I dedicate this note to my little sweetie pie, Emma Kenyon, my superhero and inspirational icon for August 2011.
I call this our generation the unpredictable blackberry-totting, and a fad-craze one that has mutated the mobile phone youth culture. The day this generation was birthed; self centeredness was transported onto this planet in an UFO, for we are unreasonably capable of attacking our own neighbours just because there are riots. Our sense of belonging and responsibility can sometimes go on holidays in Malta to ride camels, or maybe to a Caribbean beach resort indulging in sun tanning.
Our fun-loving ladies adore their hair gels and the well groomed guys are gym-frequenters with well erected muscles ever ready for any hedonic expedition. And if you care to know, our life culture can sometimes be as inspiring and predictable as it’s brash and crass.
But let’s just say that there is an emerging action oriented and energetic generation which has taken their destiny into their own hands, found inspiration in an extraordinary creed to change their world and are whispering aloud to us to get out of their way if we think it’s not possible and better make an all day good impression of ourselves like a cow in a china shop.
Believe it or not, the kids are on fire and their conviction is as real as a NATO bomb raid in Tripoli. One of my principles as a community organizer is to share and spread inspirations and so if I know a 10yr old Jamaican-English girl and have read about an 11yr old Ghanaian boy throwing the kitchen sink to raise funds to support their fellow drought victims in Somalia, I wouldn’t just admit, “that is inspiring”, but would as well pick a quill, dip it into ink, and tattoo a gymnastic graffiti for the entire world to read. They are my heroes, they are my real child celebrities and yes, they are salvation to the horn of Africa.
Emma Kenyon, 10, my pretty and adorable family and church friend is a Ranger; she leads the way- Emma spent her school holidays making bookmarks to sell for the Somalia Drought Appeal. She’s realized £50 so far by selling 40 bookmarks out of the 250 she has produced so far. Emma’s marketing strategy is simple and precise- she sells her crafts after church service when the congregation has just been fired up by sermon to show love and compassion. What a creativity, what an innovation, and yes, it is coming from a 10yr old.
Andrew Adansi-Boamah, 11, Ghana- Now this boy blows my mind apart with an RPG. I first heard of him when I had been invited by a local radio station in Accra, Ghana called Radio Gold to grant an interview about our Share-Your-Lunch social media initiative. Andrew had granted an interview on the same program the day before. The host of the Morning Show gave me a play back of his interview, and inspired and shocked to the core, my words were remanded in custody by the throat.
During his eight-week school holiday, Andrew made a pledge to raise 20 million Ghanaian cedis ($13 million) for the children in Somalia by walking office to office collecting donations in Ghana's capital, Accra. Since August 1, when he started the fundraising, he has collected about $6,500 in pledges for the fund he started after consulting with UNICEF and the U.N.'s World Food Program.
According to Andrew, he was inspired by images of skeletal babies and stick-thin children he saw on television, which led him to name his campaign ‘Save Somali Children from Hunger’. After the interview, he put the icing on the cake, "This is a moment that mankind can touch lives," he said. "There is no point for others to have so much to eat while others have nothing to eat. It is not right."
I’m currently talking to people who might know Andrew so I can book an appointment just for an autograph. But as for Emma, very soon, and maybe one chilly winter evening in Christmas, after eating Jamaican food together, I would swallow her up in a bear hug.
No comments:
Post a Comment