B: People or Possessions We all measure our success, by some arbitrary measure. In the west, despite the protests of the few, the measure most often used is the accumulation of Possessions – how many homes, cars, boats – a person has accumulated. It is an easy scale to use since it translates readily into a dollar amount. And like most ‘easy’ solutions it has little ‘value’. A more important measure is one based on an individual’s relationship to others; their concern for others and those less fortunate than themselves. It is a measure of their humanity. And it has been my experience that these two measures, People or Possessions, are opposites. Progress in one is nearly always accomplished by regression in the other. During the time I spent in Ho, I was able to spend time with many local residents and what I observed was richness as People and a relative poverty in Possessions; they were more concerned with the needs of their neighbours than with their own personal gain. Almost the exact opposite of what is prevalent in Europe and North America. And the question you must answer, going forward, is what measure do you want to use to assess the future progress of Ghana? I left with a feeling that the future of Ghana is far from certain, but then things of lasting value are never easily attained. There is an urgency to develop the tools and infrastructure needed to move Ghana closer to the standards of the west. Inherent in that view is that the west is somehow ‘better’ than Ghana. Do not believe it. You have the advantage of us; you still put people before possessions. You have in large measure what we have already lost. Do not throw it away in your race to modernity. John Leightell Canadian Coordinator, DAVS Oakville, Canada |