Nzulezu- The Village On Water

As we set off early in the morning and took the first STC bus from Accra to Takoradi, we continued our journey to a small town called Beyin in the coastal belt of Ghana. Nzulezu is specifically located on a small lake called Tandani near Beyin in the western region of Ghana. At Beyin, we went to the tourist information centre, where we were briefed about the tourist potential of the place. The gate fee for cruising on the lake to the village was bodily displayed on the notice board; that is GH¢5 for foreign tourist and Gh¢3 for local visitors of ten persons or more. Since we were only five in number, we paid Gh¢3 each for the tour services to the village. We were also given a life jacket and were accompanied by two tour guides who rode with us on a small canoe to the village. The cruising on the lake was very exciting and fearful but since we were wearing life jacket we were not scared. The small boat was moving very slowly until we got to the village in about thirty minutes time. We were warmly welcomed by the the village folks with a lot of smiles in a friendly manner. At Nzulezu, I really enjoyed the rich natural environment, the warm attitude of the people and the cool breeze from the lake, on which sited many traditional wooden houses built by the villagers to withstand the gentle waves of the lake. This is a place where the people live their entire life, do their chores in these wooden structures. The architectural design of these wooden houses actually portrays the skills and expertise of the villagers in line with their cultural values and norms. The houses were round-shaped, built so close to each other for easy accessibility to each other’s compound. Most of the villagers use the local solar lantern which was given to them by a prominent government official. Their main means of transport are the small canoes which are used by both women and children to the nearby village school. It was a fantastic experience to interact with them who find their entire life on the lake very comfortable. It is also worth it making that long journey from Accra to Nzulezu, the village on water. We passed the night in one of the wooden houses which were reserved for visitors or tourist near the chief’s palace. We carried some food in our luggage and so we did eat any food at the village. Because we knew we were going to pass the night there and return to the city the following day. The night was very quiet and the only noise I head was the sound of a bird. In our first evening it was hard to tear ourselves away from our compound and we walked in groups to experience the night life while we combed the entire village in less than thirty minutes. There was no light in the village except some few people who were using the solar lamps which were very powerful. Surprisingly, we located a drinking spot and video centre where most of the people go to entertain themselves. These centers were operating with small portable generators sets. We felt as if we retreated from the modern world, and had dropped off to sleep; the only sound to be heard was the tapping of the rain on the wooden planks and the severe wind that has blown with the rain. We had a sound sleep in a mosquito treated net which was provided to us by one of the elders in the village. In the next morning we were met by the busy schedule of these hard working men who were preparing to go to fishing, while the women also prepared vigorously to go to the market centers for their trading activities. The women and their bravely paddle these small canoes on their own, without the help of any elderly person. It was a fantastic experience to visit Nzulezu . For enquiries and Bookings, Contact FKF Horizon Consult on +233 24 3566 315

Manufactured by Apple inc. in Canada, the iphone 3g has brought about a revolution in the mobile phone industry. It is a very powerful phone which has really added up to the status of my lifestyle. If I hadn't used the 3g iphone I wouldn't have known that this phone is exceptionally better than the one I was using. It was given to me as a birthday present and since then I haven't regretted using the phone. It has the most advanced and fast word browser which makes it possible for me to browse the internet without any interruption. A unified inbox and other new features make mail more powerful than ever. The most remarkable thing about the 3g iphone is my ability to browse and shop for books anytime I feel like it. It works with PDF so that I can easily use the iTunes on my Mac or PC. I can also customize my ebook to suit the way I want to read and adjust the brightness or change the text size and read as many books as I can with the 3g iphone. Making a call with the phone is very simple and the usual voice mail also let me play messages in any order just like email. The camera of the phone is sharp and bright when I take pictures with it. I easily zoom in or out on any object before snapping if I want to take quality and clear pictures. It is a flat, portable and shinning phone which looks very attractive when holding it. Its large flat screen size serves as monitor to send and receive mails and messages. When you are using the 3g iphone , you will actually feel satisfied because of numerous quality services the phone has to offer for your convenient. I can also copy, cut and past pictures and words even between applications just like a computer. In this case the 3g phone can actually do almost everything that my PC does, and so, this unique feature is what I really admire about the phone. The 3g iphone is selling at $99.00, a price which is moderate enough to meet one's pocket. In this case you will get the right value for your money if you actually switch from your old phone and use the 3g iphone. I strongly recommend this phone to any one who is looking for a reliable and state of the art services that will boost your life style.

THE CANON POWER SHOT A460 DIGITAL CAMERA The canon digital power shot camera is the latest innovation from the old canon camera I was using sometimes ago. The canon digital camera has brought about drastic change in my picture quality when I used it in taking pictures during a party time. Before using the canon digital Power shot A450 camera, I read the Manuel guide very extensively to acquaint myself with the instructions. After getting adequate information about the use of the equipment, I fixed in the battery at the battery compartment, fix in the memory card and switch on the gadget by pressing the power button. In other to get the correct shot I tuned the shooting Mod dial into an Auto function. This will invariably select the appropriate picture quality when I shoot the object. I aimed the camera at the object at an interval of 30 mm to make sure the camera has focus on the object, I pressed the shutter button to capture the object. The image indicator light finally blinked green while the picture was recorded on the memory card. The picture quality was very good but the memory card was not large enough to take more shots. The capacity of the card was very small and can take only 16 shots . I bought a new memory card with the capacity of almost 1gig and this actually took as many shots as possible. However the picture quality is very clear without any scratches and lines. On the other hand I tuned the shooting Mod dial into SCN but the picture quality was not good enough because the SCN mod is a manual selection which cannot automatically select the appropriate weather or background to snap. I have to study the weather of the place and position myself appropriately before shooting. I also tuned the Mod dial into a video selection, and I captured a fast moving object. The picture quality was very bright but at the same time the quality is best realized when it is used to take moving objects. The canon digital power shot camera has the best movie mode delivering a revolution at a stunning 30 times per second. In this case it’s just perfect for snapping moving objects when still pictures just will not do After that, I connected the camera to my computer and down loaded the picture on my desktop.

THE NOKIA PHONE NO- 3310 When I bought my first new Nokia phone number 3310, I was not sure of its performance despite instructions I read from the manual. It took me about three days to learn and become used to it. I was very excited about numerous services the product has to offer. Apart from sending and receiving messages, I also used it to store some musical notes and vital informations for future use. The phone has helped me in various ways such as diverting messages to friends which has saved me time and money in calling. I was also extra careful in handling the gadget. But the more I pretend to take good care in handling the phone, the more it continues to fall. There was a time the phone fell from my top pocket into a bucket of water; I was very furious and actually blamed myself for being careless I quickly picked it, dried it in a white towel and brew inside it with an electric dryer for about thirty minutes and later dried it in the sun for almost four hours. Surprisingly, the phone started working very well. I thought of calling the repairer but I decided to try it myself and it worked for me. When it vibrates suddenly, it use to gives me some shock instantly which send a signal that I have unknowingly changed the tone to a vibration, This at times makes me feel uncomfortable until I became used to that. Nokia phone is very durable and strong but when it falls down, the battery cover normally gets open and breaks into pieces on hard floor. Fixing the battery cover is very simple but care must be taken to avoid breaking. The cover lip or two catches at the mouth of the battery cover which are supposed to enter into the corresponding slots in the phone before sliding the cover towards the bottom of it; normally breaks and renders the cover hanging loosely that will not be perfectly tight. So the opening and closing of the battery cover have to be redesigned in a very simple way, as compared to Samsung phones.. Switching off and on of the phone is also another tedious task. I have to keep on pressing the black tap at the head of the phone just to switch it off. Despite this difficulty, the Nokia 3310 phone has proved very successful in serving me. I am even thinking of buying the latest model such as the camera phone which has superior features such as taking pictures and connecting to the internet. Among all phones, I have chosen Nokia to be the best because it is very simple and less sophisticated to use.

MY MOTHER'S CRIPPLING SUCCESS IN LIFE

At age 82, any other woman would have retired in her small cottage house, after having enjoyed the better part of her life during her youthful days. But my mother who was very hard working did not relent in her effort, she rather persevered and made sure her dreams never went unfulfilled. She didn’t spare her favourite jazz music which was part of her entire life, most especially when she was feeling lonely.

She does almost everything by herself and calls me occasionally for help when she needed extra energy to lift any heavy object. She does all her domestic chores without any help, including cooking, washing as well as exercising her body each morning before taking her usual breakfast. This is an age whereby anybody would have given up in life and taken a rest. But surprisingly my mother was a very healthy mom who gives me some pieces of advice. I quite remember when she called me one early morning and told me to work very hard and take good care of her when she is incapacitated.

That was the day I realized that life was not as rosy as I thought it should be and so I have to shoulder that responsibility until she passes away. In our African culture parents normally depend on their children when they become old because there are no old age centers to care for them. My mother was very disciplinary and the wicked mom whom I thought she was when I was a kid and has to endure her training. As a family of six we weren’t particularly heroic as I remember, we were rather very cool and respectful. She raised us alone when our father was not available to take up the collective responsibility. Our father had abandoned us and had gone to our home town to inherit his brother’s property. That was not part of the usual system of inheritance in our custom and tradition, but the children of his late brother had asked my father to come home to inherit his brother’s estate. So he left us unceremoniously and went into the village while the entire family fell apart with every one trying to fend for himself. So his attention in caring for us was absent.
My mother who took up the responsibility was very strict in inculcating good family values and discipline in our life which had shaped our character towards the future. She was the definitive emotional focus for all of us as she was very bold to use the cane when we were at fault. She will cane us very furiously until we cried loud to disturb neighbours around. I do remember those days when she uses anything she lays her hands on to whip us regardless of the pain it inflicted on us. Now I’ve seen that she was the one who had kept us and everything together while having to deal with all kinds of frustrations which she never revealed to us until we grew up into adult. She told us about the family tree, some family members and how they tried to influence my father to marry another woman. In that case my father accepted their plan but she foiled the plan.

Dad’s attitude towards us was very inimical, when he left us for almost ten years during my childhood. He reappeared from no where to beg my mother to forgive and accept him back. My mother loves him very much despite his behaviour so she later accepted him but on one condition that, my father will pay up the accumulated schools fees of my siblings for the past ten years during his absent. He paid up the bills and bought four pieces of cloths for her which she accepted and allowed him into the family. Despite that I was not happy with him until after sometimes, because he has not treated us kindly atoll. When my mother slipped and fell into a hot cooking pot some twenty years ago, I was then fifteen years of age, and the only child who nursed her until she recovered from the pain. Even with that she was not discouraged in life, she successfully managed her own business with her limited educational background. The proceeds from her trading business had kept us going on in life for all this years; paying for our school fees and other bills in the house.

During the latter days in her life my mother celebrated her 80th birthday with a big fanfare. It was a day I will always recollect in my memory. It all started with a special church service at the Presbyterian Church followed by a grand durbar and the cutting of the giant birthday cake. The birthday cake was shaped in a heart-like form which was presented by our second brother on behalf of the children to signify our love for her.
Among the invitees were her contemporaries who thronged the party ground with the usual old fashion style which the young guys of today consider it archaic; but which seems to be resurfacing in this modern-day of dressing. During the cause of the gathering and while the music was blasting, one of the invitees got up and got hold of the microphone and offered to make a short speech to the audience. He recounted his youthful days when he proposed to marry my mother and when she refused. He persistently pressed on with the hope that my mother would eventually change her mind, but my mom did not accept her proposal. So he conducted an investigation only to realize that she was already engaged to my father. He became disappointed and this accounted for his inability to marry until after ten years, when he could no longer cope with the single life. He told the full story of their youthful days and the exciting memories of the past and how he got attracted to the beauty and admiration of my mother. He then drank two full glasses of whisky and opened the floor with an old-time sarcastic ‘boogie’ dance to the rhythm of the ‘highlife’ music, which was blasting from the two giant speakers. In fact I was very amazed at that fantastic dance which was called ‘old man boogie’ dance during their youthful days.
After that my mother also told her story about her struggle in taking care of us as well as attending to her business alone. This was an inspiration to other invitees who gave her a warm applause and encouraged her to continue with the struggle. Although she passed away, her memories can not be forgotten because she left a very strong mark for us to emulate and guide us in future.