So Long,Farewell!

Hmm!It has been quite the day.I was chatting with a friend on Whatsapp and he told me the President of the Republic of Ghana was dead.I was like "seriously do not play with this dude!Too many people have been talking about this issue of late oo!If you are playing a prank its not funny at all"!He still insisted that it was true so I decided to cross check.Lo and behold it was true!OMG!It was completely unbelievable to me.It is such sad sad news and I am still a little down.Its not because I am an NDC person but its simply because he was my president.
Its something I believe all of us Ghanaians need to learn.No matter the politics of whoever is our President,he/she is still our President and needs to be respected as such.Therefore regardless of our right to freedom of speech, we need to exercise that right very carefully when it comes to the President.If he was ill it behooved on all of us to simply pray for him that he gets better instead of sitting on radio saying all kinds of things and talking anyhow in our homes.Its quite unfortunate that we allow politics to cloud our judgement when it comes to this issue, but we need to understand that our words have power.If we want to see Ghana develop and have strong leaders, we need to speak such things into being instead of speaking negative things.
Well, that's my two cents on the matter.I hope we all learn from this and change our negative habits when it comes to talking about our leaders and our country.I pray that his family shall receive the comfort of the Lord and find peace in this trying time.I also pray for our just sworn in president that he can stand strong and do the work that lies ahead of him with excellence and love.
Rest in Peace His Excellency John Evans Atta Mills.

A Love Letter to my Mr.Perfect

Dear Mr. Lover Boy
I know this letter may come as a surprise to you because the last time we talked(which was just a few minutes ago) everything seemed perfect.I do not mean to hurt you or to make you feel bad in anyway.However I need to write this letter to let you know the truth.
You have been so awesome.All the calls,texts,dates, Facebook messages..it’s been like a dream come true for me.You are truly my Prince Charming come to rescue me from this castle of hum drum single loveless misery and I am so glad to have met you.Because you have been so good to me I feel obliged to point out some things to you.
Last night you said you loved me and wanted to spend the rest of your life with me.Hmm!I wonder if you really thought that one through because you might wanna take that back.Don’t worry.I won’t hold it against you if after reading this letter you decide to do just that.I am sure by now your heart is pounding in anticipation of some life changing revelations about me.Let’s get on with it then shall we?..(sigh).
So you think I am pretty and you like my hair.Well,my ‘hair’ is technically not my hair.You see, I have really short hair that refuses to grow.So in order to help my hair along I went to the salon and got hair extensions.Of course it’s mainly because you like long hair that I do it.When I take the extensions out I look very different.Remember that lady we saw on tv the other time?The one you thought was not pretty?Well I kinda look like that without the hair extensions.
Oh but that’s no big deal!I am sure you just thought that.Ok.You have never seen me in the morning before I shower and dress up.You came by the house yesterday morning before work to see me but I refused to see you because I wasn’t dressed.I am so sorry about that but you see my face is not at all the smooth one you see everyday.I have such a severe case of acne I have to wear concealer all the time.The black spots have really drawn a map of the world with my face and I have tried to fix it to no avail.Plus my morning breath is..you know what?Let’s just leave that for later.
I am sure none of the above is a big deal to you.I also wanted to point out that I will not stay this way forever contrary to what you expect.I mean the tight little body with all the curves in the right places?That’s just not gonna last.I know this because I will have kids and there will be some sagging here and there and even if I don’t become fat some things are gonna droop and not be tight anymore.You still with me?Good.Because I need for you to understand that this picture perfect beauty you see on the outside will fade.
But there’s my character and my good habits right?Well technically I am not a good housekeeper and I kinda suck at cooking.All the food you eat when you visit is bought(sorry!I know you dislike outside food!).As for my budgeting and money management skills the least said about them the better.I may look all clean and organized to you but my room is another story.On the average day it looks like a tornado came tearing through there(that tornado being me in search of something..lol).On a good day it’s just a hurricane.Not too bad yeah?And then there’s my cleaning and bathroom etiquette and the snoring and..oh!The list goes on.I hope I already mentioned the fake lashes and brown eyebrow pencil.
I know you might still be in shock but I needed to let you know these things so you can make your decision with all the information you need.I mean I don’t want you telling me I have changed after our wedding now do I?So after this if you are sure you still want me,well then you must be a better man than I am!

Sincerely With Love
Princess
(Well actually Afia Real Girl.Sorry you just found out my real name too)

Lessons at my Granny's knee

I started a series on the people that have been very instrumental in shaping and forming me into the person God planned for me to be.I am a work in progress,but I can definitely look back and see the impact that specific people had on me without even realizing or knowing it.One of such people was my maternal grandmother, or Dada as we called her.

Dada was one tough old lady.Having grown up in one of the remote portions of colonial Ghana, she grew up without formal education and learned to farm and to trade.That was what she did to take care of her family of five children,my mom being the second.My earliest memory of her would be her sitting on her little stool out in the sun weeding( yes weeding!) or cracking nuts or some such thing,and this was no mean feat for someone who was almost 70 years old.She was always doing something.If there ever was a firm believer in hard work.it was my grandmother.No idleness for her!That is one thing I have come to appreciate about her.She knew that there was so much to do and so she didn't believe in wasting time.

Perhaps the one thing I will always remember her for is the fact that she insisted on me learning to speak my mother tongue.I was about five or so and couldn't speak it very well, and she came and said I was going to learn to speak it whether I liked it or not.I am really grateful for that because otherwise I am pretty sure I would be lost if I had to go to my hometown!

Some of the best memories I have are of her telling us stories about growing up in her time and the things they did.She would also tell us all these parables and riddles that set us thinking till we could solve them.She would always give us kids a piece of meat from her bowl because where she grew up that was the culture.One of the most valuable cultural lessons she taught me had to do with honesty.She grew up in a large family, and this was fairly common in those days, so whenever the kids were eating together they had to find a way to split the meat fairly among them.What they would do was pick one person to split the meat into equal pieces and then everyone would take their share, but in order to ensure that the person doing the splitting up did not cheat ,he/she would be the last to pick their piece of meat.Morale of this?Be fair otherwise you get stuck with the smallest piece of meat!That was just one of the many things she taught us and I am grateful to have known and spent time with such a grand old lady.When she died I was devastated, but she was pretty old by then.I was in college at the time and she had already been ill for a while.She would always be complaining about being cooped up and so sick she couldn't do anything.She just hated being idle but I guess she had no choice then.It was tough on her and on all of us to see this feisty lady confined in such a way, but through it all we remembered that it would only be for a short while.

I thank God for her life,( because otherwise I wouldn't have been born)!But seriously, she taught me the importance of respecting your culture and the need for hard work.For that I will always be grateful.I do miss her, especially running to her whenever I got in trouble with my mum or auntie, knowing that she would be there to listen and protect me.It is an honor to be her grand daughter.
(image courtesy: jonathanpritchard.co.uk)

Inspiring People Episode 1

Hiiiii! I hope you are all doing great!Its been quite a while.I have been working on so many projects that it has been tough to stay in touch, but I am back now(hopefully for good…lol).
Over the next few weeks I would like to share some information and inspiration with you in the form of real life stories about real people who have challenged me to become more than I was and I am now.These people may not seem too extraordinary to you who may know them, but they have helped form me with the help of God into the person I am now,and I believe you can also let their example challenge you to excellence.
I will mention the names of those who have given me permission to do so and will leave out personal details for those who would prefer to remain anonymous.Also keep in mind that some of this stuff will be just one time encounters or ongoing ones, but it is the effect they had on me that I am trying to capture on paper.
The first person is a man who has changed not just my life but countless others.He is a motivational speaker,a philanthropist,miracle worker,a change coach and refresher of life.I met him when I was very young and my life has not been the same since.He changed the way I thought, behaved and walked.
So many things about him challenge me,but the one thing that has totally revolutionized my life is his non selfish nature.He is such an epitome of love that he gave up all that was important to him in order to ensure that the dreams of others would become realities and their lives would be changed.I have decided to model my life after his because there is no better role model for me to follow.He is the person who challenged me to dedicate my life to helping others with my whole self.The One Cedi Foundation would not be in existence if not for this man.Everything I have done and am doing, I can say, was because he motivated me to dream of these things and to take action to see those dreams come to pass.
I used to dream only of making my family proud.That wasn’t bad in and of itself, but it was self centered.After meeting him I realized there was so much more I could do,so much that I had that could change the world, if I would only dream of making an impact, and he was right.I cannot imagine how mediocre my life would be if I hadn’t changed my dreams to those I have now.
I am grateful to him for so much and to day I would like to say thank you to him.This man is none other than Jesus Christ himself.With his life teachings,he transformed my mind.With his death and resurrection,he transformed my heart and my soul.I salute you,Lord!

In the Beginning....

Wow!It's been such a long time!I guess I have some explaining to do and we will get around to that shortly,but I cannot wait to share a little something with you.
One of my favorite things to do is to curl up in bed with a good book or watch a funny movie when I am ill.I watched a great movie a while back and I learnt such an amazing lesson from it that I decided to share it with you.It was a hindi movie and as far as hindi movies go,one of the best I had ever watched.The story line of Bhootnath(that's the title) was basically about a small boy who moves into a haunted house with his mom.The ghost living in the house had succeeded in scaring away all previous occupants of the house,resulting in a large house nobody was willing to live in.When this small boy and his mom moved there and the haunting began,he got scared initially.Then his mom told him that ghosts did not exist so the person he was seeing was an angel.He believed his mom and from then on,any encounter with the ghost was to his favour because he was no longer afraid of his tricks.Eventually,he and the ghost became friends and the ghost stopped terrorizing his family.
This movie was a funny and interesting movie to watch,but it was the lesson I learnt from it that was really important to me.That little boy had more courage than me!
No seriously!I know some of you will laugh at that but he did!It was just amazing watching him face the ghost head on and laughing at all his antics.The ghost would do something crazy and he would imitate him even though he couldn't really do the same.He just would not back down until he had the ghost eating out of the palm of his hand!
That boy taught me to face my fears and challenges head on and not hide under the covers.I learnt to deal with my issues immediately instead of running away from them(like I normally do).
Sometimes in life we need to have this child's perspective.View the things that would normally scare you out of positive tinted glasses and you will see them as opportunities to grow.So today do yourself a favour and face that challenge head on.After you do,don't forget to tell me all about it right here!Maybe its time you asked that girl or that guy out....or told the truth to a hurtful person......or cleaned under that bed(lol)..or..I don't know what it may be,but time to stop being a coward about it!

Yvonne Nyavor

Yvonne Nyavor: "Yvonne is a not for profit fundraiser with experience working with several Charities and Not for Profit Organizations.Currently,she is the projects director at the One Cedi Foundation,a Not for Profit Organization she founded in late 2010.The Cedi project which raises funds to support several charity and social change projects also conducts several projects which aim at impacting society positively.Yvonne also volunteers as a business consultant,helping to grow and nurture several start up companies.
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Personal branding in the Global Village

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Personal branding in the Global Village

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