Month: March 2020

R is for Reality

I am sitting at the kitchen table. I am gazing outside but I am actually far-away. I am listening to the song “Hello God” by Dolly Parton playing in the background. I realize I have been away from the land of my birth for so long. The things we take for granted. The little things of life.
I miss my brother. I miss sitting with him and chatting about nothing and everything. What would we have said about the CV.
Then I miss my other brother.
Then I miss my sister.
Then it dawned on me that though I live here with my wife and children, the daily tribulations of life had caused a rift so minor that we never saw the shift.
I paused my writing so I could fry eggs (sunny side up) for my youngest. We had fun doing this. I am about to step out for a walk with my children. No pressure.
Then again, I would give anything now to have all the family sit and chat. Tumble over each other and thank God for the gift of life.
Real time.
I miss my childhood friends and though we have not spoken, I pray they are all safe.
Majority of friends and family are celebrating birthdays and it is all solemn for once. No large gatherings. It is more about solitude and reflections. Meditation may follow.
I have moved away from the kitchen window. I am now at the bedroom window with my back to the world.
I am not in quarantine. I am at home. I am with my family. For now, we are safe.
Next will be my “Letter to God”

#SIGHlentNoises ~knm

“If we wont budge, nature or the elements would nudge us” – knm

We are now quarantined to our homes. We have all the time on our hands to think, to reflect, to pause, to re-evaluate ourselves.

Most of us are too busy and have taken it in stride to be so. It is not so. If you have children, this is a good time to get to know them. Most of us do not know our children. Knowing your child is having them not just talk to you but confide in you. They should be able to express their intimate fears and joys to you. It is not enough knowing what they wish to become in future.

Now us. This is the time to know that person running around. That person has been so busy they have not had the time to reintroduce themselves to you since they got so much responsibility. What are you eating? What are you doing for self-care? When was the last time you took a vacation just to rest? When was the last time you simply took a re-evaluation exercise on yourself?

As we stay safe practising preventive measures and being ready if it comes to our doorstep, let use this opportunity to be mindful. Let us think about our thoughts, our words and our actions in the past, in the present and in the future. Let us think about the impact they will have on generations to come.


Stay safe

#SIGHlentNoises ~knm

In a chat with a friend, a Ghanaian American, an accomplished pilot, he mentioned sadly that Ghana’s educational system is based fundamentally on the ideology of (me) as against a growth mindset of (us).

There is no (I) in the word Team.

Ghana’s fundamental educational framework is structured on grading students as per the number in a class. So if a class has fifty students, the grading system will identify the topmost student and the student who has not pulled his weight. This becomes he/she is first and that person is last. Do we have any idea how denigrating that is? We ask children not to call anyone a loser but it is okay for the blueprint to direct so from day one. That means from the very onset, educators encourage competitiveness which does not augur well for national growth. When people grow and refuse to share knowledge about how they made it or broke through the glass ceiling, we tend to call them all sorts of names. A careful examination of us and school practices will reveal this practice as true. There is the need to expunge such grading systems from our educational blueprint.
Old habits die hard. Old habits can hardly be changed but yes something can be done.

A careful yet radical overhaul of Ghana’s educational policies and systems should do it. This is not about amendments or political parties. This is not about stroking egos. This is not about the pomposity of schools attended. This is about the know-how and efficient use of brains in drawing up a new blueprint that would effectively change the current trajectory of mindsets to a more collective platform where teamwork is a must and a given.
The so called developed countries thrive on teamwork and encourage bringing each other up.

Of what use is a national cathedral when children still study under trees and use stones as makeshift computer mice? Of what use is a national cathedral if we cannot use our God given medulla oblongata to structure our systems for progress? While other nations are going beyond the moon and Mars, we are thinking of building National Shrine to augment a yet to be built National Cathedral whose site is costing millions in demolishing and re-locating of existing structures. Why? Our very education system has crafted us to always think of being the first that we have lost sight of the fact that collectively we can do more than individually. Our educational system encourages us never to research but rather hang on tooth and nail to whatever we are spoon fed with the lecturer. We study by rote and whoever has a good memory comes out top of the class. There is no room for questions. We are encouraged to never question authority and let just things stay as it is. Yes it is deemed a taboo to question our elders and for that matter our teachers. We even have proverbs to that effect, especially that of the broom.
So yes, it is laid out. Now who will bell the cat? Or shall we continue to wallow in wanton shallow pride?

#SIGHlentNoises~knm