Accra: Village, Slum or City?

Woke up this morning to see this article floating about on twitter. In this article, Eonline reporter  Alyssa Toomey writes, "The handsome boy-banders visited the impoverished village of Accra and took to Twitter to detail their eye-opening experience."

From what I can surmise, Comic Relief (responsible for Red Nose Day)  brought One Direction to Accra. Lord knows which parts of Accra they sent them to, but hey, they saw a slum or two.

This is what one member had to say about his trip:

Hey Niall, thanks for visiting my country (even though you only visited Accra) and thanks for wanting to help those who are poverty stricken but here's some thing you need to wise up to. Poverty is everywhere, even in your beloved United Kingdom. How is it that you managed not to notice that "poverty is real" before you visited my "impoverished village of Accra"?

In response to the article and the tweets from Niall Horan, GH twitter had a field day. Aside from tweets like mine which expressed outrage, a lot took to humour to voice their displeasure.

This one from Wanlov the Kubolor had me laughing my butt off!

 
I can't blame One Direction.  They're kids, really and hey, I can understand to some degree how in all the excitement, the band members could have tweeted like they did.  You can never see poverty and walk away untouched.  You'd have to be a cold bastard for that.

My beef is with the article on Eonline and thus, with  Alyssa Toomey. Ms. Toomey apparently failed to do her research before posting the article.  Even worse, the article either did not go through an editor, or her editor was an ignoramus. Accra is not an "impoverished village". So I asked Niall, One Direction and Eonline to please tell Alyssa that Accra is not a village.  None of them bothered responding but that's to be expected.  I tweeted at Alyssa herself asking her to edit the article and deliver an apology but received no response. I didn't really expect otherwise.

While others rant on about whether or not Accra is a "modern city" and complain about the "dirt" etc, I would like to make myself very clear.

A village is defined by my common dictionary to be:

1. A group of houses and associated buildings, larger than a hamlet and smaller than a town, situated in a rural area.
2. A self-contained district or community within a town or city, regarded as having features characteristic of village life.

Accra is very much an urban area, no matter what people choose to say about it. It is larger than a town. Perhaps the slum that was visited could be described as a village but my Capital City of Accra truly fails to meet the description of a village.  It is a CITY! I do not understand why the word village has come to mean in some people's minds, "a dirty group of mud houses with animals roaming freely about". Please! Not every village comes with complimentary death and squalor. Accra has a huge problem with sanitation and we need to get our people to stop throwing their crap in the street but just cuz some so called "villagers" have relocated to Accra from the rural areas etc does not mean it has become a village.

Every city the world over has its share of poverty. I don't really care about the author tagging Accra as impoverished.  Hey, if she thinks hotels like Movenpick Ambassador and La Palm Royal are signs of impoverishment, that's her problem. I can take her behind Dekalb in the Bronx or walk her through Harlem and show her some poor people. Would she like to call those places villages too? Even in Memphis, I saw squalor.The abject poverty I have witnessed will not let me attempt to fool anyone that we do not indeed have impoverished sections (and a lot of them) in Accra.

My problem is with western media always needing to portray Africa as a poverty ridden "country". They blatantly refuse to show the progress we're making. Growing up, I studied geography and read a lot so I knew most of the states of America and of course, that the Britain was a teeny weeny Island etc. It was all drummed into my head, whether I wanted to know it or not.  So how come Western kids do not know that Africa is a continent? How could Alyssa Toomey not have checked facts on Ghana and thus not know that Accra was our Capital city?

Later on in the day, I discovered that the article had been edited and the insulting phrase taken out. I feel better, knowing that at least one more person out there will think twice before writing about my homeland in a derogatory manner.  I don't care if you tell the truth about my country.  Talk about the poverty all you like (but talk about yours too and maintain the balance) but please do not make the mistake of belittling us.

To celebs like One Direction who love to do charity work, kudos. Your hard work is really appreciated but please for the love of all things Holy, do your homework. Don't mar the good work you do with ignorant comments.

My final two cents is meant for all Ghanaians. Can we fix up our city? Please? Accra is a health hazard and it's time we cleaned it up. We have town and country planning.  Why are their codes being ignored? Why are people dumping rubbish wherever they feel like? And what do we do about the mass exodus of people from rural areas to our urban centres? How long has that Slum at Korle Gono been in existence and what has been done to take care of it?

Until we make strides to improve things and better brand our nation, we will forever have ignorant impressions running around about this country and the rest of Africa. Let's work together to paint a better picture of our homeland.  It's the only one we have! 

God Bless Ghana!

~Daixy~

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The Adventures of Ginger Rayne Maxen.......

Naughty Ginger stole some fish
Silly Ginger got his dish
Dessert was best served with a bone in his teeth
That he couldn't dislodge with his hands nor his feet

So Mama Daixy called the vet
Together they chased down the frightened pet
Fished the bone out from mouth agape
Finally let him make his escape

Now Ginger lies curled up on mama's bed
Quite the adventure he has led
Perhaps now he will learn his lesson
And stop stealing meat from out the kitchen!!!

~Daixy

LOL.  I wrote this one crazy evening when I got called in from work to help with a kitty emergency.  Somehow, despite my insistence that I didn't want any more pets, the cats in the house (dogs too) have become my responsibility.  And I have to say that my little Ginger can be quite the handful.  From peeing on my bed (and me) on his first day, to stealing chicken from my dad's dinner, the little bugger has now taken to mewling outside my window at 5am (on the dot!)

I know the poem is cheesy but I couldn't resist making fun of him.  Oh and the picture is of him as a kitten, tucked up in his basket. He still pulls such contortionist positions when he sleeps ;)

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Pray Tell.....

Christina Nana Araba Asamoah

.......Why does death doll out
          Sorrow
            Pain
               Abject Misery?


Is it lunacy to want to shout;
         No!
           Remain!
             Stay with me!?


I would that he'd not knocked on our door
Touched your flesh with his icy digits
And snatched you from us

I'm afflicted with
Seeming streams of salty tears
Threatening to reduce me to a
Pathetic Puddle;
A pitiful mess.

You are gone way too soon
And I truly begin to wonder
Why death dolls out, such;
         Sorrow
           Pain
             Misery
Torment of never seeing you again.


~Daixy~


Some say we should have seen it coming.  After two strokes, why should we have expected her to survive?  But you see, those who say that didn't see her the last time I did, before she left for her home.  She'd stepped out of our guest room dressed to the nines in a gorgeous kaba and slit.  It wasn't really the outfit or her neatly pulled back hair that struck me that day though. It was the smirk she wore when she walked out the room and the confident stride she took up.  She looked ready to face the world...ready to fight.


I wish I'd taken a picture...

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Silky Smooth & Sexy......

My mop broke.  That's my excuse for being at shoprite at 8:30pm on a saturday evening.  If you've met me, you'll know that I dislike the mall with a passion and try to avoid it as much as possible.  Sadly, it's the one place I will visit when I need something like a self-squeezing mop or foreign foodstuffs I won't find at my local market.

So yeah, my mop broke and I chose to go get a new one on account of I needed to finish cleaning my room.  Now, I'm gonna quit yapping about mops before I end up gushing about this new one, with it's twist to squeeze feature and easy grip.

Something shocked me as I walked bast the bath products aisle! 

See, there was a section with razors.  I love razors and shaving cream. So I decided to check if they had Venus razors.  You know, the line that's made specifically for women?  I've run out and been looking for months for venus sticks in every pharmacy or store I visit.  I figured, "Oh the mall should have them".  Oh poor naive me.

No Venus sticks!  Everything From Bic to Gillette but no Venus?

I think it was the frustration of the endless searches and the fact that I'd gotten my hopes up that made me blurt out to my male companion "Why don't they have venus razors?  Don't Ghanaian women shave?!"  My voice was a bit too loud (usually I can be heard from accross a room lol) and I could hear the couple behind me laugh out loud.  My friend said, "No they don't.  Haven't you seen the hairy legs and the beards that could rival mine?"

Come to think of it, ghanaian women don't seem to like to shave their legs.  Or faces, or their bikini area.  I once had a roommate (in college) laugh at me when I complained that I couldn't find my favourite Gillette women's shaving cream on the market.  She laughed even harder when I switched to NAIR and asked me why I bothered.

Well I think women should live by the Triple S Principle. Yes they should have SSS= Skin So Soft.  And that oh so soft skin should also be SSS= Silky-Smooth and Sexy.  Nothing irks me more than seeing a woman in a short skirt and beautiful legs that are suffocating underneath a heavy layer of hair, and yet my fellow ghanaian women are reluctant to grab a razor, so much so that a whole shoprite will not bother stocking a special line of razors for women.  You've never had a perfect shave until you've tried a Venus razor, in my opinion.  Their special bikini area trimmer is a wonderful addition to a woman's bathroom routine and their soothing solution for razor bumps is marvelous!

I saw a woman once in town and she was sporting a hairy face.  For a while, I thought she was a man until i noticed the dress.  Even the men shave their beards.....why can't we get rid of ours when our bodies decide to produce too much testosterone?  Oh and that one time at the beach where this girl showed up in a bikini but had forgotten to trim her bikini area?  Like seriously?  And you see it all the time.  Pretty women who work at the bank, wearing their short tight little numbers with orangutan legs to match....

I have lots of questions.

First is, do ghanaian women truly object to shaving/waxing/trimming legs and other areas?

2. If you do remove/manage hair, what products do you use?
3. Why do you choose to shave (or otherwise) ?
4. If your local store stopped shipping whatever product you use for hair removal, would you demand that they restock?

5. Ghanaian guys, what do you think about women who shave/wax their legs?

6. And what of women who don't?  Would you be cool hanging out with a woman whose legs were much more hairy than yours?

Let's hear from you, people.  I want to know what the deal is with this.

I've Missed this space.  Hopefully work will afford me some time to revisit.  Thanks to those who still check out this space.  God Bless,

~Daixy~

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Mob Mentality: It Can Lead to Fail

Time: 3am

Date: 31st March, 2011

Location: Mensah Sarbah Hall Annex B, University of Ghana

Event: Apprehend a female thief and show her what's what.

Thursday had me busy at work. I ignored the internet and there's no radio in my office so I missed the debates. The evening saw me having the time of my life at the Labadi Beach Hotel with my family and I got home too late to bother with anything running the gossip rounds.  Fast forward to Friday, April first and my shock at reading a tweet by Nii Ayertey about Amina and how she could have been his sister.  I thought, "what's going on now?" and followed the link to this CitiFm story.  And then I prayed it was some sick April Fool's Joke.

At about 3am on March 31st, some male students of Mensah Sarbah Hall of the University of Ghana through whatever means, decided "to catch a thief". Unfortunately, there is NO correlation between these kids and the characters in the movie/book.  No one is quite sure how they caught this girl or how they got a confession out of her. We do know though that instead of handing her over to the police, they chose to beat her up. The girl in the video clearly has a black eye and unless she did that to herself trying to escape (silly excuse really) I call these boys women beaters. I do not condone mob action and always insist on turning over suspects to the police and for good reason. You never quite know who the mob has apprehended, and you sure as heck don't have anyone in a mob listening to reason.

I do not know at what point in time the boys chose to strip her naked. Parading her in the Hall, they did more than that.  They tore her clothes off of her, exposing her bra and panties.  Even those were not spared however, despite her pleas for mercy. Bottom line, they exposed her nether regions and proceeded to taunt her, while taking photos of her private parts and even going as far as to insert their fingers into her vajayjay.

University authorities are looking into this matter but I do not have any confidence in my Alma Mater. For years, students have been parading alleged thieves naked through the streets of campus (from Commonwealth Hall to the Main gate) in order to pond them.  And the university has always turned a blind eye to the happenings on. Debates yesterday on facebook had people comparing what happened to this girl to the pondings that were delivered to the boys who stole in the past.  Well let me say this, when you stole from Commonwealth or any Hall in the past, you had a choice.  Either you went to the shrine at La or were handed over to University Authorities or you had an option of being marched naked through the streets of campus with the culmination of a "decent" bath in the filthy pond at the main gate.

Amina was not given any of those choices. These boys tore, (shredded, call it what you will ) her clothes from her body and then did something that has never before been done, even by those troublesome Vandals. They crossed that fine line that exists in mob mentality where the role of criminal and victim are turned around.  See, once Amina was down on the floor clutching her tattered bra to her chest and begging the boys not to go any farther, she ceased to be a thief in my eyes.  She became a sexual assault victim, pleading with her attackers to have mercy on her.  She became a woman begging a gang of men not to violate her person. 

I don't know how many of you have ever been in such a situation before (I certainly hope you haven't) but I doubt there is anything more damaging than having a gang of men or women (or even a single person) out to sexually molest you and you laying in a defenseless heap with nothing but your tears to protect you.

I'm still trying to reconcile what they did and simply cannot find a single rhyme or reason. Who in their right mind captures a thief in their home and then decides "Let's see what they look like under those clothes".  Who in their right mind chooses to get their Johnses off when they find a burglar in their home.  "Oh thanks for comming to rob me.  I'd like to have the sex now" I do not think that I have ever been more ashamed to have been a student of the University of Ghana and I am glad now that I did not follow my father's footsteps and join Sarbah Hall.  He's certainly upset about it.

I'm against sexual abuse of any person (be they male or female, child or adult) or animal and can only describe what I feel right now as empathy.  I wept when I saw the video (couldn't finish watching it) and wish now that I hadn't been linked to it. If I cannot condone lynching a person for some crime, then how on earth can I condone sexually abusing them? I keep thinking what if this had been a case of mistaken identity? Just imagine for a second, for those of you who want to justify what happened to her, that these kids had made a mistake.  What if they'd grabbed the wrong person and abused them in such a manner?  What if your sister had been the one they'd grabbed in their frenzy? It shames me to have people I respect and admire tell me she deserved what she got and that this time she'll learn her lesson.  It shames me to hear people I expect to do something ask me if I knew this girl and demand to know "why are you being so emotional about this?"  

No one cares!!!  A clear case of human rights violation and no one cares!!! Someone had the guts to say on facebook that if it had been a man, we wouldn't be making so much noise about it. He said to "get it right.  It's human rights not women's rights" and I set him straight. We've been complaining for years about mob action.  Been speaking out forever about the marches to the uni pond. Clearly that was championing human rights and that was when it was even only men being abused. I have never heard of a case when a male thief was being paraded naked in the streets and the girls went over to stroke his manhood.  It's plain disgusting to think of if you ask me.

The reason this person seems to think the world champions women's rights is simply this.  Women and Children have always been weaker and therefore more defenceless.  Of course when you hear stories about human rights violation, they're going to be about women being raped or molested and children being treated the same or worse.  And men, when they are abused, shut up about it.  Show me one case where a man was abused sexually and people threw a party for his attackers. 

This guy made a case of "women rape men and women beat men".  PLEASE!!! It's anatomically IMPOSSIBLE for a woman to rape a man unless she chooses to sodomise him and if you showed me such a case, I'd be first to condemn it. If it had been girls fingering Amina, I would still be talking about it.  If it had been boys sodomising a man or woman, I would be talking about it.  If it had been boys groping a male thief, I'd STILL be talking about it.  SEXUAL ABUSE is wrong and any person that seeks to justify and rationalise it away and promotes it is a big fat filthy IDIOT and should experience it for themself.

I want to see Amina fight for her justice now.  The state can do whatever they want concerning the theft but now the state HAS to round up the students responsible and deal with them.  Amina deserves justice.  She has become one of the many victims of sexual abuse and if it's one thing that I know, Victims Never Forget. She didn't ask for it.  This is not her fault and instead of men and women applauding these depraved students for their actions, I would like for there to be a united voice, calling for Justice, calling for heads to roll.  The university needs to be strict when they apprehend these students and the State should be well prepared to fight this to the end.  

I also hope that we will find a way to talk to our students.  We need to get it into people's thick skulls, right from childhood, that sex is not a tool for punishment. 

Another thing that worried me was the way in which the video went viral.  I know some people meant well and wanted the world to see the depravity of man but did anyone think for a second that it would be adding more insult to this girl's injury?  I sat down to think and I wondered, would I be okay with it, if my rape was taped and spread over the internet? Would you be fine if your friend, sibling, mother was attacked and the video making its rounds to every cellphone and computer, not only in your country but going as far as to hit the internet, where the entire world can see? So I asked the person who uploaded the video to delete it.  Did he? When I checked at 3pm yesterday, he hadn't done that.  Now, his facebook profile has been deleted. Thank God for facebook crawler bots and the report violation button :)

No matter how you look at it, there is no "justice" in what was done to Amina. This is a human being (forget her crime) who was sexually abused by a gang and she's never going to get over it.  I insist that we do not simply sweep this under a rug.  I'll keep talking about it and demand that we hear something tangible from the Ghanaian government and the University authorities.  I demand that something be done to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. You can be sure that I'll be writing more about this, that I'll continue to make a nuisance of myself until someone in authority says something. And it had better not be along the lines of  "It is not nice and especially when it involves students who are supposed to know better..." and then nothing is done. We have a judiciary and laws have been put in place to handle these things.  Now I want to see these laws and their enforcers DO THEIR DAMN JOB!!

My heart goes out to Amina.  No matter what her crime was, she definitely did not deserve such a punishment and I pray that true justice is served.

~Daixy~

Related articles

• 'Woman thief' stripped naked and molested by University students (dustyfootgirl.wordpress.com)
• Mr. Hollatainment had this to say over on his blog
• Graham Knight throws in his two cents 
• Brian had this to say over at GhanaWeb 
• Yaw Adu-Gyamfi is on Fire
• The Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs had this statement to make
• Story over on the Daily Guide
• You May want to read what I have to say about Boobs, Vajayjays and Feet. 

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Rain Rain Go Away.....

Image via Wikipedia

Thunder Scares me

Lightning too

All I want to be

Is curled up beside you

~Daixy~

Waking up to the roar of thunder and flash of lightning, I'm suddenly reminded of the scene from "The Sound of Music" where Maria sings and dances with the children about "My Favourite things" and not feeling "So Bad". Well, Maria was a nun.  What works for me on rainy days is a special someone to curl up next to, preferably under a warm blanket on the couch with a good black and white movie running on the telly.  I don't care what Maria says, Lil' Miz Daixy insists "Nothing beats having someone warm to hold you when it's raining cats and dogs.' and "besides, my curtains need a wash and aren't so good for rubbing my face in".  Cary Grant in "Arsenic and Old Lace" does it for me every time.

Being alone on this cold dreary night and wanting something to distract me, I've chosen to make myself hungry by watching video tutorials on the art of sushi. It sure beats staring at the lightning flashing at my window and jumping every time the thunder rolls.

It's been a while since I played with food and now I must find myself a bamboo mat and wasabi, and someone to take me on a date to a good sushi restaurant ;)

Once I'm done rummaging through the fridge, I'm gonna find me a good book; another thing Maria didn't consider (music freak) lol.

What do you do on stormy nights? Love or hate them? And if you like old movies, what are your favourites?

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Corrupt Conductors Conniving to Cheat!...

Image by acameronhuff via Flickr

So last weekend, Obed Sarpong of "Ready to Chew" gave me a copy of Ayi Kwei Armah's "The Beautiful Ones are not yet Born.  In the beginning chapter, a corrupt conductor confesses, albeit subconsciously to cheating his passengers.  I was successfully grossed out in that chapter (and the following one), especially by the actions of the equally disgusting driver against "The Man", whose sole crime is falling asleep in the bus.

Today's post isn't about the book, however.  I haven't finished it yet.  Multiple tasks at work and elsewhere have had me so busy that chapter three is as far as I've made it.  I'm not going to rant about how horrible it is, for me not to wrap it up, especially as I'd usually be done in less than two hours but I will say that I will finish it before the next week begins (I need some me time).

It's really sad that corruption still runs rampant in Ghana today.  Things have changed since Independence and yet people still find it necessary to lie and cheat their way out of their so called poverty.  Disabled persons who have been trained by the "Ghana Federation for the Disabled" refuse to practice their crafts and prefer to litter the streets.  One cured leper (at least I hope she's cured) hangs about the National Theatre, thumping her stump (for want of a better word.  it's 4am and I can't think) against private car and taxi windows to demand money.  Not only does she bang incessantly on the glass, but she hurls insults and curses at you when you refuse to hand over money. SMH.

A seemingly blind man approaches my car and even without my uttering a word greets me with "My daughter, good morning."  Eii!  With my windows rolled up, how did you know I was a woman?  And a daughter at that! I sincerely doubt that he was able to smell my perfume.  How sad does one have to be to pretend to be blind?  Before someone jumps on my neck, I'll say this now.  There was no one standing next to him.  This was on the flag staff road and he was all alone. My perfume must have been really strong for it to permeate glass, plastic and metal. Or he's the ghanaian version of the daredevil.  You take your pick.

Even when the avenues are created for the less fortunate to make a little something of themselves, it seems the need to stick it to the man overwhelms the desire to fend for oneself.  It saddens me every time I recall a friend's story about how her father offered  a Chadian woman a job so she could take her children off the street.  Would you believe the woman run her finger on her skin then on his and asked if he was right in the head?  That "how can I come and work for you, a slave?"  And yet she was okay with standing by the road with her kids and begging that slave for money.  

What is this country and the world for that matter heading for? There are people willing to help, and yet someone sits somewhere and decides that they are above a type of work.  Sad thing is, I know how my friend feels cuz my own dad had a similar response when he offered to help one of them (eugh I hate using that term, "one of them".  Generalisation is awful! Hopefully you get that it's not my intent). After getting such an answer, you pretty much feel like dirt and that it's not worth the effort to help anyone at all.  This is what happens when we let this evil fester in us.  It becomes a dog eat dog world, with everyone looking out for themselves.

Now why am I so pissed off?  Well I went to visit a friend at Spintex.  I knew the place to be "Flowerpot Junction" Not having a car anymore, I chose to save money and take a tro tro instead of a taxi.  The tro tro to the Accra Mall was no problem but I've only driven to that area like twice and had no idea what the stops were called.  My friend told me to tell them I was going to Junction, so I did and paid 55p for the trip from the station to "junction".  Now it soon became clear that junction was farther away than my actual stop.  The lady next to me had said she was going to flowerpot and I realised her stop was the same as mine.  She told me the fare to flowerpot was 40p. So we both alerted the mate (conductor) and as i got out of the car, I asked for my change.  The mate slapped something into my hand and before I could raise my head, the tro tro shoved off.  What was in my palm? A 5p coin.

I had been swindled!  Me!  The Darling Daixy!  

I'm still amazed.  It's not the fact that he took my 10p.  Bah to heck with that.  It's only going to buy me water.  Not enough to get me gum even, and yet it still rankles.  Just because he realised I did not know where the junction was, he'd pilfered my hard earned 10p.  That's what annoys me ; being underestimated and written off as some foolish newbie who does not and will never know the ways of the street.  I felt (and still do) violated and insulted.  A girl steps out of her comfort zone (what business do I have in the Spintex Area? eh) and the first thing that happens is someone takes advantage of her?  I'm really getting tired of this.  Stuff keeps happening that digs me deeper into my jaded shell.  Soon, there'll be none of the humanity left in me, just a spectre with a strong conviction that she must never be taken advantage of. Much like the rest of the nation is becoming. 

As though I wasn't bad enough.  LOL

~Daixy~

*tro tro: mini van for public transport

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The Ghanaian Engine That...

Turned Lil' Miz Daixy Into a Giggling Idiot.

So a couple of Months ago, my buddy Tetekai over at Lyrix Chronicles wrote about "Wanting a TsooTsoo Train".  She bemoaned the lack of what we've come to recognise as a "proper train".  Thanks to our childhood books and cartoons/movies, a lot of us (myself inclusive) seem to think of trains as engines with carriages; ergo the disappointment at seeing a ratty old cargo train.

Well, I've already said this to her, but can't keep from telling everyone else that I saw a real live choo choo train! 

So umm....a friend kidnapped me Friday evening to go get my hair fixed at "Melon Salon" at Dzoworlu (you really need to check this place out).  Let's just say, I really needed a proper trim.  Anywho, I was waiting for my turn when I heard this alarm and ignorant moi, asked "what the heck's going on out there?"  Well, my buddy just turns to me and says, "Oh that's just the train". 

Just the train? Just the train?!!! Never in my entire life living in Ghana, have I ever seen a train.  Not even the snarly cargo thing that Tetekai saw. So what did this grown woman do?  I ran out of the salon to stand by the roadside, yelling for him to grab a camera.  Lo and behold, there really was a train and it was loading passengers.  "The train moves to and from Tema" my friend says and all the while, I'm asking ridiculous questions he can't possibly answer.  "How long has it been running?" "You mean to say it's been running since we were kids?" "Oh my gosh, how big is it? How fast can it go?" I was truly blown away by the fact that Accra has a running "train". This one, in fact.

source: http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/

Yes, I waited out there for the train to finish loading and then watched it finally pull out.  I counted six (6) carriages! Did I mention I was holding my friend's hand the whole time? (Poor guy didn't get why I was so excited, lol) My mind must have swapped with that of a four year old or something because I really did giggle, gasp and laugh with obvious glee as the red, gold and green worm snaked it's way out of my sight.

And then I called Tetekai to scream about it, like the excited schoolgirl I am inside!  It didn't end there though.  While pinned under the good old comb and scissors, the train passed by on it's way from Tema.  I forgot to ask where in Accra it ends.  You'd think I'd have my fill of trains after that, right?  No way!  As we were driving from Dzoworlu into Osu, we were stopped right before the train tracks.  Why? The train was passing through, AGAIN on its way to Tema.  Of course, that had me on the phone once more, rubbing it into poor Tetekai's face (or ears, if you will) that I'd seen a real train.

I'm not joking about this.  Forget the subways in New York and such that I've seen and been on, I have NEVER set eyes on any sort of train in Ghana  (unless you count the kiddie trains at the Efua Sutherland Children's Park).  

Now all that remains for me to do is take a ride on Accra's CHOO CHOO TRAIN!!!

Happy New Year!!!

~Daixy~

PS. I know it's so very American of me to say "choo choo" instead of "tsoo tsoo" but until I heard Keteke's Tsoo Tsoo in 2000, I had no idea ghanaians called it that lol.

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Light vs. Dark......

Image by PeterLinLin via Flickr

Wiry vaporous spectres

Dance about the naked blaze

Their lithesome frames 

Gyrating, Sensuous, Mesmerising

Engaged in haphazard flight.

Piercing the sinister shadow

They make their valiant attempts

To strike at the dark nothingness

That lies beyond the lonesome light.

Baleful, Lurking,

Ever- patient it awaits

That inevitable moment

When, exhausted,

The hapless flame

Delivers its final flicker.

And eventually, spent,

The extinguished light of love,

And its silent wraiths,

Are laid to rest within

The gloomy bowels of  the night.

~Daixy~

I'd like to thank the Electricity Company of Ghana for the inspiration for this piece.  The past four nights spent in darkness have afforded me the opportunity to play, as I did as a child, with candles.  Happy New Year's people.  May 2011 bring out the best in us.  God Bless.

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Chotto Kawaiiii

Image via Wikipedia

Driving out with dad today, I was busy running my mouth off when I heard a little voice calling, "bye bye..."  Looking up at the SUV next to me, I noticed the little tyke waving at me from the passenger window.  Forgetting the point I was making to my dad, I found myself turning into a squealing baby lover.  "Aaaaaw aren't you cuuuuuute!  Buh Bye......"  Complete with giant smile and waves. It's this quarter life crisis I tell you!  I can't resist cute and adorable children!!!!!




And then I spent most of the rest of the drive gushing to dad about how cute the little boy was and how when I have kids I'd want them to be as sweet as that one.  It wasn't until later that I realised,

• He was in the front seat
• On his mother's lap
• He wasn't in a car seat!!!
• His mother didn't smile at me (maybe she doesn't like people complimenting her son and refusing to compliment her :P) 
• I want one of my own!!! Not in the distant future, or next year, or tomorrow....I want one NOW!  The boyfriend better get to work fast lol.

I got nothing but mad rambling today.  Sorry.......I'm going to give myself a good work out and get off this happy high lol
~Daixy~

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Up to here......

Image via Wikipedia

I wish that I didn't have to feel
For numbness to mask the pain
That I had space to heal
And didn't have to see your cheating face again

I wish you'd just leave me be
To live my life in peace
Must you keep tabs on me
Ensure that I'm still down on my knees?

Don't you think you've done enough
To tear my world apart
To shatter dreams of my gullible youth
And trample on my oh so fragile heart?


I'm sick and tired of crying
Of wondering what I did wrong
Even though I realise that you were a lying
Cheating Ass all along!

Congratulations!
You almost broke my spirit
But you really should cease your jubilations,
You see, because I've finally hit my limit

So I'll say this one last time
I've had enough of you
And I'll get over your insidious crime
If it's the last thing I do

Quit trying to check out my facebook
And calling me up on the phone
Don't come over to give me that puppy dog look
And for goodness sakes, LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!!!

~Daixy~

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When life is just too hard to deal with: Myths debunked

"Ghanaians don't get depressed,"  This comment had me laughing early last week.  "it's americans like you who flip out over everything."   

First of all, I am very much a Ghanaian.  I simply open myself up to other cultures :P 

Second, just cuz I've had a very interesting past and it's scarred me a bit doesn't mean I'm mentally unsound.  Why should it take a crazy person to think about steps to prevent suicide? I find it odd that the second I try to talk about rape, abuse, suicide or depression, it becomes a game of driving nails into dry concrete with me bare fingers!

Third, dealing with my issues shouldn't stop me from facing up to reality and saying, I want to do something about this.  Doesn't have to stop me from starting whatever movement I want or lobbying my local MP or regional health director for infrastructure I believe should be in place. And now that that rant is over, I can get down to the business off the day.

What I'd like to do today is debunk a few myths about self harm and suicide.  I can't cover them all and I'm not going to explain what they are.  Links below should be sufficient methinks....

Image via Wikipedia 

Myth:  Suicides don't occur in Ghana.

Fact:  Suicide occurs all over the world. In fact, it is the 10th leading cause of death globally. Over a million people commit suicide every year all over the world.  Sadly, no one seems to be collecting data on suicide in Ghana and most of Africa.  We do not as yet have the necessary systems in place for reporting and recording of suicide attempts and successes. The map above is as accurate as the WHO can make it.  Without actual data, there is nothing they or any other organisation can do.

To save face, families in Ghana bribe police officers and medical practitioners into changing the cause of death.  This is most especially so when they are christian.  As such, the police and hospitals here very rarely report such cases.

Myth: People hurt themselves or attempt suicide for attention.

Fact: Au contraire. People who self harm are simply trying to feel, something anything. They usually are detached from this world and feel they are alone, unloved, repressed. Cutting, burning, they turn to pain as they cannot feel happiness, love. Other times, they are punishing themselves for some crime they perceive they committed.  A lot of people suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) will do this. Quite often they have suffered physical or sexual abuse and are unable to deal with the psychological fallout.  The result therefore is a need to externalize the pain, to "make it real."

Myth: People who talk about suicide are looking for attention.

Fact: People who talk about suicide are reaching out for help. They've thought about it and are scared that they'll actually go through with it.

Myth:  If you're depressed, just make yourself happy.  Snap out of it.

Fact:  If it was that easy, your friend, family member, colleague wouldn't have the cuts, burns and bruises they do, and most importantly?  They wouldn't be thinking of ending it.

Myth:  Suicide occurs without warming.

Fact:  Usually, suicide victims will leave some sort of clue as to what they intend to do.  There is always some verbal or behavioural hint. Most often though, these clues are ignored or not taken seriously.

Myth:  Asking someone if they are thinkingof suicide will plant the idea in their head.

Fact: Talking about suicide will NOT give a person who is not considering it ideas.  If you feel the need to ask someone this question, then most likely they've left clues that led you to that conclusion.  Asking them will not make them go out and do it. A lot of suicidal persons will be relieved to have someone ask them about it.  It's a huge burden to bear by oneself and someone who has been struggling with the urge and wants a friend to talk to will actually be grateful for the opportunity to share some of their fears.

Myth:  Once a person has attempted suicide, he or she will never try it again.

Fact: If your friend or loved one has made the attempt before, please keep an eye out, especially when they are under stressful conditions.  People who make attempts and fail are most likely  to come up with a different plan of action, with the sole aim of actually going through with it.  Perhaps the last time you were lucky enough to grab him before he ran under a bus.  Well next time, perhaps your friend would have researched on the number of pills he needs to swallow and would have made sure to lock his door.

Please do not treat any threat of suicide lightly.  If you suspect someone of having suicidal thoughts, talk to them. Find out if they have a definite plan. Someone who has gone so far as to set out a plan (or several plans) has had a lot of time to prepare and could take action at any minute. Try to get them to talk about their problems and see if you can get them to go see a counselor. Look for signs of self harm. Usual suspects are long sleeves (even in hot weather) to hide ligatures on the arms and a reluctance to dress in shorts/skirts. When your friend, daughter, colleague suddenly changes their style of dressing to cover up, it's usually a sure sign of distress.

Sources and links:

WHO WSPD statement

International Association for Suicide Prevention 

Self Harm
Self harm on the BBC

~Daixy~

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Random event on the road in Accra........

Timeline: Yesterday

Image via Wikipedia 

Venue: 37 Military hospital traffic light.

"That monster hates my guts!!" Always has! Like, this bad old monster waited till it was my turn to move through the stand-still traffic to turn it's angry red glare on me!!!  (Like it always does!!!) Anywho, so I'm on my way to work and the light stops me, and there's this trotro in the lane next to me who overshot the light by like a metre. I'll tell you why I'm mentioning that in a minute.So I'm grumbling and cussing at the light when this guy comes up to my window and asks me to buy some of his grapes.  They are big and juicy looking but I'm not carrying any loose change and don't feel like waiting for him to try and change a big note but I digress.



This young grape seller (did I mention that he looked HAWT?  He shouldn't be selling by the roadside)  he begins lambasting this woman in the backseat of the trotro.  Apparently she dropped a used "pure water" sachet out the window and into the street.  The woman ignores said young man and rolls her eyes.  The young man keeps complaining then bends over to pick up the bag.  It's what he does next that's got me grinning even now.  Just as the light turned green, he shoved the bag through the woman's window and into the trotro!


It is so refreshing to see that people still care about the environment.


Or is it because the AMA holds the street hawkers to task when the area is filthy, hmm?  LOL


~Daixy~

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Music

Image by nova3web via Flickr

My voice; the anthem

To which your body must rise

Erect, rigid; in token salute.

Acquaint yourself with the quake

From your powerful thighs

For I intend to play all day

~Daixy~ 

Seems this is a naughty week for me.   I know I'm leaving myself open but here it is.  I have no idea what's gotten into me :P but I'm using this as continuation to Chemistry.  Class is in session ;)

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Broken.....

image source

I am

A broken record

You’ve coaxed out all I have to offer

Played me one too many times

I am

Abused, ruined

Condemned to suffer

Victim of your elaborate crimes

I am

A fallen star

Landed in your gutter

I sparkled once!  Now I’m covered in grime

I am

Your broken record

You’ve pried out what I have to offer...

For the very last time

~Daixy~

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The Skin I'm in.....

image source

Sweet like chocolate
Smooth as silk
Dark like coffee
Skimped on the milk
Redolent of a lotus field

And blessed with a mellifluous tongue,
I Am Regal, African, Mother, Proud 

 A true gift of the gods.
Now, is it any wonder that I refuse to yield?

~Daixy~

Dunno why I was up at 2am but at least I got something out of it.  I know I'm a pseudo feminist and African but does anything stop me from displaying my roots? :P  Ghanaian girls, please don't shoot me for picking a pic of a Nigerian model.  I beg oh! 

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Too much Anime: Dreaming of Ninjas on Motorcycles

It's very rare that I dream.  My nights are often spent working or writing/reading, maybe fooling around with my japanese lessons.  (Anata wa genki desu ka?)  Anywho, I stay up all night doing whatever I feel like till I pass out from exhaustion and then, I sleep so deep that I do not recall anything that I may have dreamed. If I'd dreamed....



One night (I can't remember when) I awoke to the remnants of a dream and was so amazed by the sheer stupidity of it that I haven't ever managed to get it out of my mind.
I was walking down the Legon-Atomic road, late at night.  I remember I was on the left side of the road so Presec was across the street from me.  This dream placed me on the road before construction had began on it.  You know, when there were tall enough grasses for the purse snatchers and escaped mental patients to hide in.
So I was walking down the road, see? (I hope the peeps from Brooklyn don't "feed me to the fishes" for this lol) Minding my own business like everybody else that's nutts enough to walk out alone at night, when I noticed a light in the distance. After a few seconds standing there like an idiot and watching the light come closer and closer, I realised it was a motorcycle.  What struck me as strange was the fact that, well, it had a NINJA on it!!!

image source

Yes, people, a ninja.  With full face mask, hitate, katana and all. Fascinated, I stood there while the bike came to a stop right next to me and the ninja swiped out his katana, pointed it at me, and said "Give me your purse".  Like any sensible human faced with a ninja on a motorcycle, I gulped and handed over my handbag.  I even went farther to hand over my earrings! :o
Now get this.  The ninja grabbed his loot, hopped off the bike and ran giggling into the bush to check on his spoils.  Like wtf?  A giggling ninja?  A stupid ninja?  (Gosh but I have stupid dreams....)
'So,' one would ask, 'what did Lil' Miz Daixy do?"  Why, what any rational woman would do in such a situation, of course.  Knowing full well that I could not ride a motorcycle, I wheeled it across the street to the Presec School, where two security guards were relaxing under a Nim tree. Lord knows why they were sitting there watching me get robbed but at least I remembered to yank out the keys (unlike the silly ninja)  and then proceeded to walk towards the Madina Police Station. Oh and the ninja had no idea his bike was gone.
Please don't ask me what happened next.  I couldn't recall anything else upon waking.  But my family and friends have had a good laugh at this one.  I actually think about it when I find myself in a mood.  Cheers me right up :)
Anywho, Greetings from Bolga and all that.  Don't miss me too much. I'll be home soon....
~Daixy~ 

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Randomness from a Road Trip........

So, driving up to the Upper East Region of Ghana, I realised that I'm still very much the babbler. And when I babble, I come up with some pretty random topics. Here's some of the stuff that I came up with during conversation while on the road;

1.  In the aftermath of the events of this year's Africa Cup of Nations, do Algerians drive through Togo?

2.  Reasons why one should not build a  log cabin in Ghana:
a) Termites will have a field day, regardless of the treatment methods you employ
b) You'll be an easy target for estranged family.  All they'll need is some kerosene and a lighter/match and you're toast.
c) Dogs will forever be marking their territory on your house
d) Shoddy Ghanaian electrical systems plus a log cabin = bad idea
e)  Who you gonna call to build your log cabin in Ghana?  Do you call a carpenter, get an artisan from the art centre to carve one up for you?....

 3. No matter how things have changed, there's no way that a grown man will/can accept a "small girl" being in charge of any project coordination, let alone controlling the money associated with it.

4. I love cheese, books and things on TV, in no particular order.

5.  Christians are quite possibly the biggest hypocrites there are out there.  We claim to be like Christ, but are nothing like the Son of God.  How do we profess love, and yet turn out to be the strongest "haters"?

~Daixy~

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From UER with love

So, this little lady has gotten herself into another adventure.  Unfortunately, I can't go into details about my trip and I'll have to be careful what pictures I put up, but Lil' Miz Daixy is off to save the world again, one little kid at a time.  Last time I was up there, I got to go to the border between Ghana and Burkina.

Yes, that's me at the border.  I also got to go nutts and messed about with a 99 yr old croc.

Now I'm known to my friends and family as Shiela or Dundee ;)  Hopefully, I'll have the chance to see more of the area this time around.   I can't wait to see what else I can discover :)

I'll have internet and will be checking up on the blogosphere, but I doubt I'll be doing much posting or commenting.  Yes, I will be stalking you lot!  Anywho, I'm off for my first day of teaching kids inappropriate things to say ;)  Holla @ y'all later

~Daixy~

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15 signs you're watching too much anime......

1. You dream about Ninjas on Motorcycles (post on this coming soon)
2. You refer to your life as your Nindo (way of the ninja)
3. You find yourself learning Japanese so you do not need the subtitles
4. You find yourself practicing hand seals and jutsu poses
    b. You KNOW all the hand seals and jutsu poses.
5. You know what a deathnote is and have plans on how to use it
6. You know what Shinigami, Hollows and Arancars are and can explain the difference between the three
7. You write fanfiction
8. You're listening out for your zanpaktu's name

9. You think Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi are the sexiest personas
10. You cried when Jiraiya died
11. You cried when L died and wished it'd never happened
12.Your facebook profile picture is of your favourite anime character

13.You wish there was a comic/anime convention nearby so you could wear your ninja costume

14. You're wondering who on earth is going to play Yoruichi in the movie version of Bleach
15.You hated "the last airbender" movie (actually, even people who hadn't seen the anime hated this one)

Don't ask, and I won't have to lie lol.  What I can tell you is that I've been binging on anime and drama this weekend :)

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