HARD WORK

Author Jerome K. Jerome once wrote, “I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.”

My first trip to Ghana was fascinating in every respect. Unlike Jerome, though, it bothered me a bit that I was constantly surrounded by people working so much harder than I was!

It wasn’t because I was being lazy. It is that survival is a powerful motivator.

And I – the relative slacker - even went so far as to interrupt their work, asking questions and taking pictures.

I interrupted fishermen, pepper farmers, traders, cooks, and hardware store owners. I asked them about their jobs and how early they started each morning and when their workday ended. I asked about their families. Sometimes I asked them what would happen if they didn’t have access to Mission Resource loans. The typical response to that question was a shake of the head and the words, “Big problem!”

Lack of access to affordable capital was the one thing that could slow or stop their hard work. 

And these folks could not afford to slow down or stop.