Importance of Education

My ESL Class in Volgograd-Russia @Go! English Centre for Foreign Languages

Education can basically be defined as acquiring knowledge. Some individuals do not understand the significance of education, therefore, do not try to give their wards and themselves the advantage.

The reason most colonies decided to fight for their independence stems from the education their leaders obtained from their colonial masters. It is often heard from elderly people that during the Dr Kwame Nkrumah era (the 1960s) every child had to be in school otherwise their parents were held as culprits by social welfare workers. It is non-excusable to deny anyone of education as it spearheads them for success in this day. The more reason why it has been factored into the constitution of Ghana from her alliance with the Commonwealth of Nations ­­– the right to education. Avenues one can acquire education include homes, schools, palaces, places of worship and all agents of socialisation.

Nelson Mandela once said, “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. Mandela said this because he knew with education, people could improve on their quality of life and live a more fulfilled life. With education, one is able to secure a good job and afford to make ends meet. When third world countries are compared to countries like Switzerland and Sweden, the vast difference spotted is the literacy rate of the citizens. For instance, the adult literacy rate of Ghana at the moment stands at less than 60% compared to her colonial master England who stands at 99%.  Lack of education contributes towards the challenges facing the country such as the rise in urban-migration, illegal migration to Europe, increase in teenage pregnancies, practice of obnoxious culture such as female genital mutilation, tribal mark scarring, dehumanizing widowhood rites among despicable others.

Furthermore, education helps to realize innate talents and skills. When talent is refined with education, one is able to deliver his or her utmost best. People often realize what they are good at when they are young and decide to pursue them as careers, those who go for education or apprenticeship turn out to be very good at what they do; altering and making notable adjustments to what seemed to be the status quo. Dr Don Shirley became a star pianist by learning to play the piano from his mother (a clear example of informal education). Today he is celebrated as one of the world’s eminent pianist.

Nevertheless, education has its pitfalls. Some flipsides to education are: it is very expensive, the pursuit of education sometimes kills talents, parental pressure over education leads to suicide worldwide, it contributes to the high unemployment rate in many countries etc.

It is, however, an inevitable fact that the benefits of education outlive its downside. Education has significantly helped with poverty alleviation, busting myths and superstitions, safety and security against crimes, helped in commerce and trade, improved law and order and helped significantly with communication. According to John Dewey, education is not preparation for life, education is life itself.

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ARE YOU IN THE RIGHT CHURCH?

MOB 171- INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS CLASS OF VOLGOGRAD STATE UNIVERSITY

Being saved has to do with inviting Jesus into your heart and accepting Him into your life as your Lord and Personal Saviour. This is the most important part of the whole message. Now lets us analyse the life of an imaginary friend called Joe. Joe gave his life to Christ at a very tender age; he has practically known Christ all his life. As he grew, his friends begun to make fun of him because he was a virgin and too honest. Then it came to a point where no one wanted to be his friend even the boys in the Christian groups thought he was too honest. 

Joe then thought to himself that if he needed to make any friends then he would have to lower his godly gospel pure standards, a little sin could not kill anyone right. So, Joe first of all decided to have a girlfriend named Lucy. Lucy was friends with most of the cool guys and that made Joe very cool and popular in school. Now Joe clearly could not keep up with the cool kids in school so he had to take money from his mom’s purse to afford the kind of food and lifestyle the cool kids were living. When his mom inquired about missing money from her purse he lied about it and swore he never took it.

His mom believed him because at home he acted very well. Soon he started lying to his mom to get money. Joe got a fake ID and went to a club little did he know that was a Sodomy (gay) club. His friend Mike and his girlfriend Lucy dragged him along. When they got there, he took some shots of very strong liquor and got tipsy. Lucy then inquired from him what he thought about making out with strangers, he wanted to belong to gave in. He saw Lucy making out with an older woman and she asked him to try it too with the older men. He hesitated at first but she insisted. A few moments later, he could not find Lucy nor Mike and was left with the man (Lance) Lucy pushed him to. Lance took Joe to his five-star hotel apartment and had sex with him. Because Joe was too drunk, Lance took advantage of him, called three other friends and had their way with the poor high-school boy. The following day Joe woke up and there was no one there.

A few weeks later, Mike came to see him and apologize for the other time with all sorts of stories. He made Joe understand that being gay is fine and has got nothing to do with hell. Mike and Joe started seeing each other and in n time they had done a lot of things the bible would consider filthy. Mike had to travel at a point so Joe became alone again, he started entertaining himself with porn and masturbating to get satisfaction. He will use money given to for airtime to watch porn and hook up with people who wanted to have sex.

Joe was very cool now in school; he had his own clique, a boyfriend and Lucy as well. His body count for both sexes was high and he felt good about himself. One day, Joe was going to see one of his rich boyfriends in the expensive hotels when he heard a voice saying, “come back home Joe, I love you”. He did not pay heed and went ahead. When he got there, his host was very kind to him and when they were prepared to have each other a group of men of about 7 came out all wearing white robes with red headbands. Fear gripped Joe and wanted to escape but there was nowhere to run. They wanted to kill him and use him for sacrifice when the doorbell rang for room service. 

After many futile attempts to make the attendant go away, the stranger finally opened the door and slit open the throat of the attendant and that was how Joe escaped. Because of how scared he was, he ran on the stairs and fell with a concussion. He was rushed to the hospital and did not want to call his parents when he regained consciousness because he did not know what to say. He called Lucy and his other squad members. The doctor, later on, broke the news to him that he would not be able to walk again because of the breakage in the spinal bone area and worst of all that he had AIDS. Joe was devastated and crushed in spirit. His friends left one after the other till his mom was finally called. Joe’s mom loved her son so much but loved her job more so did not for once pause to think about the whereabouts of his son.

Deserted Joe was back I church in his wheel-chair feeling so sorry for himself. He could not narrate the true story to his fall to anyone because he knew he could not answer why he was in such an expensive hotel in the first place. Joe started trying to kill himself on three occasions but did not succeed. That was when he met a new friend in the church called Zack. He was able to confide in Zack, narrated everything to him and added why he wanted to take his own life. Zack never judged Joe for any of the things he said he has done but rather saw Joe’s life from a different perspective. The devil has seen what a great person Joe would be and wanted to destroy him any way he could. 

Zack prayed with Joe consistently, visiting him and taking him for rides in the park after work. Zack became Joe’s new best friend and Joe’s love was being restored back to Christ. One day, Zack, Joe and his mom went for a healing conference. Zack encouraged Joe to believe in the healing power of the holy ghost, he did and received his healing that day. Zack and Joe have been friends till this day and greatest of all, when it was time for the altar call, Joe saw Lance among the crowd and his heart rejoiced. Since then till now, Joe and Zack have been evangelizing to lost and confused souls in order to prevent them from making the same mistakes he did.

We cannot be in Christ and be in the world at the same time because sin flows like water and leads in little drops. Joe could have died. You might not be lucky to receive a second chance, therefore, this is your second chance to learn from the mistakes of someone else to better your life. Do not take this likely. The devil is busy waiting for you to mess up so he can take advantage. Also, Jesus Christ does not care about what you have done or what you did. He is more interested in claiming you back than judging you. If your friends are judging you and telling you to stay away from them why don’t you come to me? I am ever ready to start a new squad and every soul is important.

BY KWESI

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LACKING LOVE & FEELING GUILTY? READ THIS..

In life, we go through many times and trials. There is no other feeling more depressing than the feeling of guilt and shame especially when you did not mean to hurt anyone. Most times when we do terrible things everyone turns their backs on us and tell how disappointed they are in us. I have been in this position countless times and thought of crazy things I could do to escape the shame.

Suicide, I say, cannot be left out in the feeling of guilt and restlessness. I would like to share a bit of myself to help anyone who is in this position now and is considering doing harm. The answer really is not in the harm you are going to cause to yourself, however, the fact is that, no matter how mad people are at you and despise your presence, they still would not be happy should you pass on today.

I use to condemn myself a lot because I thought that was the only way no one would get something to say about me in the negative since I already portray a negative countenance. You will often hear me using phrases like; 'I am the worst person on earth", I am not a good person, better not count on me buddy", etc. What I did not realize was that as I was uttering all these negative statements they were working out exactly how I put them. However, I had this friend who would always say nice things to me. He would say things like; "Brother, I do not care about what you have done. I do not care about your shame, all I know is that you are a wonderful person and I do not care about what you have to say to debunk this statement. I love you and nothing can change about that.

These words always uplifted my spirit and helped me want to become a better person. Secretly deep within my spirit, I felt deep down that I was bad because of some of the things I have done. I would share with you some of the terrible things I did which made me feel I had lost out of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As I grew up, I was an adorable kid, very brilliant in school and helpful at home. I was a typical upright child until I felt I was not loved. I joined very bad company. I, who never could stand the scent of smoke could smoke down a packet of cigarette and bags of weed and funny enough I thought it was cool.
I single-handedly drunk myself to stupor on up to tens of bottles of alcohol every time I was sad or facing a downtime. I had become an alcoholic and a social deviant. But through it all, God still had his eyes on me. I had three perfect jobs and lost them all in less than three months. I could never finish probation before I received my sack letter. I had picked up behaviors God considers abominable in Leviticus and was using them to satisfy my lack of love and my feeling of guilt.

At a point, I felt committing suicide was the best answer since no one cared about me. I spent hours thinking of ways to commit suicide then top it all up with sexual immorality. I was so in bondage with sexual sins that I could not live a day without doing something sexual. I kid you not, I literally was involved in something sexual every single day no matter where I found myself. Even after I had done something terrible to someone and felt guilty, the only way I could calm myself down was to get involved in sexual sin.

I had so many reasons to justify things of the devil than defend the things of God. I spent hours convincing myself I did not have to be in the church nor pay offertory nor give my tithe. What I was forgetting was, If you steal from God, He takes whatever He gave you back. The devil gave me reasons to believe I was totally His however, I could go to the club and be in the church the following morning. I recall moments where I went to church totally hanged over. I didn't care about what I wore to church nor what people had to say about my appearance. There was a point I contracted a painful Sexually Transmitted Disease. That was supposed to be my turning point, however a cue from the experience. God healed me and in no time I was back at what I knew how to do; destroy lives and that of mine.

Well, I guess you feel how I feel now. You might have been in this position or worse but what I have to say to you today is that no matter what you have done there is that one friend who is ready to receive you and still stick around even after all your evil deeds and all the atrocities committed by you. He does not care if you killed, He does not care if you stole nor you defrauded someone. Your past is none of His concern. He is ever ready to receive you. He is ready to keep you in a new company, refresh you, provide you with a new job and start a new chapter of your life. Whatever thing you have become addicted to, He is ready to cleanse you and never remember any of it.

If you have been inspired by this and would like to give your life to Christ or re-dedicate your life to Him I would be glad to assist you. Kindly say this prayer after me, "Dear Father Lord God, I thank you for this encounter with you. I thank you for sending your only begotten son to come to die for my sins. As of today, I ask you to forgive me and come live in my heart. I declare today that you are my Lord and personal savior. In you I have life and no one can take that from me. Thank you, Jesus, for making me a new creation. Amen."


If you just prayed this prayer, you are welcome into the family of Christ. If you would like to contact me to help you in prayer or share your story with me, you may reach me via mail on nanaquacyantwi@gmail.com  or owusuansah1918@yahoo.com. One thing I can assure you is that, if Christ did not give up on me and did not judge me when I returned to Him so will He not judge nor remember your wrongdoings ever again. It really feels good to know someone loves you deep down and no matter what the world says against you He is ever ready to take you back and love you beyond your faults.
Jesus Christ loves you.


Written on 5th February 2019.
By Kwesi.

THE INDETERMINATE INFANT By Nana Antwi Owusu-Ansah.

THE INDETERMINATE INFANT

I smiled, it indeed felt like the best
The best feeling of all time in my chest
The chest that use to feel pain and not rest
The rest of my lost one who claimed to be honest
The honest son of a king who never wore a crest

I laughed, it was so loud and sincere
I felt like it was the first time in my sphere
I could not remember the days of my tear
I have not felt this way all year
I know for a fact this will last and go nowhere

Then I thought to myself, would this joy last?
Is it one of those feelings from the past?
Will I again be an extra, far from the cast?
And not even remember I was part of the last?
No matter what happens, I will enjoy the blast.

So this is my own piece of assurance
It is from myself, unlike an unexpected occurrence
My soul prides in itself; the joy of my perseverance
That surely, one day, the truth will lead to the observance
Of the one name that was far from remembrance.


By: Nana Antwi Owusu Ansah
On: 20th August, 2018
08:38am
At the Best Western Premier Hotel. Airport- Residential, Accra.

©️No part of this literary piece would be used or altered without the prior consent of the poet. This poem belongs to Nana Antwi Owusu-Ansah and it is his original work.

How to Land the Best Jobs as a Foreign Student in Russia.

YUNGERS CHARLEY - PAMPANNA (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

This is the latest music video from Yungers Charley - Pampanna. This is a cool afro beat song released on the 30th June 2017 and is already hitting the waves. Click on the video above to watch the coolest thing our young generation is bringing to our doorstep. This video was produced by Citi Films Ghana and directed by one of Ghana's youngest producers Kwesi Penya. Support our own, Support Ghana! And don't forget 'it's Yungers Charley".

Making Friends in Russia. At Domodedovo- Moscow Airport.

Watch me as I make new friends with three Ghanaians, an Angolan and an Indian at the Domodedovo Airport in Moscow. They speak about how life is in Russia and how they have survived. You also get to see me and hear a little about my life in Russia.

What Hatred Does to You; What Forgiveness Does to You.

Photo courtesy Keukenhof Gardens and Tulip Fields.

   
  Once upon a time, there was a bud called Fiona that was set to bloom and stand out of all the flowers that have ever grown in the forest. But something happened which was going to change the destiny of this beautiful tulip forever. Still, in the germination process, a fly came to lay on it and left a dump on it. She kindly asked the fly to clean her up but the surly fly flew leaving her with the most malodorous smell and disgusting look ever. She could have patiently waited for the gracious clouds to open up the floodgates and allowed some rains to wash her up but with so much exasperation and inconsideration she cursed the fly and right there thunder struck the fly and the fly died.

         In the fairy flora and fauna world, any being that curses another by thunder and death would live to become vile, ugly and detestable. The being would then take over the behaviour of the one that committed the bad deed. This law was made not to make other beings vulnerable and some superior, it was made so more beings could learn about forgiveness, love and its relationship with beauty. When a being decides to forgive, it means the being respects the judgement of mother nature and trusts HER to do what is right, however, when a being decides to curse or hold forgiveness or both, the intelligence and wisdom of Mother Nature are regarded as useless. SHE, therefore, blesses every being who decides to forgive with beauty and favour but those who do not, she leaves them to thrive on their own.
          When this new act was passed into law, some called HER selfish and insensitive. Their argument was that, some beings do despicable things, hurt others in excruciating ways that they can not even think of retaliating so how then is SHE expecting them who of lower divinity to forgive such inhumanity. Then SHE replied them saying, " If I, MOTHER NATURE whom you all sin against all the time in different ways, is able to look at you with love with my eyes... If I, whom you say the most demeaning things about... if I, whom you address, when I'm not around you, with so much disgust and disdain... If I whom you claim to love but always go against my wishes and plans for you ... does not even look at you with a speck of hatred in my eyes, then what good are you to hate or curse a brother or a sister bud or butterfly?  What if I also decide to act like you all? What if I take all my privileges back and go back to how we use to be before the Prince of the FLORA AND FAUNA came to pay you a visit? Can you imagine your fate?  I didn't think so!"

         But our little Fiona here was new to all this. But it's so surprising how a bud of a few years old is able to curse and hold back forgiveness at a very young age. Well,  after she cursed the fly she was also automatically cursed and the beauty and blossom she was to enjoy were taken from her, replaced by the enmity and lackadaisical attitude of the one she cursed. Oops, this was not mentioned earlier. MOTHER NATURE quickly passed on the remedy on how to free oneself from the curse of taking up the behaviour of the cursed. One can be quickly freed from the retaliation curse by looking up and asking HER for forgiveness. The being would then be freed and the glorious destiny restored with blessings.

         Fiona still in anger refused to pay heed to any of the bits of advice given her and decided to live life on her own forgetting in FLORA AND FAUNA no one by their own strength. The brightest man who people most often confuse for Mercury is to shine bright so Flora can make food for Fauna. Rain and Wind were also special forces assigned to help them look ravishing for balls and banquets.  Pride stood in and she grew into thorns instead of the beautiful flower she was meant to be.

              *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Everyone can argue Fiona had every right to curse the bug.  That notwithstanding, the was a law and ignorance of the law is no excuse. Even as we grow we have every right to let go of pain for our own good. When you forgive someone, you're doing yourself better. It also means trusting God's judgement and leaving Him to make the best decision for you.  Sometimes when someone tells me, " I hate this person", I ask, so would you be happy to see him die? Can you take a dagger and stab him yourself?

The truth is that we are as bad as the people who do bad things to us; none is righteous not even one. There's no difference between a child abductor and a petty thief. The fact that the sin or the motive behind the action is of less gravity does not mean there are different types of sin. A rapist and a person who cheats in an examination are birds of a feather. But the best part of this all is that God in all His glory has given us the power to return to Him even after we have committed all our abominable atrocities.

Just as Fiona lost her glory because of unforgiveness, we also tend to lose our rights as children of God when we stand to curse those who wrong us. Over the years I decided not to reply anyone who shouts or insults me in public because I see myself too prim and proper for that. Jesus Christ never stood anywhere to exchange words with anyone so why should I? If I do that it meaIs I want to demean myself to your calibre and Princes don't do that.
This has got nothing to do with pride but self-respect and dignity. I refuse to hold things against someone who does something wrong to me not because the Bible says so but because I free myself from any feeling of guilt or taking over the shame of that person.

Allow me to share this experience with you. Not so long ago, I received a letter with the writer showing so much disdain and hatred for me in it. The writer used all sorts of words to defame me in it. He cursed the day he met me and that I was an ingrate from the pit of hell.
Well, he calling me an ingrate from the pit of hell actually got me a little depressed because hell is nothing I would like to be associated with but he did. He made lots of sordid statements I can not even pen down here, however, I refused to reply even though I was emotionally drained after reading all those words. I began to refuse help from people just not to be called an ingrate a second time. Then I met this person on Monday on my way to work. I really wanted to walk by without saying a word but just to make him know that I don't hate him I decided to say hi and touched his shoulder.
I walked by without looking back or waiting for a response, but I realised he stood there for some time wondering why I did that even after reading all the hurtful things he said about me.
   

      Now let me confess to the reason why I really did that. I wanted him to be clear that I had no problems with me, nonetheless, I wanst expecting him to come talking to me again.
So you see, the action was right but the motive behind the action was so not right in the sight of God. This person sent me texts later that day asking why I did what I did earlier. And I explained telling him that, I have no problem with him; it is he who has a problem with me.
In a nutshell, I prayed that night and forgave him righteously this time around. I realised I've been freed and I was at peace with myself.
            So you see, forgiving someone is like taking antibodies, they aid your system and make you look more beautiful. It is always better to make people know they have wronged you and that you are displeased about that, rather than leaving with a smiling face and curse them behind. Only God knows, they might have actually not meant any harm, maybe your mood could not just accommodate that joke at that time.

Refusing to confront the person with your displeasure leads to unforgiveness and unforgiveness leads to hatred and hatred leads to bitterness and bitterness to sadism, ugly lifestyle and evil and evil leads to hell. Kings and Queens do not exchange words with people in public. They are civilised, couth and well-mannered and that is how they become great. This is not to say do not vent. You can but just think about how to vent in a way that would not make you seem like the uncouth one. Don't forget! You need your dignity to be intact as a king.

Thank you for reading this piece with me Nana Antwi. Drop your comments below by signing into your Google account. Please don't forget to follow my blog and suggest this post to bitter people. I love you all and thanks for making a date with me. Have a blessed week.




An Original Story by Nana Antwi Owusu-Ansah.
                                    Volgograd -Russia.