It is Christmas eve, yet the financial jargons have joined the Christmas carols on the news wave, flying around again amid the stock market fall. The FTSE Index, The Dow Jones, NASDAQ, S&P, MTD, YTD…the list goes on and on. I am sure you have come across the hullabaloo of the stock market fall in your news feed by now.
Raila Odinga, a former Prime Minister of Kenya, once said “…they say that when America sneezes, Europe catches cold, Asia develops pneumonia and Africa’s tubercolosis gets worse.”
But I know my uncle Agyemfra will not agree with Raila.
My uncle Agya Kwaku Agyemfra, who lives in a very modest, simple house in my village (not mortgaged, of course), with his wife and six grandchildren. He does not draw a pension. He lives off his small farm, has never held a bank account, and has never sought or been offered a bank loan for obvious reasons. Of course, all those other fancy financial jargons do not mean anything to him, for he lives entirely outside the system. Since he enjoys no electricity, he has no TV or any other modern gadgetry, his major luxury being a constantly malfunctioning battery-operated transistor radio. The concept of rising bills is therefore beyond his grasp. He only relies on a trusty, if rather charming, rickety bicycle to get along, so rising fuel prices are not much of an issue for him. Whiles others toss in bed at night worried about the security of their home, their savings and their jobs, My uncle Agyemfra, in contrast, continues to sleep soundly at night.
Christmas back home throws up its own gastronomic delights. In some households, this is one of the occasions when the long-suffering chicken makes a rare appearance on the household menu, with the succulent thigh reserved for the man of the house, of course. Other rare treats, especially for children, include ‘chips’ (the flour variety, mind you), cakes and salad. The kids tend to linger as long as possible over these delicacies, for the next Christmas is twelve distant months away. It is easy to take these for granted when living abroad, in which case Christmas treats include mince pies, Christmas pudding and turkey.
For some workers back home, Christmas starts around the 23rdDecember, through to the 3rd January or thereabouts. The system almost literally shuts down throughout this period. After all, who wants to go off work for Christmas, be back for a few days, only to go off again for New Year? By contrast, at overseas, it may make financial sense to be available for work even on Christmas Day, since the pay rate for that day is usually double, in some cases even triple the normal rate.
How you celebrate Christmas holidays depends on your location and social media feeds influence, but if you’re like my Uncle Agyemfra, the former will be your only option.
Happy Holidays!
©Harry Tetteh
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