Wipe My Tears, O Ghana: The Tears of a Desperate Ghanaian Girl Fainting from Holding on to a Nearly Impossible Dream

By Laura Kathleen K. Lawson

This story is of a young Ghanaian girl; Kabuki who is suffering an extreme case of depression because she cannot live her dreams; which is to exploit all of her potentials and experience the kind of freedom others like herself enjoy in other developed countries; is frustrated and disappointed because Ghana is facing deep unlimited challenges that directly affect her and her inability to live her life and she sees no sign of these problems going away anytime soon.
Her uncountable attempts at living her dreams at all cost through time, draws her to the painful realization of various challenges that limit her growth in Ghana leaving her broken in faith with a deep threat to throw her dreams to the curb.
Despite the decade of research work combined with her proposed solutions, she is always turned away by the units that matter and taken for granted by the people who have what it takes to help her situation. On her journey to discover what it takes to develop potentials, she encounters millions of Ghanaians holding on to broken dreams and defining wrong outlets to pour their frustrations.
One sleepless and frustrated night, she wakes up in tears and pours out her heart on paper to her Psychologist. She pinpoints her personal opinion on problems in Ghana, analyzes them and offers strategies to combat the challenges.
Wipe my tears, O Ghana is a wakeup call to our leaders, political parties and influencers of society. It is time we all pause, reflect and take a critical look at what the needs of the people in the nation are which is the only ingredient required to grow the nation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Sep 5, 2017
• ISBN: 9781490769493

Laura Kathleen K. Lawson

My Dear Psychologist, I know I got too passionate with my whole write up and got my stuff mixed but I know you definitely understand me from where I stand and would pardon my little errors. I never promised you perfect. You see, I desire to grow. I desire to change my circumstances. I desire to transform to what I really want to be deep desire. I feel trapped inside and I’m not growing any younger. It’s been years since I started fighting this battle and I’m lost in it all. Can’t find my worth no more and if I can’t, I can’t continue my journey. O Lord, mediocrity is killing me fast. Hmmmmm. Nevertheless, I carry a belief that projects faith in the existence of a greater force that can step out of the blue and help me achieve this deep desire. But while I hope and hold on to this faith, can I not have anyone help me out? A management organization out there who really know what they are about and can help slice my overheated brains and rearrange my thinking to relieve me of this death wish. “Truth is our Light” and “Except the Lord” I “Speak True, Right Wrong and Follow the King” while I pursue “Faith, Integrity & Excellence” for a single purpose; “that they all may be one”. Paul planted, Apollos watered and God made it grow. We desire to develop. We desire to free ourselves from this mental bondage. No one would take all I’ve said. They would see it as another “wanna be” wanting to be and they couldn’t be wrong. If I’m still sounding wrong with the lack of faith, low self-esteemed projection and the low self-worth gig, you are so right! That is what I am feeling right now. I’m just going to find a clean spot in that messed up room of mine and cry my eyes out. If my light does shine someday, , it is long overdue right? If it never comes, I never did stop dreaming so…well my bed, by best friend. Doc, thanks for listening, reading or whatever and however you get this anyway. Whether this letter gets to you or not, I still did the writing and know it shall be found by someone someday somewhere. My eyes suffer me some sleep. Let me do what I do best… (u got that right!) Your miserably sick patient. Kathleen. L.K. Lawson

Book preview

Copyright 2017 Laura Kathleen K. Lawson.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-6948-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-6950-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-6949-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016902042

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Trafford rev. 09/04/2017

22970.png www.trafford.com

North America & international

toll-free: 1 888 232 4444 (USA & Canada)

fax: [phone]

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 2: KABUKIE’S THEORY

CHAPTER 3: WIPE MY TEARS, O, GHANA

CHAPTER 4: WHY THE NEED FOR CHANGE

CHAPTER 5: WHAT IS WRONG WITH GHANA?

5.1 Chaos Leading to Lack of Various Disorders

5.1.1 What constitutes the chaos?

5.1.1.1 Ignorance

5.1.2 What constitutes Lack?

5.1.1.1 Lack of Faith/Hope for Tomorrow

5.1.2.2Lack of Resources

5.1.3.3 Lack of Focus and Directional Path

5.1.4.4 Lack of Appropriate Preparation

5.1.5.5 Simply Lack

5.1.6.6 Other Aspects of Lack

5.2 Mental Captivity

CHAPTER 6: WHAT THE NATION NEEDS

i.        Research

ii.       Educational Over haul

iii.      Appropriate People Empowerment

iv.       Clearly defined values and standards

v.        Entrepreneurial empowerment

vi.      Human Resource Development

vii.     Systems and institutions that work

viii.    Good Governance

ix.      Management & Maintenance Units

x.       Administration, Documentation & Research lifestyle

xi.      Psychological overhaul of the mind

xii.     Development of the nation’s potential

xiii.    A road map that guides national development

xiv.    Development plan that grows people and their potential

xv.      Political parties that have the interest of the people at heart

xvi.    Appropriate leadership drive

xvii.   Mental Blockage

CHAPTER 7: WHAT THE PEOPLE NEED

i.        We need Time and a personal development plan

ii.       To be acknowledged as capable and be believed in

iii.      Know who we are

iv.       Acknowledge our little efforts and appreciate us

v.        Give us the platform to exploit ourselves fully

vi.      Support us to build our dreams

vii.     Identify our uniqueness and treat it as such

viii.    Allow us space and Time for Growth

ix.      A leader who understands our needs and language

x.       They want to be free, needed, exploited and utilized

xi.      We need you to help us identify our own needs

xii.     Help us understand our role in national development

xiii.    We want to be happy

CHAPTER 8: WHAT IS THE STRATEGY?

i.        Solution Strategy

ii.       The Implementation Strategy

iii.      My Conclusions

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Kabuki, a young Ghanaian girl has been pursuing her life desires for ages with no hope. This desire is her wishes to exploit all of her potentials and experience the life of freedom others like herself enjoy in other developed countries. She is frustrated, disappointed and pushed to the wall because her country Ghana seems to have settled for mediocrity which directly affects her and her dream life. Needing to do something about it so she can have her dream, she takes over a decades’ life long journey to find out why Ghana’s atmosphere is so unsupportive of people and their dreams.

On her journey, she encounters millions of Ghanaians like herself holding on to broken dreams and defining wrong outlets to channel their frustrations. She agrees she is not alone, serves as their source of hope and surges on in pursuit of her dream.

She identifies various challenges that cause such limited growth in Ghana yet is unable to implement because of the unsupportive environment she finds herself; needing to know someone before you are granted listening ear, greasing palms before consideration, throwing out your request; getting nothing done because you won’t compromise your standards… After her many attempts at solving, she is left broken in faith with a deep threat to throw her dreams to the curb but can she? The desire is too inherent to ignore.

On one sleepless and frustrated night, stuck, and at a complete loss to her next move with a threatening attempt of suicide on her mind, she wakes up in tears and pours out her heart to her leaders informing of her views on human resource developmental challenges identified in Ghana which she has analyzed and offers strategies to combat them as the only way to see light to her dream and that of the millions like herself. She believes if this is happening in Ghana, then it is happening in most other countries and individuals are suffering.

Wipe my tears, O, Ghana to Kabuki, is that wakeup call to national leaders, political parties, influencers of society, the people and those who matter to pause, reflect and take a critical look at those actual factors that serve as root barriers to national development which when traced would point to investment in developing any nation’s human resource to develop national potential.

CHAPTER 2

KABUKIE’S THEORY

Ghana is no developed nation because national potential is undeveloped. National potential is undeveloped because people are not developed. People are not developed because they (human Resources) are not regarded as priority. They are not seen as priority because leaders have its focus and priorities mixed up. Real talk! If it did not, we would first, not be having this conversation and second, the remedy for eliminating poverty and unemployment would not be collecting dust on my shelves for years because of unsupportive systems!! Anyway, I am not here to attack leaders because we the people ourselves are major causes of our own plight.

Development rises and falls on people, yet, we the people have become so accustomed to self-destructive mechanisms that push us away from success rather than draw us close. Like crabs, we focus on building wrong strategies to pull each other down rather than help each other up. An attempt at success therefore in Ghana is easy target for sabotage.

Knowing how easy it is for an individual standing on a table to be pulled down by a multitude on the ground, I stand in tears wailing for my brothers and sisters who gave up on their dreams and settled; those coming up with dreams, and more, for those who still stand like myself, broken yet refusing to let go of what we all know would be our pot of abundance someday yet having no idea when that someday would be.

Though we know our problems and wish to help ourselves, we are deep in our sin of blinded ignorance and a mindset that takes from us than adds. We are so stuck in old habits that work against us and the only way to see people development in Ghana is when we can break our wrong foundation; standards, priorities, mentalities, values, culture… and rebuild a new one by a focus on learning to unlearn and relearn…

CHAPTER 3

WIPE MY TEARS, O, GHANA

"My name is Kabuki. I woke up one morning mad at the world, at my situation, with my family, friends and everyone around me. Everything around me was in shambles; my life, my room, my career even my hair. Being a supposed perfectionist, it had to be either perfect or not at all. Because perfect is expensive, my bedroom which was such a dream room and enviably the best looking room in the whole house is now the dwelling place for rodents, always an eyesore and such a mess. I am an extremist with the wow factor on both ends whether good or bad so, I leave your imagination to run extremely wild…

…to the uncleaned bathroom and toilet, dirty floor rugs all over the room, dirty clothing thrown across every inch of space, books scattered across the bed and floor, dirty linen in weird corners, unfolded washed clothing dumped in the sofa seat from across the bed mixed with the used ones, empty water bottles spluttered across everywhere; on the lamp post, under the