Development Of Seminars To Improve Family Relationships And Spiritual Experience Among Ghanaian Emigrant Families In Adventist Immigrant Churches In New England

Problem Family relational problems are on the rise, while family spiritual development is waning in the majority of immigrant Ghanaian churches in the Southern New England Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. It is apparent that the changing dynamics in migration and the acculturation process have a significant impact on family relationships and spiritual experience. While the observation may be anecdotal, it begs for systematic study and improvement. This dissertation project seeks to improve immigrant family relationships and family spiritual development through seminars. Method This dissertation involves the development of a six-session seminar based on the areas of reported concern: family relationships, financial management, spiritual priorities, conflict management, communication, and parenting. A survey questionnaire was developed to corroborate the observed problems prior to the seminar and to test the effect of the seminar six months after its implementation. The pre-test and post-test were administered to families attending the New England Ghanaian, Hartford Ghanaian, and Providence Ghanaian Seventh-day Adventist churches of Southern New England. Results The findings supported the hypothesis that there were family relational problems among the subjects, which correlate to the decline in family spiritual experience. The effectiveness of this seminar was evaluated on the basis of its ability to improve family relationships and spiritual development and also the fact that a pastor in a local church can conduct it. Conclusion Healthy families make healthy churches. The participants acknowledged the fact that seminars addressing critical family issues, like the seminar offered, are needed, not only for the Ghanaian churches in Southern New England, but also for all churches on a regular basis, at least biannually or annually. This seminar can be repeated among different ethnic groups and in other countries to establish its generalizability. The impact of migration on family relationships and family spiritual growth needs to be seriously assessed on a wider scale

Postimmigration Acculturative Challenges in African Immigrant Couples\u27 Relationships

African immigrant couples encounter postimmigration acculturative challenges that impact the foundation of their marriages. The purpose of this case study was to explore the postimmigration challenges that immigrant African couples face and how they manage with the acculturative challenges. The theoretical foundation that guided this study was Social Exchange Theory (SET). This study included interviews of 5 couples of African descent who were married in their home countries before migrating to the United States and who have lived for 5 years or more in Massachusetts. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed. The HyperResearch Qualitative Analysis software was used to analyze the themes and categories (see Booth, Sundstrom, DeMaria, & Dempsey, 2018). From the data analysis, the following postimmigration acculturative challenges and experiences emerged: cultural differences, transitional challenges, communication, finance, couple conflicts, alteration of roles and responsibilities, and conflict resolution. The couples identified that differences in cultures, social norms, and structures between their native cultures and that of the new country contributed to their acculturative challenges. Further, participants indicated that role alterations between couples, such as women\u27s autonomy and economic capacity, shifted the balance of power in couples who came from male-dominated cultures. The role changes fueled the majority of their relationship challenges partly because the men felt a loss of power and control in their relationships. This study leads to positive social change by showing the need for service providers to consider cultural context as they design programs for this immigrant population

A literature review on the impact of social media platforms on small and medium enterprise (SMEs) development

The paper accesses the impact of social media platforms (networks) on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The contribution of SMEs to the development of many developed and developing countries cannot be overemphasized in job creation and its significance to the contribution to their Gross Domestic Products (GDPs). Social media has taken dominance in the world and has subsequently introduced a new paradigm in the operations of businesses. The introduction of Smartphone has significantly informed the decisions by SMEs to deploy social media platforms (networks) for their operations. Despite growing interest in this area of research, knowledge gaps still exist, providing opportunities for further research to be conducted. A qualitative approach has been adopted in this research as a methodology, specifically, document analysis. The database of SCOPUS, WoS, and Google Scholar was the source of generating scientific papers via keywords search. The theoretical implication of this paper would add to the existing body of knowledge and contribute to filling the existing research gap in this research area. The results provided by this paper would help SME practitioners to obtain adequate information on the various social media platforms available for them to adopt, and how those platforms can contribute to their success. The study provides the basis for further research since it is purely a literature review. © 2020 Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited. All rights reserved

Numerical Solution to Parabolic PDE Using Implicit Finite Difference Approach

This paper examines an implicit Finite Difference approach for solving the parabolic partial differential equation (PDE) in one dimension. We consider the Crank Nicolson scheme which offers a better truncation error for both time and spatial dimensions as compared with the explicit Finite Difference method. In addition the scheme is consistent and unconditionally stable. One downside of implicit methods is the relatively high computational cost involved in the solution process, however this is compensated by the high level of accuracy of the approximate solution and efficiency of the numerical scheme. A physical problem modelled by the heat equation with Neumann boundary condition is solved using the Crank Nicolson scheme. Comparing the numerical solution with the analytical solution, we observe that the relative error increases sharply at the right boundary, however it diminishes as the spatial step size approaches zero. Keywords: Partial Differential Equation, Implicit Finite Difference, Crank Nicolson Schem

Civil Society Organisations Contributions to National Development in Ghana

This report analyses the role and contributions of civil society organisations (CSOs)1 to Ghana's national development. In doing so, the report focuses on CSOs' engagements with and contributions to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) responses and post-pandemic recovery. It also discusses the barriers facing CSOs in their attempt to contribute to national development and towards a desired future post COVID-19 in Ghana.

Assessing the Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic Partial Lockdown of Cities on Access to Social Facilities

Social facility is very useful for societal interaction and cohesion. This study was based on review of literature to assess the effects of Novel Coronavirus 2019 Pandemic lockdown of cities on social facility. The study revealed that maternal mortality rate would increase, Christians and Muslims routine of worship as a group has been mileage, whiles people are not able to engage in active exercise to keep fit as a result of the lockdown of the cities. The paper recommend that Government and management of cities should provide mobile clinic for pregnant and patients at house to house. This will help to prevent unforeseen deaths of pregnant women and patients with underlining sickness. Keywords: Covid-19, Lockdown, Social Facility, Cities, GhanaDOI: 10.7176/DCS/10-6-03Publication date:June 30th 202

Covid-19 Pandemic Partial Lockdown in Ghana and Its Implications on Livelihoods of Informal Workers in Affected Communities

Drawing on a review of literature, this study examined the livelihood of informal sector workers after partial closure of some urban centers in Ghana. We found that the livelihood situation of informal sector workers are likely to dwindle significantly due to the closure of major urban centers in Ghana. Policy makers need to institute measures to strengthen livelihood affected people in order for them to cope with the adverse effects on their livelihoods. Government and Non-governmental organization should help initiate effective policies and strategies that will enable informal workers as well as urban people have access to food and medical items needed at this crucial moment of their life. Keywords: livelihoods, informal sector, COVID-19, partial lockdown and Ghana DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-8-4 Publication date: April 30th 2020

Inhibitors of social media as an innovative tool for advertising and MARKETING communication: Evidence from SMEs in a developing country

Innovative marketing has given rise to practitioners' and scholars' attention in the 21st-century market. Given this, social media marketing has become the order of the day when accessing modern tools for marketing communication. However, the adoption of this innovation comes with its associated challenges, particularly, from a developing country perspective. Against this background, this study sought to examine the inhibitors characterized in the application of social media channels as an innovative tool for advertising and communication among SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in Ghana. For study results to be achieved, a quantitative research approach with a questionnaire of 650 was distributed among managerial staff of the fashion industry in the central part of Ghana of which 512 respondents were duly received and correctly filled for data processing and analysis. Results from the partial least square structural equation method (PLS-SEM), showed that despite the importance of innovation, lack of managerial skills/marketing expertise, perceived cost, regular systems/links upgrade, and financial constraints are significant inhibiting factors affecting the application of social media as advertising and communication tools among SMEs in developing economy. Interestingly, the findings further showed that'company's size' as well as'availability of social media channel/tool' significantly control for the outcome variable (internet/social media) as a marketing communication tool. © This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.IGA/FaME/2019/002, IGA/FaME/2019/008, IGA/FaME/2020/00

Social media channel as a strategic advertising tool for small and medium enterprise (SME's) sustainability: Evidence from a developing nation

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of using social media channel as an advertising tool for Small and medium enterprise (SMEs) sustainability, particularly, in a developing country. SMEs are seen as a major contributing factor for business development, employment creation, production of goods and services, and internal income generation in the globe among others. The advent of smartphones and other digital devices has further enabled an increased adoption of this new paradigm. Nonetheless, few attempts have been made by researchers concerning the effectiveness of the adoption of social media as an advertising tool for the sustainability of SMEs in Ghana. Hence, the researchers relied on a qualitative approach basically, an interview method to achieve the objective of the study. This is because the researchers wanted first-hand information from owners/managers of selected known SME's in the regional capital of Ghana. The interview approach was therefore conducted through a questionnaire form. Per the results derived, it can be concluded that social media would serve as a strategic advertising tool for small and medium enterprises. Again, it was emerged that the existence of social media has therefore answered numerous challenges faced by today's SMEs in the area of advertisements. The theoretical benefit of this study will contribute to the body of knowledge on SMEs, by extending the frontiers of using social media as an advertising tool by SMEs in Ghana. Practically, this research will enable industry players to make sound policies and strategies that could attract both experienced and new business on the need to incorporate social media channel for SME's growth and development.Tomas Bata University in Zlin [IGA/FaME/2019/002, IGA/FaME/2019/008

Dynamics of Maize Price in Ghana: Linear versus Nonlinear Cobweb Models

This paper intends to study the price dynamics of maize in Ghana using cobweb models derived from linear demand and nonlinear supply function and then compare with that from linear demand and supply functions which are constructed from real economic price and production data of maize. Comparative analysis of stability conditions of the equilibrium was discussed