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!

Remembering Komla Dumor, a Great Ambassador for Ghana



BBC World Service/Flickr

We lost Nelson Mandela and Prof Ewurama Addy recently, and now we've lost iconic BBC world service presenter Komla Dumor, aged 41. His death was received with shock in Ghana, Africa and other parts of the world. He discharged his journalistic duties with enthusiasm, style and excellence to the admiration of all. Komla was an inspirational figure and ultimate role model for many young Ghanaians, so his death was painful indeed.

I've never met or interacted with Mr Dumor. Everything I know about him was derived from his work on radio, TV and online. Back in our university dorms at Legon, where Joy FM super morning show was a staple, we relied on the incisive questions and analyses of Komla and his colleagues to gain understanding of the everyday issues of Ghana and beyond. The kind of broadcasting practised by the likes of Komla Dumor, Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, and Stan Dogbe at the time was hard to come by in Ghana. Watching Komla Dumor play leading roles at BBC through Focus on Africa, World News, FIFA World Cup and Nelson Mandela funeral coverage was a source of pride for me as a Ghanaian. He eruditely discharged his duties to wide acclaim, again demonstrating that Africans can excel in any endeavour when given the opportunity. It is therefore not surprising that Komla is widely celebrated by all who know him and his work, amidst the grief of his passing. Ghana's online community has been forthcoming with fitting tributes, which Jemila Abdulai and I compiled together for BloggingGhana. Read our compilation on bloggingghana.org.

 Komla Dumor's success was achieved through hard work and perseverance. This is an important lesson for all ambitious young people: experiencing failures and trials on the journey of life is akin to the refinement process gold goes through in fire. You can only get better! Komla gave similar insights through his talk on "going global" during Springboard 2013 road show (Koforidua).

Did you ever meet Komla Dumor or follow his work? What is the most important lesson that you picked up from his life? Komla, dzudzɔ le nutifafa me!

MISE Mathematics Tournament 2014

MISE Foundation is currently accepting application from 11-17 year old students in Ghana for their 2014 mathematics tournament.

The tournament is an international mathematics contest designed to challenge students beyond the normal school curriculum and to help identify gifted young mathematicians for further development... Ultimately the best students will represent Ghana at the international event the following year.

Unlike other competitions, this contest comes with training opportunities for the participants. MISE also has an international mathematics summer camp that gives the opportunity for motivated students to engage world class mathematicians and technologists from diverse backgrounds.

According to Joel Dogoe of MISE:

any student interested in math can apply but our selection programme will look for the best out of all applicants. We de-emphasise the competition bit of the programme when we identify students for the training programme. So far our alumni are a testimony of the programme's success and we are still working hard to identify more of such talents here in Ghana.

I think the MISE initiative is a brilliant way to engage young students in mathematics. Any student passionate about developing a career in the mathematical sciences or merely intent on building their analytical skills should give this a shot!

In Memoriam: Professor Marian Ewurama Addy

RIP Prof Marian Ewurama Addy. (Pic taken from ghanaweb.com)

I first learnt of Professor Ewurama Addy's passing on through a friend's wall on Facebook. I quickly googled around to find the news, and was totally disheartened to find that she was indeed gone.

Most Ghanaians, especially those interested in the sciences, will remember her as the quiz mistress of the popular National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) programme on TV. In fact, my first encounter with her was through that medium back in the day. I would say NSMQ was likely one of the factors that swayed me to take the scientific path, as I was interested in so many different subjects in Junior Secondary School. 

In the biochemistry department at University of Ghana, Legon, she was highly respected by both staff and students. I was always curious to have a taste of the substance behind the aura. I got to know Prof Addy better in my final year when she taught us BCHM 409, "biochemistry of hormones." The class was interesting and engaging and she always drew on her wide experiences in teaching and research to illustrate key points (stuff about cyclic AMP, G-proteins and cholesterol). I dozed off a few times during her early morning lectures, and thought she didn't notice.Well on the last but one day of the course, she finally asked why I was often sleepy and promised giving me a special T-shirt if I don't sleep off in her last class!

She encouraged her students to pursue graduate studies, especially if we wanted to become biochemists. She was right. You can't really call yourself a biochemistry without at least a masters degree in the field. Since I left university I've been involved in research, technology and education. Although I'm not centrally located in biochemistry any more, the training received from the department, from people like Prof, is helping me to hold my own in the world.

The last time I met her was back in 2009 at a public forum for Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the worldwide web at AITI-KACE. During that time, she was working on the Anglican University of Technology project. She will always be remembered as a great scientist, teacher, science champion, quiz mistress and role model.

Also read this beautiful tribute to her at Levers in Heels, celebrating what she means for women in science. What do you think is Prof Addy's greatest legacy and what should be done to remember her?

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.