2023! WHAT A YEAR!

Whoosh! 2023 has almost ended! What a year. What makes this year special is that I turned 30! I am in a new decade of my life. 

This year was hard! Well, life is made up of good and bad moments but this year in particular, I was faced with some very tough situations but somehow I survived. One thing I have realized in my life thus far is that I always survive (even when I think I wouldn’t). GOD IS GOOD!

I am grateful to God for always being there for me and all the amazing people he has put in my life who have been so supportive. What more could I ask for?

This year, I traveled to five countries: Portugal (The Algarve), Leiden (The Netherlands), US (New York), Malta and Wales (Cardiff). 

Traveling to Portugal at the time I did was quite bold. Girl was broke but still said (FUCK IT). My mantra, ‘You only live once’ is so strong! I have always said that it doesn’t make sense to wait till I have the money I want before I do the things I want to do (especially travel) – tomorrow isn’t even guaranteed my lovelies!

I finally had the opportunity to have a ‘graduation ceremony‘ three years after completing my Masters degree – especially to take pictures with my certificate and I DID! I am thankful for this experience and looking forward to another ‘graduation’ maybe an Honorary Doctorate? AMEN!

I was selected to attend the GoalKeepers summit by the Gates Foundation in New York – FULLY FUNDED! I was ecstatic about this because I was meant to attend in 2022 but for some reason, it didn’t happen. But GOD DID! It was an amazing experience! I flew Business Class too (for the FIRST TIME). I am officially a Goalkeeper!

On my birthday every year, especially since my early 20s, I make sure I do something exceptional – which is mostly travel to a country on my travel list. For my BIG 30 (which is a BIG DEAL), I traveled to Malta! A small country but with so much to see. I had such an amazing time overall!

Christmas was such a big deal when I was much younger in Ghana. In recent times, it is not much of a big deal (at least to me) but I still try and do something. For this year, I visited Wales (a country part of the UK I hadn’t visited yet). Though it was cold, I mean this is the UK we are talking about but I had a good time! I needed that change of environment and time for self reflection as well. 

Apart from the places I traveled to by God’s Grace I achieved other feats which I will briefly share:

I assumed leadership on the ONE UK Community Leaders Programme which I am a part of – working closely with the Programme Coordinator as a team leader. It has been an amazing experience so far contributing towards the coordination and delivery of the programme. A double WIN! 

On this programme too, I achieved personal feats:

I led our first CL produced newsletter detailing our campaign actions, engagements and overall achievements as CLs. 

I was involved in the recruitment of our new cohort of CLs – it was nice hearing all the incredible experiences of the applicants, getting to be in the shoes of recruiters having to decide on hiring an applicant – not easy!

I led a petition hand in at No.10 Downing Street (Prime Minister’s seat) Hand In urging the Prime Minister to attend the Global Financial Pact Summit in Paris. This has got to be one of my biggest highlights of the year especially as this petition was from over 174000 ONE supporters globally and it was on the climate crisis. I also had the opportunity to meet ONE’s President, Tom Hart (who I met at the GoalKeepers in New York as well). 

I met with the UK Minister of Energy Security, Graham Stuart, where I had the opportunity to talk about my involvement in climate activism and also urge the UK government to commit to ending the climate crisis (by investing in climate financing schemes) especially in developing countries. 

I did a Twitter Takeover on International Youth Day (via the ONE in the UK account) where I shared with their audience on my involvement in climate activism. It was my first time doing something like that – it was FUN! 

I met my MP, Richard Burgon who has been incredibly supportive of my campaigns in the past and still is among other things. This time we discussed ONE’s new campaign on In Donor Refugee Costs (IDRCs) – which he received well as always and agreed to write to the Chancellor on this. 

I attended a lobby day at the Houses of Parliament to lobby MPs on the East Africa Hunger Crisis. This was an opportunity to hear from diverse UK MPs and how they are working towards ending the crisis as well.

I participated in an Africa Day photshoot with fellow African CLs on Africa Day, an opportunity to showcase our diverse and rich culture and to reflect on the development and progress on the continent.

I also met and interacted with the winners of the 2023 Michael Elliot Award for Excellence in African Storytelling in July 2023. It was incredible to hear the motivation behind their award winning articles and the challenges they had to overcome to produce them. HEROES!

Moving on, I got a job – not quite in my field. It was in communications – working as an Account Executive. I was elated to get to experience what it was like in the working world and specifically in a different field. Unfortunately, it did not go the way I quite wanted so I resigned. It was an amicable ending from both sides but either way, I am very much grateful for the experience! 

I also returned to my former university where I earned an MSc in Public Administration; Leiden University. I participated in a tradition at the university (signing in the sweat room) and also took pictures with my certificate – such a bummer that I did not have official graduation pictures – due to COVID!

I was selected as a UN Women UK CSW 67 Delegate where I joined other women activists across the UK to engage in discussions and sessions on promoting gender equality for women and girls. 

Public speaking has been such a nightmare for some time now (though I have gotten better over the years) but guess who spoke at 2 events this year. ME! I spoke at the SDGs Student Programme Global Issue Forum on ‘Extreme Poverty’ and RESULTS’ National UK Conference on ‘The Power of Youth Voices’ and I KILLED IT! I am so PROUD of myself! 

I joined a group of young Ghanaians demanding for good governance in Ghana for the #OccupyJulorbiHouse protest in London. We caused a stir among the NPP footsoldiers and made our voices heard! I AM PROUD! As part of this, I am currently helping establish ImpactGhana (the organizer of the protest) – an organization geared towards impacting Ghana through special initiatives and programs. 

I was selected as a Mentor on the Nurturing Talent Mentoring Scheme (NTMS), an initiative of my alma mata, University of Leeds (Business School) whereby I have the opportunity to mentor a current student guiding them in their academic and professional journey. I benefited from this scheme when I was a student and it is an amazing experience to give back. 

I was selected for the Junior Research Fellowship with the European Institute of Policy Research and Human Rights (EIPRHR) where I conducted research on public policy, defended my research paper and participated in an online exam which I excelled in!

I also attended the Westminster Awards (ONE Changemakers’ Award) in Parliament where two individuals making a difference in their communities across the UK were duly honored.  

I have been chosen to deliver a training session on SDGs and also speak on a similar topic in a UK university early next year! My prophecy of being a speaker is finally taking shape. I am ECSTATIC!

As a lover of classical music – after being introduced to Ludovico Einaudi by a friend in uni. His album, In a Time Lapse was my saviour some time in university (story for another day). I was ecstatic to see him perform live in concert in October, shortly after my birthday! Woosh! I had a swell time. It was a FUN night!

I have 100 posts on this blog as well! My consistency in writing frequently has been great! I hope I am able to keep up with the momentum in 2024 and beyond.

There are other exciting things I am working on that I cannot wait to share! 2024 looks exciting and promising!

On the other hand, I missed out on two opportunities because I could not get funding to attend but we MOVE! 

I strongly believe my 30s will be more LIT and I am here for it! Girl is about to SHINE BRIGHTER than ever. Break glass ceilings, sit on tables and in rooms with influential people and get invited to many more exclusive events. I am beyond thankful for these achievements and even the challenges that strengthened me. 2024, BRING IT ON!

I want to add that, even if I had not achieved all these, I will still be very grateful for seeing another year. Not many had that opportunity and besides the gift of life is the most important. A Twi proverb sums this up nicely, ‘Wow) nkwa a, na wow) ade’ which means ‘You have something when you are alive’.

HAPPY NEW YEAR IN ADVANCE! May 2024 be kinder to us all! See you soon with another post!