SWIMMING UPSTREAM: African benefits in the works

By Kammie M. Holder | Fri, September 03, 2010 - 12:00 AM

I am sitting in a restaurant at the Golden Tulip Hotel Kumasi, Ghana which is managed by Barbadian Stephen Husbands. The serene ambiance places me in a transcendental frame of mind.
The last 15 days have seen me traverse the Sahara desert and driving on a well paved highway 272kms long. Yes, in Africa. My journey of adventure and work has not been without pain and tears, the visit to Elmina Castle on the Cape Coast brought me to tears.
Every citizen of the African diaspora should visit the birthplace of his ancestry. For two long, we have been miseducated and our thoughts of Africa poisoned by those who would want to believe the worst of Africa.
Fellow citizens of the diaspora never blindly believe what you hear from the biased eyes of those with hidden agendas. Africa and Ghana is a land of many opportunities. What pains me is the ingratitude and appreciation of many Barbadians for the many social services and opportunities available. Bajans seem to be caught in a whirlwind of envy, deceit, selfishness, laziness and greed, to the detriment of the country’s development.
Being in Ghana has also convinced me that both the BLP/DLP have spoilt Bajans to be mendicants and complainers, rather than to be creative and innovative.
I am seeing coffins being sold on the streets, women with barbecued turkey wings on their head hustling to make a sale from passengers stuck in vehicles on the highway, truly entrepreneurial. Certainly, the resilience, tenacity, innovation and dedication are something that can be borrowed from Ghanaians. How do we awake Barbadians from the deep coma of laziness and complacency?
Barbadians of African lineage, you can claim ancestral links to Ghana, thus I will boldly say a fountain of gold awaits persons from Barbados with the entrepreneurial spirit. One such is the farming of African Giant Snails, which is a delicacy served in hotels and retails in markets for about US$2.50 for a large snail. Another observation I made, is that British Airways and four other airlines fly from London to Accra daily at full capacity despite British visa requirements. Have we been so brainwashed that we are ignorant to the potential of the African middle class spending power?

• Kammie M. Holder, the boy from the village, is now Kofi Ageyman Holder in Kumasi Ghana.

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Posted by kolo 1 year, 5 months ago: Yes Kofi. I salute you. Now I agree with ur post, even though you lost me on who BLP/DLP are. The reader is not sure. Ive been to Barbados and as an African, can say there is good and bad(like everywhere) Seems the tropical Island temps and the easy tourist pickings from UK(lots of them) enable Bajans to live a higher standard of life not to mention less corruption. I did notice that the upper echelons of biz, society there make me wonder who is running things coz I think it supposed to be independent. Anyway, thx for the BA daily flight info. How can one capitalize on that? Please do tell. Am all for it. And btw, you gotta love the bridgetown sane traffic. I was there 3 weeks and didnt see a traffic light in 2005 yet drivers were very civil in rush hour.

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Posted by monica kellman 1 year, 5 months ago: i am so glad to read this i have visited ghana and it the most beautiful place on earth i tried to tell some young people in barbados they looked at me like i had lost my mind.