The Blog of Yaw Adu-Gyamfi

It’s been almost six months since I came to the United States for a year’s Fellowship with Atlas Corps. During this period, I have had the chance to meet up with lots of people and learn as well as share my experiences, be they personal or professional. I have been working since March this year, commuting from Alexandria in Virginia to my host organization in Washington, DC. It has not been all rosy, as I sometimes feel exhausted on my return to the apartment and the thought of returning to work in a few hours can sometimes freak you out. There have been memorable moments as well.  My supervisor has been great in making sure that I am comfortable at work. Concert tickets to see Latin America’s finest, Juanes perform in DC and a baseball game sitting in a comfortable suite has been some of the crowning moments.

July 9-17- I felt a break will help me reflect on my time here and also rekindle my energy for the months ahead leading to the completion of my fellowship. A visit to Texas will be worthwhile, I thought to myself. Warm, not as humid as Washington and a chance to see some family members, Texas was an ideal get-away.  When I arrived in Texas finally on the 9^th July, all I had in mind was to manage my expectations and just roll with the times as they say.

On the 14th floor Luminant power plant in Rockdale

After a series of social events within the Ghanaian community and sight- seeing around town, I accompanied my Uncle to Rockdale from where he works with Luminant Power, as Electrical Engineer.  The countryside was the ideal place for me to read Dambisa Moyo’s two books on Dead Aid and Why The West Was Lost, best-selling books that have won the Zambian economist world acclaim, catapulting her into the list of the 100 most influential people in the world during 2009. The books delved into critical analysis of the financial economic and political issues confronting the west and Africa. In Dead Aid, Dambisa challenged assumptions and arguments that support a profoundly misguided development policy in Africa. Reading the book presented me with a fresh debate on the issue of aid as a development tool in Africa. But more importantly, it is a clarion call to address the desperate poverty that plagues millions, borrowing the words of the author.

However, the visit to Luminant’s Power Plant in Rockdale, 3.5 hours from Dallas was breathtaking. Aside the intense heat near the plant. I was fascinated at how, coal is mined close to the plant site and transported to be grounded smoothly and used for the process of generating power. Coolants kept the plant under controlled temperature while transformers will store the power for distribution.  As I climbed to the 14^th floor of the plant, I felt anxious looking down and seeing the man-made lake and the huge infrastructure- was I afraid of heights? I kept asking myself but braced up to take a picture to share.

Man-made lake just beside power plant

Texas would not have been worthwhile without visiting Austin and interacting with the people who I must say feel more Texan than American. Here, I saw and interacted with people who were proud at least in the positive sense of their lifestyle and State to the extent that they hardly mentioned United States when intruding their cities. It was always, Austin-Texas, Dallas-Texas, Houston-Texas, and Rockdale –Texas.

But, if there is anything I took from this trip, it is the fact that it taught me to listen more to myself and others. I got the opportunity to spend quiet times in peaceful Rockdale-Texas, reading and listening in to community radio shows about the daily struggles of people and how giving a listening ear could change a life.

My next blog will delve into how we can listen more and share experiences to change a life.

Three Cups of Tea tells a story of Greg Mortenson, whom after a failed attempt at climbing to the summit of K2 Mountain in Pakistan in 1993, drifts cold and dehydrated into an impoverished village in the Karakoram Mountains where he is shown kindness by inhabitants. Hence, he made a promise to return and build them a school The story further narrates how over the next decade Mortenson built not just one but fifty-five schools in remote villages across the forbidding and breathtaking landscape of Pakistan and Afghanistan, just as the Taliban rose to power.

While at the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, news of the infamous bombing of the twin towers of the World Trade Center was relayed to Mortenson by his body guard Baig. The guard had overheard a colleague report on hearing the news from a radio station broadcasting on shortwave along the border with Afghanistan. So Baig with a somber face approached Mortenson to inform him that a village called New York in his native United States has been bombed. Apparently, Baig had no idea of how New York is and had mistaken the Megapolis for any of the villages in Northern Pakistan.

Coincidentally, I was reading the book on my three night’s trip (27-30 May 2011) to New York. My trip to New York was planned a month before, booking a bus ticket online to avoid rush and also informing colleague Atlas Corps Fellows whom I had planned meeting. In a discussion earlier with a friend from Ghana, he researched and found out about three local restaurants we could hang out to have a taste of dishes from our home country. On Friday after working half day, I had rushed to K Street on Capitol South to board a Megabus bound for New York but was disappointed when I had to wait for almost two hours to board my bus. But, while in New York, I got over the disappointment to visit notable places such as Times Square, Staten Island and the Brooklyn Bridge with Mortenson’s body guard Baig’s information to Mortenson about ‘A Village Called New York’ being bombed in mind, forcing a wry smile anytime I thought of the statement. In the most unlikeliest of places, I found myself at a Mexican restaurant near Times Square, eating Chipotle with three Ethiopian ladies and their mum who had come on a visit from Addis Ababa and chatting about how to get the youth in Africa especially in Ethiopia interested in the politics and development of their country and the continent. In the center of the village called New York, I was surprised as to how passionate these ladies were about development issues back home and spent time educating me on the politics in Ethiopia and how corruption as entrenched as it has become is contributing to poverty and breaking down the social fabric in their country. Listening to these Ethiopian ladies, I kept asking myself several questions as to how to get Africa’s youth actively engaged in the discussions and plans concerning the future of the continent.

With increasing population of youth across the continent, skills development opportunities to harness their restless energies seems to be the right investment that can be done by most governments. But the opposite is the case leaving most of these youth unconcerned about the future of their countries leaving key decisions about their future to be taken by an elite cadre of old folks who mostly have no idea as to what it takes to tap into the ingenuity of their youthful populations.

However, there is hope in the mist of this apparent gloom as a cheetah generation, daring as ever and prepared to dream big and work hard neither looking up to government or waiting for government sponsored projects to reach them but strive on with partnerships and collaborations to address critical developmental challenges. The Cheetah Generation is a phrase coined by George Ayittey in his book, “Africa Unchained”. It refers to a generation that is self reliant, competent and innovative in all spheres of life. They are innovators and create opportunities for themselves. They are risk takers unlike their predecessors or counterparts – the Hippo generation.

The Hippo generation comprises the ruling elites who are always complaining of colonialism and imperialism. When asked to reform the economy, they do not make any such moves, because they benefit from the rotten status quo. The Cheetah Generation, however, utilizes available resources at their disposal to the maximum. Being a Cheetah entails taking risks to ensure historic breakthroughs. The actions of the Cheetah Generation bring forth reform in different countries. The youth are engaged and occupied in various activities, creating avenues for self-employment. This caliber of individuals is what the world needs to continuously improve standards of living for all demographics.

One major resource that aids the growth of a cheetah generation is easy access to the Internet. This opens up gateways for communication (information sharing), education (learning new things) and other developments, since the basis of development is proper communication flow within parties. Even in the absence of resources, the Cheetah remains innovative; adapting and creating his or her resources to assisting him or her in realizing his or her dreams. The Cheetah is not afraid to be different. The Cheetah pursues knowledge and excellence at all costs. It is no wonder that the Cheetah generation today is shaping the future of the African continent for the better.

Reference:

Ayittey, George- Africa Unchained

www.consortiumforprogress.com

Little did I know that a course in Catholic Social Teaching while doing my undergraduate studies at the Catholic University of Ghana would come into mainstream work in the United States. On a years’ Professional Fellowship with Atlas Corps hosted by CentroNia, I work on Strategic Communication through web content development and the use of new/social media to promote the organization. Catholic social teaching is premised on social justice that stresses on life and dignity of the human person and preferential option for the poor and vulnerable as portrayed by St Thomas Acquinas. Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. A research in Islam shares a similar view in that Islamic teachings stresses on the guidance towards social justice as intended to promote and maintain social order, harmony, balance, and general welfare. But to realize the above education is seen as paramount to empowering people to fully attain their potential.

“Everyone has the right to education …Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality.” Article 26, Universal Declaration on Human Rights

So how does the CentroNia model of education contribute to social justice and the philosophy beyond education as a social right? CentroNia was founded 25 years ago this year at a basement of a church at Columbia Heights, Washington DC by Beatrix Otero, affectionately called ‘BB’. She had a dream of providing holistic education for children and the youth from poor and middle-income families of multicultural background while advocating for improved infrastructure, access to basic needs for families, balanced immigration policies among others. With quality and balanced education increasingly becoming expensive and inaccessible by vulnerable groups in the District of Columbia metropolitan area, the organization’s model of providing inexpensive education in early head start for children where they learn in both Spanish and English, youth learning music, arts, new media, topics on social justice and activities to improve their critical and creative thinking has been a welcome relief. At an early age, children are fed with nutritious but healthy meals so they can demand same at home, reducing incidence of ill health, and an increase in medical bills. Parents also have the opportunity to be trained as certified caregivers thereby diversifying income sources. Additionally, a Family literacy program encourages parents to read with their children, helping with continuous education even at home while promoting mentorship of kids by university students through English and Math tutoring. As a community based organization, CentroNia continuously engages in advocacy on balanced policy on education, immigration, and work, making such information available to community members to enhance their chances at moving up the social ladder while courting increased government and private sector funding for programs. In furtherance of an avowed objective to provide quality education, the organization also manages the DC Bilingual Public Charter School (DCBPCS), using the same model of educating children, youth, and families in a multicultural community in partnership with the local government.

Hence, as a means of social justice, CentroNia empowers community members through education and healthy lifestyle helping to reduce incidence of poverty and drumming home the point that with the right support people of all backgrounds can become who they want to be and contribute their quota to the development of their families and communities. As Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates-using education as a means to develop human personality, CentroNia uses an integrated educational model to address socio-economic challenges confronted by residents in the Washington DC and Maryland areas. Social bonding is also entrenched through a shared identity when advocating for access to amenities that will eventually be accessible to all in the community. In recognition of the organization’s successes and hard work, the founder has been appointed as Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services for Washington DC, giving her a larger platform to share the CentroNia model of education.

As the organization marks 25 years this year, I see my work in strategic communications as an avenue to contribute meaningfully in sharing information on CentroNia’s activities  and programs with others across the United States and the world-an opportunity I relish.