“Bus stop!” the bus conductor (driver’s mate) blurted out. I heaved a sigh of relief because the drive to Kaneshie had been longer than usual and it was no less on a day when I was so late, just two days after resolving to go to work early (do resolutions really work? If it does for you, please help me out). But like the little boy in the Camel soap advert, “it’s not my fault!’ After months of hot days, the rains decided to come at dawn and oh yeah, I just forgot it was a week day and pulled the blanket over my head with the hope of sleeping for 30minutes which lasted for 2 hours. You can imagine my frustration when I woke up and realized I was running late. I knew I could not leave the house without having a time of fellowship with my Father (especially today, when one would need supernatural direction at all cost).
As I had my devotion, I prayed the rains would pour heavily (‘abi’ you catch) but not too heavy to render others homeless. If my little cousins heard this prayer of mine, they would have ganged up on and eventually beat me (individually I can beat them but if they join forces, am sure it would be a different story. Please don’t ask for a recount of such experience, I don’t intend to share it) because today is OUR DAY. Yes! Our Day! Do you remember those days (am sure someone reading this would say his/her school was too international for such things. Too bad, you missed then)? I could hear them sing “rain rain go away, go and come another day, little children want to go to Our Day, rain rain go away”. Their song sent me down my childhood memory lane. How I looked forward to Our Day while in the basic school. The only thing that marred Our Day in my school was the fact that cooked meals were not allowed to be brought from homes (whether it was for our parents’ good or for the school’s benefit as the school canteen provided it I would never know).
Even though it was quite disappointing for we the children, the parents especially the mothers were happy because it spared them the trouble of waking up at dawn to cook the Ampesi, Banku, Konkonte, Mpotopoto, Tuo Zaafi (Ghanaian dishes). Did I hear you say, you sent the Fried Rice and Chicken, Potato chips and Chicken and burgers? Hmm, my dear friend, this was what I dreamt of sending to Our Day. Nevertheless, Our Day was still fun. There were lots of toffees, chocolate, biscuits, cookies, drinks and delicious food from the school’s canteen. The one who made my Our Day always memorable was one of my favourite teachers, Mr. Quartey. He was my class 5 teacher. He loved to pamper me and my squad (P.I.A – don’t ask for the meaning). It wasn’t that we were teachers’ pets but……… aha we had favour from our teachers.
The excitement with which my cousins called out to me to tell me they were leaving brought me back to adulthood. Yes! Your guess is right. The rains have stopped. It’s true what the Bible says, God loves little children. No wonder their prayers got to Him, answered before mine reached there and like Isaac said to Esau, “I have given almost everything to younger brother”. Though it may seem He didn’t answer my prayer, He actually did because, I have previously asked Him to remove all obstacles that make me less hardworking from my path and today that obstacle is the rains.
Realizing, there was no escape for me to miss work, I quickly finished my devotion, packed breakfast, got dressed, boarded a troski (public transport) and now at Kaneshie waiting for the people who were not late to alight (if they were, they wouldn’t be alighting the way they were doing) and as usual I was in the back seat of the troski.
I gently and politely brushed the chit chat the driver’s mate was making with me with a smile and quickly zoomed out to get to the La Paz (please this is the suburb in Accra of Ghana) station. As quickly as my legs would allowed, I walked only to be stopped by the call of a woman selling drinks, “Energy drink, energy drink, nkoraa no b3 ko Our day, to bi ma wom (I know my Twi is not good when I write it, I studied Ga and if you don’t know the meaning, here is the translation; Energy drink, energy drink for the children who would go for Our Day, buy some for them).
Energy drink for Our Day? What energy do children need on Our Day for them to take energy drink? Should children take energy drink? Who should take energy drink?
Share with me and the rest of the world what you know about energy drinks and other issues posted here via of Olime Health’s social media platforms.
Till then, eat healthy and complement it with exercise.