History is overrated
A yesterday exaggerated
The power is in the now
That which asks the future how
Some live to make history
Others live for memories
History is memory shared
Experience is time learned
So my today is treasured
My yesterday remembered
But it all seems clear.....
The future is Now!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
ECHOES
Home is where you will find me
Here I do not exist
Put me under the African sun
Play me a tune on the Atumpan drum
For here I do not exist.
Home is where you will find me
Here I barely exist.
Tell me Ananse stories in the night
Gather the folks and sing by the fire side
For here I do not exist.
I am just the wind passing through
I brush up the branches and so pruned
Invisible as I come through
The sounds I hear are surely echoes
The shrills and glee of gathering mangoes
The orchestra of the Harmattan winds
Friendships of closeness distance twins
Home is where you will find me
Here I barely exist.
Sliced and halves of loaves shared
Warmth that buttered with care
Mother's pots of goodness
Lick the plates not a speck spared
The dusty lanes and rocky terrains
Wooden lorries bumpy journeys
The cat and mice chase to entertain
Home is calling me..or is it just echoes?
Here I do not exist
Put me under the African sun
Play me a tune on the Atumpan drum
For here I do not exist.
Home is where you will find me
Here I barely exist.
Tell me Ananse stories in the night
Gather the folks and sing by the fire side
For here I do not exist.
I am just the wind passing through
I brush up the branches and so pruned
Invisible as I come through
The sounds I hear are surely echoes
The shrills and glee of gathering mangoes
The orchestra of the Harmattan winds
Friendships of closeness distance twins
Home is where you will find me
Here I barely exist.
Sliced and halves of loaves shared
Warmth that buttered with care
Mother's pots of goodness
Lick the plates not a speck spared
The dusty lanes and rocky terrains
Wooden lorries bumpy journeys
The cat and mice chase to entertain
Home is calling me..or is it just echoes?
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
OUT THERE...SOMEWHERE...
She is out there...somewhere
A queen with no solace
I am out here...so near
A king with no palace
Her highness so high I can't reach
So i look to the skies for her beneath
I have conquered the hills and valleys
I have drunk from streams and gullies
Still i thirst for that mineral water pure
I stay rooted like lighthouse at the shore
I search for pearls muscles and more
But.....i know
She is out...she is out there...somewhere
Awaiting on me her king to come near
The court yard is courted by many
A king has ministers and jesters aplenty
But a crown so heavy a heart saddened
Is not a queen for her king's side?...
I long to share my power thrown and bed
So to rest my head but my soul first
I know...out there...somewhere..she's there
A queen with no solace
I am out here...so near
A king with no palace
Her highness so high I can't reach
So i look to the skies for her beneath
I have conquered the hills and valleys
I have drunk from streams and gullies
Still i thirst for that mineral water pure
I stay rooted like lighthouse at the shore
I search for pearls muscles and more
But.....i know
She is out...she is out there...somewhere
Awaiting on me her king to come near
The court yard is courted by many
A king has ministers and jesters aplenty
But a crown so heavy a heart saddened
Is not a queen for her king's side?...
I long to share my power thrown and bed
So to rest my head but my soul first
I know...out there...somewhere..she's there
Friday, October 9, 2009
THE FLAWED STATE OF A STATE PART TWO
The acid test that separates the wheat from the chaff between Junior Secondary School and Senior Secondary is the Basic Education Certificate Examination, B.E.C.E. to my Ghanaians. In recent years students took a maximum of ten subjects graded 1 to 6 or in a more universal term grade A through F. This is where after enlisting your three choice of secondary schools you want to attend, you proof your worth against other candidates. Subjects ranged from Science to Mathematics all through to the hands on ones like Social Studies, Technical and Vocational Skills. Agricultural Studies and a local language of choice which depended on your geography or schools resource.
The elite secondary schools battle it out to get the best of each year to strengthen their position as front runner institutes. So one needs not to mention the shear worry it generates for both student and parent. Out of the ten subjects, unless we dealing with exceptional candidates, kids are bound to prioritise. Science, Mathematics and English spring to mind. This logic is not flawed as the secondary institutions go by the same reasoning in picking and choosing prospective students. In my own instance I got nine As and a lonely B grade. The B grade was earned in Vocational Skills doing Calabash Art. To the Ghanaian, this is a familiar word. To others a Google search or a Webster dictionary will be handy now. That industry is doing fine without me thank you very much! As a matter of fact, no one in my school scored an A grade that year in this subject. My remorse for not having a perfect score was comforted by people telling me the subject is not that important in my school's selection.....they were as right as Republicans.
Now here lies the misguidance. The crippling factor. The flaw. Students are allocated to subjects and fields in an almost hierarchical manner by academic aptitude. So your very well endowed ones are encouraged to do Sciences and Business while the ones down the ladder move into the Social Sciences and Vocational departments. I respect Science and Business a lot. But I do not show some disregard towards the Arts and Vocational subjects like the system does. I paraded as a Science student throughout my education in Ghana because I had the marks to show for it. I now find myself in Business and a few people like me have threaded other paths since then. The oversight there was the failure to realise that more than 60% of the B.E.C.E. subjects relied heavily on a students language and communication skills. My English results were second to none and I had the gift of the gap...or I just loved talking. Either way I was a good speaker. What the system failed to realise was that some students were high achievers because they were good with language and communication and not just number crunching and memorising facts on end. I would do a disservice to my self If I said I was bad at Science and Mathematics either. I rubbed noses with the best. The point here is the system is a 'labeller' rather than a 'discoverer'.
In the end the Sciences get the cream of the crop and the other areas are more likely filled out by disappointed Science and Business aspirants. A few elite students, and I mean a few, do make a conscious decisions to go into these departments. What is my point you ask? Governments are run on Social Science and Language subjects mainly. Science and Mathematics are there to drive policies. Business to see to the driving. Why are we neglecting the very subjects that empower our future leaders to be inferior? Philosophy, Religion, Sociology, Law etc do form a bigger influence on political ideologies and politics as a whole. We need men who are soaked in these fields of reason and questioning. The ones that ask WHY not just HOW. The West is a good example. In the Elizabethan era of English rule and even now, young royals were schooled in the Arts first. Languages, Poetry, Philosophy and the likes....the build of leaders. If you are in the business of ruling people, you must pay attention to subjects of the people. I will gladly be ruled by a poet than a soldier. They both can bring change but one may shed blood. In the West people aspire to be politicians, in Africa people desire to be politicians!!!
Back to boarding school. Keep up with me I am getting to the punch line. The boys that are drafted into the cadet corp are usually the toughened no nonsense type and often of the macho make. I was never seen at a cadet try-outs. In fact, It never crossed my mind. If rounds of unanswered slaps proved that I was a man, put a ribbon on me and call me a chihuahua.....I am a pretty bitch! So these guys, our men of war, had little to nothing regard for student authority. The school prefects were usually smart responsible students. So those that aspired to the cadet corp too were not the usual students trying to get prefect badges. From there, there was an informal power share. The prefects stayed clear of the cadets and the cadets accorded the prefects enough room to exert their influence elsewhere. These same students will one way or another find themselves in our Armies, Air Forces and the Navy. They view leaders with the corner of their eyes. Politicians are given enough room to operate until they think it is not enough. From the beginning their mentality is flawed. Our Armies are not loyal to Presidents and ruling Governments rather to Generals and Commanders. So the Army can overthrown Governments when they see fit...........even a mutiny will be unheard of in either the British or United States Armies.
In conclusion? I say education must be tailored towards the peoples needs. I will borrow from a saying that goes ' Education does not mean teaching people to know what they do not know; it means teaching them to behave as they do not behave'. We can cry over the dire state of our leadership centuries on end but If we fail to equip people and empower them to be good leaders, it will continue. Lets keep making scientists and mathematicians. But let us know these people will not be filling our parliaments any soon. Mutual regard for all education. Empower the journalist to be the social moralist. The 'whistle-blower' stigma embedded in our culture too needs to stop. Africa cannot remain rich while individuals are poor. Africa needs change and it will take lawyers, writers, scientist and all. Long live Africa!
The elite secondary schools battle it out to get the best of each year to strengthen their position as front runner institutes. So one needs not to mention the shear worry it generates for both student and parent. Out of the ten subjects, unless we dealing with exceptional candidates, kids are bound to prioritise. Science, Mathematics and English spring to mind. This logic is not flawed as the secondary institutions go by the same reasoning in picking and choosing prospective students. In my own instance I got nine As and a lonely B grade. The B grade was earned in Vocational Skills doing Calabash Art. To the Ghanaian, this is a familiar word. To others a Google search or a Webster dictionary will be handy now. That industry is doing fine without me thank you very much! As a matter of fact, no one in my school scored an A grade that year in this subject. My remorse for not having a perfect score was comforted by people telling me the subject is not that important in my school's selection.....they were as right as Republicans.
Now here lies the misguidance. The crippling factor. The flaw. Students are allocated to subjects and fields in an almost hierarchical manner by academic aptitude. So your very well endowed ones are encouraged to do Sciences and Business while the ones down the ladder move into the Social Sciences and Vocational departments. I respect Science and Business a lot. But I do not show some disregard towards the Arts and Vocational subjects like the system does. I paraded as a Science student throughout my education in Ghana because I had the marks to show for it. I now find myself in Business and a few people like me have threaded other paths since then. The oversight there was the failure to realise that more than 60% of the B.E.C.E. subjects relied heavily on a students language and communication skills. My English results were second to none and I had the gift of the gap...or I just loved talking. Either way I was a good speaker. What the system failed to realise was that some students were high achievers because they were good with language and communication and not just number crunching and memorising facts on end. I would do a disservice to my self If I said I was bad at Science and Mathematics either. I rubbed noses with the best. The point here is the system is a 'labeller' rather than a 'discoverer'.
In the end the Sciences get the cream of the crop and the other areas are more likely filled out by disappointed Science and Business aspirants. A few elite students, and I mean a few, do make a conscious decisions to go into these departments. What is my point you ask? Governments are run on Social Science and Language subjects mainly. Science and Mathematics are there to drive policies. Business to see to the driving. Why are we neglecting the very subjects that empower our future leaders to be inferior? Philosophy, Religion, Sociology, Law etc do form a bigger influence on political ideologies and politics as a whole. We need men who are soaked in these fields of reason and questioning. The ones that ask WHY not just HOW. The West is a good example. In the Elizabethan era of English rule and even now, young royals were schooled in the Arts first. Languages, Poetry, Philosophy and the likes....the build of leaders. If you are in the business of ruling people, you must pay attention to subjects of the people. I will gladly be ruled by a poet than a soldier. They both can bring change but one may shed blood. In the West people aspire to be politicians, in Africa people desire to be politicians!!!
Back to boarding school. Keep up with me I am getting to the punch line. The boys that are drafted into the cadet corp are usually the toughened no nonsense type and often of the macho make. I was never seen at a cadet try-outs. In fact, It never crossed my mind. If rounds of unanswered slaps proved that I was a man, put a ribbon on me and call me a chihuahua.....I am a pretty bitch! So these guys, our men of war, had little to nothing regard for student authority. The school prefects were usually smart responsible students. So those that aspired to the cadet corp too were not the usual students trying to get prefect badges. From there, there was an informal power share. The prefects stayed clear of the cadets and the cadets accorded the prefects enough room to exert their influence elsewhere. These same students will one way or another find themselves in our Armies, Air Forces and the Navy. They view leaders with the corner of their eyes. Politicians are given enough room to operate until they think it is not enough. From the beginning their mentality is flawed. Our Armies are not loyal to Presidents and ruling Governments rather to Generals and Commanders. So the Army can overthrown Governments when they see fit...........even a mutiny will be unheard of in either the British or United States Armies.
In conclusion? I say education must be tailored towards the peoples needs. I will borrow from a saying that goes ' Education does not mean teaching people to know what they do not know; it means teaching them to behave as they do not behave'. We can cry over the dire state of our leadership centuries on end but If we fail to equip people and empower them to be good leaders, it will continue. Lets keep making scientists and mathematicians. But let us know these people will not be filling our parliaments any soon. Mutual regard for all education. Empower the journalist to be the social moralist. The 'whistle-blower' stigma embedded in our culture too needs to stop. Africa cannot remain rich while individuals are poor. Africa needs change and it will take lawyers, writers, scientist and all. Long live Africa!
THE FLAWED STATE OF A STATE PART ONE
I am not suffering from a recent heartbreak. I am not weeping the passing away of a loved one. Yet I wake up with my heart heavy. It sinks deep into my chest. My friends, I am gaining weight in the cardiac region and it is not healthy. I ponder daily on the plight of our beautiful continent that is Africa. In the age of space expedition and medical wizardry, Africa is knee deep in post World War I issues. Excuse my exaggeration, it maybe an understatement depending on your view. I examined the continual trend of war, poverty and disease that plaque my people, our people across the landmass. I sought to find a central causal factor. Surely not all Africans are lazy, corrupt, fraudsters, cheats, or selfish? I do not need to look beyond my own nuclear family to know the goodness of the African. But how do we find ourselves in such a state, a flawed state of a state?
There are schools of thought that will readily attribute the dark ages of slavery and colonialism to the continents gloom outlook. There is not an iota of doubt in such views. Quite frankly, it is a major contributor and must not be dismissed in all arguments. But pointing the proverbial finger in this piece of mine will not achieve my intended purpose. Instead of pointing the fingers outside, I will like to poke out our eyes...i mean point the fingers to ourselves. Now before we build emotions and get defensive, brothers and sisters, hear me out.
One cannot dispute the fact that wherever in Africa there is some sort of instability, close to it will be failed Governance. Weak leadership. Selfish, inward-looking, parochial and insensitive leadership. We have headless cocks trying to run the whole coop!....the pun is heavily intended. Those that crow in the evening and yawn at dawn. Crow at anyone that stands up to them and develop heavy eyes on important issues only to put them to bed as soon as they are raised.
So the canker is with our leadership. The question of why it is so flawed beckons the curious mind. I believe theories upon theories can be brought forth. From sociology to anthropology, genetics to religion. The good thing is I am not 'book-long' enough to bore you that much. So how do I seek to explain then you may ask? Grab a cup of tea or some hot chocolate. Let us sit this one through.
I will not say I have purported a theory to such an end. I shall claim all honours later though If I can drum home my points. I shall use my experience in the Ghanaian education system to highlight these concerns....I think they are more of concerns than theories.
First and foremost,I will say education, in Ghana and possibly the whole continent, is highly competitive. The quality of individuals and studentship is unbelievable. As I speak to you, I have Ghanaian school mates applying themselves in Harvard and the likes. In competitive fields of Medicine and Engineering to the Arts. Quality is not a problem. Motivation is second to none. I will recall some amazing Chemistry students who had to wait until their final year to see a mass spectrometer. Yet they were the gurus of anatomical chemistry and their calculations were empirical...excuse my play on words again!
So what is wrong with the education system that can produce candidates worthy of walking in the corridors of the most elite institutions? Well put the inadequate resources aside and the occasional teachers strike and I find a bigger problem....misguided importance of certain subjects or degrees. It is a long short right now but allow me time to explain. As a young primary graduate from New Zealand starting Junior Secondary in Ghana I quickly learnt that the smart students were the ones doing mostly well in the sciences and mathematics. The arts and languages were subjects you would use to try and up your marks should you falter in the aforementioned two. So it meant If you were endowed otherwise but wanted to compete you had to take on board the two main ones. It may lead to the total abandonment of of your strengths should you not be able to take them on board with your new challenge. All this to the detriment of the Arts and language. The effect of this is seen much more in the secondary schools...........TO BE CONTINUED.
There are schools of thought that will readily attribute the dark ages of slavery and colonialism to the continents gloom outlook. There is not an iota of doubt in such views. Quite frankly, it is a major contributor and must not be dismissed in all arguments. But pointing the proverbial finger in this piece of mine will not achieve my intended purpose. Instead of pointing the fingers outside, I will like to poke out our eyes...i mean point the fingers to ourselves. Now before we build emotions and get defensive, brothers and sisters, hear me out.
One cannot dispute the fact that wherever in Africa there is some sort of instability, close to it will be failed Governance. Weak leadership. Selfish, inward-looking, parochial and insensitive leadership. We have headless cocks trying to run the whole coop!....the pun is heavily intended. Those that crow in the evening and yawn at dawn. Crow at anyone that stands up to them and develop heavy eyes on important issues only to put them to bed as soon as they are raised.
So the canker is with our leadership. The question of why it is so flawed beckons the curious mind. I believe theories upon theories can be brought forth. From sociology to anthropology, genetics to religion. The good thing is I am not 'book-long' enough to bore you that much. So how do I seek to explain then you may ask? Grab a cup of tea or some hot chocolate. Let us sit this one through.
I will not say I have purported a theory to such an end. I shall claim all honours later though If I can drum home my points. I shall use my experience in the Ghanaian education system to highlight these concerns....I think they are more of concerns than theories.
First and foremost,I will say education, in Ghana and possibly the whole continent, is highly competitive. The quality of individuals and studentship is unbelievable. As I speak to you, I have Ghanaian school mates applying themselves in Harvard and the likes. In competitive fields of Medicine and Engineering to the Arts. Quality is not a problem. Motivation is second to none. I will recall some amazing Chemistry students who had to wait until their final year to see a mass spectrometer. Yet they were the gurus of anatomical chemistry and their calculations were empirical...excuse my play on words again!
So what is wrong with the education system that can produce candidates worthy of walking in the corridors of the most elite institutions? Well put the inadequate resources aside and the occasional teachers strike and I find a bigger problem....misguided importance of certain subjects or degrees. It is a long short right now but allow me time to explain. As a young primary graduate from New Zealand starting Junior Secondary in Ghana I quickly learnt that the smart students were the ones doing mostly well in the sciences and mathematics. The arts and languages were subjects you would use to try and up your marks should you falter in the aforementioned two. So it meant If you were endowed otherwise but wanted to compete you had to take on board the two main ones. It may lead to the total abandonment of of your strengths should you not be able to take them on board with your new challenge. All this to the detriment of the Arts and language. The effect of this is seen much more in the secondary schools...........TO BE CONTINUED.
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