Akwasi Ampong (not his real name) is now one of Ghana’s leading professionals and well sought after expert in his field of endeavour.
He says he owes his current status in life “thanks to my mother who literally sacrificed her life and happiness for my sake... I’m so sad she is not alive to share in this glory with me.” Akwasi is among the millions all over the world who “rise up and call their mothers blessed.”
Generally, most industrious and successful people have had their lives influenced and shaped by their knowledgeable, intelligent and devoted mothers, who like the mother of Moses in the bible, saw that “he was a fine child and she hid him...” against the commandment of Pharaoh that all male born children should be killed.
They may not be rich, literate or powerful; but they are strong and determined to bring out the best in their children, so they can be productive independent adults.
A social worker, Ms Regina Boakye, agrees that mothers have a big responsibility in creating an educative, innovative and productive young generation. She noted that while that principle was applicable to both fathers and mothers, mothers by virtue of their biological nature and role in reproduction were most attuned to their children.
Ms Boakye was addressing members of the Good Women Fellowship of the Adentan Circuit of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) on the Adentan Housing Down church premises. The occasion was the climax of a week-long women conference on the theme: “Women Empowered as Vessels of Honour.”
Mothers as investors
Ms Boakye said mothers had the potential to play the most important role as investors in their children’s education, which she described as a vital process of learning to enhance one’s knowledge and skills in order to better an individual’s standard of living.
“This process,” Ms Boakye said, “is biblical and beneficial for our lives and, therefore, worthy of pursuit.”
The social worker enumerated the various ways in which mothers could invest in their children’s education and said the foremost investment was psychological and started right from the period of conception till delivery.
It involves a mother psyching herself for an intimate relation with the unborn baby, by encouraging and inspiring it with positive words. Ms Boakye explained that for maximum impact, the attunement process, which is key to a child’s education, should continue after the delivery.
Child Development experts attest that if this process is properly handled – then from a baby’s perspective, the feedback on the levels of love and survival are positive; while from a mother’s point of view, she would learn how best to nurture and love her baby.
Moreover, during this process, knowledge is picked up consciously and sub-consciously, placing the child’s mother potentially in the best position to sense and know how her child learns, most effectively, and enjoyably.
This means that a negative disposition during pregnancy undermines the learning potential of a child. It also means that a mother who is unable to nurture her children with love, appreciation and encouragement is grooming that child into a delinquent adult.
Another vital investment a mother should make in her children’s education was social. Ms Boakye pointed out that in this era of countless distractions such as watching pornography on Internet and even in local movies, a mother’s sense of value instilled early in the character formation stages of a child’s life, serves as a buffer against all manner of youthful pressures.
Financial investment
Financial investment is another important measure that a mother should take to ensure her children’s education. Ms Boakye said “these days, there are lots of financial investment opportunities with flexible payment schedules available for even mothers with the smallest of incomes to access.”
She noted that most mothers were unable to make such financial investments “due to an impulsive buying nature, coupled with a lack of appreciation of the need to secure a child’s future through education.”
Ms Boakye was also of the view that training up a child in the fear of God was crucial to securing all the other investments. She said such spiritual investment could be done through intensive prayers by mothers for their children and leading exemplary lives, rather than engaging in gossips, empty talk and laziness.
The social worker stressed that “with such investments from a mother, a child will not end up as a social vice, but will become a confident personality and productive treasure for the society.” She stated that “a wise mother realises that there are seasons in her life and by investing in her children’s lives, she will reap the rewards of their wisdom and good character in her old and fragile period.”
