I had the great pleasure of interviewing Mr. Kpetermeni last September at Ashesi University, where he is a senior, as part of my research on Ashesi University. As I wrote about at the time, Kpetermeni has a remarkable story. Twice a refugee fleeing violence in Liberia, in Ghana he taught himself advanced computer skills from online sources. At Ashesi he set about helping other West Africans access excellent and free online educational materials and continued to work with iLab, an organization that he helped to found which helps people in impoverished parts of Africa to communicate crucial information electronically.
This capacity for communication is of course crucial for mapping and stopping the spread of infectious diseases such as Ebola, and Kpetermini has spent much of the past year on that work. I think it is fair to say that he helped to stop the spread of the deadly disease in Liberia.
During and after our September visit he has also advised Yo Ghana! on how best to address our own electronic bottlenecks. In fact Miss Lucy, our coordinator on the ground in Accra, now has a smart phone recommended by Kpetermeni that makes and sends pdfs of outstanding resolution even when the lights are down and the internet is balky.
It is truly an inspiration and a blessing to know someone with such a rare combination of intelligence, determination, and passion to help others.
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