Village boy Impressions

When evenings in Sandema were dark, His footsteps on the road were heard, On journeys long with his Bible in hand, In Faith and works he showed the way. From Kori number 1 to number 2 both, From nearby Kobdema to far-off Kalijiisa, Across streams to Nyaansa and hills to Suwarinsa, A weary pilgrim on many treacherous roads. With girls and boys, men and women, With Roman Catholics and protestant folk, With those of faith and those without it, All their sorrows and joys he shared. A gentle voice, a helping hand, Knees that bleed from kneeling in prayer, A soft cackling laugh, with seamless teeth, The perfect listener, with limitless patience. Long upon an empty stomach he went, And defied both the devil and his lieutenants, His Bible and faith were his only staff, Upon them, he leaned and hoped and prayed.             Read:  Village Boy Impressions - Fathers Hail the man Jacob Adongo Atambilla, The son of Atambilla of Bongo Gorogo, Who today

Photo credit: http://in-progress.org/research/ Science is a body of knowledge that prides itself on reproducible research information. Science is tentative and lends itself to change in the face of alternative independently verifiable information. However , science is not a feeling and not a belief. Although Science has stood against conservatism as witnessed in the days of Galileo and Co, it nonetheless has a screened liberalism. Much of what we know of science today is several years of cumulative change driven by research. And with advances in technology, the body of knowledge of science is on a constant revision. This revision, however, is not on the basis of individuals or groups assumptions of facts. Science in much of its communication on new findings employs modest expression such as “could have an association with”, “has the potential” etc. and shuns sounding authoritative. Skepticism and disputes of scientific findings are welcome. Such an enterprise should, however

Photo credit: liyouthsafetycoalition.org It is not uncommon to find derogatory expressions and remarks with the use of Tramadol on social media and other media of communication. The unfortunate trend must not be allowed to continue unabated. Tramadol is an FDA approved prescription drug for the treatment of moderate to severe pain. It is a mainstream drug in the country’s health system for the management of pain. For the drug to be associated with derogatory comments in everyday Ghanaian communication should be a cause of worry. Tramadol is a synthetic opioid drug and like other opioid drugs interferes with normal release of neurotransmitters, chemical mediators. This could lead to drug dependence and tolerance on continued repeated use. Drug dependence develops due to debilitating withdrawal symptoms and tolerance results when higher than normal doses are needed to elicit drug action. Affected individual thus need a continued and higher than normal doses of the drug for comf

Photo credit: liyouthsafetycoalition.org Hitherto I had no sympathy on drug addicts or drug dependents. I had thought of their situation as a free will choice to continue to engage in substance abuse. In my ignorance, I thought that they could on any day take a decision to cut off from substance abuse if they so wished. I showed outright scorn against addicts. Not even remorseful feelings of addicts during their subtle withdrawal and subsequent relapse could make me see an invisible force at play against them, for me to at least revise my harsh thoughts of deliberate irresponsible behavior attributed to them. Many like my former self, assume addicts hold onto the chains of the misery of substance abuse willingly. I, however, had my prejudices against addicts reversed when I took the course “Drug Tolerance and Dependence” under the veritable Prof Lutterodt as part of my training for an MPhil Pharmacology degree. My ignorant assumptions against addicts got cured after the course

“God chooses things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise and chooses what is weak in the world to shame the strong” - 1Cor1:27 (my translation).   I visited a library for the first time in my life when I was 13 and in J. H. S 1. Then, my small stature coupled with the fact that I was new and not very confident restricted me to the children's section all through my adolescent years and even beyond. Nevertheless, I was really enjoying the stories in that section. My favourite story was;  "The Emperor's New Clothes ” by the Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen. I do not know exactly why it was my favourite then. Perhaps because it was so hilarious (the thought of a king walking down the street naked). Today, I remember it and love it not because it is so hilarious (for it is no longer so to me) but because it speaks volumes about society. I have come to learn a lesson from it that I can’t forget. The Pl

There was an old man in my village who didn’t like to be greeted “Saliu’wa?” (Good morning?), or for that matter good afternoon, or good evening. He preferred to be greeted in the traditional exchange which entail a recital of enquiries about a person’s health, and that of their spouse, children, siblings, parents, other relatives and even neighbours. As children, we took delight in arousing his anger by shouting “saliu’wa!” at him from a distance before we took to our heels and run for dear life.