Responsibility or Unnecessary Risk?

A very dear friend of mine has told me often that everything we do in this world is ultimately for selfish reasons - that there is nothing that we do out of pure selflessness. As far as I am concerned we have not arrived at a conclusion on the subject.

A series of events that took place last Tuesday, December 23 brought this matter to the fore of my mind and I am yet to discuss them with my "selfishness theorist." That morning I was on my way to the village where I work, when I was slowed down by a road accident involving two articulated dump trucks carrying freshly excavated sand, and a taxi which had landed on its tires in a ditch.

As I passed slowly by I realised no one was dead or bleeding and all the drivers around seemed to have things under control. So, I decided to continue with my journey. However, a second thought made me turn the old Ford truck around to go find out what I could do to help.

This one change of plans led to the following: I took one of the passengers to the clinic at Senya-Bereku because her right hip was acting up and walking had become painful, got her some breakfast so she could take her meds, took her home to return the large basin of fish she had been taking to the market, and took her to Winneba Hospital to get an X-ray.

Now, at Winneba, I also got to renew the roadworthy certificate of the old truck. I had tried to do it in Accra the day before and thanks to the usual city traffic and the fact that it was close to the holiday season, DVLA had decided to close its gates to me at 3.00PM!

My accident victim did not mind waiting for a few more minutes while I got the checks on the vehicle done and couldn't stop thanking me when I brought her back home to Senya-Bereku with the knowledge that none of her hip bones had been broken, and that she was just terribly sore from the impact.

What an interesting turn of events. Support for "selfishness theory"?

DVLA = Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority

Digsby

Chief Letter Writer

If you have ever seen the classic Ghanaian movie I Told You So you should be familiar with the term Chief Letter Writer. The term came to mind in a week when I was part of a panel interviewing applicants to fill an opening for a company driver. There were these two application letters that seemed strikingly similar in structure and content and would not have been considered for interviews but for the curiosity of the HRM.

Apparently there was (and still is) a "Chief Letter Writer" in the next town making a living from typing out letters for people who do not even care to read these letters before they send them out. Do we still have such a long way to go?

The template for the job application letter must necessarily contain the word "Youngman" irrespective of the age of the applicant. If you are lucky, your actual age is put in the letter, otherwise, as happened to one of the potential company drivers, you have to face a panel that believes you are thirty years old and explain why you just said you were forty-two. Since the letter must also contain the phrase "flying colours" at all costs, this applicant who had just said he did not finish high school, had to explain why his letter of application said he had passed his high school exams with flying colours.

I could go on and on but I stop here and hope to find an answer to why things must be so.

Did You Go To School In America?

I have had to answer this question from Americans many times this year and it has raised so many concerns. My job brings me into contact with foreign volunteers looking to make a difference in the lives of orphans in Africa. Naturally, our conversations about their service projects inevitably segue into other issues including my educational history.

The fact that such a question arises makes me worry incessantly, and I believe I have every reason to. Is it true that a good education has become so rare in my beloved Ghana, that one who sounds as confident and informed as I do must have been educated beyond the shores of Ghana, or worse still, beyond the shores of Africa?

Of course, one could argue that it is the mere ignorance about the internal workings of the country and the continent that make a visitor assume certain things and jump to certain conclusions, and I wish it were a convincing argument. In fact, this argument usually works when the issue under discussion is the existence of cars, or the availability of clothes, or the likelihood of spotting a lion cub along the highway. But could it not also be that most of the people that my curious acquaintances come into contact with act as though they are seeing God-on-earth for the first time while simultaneously torturing the English language with violent attacks on its set rules?

I do not hesitate to let them know that all of my formal education, at least so far, has been in my home and country Ghana. They do not know that at the back of my mind, I am silently accepting that I actually belong to a minority. Why should this be?

There is a cycle that continues to produce people who have been through school but cannot hold an intellectual conversation on any subject and I am determined to break that cycle. I do not want to have to home-school my children just to be sure that they do not fall victim to the current trend. Imagine if, every time my son came home from school, I would have to tell him that what his teacher told him was actually incorrect. How many children do you know who trust their parents over their teachers when it comes to matters pertaining to school work?

I want my children and my children's children to proudly say "I went to school in Ghana!"

Keeping Up Appearances

After reading the story about Lin Miaoke, Yang Peiyi and the 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony, many things came to my mind, including Mrs. Bucket (pronounced bouquet for those who don't know), but that's another matter. The things that China did to present a flawless opening event to the world, are actually not much different from what I see happening in Ghana when it's time for the dead to be buried, or for a couple to be married. I will stick to the lighter side and focus on weddings.

Ama says to Mansa, "You should have been at Esi's wedding! You really missed out! A Mercedes, a five-tier cake, seven bridesmaids, seven groomsmen, a little bride, and a page boy! And there were so many people! I can't wait to be at yours. I know your folks will make a 'show'!" This is the point where Mansa should quickly tell Ama that her parents do not subscribe to these ideas and that she and her man cannot really afford such glamour. Instead, she goes off thinking about ways to convince Mr. Man that they need to outdo Esi.

Eventually, Mansa's wedding day arrives and, yes, Esi's wedding can't compare. It's a fairytale come true. The decor, the bridal party, the limo (which by the way doesn't fit into her parents' front yard), the horse, and the seven-tier cake are just mere trimmings. There are lights everywhere, everyone has more than enough to eat and drink, and we all go home.

A week later, the creditors of Mansa and Mr. Man show up and the fights start.
"Well, it was your idea!"
"But you didn't actually say no!"
"Do you expect me to use all of my salary to settle these debts?"
"What will we eat?"

A distraught Mansa meets Esi one day and asks, "How did you manage to pay all the debts after your wedding?"
"Debts? What debts?" asks a surprised Esi. "It was just my aunts and cousins in England who all wanted to be part of the wedding. I couldn't say no and they all chipped in a little bit to make my day special."

What did that ad say? IMAGE IS NOTHING. THIRST IS EVERYTHING. OBEY YOUR THIRST. DRINK SPRITE.

Would Mansa and Mr. Man have been any less married if they had gone for what their pockets could provide, like four witnesses and a registrar?

And by the way, I think Yang Peiyi is actually cuter. See http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/beijing_olympics/story/0,27313,24169753-5014197,00.html

Today I Became A Blogger

Today I became a blogger...