IT was one of those workshops or capacity building training programmes as we call them now-a-days.
Organised by the Coalition on Domestic Violence Legislation in Ghana, the workshop sought to enhance the capacity of media personnel in responding to issues of gender-based violence.
In fact, this was not the first time I was attending a workshop on domestic violence, so the event itself was not new.
At many of these workshops, people go and sit down for long hours listening to other people, called facilitators, who make series of long-loaded presentations, without any impact.
However, this particular workshop was poles apart from many other workshops, because one of the facilitators did leave an impression in the minds of many of the participants.
His name is Mr Adolf Awuku Bekoe, the Co-ordinator of the DV Coalition.
Mr Bekoe made a presentation on “Counselling on Gender-Based Violence” and by the time he finished, some of the participants felt they had been “touched, counselled and challenged to act.”
The simple reason was that Mr Bekoe was not speaking merely because the occasion demanded so, but because he had a passion for the topic he was speaking about.
It was not surprising, therefore, when I found out that Mr Bekoe is the Head of the Psychology Department at the Methodist University College Ghana (MUCG).
Although, one could argue that his profession contributed partly to making him who he is, it is also true that other people might get this training but fail to act as expected.
If you have been listening and watching the Standpoint on GTV, you would appreciate the man I am talking about. His delivery of issues relating to people’s welfare shows he has a calling to his profession.
Now, why am I eulogizing a man I know very little about and have no personal relationship with?
The reason is simple. The passion and grit with which Mr Bekoe delivers his presentations when doing advocacy on DV issues is what endears him to people who come into contact with him.
His ability to influence others to act in a desired manner enables him to leave a mark wherever he goes.
Indeed, there are several other notable personalities in this country whose demeanour demonstrates their love for what they do. Talk of the late Rtd Major Courage Quarshigah, ACP Angwubutoge Awuni, Kwaku Sintim Misa, Uncle Ebo White, Kwabena Yeboah, Nana Oye Lithur, Doris Yaa Dartey, Vincent Kuagbenu and a host of others.
Anytime you hear and see these people talk and act, you get the sense that these people are not politicians, but people with a sense of passion for what they believe in and live by.
If Ghana was made up predominantly of people like these, our development would have progressed much faster. When you have a country with people who are willing to go the extra mile to get the right things done, the results is higher productivity.
However, the problem with our dear Ghana at 54 is that many of its offspring are into professions that do not suit their interests and character. Simply put, many Ghanaians have become square pecks in round holes.
This is why we are complaining about the poor attitudes of some nurses, teachers, doctors, journalists and public servants.
In my estimation, the term public servant means someone whose is prepared to serve the public for the good of the people of the nation, but many public servants rather want to be served.
The last time I visited the hospital, I was stunned by the attitude of a nurse who attended to me.
I reported to a private hospital in Tamale with some fever and after some checks and tests, I was diagnosed of Malaria. As part of the treatment, I was directed to one of the wards to get an injection.
When I entered this room, there were two nurses, a male and female, lying on a bed fidgeting with their phones.
The female nurse got up from the bed, took the injections and asked me to stand at a point and wait. When she was ready, she asked me to lower my pants at the right side and just when I had done this, the nurse suddenly pierced and the needle into my hard bottoms.
Before I could even bring my attention to it, she asked that I lower the left side of my pants. Once again, she repeated the act and then went back to her bed.
With the little coaching I had had from my mom, a retired midwife, I massaged the two bottoms for some seconds, dressed up and “thanked” the nurse. Was that lady really a nurse – somebody who has agreed to emulate Florence Nightingale?
Whiles walking out of the room where I had my terrible injections, I could not help but remember some very passionate nurses who once served and continue to serve with all their body and soul. These are nurses who have demonstrated that nursing was in them.
Some of our current nurses have succeeded in killing patients, when instead they were supposed to keep them alive. Some teachers have succeeded in keeping their students ignorant and depressed instead of making them knowledgeable and inspired.
What we are experiencing is the result when people choose professions that they do not have passion for. You see, when you do something because you are forced to, you would mostly not do it well.
In Ghana many people go into professions for other reasons, other than the passion for that profession. Sometimes, it is for money, other times, it is merely for fame.
Some parents even force their children into professions, like medical practice and law, just because of the prestige attached to these professions. Meanwhile, their children’s temperaments might make them unfit for such professions.
Sometimes it baffles me why parents feel that it is better for their children to be doctors and accountants even when the child desires to be an artist, musician, teacher, writer, actor, fashion designer, etc.
For political reasons, people who have no idea and interest in disaster response are appointed into critical institutions like the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the result is the poor management of disasters.
And for the love of money or fame, we have so-called journalists who indulge in mudslinging and destroy people’s reputations, without any basis.
I could not agree more with Dr Audrey Gadzekpo who once stated that journalism is a calling. So many of those who are not called into it only get into it for some mischief, and they end up soiling the name of the profession.
Certainly, they cannot be compared to the likes of Anas Armeyaw Anas who are willing to go to greater lengths just to get a good story and advance the general good of society.
We can only hope and pray that as we progress as a nation, people would realise their potentials and genuinely take up positions where they are rightly placed to deliver.
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