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Of rat catcher, ambitions
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It was the day for the interview. Boys as small as 11 and as old as 22 and numbering about 120 were scheduled to individually face a panel of three to justify their inclusion in the first year list of students of the secondary school that was their first choice.
The Common Entrance Exam (CEE) marks would be added to marks obtained at the interview, out of which a borderline would be drawn to make way for 80 new students. The rest could go to hell or become cocoyam farmers if they chose.
Incidentally, that was the year the school authorities decided not to enrol ‘grandfathers’. Hitherto, bearded men were admitted into form one primarily because the school needed physically powerful students to represent it during sporting activities.
Apparently, most of such muscled, macho candidates had stayed all their lives in the villages chasing rats and racing with grass cutters that didn’t want to end up in the soup pot. The skills of such candidates were thus harnessed to win hundred-metre races at inter-school athletics, meetings. Some could also run 800 metres like the antelope.
Some of these over-aged students loved school and had ambitions. They started school at the age of about 12. By the time they got to Form 4, they’d hit 22. They sat for the CEE, passed and got enrolled into secondary schools where they featured prominently in athletics because of their rat-catching skills and styles.
Normally they were not good footballers because they were notorious for scoring ‘own goals’. Neither were they good table-tennis players because they held the bats as if they were going to weed a cassava farm. But in the school-choir, they were fantastic as bass singers. In fact they sang double-bass and the school buildings shook with the resonance.
It was often the tradition that the biggest ‘man’ in the school was made the dining hall prefect in his final year. By that time, he should look like a Rwandan militiaman, and should eat like an idiot. However, they kept the discipline because of occasional slaps they dished out to recalcitrant juniors.
It also became registered that because the older boys developed uncontrolled appetite and passion for double-plates, they instigated the students to riot whenever there were lapses in proper nutritional management.
The big students, were, therefore, useful in certain ways but problematic in others because they were also bullies.
That year, the authorities decided that the tall middle-weight candidates wouldn’t be admitted, but they came for the interview all the same thinking that they would even be given preferences because they could compete with grasscutters in any free race.
The biggest and tallest entrant that year was a Togolese. While the lad was schooling at the primary level in Togo, his father was in Ghana. Having completed, he joined his Dad and attended middle school in Sikaman and studied Anglais. Luckily he passed the entrance exam although his English was quite damaging to the human ear.
Before the interview session, the headmaster came round to look at the candidates present. The Togolese copper arrived a bit late and when he landed, many mistook him for a pantryman. He grinned contentedly and was quite magnificent with his shirt tucked into a tight pair of shorts. His muscles bulged
When the headmaster saw him, he was awed. This was a classic example of men they didn’t want to admit into the school; a perfect specimen of the undesirables. The boy, sorry man, was almost 25, barefoot, completely shaven with close-cropped hair like a convict, hard face with a noble ambition to become either a lawyer or doctor.
His colleagues curiously studied him and agreed that he’d be a good sprinter for the school although they also admitted his appetite for food will be a problem to humanity.
The headmaster called him to have a chat.
“What’s your name?”
“Kormi,” he replied and grinned sheepishly.
“That’s the only name you have?”
“No. Kormi Drakey”, he said crudely.
“You’re a big boy”, the headmaster observed.
“Why have you applied to this school?”
“I can do sports well”, Drakey declared. “That’s why I apply”.
The implication was that he applied to help the school through its sporting problems and that his enrolment should be a matter of course, an issue of undisputed priority.
“You can run well?” the headmaster asked.
“Yes. Look at my thighs; couldn’t you see it? I be zonal champion. 100 metres, 200 and long jump. Nobody fit me.”
The headmaster was doubly impressed with the curriculum vitae. The boy was not a giant, he was indeed going to show his class.
“Okay”, said the headmaster. “Run round the park and let’s see your stamina.”
Drakey immediately took off like an Olympic champion as the headmaster called out the name of the first candidate on the list to begin the interviews.
Drakey circled the large park 13 times, and when he became very tired, he stopped and headed for the master’s office where the interview was taking place. He was sweating and bedraggled. The other candidates laughed because the Togolese machoman’s destiny was becoming quite tragic.
He opened the door and when the headmaster saw him, he was amused. He has forgotten all about the six foot candidate was becoming quite tragic. “Is that all you can run?” he asked.
This, certainly, was an irritating question.
“Didn’t you see me?” Drakey ejaculated. “I ran be a hare 13 good rounds. No be joke at all-o”.
Okay go and wait for your turn. It turned out that Drakey was indeed not given an admission letter after the ordeal, whereupon he became furious and insulted the headmaster.
“If you know you won’t took me why should you take me run like that? You don’t have sense? Is that how to treat a woman being? Your mother!”
Of course that wasn’t the right way to treat a human being much more a “woman being.” The case would have been referred to the then Ombudsman.
I was reminded of this incident when Samuel Adade was sacked from school because he was married, apart from the fact that he was grossly over-aged. The guy wanted to be somebody in life and saw education as the way out. Why should he be denied the opportunity?
His wife is dead and they still do not want him back in the school. This is clearly unjust. Sikaman Palava submits that a man’s education cannot be stifled because of age and marital status at this time when we are even encouraging the idea of functional literacy for our fathers and grandmothers. If 60 year olds are being encouraged to learn, why should a 22-year old be denied the opportunity just because he is married?
In some overseas countries, even 90 year olds are pursuing degree courses although they know they’d die the next minute.
If Master Adade cannot be enrolled because of his “old” age of 22, then functional literacy is no longer anything to encourage. Don’t you get my point?
This article was first written on Saturday, September 17, 1994
Features
Confronting newborn abandonment in Ghana: When a cry for help is heard in a dustbin – Part 2
The root causes: It is never just one reason
My years of counselling at CPAC show me abandonment is rarely an act of malice. It is the tragic endpoint of seven overwhelming distresses:
1. Severe maternal mental illness —The hidden emergency
a) Clinical Postpartum Depression (PPD): This is far beyond “baby blues.” It is a severe mood disorder that can appear weeks to months after birth. Due to a massive drop in hormones, extreme sleep deprivation, and emotional exhaustion, the mother feels deep sadness, worthlessness, and complete emotional numbness towards her baby. Picture: A new mother sits by her bed all day, staring blankly. Her baby cries for hours, but she cannot lift her hands to carry the baby. She whispers, “This baby would be better off without me.” She does not hate the baby; she feels she has completely failed as a mother.
b) Peripartum Psychosis (Postpartum Psychosis): This is a psychiatric emergency. Rare but extremely dangerous, appearing suddenly within the first 2-3 weeks after delivery. The mother completely loses touch with reality. She hears commanding voices telling her to abandon the baby, or believes the baby is possessed by an evil spirit or is a “spirit child” who will bring a curse. Picture: A mother genuinely believes she heard a voice saying, “Leave this child at the crossroads at midnight or your family will die.” She abandons the baby not out of hatred, but because her broken mind believes she is obeying a higher spiritual order to save her family.
c) Pre-existing untreated Schizophrenia: This is a chronic, severe mental disorder that existed before the pregnancy. The stress of pregnancy and labour shatters her fragile coping. She suffers from paranoid delusions — believing people want to poison her and the baby — flat affect (zero facial expression), and grossly disorganised thinking, making it impossible to plan how to feed or clean a baby. Picture: A young woman whose family called her illness “spiritual attack” instead of taking her for medication wanders away after delivery, completely forgetting she even gave birth, leaving the infant behind.
2. Extreme socio-economic deprivation: For many girls in some parts of Ghana such as Kasoa, Madina, or Bekwai, poverty is not a statistic; it is a daily panic. No money for antenatal care, no money for hospital delivery, no money for baby diapers or formula. When a mother cannot feed herself, the thought of feeding another mouth feels impossible. Some mothers say, “I left her where someone richer would find her, because I could not watch her starve to death in my hands.” It is a distorted act of survival.
3. Intense societal stigma and shame: In Ghana, pregnancy outside marriage, teenage pregnancy, or pregnancy from rape can bring extreme family rejection. The girl is called “spoilt,” beaten, banned from church, or sacked from school. The fear of bringing shame to the family name is heavier than the fear of police. So she hides the pregnancy for 9 months, delivers alone, and abandons in secret to protect her family’s “honour.”
4. Paternal abandonment — The Man Who Ran Away: Behind almost every abandoned baby is a man who vanished. He says, “It is not mine,” or “Abort it,” and switches off his phone. The mother is left utterly isolated — no emotional, financial, or social support. She is criminalised alone, but the abandonment started with him. Psychological research shows paternal denial is one of the strongest predictors of maternal panic and newborn abandonment.
5. Substance abuse disorders: Alcohol, tramadol, and other drug addiction impair the brain’s executive functioning — the ability to plan, judge consequences, and process emotions. A mother struggling with addiction may give birth in a highly intoxicated or withdrawal state, unable to comprehend the needs of the newborn, leading to neglect and eventual abandonment.
6. The spirit child cultural phenomenon and superstition: In some remote pockets of Northern Ghana and even in few parts of Central and Ashanti regions, public health research shows babies born with congenital deformities, severe disabilities, or whose mothers die in childbirth are branded as “spirit children” or cursed. In extreme instances, families, under cultural pressure, mandate that such babies be exposed or abandoned at shrines or bushes. This is not mental illness, but a harmful cultural belief system that still kills.
The invisible wounds
On the baby: Risk of death from hypothermia, sepsis, and infection. Survivors suffer Anaclitic Depression and Failure to Thrive due to lack of touch. As adults, they battle Reactive Attachment Disorder, chronic mistrust, and identity crisis — “Why did my mother leave me in a dustbin?”
On the mother: Lifelong hidden grief, intense guilt, chronic PTSD, depression, and elevated suicide risk. A prison cell does not heal this.
On the nation: Overburdened orphanages like Osu Children’s Home, draining health budgets, and overworked Social Welfare officers.
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“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; no one seeks God. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe. For there is no difference; – Rom. 3:10, 21-22. (NIV)
Introduction
Dictionaries define righteousness as “behavior that is morally justifiable or right.” Such behavior is characterized by accepted standards of morality, justice, virtue, or uprightness. The Bible’s standard of human righteousness is God’s own perfection in every attribute, every attitude, every behavior, and every word. Thus, God’s laws, as given in the Bible, both describe His own character and constitute the plumb line by which He measures human righteousness.
The bad news is that true and perfect righteousness is not possible for man to attain on his own; the standard is simply too high. The good news is that true righteousness is possible for mankind, but only through the cleansing of sin by Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We have no ability to achieve righteousness in and of ourselves. But Christians possess the righteousness of Christ, because “ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21. This is an amazing truth. On the cross, Jesus exchanged our sin for His perfect righteousness so that we can one day stand before God and He will see not our sin, but the holy righteousness of the Lord Jesus.
Establishing our hearts in righteousness
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” – Proverbs 4:23
According to the above verse in Proverbs, our heart is the source of our life. Our life flows from our heart. The Holy Spirit resides in the spirit of the born again Christian. So there is a strong influence of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the new-born Christian. But our heart is also comprised of our soul. As Christians we can choose to focus our soul on the Lord, or on evil things. If we focus on corrupt, immoral, and evil things our heart will be affected detrimentally. It will cause our heart to be crooked or wicked, instead of straight or righteous. So the Scripture says to keep, or guard, our heart. It is wise to protect our heart as what we allow to dominate our heart will inevitably become the fruit, or influence the outcome, of our lives.
One way to approach life is to continually ask the question, “How will this decision or action affect my heart?” Everything we do, every thought we entertain, everything we watch, read, or listen to, shapes our heart. Therefore, the future prosperity of our life will flow from how well we care for our heart.
Think of everything you do, every moment of time, as a seed. We have been given responsibility for choosing which seeds to plant in our heart. What will you grow in the garden of your heart? What seeds will you choose? Our heart is our garden, and our life is the fruit of our garden. So next time you are tempted to dwell on a bad thought, think, “Do I want this seed to grow and manifest in my life?” Next time you are tempted to indulge in a sinful action ask yourself, “Do I want the extension, or fruit, of this sinful action to be what I am known for?”
God gives us the freedom to plant whatever we like in our garden. God loves us regardless of the good or bad choices we may make in our lives. You may be reaping the fruit of some poor choices right now. And God is still saying, “I love you.” But He has wise advice for us; He desires we have a good life. He says, “Guard you heart with all diligence.” This Hebrew word translated ‘diligence’ conveys the meanings of: prison and guard (ibid). A superintendant of a prison is very particular as to what goes in and out of his prison. A prison has very tight security. Just as a superintendant watches over his prison, so we should also supervise our heart (our lives). We should exercise meticulous security with regards to what enters into our heart. Actually, even what comes out of it, as the Scripture says, “ Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” – James 1:19, as “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” –Matthew 12:34b.
If what goes into, and what comes out of, our heart determines the success of our lives, what is the first important principle to establish in our heart? “In righteousness you shall be established;” – Isaiah 54:14
Righteousness is the key foundational truth we need to first establish in our heart. Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” –Matthew 6:33. Notice Jesus said, “His righteousness”, not our own righteousness. We have to seek and understand God’s righteousness. Isaiah 54:14 says, “Their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” God’s righteousness comes from God, not from within us. Humans cannot make themselves God’s righteousness, as all humans have sinned and are therefore inferior to God. God’s righteousness is a gift from God: “ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21
Righteousness, or right standing with God, has been attained for us through the exchange Jesus made on our behalf. Jesus took our sin and gave us His righteousness. God’s righteousness is imparted to us when we are made a new creature in Christ – 2 Corinthians 5:17. This righteousness is a gift from God and undeserved by us: “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”- Romans 5:17
Through our faith in Jesus’ blood, shed to remit our sins – Romans 3:25, God imparts righteousness to us by His grace. We actually become a new righteous creation, fully identifying in Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and ascension. This is the foundational miracle we need to understand and have established in our heart. All the other miraculous promises of God come the same way, by God’s grace through faith. Righteousness must be established in our heart for us to truly have faith to receive our rich inheritance in Christ. Jesus has been made unto us righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). We are now “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us”. – 2 Corinthians 1:20
Establishing our minds in righteousness
God expects that, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will be radically changed. In Romans 12:2 He tells us, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
This transformation is to be a metamorphosis, of a magnitude at least comparable to that by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. He expects us to become totally different.
Scripture uses many different images to express the change that should occur: We become “a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.“ – 2 Cor 5:17. It is almost as if we become a new species. Scripture speaks of the “first Adam” who was earthly and fell into sin, and the “second Adam” (Jesus Christ) who was sinless and holy – Rom. 5:12-19; 1 Cor 15:44-49.
We are “made new in the attitude of our minds” – Eph. 4:23.
We “put off our old self” and “put on the new self” – Eph. 4:22,24; Col 3:9-10.
We “live by the Spirit” and not by the flesh – Gal. 5:16; Rom 8:13.
We become “instruments of righteousness” rather than “instruments of wickedness” – Rom. 6:13.
Each of these metaphors, in a different way, emphasizes the magnitude of the change that is expected. Each is dramatic and astonishing in itself; their cumulative effect is even more powerful. We are talking about a tremendous transformation. It should be visible to others, but its internal effect should be far greater than what others can perceive.
The goal of this transformation
What is the goal of this metamorphosis? Scripture states it in a number of different ways, which overlap and can be seen as different ways of expressing the same basic concept. Scripture often does this, because our minds are inadequate to comprehend, and our language inadequate to express, the full scope of God’s revelation to us.
To be continued!
Stay blessed!
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Email: saltnlightministries@gmail.com
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