The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

I asked my Senegalese friends to name their  top 5 songs  ever, from Senegal . I do not have a Senegalese alter-ego yet, but I have met Gelongal and Youssou Ndour and I led  Museke . I also asked  Google  Gemini (yes, not Meta AI, Chat GPT, Grok, Deepseek, or POE - because, I asked it through Google Sheets). You know it is my friend these days right? I also contributed my top 5. My first time in  Senegal  was in 2016. But prior to that, since 2002, I had been learning about Senegalese music from my  African friends , all around the USA, while at  MIT . I got to know more about this when me,  Edward Mabonga, Phelele Fakudze  and others started  Museke  in 2006. It was great to see some of my friends suggest songs that we were jamming to back in the day. I wanted to do a list of top 5, but there are too many songs. So I have aggregated  11 , to represent Senegal in the World Cup of  #MusicWeDeyFeel ...

I asked my Kenyan friends to name their top 5 songs ever, from Kenya . My Kenyan alter-ego, David Ochieng Mwangi , also contributed, thanks to all he has learnt around Museke . I also asked Google Gemini (yes, not Meta AI, Chat GPT, Grok, Deepseek, or POE - because, I asked it through Google Sheets). You know it is my friend these days right? I also contributed my top 5, while reminiscing this list from 2009 . My first time in Kenya was in 2011. But prior to that, since 2002, I had been learning about Kenyan music from my Kenyan friends at MIT . I got to know more about this when me, Edward Mabonga and others started Museke in 2006. It was great to see some of my friends suggest songs that we were jamming to back in the day. I wanted to do a list of top 5, but there are too many songs. So I have aggregated 11 , to represent Kenya in the World Cup of #MusicWeDeyFeel . The starting eleven . Drop your opinions, props, suggestions in the comments section . Here we go, in no part...

After working on a Generation X list of greatest Ghanaians, I had to look at the millenials, like me. I like emails and texts :-) Here is the  Millenial list  - 1981-1996 DOBs. According to AI :-)  Positive  characteristics of millenials include: being technologically savvy , well-educated, collaborative, optimistic, socially conscious , adaptable, curious, and value-driven , with a strong focus on work-life balance and a desire for meaningful work ; they are also often seen as being comfortable with technology, open to new ideas, and good communicators. In this list, I am  picking people I have actually met , spent time with and can vouch for their greatness any day. Bright Simons I went to Presec with Bright , he was my senior by 2 years. As an SRC executive, he defended and helped lots of Presecan ninos/form ones/juniors with our rights. He has proven to be a genius since Presec, well-sought after, well-read and influential. You have to read his pieces on his...

I have been calling a number of people - one of my top 10 greatest Ghanaians currently for a while. Once I sat down to blog this, I realised I should do this by age ranges. Here is the Generation X list - 1965-1980 DOBs. According to AI :-) Positive characteristics of Generation X include: strong work ethic, valuing work-life balance, self-reliance, adaptability to technology, entrepreneurial spirit, practicality, flexibility, strong problem-solving skills, and a focus on quality over quantity in their work, often prioritizing efficiency over long hours. In this list, I am picking people I have actually met , spent time with and can vouch for their greatness any day. Bernard Avle Many of you would have heard Bernard Avle refer to people on the Citi Breakfast Show as "Biiiiig Man". He's one of them. I really love what he has done with the #CitiCBS. I told him that it is becoming Solution Radio alongside what the Omni Media team is doing with Citi 97.3 FM and Channel One...

Volunteerism is the heart of community development. This is what GhanaThink Foundation has believed since the success of the first National Volunteer Day - NVDay in 2013. NVDay was instituted to encourage many people in Ghana to volunteer , make an impact in our communities, help solve problems in ways we could, and help people. In this last decade plus, thousands of people in Ghana have volunteered to benefit tens of thousands in Ghana. On December 5, 2013, the Ghana Volunteer Program program (GVP) was created by GhanaThink to run National Volunteer Day and match volunteers to volunteer opportunities. Kofi Larbi, currently, leads the Ghana Volunteer Program. He stated: “ National Volunteer Day has been set aside by GhanaThink on September 21 , since 2013 for volunteer activities throughout the country through our networks”. These volunteer activities have included painting school initiatives, sending teachers to teach particular skills in schools, clean up campaigns, blood donati...

In 2013, the GhanaThink Foundation decided to institute National Volunteer Day - NVDay . This was to encourage many people in Ghana to volunteer, make an impact in our communities, help solve problems in ways we could, and help people. It wasn't just to help people, but help ourselves as volunteers : in building skills - especially soft skills, gaining experience, networks , etc. Info about the first couple of years are on Wikipedia . GhanaThink chose Founders' Day - September 21 . By volunteering around September 21, we would also be doing something for Ghana. On December 5, 2013, the Ghana Volunteer Program program (GVP) was created by GhanaThink to run National Volunteer Day and match volunteers to volunteer opportunities. Even though September 21 became Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day, it is still National Volunteer Day. In 2020, NVDay is encouraging the celebration of volunteers and for people to volunteer safely and creatively due to the corona virus pandemic. GVP team mem...