In the afternoon David Kanji is
scurrying along the busy streets of
East Legon in Accra, in the
scorching sun, chasing after cars to
sell recharge cards, in the evening
he is at lectures, learning to fulfil
his dream to become a marketing
consultant.
That pretty much would have
summed up the story of David until
you engage him in a chat, then the
story changes from that of a young
man struggling to make life
better to that of a classic story of
perseverance, hardwork and
commitment.
“I have been doing this for the past
five years. I started selling
[recharged cards] during my
Polytechnic days in 2009”, David
explains, beads of sweat trickling
down his cheeks from his forehead.
“It is not easy being on the Sun. It's
a very challenging job”, he
continued, the passion in his eyes
piercing through his words.
The Ghana Institute of Management
and Public Administration (GIMPA),
where David has enrolled in the
evening to study BA Marketing does
not charge cheap.
David Kanji pays not less than GH
¢2,000 ($550) a semester. Even for
Ghana's middle class, the
unfavourable economic conditions
would mean it would not be
inexpensive to pay that amount
as tuition, and when transportation
costs, cost of food and
accommodation add to the
expenditure mix, the average
Ghanaian is sure to feel the pinch..
But the stout, firm-fisted man from
the Ntsumuru District, close to the
Krachi West District of the Volta
Region says he is unperturbed by
costs to get educated.
“There is a drive that is pushing me
to go forward”, the man who
is 'Class Rep' for his GIMPA course
mates said. That drive is the dream
to be a marketing consultant.
David says selling on the street
became an option after several
attempts to secure a job at banks
and insurance companies failed.
“I have submitted my application to
a lot of companies and attended a
lot of interviews. I was told in some
instances that I would be called but
I am yet hear from any of them. I
don't know whether it is because of
my schooling. But I am hoping and
trusting God that everything will
work together for good”, David
recounts.
Does he feel ashamed when his
lecturers and course mates stop to
buy mobile recharge cards from
him? “[He laughs] I don't mind” was
his answer.
What about his girlfriend?
"Girlfriend? No, no, no. I am not
interested. I can;t take a girl", was
his answer.
“Hardwork, faithfulness and
commitment” David explains, have
been his guiding principles for more
than thirty years of his difficult
existence.
David Kanji's parents have all died.
He is the seventh of eight children.
All his siblings are in Ntsumuru
District located in the northern part
of the Volta Region – on the fringes
of the Northern Region of Ghana.
He explains that his quest to
liberate himself through education
has not been easy. From lower
primary through to Junior High, it
has been a though experience. But
still David looks up with hope.
David's father and mother died while
he (David) was in Junior High
School level 2, and that marked the
beginning of his long and tiring
effort to break through the walls of
formal education.
By raising one hundred yam mounds
for farmers at Ntsumuru District for a
paltry fee of GH¢1 – in what he
called “work and pay” – he
managed to fund the remaining one
year of his Junior High education.
But David Kanji's battle to excel in
life through formal education had
just started.
At Ntsumuruman Presbyterian Senior
High School. He sometimes had to
sit in class the whole day without
anything in his rumbling stomach.
He studied, raised some more yam
and cassava mounds on other
people's farms, owed his school and
almost everybody some money but
eventually managed to complete
Senior High school.
To enable him enter the Polytechnic
to take his High National Diploma
(HND) in Marketing at the Koforidua
Polytechnic he came to Accra to
work.
But after jaunts at several menial
jobs that paid a pittance as salary,
he decided to sell mobile recharge
cards.
“People will always recharge their
mobile phones”, he said. “So I
decided to enter that business after
a friend introduced me to it”.
David Kanji revealed, reluctantly,
though that he makes an average of
GH¢20 a day as profit. “From this I
eat, I pay my fees and pay for my
hostel”.
“I would like to tell everybody that
they shouldn't look up to people to
solve their problems. We can solve
our own problems. If we put
ourselves together, try to identify
the problems that are facing us and
develop a good strategy and
implement them we can make it”.
So far David has identified his
problems. He has a strategy and he
is implementing them. “People
should not look down on
themselves”, David advises.
He hopes to get a better job – one
that will not make him meander
dangerously through moving traffic.
“I believe that things will change”,
he says. Story by Ghana |
Myjoyonline.com | George Nyavor |
george.nyavor@myjoyonline.com
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