Features
Harmattan season
Harmattan can cause chapped lips
Harmattan per the Oxford Learners Dictionary is defined as a very dry, dusty easterly or north-easterly wind on the West African coast, occurring from the end of November to the middle of March which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into the Gulf of Guinea.
In the affected countries, the heavy amount of dust in the air can severely limit visibility and block the sun for several days, comparable to a heavy fog. This effect is commonly known as the Harmattan haze.
It costs airlines millions of dollars in cancelled and diverted flights each year. When the haze is weak, the skies are clear. The extreme dryness of the air may also cause branches of trees to die.
The air is particularly dry and desiccating when the Harmattan blows over the region. It brings about desert-like weather conditions including lowering humidity, dissipating cloud cover, preventing rainfall formation and sometimes creating big clouds of dust which can result in dust storms or sandstorms. The wind can increase fire risk and cause severe crop damage.
Features of Harmattan
This season is characterised by cold, dry, dust-laden wind, and also wide fluctuations in the ambient temperatures of the day and night. Temperatures can easily be as low as 9 °C (48 °F) all day, but sometimes in the afternoon, the temperature can also soar to as high as 30 °C (86 °F). The relative humidity can drop under five per cent
Signs and symptoms people experience during harmattan
- Nosebleeds due to the lowering of water in the atmosphere to as low as 15 per cent
- Dryness of skin, chapped lips and other skin conditions such as eczema
- Difficulty breathing
- Wheezing and acute Asthmatic attacks
- Sneezing
- Runny nose
- Nasal congestion
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Dry and itchy eyes
- Vaso-occlusive crises in people with Sickle cell disease
Preventive measures to take during harmattan
To sail through the harmattan season it is important to look out for yourself. You can do this by;
- Ensure you take lots of fruits and vegetables with Vitamin C to help boost your immunity and protect you from infection.
- Wearing a nose mask when out and about in town or open places to prevent inhaling the dust.
- Increasing your fluid intake, especially warm liquids. Stay hydrated and drink a minimum of two litres of water per day.
- When going outside, wear warm clothes with few layers of clothes which work better than a single thick item because air is trapped in them, thereby keeping you warm.
- Make sure you protect your skin, including your lips, hair, and body, with oil-based products such as locally made shea butter (highly utilised for centuries in Ghana). Shea butter does not obstruct the skin pores, what it does rather is create a thin protective layer on the skin which will protect you from the dust as well as the sun. Regular showers are also recommended.
- Eating hot food is great for cold weather. It warms you up and fills your stomach, also ensuring that bacteria and viruses do not thrive in your belly.
- Watch out for fire outbreaks. Fire outbreaks are usually common during harmattan and the reason is not far-fetched: the dry atmosphere aids rapid spread of fire. The simple way of staying safe during this period is to be more conscious of possible causes of fire outbreaks.
References
http://www.sudrex.com/read/tips-and-articles/What-To-Do-And-Avoid-During-Harmattan-Season
BY
DR NANA KOFI OSEI
(BSC, MBChB, GMC CERTIFIED)
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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