“Where you will sit when you are old shows where you stood in your youth.” – African proverb
Dear Santa,
I have always wondered why you never visit Africa. Frankly, I have had to write to you because many of the children on the continent have been asking about you. Interestingly, many parents and adults cannot answer their queries because they also did not experience you. Every year, we hope you will come… but you never do. Why are you in so many places in Europe and America on Christmas Day, but no child in Africa has ever spoken of being visited by you? We even hear you are known in China as Sheng dan lao ren. I thought very few Chinese celebrate Christmas.
Santa, your absence from our continent is worrying. What message are you conveying to our children? Because we have been taught that you reward children who have been good all-year round. Is your absence due to the fact that we have no chimneys, or it is the case that our children are naughty? Do you know even those who are brave enough to attempt writing to you and are ridiculed?
And if you care to know, Christmas mornings are not as exciting as we would wish them to be. It is true that we will eat lots of jollof and chicken, and have biscuits with lots of soda. But that is not the same as staying up on the eve of Christmas just to catch a glimpse of Santa, and the moment you fall asleep he comes in with your gift. At least, that is what we have heard from the stories told about you by the children who have had a taste of your kindness.
Please let us know what we have done wrong to deserve this cold treatment from you. There is something you need to know. Our children do not look forward to receiving any presents from you; so they are not motivated to be good and do good. Many of the adults who propagate corruption on the continent did not start out without an inspiration to do good because you never made an appearance in their childhood. You can probably understand why they have grown up into adults who do not care to develop their own society. They would rather steal its resources than allow any creative and compassionate person to develop and implement solutions that would enlarge the cake for all to get a piece of it.
You might have heard we like the blame-game. We are good at that. I am highlighting this because whenever I am asked about why things are the way they are, I push part of the blame on you. I really think you should own up to that. If only you had been visiting children in our part of the world, many of them would have been nurtured into doing good and it would have become a part of them, such that we would have had a lot of good people in our politics and life would have been better than the misery we go through every day. Your absence has made life so complicated for us. You did not inspire us to dream as little children. It is also the reason we cannot come up with innovative solutions to the challenges around us.
My dearest Santa, we also heard that when St. Nicholas passed the baton on to you, he left all his wealth in your care. Today, I want to remind you that we have not had a taste of it. I have got a feeling the old saint is unhappy with you. Do you remember one of the kindnesses he performed while alive was secretly giving a bag of gold coins to each of three poor sisters so they would have a dowry and could find husbands?
Maybe you have never been to Africa, but we are quite poor even though we have all the resources and more. None of us out here would be surprised if the gold the sisters received came from one of our mines. Today, however, we need some of those gold coins to pay for dowries and the festivities of marriage. Too many of our young ones are unmarried because they cannot afford the financial obligations.
Yesterday, I said a prayer to St. Nicholas about your behaviour. He has not responded yet. I asked him why the normal euphoria that comes along with the festive season is also missing this year. I wanted to be sure you are not holding back the wind from blowing. It is no secret that we always find ways to mess-up life a bit. But we have never ever dared to mess up Christmas. How can we fulfil our desire of meeting you if we try our tricks on the festive season? Did your elves tell you that over the last decade we have been importing Christmas trees and decorating them? We have been quite hopeful recently, but you have still not done us any honours.
My dear Santa, are you challenged in any way? Maybe we could help if you talked about it. I know the sun melts the snow on your sledge every time you enter the continent, and your reindeer cannot stand the heat. Rumour also has it that your elves complain we do not have fairies to cheer them on. Please understand that you do not need your normal crew and equipment. Over here, we have dwarfs and Kwaku Ananse. They are not flashy and faithful, but they are quite resourceful. You just have to appreciate the bunch of tricks up their sleeves, and they will get you anywhere you want to be whenever you want.
I am looking forward to your reply. I want to help bring you to Africa. You would enjoy our courtesies. Some say it is a bundle of hypocrisy, but the foreigners who have had a taste of it swear it’s better than royalty. At least, come once; and if you do not like it, you can write us off. Please come. We are waiting.
Yours sincerely,
The Child who became an Adult waiting for Santa.
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Kodwo Brumpon is a partner at Brumpon & Kobla Ltd, a forward-thinking Pan African management consultancy and social impact firm driven by data analytics, with a focus on understanding the extraordinary potential and needs of organisations and businesses to help them cultivate synergy that catapults them into strategic growth and certifies their sustainability.
Comments, suggestions and requests for talks and training should be sent to him at kodwo@brumponand kobla.com
