When many Americans think of Africa, they think of the images that have been pushed by mainstream media. Starving children, poverty, war, disease…… a continent that just seems to never be able to get its act together and always needs to be relieved. And yes, Africa has had its ups and downs. Corrupt governments, ethnic clashes and some of the harshest living conditions have prevailed in several countries. Many of these situations are the remnants of colonization by the ever-exploitative, resource raping European powers that left begrudgingly (but that’s another blog for another day).
In the minds of many, the idea still prevails that most Africans live without electricity, pipe-borne water or a balanced diet, talk less of internet, cell phones and video games. As a Ghanaian born in America and raised in both countries, I am a witness to the very opposite. Especially within the last 5 or 6 years, Africa has seen a surge in technology that could be putting it in the same ranks as countries like India and China sooner than many would expect. There is more going on behind the scenes than mainstream media is willing to reveal.
I am here to introduce to you the Africa they never show you. The Africa that is doing more than just pulling itself up by the bootstraps. The Africa that has just as many facebookers as anywhere else. The Africa that has city-dwellers averaging two cell phones a person. As a Ghanaian, I will be focusing particularly in that region but will also incorporate other stories from within the West African region. I will focus on the development and adaptation of technology in the life of the Ghanaian. This blog will touch on all aspects from health to social networking to education to music and entertainment. It will attempt, to the best of its ability, to demonstrate how a country that has become a prime example of an African democracy is adapting western technologies as well as developing technologies of its own to bring itself to a global parallel. It will reflect the stories found on Ghanaian owned and run websites such as GhanaWeb.com, GhanaBusinessNews.com, GhanaMusic.com, GhanaThink.com, GhanaShowbiz.com and others.
Please keep in mind that this blog is being created for a class that I am taking at the University of Maryland- College Park (JOUR 289I) but is free to be viewed by all and welcomes as many comments as possible. Any sources that you might run into as a reader that you think might be relevant to the topic should please be forwarded to the author. Thank you and happy reading!
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This topic is really interesting. In sixth grade I had to do a project about Africa, and we each got assigned one country to cover. Mine was Ghana, and I learned so much about the country and its culture. Since then I have not heard much about it as it rarely makes the news here, but it is refreshing to get a glimpse into the culture there once more. I actually got a 150% on my project because my parents did most of the work, but specifically I remember being amazed at the cocoa exports of Ghana. I believe they were the sole supplier for Cadburry. Anyway, keep up the good work, your topic is very unique.
ReplyDeleteWow... 150% ? That's a lot. Yeah, Ghana is still the 2nd largest cocoa producer and is making strides to get back to the top. When an African country rarely makes the news here, its a good thing... that means there's nothing bad happening there :-) I will post as often as I can, happy reading.
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