Monday, December 05, 2016
Countdown to Christmas
Thursday, December 01, 2016
It's this time of the year again
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Today's discovery - A dilettante feminist
Tuesday, March 08, 2016
Adversity
Saturday, March 05, 2016
Documenting extreme poverty
A few weeks ago, I posted a picture on Facebook with a caption saying "You say you're poor. What about him?". It shows a makeshift dwelling abutting on a fencewall, just opposite the apartment building where I currently live.
The shack had to go.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Last but one
I think the next picture will be the full piece, so maybe now is the right time to explain. I've become "obsessed" with little squares. 1in (2.54cm) squares. But this is recent history. Flashback to childhood: I learned to knit at around 5 years old, and loved it. The first piece of garment I remember knitting myself and wearing to school was a hand-dyed, multicolour vest. Before that, of course, I tried my hand at the obligatory scarf, and the not less obligatory seamless garter stitch pullover everybody seemed to "need" in the 1970s.
I went on to knit for myself and for friends, sometimes as gifts, sometimes to order, challenging myself into lace stockings, Norwegian patterns, baby clothes, Chanel-ish suits or YSL inspired jackets. I was very good, if I say so myself.
Then I moved to Africa and felt there was no point for me to knit anymore, considering you hardly need warm clothes when the place you call home is 7° north of the Equator. Not being one to leave my fingers idle, I started a small crafts company doing to-order beadwork and sewing children clothes using local hand-dyed batik or African prints. It was brilliant, but what I enjoyed doing was to create the styles, not to produce 20+ similar garments, varying only in colour or size. Boredom started creeping in, despite the success, and the logistics of maintaining all sizes, all colours, for half a year (we don't really have seasons here, but clients need to know they'll find the same item for at least a few months) became cumbersome.
Out with crafts, in with arts. Yes. Just like that. After spending a whole year pondering on what really makes me tick, I decided that I loved the creative process, but not the commercial production side. I loved to make my (sometimes really crazy) thoughts become objects, but not to have to make them fit the taste that happens to be "en vogue" this season or appeal to the (wo)man in the street. One thing became obvious: when you remove any commercial aim from crafts, only two things remain: creativity and skill.
I love the idea of using a soft knitting yarn to create a rigidly square pattern. I love the age-old technique of knitting, and the very contemporary pixelated rendition.
This work is the first I'll publish online. I pixelated a black and white picture of a lizard and knitted only the dark parts. They are temporarily pinned to a plywood board where I traced lines forming 1in squares, to "block" them before transfering the pieces on a fabric that will be stretched on a frame, like a painting. It may not give an exact idea of what I'm aiming at, but please bear with me. It's a long, very long, process and all will be revealed in due time!
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Fast-forward...
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Ground floor (almost) completed
North-West:
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Building, African style
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Day 1+
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Floor treatment #2
Saturday, June 08, 2013
A glimpse of Papio-REI
Floor treatment
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
Emergency building
Monday, June 03, 2013
Experimenting with stone floor sealing
Monday, November 07, 2011
Wrap-around porch

Thursday, November 03, 2011
My shack in an orchard

Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Getting ready to move
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
An exercise in speculation
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Of the relevance of school teachings
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Project Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) and Gantt charts
"PERT is a method to analyze the involved tasks in completing a given project, especially the time needed to complete each task, and identifying the minimum time needed to complete the total project."
"A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work breakdown structure of the project. Some Gantt charts also show the dependency (i.e. precedence network) relationships betweek activities. Gantt charts can be used to show current schedule status using percent-complete shadings and a vertical "TODAY" line as shown here. "
First come, first served
"a service policy whereby the requests of customers or clients are attended to in the order that they arrived, without other biases or preferences. The policy can be employed when processing sales orders, in determining restaurant seating, on a taxi stand, for example. In Western society, it is the standard policy for the processing of most queues in which people wait for a service."
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Commenting is not complaining
Monday, September 21, 2009
The "National Cake"
I am the Minister for Information- Ghana. A young and active Lawyer born in Accra, I believe in Social Democratic ideals as the bedrock on which the national cake and development can be equitably distributed for all Ghanaians.
The President gave the assurance that he will ensure that the national cake is shared fairly and equitably among all Ghanaians, adding that no region will be sidelined in that regard.
“We want to make sure that this country gives back to its people the investment they made in us,” he emphasised.
He said the people of the Volta Region deserved better and that it is fair that they demand their fair share of the national cake.
To reduce poverty there is the need to rally behind the current NDC administration to make its promise of a “Better Ghana” a reality in order that the poverty level is significantly mitigated. Every individual must have a renewal of mind characterized by repentance towards bribery and corruption. This is the only way to ensure a fair share of the national cake among Ghanaians and ensuring equitable distribution of justifiable infrastructural development devoid of “kalabule” from any quarters.
Founder's Day
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Expatriate Ghanaians should behave as ambassadors of their country
Ghana says thanks to Randolph Y for old sneakers
Excuse me if I appear to be spitting in the broth, but how pathetic is this?
Hand-downs are not new (no pun intended) but this is pushing it a bit too far. If we like to stretch out our hands so much, couldn't we at least come up with a more dignified and more efficient way of channelling these probably well-meaning and sincere people's charity? Or am I being overly touchy? Beggars can't be choosers, they say. I believe we don't have to be beggars. Let's put together decent proposals. Those of us who have lived in developed countries all know that Westerners with a genuine desire to help less developed countries abund, but most have no idea what the actual needs are or how to proceed. Let's help them help us efficiently, if we really want their help.
The issue, as I see it, is that those of us who live abroad, no matter why they left their country (most of them to further their studies and acquire a valuable international work experience), should not forget that in the country where they chose or happen to reside, they are Ghana. For most people they meet day in, day out, they are as close an experience of the real Ghana as they will ever get. Whatever they say, do, like, or dislike, will be taken at face value as emblematic of what Ghana says, does, likes, or dislikes.
Projecting an image of undignified beggars, taking with bent knees and bowed head a few pairs of used sports shoes to help their country develop, is all wrong for a variety of reasons, but mainly because:
- they convey the idea that GHANA is so poor a pair of second-foot shoes will actually make a difference;
- they confirm the already far too widespread prejudice that GHANA (and Africa) has neither ability nor will to look at any kind of bigger picture;
- they are not using the fine education they suffered so much to acquire to put up decent proposals, using their in-depth knowledge of their host country to present development projects in a way that is understandable, acceptable, dignified, and enticing.
Obi mfiri εsono akyi nkɔbɔ aserewa boɔ.
One does not leave an elephant to throw stones at a sunbird.
(Don’t permit a small thing to lose you a large one.)
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Turn your perceived disavantages to advantage
The one who has crooked eyes looks into a bottle
(Some disadvantages can be turned to advantage)
One of the objections I hear most when encouraging people to work towards their own success, whatever success means to them (it does NOT have to be money), has to do with being somehow handicapped and hence, being bound to fail.
Nation-wide, individuals and –worse– public figures blame “the government” or “our poverty” for their lack of success. I’m not here to apportion blame, and will rather concentrate on these perceived weaknesses that we can turn to advantage.
I’m jobless: you have time to do things other people can’t, or won’t. That’s a definite and immediate advantage. Look around. Identify a successful person you want to emulate. Offer them to do something for them, even menial tasks, so that you can observe them, day in, day out, and pick some of their values, routines, habits, that explain their success and that you can make yours.
I’m broke: some jobs don’t require lots of capital. Plus, capital is not only money. It is land, manpower, skills… You may have one of several of these assets and don’t value them. You may procure some or several of these for free, and neglected to do so. Think about it again. Thinking is free. Don’t leave any stone unturned. What do you have to lose?
I am skill-less: nobody is skill-less. Think about what makes you believe you are skill-less. What is this specific skill that you wish you had and makes you think so low of yourself? Do you really need to acquire it? If so, devise a way of acquiring it but then, after careful analysis, maybe you don’t absolutely need it. Which other skills do you possess that you could turn to profit (again, this is not all about money, profit can be a lot of other things)? The world is diverse and would be severely unbalanced if everybody had the same set of skills. Just because you admire someone who has a certain set of skills doesn’t mean that you won’t ever be whole until you acquire them. Concentrate on what you do best and improve your skills in this area. Quality doesn’t remain ignored long. If you excel at what you do (know-how) and work at making it known (selling your skills) with integrity, looking at the long-term rather than trying to make quick chop-money for today, you’ll be on the path to lasting success, you’ll have self-respect and attract other people’s respect too.
There are numerous other reasons someone can give for not succeeding. For each one of them, be it lack of physical strength, neighbours' ill-will, or peer/family pressure, you need a revolution of the mind. Quit avoiding obstacles (usually by doing nothing, for fear of something worse than the current nothing-ness happening to you), and work towards using them as stepping stones. This is the way forward: change your mindset from one of impotence and dejectedness to one of proactive, positive and constructive thought.
Proverbs are full of insight and excellent principles. We tend to only see the negative aspects of tradition and it's often considered as a hindrance to 'progress'. Not so. Again, this is all a matter of how your mind is set. You are on a course to success, and you'll want to use wisdom from different sources to get you there.