Off The Grid :My Toughest Test In 2024

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Challenges are never ending and with each passing day, we face new ones that catch us by surprise. We also surprisingly find ways to get out of these challenges which ultimately make us stronger.

My 2024 challenge I want to share with you guys did not necessarily make me hit rock bottom as an individual but it just showed how reliant I was on some things and how the entire nation could have literally come to a stand still and also showed we needed to have more options.

I have written about this a few times but allow me to write about this again. Somewhere last year, my nation Ghana and other African countries had a big issue with our internet service providers for more than 3 days. The whole thing was that the network cable or fiber buried in the ocean was cut or something like that which meant we had no internet service for days.

When it initially started, Vodafone and mtn went off and then airtel tigo became a hot cake for the time being. Even that didn’t let because and it became very difficult to even acquire an airtel tigo sim. I remember going to get one and couldn’t get registered because of network challenges. For those of us who do a lot of stuff online like hive, you can imagine the frustration.

During this time, I realized how dependent I was on my phone and the internet as I couldn’t do anything for the first few days. Ultimately, I figured how to keep myself busy during those times by reading a few books and watching a few movies.

This was also a big challenge for the nation because the government has been championing digitalization in a lot of sectors which also meant many of them couldn’t operate due to no service.

One thing I appreciate however about this is that it made us as individuals and a nation try to figure our alternatives to the usual mtn and Vodafone which I am certain will be implemented with time to come.

In 2025, I am hoping this doesn’t happen again or if even if at least it does, it puts the government and us on our toes to make changes. Starlink is one of such alternatives that can be put in place for those that can afford it to have as an option.

all images belong to me.