Random Conversation...

One thing about being in Ghana is that you can't hide from pertinent issues.  The soft fuzzy warm blanket of western security is removed from your eyes and you are confronted with shit everyday that is really not good, for lack of a better word.  On the plus side it makes you think and observe and discuss and even if you aren't fixing all the problems right now, which is impossible, you are giving them some thought.  Here are some thoughts from part of a conversation I had with some friends, Ghanaian and American, about some of the issues most people would probably rather ignore.   

Bossman (yes that is his name) asked me this question, if I feel like everyone has the same capacity for self-realization and creativity than why is it that the U.S is in the position it is in and Ghana is where it is?  That’s sort of the million-dollar question isn’t it.  Bossman feels that the education system is to blame.  In his opinion the University teaches students how to recognize all of the problems, but doesn’t show students how to approach those problems with practical solutions.  Basically theory and no application.  It’s funny because I remember having a conversation with my teaching assistant Vicken last school year about virtually the same issue.  I had been taking this upper division course about the public policy process from an almost completely theoretical standpoint.  The class focused on decision making within the policy arena and I was super engaged and interested.  And at the same time I was getting frustrated because as I learned more about how the components of the system functioned I saw things I wanted to change, but I couldn’t understand how to bridge the gap between recognition and change.  What I was feeling then is what Bossman is bringing up now and I realize that this is a universal challenge.  Digging a bit deeper in our discussion we came across something that I found to be incredibly telling and crucial.  The difference is not so much in how or what we are taught at our respective institutions, but the self-confidence and empowerment to take a risk and try something to bridge that gap.  The truth is that college can only do so much especially when you study value based, intractable issues… you know the big ones like how do we protect the environment or guarantee equality in the world.  Education can only prepare you, but there are certain things that I am beginning to realize cannot be taught in the standard sense of the word.  The point is that answers to so many issues are yet to be discovered so how can they be taught.  I said to Bossman you know I understand what you are getting at and I feel like the point of all of our schooling is to give us the tools, but it is up to the individual to decide how to use them.  To use them you must at least feel like there is some hope of success otherwise why would anybody even try.  There needs to be some support for imagination and vision from within.  People talk about development in Africa and they point their fingers at so many factors that could explain the developmental plight of this continent.  They say the legacy of colonial rule left most of Africa stripped naked and the lasting effect has been dependence on those same old colonial fathers.  I don’t think you can blame colonialism forever, at some point like Barack Obama said: Africa needs to take Africa’s problems into its own hands.  I am not trying to discount history in fact I think that the dependence that may stem from the colonial days is still very real and very apparent, but again recognizing it and overcoming it are two very different stories.