Part 2: 40 things I am proud of having achieved
[I promised a 2 part story but I am going to have to turn it into 3 parts. You can read part 1 here]
I promise you this is not some Nollywood or Ghallywood saga that will stretch out interminably, but one of the things I am proud of is also my spirit of tenacity and so I shall press on with listing other achievements I am proud of until they number 40. I believe it is really important to take time to reflect on what one has done well, and to give ourselves a pat on the back because sometimes we don’t always get the affirmation and encouragement we need from the folks around so. So if no one is praising you, my friend, big up yourself when you need to.
21. I have been building my house for what seems like forever! The magazine Go Woman even featured my project a few years ago, and I am still building. Sometimes I think, ‘this is embarassing, the guy who owns the plot next to you finished his house in what seemed like 6 months and 6 years on you are still working on this house???’. But you know what, this really is one of my proudest achievements. First of all I am not building one house but two semi detached houses. One for my mum, and one for me. And every pesewa that has funded the house has been scrimped and saved from my salary working in the NGO sector. Plus my house is clearly liveable, people have been living there with my permission for about 3 years now. I’m now at the stage where we are going to start putting in windows, doors and a gate. I can’t talk about my house without shouting out my friend , the award winning architect Tony Asare (who *ahem* also happens to be building the Ghanaian studio for world renowned Ghanaian artist El Anatsui) who has supervised this entire project for me gratis since day 1.
22. In March 2013, I was a guest on The Forum, a BBC World Service programme. I was invited to share a one minute idea that could change the world, and so I spoke about the importance of documenting the stories of older women. Subsequently in 2017 with the support of my cousin the writer Nana Malone we provided initial funding for the establishment of the Abena Korantema Oral History prize which is being administered by the Writers Project of Ghana. Applications are for this prize are open now and so if like me you believe in preserving the stories of our elders, send in your submission now.
23. In a similar vein, and with the support of my family, I initiated the Nana Koffi Addo non fiction prize which is now in its third year of administration by Writivism. I am super excited that the chair of judges for the prize this year is the uber talented Akwaeke Emezi whose debut novel ‘Freshwater’ has already taken the world by storm and it hasn’t even been released yet! (now those are some writing goals to aspire to)
24. Guys I met my reading goals for 2015, 2016 and 2017!!! The goal in 2015 and 2016 was to read 12 books a year, I increased my goal in 2017 to 16 books, and now I am thinking I really need to stretch myself in 2018. I know to some this may seem like, ‘Is that it. You read so few books and are making so much plenty noise?’ but I remember in 2014 feeling quite down about how little I was reading, and deciding that I need to read more. One of my friends asked me to write about how I managed to hit my reading goals so that may be another post coming up soon.
25. In 2015 I was sponsored by the Goethe Institute to attend the Ake Arts & Book festival . It was the most inspiring time being surrounded by African writers from so many parts of the confident who were just the nicest and most down to earth people. I remember saying to myself that I know I would have made it when I get invited to the festival as a guest in my own right. And then in 2016 I was invited as a guest! I was like ‘OMG, I haven’t made it yet’, but you know what, your girl went, and represented on a panel with Chinelo Okparanta, Kiru Taye and Toni Kan.
26. So a lot of people who only met me in the last decade or so do not know this about me, but over a decade ago I used to work for the Metropolitan Service of London (aka the police). I started out as a Communications Officer answering 999 calls, and then become a Communications Trainer, and then became a leadership trainer and one of the first cohort of leadership trainers who implemented the shift from management training to leadership training. It was a super stressful and challenging job being a young African girl training mainly older white male police officers and staff) about topics such as racism and the importance of being a transformational leader. However it was also one of the best learning experiences of my life.
27. I love to learn new things and way before coaching become a thing, my friend Kwame Akpokavi told me about a free long distance coaching course that was being offered by Newcastle College. I decided to sign up for it thinking it would be a breeze. It wasn’t. After barely passing one module, I stepped up and studied hard for the course and qualified as a performance coach. That led me to have a small private coaching practice for a few years. But best of all, what I learnt about coaching enabled me to coach myself throughout life. Thank you Kwame!
28. I met Kwame through Alberta Stevens, the friend that I credit for nurturing my entrepreneurial spirit. She started a development education consultancy Southern Narrative, and generously brought me on board as a Co Founder. Together we started a project that we named ‘Anowa’ in honour of Ama Ata Aidoo. The Anowa project trained 20 African women to work with schools in the South East of London on the global dimensions aspects of the curriculum so young people could learn about the interconnections between the UK and the rest of the world including issues around race and diversity. Alberta has been such an inspiration and motivation for the person that I am today.
29. In 2009 I went on holiday on my own to Turkey. This was soon after 9/11 and my parents were freaking out at the thought of me being there on my own. But I had the best independent holiday ever, made some friends with whom I am still connected thanks to Facebook and learnt that life on one’s own can be extremely satisfying indeed. I still hunker for another singleton holiday
30. My friends Crystal Svaniker and Kobby Graham founded a magazine called Dust. Until its demise I had a story published in every single edition. Dust was groundbreaking. It was creative, conscious and cool. It captured young Ghanaians in its diversity. Its founders were brave to include my columns about sex and sexualities — they lost advertisers as a result. I still miss Dust.
