Blogging from Kalss Inn Redux: Ghana Rocks!

I thought I'd do something entirely different and walk to the place I buy newspapers from on Thursday. Instead, I took a taxi--such is the fickleness of the human condition!

In front of me, I have P*P newspaper; the Investor;Business Week;Star newspaper/tabloid; and Weekly Fylla.

I like a wide range of papers on Thursdays to get up-to-speed on what's happening in the arts; entertainment; and whatnot. The average person who sees my newspapers buys on Thursdays probably thinks I'm a businessman par excellence. Such is the superficiality of Ghanaians. Many a time, I've heard comments suggesting I must be loaded--for me to be able to afford these types of papers. If only they knew...

Whatever the case may be, very rarely do I get the opportunity to be this whimsical in my writinfg for this blog. A breath of fresh air is always good--and that's why I'm here at Kals Inn, to the tunes of a just-ended "Everything I do, I do it for you", by Brian...oh, I forget his surname...

Either way, I very rarely get the opportunity to write about what makes Ghana interesting, and what makes it rock. Today's my opportunity.

I LOVE my country; it's got more beaches than I could ever find in Belgium; there's always something to complain about without feeling that no-one will understand your complaints. They are real and manifold, but somehow, somewhere, with more people complaining about things--by way of radio and other parts of the media--you get to exorcise the frustration you might feel.

Somehow, somewhere, things do improve--even if the administration continues to lie to us about how they get their results or solutions! The furore over the ADB is one thing: their plans were scuppered by the likes of civil society who complained endlessly about giving in to Stanbic. The bank has no done a volte-face and said it wants to be a "partner".

The government won't tell us the truth, but Ghanaians will keep fighting.

With three minutes left at the cafe, I'd just end that it's glorious to have lights these days more frequently. Power comes from Cote D'Ivoire, and helps mollify the energy situation toa degree it was not last year around this time. The complaints MUST continue to come; that's the only way we can get results...

long live Ghana!!

Blogging from Kalss Inn, East Legon: Random Thoughts on Ghana, Belgium, Development

insideKalssinn
Originally uploaded by ekbensah.

So there I was was, taking a walk from the office to the nearest newspaper stand to buy some local papers -- P& P (tabloid with useful lifestyle and relationship tips that comes out on Thursdays) et al, -- when it occurred to me that if one stepped away from one's car more often, one would probably be able to obtain a more discerning view of one's country.

As I walked, I thought about the necessity to challenge the complacency associated with moving back to one's home country in Africa after twenty years plus, and feeling that because one has access to many things, all is well.

So, I was a kid when my Dad started working in Brussels in 1980, but for sure, even my late brother, Samuel, who would have been 33 yesterday would have needed to make some serious adjustments upon arriving in the country that is his home of Ghana.

With me being 3.5 years younger, you can imagine how challenging it is for me, for example, to marry the quasi-virtuousness of Western life in Belgian suburbia with that of Ghanaian suburbia, where I am perceived more as a rich man than middle class--as I would have been in Belgium.

August saw me in my second year of living and working (and enjoying!) Accra, Ghana, but there are adjustments that need to be made to disturb any creeping complacency of life in Ghana being "good": a LOT of work needs to be done--either by way of advocacy and otherwise. That Ghana was able to say "no" to a Gay and Lesbian conference in Ghana to me speaks volumes of our visceral reluctance to adopt all that is Western. Democracy, ok, but homosexuality? In this deeply religious country? Even if the "religiousness" associated with the country is this side short of ersatz at times, or perhaps superficial, given the mushrooming of pastors left right and centre, it is clear that this latest development struck a serious chord with our moral fibre.

In any event, the walk got me thinking about some possibilities for moving forward:

1. a blog on ghanalives-belgiummoves.blogspot.com
if so, what would be the "mandate" for it. What would it be about? A way of updating myself and readers on life in Belgium, followed by a comparison of life in Ghana? On paper, it doesn't sound bad, but when you are in a work environment and home that emphasizes the qualitative as opposed to the quantitative (I maintain three blogs regularly!!!), then you begin to have some second thoughts.

The danger with something like this would be that whilst comparing Belgium with Ghana, which is virtually impossible, you would end up castigating unwittingly the country you so love. I'm talking about my OWN country of Ghana;-) How far do I want to do that?

Criticising is fine, but how much would people be able to connect to the proposed blog?

Then again, since there is no serious site out there encouraging Belgium/Ghana relations, it would be blazing the trail of sorts...

definitely some food for thought, but right now, I gotta go buy my paper.

Here are some links for good measure: [just learnt that Kalss Inn is owned by a Caribbean man called Kallos, or so...interesting]

http://www.brusselspost.com
http://www.brusselspost.com/s/belgiumheadlines/
http://www.lalibre.be


tags: ghana belgium ; living in ghana ; ghana-belgium; thoughts on ghana belgium ; ghana belgium blog ; gays in ghana; ghana homosexuality; accra brussels ; understanding belgium accra ; accra; ghana; i love accra; i love ghana;