A WEEKEND AT ZONGO

Allahu-akbar, Allahu- Akbar; the call for duty, the call for responsibility, the call for sincerity, the call for worship and a new beginning; the Adhan is heard. The young man in Zongo wakes up with fatigue written all over his face just because he had a few hours of sleep last night. He has abandoned his sleep because he has heard the call for submission, the beginning of a new dawn, the sound of a new life worthy of making a difference in the lives of the people in his society. The young man comes back from the mosque with a pure and cleansed heart. He hopes that his sins be forgiven and prayers answered by his creator. He lies down on his back thinking about nothing except where the next meal would be coming from.

Nnaa-kwana, how was your sleep? Our young man greets the old woman in the house. She responds nicely and then says; I have no left overs, she already knows what he is and what he has been asking for. Feeling disappointed, he gets ready to take his bath and try making ends meet. He walks along the poor graved road heading towards Antie Muni’s Koko joint where he puts his last hope for breakfast. She sees him and with a warm welcome of a beautiful smile and a sense of love, she says; "don’t be sad about the empty koko container, yours is specially reserved for you in that jag, help me pack my things into the taxi and it’s yours". With passion and pleasure, Nagode, he responds in respect and submission. At least the sweet aroma of very hot Koko and the sparkling oil spills on five rings of Kose gives him reason to have the first smile of the day. "I surely will enjoy this" he says;

Mohammed, Awuche! Awuche!! Awuche!!!, Shariff calls and says; "Hajia Nafisa is getting married today and the groom wants you to help us work on the cow, Quick! Quick!" With his Koko and Kose in hand, he runs as fast as he can and jumps into an old Nissan hard body to join Shariff and others. Oops! A little cut on the knee as a result of the jump. 'Bad one there' says One Barron as he speeds on the rough road to Hajia Nafisa’s house. With a feeling of happiness written all over everyone's face, Mohammed is happy because he will make some money that may last him a day or two.

Behind the house, Alhaji Ishaq cries out. As an unprofessional in slaughtering, Mohammed stands aside and waits for the action to be done and then after he joins them and all hands on deck. After an hour or more, the women came for the meat. Feeling very tired, he relaxes in a plastic chair few meters from the DJ Bayawa, who is holding it down for the day trying to acknowledge the beauty and the uniqueness of life. Just before he was eluded by sleep,  he heard, once again the call for peace, submission and worship.The Ikhamat for Zhur prayer wakes him up and this time, he had to pray alone because he missed the congregation. As a good Muslim he felt sad and walks with a long face from the nar by mosque to Hajia’s house and just as he got in the mist of his pals, A mountain of rice standing up right in a big bowl gives him reason to smile again. Without washing his hands, he quickly runs to join his friends and start eating.

He must be very hungry, because he still looks unsatisfied as he lies on a bench isolated from the crowd. You must be Samira, the sister of Hajia Nafisa; he asked a young lady as she walks pass him to serve food. Yes she replied. Without hesitating, she gives him a ball of Kenkey and canned fish when he asked for more food because she knew he was a very good friend of her sister. Nagode, he thanked her and finished it in no time, but he made sure he was not too full so as to be able to finish the job given to him by Baba Musah, a very impatient farmer in his late70’s.He leaves Hajia’s house immediately after  praying Asr  for Baba Musah’s plot of land. With a very good machete, the work was done in 30 min.

Baba Musah, feeling angry and desperate for the 10 min delay of work, gave him GH¢2 for 2 acres of land. Feeling very disappointed, he takes it in shame, but he was not soo sad because he knows that such are the principles of life; sometimes you are up, the next moment you are garbage. Not minding how small he was given, he gives one cedi to Baba Ali, an old beggar and receives lots of thanks for that. As he walks towards Imam Abdullah’s house for earlderly advice, Shariff faithfully gives him ten cedis, his own share of the work they did for Hajia Nafisah and confessed how grateful she was. He was so happy because his prayer has been answered. He tries to make a short chat so that he can get more advice from his Imam.

Salamualaik, Mohammed approached his Imam with a greeting of peace. He responds warmly and offered Mohammed a seat and local tea-ataya- as usual. Imam Abdullah could not say a lot because it was almost time for Magrib prayers which they did together.

On his way home, he tried to remember the advice that he was given but he could not. Who knows may be he was carried away by the little token from Hajia Nafisah. But one quote that rounded up the advice of which he will never forget was “success might seem only a word but takes time to spell”

He tried to analyze the meaning and just as he needed someone to help him do that, there came Munta, a very intelligent school mate of his and just like Mohammed, he also dropped out of school due to financial constraints.  Munta like Mohammed was heading towards the mosque after hearing the Adhan for Isha prayers, the last of the compulsory prayers.

He Mohammed sat with Latif, Mugis, Abu, Nasir and three other ladies; Fati, Oloye and Nasiba who are all interested in making a difference in their society as usual. After three hours of peaceful and harmonious argument, they came to a conclusion that success can be achieved only through patience and taking advantage of the right opportunity.

After departing, our young man heads towards his single room with just a little radio, a mat and his Quran as well as his buta (kettle) to keep him company. At the end, he lies on his back and says these words as always; “the things that I do every day will determine who I will become tomorrow. Life is a struggle but at the end it all makes it fun. Nature gives me not what I deserve, but what I fight for. It’s only a matter of time, the world will hear my cry, falsehood will come and die and the truth will come alive. Insha Allah, tomorrow will be a better day” he smiles and then goes to bed full of hope for the beginning of new era that might be the turning point in his life.

Indeed, this is how the day ends for numerous young Muslims like Mohammed who are tirelessly trying to make a difference in their lives and that of others as well. This indeed, is a lovely weekend, in a lovely place like Zongo, for a lovely young man like Mohammed.