The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

Did you know every guy in Ethiopia has my name? If you didn't know, then you don't know Ethiopia as well as you think you do. Yea, so by default, my Ethiopian alter ego is called Ato. More on this in about 3 minutes. We are talking about a country that was never colonized. The country of 13 months of sunshine. The country that uses its own calendar . Yeah, forever young, you can't beat that. The country of Haile Selassie. No, I am not a Rastafarian, amegsenalo very much. But I can tell what I am. So a fter Ayooluwaato Eze from Nigeria, Richard Nshuti Mayanja from Uganda , David Ochieng Mwangi from Kenya and Hamis Ambwene Massawe from Tanzania, I introduce to you all (Ato) Girma Goitom Gemechu, my Ethiopian alter-ego.  When I was born (in the US, more on this later), I didn't cry as much as most babies do and that took the observers by surprise. It's almost as if I was saying, "I am very happy to be here and men are not supposed to cry anyway". Tha...

My first travels outside Ghana in 2012 landed me in Tanzania. My time there helped shape what my Tanzanian alter-ego would be like. I never had as many Tanzanian friends as I would have wanted, in fact I might have had as many non-Tanzanian friends who had once lived in Tanzania as Tanzanian friends. Tanzania is affectionately called "Bongo". The Bongo friends I've had have been awesome people and close friends as well. How couldn't I love a country where their major language is an African one? Kiswahili. I wish I could write this whole blog entry in Swahili but I'm not quite there yet. Hamis will give it a stab later. Who's Hamis? So after Ayooluwaato Eze from Nigeria, Richard Nshuti Mayanja from Uganda, and David Ochieng Mwangi from Kenya, I introduce to you all Hamis Ambwene Massawe, my Tanzanian alter-ego. I am from diverse backgrounds. If you've been to Bongo, you'd know it's a country of diverse cultures. In fact, Swahili is a prototypic...

This week will be remembered for the passing of Ghana's sitting president, John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills. He was a good man, and I will remember him fondly. His memories will live amongst us, everywhere . He really wanted a " Better Ghana ". We should all want the same and contribute our quota to make it happen. My favorite Accra station, CITI FM, shared top 10 quotes of Professor Mills. My favorite is from his acceptance speech from his induction on 7th January 2009. He had been elected fuelled by a campaign of change. He said "Change has also come to Ghana ; let us embrace it and forge ahead together with a common sense of purpose. Let us all put our shoulders to the wheel and begin to build a Better Ghana . May God continue to bless our homeland Ghana and make her great and strong". This quote was also shared by The New Ghana Facebook page which is steadily going viral (like it should). I will also remember this week for the patriotism and unity shown by ...