Yen ara y'asase ni

Who remembers the song "Ghana, my happy home" ?

I was so homesick in my first year of college that I sang that song aaah. I screeched it in my head papa (tr: I sang it a whole lot).

These days, I have a much better handle on my homesickness, so I dont have to comfort myself with the song which I actually never even sang in primary school (NRL deprived us of some small pleasures. But we'll live). However, my love affair with the land of my birth is still going strong.

I wont bore y'all with a whole long dissertation about what works or doesnt work in Ghana. Those can be for another post. But I want to wish the land of my birth, the nation which for better or worse has shaped me and all my other brothers and sisters, the country of people who entertain, encourage and annoy me etc etc etc

I just want to wish Ghana and her children a very very happy 52nd birthday.

And while we reflect on how far we've come/how far behind we still are, let us think about Ephraim Amu's "Yen ara y'asase ni" (tr: this is our own native land). The chorus reminds us that it is the character and behavior of its citizens that will determine whether or not we prosper. Not Yankee, not hipic, not ecowas, not AU- nah we noo wei we go do am.

(p.s. sorry to all non-akan readers/speakers. I dont have the translation for the song, and I cant translate all of it. )

Yɛn ara asaase ni
Ɛyɛ abɔdenden ma yɛn
Mogya a nananom hwie gu, nya de too hɔ maa yɛn
Aduru me ne wo nso so
Sɛ yɛbɛyɛ bi atoa so
Nimdeɛ ntraso nkotokrane ne apɛsɛmenkomenya
Ato yɛn bra mo dem na ye'sase ho do atɔm sɛ
Adi yɛn bra mu dɛm ama yen Asaase hɔ do atɔmu sɛ

Chorus 2x
Ɔman no sɛ ɛbɛ yɛ yie oo
Ɔman no se ɛnyɛ yie oo
Ɛyɛ sɛ na ɔsɛ, ɔmanfo bra na yɛnnkyerɛ