OGOV Roundtable Discussion #4 - About the Participants

Julian Adomako-Gyimah:

Julian is an alum of Presby Boys Secondary School, Legon. He holds a B.A. in Business Studies at the Kensington College of Business, London, a Diploma in Journalism at the Writers Bureau College of Journalism, Manchester, UK, Executive Diplomas in Strategic Management and Management, a Diploma in Management Studies and an Executive MBA at the Huddersfield University, UK. He has worked as a Financial Controller at Brook & Whittle, after working as an Accounts Manager at Ryder Plc, both in the UK. Additionally, he is a Chartered Manager and a member of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), also in the UK.

Julian is also the proud author of two bestsellers, namely Smile Africa and Recall, which are both available on amazon.com, bn.com, borders.com, and in major retail outlets around the globe.

Julian is a co-founder of One Ghana, One Voice.



Vida Ayitah:

Vida was born on July 19th, 1978 in a small farming community in the Volta Region. She has three sisters and one brother. She is currently living and working in Accra. She enjoys music and dancing as much as she does writing.

Vida is OGOV's head of Ghanaian Promotions.



Prince Mensah:

Prince Mensah was born in August 1977 in Accra, Ghana. He attended Adisadel College, Extra Mural Academy, African-American HIV University and Mediation Training Institute. His works have been published in One Ghana, One Voice, Munyori Journal, UNESCO's Other Voices International Project, and the Dublin Writer's Workshop. He lives in Maryland, USA with his wife, Charisse. Prince is open to visiting colleges and universities in the USA to promote Ghanaian poetry and culture. Feel free to contact him about opportunities to market African poetry.

Prince is the head of North American promotions for One Ghana, One Voice.




Martin Pieterson:

Martin holds a BSc in Business Administration from the Central University College, Accra, a Post-Graduate Certificate in Public Administration from GIMPA (Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration), Accra and a Masters in Media and Communication from the International University in Geneva, Switzerland.

He did his National Service at the Ghana National Commission on Children and continued as an Assistant Administrator in the same organisation for two years. He then left to the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research where he worked as an Intern/Project Assistant for one and a half years.

He is currently a Research Consultant at the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research Department of the WHO in Geneva.



Mariska Taylor-Darko:

Born in Manchester, England in 1956, Mariska attended Holy Child Secondary School in Cape Coast and St. Mary's Secondary School, Mamprobi. She then returned to the UK and attended Beresford College of English and Commerce, Margate, Kent and later Harrow College of Further Education, Harrow, Middlesex.

Mariska currently resides in Accra. She has two sons, one married and living in London, the other attending Golden Sunbeam Montessori School, Adenta, Accra in JSS1. She is a motivational speaker, poet, writer, beautician, fire walker and lover of jazz, blues, reggae and old time highlife.

4 comments:

Darko Antwi said...

I cherish the grace with which each member shares his/her opinion. It's like a prayer for the progress and truimph of poetry of this age, as much as it is towards a peaceful election day. Well conducted! Thank you ladies and gents. Long live our motherland.

Anonymous said...

1question Prince--how many of the Common People,who this site is trying to reach,fathom your last paragraph do you think?---regards Silverzorro.

Anonymous said...

Me cast my vote,if I had one, for simplicity as a way of weening,nuturing,winning the hearts and mind of the masses--Silverzorro.

Anonymous said...

You have a valid point, Silver Zorro. However, how can we reach our people if we don't start somewhere? I would expect any good reader to find a dictionary and get the meaning to the words I used. That is how I found the meaning of those words myself.

As a writer, am I going to write what I feel or put my feelings in the liquidizer of popular opinion in order to produce a Cerelac version of my ideas? This is a market place of ideas and I fully respect your statement. Guess what, I write in perfect Twi, Fante, Ga and Hausa, but how many Ghanaians can read and understand their own languages?

I am stuck as an African writer, my friend. The illiteracy is killing my people and the politicians are not doing anything to make sure that our people take education as a top most priority.

So Silver Zorro, are we going to settle for the status quo or expect the best from our people? Do you know that Zimbabwe has a 90.7% literacy rate. Zimbabwe has the highest literacy rate on the entire continent. 91% of the population is literate (94%males and 88% females). The results even get better by age; 98% of the youth population, that is age 15-24years, is literate (98% males and 98% females)(UNESCO 2008 report). Why can't Ghana emulate this great example?

One thing I know is that my fellow country men are not common when they try hard to become more knowledgeable. This election is about the future of our beloved nation. Let us all contribute through money, ideas, networks and action to help build our motherland.