Nyaniba Park Renovation Project - Nyaniba Estates. Accra

It all started off with a group of Nyaniba folks living in the US, UK, Europe and in Accra deciding to put some funds together to renovate the park at Nyaniba. Actually as far as I can remember, nothing has ever been done in terms of renovating this park. I remember as a kid many years ago walking past the park on my way to school, which was then Saint Michael's International School. I do not recall actually playing on the park. I do remember stopping on many occasions just to watch other kids and adults playing on it. Football was always the main sport played on it.

Recently there has been a lot of action surrounding the park. As far as I understand, there have been several attempts by unknown parties to gain control of the park and use it for personal projects. By this I mean building of houses. Others have also tried to encroach on it for reasons best known to them. Anyway in all these illegal attempts, the residents of Nyaniba have stood up to any hostility and retained the park. Moving forward it was decided that the park should be renovated as a legacy for the kids in Nyaniba. Since returning to Ghana on a frequent basis, I have on several occasions seen the park being used as a football pitch or as an overflow area for anyone having a funeral.

The current plan layout for the project seeks to have a basketball court, a football field - one that can host five-a-side, a table tennis area, a kids playground area and a couple of sitting areas. I took my Parrot Drone out to the park a couple of days ago and did a short flight to make a video recording of the park. For those who are abroad and have not been back for quite a while, watching the video should give you an update of what the park currently looks like. If you have moved out of Nyaniba, please watch the video.

Finally if you are interested in helping out financially with the Nyaniba Project, I would encourage you to contact James "Fella" Azu. If you have any questions James will be more than willing to answer them for you. Send me a text message/whatsapp message on 0245241811 and I will get James to contact you. 

Now enjoy the video below

Back In Ghana - Lunch With James And Family - Nyaniba Estates

Yes that is right, I am back in Ghana. Last year around the end of August, I took a three break to travel to Ghana and get Project Laingoye kicked off. Despite being a gruelling three months with challenges, i managed to accomplish what I planned and get things started.

I am now back. Updates on the project can be found on the "Project Laingoye" section of this blog. Why dont you take a trip over there and update yourself with where I currently stand with the building project and what is next on the project timeline.

In between sorting things out with the project, I have been "enjoying" myself.

There is currently a Project, initiated by Nyaniba UK residents and those in Nyaniba to renovate the Nyaniba Park. I have injected myself into this project. I had the blessed opportunity of meeting James "Fella" Azu, who is the main man on the ground in Nyaniba coordinating things from his end. I had my personal donation for the project and also donations from the UK to give to him. James invited me over to his house one Saturday to enjoy some fufu and a variety of Ghanaian soups. The experience was finger licking good. With the assistance of his wife Sky, I enjoyed every moment of my two lunch with them. So this is how it all went down. I arrived at his crib around 11AM and was offered a bottles of chilled Star beer. Then I was asked if I would like to sample some Alomo Silver. Of course I said. I am never one to shy away from a little adventure. Next was the fufu. As they say, a picture tells a whole lot more than words. Check out some optics I took of dish before it got totally demolished by me

The meal was delicious and I enjoyed every "atom" of it. When I got home, I sat down hoping to just relax for a little while. I actually dozed off for a good two hours and more. Life is certainly blessed and good, in Ghana. Thanks James and Sky. Love you both.

Oasis Bar and Grill Now Open

Some time in June I wrote on this blog about a joint which was soon to open in Tamale - Link here. Well I am proud to announce to you that Oasis has been officially opened. The specially day of its opening was a very proud moment for the owner, Mr Andrew Alhassan. I am pleased to share with you below some pictures that were taken on the opening night. Don't forget, whenever you are up in Tamale, try your best to pop into Oasis for some very good food and relaxing atmosphere.

Oasis

I am dubbing this joint as the best Sports Bar and Grill in Tamale - when it officially opens. Now where do I start? How do I tell the "story" of this "project" hatched by Mr A Alhassan? Anyway before I going any further, this is just to let you the reader know that I have not been commissioned to do this write up on behalf of Mr A Alhassan. I am doing this because as a close family friend, I have followed Andrew's project from inception to its completion [almost completion]. I am sure that as time draws nearer to opening this joint, Mr Alhassan will get the necessary media outlets to to a proper write up and announcement as to how is dream became a reality.

Fisrt of all, a bit of history. How do I know Andrew? I met Andrew many years ago in Tamale. I used to be a part time teacher at his mum's kindergarten school [which was run from their home in Tamale], before moving on to teacher General Science and Biology at Tamasco [Tamale Secondary School]. Eventually, Andrew moved to the UK to further his education, got married and had kids. I must have moved to the UK myself a couple of years after he did. We sort of kept in touch over the years, either by phone or meeting at various events in the UK.

Now lets fast forward to say four to five years back from present day; after a long stint of working as a Telecoms Network Engineer for Vodafone, Andrew decided to move back to Tamale, Ghana, As part of his plans to move back, he decided that he wanted to setup a Sports and Grill Bar in Tamale. On one of my visits to Tamale to visit the family, we went out to one of the night clubs in Tamale. There was nothing particularly interesting about this night club, it was just an ordinary night club serving drinks and food with music to listen and dance to. I think it has some space inside for those who wanted to dance. After settling down and having some drinks, Andrew unveiled to me his plans for this Sports and grill Bar he had in mind... First of all he asked me to take a good look at the surroundings we were in and the number of people that were enjoying themselves. He then laid some facts regarding the place we were at to me [apparently he knows the guy - Mike's Spot]. As I mentioned earlier, there was nothing special about the place. The setup was just simple, nothing fancy and yet Mike's spot was raking it in every night. Andrew then said, with the vision he had for his Sports and Grill Bar, he would be making a lot of money, especially with the decor and services he would provide. Andrews Sports Bar would definitely be the talk of Tamale. 

Anyway, Andrew bought his plot of land in an area called Rice City in Tamale and the project commenced. Occasionally Andrew would upload a couple of pictures to his Facebook profile for friends and family to see how far he had got to etc etc. Last year in November I took a plane trip to Tamale to visit Andrew and the rest of the family. Andrew picked me up from the Airport and on our way to his crib at Airport residential area, we took a sort detour to his project. I was immediately thrown of guard.  I immediately released that looking at something as a picture does not give you the right perspective of what that thing should give you. I was so glad he was showing this to me. As we walked round the place, he explained to ow the place was going to function and why the building was setup as per the architects drawings. I suddenly felt excited. I also felt so proud of him. This was a big achievement. The night life in Tamale has changed drastically from the time I used to live there. It is much easier to move about in Tamale. More and more people from other parts of Ghana have more than one means of travelling to Tamale. There are now plane flights from Takoradi, Accra and Kumasi to Tamale. A typical flight from Accra to Tamale takes no more than 45 minutes.

The Sports Bar is almost done. I think he plans of opening in late June or early July this year. I am not too sure of the exact date. All I know is that it is going to be an instant success. To compliment this article, I have some pictures which I have tried to arrange in some sort of "timeline" showcasing the beginning and where it current is at. Before I forget, Oasis is located at Rice City. I know this sounds a bit vague, but I will try and get better directions to Oasis later on and update this blog with it.

Yes, I saved the best till last. This is how Oasis looks now. I am sure there are still some micro touches to be applied here and there but as I mentioned before, pictures do not tell the full story, however let you imagination do the rest :-). Love it!!!

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2016 Living Word

"At the heart of this devotional is a desire to make God's eternal word real to our day to day experiences. The study format is easy to follow and the daily insights rich with meaning.
You can use this guide for your personal or family devotion, facilitate a Bible study or prepare a study lesson for a group you lead. Whether you are a student, parent, worker, busy executive or a senior citizen, you can develop a closer walk with God and study His word daily. Make time to draw on His wisdom from above and see the difference it will bring into your life."
 

Whilst back in Ghana last year between the months of August and December, [yes I know,I spent several months there all in the name of relocation] I fellowshipped every Sunday morning attending Church Service at ICGC located at Abossey Okine. I was initially invited by a good friend Belinda Quarshie several years ago and since then, whenever I am in Ghana, I make it my mission to attend church service there. I am very skeptical about churches in Ghana. I feel many of them have deviated from the soul purpose of why a church is needed in a community, and have made it their aim to feed people with nonsense and device as many ways and means of extracting money from them based on absurd reasons. 
Anyway, ICGC sat well with me. I liked the church very much. I would not say I liked everything about the church, but on a scale of 1 - 10, I would give it a 9 based on the atmosphere, preaching, etc etc. 

So, "Living Word" is a yearly book written by the Senior Pastor and founder of ICGC - Pastor Mensa Otabil. My copy - Living Word 2016, was purchased as a present for me by Belinda in November last year when I was in Ghana. It is meant to be read on a daily bases, but hey, I found the content very inspiring and full of great value. I ended up reading more than one page at a time. I ended up finishing the book last week. There are several pages which I enjoyed. Others I had questions on. 

I am eagerly looking to next years Living Word 2017. I plan to be in Ghana in November for six week. Hopefully before I leave, Pastor Otabil would have the Living Word for 2017 published and out for sale.

When A Sale Becomes Confusing - Return Tickets Accra, Ghana

In around December 19th last year I received an email from British Airways announcing a sale. I took the opportunity to buy 3 return tickets to Ghana in April this year. After all we all like sales, and when it comes to sales in tickets, who would not take up the chance to save some money. Buying something on sale is meant to save you a considerable amount of money. 

Now here is when it becomes interesting. I was speaking to my niece last week and she said how she wished she had £450 to afford a return ticket to Ghana. He comment got me asking her a series of questions. What airline was she referring to I asked. She said British Airways. That cannot be right I suddenly said. I told her that I had received an email from British Airways announcing their sale in December last year and I had to pay around £650 for a return ticket. How can this be possible I kept asking myself. Just to confirm what my niece had told me, I went ont British Airways website and checked out the fair. Using the same travel dates I had used to purchase my tickets in December last year, I requested a price for the same trip and loo and behold, the price was pegged at £470. Well I knew British Airways have a presence on Twitter so I posed the question to them.

This is how the conversation went down on Twitter

Moving on, I asked BA twitter team to check their DM inbox for detailed information.  The response I got shocked me. 

Well I suppose it is a lesson learnt. One should not just jump head first into a sale. Waiting a few days or even weeks and you might get a better sale price on what you are buying. Still though, I feel British Airways need to refine their advertising on the sale they have on tickets.

ECG - Where art thou - Final update

Well I suppose persistence does pay. 

I got a phone call yesterday afternoon around 4pm. The person identified himself as an employee of ECG and wanted to know where I lived. Fortunately he was already positioned on Blogordo Road and all he had to do was drive down as I was waiting for him outside my crib. 

After we had done away with the pleasantries, I asked him if he had read the report I had initial logged with ECG Customer Service. He said "no". I was not surprised. I invited him into the house and went through with him what happened on the 10th. The faulty electric meter had been moved to another location. Due to the demolition going on in my property it had to be moved. Unfortunately it appears to be "dead". The electrician who moved the meter could not reconnect it. His attempt generated some sparks which resulted in his hand getting burnt. 

Anyway the chap from ECG asked the electrician to obtain a specific board which a new meter will be attached to. Once the board is in place, a call will be made to the chap from ECG and he will bring over a new meter as a replacement.