The Flip Side - IT Disadvantages

Charlie writes:

This last term, I taught about 300 of the 500-member class "Introduction to Computers" at MUCG. One essay question asked the students to relate personal experiences, both positive and negative, with information technology.

What a wonderful way to gain insights into West African teens' use of information technology.

In this second post, I excerpt some of their self-reported negatives:

Because I am a business girl and at the same time a student a don't always go for lectures because lecture periods crush with my other business. Because of information technology I have access to lecture notes on net.

Information technology has introduced me to many friends which makes we waste much of my time charting with friends on net.

[most of the bandwidth going to the university is probably being used to post to facebook, I'd guess.]

The aspect of my life which has been impacted by information technology was lying. I lied to somebody through a cell phone which I didn't know the person was standing right behind me. The person called me through a cellphone and asked me where I am and I lied to him that I am doing something urgently for my father which was a lie. I became ashamed of myself when I saw the person behind me. The positive impact through this cell phone was that the person was able to reached me within a short time just like three (3) seconds. The negative is I lied to the person through the cell phone which I became ashamed of myself.

The negative impact of this facebook system has made me to lie about certain things about my personal life. This has become so because you would want to be in the range of people who use this system. Some of the lies include telling people your wrong age just to fit in and also send false pictures to be posted on the net.

[We have been trying to help a man from the USA locate a "Natasha" he found on the internet who claimed to live in Accra. Unfortunately, we had to conclude that it was another case of "sakawa," see below...]

I remember when my dad was abroad, USA to be precise, he saved lot of money becasue he knew my siblings and I were graduating from SHS to the university. But when we about to enter into the tertiary my dad called and said he has been duped by fraudsters and all his long-saved money was gone through the internet. This what information technology brought to us becasue of what we call "sakawa" my siblings and I had to spend two years at home before going to school. This is the negative part of it.

However, not everything about IT has turned out to be good, sometime back my dad's credit card number got into the hands of some fraudsters and they cleared out his accounts online, he ended up losing lots of money.

But with every great power comes a price and this price that I have to pay is the bombardment of pornographic pop-ups and malware infested sites which may cause damage to my computer so although I try to gain helpful information from the internet sometimes I see things that are negative to my health or damage my computer.

it has had an adverse effect also on my life when my friend nearly ended up making me an adult movie addict "introducing me into pornography" but with good advise I have been able to overcome this addiction and hope IT would only impact others in the positive way.

IT can also impact negative information to students. This can be done, when a student goes to the internet and visit a website that contains pornographic movies and pictures, the student might be aroused, therefore he/she might practice such act which might cause teenage pregnancy and early parenting.

The use of the internet also has its side effects in terms of increasing immoral lives side effects in terms of increasing immoral lives since one can go the internet and have access to ponographical films that at the world put him into practising them. This brings about increasement in rape cases and high rate of prostitution.

Even with the good aspect it has a negative one too and this by introducing machines into the various companies to replace human labour. With this some workers were dismissed and my mother was included. This made her unemployed and has affected my family economically. That is by introducing some information technology make some people unemployed.

As a result of Information technology a worker like me at the post office is not recieving customers because people sit in the house and deliver the necessary information.

It has tended to make me lazy because instead of doing the research myself, I rather go for the answer on the internet. Like this I am not able to experience for myself the first handedly the process and the fun obtained from carrying out researches.

There was also a time when I lost my mobile phone. I was very restless because I could not easily communicate with people afar. [Ghana has less than one landline phone per 100 population, but nearly 50 cellphones per 100, so the loss of a cellphone is a real problem!]

The use of cell phones is much more easier and fast, also, no matter how far the distance you always get to talk. In Ghana it is always not so because the reception is not good sometimes and it is also costly to get a good cell phone which is a disadvantage.

Although the ATM is the fastest way to withdraw money, people stand close to them, and as soon as you withdraw some money, they attack you.

But it is with this same machines that help to cure illness that has also brought about more injuries in hospitals. Some machines used for scanning and x-rays are known to have side effects of skin cancer. Also, this machines if not placed plugged properly could cause fire hazards and deep wounds by the machine dropping.

How differently would US college freshmen answer this question?

The Internet: "a cesspool of knowledge"

Charlie writes:

This last term, I taught about 300 of the 500-member class "Introduction to Computers" at MUCG. One essay question asked the students to relate personal experiences, both positive and negative, with information technology.

What a wonderful way to gain insights into West African teens' use of information technology.

I'll start with selected positive impacts in this post, their self-reported negatives will come next.

Information technology is the gateway to the world. One aspect of my life which has been impacted by information technology is accessing information or gaining information on the internet. This has helped me to gain more knowledge since the internet is basically a cesspool of knowledge. Years past people had to walk far distances to gain information through libraries but now there are electronic libraries which can be accessed from home.

[I just love that image - the internet as a cesspool of knowledge!]

At the top of the list, I.T. has helped me greatly on my English life. With the help of Information technology (IT) am not afraid to talk in public, because I have overcome the fear in pronouncing of words. With my student Encarta I now say byebye to spelling mistakes. My grammer was so bad. But with the help of IT I can now go to the level of even writhing novels, poems and articles which can also put some money in my pocket. With this out of the lot I say Information technology has helped me to become if not the best one of the best in the world.

[obviously, without the computer, spelling remains a challenge, "grammer", "writhing"]

Education has been a key area that IT has affected my life, with the use of information technology learning/studying has become more easier and more accessible to me because of the availability of the internet. Researching used to be a problem for students before me as my dad always tells me that "in your time you have all the facilities to succeed but we had to struggle."

With the help of the internet, I can get deeper meaning of my subjects of study with the sense that through the internet I get the meanings of topics I cannot get in books.

It has impacted me positively in terms of research. Gone where the days when I had to go to the library and pick over ten books just to get information on a particular subject. Now all I have to do is access the internet and all I have to do is type my question and all possible answers would be given to me and all I have to do is choose the answer that suits me.

[I can attest to this, as some of their earlier essays were cut-and-paste from Encarta or other web sites!]

The positive impact in my life is when I was looking for admission in MUCG, I was leaving far from the school. With the help of information technology I was able to get information from the net about MUCG. All that I was suppose to do before being admitted. Instead of picking car everyday to go to the school. Information technology has made me save money and time.

I gained my admission letter from my e-mail instead of travelling to my school for my admission letter.

Under communication, as a result of Information technology, I am able to make a phone call, recieve messages, browse and search for the meaning of words on my phone. There is no need for me to travel before I can send information to somebody.

In fact, information technology has brought about fun in everything that I do. I am very happy with IT. I am able to dial and save people's numbers everywhere I go.

Now I can surf the internet when ever I want to with the help of my laptop computer and a modem. I can download music, videos, chart with my parents outside Ghana and even buy stuff from other countries all all the net.

[Ghanaian English has nearly silent 'R' sounds, so mis-spellings like formerly vs. formally, or charting vs. chatting appear commonly.]

Information technology has over the years grown to gain by so many people living in different parts of the world. As I grew, I came to realize how information technology has improved my educational life. That is, my father has bought me a personal computer at home, a pendrive and even a laptop which I carry around almost everywhere I go. With these devices with internet connection, I can browse and search for information anytime I am given assignment from school. This has made research work extremely easy for me. With typing softwares installed on them, I practise typing during my leisure hours which has improved my typing speed. I also take lecture notes/slides from lecturers using my pendrive which is easier and faster. This any many more benefits are what has made my life better with the help of information technology.

I can now send my assignments to my lecturer through internet instead of going through all the stress in order to give him the assignment.

The introduction and use of cell phones, an example of information technology has had a great impact on my life. It has really saved me time and the stress of writing letters to long lost relatives. I always had to go through the stress of buying envelopes and postage stamps and then queing for long hours under the scortching sun to get my letter posted. Sometimes the letter doesn't even get to the recipient.

[We can relate, having just received some Christmas cards this week. Mary Kay received a birthday card one year after it was mailed from Texas! "Stress" is a common complaint of students here.]

Information technology has impacted greatly in the aspect of my health. With the impact of information technology in my health, it has made it possible for doctors to diagnose and cure illness easily. This is whereby information technology has made it possible to bring all sorts of machines used for surgeries, x-rays, scans, autopsy and many others. With the help of IT, people no more have the fear of loosing their lives or living with an incurable disease till your death.

I've made new friends and made up with old friends who now help me in my educational problems.

The ATM card has helped me alot espically in school. It has help me save time. Because I don't need to join in a long queue at the bank.

Before ATM's (Automated Teller Machines) were made available, I would have to queue up in the bank just to withdraw some money. This could sometimes take up my whole day. But since the introduction of the ATM, I'm able to withdraw money without joining a queue.

[This idea has shown up repeatedly in essays this year and prior years. When I questioned our driver about whether this is exaggerated, he denies that, saying that it did actually happen. He reports going early to the bank, then returning later in the day, picking up his place in line, as the Ghanaians watch out for each other!]

How differently would US college freshmen answer this question?

Laundry Day

Mary Kay writes:

One of my friends, Jamie, is a true southern writer, blogging and writing about life in small-town Georgia. I love reading her blogs, as she has such a similar outlook on life to mine, but she is much funnier! And it helps me to feel connected to friends and life back in the US.

This week was priceless. She wrote about laundry day, and her daughter’s request that they go green by getting rid of the washing machine and dryer. Charlie and I got a kick out of this! While Jamie researched 1930s laundry practices in the US, it could easily have been 2010 in Ghana! Laundry is still done by hand here, and most Ghanaians we know would love to have a washer and dryer, and the heck with the carbon footprint!

We personally don’t make our own soap, but my NGO trains women on how to make it to sell for extra family income. We use shea butter, palm oil and commercial caustic, rather than lye from wood ash, but it is still basically the same – and a hot messy process!

Laundry day- we have a washing machine that works – sometimes. If the power is on. And if the water is flowing.

Then everything gets hung out on the line. The first couple of times, I had the romantic memories of being a small child and helping my mom hang the laundry. I love the sound of snapping out the sheets to get them straight before hanging. And the smell and feel of the fresh, damp laundry. Playing hide-and-seek among all the sheets. But, after the laundry all gets re-soaked in the sudden afternoon downpour that you didn’t see coming… Or your whites turn a dingy grey because of all the smoke and dust in the air… Well, maybe a dryer would be nice.

Then comes the ironing – not because we really care about being neatly pressed, though everything is cotton and needs to be ironed. But there is a lovely mango fly that lays its eggs in cotton clothing. Then once the clothing is put on, your body heat hatches the eggs and the larvae will burrow under your skin to live and grow, until they come popping out like in Alien. Fortunately, the heat from ironing will kill the eggs, so everything gets ironed – even your underwear.

The only thing I can say is, “Thank goodness labor is cheap here and I don’t have to do the laundry!” It is basically half to two-thirds of our housekeeper’s job to keep up with our laundry. The remainder of her time is spent in mopping the house every day to keep the dust under control.

So, Jamie, tell your daughter she is welcome to come visit and do laundry at our house anytime she wants to reduce her carbon footprint!

(Soup) Bowl Score: Mary Kay 1 – Turkey 0

Mary Kay writes:

In keeping with Ghanaian tradition, we received a live fowl for Christmas again this year. Having given in to the children’s horror last year, we gave the guinea hen away, rather than kill it and eat it ourselves. But this year’s gift was a HUGE turkey. So I was determined not to let this one get away.

After all, I come from good pioneer stock, right? My ancestors settled the hills of Tennessee, and the plains of Texas and North Dakota. I read all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books as a girl. And my mom always talked about her grandmother going out back, catching a chicken and wringing its neck for supper.

So if they could do it, I could! Well …. maybe…. with a little help….. Please?

So Charlie got the kids out of the house, under the guise of a driving lesson up at the MUCG campus. There, that will stop the complaints from the peanut gallery. Our boys, especially Chip, really don’t want to know that their food was once a live animal!

Then, I sweet-talked our security guard, Michael, into helping me. Having grown up in a small village, he knew exactly what to do. Michael slit the turkey’s throat and let him bleed out. Then, he poured boiling water over it, and we plucked him. I think Michael was pretty surprised that I would help!

But we had an interesting conversation about food – how we in the west never really see our food alive, only packaged in the grocery store. And which parts of a turkey are edible – everything except the feathers, it turns out. Needless to say, I was not at all hesitant about parting with the feet, head, and intestines – my “gift” to Michael for helping me. Well, I felt guilty about taking all the good parts, so I gave him some of the meat as well.

I never weighed it, but the whole turkey was huge probably 18 to 20 pounds or so. He was so big that I ended up having to cut it into quarters to package and freeze it. But that will give us several good turkey dinners, not to mention the turkey soup afterwards from the bones, over the next few months. Yum!

I’m just glad that we don’t have to perform blood sacrifices any more. Next year, Michael says I have to do the whole thing myself. Where is Butterball when you need them?

“What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to His voice? Obedience is far better than sacrifice. Listening to Him is much better than offering the fat of rams.”

(1 Samuel 15:22, NLT)

Gathering Prayer Request

Mary Kay writes:

On Saturday evening, Charlie and I will be traveling to a Regional gathering of all Mission Society missionaries in Africa, Asia and Europe. This meeting will be a time of worship, training in latest missiological trends, fellowship, rest and renewal. In addition, Charlie and I will have about three days of much-needed vacation and sightseeing. We will return to Ghana on Nov 11.

Please keep the following in your prayers during this time:

· Safe travels for us and for everyone else coming from all over the world.

· Family members and ministries that are left behind as we meet. Ken, and our intern Anna, will remain in Accra with friends. Pray that they won’t miss us too much, and that Ken will be responsible in keeping up with his schedule and schoolwork in our absence.

· The gathering itself – that God will anoint the meeting as a time of renewal and rejuvenation for us all so that we all return to our ministries refreshed and revitalized to be about the Father’s business!

Thanks for keeping us covered in prayer!

“I pray that out of His glorious riches, He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God… then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. (Ephesians 3:16-19, 4:1, NIV)

Drilling Prayer Request Update 2

Mary Kay writes:

Thank you all so much for covering us in prayer while we were drilling (or trying to) in Yawsae. We were finally able to get the pipe pulled out of the ground a second time last Sunday, and the crew and I returned to Accra on Monday.

We will go back to Yawsae to complete this work just after Thanksgiving. Needless to say, we will have a different approach, pulling all the pipe out of the ground every night, so that we don’t get jammed again! We are confident that we can successfully complete this borehole next time around.

Thank you too for your prayers for the village of Yawsae. As with many Ghanaian villages, Yawsae is on the front lines of the battles of spiritual warfare. But God’s work is prevailing, and I continue to pray that our project will be yet another proof to the village of God’s sovereignty and His extreme love for them.

“Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”…When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord – He is God! The Lord – He is God!” (1 Kings 18:37, 39, NIV)

Prayer Update

Mary Kay writes:

I wanted to give you a quick update on my prayer request of 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately, things have not gone smoothly. The first day of drilling was great, and we got down about 34 meters. But after shutting down overnight, we could not restore circulation of the drilling mud and the drill pipe got stuck in the hole. After over a week of exploring options and waiting, we were able to get a 25 ton crane from Newmont’s near-by gold mining operation, and we pulled the pipe out on Friday.

We then were able to drill an additional 10 meters yesterday, but again this morning the drill pipe was stuck. We pray that Newmont can assist us once again, and then we will demobilize until I have had a chance to research the situation and determine how best to overcome the problem.

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers!

“Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4, NIV)

Prayer Request

Mary Kay writes:

My crew and I leave tomorrow for about 2 weeks in Yawsae, a small village near Sunyani. We will be drilling a borehole for the Yawsae Methodist Clinic. Water is a such a vital necessity for life and health, and I am praying that we are able to assist this clinic in this manner. Please pray for safe travels, health and safety while we are there, and a successful borehole! And pray that the village of Yawsae will be brought closer to God through our witness of Christ's love to them.

"See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Isiah 43:19 (NIV)

It's A WAWA Day!

Mary Kay writes:

A dear friend of mine, Steve, had a wonderful phrase he used to use, when he lived in Ghana: “It’s a WAWA day!” WAWA stands for “West Africa Wins Again”. This is the phrase that he used whenever things just didn’t go as planned. In our North American culture, we are so used to events running on time, schedules going smoothly. We value efficiency so highly. Our culture is full of phrases that celebrate this concept: “run like clockwork” and “time is money” are two that come immediately to mind. But things just don’t work the same way here in West Africa. So when the two worlds collide, it is easy to get frustrated. These are the WAWA days. Because in the end, all you can do is laugh about it.

I had a bit of a WAWA day yesterday - a wedding that started at 12:00 according to the invitation, and 1:00 pm according to the program they handed out, actually started closer to 1:30. Which wouldn't have been a problem, except that we had another wedding that was supposed to start at 2:00. We don't know what time the second started, but the reception was still going strong when we finally arrived at 5:00! Both brides were beautiful, both grooms grinning from ear to ear, and both couples duly married in the eyes of the state and of God. So I guess it didn't matter, but it sure was making this schedule conscious oboruni (foreigner) anxious.

It also reminded me of the blog below, written several months ago, but never finished or posted.

Today is definitely a WAWA day – capping off a WAWA week. I am sitting in the airport terminal in Tamale – and will be for the next FIVE hours! (Which, by the way, is why I actually have time to write a blog!) Now, before you start imagining some fancy airport terminal with shopping and all the amenities, let me describe my surroundings. The departure side of the terminal is a space about 15 feet wide by about 60 feet long. There is a check-in counter, which both airlines share, a small snack bar that sells minerals (cokes) and biscuits (cookies), and a dozen or so molded plastic chairs – the kind you put on your back deck. That’s it!

The airport was just renovated in 2008, so it now boasts air-conditioning, a metal detector and x-ray baggage screening. Prior to then, it was open air, all luggage and carry-on was checked by hand, and individuals were “patted down” prior to boarding. So now, it actually feels pretty luxurious. But I will miss my friend, the security woman who used to do all the screening of women passengers. Maybe Africa is getting to me more than I realize!

There is no Chili’s or Burger King to get a meal, no shop with books and magazines, none of the usual trappings we associate with an airport. But the woman who runs the snack bar is always very friendly. She runs the place, day in and day out, with a small baby – maybe 3 or 4 months old – on her back. She gets here at 5 am, because the flights in and out of Tamale are (usually) early in the morning, and she always has a smile on her face. And she makes the best omelet sandwich ever! A treat I look forward to every time I come to Tamale.

And I am blessed. I don’t have anything urgent I am rushing back to Accra for, unlike the UN official who will be missing several meetings today. I have a book to read and a laptop to write on, so I can be productive. I can slow down a bit from the hectic week and enjoy a small space of peace and calm, rather than racing on to the next task.

Maybe sometimes when West Africa wins, I win too.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life… Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:25, 27, NIV)

“Don’t worry, be happy.” – Bobby McFerrin