The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

I love watching African movies. Sometimes when people introduce themselves in Konnect Groups (run by GhanaThink) and say that they like movies, I ask them about their favorite Ghanaian or African movies. I saw some billboards for the PAWN movie by Lynx Entertainment and Tigon Creative Studios, and I said to myself that this movie would break my cinema going duck. 100 is more affordable than what I thought the Silverbird Cinema ticket price would be after some horror stories friends shared on WhatsApp. So 1 fine Saturday, after attending a family related funeral with my sister Stacy and her kids, I decided to head to the Accra Mall to watch PAWN. How did you read that?  🤣 Get your mind out of the gutter and read this blog post, so that I can convince you to also go and watch PAWN. I did not watch the trailer before going to watch this movie. It actually did not occur to me. So I entered the cinema after getting my ticket with no expectations. I expected great music because of Richie &a

I have been working in the tech and digital ecosystem since 2008 in Ghana, thanks to the very first Barcamp in Ghana in December 2008. I yearned for fast, convenient payments in Ghana. I finally found it in 2015 through expressPay . Before this, many people in Ghana complained about Ghanaian built apps that did not work well and were buggy. expressPay came to put paid to that notion. It was not difficult to trust expressPay from day one. It was founded by some MIT Ghanaian buddies of mine including Curtis Vanderpuije , (Visa), Kodjo Hesse (Merrill Lynch) and William Tetteh . It has been awesome seeing its growth in Ghana. I marveled at the simplicity of the service. Paying has and is still simple. With only a few taps on my phone, I select my VISA card (which is tokenized for security) and I am done paying. Best of all, the service is delivered in real time. There are hardly many avenues, trusted that is which also have volumes using these services, to buy and pay online. I have us

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 line with listening to more gospel music in general in 2024, I tuned in to Trace Gospel on Sunday, September 15, 2024. They played a long list of Joe Mettle songs. Great stuff. Great gospel music. Inspirational inside. Positivity. It made me think about gospel songs that especially have positive vibes, and vim. Just like the other #MusicWeDeyFeel   Starting Eleven , I have formed another team. This time, let's play the common winning formation, 4-3-3.  Lean On Me (1998) Kirk Franklin (USA) Goalkeeper, Number 1 I am here. You don't have to worry. I can see. I can see your tears. Your tears. I'll be there in a hurry when you call. Yes I will. Friends are there to catch you when you fall. Here's my shoulder. Here's my shoulder, you can lean on me We need a very reliable goalkeeper to lean on. I really love the  movie of the same name . Yes, the one with Morgan Freeman. The man many says is God in the movies. I had seen this movie on TV in Ghana. Miraculous saves.

In December 2023, I started blogging about some of my favorite musicians. I created a tournament squad of 23 musicians . There are some songs I really like, some of which are not by these 23. They are positive songs. Songs that drive me, make me feel good, ambitious, proactive, productive, in my element, etc. I present to you - this eleven songs that can take any football field and win any game!  We are playing a 4-4-2 formation. I am old school but a millenial. I am not Gen Z. The second striker is the maestro like Abedi Pele.  The Man Aloe Blacc (USA) Goalkeeper, Number 1 Stand up now and face the sun Won't hide my tail or turn and run It's time to do what must be done Be a king when kingdom comes Well you can tell everybody Yeah you can tell everybody Go ahead and tell everybody I'm the man, I'm the man, I'm the man Yes I am, yes I am, yes I am Aloe Blacc. I had to google his name to see what it means. His birth name is Nathaniel. He calls himself Aloe because h

I am a child of God (I really believe that based on the love He has shown me all these years). I am a Christian. I am a Catholic. I grew up in the Our Lady of Holy Rosary Catholic Church - KNUST Catholic  in Kumasi. I had my first communion there after years of Sunday School and my confirmation. In Ghana, church going is a major thing for Christians. It is part of society, it is part of social life, in fact, it is a place for networking. It is a place for learning, for catching up on the gospel and with each other. I have not only lived in Ghana though and that is where the crux of this blog post comes up from. 1 Saturday in 2024, I was on the Konnect Kouch for Sunyani Konnect thanks to the proactiveness of Wilhemina Nunu . I was asked some questions about (my) religion. My answers drove me to do this blog post.  The  Konnect Kouch  is a version of hot seat  in Konnect Groups for its members. These Konnect Groups are WhatsApp Groups run by or in conjuncation with the  GhanaThink Founda

I spent the weekend of August 16, 2024 with my sister's family in Amasaman. I blogged the start and the finish in this blog post . On Sunday, August 18, 2024, I followed my sister, and her husband and kids to church in my church attire. No, I was not wearing a Gigi from Wear Ghana. Her husband, Samuel, is a pastor. This is the Adonai Grace Hub Church in Amasaman.  It was great being at church. Various family members have been encouraging me to go to church more, especially the women. I'm a Catholic. I am a registered member of the Christ The King Parish in Accra, though I do not go as much. St John the Evangelist Catholic Church is close to where I live in Accra, and this is where my first son, Ebo, and many of his cousins were baptised. On this particular Sunday at the Adonai Grace Hub , we talked about faith, hope and love. We must share testimonies about great moments, and the few low moments and making sure there are many more great moments to come. The first reading was

On Friday, August 16, 2024 , I went to drop off a family friend, Sheila , at her place in Dansoman after having dinner in Osu. She did her Masters' degree in India (a country I would love to visit). She told me a lot about India which was consistent with what I have heard. She also mentioned how Christians were a minority there ( Hello Captain Obvious ) and how she engaged in her religion while in India. This blog post is about what happened after I dropped her off, it is about religion. My religion is  Christianity . 😇It's the most popular religion in Ghana , where I am from, was bred, live and care a lot about. While trying to navigate from Dansoman to go visit my sister's family in Amasaman, I decided to give some free rides like I normally do. I stopped at a bus stop somehwere in DC, mind you, I do not know Dansoman well, at all! I spoke to 2 ladies and a guy who seemed to be waiting for a trotro and asked them where they are going and if I could give them a ride. I t