Growing hard and slow! Energy Solutions gives birth ...

Dear Reader,

It's been a journey here. Since I last shared what ESF had been up to here, I have not had the chance to update again. There HAS been much being done, pursued, and dreamt up. One thing is sure though ... I have been able to keep up the dream, and I have not allowed challenges to tire me out.

Our "Born.Again" recycling label has been much of a humbling success, especially our journals. They have been bringing amazing feedback, and so I decided to follow that path even as ESF's more demanding and bigger projects continue stewing and growing.
What resulted is a market-competitive recycling and upcycling line of products, spearheaded currently by our journals going to fairs, being stocked in bookshops (currently at SyTris Bookshop, in the Mark Cofie Building, Osu-Accra and soon to come to 2 more shops in Accra) and being posted to people who order outside of Ghana.

"Born.Again" Journals on sale at the Natural Beauty Bazaar (Dec. 2012: image by OneFotos, GH)

ESF via "Born.Again" also recently joined in the 1st-ever Ghana Blog & Social Media Awards as Donors (see us at the right-hand column bottom row) supplying premium edition journals to the 13 winners of the various categories. So if you are a blogger or own a social media account OR know any of those you LOVE, please go and nominate them there, and there could just be an award with your/their name on it! That day (23rd March) is also the day for our 2nd Annual BlogCamp Ghana, and you can have a gander at the programme for the day. Curious to see who are behind BloGH? Just click on Team, and fill yourself up on the goodies ... and if you want to join the Association of Ghana Bloggers, you are right at home on that website. I am one of them, and I can assure you, it rocks!

We will also be working with a team of literary enthusiasts and poets to promote literacy, creativity-in-literacy, and recycling in Ghana amongst selected campuses in the country, all via our new baby :

Outdooring our logo

So ... 2013 has started in earnest!
For updates, always visit and like us at : Energy Solutions Foundation (Facebook)

Sustainable foolishness ... green lunacy

Dongomi! Dongomi! Dongomi! Green is now the new global business. In Ghana, it is even more of the new business. "Pure water" po nfa ni hu. (trnsltn: Pure water business better go find a beach to lay on). It’s so attractive not because it is such a business for most of those in it, but because, to them, it's just another phase of career options. Everyone is “going green”, everyone is collecting plastic, paper, shit (yes, you read right) … let’s go do some too, dude. And so, we have those collecting the pure water satchets and turning it in for a neat little sum, those sewing together the snippets of fabrics the tailors usually throw out and reselling them in the now very popular "asasaa", those making accessories and items out of plastic discards in the trail of Trashy Bags, the (foreign) companies acquiring human faecal and urine matter to generate biogas, those of them involved in bio-projects, but more disturbingly, those who are doing all of it in the hopes of making a quick buck. 

God bless 'em! The streets are now cleaner and free of most plastic waste, we have less faeces being dumped into the sea, we have a new vibrant phase in our fashion industry, we have more unique products on the market, and we are getting some foreign investment to help dispose of our own waste!

We have young, old, middle-aged; foreign, Ghanaian; tycoons and CEOs, job-seekers, fresh graduates, young dreamers ... all charging for green/eco/bio opportunities in the country. 

As at 2010 and 2011, I was so excited about this, figuring that the worst that could happen was for the country to benefit from the activities, and for them to rub off on all of us, especially those who litter most, and cause a sustainable decrease in those negative activities; also, to give us more options for our lighting and fuel. But 2012, and (the horror) 2013 sees a vibrant green economy with very little green education, advocacy, policies, platforms, and sustainable impact on the people and the environment; even more expensive petroleum and the ever-irregular electricity supply. Yes, the EPA of Ghana did well last year to put out a lot of radio adverts (and newspaper and television too) on NOT tossing rubbish and waste into the gutters, bushes, on the ground, and other despicable behaviours. I was very happy to see this because it changed a fair number of Ghanaians, and it is something they MUST continue. But how consistent has this been? Have they collated feedback to improve or change tactics? Are people learning? Can anyone who needs to dialogue with them find welcome or have an easy time getting responses? Will they share their findings with the public?

How many of the entities doing the waste disposal, biogas projects, cleaning the cess-points of the country, etc have community forums and engagements to let the people know what is being done, why it has to be done, and teach them how to reduce that kind of waste/waste disposal?

Why do several countries and entities, especially the Ministry of Energy, feel that it is funny for them to keep competing with themselves to announce the start of the biggest, most ambitious solar-farms and solar projects ever in Ghana, and never get seen again? Do they think we have the same funny-bones as them? I don’t think we do because we aren’t laughing yet.

Even worse, there is the Ministry of Environment, Science & Technology and the Ministry of Energy, and the Ministry of Lands & Natural Resources. 3 ministries that each hold a responsibility to an aspect of the country’s environmental and green issues. Full stop. Looking at me for an expansion of that point? Yeah, me too.

Should they not be identifying young, radical but efficient Ghanaians working on environmental issues and make some funds and training available for some of their projects or ideas, and monitoring them through the years? How about training people in Community Leadership with focus on Waste/Bio/Green Energy & Fuel issues so they facilitate dialogue, ideas, and technology actualizations in neighbourhoods and school campuses? How about urging Ghanaians to be each other’s keeper, and point out to people who litter that it is wrong and they must not keep doing it? How about BANKS GIVING LOANS FOR GREEN ENERGY?! We see y’all crooking your darn fingers at us, and crooning love-songs of loans for nails, lipstick, shoes, cars, weddings, schoolfees, and holiday trips, yes we do!

Everyday, I see well-dressed men, respectable-looking women, sexy ladies, grown-up couples, greasy-looking thugs and homeless-looking women dropping litter JUST LIKE THAT. Like they breathe. So easily. I see schoolchildren walking and dropping food litter on the ground without so much as caution or fear that adults are around. I ALWAYS berate as softly as possible, and if the person’s reaction calls for it, then I pull out my big fierce attitude and hammer home. Yes indeed. Wharumean? Nansins.

You all should learn to be environmentally conscious. And it’s about time we call on the government to begin making firm plans for the country’s future starting now – less littering, educate on waste disposal, PROVIDE waste disposal facilities, give us alternatives for lighting, fuel, and energy and put a heart into GREEN.ENVIRONMENT.ECO.BIO.SUSTAINABILITY.RECYCLING.WASTE.issues.

Filth is becoming us too easily. All the excuses of “But, they sweep here everyday!” … “This is the gutter, not your living room for goodness’ sake!” … “Leave me alone, crazy lady!” … “What are you gonna do? Beat me?” … “Please Madam I am sorry. (Pause) I cannot put my hand in the gutter to pick it.” … “Please okay. (squeezes face and gives me a middle finger when I turn my back)” and best of all, the notion that they have tossed the trash away from themselves, so they are okay, but do not realise that if they want it far away from themselves, nobody else does either; all these must change to “I will put in the dustbin when I get home/office/where I am going” … “I will poop and dig a hole in the ground and bury it WELL, without a plastic bag” … “I will know where to take my household disposables and e-gadgets” ... "I will learn to save energy and/or use it wisely, no matter if I am rich enough to buy a continent".

       … or are we just a bunch of weak-minded, shallow-disciplined plebs? *hiccup*

BornAgain! Funding our projects from within ... will it work?

Our eco label ... "BornAgain!" ... of old tyres (Line1)

You may all know by now that I have spent the past 5 to 6 months trying to raise funds for a Biogas plant for a little village in the Upper West Region, called Tuori. If you don't know about it yet (*giving you a strange look*), then click here and have a gander: Energy for Tuori (and all the others)!

Well, being a busy person who does many other things, and the NGO being a self-funded one, you can imagine how difficult it's been  keeping the momentum going in the face of the general suspicions and financial hardships of most Ghanaians ... N O T  G O O D. 
Haha. Okay, so now I can laugh about it. 
But only because I spent the last 2 months of the past 6 months of the fundraiser building up a careful structure for internal funding for the NGO's projects, so we don't have to keep worrying y'all with our beggar's aluminium cup ... yeah, the noisy one. And no, I don't sing and roll my eyes when  go begging.


Aaaannnnd, after weeks of thinking and careful planning, I came up with "Born Again!", an entity within the NGO which recycles and re-uses old and 'wasted' stuff, and makes them trendy-useful and affordable for people.
We then market it like every other usual service/product, sell it at competitive prices, and put ALL the profits after expenditure into the NGO's projects!
To start with, I looked at the huge numbers of tyres all over the city (and the country), and how difficult it is to find uses for them after car-owners discard them ... and I came up against two 'walls'.


I had decided previously to have them stripped and shredded, the strips to use in addition to wood and metal, or by itself ... for furniture. But soon after gathering a number of tyres, and purchasing some from vulcanisers (if you want it, they sell it ... cus they figure if you have a use for it, thing got value! Sigh ... I love my peoples), my shredder expert told me that there are 2 types of tyres: the wire-mesh (more common) and the nylon thread. The nylon thread is what CAN be stripped, NOT the wire-mesh.


Oh Lord. So I went back into town to get the nylon thread types. Then whilst he went to work shredding em up for my wood/metal combinations and the eco-friendly footwear line,  sat down with my sketch pad to design things that can use the wire-mesh tyres whole .... WHOLE, I say.


I came up eventually with 2 trendy designs : one for a seating facility, and one for a funky, eye-catching table design (which has a lot of oomph!).
So over the next 12 weeks, we will launch our first 3 eco-products for raising funds for our projects (very very crucial projects): an eco-seat made out of whole wire-mesh tyre .... an eco-table with wood-glass-rope combination also made out of whole wre-mesh tyre ... and 2 or 3 footwear designs made out of nylon-thread tyre with fabric-rope combination.


We hope (and intend) it to sell well to you, my supportive peoples on here, and your social circles and business associates ... as well as the general public not just in Ghana, but internationally. We hope to make good sales not only because our clients will want to support a good cause, but also because these eco-friendly products REALLY DO make your mouth drool, and make you feel real proud to own them. 
We guarantee you, they WILL BE quality, all through and through.


To show you how, follow this link to see some of our first few pictures of the TYRED.UP! an eco-seat under the BornAgain! label. Click The TyreSeater - BornAgain!
Give me all the feedback you want to ... but more practically, give me all the orders you can make! Haha! 


.... oh, and a Merry Christmas in advance. Make the rest of 2011 count. ;)


Golda.


P.S: the link also opens up other albums for you on trips and work done so far, so feel free to browse through all the albums and pictures.
And if you want to keep updates or follow discussions, join us on Facebook by just clicking here. :)

Wait, You Can't Do That. It's Not Your Turn.

“[There are] voices that say, “Wait. You can’t do that. It’s not your turn. The timing isn’t right. You see, the country just isn’t ready. You know you can’t do it, you’re not experienced. You’re not ready.”

Voices that focus on what might go wrong rather than what’s possible. And I understand it, I do. I know where it comes from, this sense of doubt and fear about what the future holds.

I call it like that veil of impossibility that just keeps us down and keeps our children down – keeps us waiting and hoping for a turn that may never come.

It’s the bitter legacy of … discrimination and oppression in this country. A legacy that hurts all of us.

Some people were like the aunt or grandmother who bought new furniture but put plastic on it to protect it, never fully enjoying it, out of their own misplaced fear.

Sometimes, it seems better not to try at all than to try and fail. Sometimes, that’s how it feels. But we have to remember that these complicated emotions are … what we’re going to have to overcome as a community if we want to lift ourselves up.”

                                            Michelle Obama, “Renegade: The Making of a President”.

“For years now I have heard the word ‘Wait!’ It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity, this ‘Wait!’, which has almost always meant ‘Never’.”

                                                     Martin Luther King, April 1963. Birmingham Jail.

 

Michelle Obama

Martin Luther King

She will smile someday?? And her son too??

Someone asked me the other day "Why do you even do it?"

"Why do you embarrass yourself, screaming yourself hoarse at people who don't care? Running all over town trying to get people to help you make this thing work?"

Don't you know? Are you new in town? 

Don't you know ... they don't care? Just waiting for you to fall off the wagon so they can shake their heads and say, 'See, we knew the heifer would come to this!'?

"Don't you know," he said, "this thing's never gonna catch up?

Even government predicts it's not gonna happen now, then you this young female thing ...?"

My head was hung whilst he was saying these ... my ears drinking them all in. My eyes were wet, and my heart was beating fast.

"Golda?" he said. “Save the energy, money, and effort ... and put it into creating a future for your son. At least that's a future you'll be more sure off. Save yourself the embarrassment of going around cup in hand all the time, begging and singing to yourself."

"You think I don't know all this?" I asked him. "I'll tell you something ... I’m here to show just how deeply we’ve all as a people, been traumatised by a system and a society that abuses us, misuses our resources, and forces us to suspect everything around us, to the point that we are now on the edge of the cliff of our existence, about to fall off into the raging sea below, and we’re certain it’s just a trick to cause us to turn back and go the other way.

We’re so used to being conned, we can’t distinguish genuine from false anymore. We play games when we should be organized, and when we should be playing games, we’re rather thinking strategy and tricks. We’re confused, we’re lost, we’re mean, and we’re at the end of our tether.

Something’s gotta bring a fresh new un-selfish perspective back to our way of thinking; a perspective that spells “c-o-m-m-u-n-i-t-y” once more.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the one certain thing that will do this (communal harmony and development) for us, enrich us, improve our standards of living, make the nation wealthier, and safeguard the country’s future ALL IN ONE … is our natural resources, and the renewable energy it gives directly to the people.

Horribly enough, it is the one thing that people still think is the last possible thing ever to happen for us! It’s crazy.

We are sitting with the gold beneath our noses, and we can’t see the forest for the trees.

I’m doing this insane thing I’m doing, instead of just shutting up and funding everything myself in small steps as I used to do, because it hit me the other day … we have not, as a people, invested our faith in this sector yet, and that is what is holding everything back. Indeed, that is what I believe holds government back from passing that RE Bill.

The people ARE the government. The voice of the people is often the voice of government.

If more Ghanaians had more faith and were willing to dig into Renergy as they are the crude oil, we would have more schools and courses in Renergy, more jobs in Renergy, more Renergy projects, and government would have jumped to it as well.

Why am I doing this alone, and making all the noise alone when my ultimate aim is to transform the entire country?

I had to backtrack. But I knew I’d have to get my Beyonce’s dancehall moves ready for this.

(See? I knew that’d get your attention, crazy misaligned people.)

Sadly, we are turning our noses up at the very thing (and perhaps the ONLY thing) that may well be our answer to employment, better standards of living, a wealthier nation, and independent of foreign financial aids, and neo-colonialism.

We are turning our noses up at the one thing that ensures that our future is safe, in our own hands, spread equally out amongst the people, gives endless jobs, and safeguards the natural resources as well.

This country has got vast potential in renewable energy, and renewable energy gives direct income to the community and the people who wield it and use it. Which in turn empowers many, and grows the nation faster than most other national programmes on nation-building and empowerment.

For that little girl who will someday grow up to become the leading expert in Ghana seawater energy because of the change that I’m working on now in our energy industry.

For that insanely tired woman walking bare-foot in the hot sun with a load of wood on her back almost half her body-weight, walking kilometres, so her family can eat and live … who will someday simply step out into her compound and switch on her biogas facility and cook with it, and whose children will stay in school instead of going down south to do crime and menial jobs.

For that man somewhere who can now sit in his compound and cook up his own biodiesel and pour it into his motor bike or car, or generator, or food processor, because we discovered how to produce bio-diesel from our local oils.

That little girl might be your grandchild, that woman, your grandmother, that man your father, and the chain goes on.

How many times have you watched a land ravaged by war, famine, drought, rape, tyranny, and silently thanked the Powers that Be … that you were born a Ghanaian? I do it everytime I see such scenes on the television.

Well, this is you now. This is your Ghana now.

What are you gonna do about it?

Do I really think I can create a better Ghana, silly girl … you think of me as I exit your office, streaming in sweat, spittles at the corners of my mouth, legs crumbling beneath me as I totter out to my next begging gig, cup in hand; you think of me as you read my status and link updates on Facebook, Twitter, and Blogspot; you think of me as you see me walking down the street.

What you don’t get is, this isn’t about me.

Have you donated to our fundraiser yet? Read about it.

Find us on Facebook as well.

Send me a message on anything at esfghana@gmail.com

CONSTANT gas shortage in this age of RE techs (BIOGAS)? What a load of crap!

... and I wish we had so much more of that crap!

In my search for gas these past 2 weeks, I kept thinking, everytime I joined a queue in hopes of me making it to the supply point before they ran out (never happened) - if all these people in these endless queues (myself and my family included) donated their daily crap and that of their households, we'd have enough gas to take us for a few more days, mehn.

Like, who wouldn't thank us?

Here, you want the crap? Ooooo, you got it! Here you go. Want some more? .... cus buddy, we got a lot of the stuff where that came from, and it ain't going nowhere!! (wink).

Sh*t, God designed us real well, don't you think? In-built sources of energy, that when well combusted, is pumped enough to knock you out flat! And we still go around searching for (LP) gas ... and getting none!

Now, add all our household pets' crap, and that of livestock on farms and ranches, PLUS all the organic rot we leave to putrify for the Zoomlion Waste Collection guys ... and we got ourselves a piping hot commodity! Natural, green gas ... free and beautiful!

Mr. President ... Honourable E. Boamah (Dep. Min. for Env., Science & Technology) ... other stakeholders ... let's think about this. Seriously.

At a recent open forum in Accra, organised by Akunu Dake's Clean Climate Heritage (CCH), with presence from the EPA, Min. of E,S &T, Ecobank, Wildlife, several other crucial CSOs and organisations, the possible future of Sustainable Ghana was discussed.

Being one of the 3 interventors partaking in the programme, I made my point on the grassroots being involved in the change process for optimum success; and also the need to start investing in the inventions and engineering designs of our young GH engineers and informally trained inventors.

Honourable Boamah thereafter, promised me that he would take up all these requests for help, support, assistance, guidance, employment, etc. that filled up my inbox - from young engineers still jobless, illiterate but skilled inventors, and other youth who need academic and SME support.

We have been in communication since, and in spite of my well-placed doubts that he would REALLY do something beneficial about the situation; something that would actually reflect directly in the lives of these people, I think he may (50-50%) be proving me wrong.

Our last communication stated that he was really working on funding and investors for these innovations and inventions. And I always follow-through ... even if it will end in a no-go, I follow through to effectively conclude that it is a no-go. I hope he is truly the difference I see at the governmental level.

On that note, if anyone has any innovation or technology they'd like to have taken up, should funding really come through (or if you know any Ghanaian who does/can), let the person forward their contacts to my foundation (esfghana@gmail.com), and we'll let them know when funding gets in, or if an investor shows interest.

I believe we ought to be manufacturing our own R. Energy techs, and not importing them in at (of course, higher costs).

We have several possible solutions to the global problems of filth, disease, over-population, poverty, conflict ... at our fingertips.

Only laziness and low self-worth keeps us from trying them all out.

Global warming and Climate Change ... it really is happening. Look around you, read a little, and say global disasters, epidemics, and geographical changes are not really happening.

If you don't know where to start, let me point you in a few directions :

Lake Chad ... now a mud bed. (yes, seriously) Google it up, and you'll even get images.

The Sahara desert ... anyone still measuring the borderlines of these shifting sands? Coming soon to a garden near you!

Green tree covers as opposed to more earth exposure ... less or more and which? Google again! (You gotta love Google!)

I could go on ad nauseum ....

But one thing you should always remember ... when you invest in a future, make sure that future's really gonna be there when you get there. Think about it.

Between Good and Evil is only a fine line ... you can trip over anytime.

I recently met the devil. Wily fox, he was.

I took a fall into a depression so deep, it gave me dark thoughts that came right out of Hades.

Took some friends' sharp words and prayers; some supreme grace ... goodwill and encouragement to get me out of it, and those dark thoughts out of my mind.

If you ask me how I am right now, I'll say "stable ... and still fighting towards the light."

One of my really good friends and a source of encouragement, shared with me her lifelong battle against Polycystic Ovaries (PCOs), only to discover that I fought the same too.

Mine is much milder now, but was terrible some 6 years ago. I still have the occasional nausea, weight swings, and a bit of the other symptoms associated, but it's more of a benign ovarian cyst now than a PCO.

It was my refusal to dwell on it, and what became one of the fights of my life to get as far away from it as possible that helped me. I am off all treatments now, and barely suffer from it. I sympathise with my friend all the way - it's a terrible disease!

My point?

When you don't take the first step in reaching out to another, consistently, humbly, and in honesty and truth, understanding and sincerity ... you never know what COULD BE or what COULD HAVE BEEN.

We lack, as a generation, the positive principles that ought to make us more humane.

It's killing us.

On my way to church this Sunday with my father and my son, I saw again, the kind of poverty and medical depression that has made criminals, liars, manipulators, and murderers out of seemingly upright men and women of this country.

People HAVE TO BE bad to survive. HAVE TO. Period!

What kind of life is this?!

A little boy of 10 years walks the street, in poor clothes, schoolbag on his back, packed to bursting with stuff (on a Sunday morning), talking to himself. As our car passes him by, his mouth starts wobbling, and he drops his head to hide the gush of tears.

Probably thrown out by one parernt/relative and ordered back over to another parent/relative. Shuffling in between guardians and home already at this age.

Barely 100 yards away, we take a turn, and there is this full grown woman, sitting on the floor in front of a wooden kiosk, eyes bright with unshed tears, looking into the distant nothingness, moth open, and shoulders slumped in defeat.

Earlier on, an old woman, who was so frail, she couldn't have weighed more than 40kg, was begging me for money at the First Light traffic light, at Kaneshie.

"My granddaughter ... give your old mother a pesewa for thirst, won't you?" she asks.

I shake my head, unable to look her in the face ... I had nothing on me, my own last GH10 cedi spent the day before on Pampers for my son.

Surprised?

I live on faith. That's why at times, I get into the darkness. Because what sustains my son and I is nothing tangible or concrete; nothing you can touch or hold. It's all a faith in a power bigger and more potent than anything my baby and I have ever known.

And yes, I still believe that I did right in spending my savings on a society who threw it back in my face.

I have NEVER gone to bed hungry, nor have I ever been unable to see to Ayaan's needs.

Everytime it gets to that point, something comes up : a short-term contract, a rare order for my bakery/cuisine business, etc. to sustain me even while I work on the foundation, and work on growing the bakery business.

These 2 are my sworn foci, in addition to my writing, which I never leave out! Hopefully, one day I shall self-publish all my fiction and non-fiction writings. After studying under the Anyidohos and Awoonors, I owe it!!

And I refuse all fulltime job employemtn, only working on contracts. For once I take up the comfort of salaries and offices, I am sure my dreams will die.

One of my reasons for throwing my all into renewable energy was because we live in the midst of plenty - all these natural resources, and so much poverty and hardship!

We are a hospitable people, with more goodwill than most, hardworking and loving. We love life.

But we are too afraid and too lazy when it comes to grabbing life by the horns. Unfortunately, this is one situation that demands it; the only means to catapult ourselves out of this poverty into wealth.

We can do much, invest more in our skills, create more, and live better!! We can unite, and actually work together in honesty and sincerity!!

ENERGY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND.

We need energy to power more facilities and infrastructure. These will then grow our urban areas and attract more business and development. Then will there be more jobs, which will mean less idleness, less crime, and better lifestyles.

But to get there, we must suffer a little. There are no shortcuts, and time is running out.

I HAVE STEPPED FORWARD. Will you?

Let's form a new rank of Ghanaians with the willpower to change our circumstances for the better. Because better is for all - the hardworking person as well as the hazed druggist or the hardened criminal.

And on that note, if ever a thief comes breaking into your home, or attacks you somewhere; or you see a mad person or a dazed drug addict, ask "Bruv, what happened to make you this way?"

And if they would answer you, they might probably share a tale that would prove, the only difference between you and him/her is a slightly stronger will power, or better living circumstances, or more opportunities growing up, or even just the blessing of someone to listen to your problems.

And at times, the only difference is that they have made one choice, and you are straddling the fence, hiding evil underneath your good facade. Shame on you.

Take a stand now. Save a brother, sister, child. Save Ghana.

Power to the people!

Voluntary Programs E-site

As part of ESF's communal RE initiatives, we have officially launched a Voluntary Programs Site, to serve as a source of information, a point of contact, as well as a means of applying to .... ESF's voluntary programme.

We are now in the middle of one wind energy project, and about to start a strategic partnership with a large, multinational RE business.

Our wind energy project is located in a a residential community in Dzorwulu, which, happily enough, is right in the path of one of Ghana's windbelts.

Basically, a kilowatt of wind energy will cost you about GH1800 or $1200. This is for the wind turbine, the back-up battery (to store power for when wind drops), the pole,cost of labour, transport .... EVERYTHING.
A kilowatt of energy will power your television, radio, refridgerator, PCs, ironing, and ceiling fans (and a few petty gadgets) 24hours - 7 days. Meaning that you pay no electricity on these after your installation.

Pretty neat, don't you think?

And I usually advise that people start off on such small notes, cause then .. they get to appreciate and understand the technology, so by the time they want to upgrade, they'll be speaking the jargons themselves!

Our recent project is the Communal Facilities Initiative, to build certain infrastructure in carefully selected deprived communities (in both rural and urban Ghana) ... and these will be powered on Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs).

It is in these initiatives that all prospective volunteers will have the opportunity to make their own piece of history.

Find below, the links to this site. Enjoy, and do feedback!

http://teamsaveghana.wordpress.com/thinking-of-volunteering-2/
http://energysolutionsghana.webs.com/apps/links/

And spread the word, wherever you can! So long as you live in Ghana, you can't escape the energy crisis.

It is in sharing our burdens, that we both walk straighter.

xoxo,
Golda

P.S : Today, 25th December, I add this rejoinder : 1 kilowatt wind turbine can power anything(s) that consumes less than 1 kilowatt. This means it can power all the things mentioned, one or two at a time ... so long as they consume less than 1000 watts. This, I learnt recently, does not include ironing ...an iron consumes 1200 + watts (damn!).

Thank you, Nana Bonsu of Busua ...

Adopting villages ...

I need some help in making a few choices.

Adaklu-Tokor?

Mampong-Akuapem?

Akyem-Abuakwa?

Aowin-Suaman?

Akwatia?

Though this might seem awfully like 5 Degrees of Separation, it's really not.

Think Renewable Energy ... if you want to know what ought to bind them together.

Help me out here if you are interested ... If ESF is about to 'adopt' a village, where we can best learn how to implement effective Green Energy initiatives, which of these communities should we go for?

If you had this choice to make ... which one would YOU go for?

And if none feels right to you ... which community in Ghana, outside of the city, would you encourage us to adopt?

Now, here we are, sitting in a computer-age of serious technological advancements and child-genuises.

We have a country full of hills and mountains in places ... valleys and plains ... savannahs and forest zones in others.

We could have done better with tourism ... but not as much as we OUGHT to have done much more with them, in terms of producing Green Energy for the people living there.

If the excuse was that it was too expensive back then, well ... it isn't anymore. 'Too expensive' that is.

Neither does one always need to start on a large extensive scale first ... nor does it only have to be the most expensive technology that gets promoted.

On Phase 2 of the Greenfoot Campaign ... we bring you the practical, affordable aspects of acquiring alternative and green energy FOR YOURSELF, BY YOURSELF.

You'll be surprised.

Then you'll wonder why people aren't being made aware of this.

And maybe ... you'll help us do something to avert this energy crisis that looms over Ghana and Africa now.

So ... which one?

Dream under Construction ... a time of healing.

Hey there, everyone!

A period of rest and silence ... and I am taking a brief return to let you know that the dream is till under construction.

It has been a journey of a lifetime, so far! I have met people, made friends, been shocked with hostility or bowled over with deceit and pretence! LOL!

Laughter, because I have also seen kindness I never knew existed ... in people I never thought could show such emotions, and in places I least expected ... it has helped me over much.

I take the opportunity to thank the friends who stood by me through the thick and the nasty ... unashamed to share in my struggle and humiliation. I don't know how to thank you, but I will spend my life trying.

I still owe a lot, and still receive a lot of calls from my debtors ... but I have managed to put a few measures in place to help both of us cope with the walkt to financial freedom (debt free state) ... :-)

I am happy to inform you that there are a few surprising rays of light already swirling around in my Greenfoot Campaign, in what recently was bleak darkness ... and these I will share with you sooner or later, bu defintely share it with you.

I daresay it will stun you as much as it does me now, and I hope, then ... you will all feel a LITTLE of the fire that burns in me, within you.

So, now that you are all sure I am alive and kicking, and still on road ... I shall return to my drawing board, happy!

xoxo,

Golda Addo.

P.S: Please visit this site, and lend your support!!

http://ghanahype. blogspot. com/2009/ 11/how-adidas- stole-from- africa.html- -

CANCELLATION of Charity Ball .... my apologies.

Unfortunately, Coconut Grove insists on a paid dinner event as a criterion for facilitating their sponsorship offer of free venue for the event.

Once I made it free, due to lack of purchasing of the ticket, they informed me that the sponsorship was cancelled.

Unfortunately, in trying to recoup from the earlier unpatronised fair, i am still paying debts, and cannot afford any other location demanding payment.

I apologise for the inconvenience!!!

FREE CHARITY BALL!!!

Dear Members! Free Charity Cocktail Ball!

Pull dem dresses and suits out now!!!

After some strategizing and testing the waters ... I realised that the Charity Ball patronage will be low.

I had earlier decided to make a fiery presentation to the 4 Speakers and an empty room ... seeing as patronage would be so low for a paid event!

And also because, with an empty room, and the initial shock they would go through ... they would be aware that so much needs to be done here in Ghana.
And it is the first lesson we should have - the truth of the situation.

I intended to make this presentation on feasible, practical aspects of our Sustainable Waste Management initiative - which seeks to turn our terrible landfill sites into organized, compartmentalized sites where Sorting, Recycling, and Methane Gas (for communal cooking and elcetrical use) goes on.
Not only is this practical, but it is a direct source of Employment, a Curative Solution to our Health care system, and the best way to start educating the masses about non-littering ... with this practical example of community effort.

This was what i planned to present as part of my solo performance this Saturday, with the hope that after their anger dies down, these Speakers will agree that there is a valid point to this, and offer some of their influence and status to get things growing.

BUT I then thought ... if the room will be empty, why not make it free them, and still get some people to come?

Free?
I don't lose!!
So ... if you are in Accra, and have this dress or suit that you've been dying to wear ... take it out!!!

Be with me at 6:30 pm on Saturday at the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel, North Ridge ... and have a wonderful 2 hours meeting new people, collaborating, and talking about how we can also help CHANGE GHANA!

It's a cocktail event, with the hotel's bar serving drinks to those who want to buy!

What better than to do this with 4 prominent Ghanaians with the influence to make our suggestions happen?!!

If you are thinking yes ... I need to know! ... reply YES to this message, with your name now!!! I need you on this.

Programme is this very Saturday.

xxx, Golda Addo.

The Greenfoot Campaign Funfair with Reggie Rockstone - how it all went!!

THE GREENFOOT funfair with Reggie Rockstone!!

So 17^th October finally arrived, amidst serious countdowns, as much advertising as we could afford, distribution of fliers all over Accra, trips to Kumasi, etc to spread the word, hundreds of text messages, hundreds of calls, and a lot of work.

So not all our fair participants made it. Most of them cancelled at the last minute.

So Reggie came to the fair, with autographed copies of his new album “Reggiestration”. He came with Eddie Blay, Kwaku-T, D-Black, his wife, his son, and was expecting Abodam …. Asem as well, but he had a gig in Kumasi. He got in at 4.30 pm. Hoping for a good crowd to do his interactive programme with, backed by his entourage.

I will post the video recording and the photographs when they are paid for and delivered.

The Mail, Ghana News Agency, and Metro TV made it, and did some interviews and coverage. The Daily Graphic and Joy FM did not make it. Zenith marketer Abraham Yeboah came around to support us. It was just him. UBA had called to collaborate, and promised a representation there. I didn’t see them.

Of the huge number of calls, emails, and messages we had, pledging support to be there with us yesterday, we had a total of …………… 60 fair visitors.

Of this number, only Chris Adjei, Kwaku Osei Tutu and Araba Asare-Kumi. Gyasiwa Gyasi and Tweikuwa Stanhope-Essamuah. Pearl Antwi, and her sister, Belinda Antwi. Michael Kottoh, Hawa and Fali Amuzu, Clarence Parker-Allotey, Biantey Agah, Jack Delaney, Tobias, Andreas, Dr. Joseph Kwao, Musyani, Mercy’s auntie, cousin, and 2 friends were the direct friends who made it there. These people, out of the at least 300 direct friends who we had contacted, made it.

Akunu Dake, Tiger Okyne made their excuses before the event, and were very encouraging. Some did not acknowledge receipt of messages received, nor of the event.

EXPENDITURE (part):Lincoln Community School rent - GH 620 cedis (day)

Cost of organization of fair (final week)- GH 250 cedis (transport, communication, etc.)

Bouncy Castle and kid’s balloons - GH 155 cedis

PA system and DJ services - GH 400 cedis

Volunteer tags, t-shirts, welfare - GH 270 cedis

Tickets for fair, various events - GH 120 cedis

Media costs - GH 50 cedis

Food (estimate for 500 people) - GH 800 cedis

Canopies, Tables, Chairs, T&T - GH100 cedis

Miscellanous - GH 80 cedis

Photography & video coverage - GH 850 cedis

TOTAL - GH3695 cedis

This is just the accumulated cost for the fair itself in the last week of organization. If I start calculating from beginning of this campaign, I might get grey hairs, so I won’t go there.

I am grateful to Mercy Anane-Frempong

our faithful Volunteers (who made this thing theirs, and were on the phone calling people the whole day! You guys are my team from now forever!!! These people sent me consoling messages the whole night yesterday!)

Kwaku Osei Tutu and Araba Asare-Kumi (Osei was darn broke, but sent me GH 7.50 credit when I was at my lowest!!)

Chris Adjei

Gyasiwa Gyasi and Tweetie (who at 9 am came and stayed for hours, before going to a wedding in the afternoon)

my cousin Clarence Parker-Allotey (held my heart together for me)

Michael Kottoh

my sister, Gloria Aryitey

Biantey Agah (who went to Cape Coast and hurried back to Accra just to make it to the fair, then stayed late to help pack and send some of the team members home!)

They stayed the whole day, through the insults, angry participants demanding a refund, and battery of accusing glares that came our way till Reggie and his friends came.

Also:

Efuwa Quansah (UK)

Fred Anani-Frimpong (dotFAF) (UK)

Yram Foli (US)

Geraldine Shole Gerber (UK)

Priscilla Owusu-Ansah (Sweden)

Grace Apiagyei (UK)

MAXINE MOSLEY TOTOE (US)

These people called me from where they are, and kept up with ESF’s progress 100%!

I thank EVERYBODY outside the country who sent messages of encouragement one way or the other as well.

I thank Reggie, his team, and his wife – they have offered Gh 500 cedis to lessen my financial debt, and have promised to keep having my back through the years …. And insist on doing it again till it succeeds.

Reggie refused to charge anything for his support and involvement, right down to his transportation, pulling in his musician friends, etc! And has promised to do this free with us all through!!

I am grateful to you all, and I shall keep you abreast of how things go.

With the strong shoulders of Clarence Parker-Allotey, Michael Kottoh and Chris Adjei …. Who refuse to let me give up, I am progressing ahead with the Charity Ball this very Saturday. These guys have already started working on getting the necessary publicity and marketing up for Monday, to help me get my 200 charity ball participants.

THANK YOU ALL.