BloggingGhana and the Building of a Social Media Hub in Ghana

BloggingGhana facilitates positive use of social media through BlogCamp

The use of social media in Ghana has grown in leaps and bounds over the last few years. Young people in particular are attracted to digital media because they are able to network, explore opportunities and express themselves without much hindrance. In response to the demand of Ghana's growing digital population, various Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are enabling increasingly cheaper and faster connections to the world wide web.

The organic expansion of the local virtual ecosystem has been propelled in no small part by BloggingGhana (BloGH) through projects, workshops, events and thought leadership. This has added some concreteness and tangibility to the possibilities of social media as a tool for social change. Now BloGH aims to give Ghanaian social media users a home, a space where all things social media would converge. To this end, BloggingGhana is pooling resources from among members, the larger online community and all who find their work useful through the #MoreStories fundraising drive. BloGH executives Edward and Kajsa explain what #MoreStories is all about:

Success of this project will empower social media users in Ghana to hone their skills, build new businesses, forge ahead and share authentic stories of their experiences. You can contribute to this great dream by:

1. Donating money through the special #MoreStories indiegogo funding page
2. Transferring money to Guaranty Trust Bank A/C: 204 109 117 11
3. Donating office equipment and other resources (Contact number: 233 026.146.9710 )
4. Spreading the word to your networks (tag @BloggingGhana in your posts)

BloGH has already acquired the office space and needs about $10,000 to get it running. An Ewe proverb translates loosely as "if you manage to lift a load up to your knee level, you must be assisted to place it on the head." Clearly, BloGH has done a lot to get this project started. Let's all help to make it real. Yedaase!

Nelson Mandela is a Great Example for World Leaders

As the world joins South Africa to mourn and celebrate former president and anti-apartheid hero, Nelson Mandela, it is necessary to reflect on what he stood for, what he achieved and what he can teach us. Madiba passed on last Thursday 5th December 2013 at his residence in Johannesburg. The father of the rainbow nation showed that Africa can have inspiring leaders too. He's bigger than any leader of our time in the world.

Mandela as a leader had a clear goal and was focused on doing what was necessary to achieve it. His life's mission was to see the end of apartheid in South Africa, and to establish a non-racial society. To achieve this objective, Mandela was strategic and flexible in his approach. He was not fixated on following a particular course of action when that would not achieve the results needed. In short, he was prepared to fight for the liberation of his country. Madiba, or Tata as some preferred to call him, was also reconciliatory and forgiving. As a great leader he was ready to overlook the mistakes of the past and chart a new course for South Africa, rather than insist on punishing all the wrongs of the dark years. A final attribute of Mandela that is admirable is his sense of naturalness and deep reflection. The man was always himself; he did not seek to be considered as a superhuman or an angel. Similarly, his reflective practice helped him to address personal mistakes in later years. Through writing, he gave all of the us the opportunity to walk through the mind of a great world leader and to learn how to arrive at complex decisions that have far-reaching consequences.

Tributes for Madiba have been pouring in from all over the world, including the Ghanaian blogging community.

A funeral service held at the FNB stadium in Soweto today attracted many former and sitting heads of states, including leaders from Ghana, Nigeria, USA, UK, Brazil and Cuba. Those given the opportunity to speak were unanimous and unequivocal in their praise of Mandela's virtues, what he achieved for South Africa and what he taught the world. US president Barrack Obama was at his lyrical best as he weaved strands between the civil rights experience of the US, the anti-apartheid movement, and the continuous struggle for justice, opportunity and equality in the world.

 Mandela is a towering figure of global leadership. His charm, resolve, wit and thoughtfulness were powerful assets that helped him to achieve his goals. Upcoming leaders can pick a few lessons from his book.

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.

Behind the Scenes of Ghana Decides- A BloGH Election 2012 Project

Ghana Decides was a year-long project by BloggingGhana aimed at fostering a well-informed electorate through online social media tools. The project is officially one year today, and here are video highlights of what went on "behind-the-scenes". The video was curated by project videographer Sharifah.

 

Reading Aloud on Independence Day with Read Ghana- #WRAD

I joined the Read Ghana team and their volunteers on 6th March ( Independence Day) for their World Read Aloud Day (#WRAD) activity at Madina Estate Primary School, Accra, on behalf of the BlogCamp team. It was easy for me to identify with this cause because I read voraciously as a child, and that opened doors.

When I got there, the children were having their faces painted. Everyone was happy to have one design or the other on their foreheads, cheeks or some other part of the body.

Who's who in face design?

Trying out some shoulder styles

Soon reading resumed. It went on until about 1:30 pm when the programme closed.

Great readers become great bloggers

We made a little video to show what happened:


The Read Ghana folks seem to have one message: Promote reading, wherever you are! 

Reading means the world to us

More pictures at BloggingGhana's Facebook and Flickr pages.

Ghana Social Media Awards Finalists List Out

The BlogCamp team recently released the list of finalists for Ghana's maiden Social Media Awards. The Social Media Awards is part of BlogCamp 2013, and is aimed at encouraging the development of more quality local content. This reinforces BloggingGhana's overarching goal of increasing the relevance of the Internet in Ghana.

After a very grueling selection process, the following blogs made the final cut for "Best Blog":

• ganyobinaa.com
• efodela.blogspot.com
• thejrshow.wordpress.com
• accradotalttours.wordpress.com
• africaphotographer.blogspot.com
• adventuresfrom.com
• mightyafrican.blogspot.com
• antirhythm.blogspot.com 

Also, nominations were made in twelve other categories, and these are  "Best Original Content", "Best Creative, Literary Short Stories, Poetry Blog", "Best Organisational Blog", "Best Technology Blog", "Best Citizen Journalism Blog", "Organisation with Best Social Media Presence", "Personality with Best Social Media Presence", "Best Business & Commerce Blog", "Best Showbiz and Entertainment Blog", "Best Lifestyle Blog", "Best Activist Blog" and "Best Photo Blog".

See the full list of nominees at blogcampghana.com. Many bloggers whose blogs made it through expressed joy and appreciation for the outcome. Some who could not make the final list were obviously disappointed.

BlogCamp 2013 will be an all-day event held on 23rd March at the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT. Registration is still ongoing for the biggest social media event of the year, with roughly 57 tickets left. The event is organised by BloggingGhana, Ghana's biggest social media association, and supported by Intel, Fiesta, US Embassy in Accra, Google and Voltic.

BloggingGhana Chair Launches Social Media Awards

At exactly 2: 33 pm today the Chair of BloggingGhana, Ghana's biggest association of bloggers, launched BlogCamp Ghana 2013 and Ghana's first social media awards. The event, which was first announced last year will be the first time that awards will be given in Ghana to acknowledge the contributions of bloggers to society.

Chair Kajsa Hallberg Adu also mandated the BlogCamp team to find Ghana's best blogger in a tweet:

With this tweet, I mandate the #Blogcamp13 team to go find the Best Blogger in 2012! blogcampghana.com May the best win! #233moments
— Kajsa Hallberg Adu (@kajsaha) January 8, 2013

BlogCamp 2013 is themed "Content is King" celebrates the relevance of quality content in branding individuals, organisations and nations on the web. 

In 2012, BloggingGhana organised the first BlogCamp Ghana under the theme "Voice of a New Generation". According to feedback gathered on social media, the event was a huge success. BlogCamp 2013 aims to take the experience a notch higher with Social Media Awards as a key part of the event.

A Round-up of a Very Eventful 2012

The year 2012 is just under two hours of receding into history. Since it's been a loaded year, it would be improper to let it pass without a recap of notable events or activities undertaken. In no particular order, here are some highlights of my 2012:

Vodafone Broadband in Keta

The year started on a good note. It was finally possible for individuals and organisations in my town to sign up for Vodafone's broadband Internet service. I quickly applied and by February, I started surfing to my heart's delight. My joy's been cut off twice due to the theft of the copper cables that delivered last-mile connectivity. As I blog, the service has not be restored after the second interruption. Oh! :(.

Diplo Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme

I got a scholarship from Diplo Foundation to pursue an online course in Introduction to Internet Governance, as part of their Capacity Building Programme for citizens of developing countries. Through the course, I got a better appreciation of the power of the Internet as a tool for social change and the different positions on how the global platform should be managed. It was also a great opportunity to experience online education first hand and to network with other emerging African leaders in field. My appreciation goes to Godfred Ahuma, who encouraged me to apply, Stephen Nii Adjei Sowah, one of my Ghanaian coursemates, Marsha Guthrie, my tutor, Stephanie Psaila and Ginger Paque for making the experience worthwhile for me. It was unfortunate though that we could not organise Ghana Internet Governance Forum in 2012. I hope that changes next year

Ghana Decides

If you've been following this blog closely, you'd notice that a lot has been said about BloggingGhana's Ghana Decides project and its drive to engender youth engagement in Ghana's civic affairs. Through various campaigns, workshops and discussions, we captured the diverse needs of youth groups, disability self-help groups, women candidates and other voices often drowned out in our politics. One beautiful thing about Ghana Decides project is that aside the core team, Ghana's online community contributed actively and this crystallised its success. Today, we have a machine that could morph into an accountability and community mobilisation initiative. Whatever, it becomes it's all back to the community! 

BlogCamp Ghana

BloggingGhana finally moved the BlogCamp talk to action, and the result was the biggest and most interesting social media event held in Ghana to date. Edward Tagoe and the BlogCamp team's vim was the main propelling force behind this astounding success, as many young Ghanaians for the first time found out how they could make their voices heard through social media. Watch out for BlogCamp 2013.

BarCamp Ghana

GhanaThink Foundation has been organising barcamps in Ghana since 2008, but in 2012 there was a record. Eight barcamps in seven regions. Unprecedented! I attended six of those- Takoradi, Sunyani, Cape Coast, Ho, Tema and Accra. This makes 2012 my most 'barcamped' year. Also, I had the opportunity of introducing some of my students from the Writers and Debaters Club of Keta Senior High Technical School to barcamps, showcasing how the unconference model can inspire learning and encourage creativity among youngsters. Guess what? They got hooked and are now busy planning their own "Junior Camp" as part of their 60th Anniversary SRC week celebration. More Vim!

ICT, Digital Literacy and Education

There were many opportunities to further efforts in this space as ICTs have become increasingly crucial tools for education, business and development. Due to their growing ubiquity, there's no excuse, really, not to take advantage of what they have to offer. Like I've been saying around: "we must use the tools we have to solve the problems we face." And where we don't have these tools, we have to strive to make them. Here are a few programmes that I was involved in, one way or the other:

• Coders4Africa/PAT Ghana Python in Action Demo
• AITI-KACE Innovation Week Discussion on Open Learning
• ICT4D.at In-Service Training for Teachers in Digital Literacy
• Ghana Educators Network
• Global Lab Ghana
• Ghana Makers
• UNESCO Education For All Global Monitoring Report Ghana Launch

To sum, 2012 has been packed and productive. Let's look forward to the new year, with faith and hope that our plans and dreams will be brought to life. I'm looking forward to a great 2013 and wish the same for you. Happy New Year, Happy New You!

Ghana Election 2012: A Digital Walk-through

Tomorrow is election day in Ghana, my country. A lot has been going on on the Internet and social media this year with regards to campaigning and civic activism. The main goal is to whip up the enthusiasm of the youth for the elections and in matters of governance. Today's been very quiet, compared to previous days, when we were inundated incessantly with campaign messages. I've been through different towns- Accra, Ho, Keta, Aflao and Tema. Politics is heavy everywhere! A lot has been written about social media's relevance in the elections too.

Issues 

Kwesi Acquah put together the wordle below to capture some of the key things Ghanaians have been discussing leading to the elections:

Ghana Elections 2012 Wordle. Credit: Kwesi Acquah (@kwesiacquah)

I created this other one using content from ghanadecides.com at worditout.com:

Ghana Elections 2012 Wordle created using content from ghanadecides.com

Obviously, personality and party issues are intertwined with the real issues of the people.

Civic Activism

BloggingGhana, through its Ghana Decides project, has been at the helm of using the Internet and social media to engender more discussions and actions around the elections. Aljazeera recently hosted the team on its renowned social media show, Stream. Ghana Decides' latest campaign, Our Vote, Our Voice, seeks to get Ghanains to pledge to vote in December.

African Elections Project has also deployed new media tools to collect citizen reports, via Ushahidi, to ensure that the elections are credible. They're also providing social media training and coverage on election issues.

Google Student Ambassadors also recently run My Voice GH series to express their views on various issues that affect their day-to-day lives.

There are other groups doing some work in their own right.

Software Tools

It is always heartwarming to see the developer community invent tools that address the direct needs of the community. This syncs well with a personal mantra: "we must use the tools we have to solve the problems we face." Here are a few of them.

VoteKast Afrika: Collates results and Displays them in graphical format as they come in.

Ghana Vote Compass: An interesting tool that tries to predict your political leanings based on your inputs. This tool might be handy for those who haven't made up their minds yet.

The 2012 elections in Ghana will be closely fought. It is interesting to see the Internet and social media play a significant role in it for the first time.

Are there any campaigns or apps that you know pertaining to the elections? Please don't hesitate to share!