Ghanaian Independence day

I said last week that it was ‘Ghana Time’ and I meant it! Today marks Ghana’s 49^th year as an independent state. But (and I say this again), what does it mean? The Ghanaian newspaper, Graphic Ghana says that, for those who took part in the struggle for independence, ‘March 6 represents a mixture of feelings of joy and glory as well as guilt and a sense of failure’. That’s deep.

But no nation is perfect, but, symbolically, we celebrate Ghana’s independence as the start of a freedom movement – but, freedom and development go hand in hand, right? Do all Ghanaians have access to basic healthcare and education, for example? The answer is no. Why? I suspect that it might have something to do with economic global legacy – and today’s global market. But I am not an economist. Graphic Ghana has some thoughts on that. Read the article: http://www.graphicghana.info/article.asp?artid=10851 .

Now, I don’t feel that I can fully answer this question – or other questions as they pertain to Ghanaian domestic politics fully, afterall, I don’t live there, but while Ghanaian’s at home hope for more fundamental changes to their lives, what does the Diaspora community want?

Or rather, should the question right now, SHOULD be, how can we CONTRIBUTE to Ghana's development as interested Diaspora Ghanaians, so that in a years time, we can see celebrate Ghana's growth?! Afterall, if I don’t want to just go to a party to celebrate Ghana’s independence, what can I do to help the situation, right?

I watched a moving programme featuring India.Arie and Ashley Judd. Both reports were moving, but India.Arie’s story touched me the most. During her trip to Kenya, she met two amazing women. Both were contracted HIV from their partners. One woman (who found out that she had HIV from her partner, when he decided to tell her on his deathbed) was in good health and now focuses on fighting the stigma – and educating people. The other had two young children and was on the verge of death. But her simple act blew me away. She spent the rest of her days making a memory book for her children. In the memory book was not just pictures of the ‘good old days’, she put down basic information – her date of birth, because, she wanted her children to know ‘who they were and where they came from’.

Wow, got me right there. It just takes the small things. A memory book?! Now, this is all related you because I think at the heart of the question of ‘what does Ghanaian independence mean to me’ for Diaspora Ghanaian’s is about identity and how to maintain it. But I think that the way to kep that link alive – maintain the continuum, is by getting involved – or at least by properly engaging. I mean, I take the fact that I can blog on my da off for granted, yet one of my grandmothers never saw a telephone until she came to visit my parents in the early 90's. Had my parents made a decision to return to Ghana when I was younger (which they nearly did), life would have been much different - not worse, just different. Its always the small things.

My thoughts aren’t complete – this is a work in progress – but I feel my thoughts coming together. Nevertheless, I think that the next 12 months will be interesting.