Mama Monday: Ghanaian Food and Drink Photo Journal

When I was in Ghana in January, to my friends' pseudo-chagrin, I decided to awaken the Asian in me and take copious photos of the food and drink I ingested and imbibed.  I ate a lot and I ate well.  In another life I was a Gold Coast native, I am sure of it! Enjoy :)

HOME COOKING AND DRINKING

Akpeteshie cocktail with Campari and Tonic Water

Akpeteshie is a Ghanaian alcoholic spirit made from sugar cane.  

Clockiwse from fork: shito, jollof rice, stir-fried veggies, corn
bread pudding, gari foto, potatoes au gratin, bbq chicken

Shito is a Ghanaian condiment that literally translated means pepper.  It is made with ginger, pepper, smoked powdered herring and shrimp, onion, garlic and spices.  Jollof rice is the grain cooked in a tomato based sauce with onion, garlic, ginger, chilies and spices. It is a staple in many West African countries.  Gari is made from mashed, dried and fermented cassava that turns into granules.  Gari foto has egg, and corned beef mixed in with the cassava.

STREET FOOD

Roasted grounuts: peanuts and roasted plantain

One of the main reasons I had been wanting to go to Ghana, apart from visiting my uni friends, is PLANTAIN!! Plantian is eaten all over West Africa. How I love me some plantain.  Had never had it roasted before.  Bought this off the street a lot during my trip.  A yuick and easy snack and soooo satisfying.  As they say it's the simple things in life that have the most profound effect: in this case on my belly :) 

FOOD IN THE RAW

This is a yam out the ground.  This one was about metre long.  It
was ridiculously heavy!

Yam is a tuber that is common in West Africa.  95% of all yam grown in the world comes from this region and can grow to 1.5 metres and can weigh as much as 70kg!  

DRINK

A  malt non-alcoholic beverage not found in
 East and Southern Africa

This stuff is brown liquid crack man! Soooooo yummy.  Made from the same formula used for the beer Guinness but tastes so much better and doesn't get you drunk so you can indulge as much as you want :)

DINING OUT: TANTE MARIE RESTAURANT, ACCRA

Tante Marie is an Accra restaurant situated in a converted DC 10

Another non-alcoholic malt beverage

Castle's version is not as good as Guinness'.  This was not as full-bodied and as punchy.  Felt a little watery and did not have the same syrupy feel and rich taste.  Try this one first so things can only get better.

For starters L-R: Fried Plantain and
fried chicken wings with shito

The plantain was spiced with chilli and ginger.  

Entree R-L: Grilled Tilapia with Acheke

Tilapia is eaten all over Africa and tastes just as good in Ghana.  Acheke is like couscous and originally eaten in Cote D'Ivoire and Senegal. It is made from cassava, a root that can grow in the harshest conditions and is common in the tropics: mainly Africa, Asia and South America.

Entree L-R: Fried Plantain and Red Red

Plantain was fried plain.  Red Red is a bean stew fried in palm oil and this version used cassava fish as the protein.

Entree L-R: Boiled Yam, Egusi soup

Egusi soup is made with seeds from squashes, melons or gourds such as pumpkin or watermelon, mixed with water, palm oil, spices and vegetables and/ or meat.  This was made with spinach.  It is famously a Nigerian dish but has spread to other West African countries.

STREET FOOD

Plaintain chips L-R: unripe (savory), ripe (sweet)

As you can see I really overdosed on plantain.  How could I not when it is so versatile.  There are so many ways to prepare it.  When in traffic how can you resist buying a coupla packets?!  I prefer the sweet to the savoury but they are both tasty :)

Roasted maize

I do have to say that Ghanaian grown maize does not hold a candle to Zambian maize.  Tasty but the grain is smaller, harder and not as sweet in my opinion.

COCKTAILS:

HILLBURI RESORT, ABURRI

I was instructed to...

Cocktail with ginger, cucumber and apple

...but I am not a beer drinker so I substituted a cocktail instead to accompany my enjoyment of the view he he he.  This drink had  a local name that has escaped me sorry :(.

REPUBLIC BAR AND GRILL, ACCRA

Bisap Cocktail

Cocktails at Republic are ridiculously cheap.  I got this gargantuan cocktail for about 10 cedis! Can't remember its colourful local name but it has bisap: hibiscus juice, mint, and rum in it and it was so lovely I had to have another but I got a smaller one.   Everything in moderation he he he.

DINING OUT: TSARLEY KORPEY RESORT, ADA

L-R: salad, grilled barracuda, shito, yam chips

Love me some seafood, especially the meaty fish kind.  Dorado is still my fav, but barracuda is tasty too :)

SHOPPING IN OSU, ACCRA

Coconut water on the roadside

Can't stand coconut - its taste and texture are an abomination.  However it has redeeming factors: it's water is a tasty, healthy and restorative drink, the milk taste nice in curries and its oil makes my hair lovely and soft he he he ;}

Pistacio and malaga gelato

Cashew nut gelato

Love this twist on gelato.  Cashew nuts are common crop in West Africa so when in Accra do as the Romans do I guess he he.  I really enjoyed this, it tasted so sweet and creamy with great texture from the crushed nuts.

HOME COOKING

Okro soup with banku

Okro soup is made with okra, palm oil and contains meat, fish and veggies.  This version had crab, fish, beef chunks and salted cow skin.  Never had salted cow skin - it is gelatinous in texture and is very tasty.  Banku is made from pounded corn and cassava dough that is first fermented then  mixed with hot water.  This tastes like a fermented version of Zambian nshima: maize (and cassava) flour staple dish in East and Southern Africa.

L- R: Goat Stew and Eba

Eba is made with Garri added to hot water and mixed with a wooden spoon and is a harder form of accompaniments like banku and nshima.

Pounded palm kernels

L-R: palm nut stew and fufu

Palm stew is made from the liquid extracted from pounding palm tree kernels mixed with onion, tomato, ginger, onion, garlic, chilli and spices.  This recipe used chicken but can also be made with meat.  Fufu is a common carbohydrate accompaniment in Ghana and Nigeria that is made from boiled cassava that is then pounded into a dough.  It is eaten with soup and is swallowed whole (I tried chewing it just so I could understand why you are told to swallow it.  I agree with the traditional, tried and tested way it has been eaten for centuries he he)

Palm nut stew served with Banku, accompanied by a
semi-sweet white wine

Back in the day at school RFL had taught me how to make light soup which is a tomato based soup made with stock, onion, bay leaves, chilli, garlic, ginger and potatoes and I loved it. I can say out of all the soups and stews I have had, including groundnut, palm nut stew has now eclipsed light soup as my favourite Ghanaian dish.  It was the last thing I ate before I left so I ended on a high note :)

For more on Ghana, check out the country's tag right here in MbA.

Zed Culture Part III: A Call to Arms

This post originally featured on Unchain Africa Press in June 2012.  I have been looking to post it at the right time on MbA. It has been modified slightly from the original.  This is also dedicated to OXFORD SHIRT,  and appropriately is posted during her birthday month.

“You Lazy (Intellectual) African Scum”  recounts the frank, chance meeting between an American venture capitalist and a Zambian. This man of the Caucasian persuasion, depending on the way one reads the retelling, either comes off as arrogant, insensitive and even racist, or, he is a man that understands that capitalism has no morals, that money begets money, that many in the financial sector have no qualms about exploiting whomever to get it, but through his travels has made some astute and insightful observations about Africa and its educated elite.  This recounting of a coincidental plane meeting went viral at the beginning of the year and has touched a very sensitive place in the African psyche.

Whatever your view of this exchange between two men from two different continents are, it is a welcome addition to the debate about the state of Africa and what we on the continent are doing about it.  Jacqueline Musiitwa, a proud Zambia, decided to defensively attack the American. Her tone is caustic, vitriolic and dismissive. Even though she acknowledges that there are Africans who leave and turn their back on Africa once they are educated, it is clear that she has decided that this man is racist, ill-informed and evil.  She acknowledges that some of us still have an inferiority complex and that Zambia, and the continent, still have a way to go to being in an economically sound place, but has missed the crux of this account.  She has committed the opposite of the sin that is the colonised mind: she appears to be bitter, and herself prejudiced, letting these shortcomings cloud her judgement. She has focused on the (evil) white man, rather than what the men’s discussion has brought to the fore.  That makes her no better than the type of people she seems to despise.

The point is that the American is well aware that there is no difference between races and that we are all capable of achieving great things.  If he had been sitting next to a Kenyan and had done business there and had the same experiences, he would have probably said the same thing.   Zambia was merely the example to serve a much greater purpose: talking about the state of many parts of the continent.  We Africans are some of the most educated people in the world and yet we are not a force in it.  The Economist reported that even though many of the continent’s countries sported high growth figures, despite the global economic downturn, last year we only contributed to 2.5% of the world's output.  We may be blessed with raw materials that are pivotal to the world today, but we are not using this wealth to develop and progress wisely.  In DRC, instead of its coltan reserves being harnessed to uplift its people or to make technological equipment such as mobile phones, it is being used by rebel militia to fuel the conflict that is disempowering women and terrorising villages.  Nigeria supplies a fifth of the USA’s oil and yet in January its own people were lining up for fuel.   Many of us complain about our governments, corruption, discrimination and the fact that we do not have this or that but do not follow-up proactively enough, if at all.  We as individuals need to do more, and the intellectuals, both home grown and those with exposure to other cultures, countries and continents through education and work, need to be at the forefront, leading the rest into a better future.

Rather than be offended by this account, let us take it as an opportunity to take stock, to re-evaluate our position, and to figure out a way to affect change for the better.   This is a call to arms for intellectuals to use the knowledge they have amassed and transform it into innovation, solutions, development and change. The newly certified generation of educated Africans should help the continent on the ground, or from abroad in any way they can, no matter how small. We as Africans need to stem the tide of vulture funds, and reduce the reliance on Western economic and humanitarian aid.  Instead we should be inspiring each other to innovate, create and collaborate on the continent and with the world.  It is up to us to show that Africans are achieving great things, from the grassroots level to the lofty echelons of government and business.  Many of our local media do not cover the work people are doing in their communities and what great things already happening on the continent.  We need to encourage ourselves to use the tools we have acquired locally and abroad to better our future and stop the systematic exploitation of our lands and people.

            

We need to be inspired by people such as Fred Swaniker who started a leadership academy in South Africa to encourage secondary school children hailing from all corners of Africa to think about how they can contribute to the continent. We need to believe that we have African products to offer like Magatte Wade, and fight against African stereotypes like Olivier Nizeyimana. We need to continue to create and support sites like the Zambian Entrepreneur that “match entrepreneurs and investors” and Celebrating Progress Africa that highlights success stories and provides a forum for debate.  And we need to support women like Bethlehem Tilahun who created the worlds first and only WFTO fair trade certified footwear company, soleRebels, as this recent New York Times article outlining female entrepreneurship driving African economic development highlighted.  We also need to take control of and produce the messages and the definitions of who we are that are transmitted through global media.

We need to ramp up our mission to fully reclaim ownership of our continent and its destiny that continues to be bright despite being obscured by our inability to more actively fight for it, even though we have the means to do so.

ORANGE POWER: Chipolopolo Continue Their Bloody Rampage and Les Elephants Stampede Their Way To The Final

Proudly Zambian :)

WOWWEEEEEEEE!!! Last night was an excellent footie extravaganza!  The AFCON semis did not dissappoint! The Chipololo have continued to show why Zambia is a football nation and what passion we have for the game by continuing to shoot to kill and have made us proud.  I have been watching AFCON 2012 from the group stage of course and will recap everything in a round-up post after the Final. For now, I just want to bask in the Chipolopolo's valiant and successful bid to reach the AFCON Final since 1994, which was a year after the tragic loss of our most promising national team off the coast of Gabon in a plane accident.  How fitting it is that almost 20 years after that tragedy, we are honouring the players by reaching the Final in the manner we have.

Semi 1: Chipolopolo vs the Black Stars (Zambia vs Ghana)

We started off with all cylinders firing and confirmed Gyan's fears that we were going to be a force to be reckoned with.  That lasted for all of 5 minutes when Ghana made their first surge which sent our defenders into a state of panic and by the 7th minute Gyan was awarded a penalty and Zambia had their first yellow card.  However, no one could have predicted that Gyan would fumble and make the most uncommitted and timid penalty attempts and that Mweene would make a great save to keep Zambia's hopes alive! Was he intimidated? I don't think so.  I think Gyan is rusty from playing in the Middle East.  Pathetic attempt in the semifinal of an AFCON championship! However, this did have a positive effect on the rest of the Black Stars who changed gears and ramped up the pressure, and for the rest of the first half Ghana assaulted the Zambian goal by continually flustering defenders and if it wasn't for Mweene's goalkeeping poise, grace and determination we would have been down 3/4-0 by half time! While Ghana constantly questioned us, we sporadically showed what we were capable at the other end.



At this point I was in conniptions as it is no secret that Ghana is my favourite African team and I was already distraught that my national team had to play them! My rickety ticker was letting me know that I am too old for this sort of match. I was starting to think that Renard had spent too much time picking out which blue jeans and white shirt he was to wear out of all of the blue jeans and white shirts he dons on the sidelines at matches and even more likely that he spent too much time in the mirror individually placing each strand of hair in its proper place! However Renard proved that you can be metrosexual and a master football tactician by bringing in his secret weapon: Mayuka the Bazuka who was substituted in for the second half.  He showed Ghana that when you have an opportunity to score you not only take it but you make sure the ball hits the net with a beautiful goal within 20 minutes of being on the pitch. My theory is that Renard wanted to keep Mayuka fresh in case we were down by halftime so he could salvage our hopes if need be.



About 10 minutes to go we started to get a bit cocky with fancy dribbles and things and though I love me some football flair, the game was not won yet. Up 1-0 is not enough to be complacent, especially with the calibre of  team such as Ghana, who kept pummelling and probing in our half till the bitter end.  Thank God for Renard who continued shouting like a banshee although I didn't hear  him tell the boys to hang on for "2 minooootes" like he did in the group stages, which got him a mancrush from one of the BBC commentators who unfortunately did not cover this game as I have enjoyed him expressing his love for Renard's antics and accent.

Man of the match without shadow of  a doubt was Mweene: if he hadn't protected our goal so valiantly throughout the game and particularly during the first half's constant barrage from the Black Stars, by the time Mayuka scored, his goal would have been meaningless.  Absolutely awesome possum!  Fantastic goalkeeping display!

Honourable mentions: Of course to win you have to score and Mayuka showed how you shoot stars out of the sky. Absolute clutch performance! Jordan Ayew was the source of most of Ghana's chances.  His work on the wings to feed the ball into the box were absolutely brilliant.  Both these young lads show great promise and I look forward to seeing them play in the future.

I can't believe I'm saying Gyan was the worst player.  I am really not happy with him at all.  May he go back to Sunderland and play football at a higher level as playing in the Middle East has rusted his football brain.  His penalty attempt was so lacklustre and his performance lacked precision and true direction, commitment and dare I say passion?! His miss at the 2010 World Cup quarters was forgiveable as it was just an unfortunate game for Ghana altogether but there was just no excuse last night. His performance was just as bad as Senegal's overall performance in the group stages.  A complete waste of talent!

Semi 2: Les Elephants vs Les Aigles (Cote D'Ivoire vs Mali)

Cote D'Ivoire have been focused, humble and determined the whole of AFCON and it is clear that they are remedying the underperformance that has plagued them in the last 10 years.  They have trampled their competition, scoring 8 goals and conceding none.  And they continued to keep a clean sheet by never giving the Eagles the chance to soar in true Elephant style by keeping them firmly on the ground, stamping on them and finally burying them by winning the match. It was incredibly physical but with Cote D'Ivoire firmly in control.  Nothing happened unless they allowed it to. They stampeded their way to the Final in style :)

Man of the match was definitely Gervinho who finally has found his form with his first goal of the tournament, and what better a time to find it!  His run from beyond the half-way line, leaving Malian after Malian in the dust and finishing off his efforts with a beautiful strike culminated in grabbing the lead in the dying minutes of the first half and ultimately secured Cote D'Ivoire's progression to the Final on Sunday. His coverage of the pitch, his ball skills and his striking precision created one of the most sublime moments of AFCON 2012 for sure!



Honourable mentions: Cote D'Ivoire defenders protected their goalkeeper and Barry had little to do the whole game and no goals were conceded once again.  The Toure brothers were impactful in the back, midfield and in the box through the middle and Gosso did the same on the wings.  Kalou was impactful in the box trying to make things happen despite being clearly hampered by his hamstring injury. It is no secret that I  do not like Drogba and his style of play which involves divo (if you don't know that's male for diva) antics among other things which I have expressed before, but he has shown a maturity on the football pitch during AFCON and particularly in this game in which he was not his best but he tried to make and impact in the box and elsewhere on the field and at times when he fell and would have normally appealed for a penalty or free kick he picked himself up, dusted himself off and just got on with it.  I wonder if his game was affected by the fact his wife is Malian? Talk about awkward!

Worst player was clearly Seydou Keita.  He has been a brat all tournament and continued his petulant streak  by arguing with the ref and finding dubious ways to get fouls and cards against his opponents.  I love Barca, they are my fav team in Europe and a lot of that has to do with their professionalism and clean playing style.  These dirty tactics clearly come from Keita himself when left to his own devices.  He should be ashamed he did nothing on that football pitch but show that he has a rotten personality.

Now although my favourite animal is the elephant and I am vehemently against poaching, come Sunday I expect Zambia to use copper bullets to shoot some elephants and take ivory as trophies, I want them to storm the beach and capture the coast! At the beginning of the tournament I expected Zambia to carry me to the quarters and for my favourite African teams Ghana and/ or Ivory Coast to take over and keep me invested in the Final.  Zambia have shown that indeed "this is our time" as our Skipper, Christopher Katongo decreed before the semis. I am very proud of my national team's passion, determination and execution and expect another bloodbath of a footie match.

Now to make sure we win we have to play like we did against Senegal in the group stages and more importantly we have to win the toss to wear orange jerseys.  As the scientific findings from the semis show, teams in orange won, those in white lost. If Les Elephants lose the toss they wear white, upping their chances to lose and giving us even more of a chance to win when coupled with the power of us wearing the orange jersey.  For those skeptics who will bring up the Dutch wearing orange and losing in the 2010 World Cup Final I will kindly inform them that the Dutch only had one element in common with the teams that won the AFCON semis and that is the orange jersey, but those who hail from Holland are not from the motherland.  Being African brings the juju element in so Zambian sangomas do your thing: we want the ORANGE coz we know what to do with it and that's WIN ;}

CHIPOLOPOLO, NAFUTI! NAFUTI! (AGAIN! AGAIN!)

Art's Healing Power

I am finally keeping to my word and writing a post I promised to write ages ago.  When I was flying home I read about this wonderful art festival happening in Luanda right now.  Il Trienal de Luanda is a triennial arts exhibition started by one of Angola's sons, Fernando Alvim.  It is the most renowned of its kind in Africa and features outdoor billboard paintings, formal exhibitions, television and radio debates, educational programmes, theatrical performances and more, with the proceeds from these events financing the finale in December. This celebration of art started on the 12th of September and goes on till December 19th so you still have time to catch it if you happen to be going to Angola any time soon. The point of the Triennial is to celebrate Angolan history and heritage, but also to help heal the wounds suffered from years of fighting.  I think this is a great way to attract people to Angola, just as with them holding the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year

Fernando Alvim is also curator of the Sindika Dokolo Collection, which is the largest collection of contemporary African Art in the world.  Artists from Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroun, Congo, Cote D'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Marocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Zimbabwe are showcased, as well as artists from around the world.  I am particulary taken with this set of prints and this photo is so eerily involving. And I can't get over the fact that there is an artist called Nastio Mosquito ha ha ha ha ha ;}.

I have a love/ hate relationship with contemporary art. Some of it just seems so self-involved and important. I visited LACMA earlier in the year and the collection they had showing had me thinking: really??!!! Some of it you could put together yourself but as they say that is not the point, it's all about the experience. Whatever. I expect to be wowed by something I couldn't do myself.  I need to see creativity and ability that I cannot produce to appreciate.  A pile of boxes just doesn't do it for me I'm afraid...

Being A True Afropolitan

Thought I would not get to post till I arrived home and got used to the high that comes from the motherland's loving embrace as the heat envelopes you as the plane door opens and the love from family cleanses your soul and revitalises your spirit...And the food coma that I can't wait to indulge over the coming weeks from home cooked food that only Mummy can make just right ;}.  However, here I am at Dubai International Airport taking advantage of the free internet to make this 9 hour layover bareable!

I am a very loyal person in general.  Although I adapt well to change, I can be very reluctant to let it occur, I like the comfort in routine where I can in my constantly evolving life.  Since 1992 I have flown on average 4-6 times a year with British Airways back and forth from the West to home, mainly because they are the most convenient.  However, in recent times they have wobbled, but as I am a frequent flyer they have rewarded me.  But their price for the ticket home was preposterous, and South African Airways weren't much better. .  I am flying for $1000 less with Emirates so the inconvenience of flying 5/1/2 hours to far East and then 2 hours too far South to then go back up 2 hours again with an SAA flight, making a journey of a total of 14 hours layover and 26 hours flying worth it.  The good thing is my in-flight routine is transplantable so I am able to preserve the continuity of routine n that regard.

Emirates are lovely and they are showing Africa the love too.  They are launching a new flight to Dakar next month and are offering free hotel stays for the first travellers.  They also have a lot of African stories in their magazine about interesting things going on on the continent and here in the airport I saw for the first time learn to speak Amharic, Yoruba and Zulu CDs!  Their in-flight entertainment is unparalleled with so many options from all over the world.  The air hostesses aren't forced to wear heels, they can wear flats to work the almost 16 hour flight or trousers if they wish to and their flight staff are a Benetton ad. They are really a first class organisation.  Will do a separate post on them when I get my hands on the magazine again when I take my next flight in a coupla hours so I can convert my pleasurable reading into a post :).

If this post doesn't make any sense forgive me I'm jet lagged due to the new and awkward timing of my flights. If it does, ignore the former statement ;}

More water and quotes...

Today I was at sea, and after yesterday's metaphor for finding purpose in life, it seemed fitting to be taking a catamaran to visit Catalina Island, off the Southern Californian Coast, for some R and R. The island's topography is a lot like Siavonga, a town by Lake Kariba.  Siavonga never fails to revitalise me, and Catalina Island came close to that kind of regeneration.  I felt the hot sun on my back, my body was warmed, I stretched and reacquainted myself with my functioning body. I even took a a proper, full body dip in the Pacific for the first time :). I have only been able to wade because, contrary to what you may have seen on Baywatch, California beaches are pretty cold and the most I have ever managed is going in to my knees! I'm sorry but 20-25 degrees Celcius is not hot, it's not even warm! You need at least 30 to be able to start going into water without risking turning into, in my case, a brown icicle.  While out on the ferry, looking at the great expanse of water I felt at home. Deep, wide water has a way of calming me.  So being in that "canoe" on the river with no end in sight is not so bad really.  Especially seeing as my fortune cookie after dinner told me to expect a "welcome surprise this week" ;}! So maybe I'm getting close to that waterfall...

Also thought you would appreciate some more quotes I liked from So Long a Letter:

"Man is one: greatness and animal fused together. None of his acts is pure charity.  None is pure bestiality."

"A woman is like a ball; once a ball is thrown no one can predict where it will bounce. You have no control over where it rolls, and even less over who gets it.  Often it is grabbed by an unexpected hand..."

Transitioning From Young And Eager To Accomplished

I feel like I have been in a perpetual cycle of trying to transistion from the young and eager African I have always been to one that is accomplished, having made enough steps and made enough marks along the way to be able to look back and see a clear path from which to continue journeying on.  I am either walking around in circles or wandering around aimlessly or do not know how to read my own map. God forbid I am running in the same spot and created so much dust I cannot see that I am accomplishing nothing at all! I can see a few marks here and there but cannot connect them to be able to show a way that leads to something truly fruitful and meaningful.  That could just be the high bar I set for myself, propelling me to continue to challenge myself.  Or it could be that I am really quite useless and am still in denial or worse deluded into thinking I am making progress!

I re-read Mariama Ba's African classic, So Long a Letter, this week as I am setting out to concatenate all my various actions through school and work to finally start doing something that makes me happy and contributes to the continent.  Even though the characters are Muslim, West African, married with children, and living through the excitment of independence,  the strength that both Ramatoulaye and Aissatou show when life throws them curve balls is so inspiring.  The fact that they are able to do what it is they love and provide for their families without the help of their husbands is admirable.  The friendship that they have for each other and the advice they are able to give when the other is in crisis is something to aspire to.  Which reminded me of the counsel, help and shoulders to cry on my best friends have offered me, especially in this last year.  I am eternally grateful to have such love in my life, particularly from my African Posse of the female persuasion.   BIMBO just made an important life decision and was weighing the rationality of her thought process in making it.  Her ruminations made me think of a quote that really resonated with what it is that we who love Africa are all trying to do:

We are trying to "appreciate a multitude of civilisations without renoucing our own,  to raise our vision of the world, cultivate our personalities, strengthen our qualities, to make up for our inadequacies, to develop universal moral values in us," to make a better Africa.

However, trying to make that transition from young and eager to accomplished is no easy feat.  Finding people to give us a chance, finding the right organisation and/ or the resources to venture out and do our thing for many of us is proving difficult, especially in these uncertain and turbulent times.  Our youth invites people to find reasons not to give us the responsibility to be innovative, creative and productive in order to grow and thus we are being stifled.  Having some experience can leave us in limbo with too much for some things and not enough for others, causing us to be overlooked, or worse, underestimated. Going for what it is that we want to do and will make us happy versus quelling worrisome parents trepidations and satisfying expectations with regards our life choices is the perpetual quandary of the African child.  With family and friends adding more pepper to the already hot soup, it is hard to find our own ingredients to make our unique life recipes.  Trying to please oneself while fielding off societal expectations is quite tiresome.  There are things that are expected of a young African Woman, some which are great to aspire to, and others that are suffocating and restrictive. Ditto for the African Man. And for men and women in all cultures around the world.

I have decided that so long as you know what kind of life path you want and what you want to accomplish then all you have to do is seek out ways to achieve your goals and not be afraid of not knowing or changing the plan as you go along, despite the naysayers, pessimists and party-poopers.  You need to be flexible and prepared from anything. Piece of cake...ha!

All you need to know is the kind of river you are travelling on, the kind of boat you are captain of, and the direction you are going.  As you navigate the unforseen twists and turns, the rapids and placid waters, the crocodiles and the hippos, you will start to see how it all fits together as you learn to navigate and work out and hopefully eventually foresee these diversions and as people provide safe harbour with resources and advice along the way for you.

Right now I am on a very wide river that is eeriely calm and so wide all I can see is water (which leads me to think I may be stranded in the middle of some ocean) in a very tiny canoe with one paddle.  I think I am headed for a waterfall and I'm about to cascade into a period of exciting rapids. I pray I am not headed for a patch of tricky hyacinth that may trap me in unproductive pursuits indefinitely. I am hoping this happens soon because wandering around aimlessly is not something I do well...I can be aimless while knowing what path I need to take though ha ha ha ;}.

This post is dedicated to R4L, BIMBO, LOLZ, OXFORD SHIRT, COMBINE and MINI MI: Without you, my nervous conditions would paralyse, rather than propel me to excel.  :)

African Union Announces Advisory Council and Peace Ambassadors

The AU has taken inspiration from the UN and has announced Advisory Councillors and Peace Ambassadors to help bring about stability around the continent.  The list is impressive and diverse, from former presidents and powerful businessmen appointed as Councillors to sports personalities and musicians named Ambassadors, including Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, President F. W. De Klerk, Mo Ibrahim, Graca Machel and Professor Wangari Maathai, as well as Micheal Essien, Maria Mutola, Angelique Kidjo and Youssou N'Dour.

The BBC's Africa Have Your Say  has started a debate about it. People are predictably skeptical.  It always irritates me when people provide diatribes, lamenting the state of Africa that completely ignore any positivity in the situation, instead of insight and ideas for change.


Without hope there is no way for progress.

Instead of shutting every idea down and being skeptical, try a little faith my fellow Africans and be proactive to to find a way to a better tomorrow.  Passive aggressiveness, anger and spite are not helpful really: They are debilitating - they poison the mind and dishearten the soul. I think it is great that we are taking the initiative to use Peace Day as a way of reinvigorating dedication to bettering Africa, using our own accomplished and prominent figures, both on the continent and globally, to lead the way.  Homophily is a powerful thing.  As much I am a fan of the Angelina Jolies and Bonos in the world, them turning up to a village to help perpetuates the notion that an outsider has to come for us Africans to be saved.  Having someone African coming to our aid sends a profoundly potent message - that we too have the initiative to change our fates for the better :)

What will you be doing on the 21st of September?

The Hope of Africa - The Black Stars

Africa kicks off the Quarter Finals with Ghana playing Uruguay.  Tieing Senegal and Cameroun, they are the third African team that has been able to go this far in the World Cup.  I think they can go the distance.  Not because of sentimentality, although that is definitely a factor, but because the boys want it.  They realise the importance of this and have taken to the World Stage with such aplomb.  People have been saying they are young, and this has shown in their unnecessarily flourished play and unwise choices, but I think they have been learning as the tournament has progressed and have learned to check their egos.  At this level it is no longer about talent and tactics.  It's about desire and passion. I just hope they are able to overcome their injuries that have been plaguing them since the Africa Cup earlier this year.

I think the game with the USA showed this.  I personally think that the US underestimated the Black Stars, even though they had beaten them in the group stages of '06.  My roommate disagrees, but I think that the starting line-up reflected this.  I don't think that the US coach really thought about who they were playing.  The commentators on ESPN were going on about how Ghana hadn't scored in regular play and had only advanced on penalties and so this proved that they couldn't go the distance.  The USA had been wronged in the group stages but were able to come through, but you can't win the World Cup by drawing, you have to find the win, no matter how.  And that is what Ghana did.  They came out guns ablazing and within minutes were up 1-0.  I know there was the controversial penalty that gave Ghana the win in 2006 but the one given to the US in 2010 was bogus, there was not enough contact there what was that???!!!

The USA are almost there when it comes to competing in the World's favourite game, but to really be a force in world football you have to play for the love of the game first, and to win second, not the other way around.  There is too much pressure put on results in American culture, instead of finding joy in the process.  You need to enjoy football because it is the most heart wrenching game played.  You have to be able to get past the bad calls, the divots on the pitch, and the amount of work it takes to get the ball in the net.  And the only way to do that is to enjoy playing for the sake of playing.  It's not about how much money that you throw at it, how many training camps for young players you have, it's about understanding what football means and loving it.  It's not something that can be learned, you need to have it coursing through your veins.  I do not remember ever not loving football.  It is just the way.  You see it and you love it.  No one has to convince you.  

I have come to the conclusion that the reason that Ghana has come this far is because they are young, full of passion, have nothing to lose and have a player that is the fruit of Mr. Boateng's loins.  This theory is made all the more credible by the fact that the other team I am impressed with that is in the Quarter Finals is Germany.  And they are young, full of passion, have also made a coupla silly mistakes and also have a player that is the fruit of Mr. Boateng's loins.  Prince and Jerome are brothers! I rest my case ;}! Unfortunately the boys are feuding over the injury that caused Ballack to miss the World Cup.

The Black Stars have to win tomorrow not only because my heart can't take any more drama, but also because innocent people may suffer the consequences.  When the score was 1 all at full time I called one of my best friends, R4L and she knew why I was calling and purposefully sent me to voicemail. So I left her an awful message berating the Black Stars and threatened to abstain from all things Ghanaian, meaning I would not speak to her again if they lost.  Luckily they got it together and Gyan scored within minutes of extra time and all was well.  We later buried the hatchet.  Got a call from Ghana from OXFORD SHIRT and told her to slap about a coupla Ghanaian boys to let them know that even though the Black Stars got through, I was not impressed by the need to go into extra time to get the job done.  Now it is at the point where if there are any more shenanigans, R4L, OXFORD SHIRT and COMBINE (who is in South Africa and could have direct contact with the team if she wanted because she is one of the most resourceful people I know) will suffer the consequences.  And my little one FOOLISH FOOL, who always tells me that the Black Stars will make it will be demoted to village idiot status! There is no more room for error.  I want an African team in the Final and if my sangoma who is on probation at the mo manages to get it together we hopefully get the first African win to boot.  

The only way is to dream big.  By stifling our potential in order to make small triumphs and self-protect we ultimately only limit ourselves and deny the world progress.  Yes it is a risk, but when you dare to achieve success at a greater level, the impact is infinite when you succeed.

We should not underestimate what this game will do for Africans not only in football, but in our lives in general.

GHANA GHANA!!!! MAY THE BLACK STARS LIGHT CONTINUE TO SHINE IN AFRICAN SKIES!!!!

Here is a video R4L found of the Black Stars celebrating after their Round of 16 win.  Hopefully we will all be like this again soon!

Colour Of The Day: Green!

I really hope that this initiative comes to fruition: "The Great Green Tree Wall of Africa!" that would span from West to East, from Senegal to Djibouti, to help curb the encroachment of the Sahara Desert. It is always a question of funding unfortunately.

The African Union have a Concept Note on the initiative that explains the reasoning behind it and why it is needed.  This would go a long way to helping with global warming that is said to most likely affect the continent the most.

I hope that leaders are able to come to some sort of consensus that revitalizes efforts to see this actually come to pass.

Watch World Cup Kick-Off Concert TODAY!!!

It will be on at 8pm CAT, 7pm UK Summer Time, 6pm GMT, 2pm EST and 11am PST.  To watch it online make sure to go to World Cup Vevo, where there is also a countdown to when it will be showing. It will also be broacast live on TV, so check your local listings. It seems ESPN are dedicated to making up for their 2006 coverage and will be broadcasting the concert live on ESPN 2 :)

World renowned artists Alicia Keys, Black Eyed Peas and John Legend are featured, and of course Shakira will be there to perform the official song with Freshly Ground.

I am glad to see that the majority of the acts are African:  Amadou and Mariam, Angelique Kidjo, BLK JKS, Hugh Masekela, K'NAAN, Lira, Mzansi Youth Choir, Soweto Youth Choir, Tinirawen, The Parlotones, Vieux Farka Toure and Vusi Mahlasela.

And here is K'NAAN's song, Wavin' Flag - The People's Anthem, that is considered the unofficial World Cup Anthem:

And here it is featured in the World Cup Coca Cola campaign:





And here is Pepsi's response but they should know that Coke is unrivaled in the World and particularly in Africa. On the continent it is basically the ONLY choice coz it tastes better for one and in South they were one of the first companies to support Black businesses and businessmen during Apartheid. Having Drogba, Lampard, Messi, Kaka and Henry in the ad plus having an Akon song is nice but won't be enough to sway people to stock Pepsi over Coke I'm afraid! It's a good ad though I do have to say...