Asks Doreen Allotey
FROM the songs of old, we get the idea of what things used to be. The song, Serwaa Akoto, paints the picture of a lady with remarkable beauty who would not raise her voice in public, how much more wash her dirty linen there. She is a symbol of what society expected the ideal woman to be at that time. The call for affirmative action, gender equality and mainstreaming were obviously not so dominant at that time.
From A. B. Crentsil’s song, Juliana, we get the idea of how men used to woo ladies. The approach was not so direct. They could call the lady they wanted, and try to strike acquaintance by mistaking their semblance for that of their sister and then go on to admire their beauty all the same. What the response to that formula used to be was: “I will think about it”. Now it is more direct. “I love you.” Just like that, in the face. No beating about the bush and gradually women are getting bolder and assertive enough to see men and go after them.
Before this phenomenon, we even had arranged marriages where a family decided for a girl, who her husband was to be, did an introduction and then married them off. Sometimes the marriage was aimed at creating a stronger bond between both families for historical reasons, other times it was for the economic reason of keeping the family wealth within the family. In this case, we could have cousins getting married etc. etc. This is not common anymore.
The classic movie, I told you so is a great one. This film is normally shown on Independence Day. Apart from making meaning of the saying: All that glitters is not gold, we get the opportunity to see the fashion of those times, different kinds of wigs, kerb and slit , ear rings etc. Interestingly, some of them are very much in vogue today. Fashion just revolves and comes back with little variations. Still it will be very surprising if the hair style “Shark “ and “Bushy” or “Afro”, make a strong come back even though we spot them among the very common low haircuts or “Sweat” which have dominated the scene for quite a long time now.
The movies of old show how man’s greatest companion today— the telephone — without which life would be nightmarish for many, has evolved. From 1876 when it was invented in Boston by Alexander Graham Bell, the telephone has gone through several transformations with the aim of making it more portable and stylish with a clearer sound quality. At a point in its evolution, people had to wind the phones like is done to the corn mill machine, all that effort to make a call at a stipulated time, and the ringing tone was deafening. Now there are all kinds of ringing tones especially for cell phones with some sounding like a whole orchestra while others mimic the sounds of animals, wow, meow and moo. Interestingly, these sounds now seem so irritating to some matured ears that they prefer to keep the cell phone permanently on silent with only the vibration on to alert them or a beep. Others have gone back from the different high tech sounds of night club music to the grriiiiiiing griiiiiiiing reminiscent of Charlie Chaplain days.
The refrigerator also arrived to gradually displace the cooler which was made of clay. Mechanical refrigeration became widespread during the 1920s but obviously much later in Ghana. Water from the cooler was a delicacy; it was so nice because of the smoky flavour effected by placing the cooler over burning palm fruit husks before being filled with water.
There have also been changes in the way music is played. The first practical gramophone was invented in 1877 by the great American inventor, Thomas A. Edison. However, earlier that year, a Frenchman, Charles Cros, had drawn up a plan for a similar machine. Cros’s gramophone never advanced beyond the planning stage any way.
In modern times the Compact Disc (CD) has been the in thing; Sleek and portable than the record which was quite big and heavy too. For a while, CDs made records look very unwanted. Now there are homes with a thousand and one CDs which cannot be played because they are full of scratches and they just freeze during play. During the days of records, we could change the speed from 33 to 45 and 75 . We could lift the pin and move it to the song we wanted to play. And we could still pile up the records and watch them drop one after the other for continuous play. The audio cassette which is becoming extinct enabled us to turn front and back, side A and side B. We could rewind front and back on the cassette player or even twirl on our finger or a pen to forward or rewind. If there was some damage to a part, we could cut the damaged part and mend it with cellotape and then back to play.
Watching us go front and back through many transformations prompts the question: Has the new necessarily been better than the old?
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Skin to skin contact can cause cervical cancer
By Doreen Allotey
THE room where a group of media personnel had gathered became very silent as the resource person, Dr Lynda Decker of Franklyn Medical Services , gave some startling information about Cervical Cancer.
The media had been invited by the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana and GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical company for the purpose of making as advocates. The two institutions wanted to give the media personnel information about the disease for them to educate the public .
The media learnt that “Just by shaking hands with a person carrying the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) , a woman could finally get cervical cancer and die . The very name of the disease shows that only females can get it since they have cervixes and not males but the virus that causes the diseases can be transmitted by both males and females. The manner in which their bodies have been made for reproductive functions, women do facing many challenges and cervical cancer is one of them.
Dr Decker dwelt on “skin to skin contact” as one of the mode of transmission with a simple hand shake as an example . Eversince I have been very wary of those i shake hands with since I cannot tell by facial expression who may or may not be carrying the HPV . I wonder how long I can maintain this attitude in a society where refusal to shake hands could mean that all is not well with you and the one offering his or her hand.
The startling details given by Dr Decker that every sexually active woman is at a risk of cancer infection the HPV type throughout her lifetime and that it is estimated that up to 80 per cent of women will acquire a HPV infection by the age of 50, and up to 50 per cent of these infections will be from a virus type which has the potential to cause cervical cancer.
Dr Decker explained that cervical cancer occurred when abnormal cells on the cervix grew out of control.
“You get HPVnot only by having sex with someone who has it but by having skin to skin contact with the person” she said.
There are many types of the HPV virus but not all of them do cause cervical cancer. Some of them cause genital warts but other types may not produce any symptoms at all.
This means that one can have HPV for years and may not know it. It stays in your body and can lead to cervical cancer years after you have been infected.
There are factors that may play aid the growth of cervical cancer:
Smoking or history of smoking. As Dr Decker explained, smoking seems to make protract HPV infections .
A study shows that one’s risk of cervical cell changes may also increase if the person stays around someone who smokes.
Cervical cell changes are more likely vanish on their own in women who do not smoke.
Having an impaired immune system such as HIV and the use of birth control pills for more than five years also increases a person’s susceptibility.
Dr Decker said cervical cell changes in the cervix develops as a result of persistent infection from the HPV virus. The virus is extremely common and is easily transmitted from skin to skin especially the genital area. This means that the virus could be acquired without penetrative sex or full sexual intercourse and this also means that condoms may not do much by preventing women from acquiring the virus.
In a society where same sex is not strange, an infected female could pass the disease on to another female.
The sad part of the story is that abnormal cervical cell changes in the cervix rarely causes symptoms until it is getting late. The symptoms may only appear when the cell changes grow into cervical cancer.
These symptoms may include bleeding from the vagina which is not due to a change in menstrual cycle that can be explained, and bleeding when something comes into contact with the cervix such as sexual intercourse . Pain during sex and vaginal discharge tinged with blood are some of the symptoms of cervical cancer.
Fortunately there is a way of detecting the disease. This can be done by a test called the Pap Smear test. This means that the only way to prevent the disease from causing havoc is regular tests.
The Pap smear would 80 per cent of the time, show the cell changes before they turn into cancer so that if you have a problem early treatment could be done.
Since condoms are of little help when it comes to prevention of the disease, Dr Decker recommends abstinence or limiting the number of sex partners.
While Pap smear tests play a vital part by detecting the abnormal cells, the screening does not prevent infection of cancer-causing virus types. It is very helpful however because it is only when you have the disease that treatment can commence.
The treatment for cervical cancer includes cryotherapy , hysterectomy, cone biopsy, and laser treatment.
There is however hope for prevention — vaccination. There is a vaccine that may protect a woman against the disease in up to 70 per cent of cervical cancer cases.
According to Dr Decker, evidence from clinical trials had shown that vaccination alongside regular screening could reduce the chance of developing cervical cancer by 94 per cent, compared to no intervention.
Even though Dr Decker is preaching abstinence as a preventive method and the limitation of the number of sexual partners, regular screening seems to be a more helpful approach especially when a common handshake can also transmit the disease.
It is important for women to regularly go for pap tests and seek more information about the vaccine from their doctors in order to save their lives.
THE room where a group of media personnel had gathered became very silent as the resource person, Dr Lynda Decker of Franklyn Medical Services , gave some startling information about Cervical Cancer.
The media had been invited by the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana and GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical company for the purpose of making as advocates. The two institutions wanted to give the media personnel information about the disease for them to educate the public .
The media learnt that “Just by shaking hands with a person carrying the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) , a woman could finally get cervical cancer and die . The very name of the disease shows that only females can get it since they have cervixes and not males but the virus that causes the diseases can be transmitted by both males and females. The manner in which their bodies have been made for reproductive functions, women do facing many challenges and cervical cancer is one of them.
Dr Decker dwelt on “skin to skin contact” as one of the mode of transmission with a simple hand shake as an example . Eversince I have been very wary of those i shake hands with since I cannot tell by facial expression who may or may not be carrying the HPV . I wonder how long I can maintain this attitude in a society where refusal to shake hands could mean that all is not well with you and the one offering his or her hand.
The startling details given by Dr Decker that every sexually active woman is at a risk of cancer infection the HPV type throughout her lifetime and that it is estimated that up to 80 per cent of women will acquire a HPV infection by the age of 50, and up to 50 per cent of these infections will be from a virus type which has the potential to cause cervical cancer.
Dr Decker explained that cervical cancer occurred when abnormal cells on the cervix grew out of control.
“You get HPVnot only by having sex with someone who has it but by having skin to skin contact with the person” she said.
There are many types of the HPV virus but not all of them do cause cervical cancer. Some of them cause genital warts but other types may not produce any symptoms at all.
This means that one can have HPV for years and may not know it. It stays in your body and can lead to cervical cancer years after you have been infected.
There are factors that may play aid the growth of cervical cancer:
Smoking or history of smoking. As Dr Decker explained, smoking seems to make protract HPV infections .
A study shows that one’s risk of cervical cell changes may also increase if the person stays around someone who smokes.
Cervical cell changes are more likely vanish on their own in women who do not smoke.
Having an impaired immune system such as HIV and the use of birth control pills for more than five years also increases a person’s susceptibility.
Dr Decker said cervical cell changes in the cervix develops as a result of persistent infection from the HPV virus. The virus is extremely common and is easily transmitted from skin to skin especially the genital area. This means that the virus could be acquired without penetrative sex or full sexual intercourse and this also means that condoms may not do much by preventing women from acquiring the virus.
In a society where same sex is not strange, an infected female could pass the disease on to another female.
The sad part of the story is that abnormal cervical cell changes in the cervix rarely causes symptoms until it is getting late. The symptoms may only appear when the cell changes grow into cervical cancer.
These symptoms may include bleeding from the vagina which is not due to a change in menstrual cycle that can be explained, and bleeding when something comes into contact with the cervix such as sexual intercourse . Pain during sex and vaginal discharge tinged with blood are some of the symptoms of cervical cancer.
Fortunately there is a way of detecting the disease. This can be done by a test called the Pap Smear test. This means that the only way to prevent the disease from causing havoc is regular tests.
The Pap smear would 80 per cent of the time, show the cell changes before they turn into cancer so that if you have a problem early treatment could be done.
Since condoms are of little help when it comes to prevention of the disease, Dr Decker recommends abstinence or limiting the number of sex partners.
While Pap smear tests play a vital part by detecting the abnormal cells, the screening does not prevent infection of cancer-causing virus types. It is very helpful however because it is only when you have the disease that treatment can commence.
The treatment for cervical cancer includes cryotherapy , hysterectomy, cone biopsy, and laser treatment.
There is however hope for prevention — vaccination. There is a vaccine that may protect a woman against the disease in up to 70 per cent of cervical cancer cases.
According to Dr Decker, evidence from clinical trials had shown that vaccination alongside regular screening could reduce the chance of developing cervical cancer by 94 per cent, compared to no intervention.
Even though Dr Decker is preaching abstinence as a preventive method and the limitation of the number of sexual partners, regular screening seems to be a more helpful approach especially when a common handshake can also transmit the disease.
It is important for women to regularly go for pap tests and seek more information about the vaccine from their doctors in order to save their lives.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Rejected ballots
Budget for rejected (GN)
December 16, 2008
By Doreen Allotey
The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) is expecting GH¢160,000 from the Ministry of Finance to enable it to carry out more public education to reduce rejected ballots in the December 28 elections.
The amount would be a supplementary budget to GH¢ 622,000 spent by the NCCE for its activities from January to December 7, this year.
For the year’s activities, the NCCE had made a proposal for GH¢830,000 from the Ministry of Finance but it received GH¢622,000 out of the amount.
Figures for the 2004 elections were not readily available.
Mrs Augustina AKosua Akumanyi, Deputy Chairperson of the NCCE, told the Daily Graphic in an interview today that the NCCE made the request for the supplementary budget from the ministry following a request for assistance from the Electoral Commission to assist it to educate the public on rejected ballots.
She said that the NCCE had limited time for the education but would quickly contact its regional offices to link up with presiding officers and political party agents to find out the exact reasons for the phenomenon and the areas where they occurred most.
“ When we get this information, we would mount vigorous education campaigns through the media with messages designed to address the problem and we would use a lot of audio -visuals ”, she said.
Mrs Akumanyi said however that the NCCE would have to know from the EC the definite steps to be adopted for the voting this time round in order to make its education programme successful.
“ We would have to know whether we will be dipping fingers into ink before the voting or after for instance” she added.
On some of the challenges she observed in the December 7 elections, Mrs Akumanyi said it related to the availability of the voter transfer lists at the various polling stations.
She said that the EC had assured this time round that the lists would be made available at the various polling stations.
She hoped that the EC would also provide lanterns at the various polling stations to facilitate the counting of votes saying that at some places , they had to resort to the head lamps of vehicles to see.
Mrs Akumanyi appealed to Government officials not to interfere with work at the polling stations adding that they are not part of the administration of elections.
In the December 7 elections, there were 205,438 rejected ballots out of the 8,671,272 votes cast . This represented 2.4 per cent of the total votes cast. There were 12,472,758 registered voters.
December 16, 2008
By Doreen Allotey
The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) is expecting GH¢160,000 from the Ministry of Finance to enable it to carry out more public education to reduce rejected ballots in the December 28 elections.
The amount would be a supplementary budget to GH¢ 622,000 spent by the NCCE for its activities from January to December 7, this year.
For the year’s activities, the NCCE had made a proposal for GH¢830,000 from the Ministry of Finance but it received GH¢622,000 out of the amount.
Figures for the 2004 elections were not readily available.
Mrs Augustina AKosua Akumanyi, Deputy Chairperson of the NCCE, told the Daily Graphic in an interview today that the NCCE made the request for the supplementary budget from the ministry following a request for assistance from the Electoral Commission to assist it to educate the public on rejected ballots.
She said that the NCCE had limited time for the education but would quickly contact its regional offices to link up with presiding officers and political party agents to find out the exact reasons for the phenomenon and the areas where they occurred most.
“ When we get this information, we would mount vigorous education campaigns through the media with messages designed to address the problem and we would use a lot of audio -visuals ”, she said.
Mrs Akumanyi said however that the NCCE would have to know from the EC the definite steps to be adopted for the voting this time round in order to make its education programme successful.
“ We would have to know whether we will be dipping fingers into ink before the voting or after for instance” she added.
On some of the challenges she observed in the December 7 elections, Mrs Akumanyi said it related to the availability of the voter transfer lists at the various polling stations.
She said that the EC had assured this time round that the lists would be made available at the various polling stations.
She hoped that the EC would also provide lanterns at the various polling stations to facilitate the counting of votes saying that at some places , they had to resort to the head lamps of vehicles to see.
Mrs Akumanyi appealed to Government officials not to interfere with work at the polling stations adding that they are not part of the administration of elections.
In the December 7 elections, there were 205,438 rejected ballots out of the 8,671,272 votes cast . This represented 2.4 per cent of the total votes cast. There were 12,472,758 registered voters.
Give unto caesar what is Caesar's
By Doreen Allotey
Many people were getting ready to celebrate Christmas in grand style. They wanted to add victory at the polls to Christmas (call it two-in-one) and celebrate big time. This was not to be.
By the command of Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, the Electoral Commissioner, we have to go to the polls again on December 28, 2008. And that will be after Christmas. The inability of any of the presidential candidates to get more than 50 per cent of the votes cast is what has caused all this.
What was good about it, any way, was the silence that ensued. Even though some party supporters had, on the day before the announcement of the results, went into hasty and premature celebration, claiming victory for their parties, Dr Afari-Gyan’s announcement went like: “Let there be silence”, and there was silence.
Bars that had been stocked to the brim in readiness for the victory celebrations became quiet and drivers who were getting ready to blow their horns as they drove through the streets found something else to do, not necessarily better, though.
God did not give us the one-touch result that we had hoped for. He is the only one who knows why. But I guess it was to give us the chance to think again and settle on what we really want as a people. At a cost to us, anyway. We have to spend more money on the run-off. But this is something we are prepared for. From the day we decided to toe the line of democracy, we indirectly signed a silent pact to go along with all that multi-party democracy entails.
The December 7 stalemate is quite significant. It showed that the Ghanaian voter had become sophisticated, complex and therefore not so predictable. It also confirmed that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) remain the two dominant political parties in the country. The rest still have a lot of work to do to make an impact. Their presence, however, spiced the menu and gave the electorate more choices and that was all. Another lesson is that incumbency is not a panacea for success at elections and that political parties will have to do more serious work to win elections. It also tells our leaders that they must constantly and continuously identify with us and listen to us ! Our next Parliament promises to be interesting. Parliamentary proceedings will be different, with a few new faces here and there and may be fewer walk outs!
The run-off has come as good news for some businesses, especially advertising agencies and their partners in the media. They are bound to make more money from the politicians who will definitely repackage their campaign messages for the final combat.
But run-off or no run-off, Christmas, the Mass of Christ, is approaching. We will celebrate the birth of Christ before we face the second round of voting. As it stands now, some who voted in the first round may not vote again. They may have lost that mood for travelling to do so or the excitement and motivation that kept them standing in long queues for the purpose of voting on December 7.
Those long queues certainly call for an increase in the number of polling stations, but, of course, that will come at a cost. Some who did not vote in the first round may have regretted staying away and would now want to, while those who spoilt their ballot papers and, therefore, made their candidates poorer and the opponent richer may have learnt their lessons and are ready to do the proper thing this time.
These, and the expected participation of the die-hard and fanatical supporters of the candidates, will make the difference.
For now, the celebration of Christmas occupies my mind. It sends my mind way back to how it used to be and how it is now.
In my part of the world, over 30 years ago preparations for Christmas meant, among others, that children would have the privilege of lining up to have their hair dyed. The dye was called yoomo, a Ga word which means old woman. It was quite messy and after application it dribbled down the forehead. That, however, depended on the expertise of the one doing the application. Somehow, some parents thought that the use of yoomo gave children a neat look!
Surprisingly, I still see some old people around whose hair has virtually refused to take on the yoomo, leaving the hair some kind of reddish-brown shade — not black and not grey! You may say the hair has become immune to the dye. And this is in spite of the fact that it now looks noble to keep the grey hair and even enhance it with grey dye, not black!
In those times, children got so excited about Christmas because they would have rice and chicken to eat. And they got the opportunity of drinking Portello, Vino and Lemonade (Lamley). Those names are now history and only Fanta and Coca-Cola are still on the shelves. We would sometimes add some water to our drinks to increase the quantity and eat Gem biscuits. Children made chains from those gem biscuits by stringing them together and wearing them around their necks. Luckier children got new dresses and shoes or sandals which they invariably wore until the next year. They also got the opportunity to go round from house to house to eat and drink in the spirit of unity and good neighbourliness.
I don’t see many of those things anymore. With the city riddled with fast food joints selling fried rice and chicken and at very affordable prices too, chicken which we occasionally ate, has become an everyday food. In fact, it will cost you more to buy fufu and smoked fish (Akosombo fish) soup than it will to buy you chicken and fried rice, irrespective of the fact that the chicken may have been sleeping in the cold stores (mortuary) for close to 10 years! As for rice, we eat it almost every day now so it’s no big deal.
With stories of children being kidnapped for ransom, how many parents will allow their children to go round the homes of neighbours in that spirit of unity?
Whatever it is, I am still excited about Christmas. Let’s release some tension. Let us give what is Christ’s to Him and show the same enthusiasm in choosing between Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Professor John Evans Atta Mills on December 28.
Many people were getting ready to celebrate Christmas in grand style. They wanted to add victory at the polls to Christmas (call it two-in-one) and celebrate big time. This was not to be.
By the command of Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, the Electoral Commissioner, we have to go to the polls again on December 28, 2008. And that will be after Christmas. The inability of any of the presidential candidates to get more than 50 per cent of the votes cast is what has caused all this.
What was good about it, any way, was the silence that ensued. Even though some party supporters had, on the day before the announcement of the results, went into hasty and premature celebration, claiming victory for their parties, Dr Afari-Gyan’s announcement went like: “Let there be silence”, and there was silence.
Bars that had been stocked to the brim in readiness for the victory celebrations became quiet and drivers who were getting ready to blow their horns as they drove through the streets found something else to do, not necessarily better, though.
God did not give us the one-touch result that we had hoped for. He is the only one who knows why. But I guess it was to give us the chance to think again and settle on what we really want as a people. At a cost to us, anyway. We have to spend more money on the run-off. But this is something we are prepared for. From the day we decided to toe the line of democracy, we indirectly signed a silent pact to go along with all that multi-party democracy entails.
The December 7 stalemate is quite significant. It showed that the Ghanaian voter had become sophisticated, complex and therefore not so predictable. It also confirmed that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) remain the two dominant political parties in the country. The rest still have a lot of work to do to make an impact. Their presence, however, spiced the menu and gave the electorate more choices and that was all. Another lesson is that incumbency is not a panacea for success at elections and that political parties will have to do more serious work to win elections. It also tells our leaders that they must constantly and continuously identify with us and listen to us ! Our next Parliament promises to be interesting. Parliamentary proceedings will be different, with a few new faces here and there and may be fewer walk outs!
The run-off has come as good news for some businesses, especially advertising agencies and their partners in the media. They are bound to make more money from the politicians who will definitely repackage their campaign messages for the final combat.
But run-off or no run-off, Christmas, the Mass of Christ, is approaching. We will celebrate the birth of Christ before we face the second round of voting. As it stands now, some who voted in the first round may not vote again. They may have lost that mood for travelling to do so or the excitement and motivation that kept them standing in long queues for the purpose of voting on December 7.
Those long queues certainly call for an increase in the number of polling stations, but, of course, that will come at a cost. Some who did not vote in the first round may have regretted staying away and would now want to, while those who spoilt their ballot papers and, therefore, made their candidates poorer and the opponent richer may have learnt their lessons and are ready to do the proper thing this time.
These, and the expected participation of the die-hard and fanatical supporters of the candidates, will make the difference.
For now, the celebration of Christmas occupies my mind. It sends my mind way back to how it used to be and how it is now.
In my part of the world, over 30 years ago preparations for Christmas meant, among others, that children would have the privilege of lining up to have their hair dyed. The dye was called yoomo, a Ga word which means old woman. It was quite messy and after application it dribbled down the forehead. That, however, depended on the expertise of the one doing the application. Somehow, some parents thought that the use of yoomo gave children a neat look!
Surprisingly, I still see some old people around whose hair has virtually refused to take on the yoomo, leaving the hair some kind of reddish-brown shade — not black and not grey! You may say the hair has become immune to the dye. And this is in spite of the fact that it now looks noble to keep the grey hair and even enhance it with grey dye, not black!
In those times, children got so excited about Christmas because they would have rice and chicken to eat. And they got the opportunity of drinking Portello, Vino and Lemonade (Lamley). Those names are now history and only Fanta and Coca-Cola are still on the shelves. We would sometimes add some water to our drinks to increase the quantity and eat Gem biscuits. Children made chains from those gem biscuits by stringing them together and wearing them around their necks. Luckier children got new dresses and shoes or sandals which they invariably wore until the next year. They also got the opportunity to go round from house to house to eat and drink in the spirit of unity and good neighbourliness.
I don’t see many of those things anymore. With the city riddled with fast food joints selling fried rice and chicken and at very affordable prices too, chicken which we occasionally ate, has become an everyday food. In fact, it will cost you more to buy fufu and smoked fish (Akosombo fish) soup than it will to buy you chicken and fried rice, irrespective of the fact that the chicken may have been sleeping in the cold stores (mortuary) for close to 10 years! As for rice, we eat it almost every day now so it’s no big deal.
With stories of children being kidnapped for ransom, how many parents will allow their children to go round the homes of neighbours in that spirit of unity?
Whatever it is, I am still excited about Christmas. Let’s release some tension. Let us give what is Christ’s to Him and show the same enthusiasm in choosing between Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Professor John Evans Atta Mills on December 28.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Kwabi Hanson......the barber chosen for the Belgian twin documentary
April 7, 2008
Story and pictures : Doreen Allotey
A Belgian crew working on a documentary that would compare the lives of people who have spent the same time on the globe have chosen Kwabi Hanson, a barber in Accra, as part of the project. He was born on October 5, 1968.
The crew have only made contact with Hanson on phone so far but intend to visit the country to do more. The interesting thing for the crew is that Hanson has a job( barbering), which is very recognisable to the Belgian audience, even though there may be little differences as a consequence of where Mr Hanson lives —Ghana.
I traced Hanson to an area in Accra popularly known as Abuja and found his wooden kiosk situated on what can pass for a hill in a little settlement near one of Accra’s markets known as Agbogbloshie. His shop is almost opposite a pile of firewood for sale and among many other kiosks that serve as workplaces and sleeping places for most travellers from other parts of the country, who arrive in Accra in search of jobs. His shop has “No money , no woman” boldly inscribed in front of it.
Hanson says he loves this saying very much because he has found from his experiences in life that women, whether wife, sister, friend, girlfriend or daughter, love to go where there is money and that women could easily disown you in the absence of money. Guided by this saying , Hanson is not married but has a 16 -year- old daughter— Dorothy Hanson— who is living with his relatives in Aflao, the border town between Ghana and Togo.
Hanson charges 70 Ghana pesewas for a haircut, but at the end of it all, the earnings are woefully inadequate to take care of his basic necessities.
In his barber’s shop sat a huge black box serving as a loudspeaker that has the notice ‘For sale’. To complement his earnings, Hanson makes these boxes himself for sale. He makes them one after the other as they get sold out and advertise this ware when he blares music out of it.
He has another love, which is acting. He has been working with Prime Media in Accra on a number of productions and showed me an album of himself in various acting scenes.
One of his favourite movies is “Finished man”. On a daily basis he responds to demands of carving out a career and hobby in film acting. As soon as he hears of places where auditions are taking place, Hanson dresses up and heads there.
His daughter Dorothy and one of his six siblings were in the album. The picture showing his siblings was taken at Osino, a town in the Eastern Region of Ghana, where Hanson hails from.
His father, Mr Awuah Hanson, a retired teacher and his mother, Joyce Ama Serwaa, a trader in foodstuffs, live in his hometown.
Hanson has travelled widely across the country. This is because he followed his father anywhere he went on transfer to teach.
Hanson did not train to be a barber; it was something that came naturally to him while in school. He found himself being asked by friends and mates to give them a hair-cut. With time and practice, he perfected the art of barbering.
This act was to become a major earner of his daily bread.
Hanson’s real dream of becoming an accountant was cut short when he was involved in an accident a few days to writing his final examination at the Rans Business College at Osino. He stayed in hospital for six months waiting for the injury to his leg to heal. At that time, he didn’t believe he could walk again.
Hanson explains that his time in hospital disrupted his whole direction in life, and because his father had as many as seven children, including him, resources at home were always very little. He is sometimes very angry with his father for having many children.
“ Wishes are not horses for me to ride; sometimes I feel like giving up but what would I eat if I don’t go on,” Hanson urges himself to go on.
“ But I will never take part in any illegal business. I like my freedom very much, maybe as much as I love reggae music.”
Before going into barbering, Hanson was doing some work as a draughtsman in the very kiosk that is his barber’s shop today. He took part-time classes at the Super Techinical College in Asylum Down in Accra in that field of study. He learnt to do that manually and with time, this became outmoded, causing his customers to leave him.
Even though Hanson lives in Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region, he often goes home at the weekends because he cannot afford to use all his earning on transportation from his barber’s shop in Accra to Amasaman everyday. He attends a Pentecostal church and even though he does not attend very regularly, he believes “that is where my salvation is”.
Hanson is not very clear about the objectives of the documentary and how beneficial it would be to his life but is keeping an open mind.
On what the documentary seeks to achieve, an editor on the project, Annelore De Donder, says “It has to do with an interest in other customs and traditions”.
“The responses to the search from Ghana by the project in Belgium were so many that I even had to stop accepting people who kept on calling. Strangely, most of the people who called were born on May 3, 1981,” she said.
In all, 20 responses from Ghana were received by the project. Other people chosen for the project are two other men living in Chile and Canada. The episode will result in parallel portraits of these three men and their Belgian counterpart— but in very different places all over the world. All four of them were born on October 5,1968.
The interesting questions the documentary will seek to answer are : What have been their life experiences? Did the cultural context in which they grew up influence those experiences? Are there similarities in the lives of these people? Does it really matter where you are born?
Story and pictures : Doreen Allotey
A Belgian crew working on a documentary that would compare the lives of people who have spent the same time on the globe have chosen Kwabi Hanson, a barber in Accra, as part of the project. He was born on October 5, 1968.
The crew have only made contact with Hanson on phone so far but intend to visit the country to do more. The interesting thing for the crew is that Hanson has a job( barbering), which is very recognisable to the Belgian audience, even though there may be little differences as a consequence of where Mr Hanson lives —Ghana.
I traced Hanson to an area in Accra popularly known as Abuja and found his wooden kiosk situated on what can pass for a hill in a little settlement near one of Accra’s markets known as Agbogbloshie. His shop is almost opposite a pile of firewood for sale and among many other kiosks that serve as workplaces and sleeping places for most travellers from other parts of the country, who arrive in Accra in search of jobs. His shop has “No money , no woman” boldly inscribed in front of it.
Hanson says he loves this saying very much because he has found from his experiences in life that women, whether wife, sister, friend, girlfriend or daughter, love to go where there is money and that women could easily disown you in the absence of money. Guided by this saying , Hanson is not married but has a 16 -year- old daughter— Dorothy Hanson— who is living with his relatives in Aflao, the border town between Ghana and Togo.
Hanson charges 70 Ghana pesewas for a haircut, but at the end of it all, the earnings are woefully inadequate to take care of his basic necessities.
In his barber’s shop sat a huge black box serving as a loudspeaker that has the notice ‘For sale’. To complement his earnings, Hanson makes these boxes himself for sale. He makes them one after the other as they get sold out and advertise this ware when he blares music out of it.
He has another love, which is acting. He has been working with Prime Media in Accra on a number of productions and showed me an album of himself in various acting scenes.
One of his favourite movies is “Finished man”. On a daily basis he responds to demands of carving out a career and hobby in film acting. As soon as he hears of places where auditions are taking place, Hanson dresses up and heads there.
His daughter Dorothy and one of his six siblings were in the album. The picture showing his siblings was taken at Osino, a town in the Eastern Region of Ghana, where Hanson hails from.
His father, Mr Awuah Hanson, a retired teacher and his mother, Joyce Ama Serwaa, a trader in foodstuffs, live in his hometown.
Hanson has travelled widely across the country. This is because he followed his father anywhere he went on transfer to teach.
Hanson did not train to be a barber; it was something that came naturally to him while in school. He found himself being asked by friends and mates to give them a hair-cut. With time and practice, he perfected the art of barbering.
This act was to become a major earner of his daily bread.
Hanson’s real dream of becoming an accountant was cut short when he was involved in an accident a few days to writing his final examination at the Rans Business College at Osino. He stayed in hospital for six months waiting for the injury to his leg to heal. At that time, he didn’t believe he could walk again.
Hanson explains that his time in hospital disrupted his whole direction in life, and because his father had as many as seven children, including him, resources at home were always very little. He is sometimes very angry with his father for having many children.
“ Wishes are not horses for me to ride; sometimes I feel like giving up but what would I eat if I don’t go on,” Hanson urges himself to go on.
“ But I will never take part in any illegal business. I like my freedom very much, maybe as much as I love reggae music.”
Before going into barbering, Hanson was doing some work as a draughtsman in the very kiosk that is his barber’s shop today. He took part-time classes at the Super Techinical College in Asylum Down in Accra in that field of study. He learnt to do that manually and with time, this became outmoded, causing his customers to leave him.
Even though Hanson lives in Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region, he often goes home at the weekends because he cannot afford to use all his earning on transportation from his barber’s shop in Accra to Amasaman everyday. He attends a Pentecostal church and even though he does not attend very regularly, he believes “that is where my salvation is”.
Hanson is not very clear about the objectives of the documentary and how beneficial it would be to his life but is keeping an open mind.
On what the documentary seeks to achieve, an editor on the project, Annelore De Donder, says “It has to do with an interest in other customs and traditions”.
“The responses to the search from Ghana by the project in Belgium were so many that I even had to stop accepting people who kept on calling. Strangely, most of the people who called were born on May 3, 1981,” she said.
In all, 20 responses from Ghana were received by the project. Other people chosen for the project are two other men living in Chile and Canada. The episode will result in parallel portraits of these three men and their Belgian counterpart— but in very different places all over the world. All four of them were born on October 5,1968.
The interesting questions the documentary will seek to answer are : What have been their life experiences? Did the cultural context in which they grew up influence those experiences? Are there similarities in the lives of these people? Does it really matter where you are born?
Informal training...Story of Philip Aidoo, the sucessful carpenter
March 13,2008
By Doreen Allotey
` Ghana’s education has been organised along two main lines—the formal and informal.
Informal vocation takes place in the form of apprenticeship agreements with craftsmen and trades people. Training is on the average, a period between two to four years but this depends on whether the “master” thinks that the apprentice has learned enough to become a senior and carry his good name wherever he or she goes.
The master also determines how long an apprentice who qualifies to be a “senior” would serve under him/her and whether the senior can work with him or her on commission or what is termed “work and pay” basis.
Thousands of Ghanaian youth are engaged as apprentices in the private or informal sector throughout the country. While some of these apprentices have formal education of some sort, others have never stepped into the classroom but are making it their own way through hard work, determination, discipline, humility and patience.
Apprenticeships available include fitting, spraying of vehicles, hairdressing, tailoring, masonry, welding, plumbing, shoemaking or how to mend shoes, catering and carpentry.
In the carpentry business, one of such persons is Mr Philip Aidoo who started his apprenticeship in 1984. He left his parents’ home in Mankessim in the Central Region to become an apprentice at the Akan Centre of Furniture in Mateheko in Accra for three years, after which his master graduated him as a senior. With this new status, Philip served his master for a couple of years.
He then worked at the centre, supervising some of the new apprentices for another couple of years. When he left the centre, it was to enable him work for different companies on different contracts for three years, gathering experience as he worked. He has since 1992 established a furniture shop at the Awudome Estates with the name Green Wood Furniture Works, opposite the famous Bongo Bar. He obtained his certificate of registration in 1993.
For the apprenticeship agreement, Philip’s parents paid ¢2,500, the equivalent of 25 Ghana pesewas today, to the master at the Akan Centre of Furniture. They also gave two crates of soft drinks, known in Ghanaian parlance as minerals, and a bottle of schnapps. But this was after he had completed a probation period of some weeks to enable his master to assess his character. He had just completed middle school form four then.
Philip had no one to stay with in Accra and, therefore, slept in his master’s shop, bathed and ate there.
“ It was quite difficult in those days. Money for food was hard to come by”, Philip recalls.
The furniture shop doubled as the classroom and a sort of boarding school for him. His determination to learn the trade was what kept him going. The other apprentices had places to live in Accra but out of the 24 of them, three dropped out along the way; they could not take the regiment of learning under the feet of their master.
As a master himself, Philip tries to maintain discipline at his shop and has trained more than 100 young men as carpenters. Currently, he has nine boys under his tutelage.
He has his own entry requirements which he says is similar to that of other masters of his status: A prospective apprentice has to attach himself to Green Wood for three months during which Philip would assess his character to find out if “he can really learn the job” and the apprentice must be above 16 years but not as old as 40.
“ It is quite difficult to teach the older ones”, Philip explains.
“ I once had a 40 year old man as an apprentice but he could not cope and fell out”, he said.
The apprentice then pays GH¢100 and presents two crates of minerals.
On acceptance of these, the apprentice has his colleagues to deal with; those who started learning before him; to them he owes GH¢20. That money is referred to as “Anbantem sika” for the new apprentice would surely learn something good or bad from them too and their co-operation would be invaluable.
Then comes the tools for the trade. “The apprentice should come with the basic; a hand saw, pincers, a hammer and planner”, Philip requires.
Philip does not countenance obstinacy and disrespect to seniors. Theft is an abhorrence and speaking politely is a must. Disregard for any of these attracts caning, suspension for a period or both.
Learning is by observation in stages.
“If it is making a table, I ask the apprentice to observe me making one. At another time I guide him to make the legs of the table and then we move on and on”, he said.
If after three years Philip is not satisfied with the progress of work, he adds on another year to make sure the apprentice is well baked. He has a name to protect.
During training, Philip occasionally fetes his apprentices when business is good. He makes sure they get health care during illness, but “ if it is a serious one , I send them to their parents,” he said.
On graduation, the apprentice turned “senior” pays to Philip another GH¢100, presents two crates of minerals a sheep. Graduation parties are optional but if the graduation coincides with a festivity like Christmas, the celebration is grand.
The challenges of the job as enumerated by Mr Aidoo include the high taxes to the Accra Metropolitan Authority, Internal Revenue Service, payments for utility services and the collection of waste products generated by the trade. At the end of the day almost every earning goes into such payments.
Mr Aidoo suggests that there should be some kind of assistance to enable carpenters acquire new technology in the form of machinery to make carpentry less labour intensive.
Formal and informal education bears a lot of similarities. Before the introduction of formal education in the 1800s, apprenticeship as a mode of training had already started. It’s contribution to national development is obvious and will continue to be with Ghanaians for a long time.
By Doreen Allotey
` Ghana’s education has been organised along two main lines—the formal and informal.
Informal vocation takes place in the form of apprenticeship agreements with craftsmen and trades people. Training is on the average, a period between two to four years but this depends on whether the “master” thinks that the apprentice has learned enough to become a senior and carry his good name wherever he or she goes.
The master also determines how long an apprentice who qualifies to be a “senior” would serve under him/her and whether the senior can work with him or her on commission or what is termed “work and pay” basis.
Thousands of Ghanaian youth are engaged as apprentices in the private or informal sector throughout the country. While some of these apprentices have formal education of some sort, others have never stepped into the classroom but are making it their own way through hard work, determination, discipline, humility and patience.
Apprenticeships available include fitting, spraying of vehicles, hairdressing, tailoring, masonry, welding, plumbing, shoemaking or how to mend shoes, catering and carpentry.
In the carpentry business, one of such persons is Mr Philip Aidoo who started his apprenticeship in 1984. He left his parents’ home in Mankessim in the Central Region to become an apprentice at the Akan Centre of Furniture in Mateheko in Accra for three years, after which his master graduated him as a senior. With this new status, Philip served his master for a couple of years.
He then worked at the centre, supervising some of the new apprentices for another couple of years. When he left the centre, it was to enable him work for different companies on different contracts for three years, gathering experience as he worked. He has since 1992 established a furniture shop at the Awudome Estates with the name Green Wood Furniture Works, opposite the famous Bongo Bar. He obtained his certificate of registration in 1993.
For the apprenticeship agreement, Philip’s parents paid ¢2,500, the equivalent of 25 Ghana pesewas today, to the master at the Akan Centre of Furniture. They also gave two crates of soft drinks, known in Ghanaian parlance as minerals, and a bottle of schnapps. But this was after he had completed a probation period of some weeks to enable his master to assess his character. He had just completed middle school form four then.
Philip had no one to stay with in Accra and, therefore, slept in his master’s shop, bathed and ate there.
“ It was quite difficult in those days. Money for food was hard to come by”, Philip recalls.
The furniture shop doubled as the classroom and a sort of boarding school for him. His determination to learn the trade was what kept him going. The other apprentices had places to live in Accra but out of the 24 of them, three dropped out along the way; they could not take the regiment of learning under the feet of their master.
As a master himself, Philip tries to maintain discipline at his shop and has trained more than 100 young men as carpenters. Currently, he has nine boys under his tutelage.
He has his own entry requirements which he says is similar to that of other masters of his status: A prospective apprentice has to attach himself to Green Wood for three months during which Philip would assess his character to find out if “he can really learn the job” and the apprentice must be above 16 years but not as old as 40.
“ It is quite difficult to teach the older ones”, Philip explains.
“ I once had a 40 year old man as an apprentice but he could not cope and fell out”, he said.
The apprentice then pays GH¢100 and presents two crates of minerals.
On acceptance of these, the apprentice has his colleagues to deal with; those who started learning before him; to them he owes GH¢20. That money is referred to as “Anbantem sika” for the new apprentice would surely learn something good or bad from them too and their co-operation would be invaluable.
Then comes the tools for the trade. “The apprentice should come with the basic; a hand saw, pincers, a hammer and planner”, Philip requires.
Philip does not countenance obstinacy and disrespect to seniors. Theft is an abhorrence and speaking politely is a must. Disregard for any of these attracts caning, suspension for a period or both.
Learning is by observation in stages.
“If it is making a table, I ask the apprentice to observe me making one. At another time I guide him to make the legs of the table and then we move on and on”, he said.
If after three years Philip is not satisfied with the progress of work, he adds on another year to make sure the apprentice is well baked. He has a name to protect.
During training, Philip occasionally fetes his apprentices when business is good. He makes sure they get health care during illness, but “ if it is a serious one , I send them to their parents,” he said.
On graduation, the apprentice turned “senior” pays to Philip another GH¢100, presents two crates of minerals a sheep. Graduation parties are optional but if the graduation coincides with a festivity like Christmas, the celebration is grand.
The challenges of the job as enumerated by Mr Aidoo include the high taxes to the Accra Metropolitan Authority, Internal Revenue Service, payments for utility services and the collection of waste products generated by the trade. At the end of the day almost every earning goes into such payments.
Mr Aidoo suggests that there should be some kind of assistance to enable carpenters acquire new technology in the form of machinery to make carpentry less labour intensive.
Formal and informal education bears a lot of similarities. Before the introduction of formal education in the 1800s, apprenticeship as a mode of training had already started. It’s contribution to national development is obvious and will continue to be with Ghanaians for a long time.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Zero tolerance for FGM
Zero tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
By Doreen Allotey
Today, February 6, is International Day on Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices (IAC) with its national committees in 28 African countries and the group sections, in 16 countries outside of Africa observes February 6, 2008 as the 5th anniversary of the day
The theme for this year’s celebration is “Partnering with the media to reach Zero Tolerance to FGM.”
By “Zero Tolerance to FGM”, the IAC means that FGM should not be tolerated for any reason, at any time, place or on anybody. FGM has been recognised as violence against women and girls and coupled with other medical, social, psycho-sexual and economic consequences, the practice should not be allowed to continue under the guise of tradition or religion.
February 6 was adopted as a day to draw attention world-wide to the menace of FGM during the International conference on Zero Tolerance to FGM organised by the IAC and held at the ECA, Addis Ababa, from February 4 to 6, 2003.
The conference that drew over 400 participants world-wide was unanimous in adopting the day. Since that time several other bodies and organisations have recognised February 6 as world FGM Day.
The United Nations Sub-committee on Human Rights not only recognised February 6, but has also been marking the day in Geneva in collaboration with IAC Geneva office under the leadership of Mrs. Berhane Ras-Work, the IAC Executive Director. Also celebrating February 6, 2008, is the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva. It would hold a panel discussion and press conference on “How to end the practice of FGM”.
IAC and its partners the UN, Governments, International and local NGOs among others agreed to commemorate February 6 as a day to strategise, reflect, deliberate on FGM and to re-new commitment to end this human rights violation in the name of tradition.
All actions towards ending FGM is in accordance with Article 5 (Elimination of Harmful Traditional Practices (HTPs) in the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.
The World Health Organisation estimates that about 120 million African women and girls have been subjected to FGM. African immigrants have taken the practice to Europe, America and Asia thus making FGM a global concern.
It is the goal of IAC and other stakeholders that the millions of at-risk cases to FGM every year are prevented and that the traditional practice would be eliminated by 2015 in line with the Millennium Development Goals: -
Promoting Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment,
Reducing child mortality and Improving maternal health
The Inter-African Committee believes that to eliminate FGM, there must be a multi-dimensional approach that involves all stakeholders. IAC at the 2003 International conference on Zero Tolerance to FGM presented a Common Agenda for Action for the elimination of FGM which was adopted by the conference as a tool for harnessing energy to achieve Zero FGM world wide.
IAC partners with the media because the media reaches a wider segment of the population with powerful and lasting messages. Therefore their involvement in the campaign would likely accelerate the reaching of the goal of eliminating FGM.
From 1993 to date, IAC has been working closely with the media by organising media workshops, conferences, press briefings and through direct involvement of media professionals in programme planning and implementation in the different countries where IAC has National Committees.
Engaging the media in the campaign against FGM has resulted in some successes top of which is breaking the taboo on FGM and making it a public discourse.
The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices is an international non-governmental network organisation founded in Dakar, Senegal in 1984.
The vision of IAC is to see “A society in which African women and children fully enjoy their human right to live free from harmful traditional practices”.
IAC has its headquarters at the UN premises in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and a liaison office in Geneva, Switzerland.
By Doreen Allotey
Today, February 6, is International Day on Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices (IAC) with its national committees in 28 African countries and the group sections, in 16 countries outside of Africa observes February 6, 2008 as the 5th anniversary of the day
The theme for this year’s celebration is “Partnering with the media to reach Zero Tolerance to FGM.”
By “Zero Tolerance to FGM”, the IAC means that FGM should not be tolerated for any reason, at any time, place or on anybody. FGM has been recognised as violence against women and girls and coupled with other medical, social, psycho-sexual and economic consequences, the practice should not be allowed to continue under the guise of tradition or religion.
February 6 was adopted as a day to draw attention world-wide to the menace of FGM during the International conference on Zero Tolerance to FGM organised by the IAC and held at the ECA, Addis Ababa, from February 4 to 6, 2003.
The conference that drew over 400 participants world-wide was unanimous in adopting the day. Since that time several other bodies and organisations have recognised February 6 as world FGM Day.
The United Nations Sub-committee on Human Rights not only recognised February 6, but has also been marking the day in Geneva in collaboration with IAC Geneva office under the leadership of Mrs. Berhane Ras-Work, the IAC Executive Director. Also celebrating February 6, 2008, is the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva. It would hold a panel discussion and press conference on “How to end the practice of FGM”.
IAC and its partners the UN, Governments, International and local NGOs among others agreed to commemorate February 6 as a day to strategise, reflect, deliberate on FGM and to re-new commitment to end this human rights violation in the name of tradition.
All actions towards ending FGM is in accordance with Article 5 (Elimination of Harmful Traditional Practices (HTPs) in the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.
The World Health Organisation estimates that about 120 million African women and girls have been subjected to FGM. African immigrants have taken the practice to Europe, America and Asia thus making FGM a global concern.
It is the goal of IAC and other stakeholders that the millions of at-risk cases to FGM every year are prevented and that the traditional practice would be eliminated by 2015 in line with the Millennium Development Goals: -
Promoting Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment,
Reducing child mortality and Improving maternal health
The Inter-African Committee believes that to eliminate FGM, there must be a multi-dimensional approach that involves all stakeholders. IAC at the 2003 International conference on Zero Tolerance to FGM presented a Common Agenda for Action for the elimination of FGM which was adopted by the conference as a tool for harnessing energy to achieve Zero FGM world wide.
IAC partners with the media because the media reaches a wider segment of the population with powerful and lasting messages. Therefore their involvement in the campaign would likely accelerate the reaching of the goal of eliminating FGM.
From 1993 to date, IAC has been working closely with the media by organising media workshops, conferences, press briefings and through direct involvement of media professionals in programme planning and implementation in the different countries where IAC has National Committees.
Engaging the media in the campaign against FGM has resulted in some successes top of which is breaking the taboo on FGM and making it a public discourse.
The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices is an international non-governmental network organisation founded in Dakar, Senegal in 1984.
The vision of IAC is to see “A society in which African women and children fully enjoy their human right to live free from harmful traditional practices”.
IAC has its headquarters at the UN premises in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and a liaison office in Geneva, Switzerland.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)