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Homeless on Facebook, Twitter

Like most San Franciscans, Charles Pitts is wired. Mr. Pitts, who is 37 years old, has accounts on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. He runs an Internet forum on Yahoo, reads news online and keeps in touch with friends via email. The tough part is managing this digital lifestyle from his residence under a highway bridge.

“You don’t need a TV. You don’t need a radio. You don’t even need a newspaper,” says Mr. Pitts, an aspiring poet in a purple cap and yellow fleece jacket, who says he has been homeless for two years. “But you need the Internet.”

Mr. Pitts’s experience shows how deeply computers and the Internet have permeated society. A few years ago, some people were worrying that a “digital divide” would separate technology haves and have-nots. The poorest lack the means to buy computers and Web access. Still, in America today, even people without street addresses feel compelled to have Internet addresses.

New York City has put 42 computers in five of the nine shelters it operates and plans to wire the other four this year. Roughly half of another 190 shelters in the city offer computer access. The executive director of a San Francisco nonprofit group, Central City Hospitality House, estimates that half the visitors to its new eight-computer drop-in center are homeless; demand for computer time is so great that users are limited to 30 minutes.

Shelter attendants say the number of laptop-toting overnight visitors, while small, is growing. SF Homeless, a two-year-old Internet forum, has 140 members. It posts schedules for public-housing meetings and news from similar groups in New Mexico, Arizona and Connecticut. And it has a blog with online polls about shelter life.

Cheap computers and free Internet access fuel the phenomenon. So does an increasingly computer-savvy population. Many job and housing applications must be submitted online. Some homeless advocates say the economic downturn is pushing more of the wired middle class on to the streets.

Aspiring computer programmer Paul Weston, 29, says his Macintosh PowerBook has been a “lifeboat” since he was laid off from his job as a hotel clerk in December and moved to a shelter. Sitting in a Whole Foods store with free wireless access, Mr. Weston searches for work and writes a computer program he hopes to sell eventually. He has emailed city officials to press for better shelter conditions.

Lisa Stringer, who runs a program that teaches job and computer skills to homeless and low-income residents, says some students who can’t even read or write save money to buy computers at Goodwill. “It’s really a symbol in today’s society of being OK and connected,” she says. She sometimes urges homeless students to put off buying laptops until their living situations stabilize.

Staying wired on the streets takes determination. Electricity and Internet access can be hard to come by. Threats, including rain and theft, are a problem.

Robert Livingston, 49, has carried his Asus netbook everywhere since losing his apartment in December. A meticulous man who spends some of his $59 monthly welfare check on haircuts, Mr. Livingston says he quit a security-guard job late last year, then couldn’t find another when the economy tanked.

When he realized he would be homeless, Mr. Livingston bought a sturdy backpack to store his gear, a padlock for his footlocker at the shelter and a $25 annual premium Flickr account to display the digital photos he takes.

One recent morning, Mr. Livingston sat in a cafe that sometimes lets customers tap its wireless connection, and shows off his personal home page, featuring links for Chinese-language lessons.

Mr. Livingston says his computer helps him feel more connected and human. “It’s frightening to be homeless,” he says. “When I’m on here, I’m equal to everybody else.”

For Skip Schreiber, 64, an amateur philosopher with wispy white hair who lives in a van, power is the biggest challenge to staying wired. Mr. Schreiber tended heating and ventilation systems before work-related stress and depression sidelined him around 15 years ago, he says.

For his 60th birthday, he dipped into his monthly disability check to buy a laptop, connected it to his car battery, and taught himself to use it. “I liked the concept of the Internet,” says Mr. Schreiber, “this unlimited source of opinion and thought.”

Mr. Schreiber later switched to a Mac because it uses less juice. He keeps the fan and wireless antenna off when possible and cools the laptop by putting it on a damp washcloth. He says that by using such tricks, he can keep the laptop battery going for 16 hours, if he avoids videos.

In the van, stacked with toolboxes, electric gear and bedding, Mr. Schreiber shows the contents of his laptop, including the complete California legal code and files on thinkers from Thomas Aquinas to the psychologist Philip Zimbardo. Mr. Schreiber says writings about human behavior and motivation help make sense of what has happened to him.

“No one creates themselves as a homeless person,” he says. “We make the choices we can with what we’re offered.”

Michael Ross creates his own electricity, with a gas generator perched outside his yellow-and-blue tent. For a year, Mr. Ross has stood guard at a parking lot for construction equipment, under a deal with the owner. Mr. Ross figures he has been homeless for about 15 years, surviving on his Army pension.

Inside the tent, the taciturn 50-year-old has an HP laptop with a 17-inch screen and 320 gigabytes of data storage, as well as four extra hard drives that can hold another 1,000 gigabytes, the equivalent of 200 DVDs. Mr. Ross loves movies. He rents some from Netflix and Blockbuster online and downloads others over an Ethernet connection at the San Francisco public library.

One evening recently, Mr. Ross lay down on his sleeping bag and watched an X-Men cartoon on the laptop, listening through headphones over the roar of the generator. When he travels downtown, he takes all the gear with him for safekeeping. His backpack bulges with cords and bubble-wrapped electronic gadgets. Mr. Ross says he doesn’t notice the weight.

Mr. Pitts, the poet who lives under a bridge, keeps a mental list of spots to charge batteries and go online, including a deserted corner of a downtown train station and wired cafes whose owners don’t mind long stays and lots of bags.

When he was evicted from his apartment two years ago, Mr. Pitts says, “I thought: My existence and my life don’t stop because I don’t have a place to live.”

He bought a Toshiba laptop. When it died, he bought a used Dell. Last month, that one expired, too, with a cracked screen. Now he checks email and posts to his Internet forum on homeless issues, from computers at libraries, college campuses and a laptop stashed behind the counter of a coffee shop by a friend.

Before the Dalai Lama visited a soup kitchen here a month ago, Mr. Pitts researched the Buddhist leader on Wikipedia and copied the text onto his iPod, to read in bed under the bridge. “I’m under my blanket, under a tarp, reading Dalai Lama this, Dalai Lama that,” he says.

Mr. Pitts expects to soon scrape up the money for another computer. He figures he can get one for less than $200.

Source: WSJ

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Korkor – A radical Ghanaian artist to watch

For young and obviously focused Korkor Kugblenu, art is a way of life and she believes she was born to be an artist.

The 26-year-old woman can easily pass for a radical, and an uncompromising thinker who expresses her philosophy on canvas and with paper, pencil and pen.

Korkor told ghanabusinessnews.com in an exclusive interview at Novotel in Accra where she is holding an exhibition that art is her life, adding “I was born an artist and I have no choice.”

“My work is my thoughts on canvas and paper, my works are my anger, feelings and pain,” she said.

She did not shy away from telling ghanabusinessnews.com that nothing will stop her from painting, saying she doesn’t even care if her works are bought or not, “for me the most important thing is to do my art,” she said.

Despite the challenges that the art industry is confronted with in Ghana, Korkor said she is undaunted as she is facing the challenges with her kind of art and approach, which are quite unorthodox.

Korkor who also writes poetry, infuses poetry into her paintings on canvas. Korkor paints on canvas using acrylic, paper, pencil and pen, but she is not your average artist who paints images that you could easily anticipate or guess. But her works stand out, reflecting her boldness and uniqueness.

A graduate of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, College of Fine Art, Korkor says “the driving force in doing my works is not the money, the money is a bonus if it comes.” She therefore, told ghanabusinessnews.com that she is more interested in her subject matter, and doesn’t care if her works matter to any one.

Her radical views are not uncommon with creative people whose main concern is with their creativity and the essence of their works in themselves, rather than what others necessarily think about them.

“People view art as a pastime in Ghana, something beautiful to be bought, just looked at and then forgotten , but in other parts of the world, art drives their economy,” she said.

When ghanabusinessnews.com asked her what she thought of the future of art in Ghana, she answered, “it is not very clear because it is so far away, but just like in other places where art is appreciated now, we would get there.”

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi

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Red tape stalls kidney donation in Canada by Ghanaian brother

Vancouver welder Ibrahim Essandoh has a donor-kidney waiting for him in West Africa, but it may as well be on Mars.

The longtime Canadian citizen said the federal government won’t let his donor-brother Tom Essandoh into the country from Ghana.

“It’s a perfect match, but they don’t believe Tom is my brother,” said Essandoh, 44. “They think I’m paying him for his kidney.”

Essandoh, who is supported by his wife, said the stress of raising three children is getting to him.

“We are having a hard time. I’m not crying. I’m trying to deal with this as best I can and survive. I’m trying to keep my spirits up,” he said.

“I can’t work. I don’t have the strength to support my children.”

His kidneys failed two years ago; treatments require dialysis three times a week at St. Paul’s Hospital.

His brother’s visa application, which has been in the works for six months, has been refused once.

A second application has been made. Essandoh said he’s beginning to think Canadian embassy officials are “inhumane.”

“It’s ridiculous. The embassy is playing a game here. It’s too frustrating,” he said.

“What kind of Canadians are they in the embassy? I don’t respect them as human beings. Tom is worried. He wants to come over,” he said. Essandoh said his wife and children are also concerned.

“No one is very happy. Anyone who has been sick knows how it feels,” he said.

Essandoh has a letter of support from Dr. David Landsberg at St. Paul’s Hospital, who wants a transplant as soon as possible.

The Ghana Canadian Association of B.C. is also behind him. “We see this as an attempt to deny a perfect donor match,” said association president Charles Quist-Adade.

“Immigration Canada’s concerns are a red herring. The Minister [Jason Kenney] must act. This is a humanitarian issue.”

Immigration Canada spokesman Ben Letts said the department is working to establish whether Tom is his real brother.

“We had a few concerns about the brother’s documentation,” said Letts. A DNA test has been ordered to see if the pair match.

Tom’s sample, which has not been obtained, will take about six weeks to process.

“If we can establish they’re brothers, there’s little doubt the application will be approved,” Letts said. “We do this to protect the health and safety of Canadians.”

Ken Donohue of the B.C. Transplant Society said some donors are allowed in and some aren’t.

“His situation isn’t uncommon. We are a country of immigrants so it’s natural that donors come from outside the country. Legitimate people get caught up in the system.

“Immigration Canada needs to make sure donors are coming to Canada for the reasons they say they are and not so they can stay in the country after they donate,” he said.

There have been 57 out-of-country donations in B.C. in the last 10 years, but just one of them has come from Africa.

Source: The Province

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Credit Unions to switch to automated system – GM

The Ghana Co-operative Credit Unions Association (CUA) will switch to an automated accounting system by the end of this year, initially with some 100 accounts, its General Manager said at the weekend.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, Mr Emmanuel Oduro Darko said all credit unions under the CUA would be hooked to the automated system within the next three years.

The number of credit unions operating under the Association is also expected to increase from 356 to 450 by the close of 2009, he added.

Mr Darko said the Association would adopt an insurance scheme to provide deposit protection for all the unions and safeguard members’ savings in the event of any downturn or bankruptcy.

Other areas would also be explored to expand the CUA’s risk management programme to protect members’ savings and loans against mishaps, such as deaths or disabilities.

He said the Association was embarking on capacity building training for the staff to bring their performance to standards and also match their output with the rapid growth in the number of Credit Unions, especially among churches and in rural communities.

Mr Darko called for “a workable law” to guide the operations of Credit Unions to enable them live up to expectation.

While urging government to come out with a comprehensive plan to support the Association, Mr Darko appealed to the Bank of Ghana to develop guidelines to regulate the Credit Union concept.

He said the Association would complete a training centre project currently in progress at Kasoa this year at an estimated cost of GH¢2,200.

He urged organizations and individuals to join credit unions so as to enjoy the benefits.

Source: GNA

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Single Spine Salary Structure broadly acceptable- Minister

The Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Stephen Amoanor Kwao on Friday stated that it is crystal clear that the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP) is no longer a debatable issue.

He said the emerging consensus was that the policy is broadly acceptable and should be implemented while efforts are made to address concerns and problems.

Speaking at a stakeholder consultative workshop held in Accra on Friday on the SSPP, he noted that the spirit of social dialogue exhibited by stakeholders demonstrated the commitment of both government and Organised Labour towards the implementation of the SSPP.

“Let me emphasize that to engender success and ownership of the new pay policy, this common commitment should be enduring,” he said, adding that, the commitment should enjoin all stakeholders to be placed on the spine without the choice of opting out.

The Minister noted that there were a number of unresolved issues relating to job grading, replacement and service clarification and appealed to other unions and associations that had not yet submitted their written submissions so that a thorough appraisal of the concerns raised may be addressed.

He said there would be a staged implementation approach towards resolving the concerns and issues raised at the workshop.

“It is clear from the deliberations that, as we continue on our journey to implementing the Single Spine, we should open wage negotiations for 2009 to ensure workers do not unduly suffer while mechanisms and processes are put in place to implement the SSPP,” he said.

He asked the Fair Wages Commission (FWSC) to begin salary negotiations next week Monday for this year, urging stakeholders to take into account the prevailing economic conditions “to ensure that the outcome of the negotiations is consistent with our drive to restore macroeconomic stability.”

He said that the road map for the SSPP has been developed by the Technical Committee and made available to be discussed dispassionately, taking into account the Vice President’s reference to the previous policy formulation and implementation of the VAT in the 1990s.

He pledged government’s commitment towards implementing a joint sensitization and public awareness education programme to deepen the understanding of stakeholders and the public on the SSPP.

He said there was the need to resource the FWSC to deliver on its mandate and promised it would receive the desired and immediate attention of government.

“While this is being done, let us collectively recognize the central role of the FWSC in this new pay administration arrangement,” the Minister told the stakeholders and urged them to relate with the Commission well.

Source: GNA

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Workshop issues communiqué on Single Spine Pay Structure

Government employers and Organised Labour have announced that the Single Spine Pay Policy will be implemented effective
January 1, 2010.

This is the outcome of the three-day Stakeholders’ Consultative Workshop on the Single Pay Policy at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) from May 27 to 29 2009.

A statement issued by the Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr. Stephen Amoanor Kwao and the Secretary General of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) Mr. Kofi Asamoah said the Single Spine Pay Policy be implemented, while efforts are being made to address the concerns and challenges that may arise from the implementation.

It stated that consequently, a road map, which began in April 2009 towards the adoption and implementation of the policy has been revised and agreed on by the stakeholders.

The statement said unions and associations are to submit all outstanding issues and concerns related to the Single Spine Pay Policy to the Fair Wages and Salary Commission by June 12, 2009.

It said, pending the implementation of the Single Spine Pay Policy, salary negotiations for 2009 for public sector institutions will commence from June 1, 2009.

To this end, the statement said, organised labour is expected to submit proposals on salaries for negotiations to the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission.

“Managements of various institutions and organisations are mandated by government to negotiate the other conditions of service.

The spirit of social dialogue that characterised the deliberations at the workshop, enjoined all stakeholders to commit themselves to the agreements reached,” it said.

Source: GNA

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UK company eyes Ghana, India and Europe

GraceKennedy Limited has rebranded its United Kingdom operations and collapsed WT Foods into what is now called Grace Foods UK, headed by Michael Ranglin.

Now that unit, coming off a lossmaking year, is looking into undeveloped markets in India and West Africa, as well as new opportunities in Europe, to drive growth and reclaim profits.

“We are already in these market, but in a small way and not realising the growth potential,” said Erwin Burton, chief executive officer of GK Foods Limited, the conglomerate’s food trading division under which Grace Foods UK falls.

But Burton did not disclose the estimated size of those markets, or the amount of business Grace-Kennedy expects, to corner on the three continents.

The bigger part

Some of those details are expected to be refined when GK Foods completes a market study, now underway, and works out volume targets. But even then GK is unlikely to be forthcoming with the details.

“The bigger part of it is getting to understand those markets because the potential opportunity is so vast so that if we do it right we are going to reap substantial rewards,” he said.

“We can’t give volume targets, but we have not set a very ambitious target because we could not have put the marketing manager in place at the right time for us to exploit the full year,” said Burton from his office in Kingston.

GK Foods UK has appointed Praveen Meata, originally from India but now based in Canada, as marketing manager for both India and the African region, with responsibility to develop the markets in those regions.

“Come 2010, we will actually be setting some ambitious targets which will be starting from the latter part of this year,” Burton said.

GK started shipping coconut water from Thailand to India in late 2007 and now plans to expand the product range into this market having just made the first shipment of its Tropical Rhythm juices to India.

The distribution of Grace hot pepper sauce in this market is soon to follow.

Likewise, the company started shipping Tropical Rhythms to Ghana about two years ago and has just completed a market research on another drink, Nourishment in PET bottles, to distribute to the area, adding that Maeta would “be responsible for growing” those markets.

Research complete

“The market research is complete and now we are going to be acting upon it,” said Burton.

At the end of 2008 Grace brands sold approximately US$215 million worldwide, of which 53 per cent was sold outside of Jamaica.

Overall, Burton’s food trading division brought in revenue of J$32 billion for conglomerate GraceKennedy, up from J$28 billion the previous year.

Total group revenues was J$53 billion.

Of the J$32 billion, $1.3 billion was turnover from sales of new product.

According to the company’s annual report the most impressive growth took place in the United Kingdom with an overall 12 per cent increase due to the performance of Nourishment.

Milk-based supplement

Nourishment is a milk-based supplement, acquired when GraceKennedy bought WT Foods.

In March 2007, Grace Kennedy paid approximately US$23 million or J$3 billion for WT Foods which since the middle of last year has been rebranded Grace Foods UK.

GK says the unit is seeing a turnaround from losses last year, making a small, but undisclosed profit for the months of April and March.

“The economy in the United Kingdom has been challenging, but we are fighting our way through,” said Burton.

In an effort to put the company on a more profitable path earlier this year Grace Foods closed one of its sub-distribution centres and is now delivering from its main centre in Wellington, straight to customers.

Additionally, Burton said that some costs were eliminated, relating to distribution, warehousing and staff cuts.

GK Foods has two distributors in Ghana, and one in India.

Burton said that not all the Grace products are expected to be distributed in these markets, but will be limited to the high volume products such as Nourishment, hot pepper sauces, and beverages, coconut water and the Tropical Rhythm brands.

Renewed focus

The renewed focus on Europe will be targeted at markets in France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Belgium and Spain, where GK is pushing WT brands such as Encona, Nourishment and Silk Road, as well as some Grace brands which Burton did not specify.

The European markets will continue to be served out of the United Kingdom through distributors.

On the domestic front, GK Foods sees the launch of new products as critical.

“The future will be influenced by new product development,” said Burton.

Already, the company has developed a new line of veggie meals under the brand name Earth Chef.

Source: The Gleaner

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US University offers Ghana travel course

An American university is offering a travel course to Ghana for anyone who is interested.

According to the Bellingham Herald, Western Washington University is offering a course titled “Financial Capital and Social Justice,” with the objective of giving students an understanding of the social implications of moving financial capital from developed countries to what it calls undeveloped countries.

The course involves a trip to Ghana to be led by the University’s Department of Management instructor, Craig Mayberry and will include visits to communities impacted by World Bank and International Monetary Fund projects, trips to national parks and meetings with local and international foundations.

The trip which is scheduled for August 31 to September 11, 2009 has a priority application deadline of Monday June 1, 2009.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi

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Ghanaian child first to be registered for citizenship process in Greece

A 17-month old Ghanaian girl is the first child born in Greece to migrants to be registered for the legal process of becoming a Greek citizen.

A report carried by Ekathimerini, an Athens based website said that last week, Kukua Williams, who was born 17 months ago to migrant Ghanaian parents became the first to be registered so she could gain Greek nationality.

According to the report the Municipality of Kaisariana, where Kukua was registered, attempted to use the occasion to highlight “the gaping hole in the country’s legislation” which effectively leaves such children with no legal status. The registeration ceremony was done in public.

The ceremony, the publication says, was symbolic, and Kukua would have to battle for the right to gain full citizenship.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi

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Guilt trips to poor countries

A conference I recently attended in Accra, Ghana, was held in a plush resort. With spacious rooms, sea views and a swimming pool, the swanky surroundings were certainly comfortable – but I felt ill at ease.

The venue was probably chosen partly to enable the specialised junkies to withdraw from society and get high together on liberal and concentrated doses of the topic in question – African development. Nevertheless, this Ibiza of the intellect – laced with stimulating, mind-altering debate – troubled me. You could say I felt a little like Alice in Ponderland: abstractly debating a topic while people just down the road lived its harsh reality.

Not far from the hotel, families were living in run-down houses that looked about the size of my room and women were swaying along with heavy jerry-cans of water balanced almost magically on their heads. Then again, a little further still, in this most developed country in West Africa, there are Ghanaians living in middle-class comfort and upper-class splendour in housing developments sold in euros.

After the conference was over, I moved to a more modest hotel in Accra town centre. Although the furniture was tacky and the fittings rickety, it was clean and more comfortable for my conscience, not to mention my wallet. From my new base, I got a better opportunity to acquaint myself with a society which was both a major hub in the transatlantic slave trade and, thanks to its first president Kwame Nkrumah, a central player in the pan-African movement. Incidentally, Ghana’s first-ever first lady was an Egyptian.

I love travelling in order to savour the breadth and wealth of human culture and civilisation. But travelling to poor countries, in particular, poses certain ethical challenges. In my native Egypt, where people who can afford to travel abroad usually seek to flee poverty, people are often baffled by some of my travel choices. In Europe, many people travel to poorer countries, and those who don’t are often motivated by a fear of the unknown. Some criticise such journeys as a kind of voyeurism. But surely all travel has an element of voyeurism. After all, tourists and travellers are, for the most part, spectators, although the more intrepid may seek occasionally to become part of the action.

Besides, it can be countered that those who refuse to spend time in poor countries are isolating themselves from the reality of the world and denying themselves much of humanity’s cultural treasures. They are also robbing themselves of the incredibly warm hospitality of many poorer countries and the opportunity for cultural exchange, as well as depriving locals of their money, the pride that outsiders are interested in their country, and the chance to embark on the poor person’s equivalent of overseas travel – meeting foreigners.

Indeed, some countries may be materially poor but possess some of the richest, most sophisticated cultures in the world. Perhaps the most extreme example is Ethiopia, which has been relegated from the premier league of civilisations and now has the unenviable distinction of being among the top 10 least-developed countries. Lalibela is a sad embodiment of this contrast: the ageless, immutable beauty of its rock-hewn churches, and the contemporary reality of the surrounding hungryside.

Despite this, the rich culture lives on and Ethiopians are proud – even arrogant in their aloofness towards other Africans – sophisticated people. Of course, most people are unaware of this and their idea of Ethiopia is informed by the Grand Wizard of charity pop Bob Geldof’s description of it as a place “where nothing ever grows”.

To maximise the benefits for yourself and the country you are visiting, it is crucial to travel responsibly. My wife and I are sensitive to the local culture, respectful of the people and try, but don’t always succeed, to deal with all the attention we receive with patience and good humour. We strive to maximise the impact of every penny by trying to make sure that as much of it goes directly to ordinary people as possible. We never book accommodation through tour operators or travel agents and try to stay in and eat at small, family-run establishments. We try to pay a fair price for whatever we buy – both for the locals and for us.

It’s a tricky balancing act. In many countries, tourism has had a corrupting influence, and when sellers see tourists, they also see big dollar signs. We tend to walk away from merchants and taxi drivers who try to rip us off outrageously, and reward those who are fair. We are proficient hagglers but often choose to pay above the local rate as a friendly gesture. After all, some euros extra here or there mean nothing to us but could make a big difference for a local family. As someone who could not afford to travel until relatively late in life, I feel very privileged to have the freedom to roam. But I am also keenly aware that one should not assume that tourism is an unqualified benefit to people in the country being visited.

Credit: Khaled Diab

Source: Guardian

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