There was a time when the Atinka family were farmers. They only knew how to farm since that was the only work their predecessors taught them. They had a family land very small but big enough to feed the whole family. Everyday, they went to plant and when it came to harvest, they did it diligently. In the family, the men did most of the farm work (from weeding using cutlasses to planting mainly).
Then the cycle began again as it had for years before. Mr. Atinka had a friend Mr. Akoto,who had been to school in the city and understood the need for change so on visiting his old friend after retirement as a Mechanical Engineer, he decided to introduce to the Atinkas what he knew that could help reduce human labor on the farm and at the same time, increasing farm produce.
Mr. Atinka did not love the idea initially for one simple reason. To him, the question he kept on asking within his mind was, “what if it doesn’t work as promised and we loose everything”. To Mr.Atinka, his family had used a strategy for years and it had worked for generations so why change it now? These were the valid concerns of the head of the Atinka family so he declined the opportunity to retire early and have a residual source of meal for he and his family.
Years went by and he also just like before him was entangled with oldage and his strength failed him. His younger siblings saw this trend and it made them rethink Mr.Akoto’s offer. The new generation saw how their predecessors used their time and strength throughout their whole lifetime just to feed themselves and their family. To them, there was something worth doing with their time other than just farming. They went to Mr.Akoto who agreed to teach them how make mechanical devices that helped to make farm work easier, faster and also required much less human labor. They went on to strike deals with other farmers where they will provide them with their equipment and in turn, the farmers will pay back in food produce.
The point of this story is to bring out the importance of change which is inevitable by the way. It is to show you how the acceptance of a new way of doing things could save generations to come the hustle the old generation went through. Take the blockchain for example, it is a new way for people to build trust and keep track of a myriad of information such as Land titles, Birth Records and a whole lot.
I hope this not so perfect story in a way incites you to look up to the future with hopes of greater joy.