The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

Last Saturday, I donated blood to save 233 lives in #Ghana . #giveblood #savealife #233moments cc @ nbsghana twitter.com/Abocco/status/… — Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) February 27, 2013 Last weekend, I donated blood for the first time. Well, my blood had been "pulled" before but for checking if I had malaria, etc. I had traveled to Lagos last week but I made sure I was back in Accra before Saturday so I could join the Blood Donation Drives happening. 2 events happened on 23rd February, both supported by Blogging Ghana. 1 happened at the Accra Mall (Clinic) run by the National Blood Service and another at Block A of the Pentagon Hostel at the University of Ghana run by the Rotaract Club of Adentan. STACC was also involved. I had a lot of work to do on Saturday. So sometime, after 2:33pm, I headed to the mall. 2:33pm in #Accra , #Ghana . Heading to the #AccraMall to donate blood. Hope it doesn't take long though. #GiveBlood & save lives. #233moments — Ato...

I've known Kofi Yeboah well since we worked together on   Barcamp Cape Coast   2011. In 2012, he helped organize 8 Barcamps in various capacities.   He was named one African to watch for in 2013 and I personally love how he is taking up opportunities   and building a profile as a leader. He's the kind of changemaker that we must celebrate. He's been selected to join people from Africa, Middle East, Europe, South East Asia and the United States in a Preparing Global Leaders Academy (PGLA) in April in Jordan.   This year, I am looking for the GhanaThink Foundation to do various easy things I will like to crave your indulgence to support Kofi in covering his costs in getting to Jordan via the link below. Ketewa biara nsua.   http://gogetfunding.com/project/support-my-dream-to-become-a-global-leader

Last year, Ghana's first Social Media Awards was launched. It aims to award Ghana's best bloggers from 2012 (not from time immemorial) and the major Ghanaian entities on social media. It's being organized by Blogging Ghana (Ghana's Association of Bloggers) of which I am a member and as part of BlogCamp Ghana 2013 , a social media focused conference. Yeah, it looks like I wrote Barcamp but that's the beauty of it, a Barcamp can be used in any way for any kind of event on any topic. There are health or law camps out there, see a list of past Barcamp type events worldwide . This blog post is not about BlogCamps or BarCamps, but a request to support this particular blog that you've been reading. Or if it's your first time here, check out some blog posts before you continue (go on and click it o!).  Now that we are on the same page. This blog has been nominated for best blog in Ghana at the Ghana Social Media Awards . I am very honoured to have been nominat...

A few moments after the accident happened, I thought of two major things. First , thank God for my life. God has really blessed me and continues to be there for me. It was just a few hours before my birthday too o! Stacey , my sister, came to the accident scene and said something I'd never forget. " You've been getting so many birthday wishes on your Facebook Timeline (Wall). People love you a lot and that love has saved you right now ". Isn't that just beautiful? Second thought? I have triumphed. I've just had an accident with my car seriously damaged and I have no injuries, I am not in shock and I feel extremely normal. Now let me tell you the story of this major car accident. It's 30th December 2012. 7:30pm. After leaving a pool party organized by my friend Mac-Jordan with my sister and my friend Lydia , I drove to the airport to drop off Lydia for her flight. We were running late in going to see Uncle Ebo Whyte's "Trials of the Ghanaian...

In October 2012, I bought my very first car. I hadn't planned on buying one but a Google colleague was leaving for a different job in Europe and was selling his car. The car didn't make it to Google Trader, the news was spread amongst a few people and when I knew of the price, I just had to buy it. It was a great deal. Nissan Sentra 2006 model with a new engine and shocks for a shockprised price of 9500 GhC. Yeap, I am one lucky SOB. This car has had quite the interesting and dramatic relationship with me. I want to share its story, the story of the #VimRide. I'm still looking for a cool name for my car, I'm taking suggestions. My friend Fiifi already has taken Vera for his, so that's eliminated. My friends don't like Vero or Victoria. If you win this car-naming contest, I'd take you for the ride of your life. Ask about me, I can really take you for the ride of your life ;-) Judging from driving my mother's 4x4 many times, this Nissan Sentra doesn...

I was extra excited for this year's African Cup of Nations (AFCON). I felt South Africa would host a good tournament but mostly because Ghana's Black Stars were returning to the scenes of the Mzansi Mundial where they captured the imagination of football fans everywhere. Sadly, the Black Stars came away without the trophy which was very disappointing. The Orange African Cup of Nations did give us a lot of stories though which I would like to recap through my various lenses. I'd leave the Ghanaian point of view to another blog post. I've been introducing my various alter-egos to the world. East African nations don't do as well at football so Uganda's  Richard Nshuti Mayanja , Kenya's   David Ochieng Mwangi   and Tanzania's   Hamis Ambwene Massawe   had to find other countries to support. The Cranes have been getting Ugandans excited about their football but ultimately fell short. Victor Wanyama is tipped to join Manchester United and McDonald Marig...

Good customer service dey cure for business, you dey barb? Make I show you some facial with my mani fingers so you go pedistrain your way go get some :-) After leaving my car with my mechanic for the 23rd (exaggerated but important number) time already this year, I had some time to burn. It's a Saturday, none of my favorite football teams are playing at this time, so let me go get that haircut and chillax after. I must note here that Arsenal happened to play within this period and lost to a lower league team in the FA Cup. This spurred a whole lot of " Since Arsenal last won a trophy " jokes and articles . There is even a website for this phenomenon. Maybe by the time, I mention Arsenal in another blog post, they'd still be trophyless since 2005. I mean 2 new Popes would have been appointed during Arsenal's trophy drought. I will be hoping the second Pope will be Ghana's Peter Turkson. But back to what was happening to me when Arsenal fans were suffering ...

It's February 14 today. Many people around the world know it as Valentine's Day. I am getting closer and closer to my wedding date. So forgive me, if I talk about 'love' more and more on my blog. Because I am capable :-) Love is in the air today. I'd been listening to as many zouk, kizomba and love songs as possible to keep me in the Valentine spirit. The point of this blog post is to share some relevant tweets which would be posted today. Roses are red, violets are blue. A day can't end in bed without thinking of you. #HappyValentinesDay — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) February 14, 2013 I caught YFM (107.9) doing a short prose competition where folks call in and add something to "roses are red, violets are blue". The above and below are my creations. :-) Roses are red, violets are blue. Forget what's said or heard, what we're feeling is true. #HappyValentinesDay — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) February 14, 2013 Back in the ...

This is the umpteenth time I've started writing a post on Facebook and then I realise this post is too long, I might as well put it in a blog post. And almost every single time, it's a true story. I love writing these types of blog posts. Citizen journalism lol. Original content ;-) This post is about women - juicy. So, my MIT buddy Tawanda was in town visiting Accra while doing some work for McKinsey in Togo. I went out this past Saturday night to Monsoon (I'd never been there before) to meet him and saw my Odadee colleague Yaw  too who's also at McKinsey. We had some good convos, I caught up with Tawanda, we talked "women". We disagreed on whether folks should talk to their exes. I maintained that I wouldn't want the situation whereby me and my ex (or anyone for that matter) were not on talking terms. Not me ze Mighty African. When I was leaving Monsoon to go meet my Stanford buddy Ken who was also in town, some dude asked me where I was "goin...