Elias Akafo's World

  "A Tale of Two Generations" (A Short Story)

Sista, what is wrong with our children these days? my mother exclaimed to my auntie Tina. They do not know how to clean the oven or how to clean the house. What are they going to do when they get their husbands? At least I'm pretty sure that's what my auntie said. I could not understand the Ewe but I was able to string together the few words that I did know in the Ewe language and the English that was mixed in.

Sista, I know, my auntie eagerly concurred with my mother. My children, they don't know what okra is unless they see it in a soup!! Eh-he-he-he-heh!! My mother and auntie laughed boisterously. They almost sounded like schoolgirls to me. This is going to be a long ride. I laid my head back on the seat.

My cousin Dzifa should have been here. Why did she have to be late when we came to the house to pick her and Auntie Tina up? The only reason why I agreed to go to the shopping mall with my mom and auntie was because Dzifa promised to come along. And now here she was deserting me! Oh well, what do the French say? C'est la vie? If Dzifa were here, we could have both shared in the misery and even made our own jokes and counter-arguments. What did my mother and auntie expect from us? We were not born in Ghana. We were not raised there. How could they expect us to be like them? I might not know what true okra looked like but at least I knew how the frozen ones looked like. Well.....sometimes, I thought as I smiled to myself.

What husbands? my auntie shouted. I was quickly jolted from my thoughts. Sista, you won't believe this, my auntie said. What is it? my mother replied. My own daughter, Dziafa, told me this very morning that she might not get married!WHAT!?!?!?, my mother said in disbelief. She said that women of today are independent and they do not need men, my auntie continued. O AFETOR YESU!!, my mother hollered. Lord have mercy upon us!! My mom raised both hands above her head, looking towards heaven, or rather the roof of the car in this case. I glanced at my mother's outstretched hands which should have been on the steering wheel. This does not look good.

The car swerved violently to the left as the wheel was left to plot its own course for the car. Sista! my auntie yelled as the car began to drift into oncoming traffic. My mom quickly put her hands back on the wheel and turned it sharply to the right. Oh Lord I thought as I grabbed onto the door handle to keep myself from slamming into the other side of the car. Something interesting ALWAYS happened when my mother and auntie came together but this was the first time my life had been threatened.

My mom regained control of the car and we were once again driving smoothly. You see, my mom started as though we had never been in danger of meeting our Maker just a few moments before. This country is polluting our children, she began. Oh no, they have switched to English. That means they want me to hear exactly what they are saying. No room left for interpretation. I threw my head back onto the seat. My mom glanced at me through the rearview mirror but kept talking. She had to know by now I was very annoyed but I don't think she cared. I was going to hear what she had to say whether I liked it or not.

This America is polluting our children, I am telling you ohhh!!, my mom began again. I sighed loudly. In fact, I sighed very loudly because I wanted my mom to hear me. If she did, she did not make any indication that she had heard my sigh. Dzifa is not independent, my mother continued. She needs a husband. What does the Bible say? my mother asked my auntie. It is not good for a man to be alone!, my auntie proclaimed loudly. Eh-heh, that is it!, my mother replied while rubbing one hand against the other to signal that the matter was finished. I glanced nervously at the unattended steering wheel but my mom quickly put her hands back on the wheel as though she instinctively remembered the previous incident.

Well, the Bible says it is not good for a man to be alone. It does not say anything about a woman! I smiled at my ingenuity. My mother gave me a look as if she could hear my thoughts. I looked up to the car ceiling which seemed to have become heaven for all of this afternoon.

I'm sorry Lord. I'm not trying to be sacrilegious. Please forgive me but I just have to get out of this car!! I saw the shopping mall outside the car window. Thank you, thank you Lord I said to myself. As we pulled into the parking lot I saw Dzifa's familiar red-colored Honda Accord behind us. Dzifa is behind us, I said to my mom and auntie. I realized my mistake after it was too late. How is that?, my auntie Tina cried. We left 10 minutes before her and she is here already! She was speeding my sista, I am telling you! I quickly jumped out of the car before my mom had a chance to shut off the engine. I ran to Dzifa who had just stepped out of her car. What's wrong? Dzifa asked with a concerned look on her face. Why did you leave me alone with them? I whispered in her ear.

Dzifa's dark eyes had a mischievous glint in them.You weren't running late! I declared. Unfortunately I spoke a bit too loud. My mom and auntie gave us suspicious looks. Shhh!! Dzifa whispered. Do you think I wanted to ride 30 minutes in the car to hear about how I have to get married and how I can't clean the oven? she asked me rather pointedly. Dzifa and I smiled at each other. I put my arm through hers and we walked towards the shopping mall.

Dzifa, E fouar? my mother asked her. ?Oh auntie, me de kuku ee, Dzifa replied. I hurried Dzifa quickly towards the mall entrance. Mom, auntie, we will meet you back here in two hours time. Is that okay? I asked. It's okay, my auntie replied. Thank you auntie,Akpe!. I sang out loudly. When we were out of their hearing I turned to Dzifa and asked in my best Ghanaian accent, Sista, what is wrong with our parents these days? She smiled at me. O sista, ?Nye me nya o!, she responded with a mock expression of pain and dismay. Me nyao? I replied. O AFETOR YESU!? Dzifa and I both replied. We broke out laughing as we walked into the shopping center.

Life is said by many not to be fair. This statement is backed by their claims that humans were not created equal. Some are born tall others short. Some are born into rich families others into non existent families. Some are also born with all the physical structures of the human body whilst others are born physically challenged. In whatever form man is born, he owes it a duty to himself to set goals, dream and work at getting his goals and achieving his dreams. The tall have dreams and the short do. So does the disabled in society set for themselves goals too. One wonders what runs through the minds of those affected by disabilities if their dreams do not get fulfilled.

As Marian Wright Edelman rightly said; “We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make”. Most people think a small help to a disabled person is not worth it. The time has now come for governments, NGOs, philanthropists as well as society to ensure that the dreams and aspirations of the physically challenged do not end on the streets.

A trip round many cities in Ghana mirrors the fate of the disabled. These unfortunate people who need the care and attention of their families as well as society are rather ignored and allowed to dwell on the streets at the mercy of the weather and all the uncomplimentary elements on the streets. The most unfortunate thing is that most of these people were not born handicapped. Some had for several years trodden on their legs. Disabilities in many people were caused by different things. Some were born handicap, others got infected with poliomyelitis, some were involved in almost fatal accidents, and others became disabled as a result of failed abortion attempts by their mothers. Whatever the source, one thing that is a fact is these people have certain parts of their body’s not functioning “naturally”. The very big question however is; is physical impairment an end to its victim?

One very sad thing about the disabled is that most of them at one point in time did actually “enjoy the full services” of their bodies. A visually impaired man I once chanced upon puts it this way; “Circumstances made me what I am”. It therefore frustrates them when people think of them as “unnatural”. Many physically challenged people in society receive stares and sympathetic looks from the people they come into contact with. They are given different places to sit, different places to live when actually they can sit and live among the rest of society. This attitude makes the physically impaired feel hopeless. Society seems less concerned about the disabled. One very common practice in my society is to find a disabled person struggling to move his wheelchair onto a raised portion of the road and not being able to do so whilst the so called able people walk by unconcerned. Even when people offer to help the disabled they do so creating the impression that this is someone who cannot do anything for himself. So which ever way it might be, society finds a way to humiliate the disabled person. When they offer to help they humiliate and when they ignore they do humiliate as well.

The time has now come for society to realize that except for circumstances, most of the disabled men and women around would have been working in the same offices as them or doing the same sports with them as team mates. If this is so then governments, NGOs and society have a responsibility of giving the physically challenged a “fair” deal. One might begin to wonder what role government and NGOs have to play in giving the physically impaired a “fair deal”. The government and NGOs do have a very important and vital role to play in making the lives of the disabled complete.

Governments must make sure to include the disabled in decision making positions. I hope for a day when a physically challenged person will be made a minister or special advisor to the president (At least in Ghana). This way they will make sure that or at least remind members of government to make their policies disability friendly. In Ghana, majority of the state owned as well as private buildings are not easily accessible to people with disabilities. Is it that the governments do not expect people with disabilities to go to the ministries or it is just an oversight? In Ghana’s parliament for instance, my mind cannot just recall any disabled in there. How then can they remember to make laws that are disability sensitive?

The government of Ghana has decided to import old buses from Europe to help in mass transportation. However, none of these buses makes provision for the disabled. Are they not part of the masses? Does disability take you out of those referred to as the masses? Ghanaians for instance refer to soccer as the nation’s passion but the stadia have not been built to accommodate all citizens with reference to the physically challenged. I therefore have a problem with the soccer accession since not all Ghanaians have the opportunity to watch football matches in our stadia. The government in order to create a balance between the physically challenged and the others in society must endeavor to formulate policies that favor the physically challenged. I also wait for the day when a minister will arrive at a press conference in a wheelchair to signify the bridging of the gap between the disabled and the able in society. Governments must insist on awarding government contracts to architects who have the know how about buildings that are disability friendly. The phenomenon of people losing their jobs and thus their means of livelihood simply because of an unfortunate incident of disability should also be reviewed by government. The NGOs also owe it a duty to make sure that the disabled receive a fair share of the poverty reduction packages that their able brothers receive in developing countries. They must also do well to protect the rights of the disabled in cases of human rights violations and also advocate for modern ICT equipments that embrace the ability of the disabled to belong to the global village we are in. This way the cause of the disabled would be well fought for as disability is one thing every man can go to bed and wake up with. When all these are done, the disabled then also realize that they unlike in Ynestra King’s article also have a role to play in society. This encourages them to focus and become productive.

To the rest of society, we must do well not to make derogatory remarks, give strange stares and do things that will make our unfortunate brothers feel as if they belong to different planets. Let’s accept to love (even marry them), care for and treat the disabled well. They are our brothers and sisters. The handicapped if well treated in society can make a difference no matter how small it is. I believe there is no small difference. A Swahili proverb says: “If you ever think we are too small to make a difference, try spending the night cooped up with a mosquito”. If a small insect like the mosquito can make a huge impact given the conditions necessary for it to live then a disabled too can given the necessary conditions.

There are a lot of Terry Fox’s (a teenager who went down with cancer of the legs and yet still made a difference in Canada), President Roosevelt’s (an American president who got paralyzed by polio at 39), Walt Disney’s (had a learning disability) and in Ghana our own Dr. Bashiru Koray’s (a blind lawyer) who have been left on the street to suffer and waste their talents. Society as a whole needs to wake up to the reality that the people with disabilities can make it too so that the dreams and goals of people living with disabilities do not end on the streets where these people beg for alms.

References:

I have observed with keen interest the activities of academia, industry and the government vis-a-vis the country's developmental growth and it saddens my heart so much.

Many well meaning Ghanaians may have divergent views on this subject. Who says what?

For some people, a perfect and a cordial relationship and atmosphere exist between these major stakeholders of the country's developmental growth. For others,antagonism is the order of the day. Comb most of our industries in this country and you will sympathize with the plight of 'fortunate' Ghanaian students on industrial attachment. The ordeal they would have to go through in order to secure accomodation, fend for themselves and the numerous dangers they are exposed to after a long and tiring semester work.

Worst of it all, the reception and treatment given to students, I am compelled to describe it as inhumane and un-called-for.This attitude renders industrial attachment unpleasant and unattractive eventhough it is a prerequisite prior to the completion of ones programme.Sometimes one feels you are an impediment to progress, so disdained, dejected,rejected and slowly but sure, frustration sets in and the "graduate unemployment syndrome" out there, keeps ringing in your ears every passing day.Is there any hopes at all? Dear reader, just take a pause and carefully consider the cost involved in running final year project work only after sacrificing your scanty and lean resources on such project work to be shelved. The question is, are they meant to adorn shelves?

It is sad but interesting to note that, some students because of the little or no seriousness attached to these project works, under this pretext, jump from one campus to the other in search of already worked project topics which when found are "dubbed" verbatim, upon a little bit of alteration, it is presented for marking and subsequently assessed based on it. What a nefarious canker eating us up. Must we continue to beg or remain paupers, frustrated for life because we are denied the opportunity to maximise or stir up our potentials?

Is it the fault of the lecturer, who has been swimming in one and the same topic all these years? or the industralist who probably out of gross mistrust and inconfidence posed on the Ghanaian technocrat, prefers to contract foreign consultants or researchers at an exorbitant price? or the government who in her bit to cut down on spending neglects budgetary allocation to research work because it is unproductive?

If the academia and industry would work closely with each other such that research relevant to industry are taken up by academia and supported by industry to execute which would go a long way to benefit industry and the nation as a whole.

the government could also formulate a policy to cover student project works and also work at implementing all viable student projects for the good of the country and beyond.

In conclusion, I would like to employ the government to also channel her strength to research work since it is the backbone of the country's developmental growth. Let us reconcile our differences, if any and work closely with each other for a better Ghana.