Category: Blog

I have only just started reading Barack Obama’s ‘The Audacity of Hope‘. I am literally only a few pages into the book, Barack describes a restlessness that characterises him and other politicians he knows. For himself he describes as a weakness ‘an inability to appreciate no matter how well things were going, those blessings that were right there in front of me.’ That’s a sentiment I can echo and got me thinking about my blessings in 2008:

* I found a job in my native Ghana and moved home from London.
* I started writing a monthly column for a parenting magazine.
* Through my job I had the opportunity to travel to countries I had never visited including South Africa, Mexico and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
* I met some amazing inspirational women – Ama Ata Aidoo and Pregs Govender spring to mind.
* I had the opportunity to start my life from scratch and create new dreams, opportunities and ambitions.

For 2009 I look forward to:

* Starting a bead making course
* Taking a weekend break every 3 months (as I resolved to do in a previous blog post after reading ‘What’s the point of the Revolution if we cannot dance‘
* Making time to collate and transcribe my grand aunt’s oral herstory
* Becoming a card carrying member of my chosen political party, and being more politically active.

What are you looking forward to doing in 2009?

Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communication

Hmmm, the current political situation in Ghana is very tricky at the moment. If you read this blog regularly you will know that we (the AWDF staff) held a ‘blog off’ on our last day at work. As moderator of this blog, I can tell you that I have never had so many postings submitted in one day. Politics is obviously a subject that arouses all our passions.

At the moment we in Ghana are in a ‘wait and see’ mode. The EC held a press conference about an hour ago and at the moment we still do not have a winner. The NDC has a tiny lead but that can change depending on the results of the Tain constituency. Apparently the Tain Consitituency were not able to vote on the 28th and so will be voting this coming Friday. I can just see all the political parties getting in their 4 x 4s and heading straight to Tain. There have also been allegations of ‘irregularities’ by both parties and the EC is asking both parties to provide evidence so they can investigate. I am wondering how long this process is going to drag on. I am tired already, I have been dreaming of the elections and feeling so stressed wondering what is going to happen. The sad thing is no party is going to be satisfied whatever the outcomes are. The country is clearly polarised between the two parties and for whoever emerges victorious close to 50% of the population will be unhappy. I have been totally ‘against’ the power sharing deals that have taken place on the African continent this year but have found myself wondering whether in this particular context there are genuine grounds for power sharing. What are your thoughts?

Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications

I listen to discussions on politics and read about politics with keen interest at every level. I am always amazed at the passion, knowledge and ignorance with which people speak. Indeed Ghana has advanced in deepening democracy in the country and l feel very proud as a Ghanaian.

In just about 10 days Ghana will go for a presidential run-off; this time the race is between the two main political parties; National Democratic Congress (NDC) with the ‘change’ slogan and The National Patriotic Party (NPP) with the ‘moving forward slogan’. I am raising some questions about Grace’s blog. As a gender activist with a critical mind l like to ask the same questions in every situation. I hear and see people calling for change, change, change. But have you actually critically analysed issues and situations? Have you compared events before, now and after? Have you analysed the risk factors and looked at anticipated results of the change that you are calling for? Are you calling for change just because NPP has stayed two years in office and some government officials have become arrogant? Please let us not confuse assertiveness with arrogance! Have you dispassionately and using non-partisan and non-tribal lens analysed progress of development and women’s welfare in the country? What has been the record of both par ties when it comes to women and children. Which party has institutionalised a school feeding programme and the National Health Insurance Scheme? A word to the wise is enough!

My dearest sister, until you pause and do that and concretely establish reasons for change in a convincingly manner lets stop promoting change. What is the point in change if it is not going to improve the quality of lives of Ghanaians; women and children particularly but rather going to send us back to the dark days in Ghana. Stop comparing oranges with mangos and putting square pegs in round holes. Ghana can never be Zimbabwe nor vice versa.

AFTER ALL FORWARD EVER; LONG LIVE GHANA, LONG LIVE THE AFRICAN WOMEN’S MOVEMENT

Nafi Chinery
Programme Officer
Capacity Building

The political atmosphere in the country is as charged as ever. Even non political people such as myself are taking a stand and in fact this is good for the political maturity of the nation. I am not a registered member of any political party and I do not see myself bearing a party card in the near future. But times dictates that my voice be heard. Times require that I no longer keep quiet and allow those who know nothing about my needs to make and impose a decision on me. Times demand that I make my own selfish needs plain. A desire to see that I live in a free and prosperous nation. A desire to see my children get the best of education here in this dear mother land called Ghana. A desire to see that my extended family who live in the villages of Suhum in those family cocoa farm lands get free and effective health care. A desire to see that maternal mortality is reduced and child survival rates are increased. A desire to see that money will not be a stumbling block for that financially challenged but brilliant young lady to attain higher education. A desire to see that I do not ever ever have to queue up to buy fuel to run my good old faithful jalopy. These are times to speak up and I encourage all freedom loving Ghanaians to speak up. I say VOTE FOR NANA AKUFFO ADDO, VOTE for the NPP. A vote for Nana Akuffo Addo means a vote for free secondary education; A vote for Nana Akuffo Addo means a vibrant economy; A vote for Nana Akuffo Addo means A better health system; A vote for Nana Akuffo Addo means freedom of Speech (Very very important); A vote for Nana Akuffo Addo means WE ARE MOVING FORWARD.

Please GHANAIANS help us all MOVE FORWARD. Please remember to exercise your franchise on December 28, 2008. Vote Nana Akuffo Addo; Vote for real progress. WE HAVE TO MOVE FORWARD

Beatrice Boakye-Yiadom
Acting Grants Manager

As you can imagine the women of AWDF are very political and we have been having very spirited discussions on politics. We easily agree on the importance of having women in parliament, women as decision makers, and on representational politics but when it comes to the subject of NPP and NDC (the two main political parties in Ghana) we are not all of ‘one mind’.

To that end we have decided to have a ‘blog off’ between the various political factions. Grace has kicked off with her support for ‘Yeresesam’ and I invite all my colleagues to join in.

Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications

Ghana’s political atmosphere is charged with a lot of slogans in the bid to choose the president of the nation. How exciting!

Ghanaians are very sharp and wide awake to the democratic dispensation prevailing in the country and elsewhere on the African continent now. Surely, we must continue to move our country forward, but we NEED TO CHANGE as we do that. WHY?

BECAUSE, we need to learn lessons from our sister nations. Keeping one party in government for more than two terms is a recipe for complacency, arrogance, perpetuation of selfishness, greed, corruption and what have you. We all can rightly guess the consequences of such behaviours all over Africa. It’s not wise to experience all situations before advising oneself. Sometimes, one needs to LEARN from other people’s experiences. We know of the Idi Amins, the Mobutu Seseseko’s of old and we are not mindless of the Mugabe’s of today. Ghanaians do not need to get there at all!

We are blessed with many great women and men in Ghana. The two contestants for the presidency, Professor Atta Mills and Nana Akuffo Addo Danquah are all great and illustrious sons of Ghana. They all merit the presidential position. But the thing is the National Patriotic Party (NPP) has reigned for two terms so that‘s ok for now. The CPP has proved to Ghanaians that they are not ready yet. May be they would by the year 2016 when we would change again (one term is reasonably too short). Otherwise we bring NPP back into governance. My people, lets CHANGE while we move forward.

To this end, I urge you all, VOTEZ Professor Mills!!!

Grace Amenyogbeli
Administration Manager

Is 2008 the year of politics? I think I have had politics on the ‘membrane’ the whole year…Ken Livingstone losing the ‘Mayorship’ of London (whilst I was still resident there), the difficult decision of should I support Hillary Clinton because she is female or Barack Obama because he is black (even though I have no vote in America), I observed the shambles of the Kenyan and Zimbabwean elections and looked forward to the Ghanaian elections. Earlier this year I queued for 5 hours to register to vote and on the 7th of December queued for 6 hours to cast my vote. Now that a run off has been declared between the incumbent and the opposition parties I guess I am going to have to queue all over again.

I have a strong belief in representational politics and standpoint theory – the belief that if you are from a particular standpoint you are more likely to be able to emphatise with someone from a similar standpoint. At least that’s my laywoman’s understanding of standpoint theory, so women politicians for example are more likely to vote in a Domestic Relations Bill and Oil investors in the US are more likely to vote Republican. I am aware of the limits of representational politics so I do not need a dreadlocked, middle class Ghanaian woman, aged 30 to speak up for women’s rights in Ghana but I do need a significant number of women parliamentarians in Ghana. Alas, it appears that I am to have less women parliamentarians in the next Ghanaian parliament than the previous one.

According to the Daily Graphic of December 11, 2008, 103 women contested the parliamentary elections (In 2004, 104 contested) but so far only 5 new women parliamentary candidates have emerged victorious. 4 of them on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party and 1 on the ticket of the Convention People’s Party, the issue this raises for me is do political parties select female candidates to run in their ‘strongholds’. It is well known that some areas of Ghana are strongholds of particular parties so in my local constituency of Tema West the NPP is almost guaranteed victory no matter who they select to represent the party hence Ms Irene Naa Torshie Addo winning on the NPP’s ticket. Personally, I doubt very much if ‘Naa’ won on the basis of her vision for the area.

If Ghana is to have more women MPs then political parties need to take the issue of gender parity seriously. What has worked in other parts of the world (the Nordic countries come to mind) has been a quota system for women. I would suggest that Ghanaian political parties adopt a similar strategy and have ‘women only lists’ for a proportion of their ‘strongholds’. This will indicate that political parties are taking the issue of gender parity seriously and will be one sure way of getting more women MPs. The next Ghanaian parliament is going to have 18 women MPs out of 230. I think that’s abhorrent. What are your thoughts?

Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications

I have been wanting to read ‘What’s the Point of the Revolution If We Can’t Dance’ since I got my copy at the African Feminist Forum in September. However, it has taken me until today the 6th of December to finish the book (whilst queuing for 6 hours to vote). For me the most interesting thing is that the book began to influence me even before I delved into its pages…At the recent Association of Women in Development (AWID) Forum, I attended a session on ‘What’s the Point of the Revolution If We Can’t Dance’ and afterwards made up my mind to write a list of personal self-care principles which are:

• Have a manicure every 2 weeks
• Have a pedicure every month
• Have a facial every month
• Exercise at least 4 times a week
• Drink at least a litre of water a day
• Read a fantastic book at least once a month
• Have a weekend break every 3 months
• Take a fun holiday at least once a year
• Have a massage once a month

The great thing for me is that although my list may appear very indulgent (and why not?) it actually will not cost me much money. I am fortunate that my favourite Auntie owns a beauty studio so I get to have free manicures, pedicures and facials. All I really need to do is tip the staff that provides the treatments, and from time to time I bring my Auntie a small gift. However I have realized that my self care routine only works when I am actually in my home country Ghana. I am quite fortunate that the organization I work for, the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) has a flexible working policy…I am a night owl so tend to go to bed very late and accordingly rise late so it is a real boon to be able to start work at 9am, 9.30am or 10am. In Ghana that’s a real luxury, many people I know have to fight through hours of traffic to start work at 8am.

By now you are probably thinking I have it good when it comes to self-care, but I have realized a pattern. Whenever I travel for work (and recently that has been up to twice a month) I fall sick. I usually get a cold which in the case of my trip to San Francisco for the ‘Women Raising Millions’ training was somewhere between my 16 hour flight time from Accra – San Francisco. In Uganda, during the entire African Feminist Forum I had a cold and a racking cough, my poor room mate Sophie would wake up in a panic wondering if I was okay and very recently in Dakar I reacted very badly to the dusty conditions and sneezed for three days continuously. So what am I going to do about this? These short term illnesses have given me a clear message. I need to take even better care of myself. I need to start taking some good vitamin and mineral supplements, I need to go to the clinic to run some tests to ensure there is not an underlying reason for these persistent coughs and colds, when I am outside Ghana attending conferences or convenings I need to try as much as possible to emulate some of the healthy eating practices I maintain at home and not indulge in lavish hotel breakfasts or the pastries and biscuits that are sometimes present at conferences and convenings. I also need to ensure that I find ways of taking a break whilst traveling for work…So what do you do to take care of yourself? Let’s share some ideas and strategies. Any recommendations

Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications

‘Onamdaade’ is an Akan word used in Ghana which literally means (a person without a vehicle). It has similar meaning in this short text.

It is a hilarious moment at AWDF since we now have our own office building which is spacious and magnificent. We are still settling down and this coming Thursday (27th November 2008) is the official commissioning of the building (every body is invited anyway).

The area is serene and well laid out. In terms of categorization of urban settlement, I will place it in the first class category. I must be honest; it very well befits the status of a feminist grant making organization, such as AWDF, which has immensely supported the empowerment of women and women’s rights promotion through provision of grants to support several women-led initiatives on the African Continent since its establishment seven years ago.

Although acquiring our own property is a boost to the organization, it has also brought untold hardship to the ‘onamdaade’ staff because no commercial vehicle plies the vicinity, making life for such category of staff unbearable.

One has to either take a dropping ( a chartered Taxi) from Tetteh Quarshie roundabout which is approximately $4.00 a day (for a return journey) or wait at Tetteh Quarshie roundabout and make numerous calls to colleagues with vehicles to find out who is passing by at that particular moment for a lift. It is indeed a daunting task.

‘Onamdaade’ comrades, better think of how to get your own vehicles before colleagues decide not to pick up your calls in the morning. Thank you.

Rose Buabeng (‘Onamdaade’ team leader)
Anglophone Programme Officer

I have just spent several busy, fun and intense couple of days in South Africa. I arrived here last Saturday and headed to the Monkey Valley Resort for the Feminist Tech Exchange and Wow! what an experience that has been. The Tech Exchange comprised of several tracks including digital stories, video, audio, mobile and social networking tools. I was on the digital story track and after 15 hours of intense training (and some late nights) produced my very first digital story.

I am very excited that I was able to take part in this track because digital story telling is another useful tool that feminists can use to tell their own stories – in ways that are compelling, attention grabbing and ‘impactful’. All you need is a recorder, images and a basic Movie Maker that can be found on most computer software.

My person digital story was about ‘My feminist journey so far…’. Watch out for the premiere on this blog!

Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer (Fundraising & Communications)
AWDF