Ghanabakwamena MET Dwain Lucktung

I had observed him with keen interest in the last days of the Mali Youth Summit as he updated the world on what was happening at Bamako. I couldn’t help but ask for some time with him to coach me on blogging. I interrupted his swim time with the rest of the team and I couldn’t believe he was sitting next to me, equipping me with tips to successful blogging, Dwain Lucktung is he.

A close look at his blog bio will get you thinking- Really? But YEAH! Dwain is a hustler- believe it or not…lols! He mentioned that was the truth- I admire his sincerity, makes me wanna admit I’m err mm …hahahahaha! Dwain stated a person must know what he/she stood for when blogging. I wasn’t surprised when he asked “What do you blog about?” I replied, “…mostly Issues from my world of advocacy & activism, Nokia and interesting stuff I come across…” he liked it and advised I remain focused, also “…give your readers a reason to keep coming back for more.” The truth is- Dwain attempted to give me a hands-on experience but the Link at Hotel Massaley, Bamako wouldn’t permit because it wasn’t functional- a piece of advice to the hotel: “PLEASE CHECK IT & FIX THE PROBLEM”, the link back at the main arena for the event was soooo sssssloooooow it took ages for many participants to connect with the rest of the world most of the time. 

Dwain Lucktung

Dwain shared lots of Vital FREE Information with me, from; Starting and sustaining a Blog, types of blogs, Tittle and Content, How to share links and get your blog read, hyperlinking, pictures, through to- Design of your Blog esp. colours, comments, updating you blog as often as possible- at least two or three times a month etc. oh!, and Hashtags. Talk of tags- I have Dwain’s Summit Tag, he was outta Mali before I could return it- I’m keeping it- at least I have something that reminds me of one of my favourite bloggers and mentor! Whaaaaat? I couldn’t believe my ears when he mentioned he was still learning to be a better blogger.

He advised I read a lot- especially other blogs. I check his blog out whenever I get online- wanna know what Dwain just posted? Click here:  D-W-A-I-N. Dwain got me falling in love with blogging all over again and stirred up some fire… so sad my laptop wasn’t around- you would have read this item long before 21^st May…hehehehehehe! Never mind- we’re glad all is well.  I have, within this short period of time- grown to appreciate the efforts of all bloggers around the world in their bid to inform their readers on happenings around the world! “…I’m ma Blog-blog-blog no matter what!” I'm sure I will be even better at Blogging- i learnt alot at #BlogCamp12 in Accra, Ghana by BloggingGhana!

My Nokia Asha 303 Review!

My dream to have a feel of the Nokia Asha Range was made a reality when got me my very own Nokia Asha 303; the launch was exciting and thrilling – very youthful- If you are the kind of person who digs social media and communicating faster, go for it, why?  All your social network platforms in one place! After a week-long use, I have decided to review the handset for your reading. Watch out for a video review soon, till then- ENJOY! 

                                                                                            Design

The Nokia Asha 303 handset may look basic, but very stylish and solid with lots of surprises. It has a flashy and classy 2.4 inches capacity touch display (320× 240 pixels), it’s intelligently responsive for usage especially browsing and scrolling. 

The Asha 303 also comes with a QWERTY keyboard fixed nicely beneath it- you will surely enjoy that too if you are a QWERTY interface lover- hasn’t got gaps between keys so be gentle when typing else you will finger-slip, the space bar has quite some space though.

With its curvy gentle feature from top to bottom the handset is designed.


                      No need to be scared by its size the Nokia Asha 303 weighs 99g only and measures 13.9mm thick- not need to worry fits easily into my pocket and will sure fit nicely into yours too. The Asha 303 is available in a range of colours; Red, Graphite, Green, White, Aqua and Purple. 

  
                  To the Best of my knowledge the Red has already landed in Ghana, colour availability varies by country, but looking forward to the other colours soon. Smartly fitted aboard is a CPU- 1GHz, you can browse, watch videos and text faster too with 3G connections and Wi-Fi, yep- you read rightly Comes with Wi-Fi- so now you can Facebook, tweet, chat and WhatsApp  everywhere …lols! Nokia’s OVI store will always serve you with applications- no worries. The Asha 303 like many Nokia handsets is very easy to navigate, don’t hesitate to consult the manual though- just in case!




        For game enthusiast, My Asha 303 came with a favourite game already loaded, Angry Birds Lite, a lighter version of the ever popular bird tossing game. Well- doesn’t come in full pack, that’s sad but the game runs smoothly- trust me!

 

 

          Thanks to the 1 GHz processor, “style meets speed”-Nokia. So will yours on purchase! Other games on the handset Asphalt 4 Elite Racing (demo), Climate Mission, Brain Challenge 3(demo). 

Camera

The Nokia Asha 303 in the rear has a 3.2-megapixel camera, well- not a high resolution compared to the Nokia C3-01 (5 megapixel), or iPhone 4S or Samsung Galaxy S2 (both with 8 megapixel camera’s) but still cool, trendy and equally captures memorable events, family, loved ones and friends.

Memory

In-built storage capacity is 100MB- rather low, but a 2GB micro SD card comes with the package on purchase, that will boost space for more storage. Lest I forget- the handset supports up to 32GB for your enjoyment! ;)

          All in all I would say this is phone is a Smarter QWERTY or better put best touch-QWERTY-smart phone launched by Nokia so far! The Asha 303 has got good battery life- up to 8 hours and could last a while with music lovers too.

UNAIDS New Strategy: Young People's inputs Needed!

After weeks of hard work going through all the data from the Open Forums and the solutions application, the Drafting Committee will hold its first live drafting session today to gather your inputs into the UNAIDS Secretariat’s new strategy!

The section for discussion is: what Guiding principles should UNAIDS adhere to when working with young people. The session will start at 1pm GMT, with a second session on the same topic at 7pm EST (Friday the 2 of March).  To join, just log on with the chat function in the Google docs application: http://bit.ly/yJkzjp



This is the first of eight strategy sections that will be discussed live over the next 11 week days. Each section has two sessions to reach the crowds on the different sides of the planet. The Eastern hemisphere session will be held at 1pm GMT and the Western hemisphere session will be held at 7pm EST. For a full overview of the timing of the live sessions for the different sections of the strategy visit the CrowdOutAIDS homepage.

Thanks for taking part and dedicating your time to this first ever attempt to use social media tools to directly influence UN policy making! Session has Already started Join in NOW!

//CrowdOutAIDS Drafting Committee & team

Ps. please forward this to your networks!

Want to Blog Live from an Event?

 I have always enjoyed every bit of the blog item of one of my mentors and colleague blogger (Mac-Jordan). I was flummoxed when I read him out “I won’t call myself a PRO in this New Media field yet as I’m still learning from my mentors (Erik Hersman, Jillian C. York & Ethan Zuckerman”. I told myself I had a lot to learn then.

I had a fair idea on how to disseminate information on the spot from events on to social media and get buddies reading, I’m known for doing that on Facebook via SnaptÜ –‘NOW-NOW-NOW’, yeah, you read right, that’s what I call it. I’m still trying to find my way around twitter- but I’ve been able to master hash-tags, Re-tweeting (RT) and conversing, isn’t that good? don't clap for me yet....lols!

I will ‘whet your appetite’ by giving bits of what I learnt from the item I read, READY?

Pre-Event Preparations: Readying yourself to disseminate the information, what you need, must prepare or check before the event.

·       Get Accreditation/Press Pass.

·       Check for Wi-Fi Availability.

·       Confirm the Hashtag or create one.

·       Configure Your Applications.

·       Take Your Charger & Power Plug(s).

Live At the Event/Conference: Basically looks at what you can/must do at the event to get your followers updated on happenings.

• Positioning yourself to Blog (preferably close to a power plug)
• Set The Stage.
• Don’t Forget to Add/Share Live Photos (Remember: Seeing, they say is Believing).
• Use Attribution.
• Follow Others.
• Watch for interests among followers and respond.

Post –Event Wrap Up: The Event? It’s all over- what happens next?

• Evaluate your work.
• Blog Content.
• Thank Your Hosts.
• Thank your followers.

So as not to forget- Mac-Jordan added in conclusion 

            “If you follow these simple rules I’m confident that conference organizers, your fellow attendees and online followers will be pleased with the results. Did I forget anything? I’m very sure; there are other wonderful ideas with LIVE-blogging from conferences/events; please share your tips and tricks and let’s keep the conversation going.” Kindly Read the full item here; http://wp.me/pKXkq-hr. You will love it!

            Much thanks to Mac-Jordan for sharing and continuing to inspire young people like myself in the world of social media and activism. Looking forward to share what I learn too… *Wink*

...A better Blogger I shall be!

        Greetings from the heart of Accra my dear reader, indeed its been ages since you last read from my blog- Accept my apology for not feeding your eyes for some time now....lols! The truth is Ghanabakwamena has been engage with important appointments, projects and the like - Connectivity is no more a challenge. Wishing you well.... keep your eyes here for some Better Blogging.

        Hope you have fully recovered the loss to our folks from Zambia... No feuding Please! I know some players on the Ghanaian team may be on your wanted list too...
Kwarasey, Gyan, Boateng and others for some errors of some sort during play... as we wait to cling unto 3rd position... please support the stars! we can deal with other matters on return....that's only if they come home directly....lols!

Building Equity in Ghana!

Like the Philippines, Ghana has recently edged into the middle-income bracket, yet pockets of poverty remain there as well. An Executive Board delegation visited the West African country from 9 to 14 May to assess equity-building efforts undertaken by UNICEF – in tandem with the government and other partners.



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VIDEO: 21 June 2011 - Gail Farngalo, Counsellor to the Permanent Mission of Liberia to the UN, provides highlights from the report of a UNICEF Executive Board delegation to Ghana. Watch in RealPlayer

Gail Farngalo, Counsellor to the Permanent Mission of Liberia to the UN, provided highlights of the delegation’s report to the Executive Board. Ms. Farngalo pointed out that Ghana is on track to reach the Millennium Development Goal of halving extreme poverty. It also has one of the highest primary school enrolment rates on the continent. Still, she said, many obstacles remain.
Notably, Ms. Farngalo reported that Ghana is not on track to achieve MDGs 5 and 7, which call for reducing maternal mortality and expanding access to safe water and sanitation, respectively. She said the draft country programme for UNICEF Ghana would seek to close disparities in these and other critical areas in the coming years.

source: UNICEF