Following up on President Obama’s time in Ghana, Thomas Awiapo, a Ghanaian from the country’s Upper East Region and CRS staff member, posted his personal reflection on the historic visit on the CRS blog. I’ve had the privilege to have known Thomas for over ten years and the pleasure to work with him during that time. This is cross-posted from the Catholic Relief Services blog
-Mark Brinkmoeller
Thanks for visiting my home country of Ghana. I really do hope that you enjoyed your visit and Ghanaian hospitality at its best.
I listened to your speech to the Ghanaian Parliament and the rest of Africa. I have read it over and over again; I can’t stop reading it.
I asked a friend what he thought about Obama’s speech and he had this to say: “His speech was a breakaway from the conventional master-servant oration. He spoke to us like one of us, like a brother and a friend. He spoke to us like a grandpa passing on words of wisdom to his grand children.”
I couldn’t agree more.
But President Obama, there is one thing you didn’t talk about that I know first hand…
That’s the great economic divide between the north and the south of my great country. Please do not forget that this regional and rural disparity still exists. Accra and Cape Coast where you visited and were treated to all its grandeur is only a tiny slice of the true story of Ghana.
Working for Catholic Relief Services, I have traveled across the length and breath of Northern Ghana, to the most remote villages and communities you can possibly imagine. With deep sorrow I can tell you this – hundreds of thousands of children still sit under trees that serve as classrooms. The dusty ground they sit on is their desk. I have seen schools where 10 children have to fight over a single textbook. Water and food are basic human rights and yet there are millions of people in these rural communities who wake up every morning wondering where to get one meal a day. It is not uncommon in some of the rural communities to see human beings competing with animals to drink the same source of water from filthy ponds and rivers. I speak as an eye-witness to some of these situations and conditions which are disturbing and heartbreaking.
Just a heads up that Anderson Cooper’s interview conducted in Ghana with President Obama will air tonight, in full, from what I understand. The interview will be on CNN at 10 pm EST. You can check out clips and other notes on Cooper’s blog.
As we get ready to begin our live chat with our policy team on President Obama’s trip to Ghana, I wanted to compile a short list of articles on the visit. It’s getting a lot of press, so I’ll try to keep up and update when I can.
New York Times: In Ghana, Obama preaches tough love
“President Obama traveled in Africa as a potent symbol of a new era but also as a messenger with a theme: help is on the way, but take responsibility for yourselves as well.”
Washington Times: Obama: Africa at moment of ‘promise’
“To adoring crowds, and with a nod to his own success as an African-American, President Obama on Saturday used this relatively stable democracy to challenge the rest of Africa to rise above conflict and corruption as they seek to gain the world stage.”
President Obama just finished speaking in Ghana and I wanted to share a few key quotes:
I am speaking to you at the end of a long trip. I began in Russia, for a Summit between two great powers. I traveled to Italy, for a meeting of the world’s leading economies. And I have come here, to Ghana, for a simple reason: the 21st century will be shaped by what happens not just in Rome or Moscow or Washington, but by what happens in Accra as well.
I do not see the countries and peoples of Africa as a world apart; I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world – as partners with America on behalf of the future that we want for all our children. That partnership must be grounded in mutual responsibility, and that is what I want to speak with you about today.
…we must first recognize a fundamental truth that you have given life to in Ghana: development depends upon good governance. That is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long. That is the change that can unlock Africa’s potential. And that is a responsibility that can only be met by Africans.
As for America and the West, our commitment must be measured by more than just the dollars we spend. I have pledged substantial increases in our foreign assistance, which is in Africa’s interest and America’s. But the true sign of success is not whether we are a source of aid that helps people scrape by – it is whether we are partners in building the capacity for transformational change.
Across Africa, we have seen countless examples of people taking control of their destiny, and making change from the bottom up. We saw it in Kenya, where civil society and business came together to help stop post-election violence. We saw it in South Africa, where over three quarters of the country voted in the recent election – the fourth since the end of Apartheid. We saw it in Zimbabwe, where the Election Support Network braved brutal repression to stand up for the principle that a person’s vote is their sacred right.
Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.
People everywhere should have the right to start a business or get an education without paying a bribe. We have a responsibility to support those who act responsibly and to isolate those who don’t, and that is exactly what America will do.
With better governance, I have no doubt that Africa holds the promise of a broader base for prosperity. The continent is rich in natural resources. And from cell phone entrepreneurs to small farmers, Africans have shown the capacity and commitment to create their own opportunities.
Aid is not an end in itself. The purpose of foreign assistance must be creating the conditions where it is no longer needed.
Africa gives off less greenhouse gas than any other part of the world, but it is the most threatened by climate change.
Wealthy nations must open our doors to goods and services from Africa in a meaningful way. And where there is good governance, we can broaden prosperity through public-private partnerships that invest in better roads and electricity; capacity-building that trains people to grow a business; and financial services that reach poor and rural areas. This is also in our own interest – for if people are lifted out of poverty and wealth is created in Africa, new markets will open for our own goods.
When children are being killed because of a mosquito bite, and mothers are dying in childbirth, then we know that more progress must be made.
With strong institutions and a strong will, I know that Africans can live their dreams in Nairobi and Lagos; in Kigali and Kinshasa; in Harare and right here in Accra.
Read President Obama’s full speech after the jump.
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