Yaa Bronigoes to town

The football fiesta took over all the hearts of Ghanaians; a lot of us even forgot Valentine was just around the corner. Even Joy F.M which is always at the forefront of Valentine celebrations was low key.

I find it interesting that some people would now argue that it was because the noise about it being linked with promiscuity had sank in. Let us not fool ourselves. Why would the youth wait till 14th February to have sex all over the place? What about the rest of the year? Let us face the realities staring us in the face. Our youth will have sex even if we lock them up in dungeons.

What we should be doing is drumming it to them the importance of sexual health. It is the parent's duty to do this. Arm them with condoms because they will go out and do it anyway. That is the hash reality. I think parents should stop burying their heads in the sand and be there for their children.

Which would you want - a pregnant 15year old or a sexually active one who knows all about sexually transmitted diseases and how to stay safe? Ironically, you will find that those who have had sex education and know the inherent dangers are the ones who will not indulge like there is no tomorrow. Now back to Valentine and the clichés. I find it very interesting when women who should know better will burst an artery because their men forgot Valentine or did not get them a present or a card. If he did not love the rest of the year, why should he be loving you now because it is Valentine? I rest my case.

red and white wine

I have come to the conclusion that more than half of us must be retards (with all due respect to them). I was in a restaurant the other day and I asked for a diet coke. The waiter came with a diet pepsi. When I protested, he said “it is the same madam”.

I was about to tell him off but I realised it was all completely lost on him. As far as he was concerned, diet pepsi, diet coke, “same same''. A lot of these people have been trained but to no avail. A waitress in another restaurant is asked what kind of red wine they serve and she says it is a mixture of red and white. She meant rose. I laughed about it but the ignorance is simply ridiculous. This is somebody who has been trained. It really is abysmal the way we carry on in this country. Well they do say ignorance is bliss. But is it?

''broni aa ni John''
I was busy thinking about the saying ''broni aa ni John'' the other day. Most people will interprete it as, the “white man” is so unique he is all knowing. But in reality it is really a racist comment backwards - if you catch my drift.

The Ghanaians who work for the Lebanese, Indians are worked to the bone for a pittance but they will not utter a word because he is “broni”. If the same Ghanaian goes to work for his fellow Ghanaian, it is a different story. They will slouch in to work, give umpteen excuses as to why they were late or did not turn up for work… all because it is a black man. So broni aa nii John.

clearing the bush for bush

The President of America would be in town on Tuesday. I say nice, but I hope the Parks and Gardens people or who ever is responsible for the ''beautification” of the city will not still be painting the curbs on D-day. It is so not on The times I see them painting the curbs at the eleventh hour of an event I want to stop, take their brush and brush their faces with it. I am not a violent person but my God, these are the times when you want to swipe somebody's face. I do also sincerely hope our protocol is on the ball. Organising an event like this does not take a rocket scientist to figure it out. We are just never focused on what we are tasked to do.

a parcel

I was amused when an old man gave away his daughter to Agogo, the footballer. For a minute I thought we had retrogressed to the dark ages. Gee!! The old man needs to be brought back to this century. He certainly is in a time warp.

I wonder what his daughter had to say about her being sold off. I shared his excitement about the boys and how well they had played but please, I remember when I was about ten, a customer said to my grandma in her shop, 'madam give me your granddaughter for my son. I will nurture her for him.” I was so disgusted and so was my grandma. And she told him off in no uncertain terms. If my father gave me away like a parcel, then who ever received me like a parcel would also treat me like a parcel – discard when done with the content!

“Every minute a woman dies due to complications in pregnancy or childbirth”UNFPA scales up efforts
A new thematic fund for maternal health has been created to boost global efforts to reduce the number of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth. The fund, established by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, will also encourage developed countries and private sponsors to contribute more to saving women's lives.

Every minute a woman dies due to complications in pregnancy or childbirth, adding up to half a million women dying every year. Another 10-15 million women suffer serious or long-lasting illnesses or disabilities. “No woman should die giving life,” said UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid. “To have a healthy society, you have to have healthy mothers.”

In many countries, however, progress in maternal health has been slow. In some, the situation has actually deteriorated over the last 20 years. The reason is insufficient political will and inadequate resources, as women's health is often pushed off the agenda in favour of other priorities.

"It is critical to invest in women if we are to achieve the Millennium Development Goals,” said Ms. Obaid. "We urge countries to dedicate more resources to improving national health systems, training skilled birth attendants and promoting family planning. Millions of deaths and disabilities could be prevented, if every woman had access to reproductive health services." Improving maternal health and reducing maternal deaths are at the heart of Millennium Development Goal number 5.

The thematic fund, which UNFPA has established in partnership with governments, United Nations organizations and other international partners, will help countries increase their access and use of quality maternal health services that would reduce maternal deaths and disabilities. It will also increase the capacity of health systems to provide a broad range of quality maternal health services, strengthen mechanisms to reduce health inequities, and empower women to exercise their right to maternal health.

The thematic fund will focus on supporting 75 countries with the greatest need. The goal is to raise $465 million during 2008-2011.

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.