Treasures overlooked

Seated at a forum today, I listened attentively to a speech. And then it struck me that one too many times, I have heard Ghanaians from all walks of life (I have also made such statements) comment and lament on how we have x,y,z..(these variables might as well be constants as they always represent the same resources; Gold, Cocoa and Oil)...and how we are not managing these blessings well. And in that moment, this write-up came to mind and onto my paper. Treasures overlooked.

***
The gold, the cocoa and much recently oil
The praises of old reiterated and remixed
But these three alone do not make Ghana the natural resource laden nation
That we boast of and include in our speeches when we lament of how little we make of what we have
We forget the rivers, the food crops, the human resources
Which we the people actually hold
The shea tree, the corn, the baobab
That we ourselves can touch and transform
The time to make something big out of the 'little resources' is far spent
Before another country sees the blessings which we are blinded from
And turns the seemingly little into great
God has blessed our homeland Ghana
It is up to us to make her great and strong

***

Neina

Psychologically Complete

I'm no expert but...

 In my primary and JSS school, Alsyd Academy, we did course work meant for the following year in order to complete the syllabus before the exam, which at the time was one of the biggest things any of us had ever faced - our first external exam; the BECE! This lesson was in Religious and Moral Education and my energetic teacher, Mr Akoto, May God Bless him for his dedication to duty, had as usual covered the board with his perfect penmanship. In order to score high on Mr. Akoto’s exam, from my observation, you had to answer the exam questions as it was written in the notes. So I always learnt RME about 2 weeks before exams began. That is probably why I remember what I am about to talk about; I took my time to digest it such that even if I forgot the exact words, I’ll write it how I understood it best.

Source: www.blogger.com

Under the topic of prayer, we learnt about the importance of prayer. One point that I kept in mind because I pondered on its meaning and have come to realize its relevance is that Prayer Makes Man Psychologically Complete. Of all the things I learnt in school, this one resonates with me the most. Without prayer and casting our burdens on God, most of us would have lost out sanity. When a Muslim says If God Wills or If God Permits which is most popularly known by most people in its Arabic form-In Shaa Allah, we have cast all our worries of tomorrow and the unknown to Allah and put everything in His hands. If we were to ponder and wonder, we’ll just go round and round in circles like a lizard chasing its own tail. And for what? To seep deeper into our anguish? This is not different from when the Christian sings this hymn... “What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and grieve to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer” Islam and Christianity and many other religions encourage us to leave all our troubles to God.

Take note of the beautiful local names that remind you that we as Africans in our cultural spheres believe in leaving everything to God. (I got these names from friends! Thanks for the help!)

Chenti Wuni – Leave it to God (in Dagbani)

Maltiti - Solve it for us (in Dagbani)

Oluwatishe - God has done it (in Yoruba)

Tonilola – God Has Taken Care of Today and Tomorrow (in Yoruba)

Oye/Nyameye – It is alright/ God is good (in Twi)

Esinam- He has listened to me (in Ewe)

Selase- God has answered my prayer (in Ewe)

Hunsuyaka –God’s Gift (in Busanga)

Nyonnmowoko-God is not asleep (in Ga)

Nyonnmo Egbele nwen ehami-God has opened the heavens for me (in Ga)

Nyonnmo Ekplekesshi k3ba heremi-God has left his seat in heaven to come and deliver me from the hands of my enemy(in Ga)...

The list in endless!

It is said that you should pray hardest when it is hardest for you to pray. At that moment when your mind is clouded with the hundred and one things that would In Shaa Allah become irrelevant in the near future, go down on your knees or prostrate in sujood and cast all your burdens to God. He is always ready to lift the weight off your shoulders and leave you psychologically complete and at peace.

Neina

The Little School Girl

What do you make of this?

Source: www.infoghana.info

Today, they came to my school as well

I had already told Kwame that I too would get mine

I remember how Mama and Papa were excited to see Kwame in his new uniform

I remember saying “But it is too big!”

And Mama replied “That’s good, he can use it until he completes primary”

Now, I am a proud owner of my very own Kokonte and Ab3nkwan uniform

The short-sleeves reach my wrists

And my pinafore sweeps the floor when I walk past

But it is mine.

“...for what we have received, we are truly grateful. Amen.”

Now, I don’t have to leave school hungry

There is food in school

And we can eat to our fill

But by the time I get home, though

All the food is gone

I don’t feel the weight of the food in my belly anymore

And the bottom of my pinafore is twice as dirty as

It was before I set off in the morning

I’m exhausted but I have to do my homework and the dishes before dark

Because we don’t have electricity in my village

And I have to wake up early, do my chores and get to school before classes begin

I am scared that I would become like Sister Akos

Mama says she’s just lazy

Sister Akos said she won’t go to school again

Because we have to walk to the next village to attend primary school

She was fine with that

But when she completed primary,

She had to walk to the next two villages to attend JSS

That, she refused to do

I’m scared because I’m in Primary 5

Two more years I’ll have to walk more than twice the distance I do now

In the heat and with all that dust and with less friends than I walk with now

With my pinafore sweeping the dusty road that leads to my village.

Neina.

Opportunity Messages

So for the past few days, I’ve been getting prompts about making use of opportunities that come my way. Also, my silent wishes are coming true! The opportunity messages are coming in different ways; WhatsApp messages, Skype, emails, lyrics of a song, facebook statuses and a message from the President of my University when he spoke to my class! These messages are coming either directly or indirectly (pointing me in particular directions). They are saying "go out there, Neina and do your thing. Don’t slack!"  Or maybe I am just “seeing” these messages even when they aren’t there. I’ll probably look up into the sky and see the clouds shaped into something that suggests that...do you ever see those clouds? I remember when I was younger, I once saw Santa Claus in his sleigh with Rudolph and his nose ( though it was not red J)

Okay....rewind! Back to opportunity. So...I’m “seeing” all these messages and I get the feeling God is trying to prepare me for that opportunity that is coming. I can’t miss it! So I’ve initiated a couple of things I have kept on –hold for a while now. First is my blog....and a couple of other things that will pop out of my magic hat when I’ve perfected that trick.

Today, I got a call from my aunt who I had hoped would be visiting me this long holiday in school. She says she’s coming tomorrow! I can’t wait! And this reminds me that I’m in God’s Heart. As I am still smiling with that thought in mind, my phone vibrates. It’s a message from Vodafone! And it reads...

Easter Sunday is your lucky day!!! You have received a special HELP from Vodafone to win 1 Hyundai Santa Fe (GHC 75,000)! Send Easter to 4141 to win BIG!

So I’m thinking. This might be it, you know? I don’t usually look at these messages twice. I just delete it. But I get the feeling...so I follow the instructions. And wait. In no time, my phone vibrates. I take a peek and it reads...”You don’t have enough credit to send this message.” I smile and think. I don’t? Lol! Guess I won a good laugh, no? I’m still waiting God, as patient as ever!

Neina

Survival- a poem dedicated to Kayayei

I am currently writing my thesis on the viability of setting-up an agency for Kayayei (female head porters) I wrote this poem  a few days ago as I was transcribing the  interviews and focus group discussions I used for my data collection. Take a look!

Survival

You laugh, point at me and insult me down to the last article I have

You walk further and faster as the load gets heavier and I pant harder

I feel the weight of your wares travel through my spine

And re-awaken my pains of the previous days

I shudder when I see the looks on the faces of the men

When they strip me naked as I walked through the market

And watch me with spite

But I know I can’t go back

Baba and my many mothers await my return with the good things of the city

My yet to be decided suitor also awaits

I need to break my spine over and over again to purchase the few utensils

That would decorate my room after my marriage

Each passing day, I earn less and less

And spend more and more for a place to rest my aching body, to feed and wash down

For yet another spinning day in the heat or with the lashing of the cold whips of the rain

Of the days when I know you value your wealth on my head than the entirety of my being.

Neina.

Blog Camp 2013 Baby

My big sister Jemila and I. She's held my hand right from the beginning

Welcome!

Neina’s Memoirs is about anything and everything that drifts into my thoughts. In case, you are wondering, Neina is my middle name which is in Dagbani-a northern Ghanaian dialect. The closest meaning I can give to is ‘it has brightened or something has brightened.’

After years of gentle nudges from my ever-loving sister, Jemila Abdulai of www.circumspecte.com, I have finally started to take baby steps into my blogging journey. My mom tells me I begun to walk at my first birthday party after I saw all the other toddlers walking! By the end of the day, I was a pro...and I haven’t stopped walking since. Alhamdulillah! That is probably what gets me ticking and growing-seeing what others do motivates me. This is the inspiration for Neina’s Memoirs. This is a Blog Camp 2013 baby. After interacting with all those great bloggers from Ghana on the 23^rd of March, 2013 at the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT and hear them speak with so much enthusiasm about what they do, I could only gather up the courage to get up from my crawling position to start my baby steps without my walker.  So join me on my journey as I begin this exploration. Please don’t hesitate to remind me that it is one foot after the other or to catch me when I stumble. I’ll be more than grateful when you encourage me to stand up after I have bumped my knee because we all need prompts once in a while. I’ll love it if you put a sweet in the distance and encourage me to walk to it. :-) Let’s make this blog as it interactive as possible.

Neina.