General Reflections - Part One: Ghana

I came so unprepared. I had wanted to be better equipped technically as well as with better contacts. But, for all that happened, I do not think I could have done better for the length of time I stayed. I had four significant encounters – SECAM, WANEP, Sumalia and the push boys, and John Bosco. The intertwining of institutional networks with ordinary people on the ground, from displaced school boys to struggling young students in IT and Law was amazing. I came away assured that the Church is a well woven net that can support efforts to bring all people to peace, and a belief that African Youth are a deep source of passion, goodwill, and hope for the continent. May we stay focused and true to our mission and bring hope to those I met.

I was moved and reminded of the masses when I went to the Madina market. How many are condemned to a life of noisy crowds and clutter? There is a kind of beauty in it all, a snap shot of African life and zest. But it also has a dehumanizing part to it. It was a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to make it a daily routine. And yet, millions do: undereducated school boys and girls hoping for a sale; scholars from middle and senior secondary schools from the north, driven from school because of conflict and forced to push carts all day to scrape together money in the hope of something more than just survival; women with clinging babes on their sides or backs, selling tomatoes and the like, proudly gathering just enough to feed their kids each day; strong men hawking cheap shoes and used clothes with a determination and joy that is infectious.

But they deserve better than this. I shutter at the thought of these young boys and girls being manipulated to battle someone else’s war. I weep for the mothers and children who will run in fear. I wish to stand with those proud men and women and stop this injustice. I am challenged to go to the markets of Africa and bring hope. That is where we need to be. That is where we need to offer workshops, capacity building exercises, civic education, functional literacy and the like. Why not? When? How? Who?

Another impulse I feel as I meet people like John Bosco and Sumalia and work with colleagues like Bahati – these are young men and women with a commitment and passion for justice, peace, restoration and a future full of hope and joy for Africa. What can sustain them in the long haul? What can sustain us in the long haul? The challenge to transform the hearts, minds, passions, and sins of all who are part of this puzzle will take more than good will, more than a few programs, more than even dollars, more than a few years. It is monumental. And we may even fail. But we live in hope. Lord, show us the way!