Catchup

Do I start with an apology? it has been 4 months sinc my last posting. To me i have been writing everytday but in my head, so that amounts to naught! Let me formally apologise and then thank Awuranaa & B. Kordai for alerting me that I have a blog which I must continue writing. I just hope that I have not lost anyone in this process of procrastination.
Enough said, I think the best thing to do is to catch up on what has been happening over this period of time. What must have taken a greater chunk of my time was the planning and organization of the World Diabetes Day Celebrations here in Sekondi-Takoradi.  I would like to first of all thank all the planning committee members who absorbed all my tantrums and helped us organise a fantastic celebration.
Seeking sponsorship is not an easy thing, more especially when you are unknown to them. I had to fall back on contacts in Accra to get the much needed sponsorship and thank God it came through. Many thanks to the CEO who after sending an email and waiting his reply immediately gets his personal assistant to send me a reply via phone, seconds after reading the email. Thats what i call immediate response and many thanks to the other companies who initially were reluctant to provide funds and gave chunks to those in the capital city who later had nothing to show for the money they they were given. We however with the little money given to us were able to show/account via pictures and videos so guess what, the companies now are promising to sponsor us next year, now i hope to hold them on their words.
I was saddened by the response of some "bodies" who had been invited to our functions to educate them on diabetes and to give them free medical check up as we had to foot their transport bills. I was so disappointed as they sent people to our office to collect money after the program to cover their transport bills. Now I would have gladly given the money if they were students, however these were well-abled adults working who insisted on us providing them money for transport, giving them snacks and afterwards giving them free medical screening for the year. As one of our Matrons said "Well, Nana Ama, I guess we have learnt our lesson, next time we know who to invite for our ceremonies when we have limited money". I complained bitterly to by father who told me that this is an initiation into the culture developed here in Ghana were people expect you to pay for things for them even after you have given them something more valuable for free.
Learning to keep my temper in check was one thing that i learnt from this experience of organizing programs. The morning of the program, we found out that the person responsible for setting up chairs and canopies at the ceremony was no where to be found. She was traced to her home after being unable to reach her on the phone. She simply shrugged her shoulders and said she had decided not to partake in the program.  I could not believe my ears. We had a contract with her and she just could not be bothered to even call early so we could have made alternative plans.  I was raving mad and angry and at such a stage its tears which come to my eyes, all the dignitaries were present at the empty lot for the program and i was stuck in traffic (yes we in Takoradi now experience this...no thanks to the OIL~) with nothing else but a word of prayer i slowed headed to the program.  Thanks to the fact that Takoradi is a small place, the matron managed to get another venue in minutes and we transported all those present to the new location. Any many more thanks to the radio stations in the metropolis who had be calling me all morning for interviews, we managed to get the news to the general public about the change in location. Thank God the program came out successfully, but not without a stern word from the Honorable dep. minister for the region. My first instinct was to find out the whereabouts of the person who disappointed us and tell her my peace of mind.  Matron however told me to forget it as it was not worth making any "unfriends" at this stage in our lives.  But then again, i often wonder if such work ethics should not be made mention of. Time in time out, a lot of GH entrepreneurs may promise and fail and do not bear the consequences of such demeanour and as always we GHs say "oh just let it go" and guess what we are faced with such scenarios over and over and over again.

I call it gross indicipline and bad work ethics...I just returned from a month's training in Health Adm & Management and so we shall dwell a bit more on that in my next blog.
Thanks for reading and thanks to all who contributed to diabetes via education in their own ways or sponsorship of the program.