they score quite highly when criteria such as affordability, technical level of staff, accuracy and speed are taken into consideration. Also, antibiotics such as tigecycline are opening new windows of hope against Multi-Drug Resistant (MDR) Plasmodium falciparum as demonstrated in Bangladesh. In the area of new vaccines, many research teams are striving to be the first to introduce a very effective and widely used antidote to the noxious scourge of malaria. It is refreshing that African scientists are playing a central role in this development since Sub-Saharan Africa is the most badly hit region.

The Way Forward

There are lofty international targets that must be met by 2015 in the fight against malaria. Although these targets are unlikely to be met by the deadline, recent overall progress worldwide leaves a warm glow in my heart. All members of the international community including Ghana must work extra hard to meet national roadmap deadlines as spelt out in their national strategies. Finally we must all start thinking of how we can contribute to rolling back malaria in our various communities.

Do you have great ideas of your own about how malaria can be contained? What are some of the success stories that you know about anti-malaria work? What are thoughts about malaria? What experiences have you had with the disease? Please hit me with your stories!

Suffering at the Mercy of Water

We all know how important water is in our daily lives. We use water to cook food, rehydrate our bodies, keep our bodies clean and so on. Water also plays important roles in both natural and man-made systems. Simply, water is life.

However, many people across the world are also suffering from water-related problems in many ways. In this post I'll try to highlight some of the issues surrounding the availability and use of water in our world today.

Water shortage

Many people, especially those in urban and peri-urban areas of the developing world, have limited or no access to water on a daily basis. Some of them have to travel long distances, and also expend high amounts of financial resources, in order to get water for everyday life. What beats my imagination is the fact that countries that have many natural water sources, such as Ghana fall into this category. The situation causes significant stress to workers, students and visitors wherever it exists.

Water-related illnesses

There are many illnesses related to water. Off the top of my mind, I can recall Guinea Worm Disease (GWD), onchocerciasis (river blindness), bilharzia, malaria, cholera, typhoid fever and water poisoning. The list is endless. Health conditions propagated by water, apart from causing harm and distress to families, also result in massive reduction in the productivity of its victims. This consequently leads to lower incomes for families, attendant with huge socio-economic costs.

Water accidents

Accidents are fall-outs of human's activities on water bodies, especially travelling and sports. Almost everyone is familiar with the classic story of the Titanic. But in modern times, accidents such as the M.V. Joola accident in Senegal in 2002 have captured the world's attention. Here's also statistics on various boating accidents in California. Recklessness, disrespect for regulations, lack of appropriate equipment and sheer hard-luck are some of the causes of incidents of this nature.

Natural disasters

The new wave of climate change that has swept the world has brought in its wake many water-related natural disasters. The news are full of stories of floods, droughts, sea erosion and tsunamis. What these disasters do is to rob people of their property, loved ones as well as their means of livelihood. There is also an increase in the spread of various contagious diseases as a result of these conditions. An interesting observation is that water-related problems are often aggravated during other natural disasters whose primal causes have nothing to do with water. The recent Haitian earthquake is a case in point.

So, it is quite obvious that although water is essential for our survival on the planet, some natural and man-made factors have combined to make us suffer from this natural resource. This has created the situation whereby, although water is life, it has become sickness, suffering and even death for large swathes of the world's population. In order to help turn things around, it's important for us to arm ourselves with requisite information. The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) has more detailed information here. Let us all get on board to save the masses from suffering at the mercy of water.

PS: This belated blog post is part of GhanaBlogging's participation in this year's World Water Day, which was held yesterday. Cheers Jemila!