Humanity and the Nature of Man

2013 by Ebsen William Amarteifio Bsc (Hons). All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 12/16/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-9791-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-9792-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-9793-1 (e)

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Preface

Inspiration Behind This Book

Mrs Reffell’s Letter

The Obnoxious Landlord, The Supercilious Ambassador, And The Religious Charlatans

The Gun Man

The Iniquity Of Man

The Syrian Conflict

And Child Refugees

The Betrayal

We Are Family:

The Global Family

Lending A Hand

Humanity

Compassion And Providence

Amartsewe Playhouse Presents ‘The Good Samaritan

In Our Time’

An Abominable Human Act

International And

National Charities

International And

National Humanitarians

Cable Network News (Cnn) Hero Of The Year Award 2012

Humanity And The Nature Of Man—What The Papers Say

You Have Not Walked Alone

Bibliography

About The Author

Dedication

I dedicate this book to the memory of my father, George Agoe Amarteifio, and all humanitarians everywhere.

I also dedicate it to my mother, Elizabeth A. Nunoo, who always has the Bible at hand to quote and accentuate a moral point.

To my wife, Susie, and children, Wilma and Jason; not forgetting my brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces, in the extended family.

In the last fourteen years I have worked in a specialist psychiatric unit. Our service users are mainly young adult females. It can be depressing caring for these intelligent and creative young people who are battling with anorexia. We are professionals, and therefore we keep a stiff upper lip and carry on regardless.

I remember in particular one girl who had singlehandedly given hell to the day staff. Well, when I took over the night shift, I approached her. She had this I-am-ready-for-you face. I said, Well, madam, I had a fight at home before coming to work. I do not want another one. I want a quiet life. For a moment, she held onto the stony, uncompromising face. She then gave a wry smile. Of course, I smiled back. The rest of the staff and I had the quietest of shifts for many a night.

It has to be noted that nothing is more rewarding than seeing these young people recover from the clutches of anorexia and re-engage positively with their families, friends, and members of the Multi-Disciplinary Team.

I therefore also dedicate this book to all these young service users, the staff, especially the current crop of young, responsible, and intelligent health care assistants (graduates in other disciplines) who are doing a splendid job. If I do not mention them, they would cease rescuing me during my daily struggle on the computer. More grease to your elbows, dear friends.

PREFACE

If any character in this book is identified as white, black, Christian, Muslim, etc., it is purely coincidental. The emphasis is on the human being.

Although certain people in some countries or societies in the world may be noted for a particular type of unpleasant behaviour, I maintain that ‘white’, ‘black’, ‘Christian’, ‘Muslim’, etc., are just labels. What matters is what makes the individual a human being.

Humanity is in abundance everywhere, but sadly the devil rears its nefarious head everywhere from time to time.

The history of the world is littered with conflicts, slavery, oppression, racism, injustice, poverty, dictatorships, corruption, exploitation, religious persecution, terrorism, disease, natural disasters and many more adversities.

The machinery of elected governments, dictatorships, councils, and official international bodies all over the world is expected to cope with whatever emanates from any of the above stated problems. These and many more have beset mankind from time immemorial.

The reality is, the world over, this machinery has time after time been woefully inadequate. If not for charities, churches, individuals, and humanitarians everywhere, the world would have been an even sadder place for humanity.

INSPIRATION BEHIND THIS BOOK

When my younger sister, Aurora, went to the United States some years ago, she told me how she and her then husband had to walk a long distance to their home in New Jersey whenever they missed the bus.

One Saturday, during a visit to her former brother-in-law’s house, they met a gentleman also from Ghana. In conversation the gentleman enquired about her maiden name. Amarteifio, she answered.

Which part of Accra do you come from? he asked.

Korle Gonno.

Is your father tall?

Yes.

Fair complexion?

Yes.

The pharmacist?

Yes.

He has a drugstore near the Accra Salaga Market.

Yes.

Mr George Amarteifio!

Yes!

My sister explained that our father had already passed away.

The gentleman remained quiet for a while and then stated, Your father saved our family.

He went on to give a glowing list of our father’s kindness and generosity.

He had also heard about the long walk home after work. Exactly a week after meeting my sister and her husband, the gentleman sought out their address. He arrived at their home, driving a nice used car. He then handed it over to them as a gift. Aurora and her husband could not believe how generous the man had been.

The kindness our father showed many years back in Accra was paid back several times over in New Jersey, USA. Our father used to say, Do (good) unto others as you would like them to do unto other people.

Well, on that occasion, the benefit came back to his daughter. Aurora used the car for some years, and when she took up a new position in a bank, she passed it on to her Nigerian friend free of charge.

George, author’s father

MRS REFFELL’S LETTER

I was looking through some letters last year when I saw Mrs Reffell’s letter dated 11 April 1978. I thought of sharing the contents, written almost thirty-five years ago. This is not an attempt to point out how honest I am, not at all. After all, my parents, Madam Elizabeth Nunoo (still quoting from the Bible) and George A. Amarteifio (of Blessed Memory) and my maternal grandmother, Beatrice Nunoo (also of Blessed Memory), wound not countenance any other type of behaviour from me—and for that matter all my siblings (the ‘Blooming Lot’).

The main reason I used the letter is that Mrs Reffell was always prim and proper in appearance and behaviour. This is the sort of person some of us in the black community might perceive to belong to a certain political party with unfavourable laws. She could have collected her purse, just thanked me, and walked away. If she had, I would have been satisfied. However she went out of her way, phoning my employers, lavishing me with praise, and also writing the letter. In my opinion, the majority of the prim and proper people are fair and therefore in personal situations they do not reflect the party line.

I never knew that she had been watching me during her visits. She would come, get her petrol, and drive off after paying. I never served her prior to the incident. I was standing in for a cashier when she left her purse.

It is almost thirty-five years now. I wonder what Mrs Reffell would make of this era of selfishness, avarice, and deplorable public behaviour.

THE OBNOXIOUS LANDLORD, THE SUPERCILIOUS AMBASSADOR, AND THE RELIGIOUS CHARLATANS

The university undergraduates signed the collective tenancy contract of ten months. I signed on behalf of my son. I was the only parent present. Later, unknown to any of us, the landlord illegally altered and increased the duration of the tenancy by two months.

When the students eventually discovered the illegal alteration, he claimed he had done it at the behest of the lead tenant. However, the lead tenant denied it. Even if the landlord was telling the truth, how could he have listened to one person when the contract was ‘collective’?

I also became aware that he used my name as guarantor for all the tenants, not just my son. When the other tenants defaulted and were intent on not paying their rent, the landlord charged my son a one-off ‘penalty’ of £75.00 to enable him to pay his rent directly to him. Effectively this new arrangement undermined the collective contract.

During the summer holidays of 2009, the landlord did not go to his property at Eggington Road, Brighton, England, to collect his rent. Those living in the house were the lead tenant and his sister. He waited till the last week in September and served a repossession order through the county court.

The Ambassador. I rang the mission in East Africa to inform him that his son was in arrears with his rent, which he had refused to settle. He returned my call within about forty-five minutes. He was so arrogant you would think he was speaking to a fifteen-year-old. Calmly, I confirmed that the landlord had reported that his son owed money. He then promised to speak to his son and ring back. However, he failed to ring back. Complaints I made to their embassy in London were not heeded. One of the letters I wrote to him at the East African mission was returned intact. Fully aware of the implications of a court case, I continued and wrote to both the London embassy and the mission in East Africa. Nobody could help me, not even a note of acknowledgement.

The Reverend. The parents of the second tenant are both reverends of a charismatic church. I wrote letters to enlighten them about the repercussions of the substantial rent arrears, but these were not answered. Most of the phone calls I made either went to voicemail or were ignored. Once I rang and the father told me through the female who received my call that he was ‘busy’.

When the case went to court and was adjourned after only forty-five minutes, he walked to me and pleaded, Forgive me. I had already forgiven him, but I will never forget how these ministers of the church and the now retired ambassador treated me. These are people who should have been exemplary in behaviour. They even knew that on a couple of occasions their children had been disrespectful to me.

My solicitor, whom I eventually paid about £700, advised against a second hearing. The rationale was that since the ambassador’s children-lead tenant and sister were in the property for the extra two months without paying, we were bound to lose the case and incur another court cost.

The out-of-court settlement bill came to almost £8,000. When the tenants’ deposit was deducted, a net figure of almost £6,000 was left. The reverend’s son wanted to pay his part by instalments. My son did not owe a penny, but lost his deposit of £500. Even more gallingly, because the contract was ‘collective’, he was liable to pay part of the amount being demanded by the landlord’s solicitors. I refused to pay by instalments. Firstly, there was a substantial interest on it. Secondly, and more importantly, I did not want to deal with the landlord anymore. One important factor was that I did not want my son’s name to appear on the County Court Register. Prior to the court case he got a third party to send threatening phone calls to my house at different times of the day. What was most irritating of all was that the landlord knew that my son was the only one who paid all his rent money and on time each occasion.

I had to borrow £5,000 with interest from the bank to settle the case out of court. Having paid the amount, I then had to go through almost two and a half years of heartache trying to trace the reverend’s son. I paid a total of £535 for the small claims court to seek redress. When the bailiffs went to the family house, they were told that he no longer lived there. No forwarding address was given, although the bailiffs explained the nature of their visit.

The ambassador’s son and his sister had fled the property to Nairobi when the repossession order was served. Three years on, I have managed by chance to locate the reverend’s son. He has signed an agreement to pay his amount over nine months. The bulk of the amount is owed by the ambassador’s son. Yet again letters and phone calls from me, but not a penny realised.

During the court case I thought the judge, a mature lady, would examine the case and apportion blame accordingly. She appeared inpatient and adjourned the case without allowing my solicitor to expose the illegal practices of the landlord.

I have officially retired, but I continue