Letter to the one who cares

“Ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country” -John F. Kennedy (35th President of the United States)

Dear Friend,



My national service posting to a rural community school in the Volta Region of Ghana came as a pleasant surprise. Yes, a pleasant surprise. I have heard many tell their story about their daily experiences working in new, usually unfavourable conditions such as lack of electricity, lack of potable water, long distances between school and residence and so on. Permit me to salute all those who have served in deprived communities and those who have accepted postings to such areas. Let us all help our country by touching the lives of the marginalized and underprivileged people we are tasked to serve.



The first few days of teaching in the rural community school revealed compelling pictures of realities on the ground, many of which are in a sharp contrast to what we usually hear politicians claim they have done for their constituents. Permit me to mention a few.

The community has “white elephant” boreholes standing decoratively at vantage points. What the inhabitants rely on for everyday cooking and washing are the rains and nearby streams. Water from the stream is unwholesome for cooking and drinking unless heavily treated. Sachet water or what we usually refer to as “pure water” is a reserve of those who can afford.

Some students walk several kilometers from their homes to school. Some depend solely on the availability of canoes belonging to their parents to cross the river Volta to come to school. So whenever their parents are gone for fishing before morning, then that day is a holiday.

Many of the school children carry their own furniture from their homes to school because the school lacks furniture. It is disheartening to see pupils as young as three and four year olds walking several hundreds of meters and suffering under the heavy wooden stools and tables every day.



The school feeding programme is absent in the school and nearby schools as well. According to the teachers handling the kindergarten (KG) school, many of the children (3 to 6 year olds) in KG complain of stomach aches during classes. The teachers found out that many of the children come to school on empty stomach. Some of the children have to wait till 12 noon and sometimes later before they take their first meal for the day. According to the teachers, the parents concentrate on their fishing and farming activities more than they do on their children.



The introduction of the school feeding programme in some of the piloted school in the cities for example shot up school enrollment because the “free food” motivated many children to attend school. But the same cannot be told of schools that are in poor communities that need free feeding and free, compulsory and quality education most.



As a child rights advocate myself, I was aware of the differences in the abilities of children in understanding lessons taught especially when some of them have special needs. In one of the classes, a special (autistic) child has been learning together with the other children we may consider “normal” for the past four years but there has been no intellectual improvement. She does not receive any special attention that responds positively to her needs. For example, pictures, colours and images communicate effectively with autistic children than letters, words or figures. All she writes are things that look like this: 1616161616336661111661616161- whether it is mathematics, English, science or any other subject. It is not only fair to give special attention to children with any form of disability but a legally enshrined right. In the Children’s Act of Ghana, children with special needs have a right to special care, education and training wherever possible to develop his maximum potential and be self-reliant. (Section 10, Children’s Act 560)



As the new Information Communication Technology teacher in the school, I knew how effective or ineffective teaching the subject without a computer can be. I made a little survey. More than half of the class I was handling had not touched a computer before. This indicates how wide the digital divide is between these pupils and their counterparts in Accra and the other big cities and towns. I flipped open my laptop computer and alas! all the pupils started craving to catch a glimpse of this “newbie” in town. They were indeed excited to type their names themselves on the computer. I felt fulfilled!



I would not be surprised if other national service personnel sent to similar places tell the same stories or even much more compelling ones. This shows where we are as a country and how seriously we take development in every sense of the word. This shows that we have not taken universal primary education especially in rural areas seriously. This shows that Ghana has been reduced to the Accras, Kumasis and Cape Coasts. This tells us how much effort we have to put into attaining the millennium development goal on education.



As you read my letter my dear friend, take a moment to reflect on what you can do to move Ghana a step further into the world of development. Remember that your decisions and actions you take as a politician, a reverend minister, a doctor, a teacher, a journalist or any other professional may touch a life. So maybe your next annual harvest in your church can be fully dedicated to assisting communities that need quality education and good health rather than buying air conditioners to keep the temples cool. Or perhaps, you the politician can vote on significantly cutting down the cost on emoluments to channel more resources into where it is needed most rather than voting on car loans for members of parliament. And as for you the journalist, you can boldly ignore and gate-keep the insults that are exchanged in the media everyday by people we may consider as our leaders and concentrate on providing information that positively makes an impact in the lives of the poor because sometimes poverty is simply lack of information.



Let us remember that the last five years left for us to make strides in uplifting the dignity of humanity is drawing ever close. And as young people, we cannot afford to allow our leaders fail in eradicating extreme hunger and poverty, reducing infant and maternal mortality, delivering quality education and providing the right environment to assist development initiatives.



Yours Sincerely

Joseph Quaye Amoo

A Young Journalist