A Knife Catcher

Quotation Prompt:  If fate throws a knife at you, there are two ways of catching it - by the blade or by the handle.    -Oriental Proverb

A KNIFE CATCHER

    Ben Antwi stood in front of the village and announced the opening of the primary school.  The school gave access to children from the surrounding villages to receive an education.  No one looking at Ben could possibly understand the odds he'd overcame.  His ability to withstand the onslaught of life now gave him the privilege of standing before chiefs, educational leaders, parents and students to declare the official opening of the school in Kwame Boafo, Ghana.

Ten years prior to the opening of the school, Ben Antwi was in Germany trying to survive, just like many of his fellow Ghanaians were at that time. On his return to Ghana he discovered all the money he sent back was mysteriously missing.  The money he spent years working day and night to earn might have been used to build a relative's house. No one was exactly sure where the money was, they were only sure it was no longer available for Ben.  He realized there was nothing he could do about the missing funds; after all, these were his family members. He looked disappointment in the face and said, “I will not give up, I will work hard with the little I brought back in my hand.” Ben took his money and invested it into a small roadside stall which his wife took over. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to survive.

Ben’s hardworking nature soon became apparent to those around him. One man in particular became very interested in Ben and his travels to Germany. The man approached Ben with a business proposition. “Will you take some drugs with you to Amsterdam? You will be paid 15,000 dollars.” Ben did not take long to decide; after all, the funds would finance his family for a long time to come.

A week before he was supposed to fly to Amsterdam, Ben walked to a small church in Dome, Ghana. He planned to receive prayer for protection for the drug run. He sat quietly at the back of the hall waiting for the service to finish. When the Pastor of the church was about to end the service, he looked back at Ben Antwi and said, “Sir, please come here. I have never done this before but God is telling me to tell you something. If you do what you are planning to do, things will not go well with you. He will not protect you. Please do not do whatever it is you have planned to do.”

Ben couldn’t stop crying because he knew this was nothing short of a miracle. No one in the church knew him, so he explained his circumstances for coming to church. Ben feared for his life, he didn’t know what the drug dealers would do to his family if he told them he was not going to go ahead with the plan.  He asked the church to pray for him as he went to get out of the deal.  He was able to extricate himself from the trip to Amsterdam and his family remained safe.

As a result of the miraculous encounter in the church, he spent hours helping the church in whatever way they needed him. At the same time, he worked hard to support his family. Within a few months Ben decided to attend Bible School. While he was at Bible school, he was still working to support his family and helping others. Although life was busy, Ben relaxed into a comfortable routine. His life finally appeared to be free from problems, until one afternoon when he was greeted with devastating news.

Ben’s ten year old daughter, Sofi, rushed in from school, stopping long enough to grab her bucket and run down to the river. Her friends were already there dipping their buckets in the river collecting the daily water for the house.  With every dip of the bucket, the cool water called out to Sofi inviting her to jump in for a refreshing swim. The swollen river caught her by surprise and pulled her under the surface. All attempts to save her life were hopeless; Ben lost his daughter to the river.

Funeral arrangements were made. Everyone told him to rest, but he insisted on taking charge of all the details. No sooner had he buried his daughter, than news arrived from the Northern Region of another death in his family.  Normally a death in the family did not mean there would be a rush to have a funeral; however, because the death was in Northern Ghana the normal custom was for a quick funeral.  Most of the residents in Northern Ghana are Muslim and they bury their dead within 24 hours.  This practice eliminates the need for refrigeration of the bodies. The lack of facilities to preserve the bodies forces others, even the non-Muslims, to bury their dead quickly. Now Ben tucked away his grief for the loss of his daughter to deal with the loss of his mother.  His siblings awaited his arrival, as the eldest son he had to make the important decisions. He contacted his brother in Kumasi instructing him to meet in their village. When he arrived in the village, his brother was not there. Communication was impossible, so after waiting for a day the funeral had to proceed. Ben was furious with his brother for his absence. Didn’t his brother understand the strain he was under? Couldn’t he make the effort to come for his own mother’s funeral?  After the funeral, he drove to Kumasi with all intentions of giving his brother a piece of his mind.  Unfortunately, Ben did not have a chance to talk to his brother. When he arrived at his brother’s residence he was greeted with the tragic news of his brother’s death.

Ben’s brother had worked at a saw mill. He intended  to attend his mother’s funeral, but he thought he had time to fix one of the machines in the saw mill. The other workers left him alone when he tested the machine. He lost control of the machine, and it sliced him in half. In a matter of ten days, Ben Antwi had lost three of his family members. Despite the onslaught, he returned to Accra with a deep conviction. 

A group of people gathered around him, on the Friday night after his return. They wanted him to know they were there for him and they cared about what he was going through. Ben stood up in front of the group and said, “I will admit this has not been an easy time for me, but I will also tell you this: I do not plan to give up! I can choose to sit here and weep over what has happened, or I can move forward and accomplish things which need to be done. I choose to move forward. Please come with me and let us move forward together!”

I was at the meeting when Ben stood up bravely to declare his determination to move on and accomplish great things. There was not a dry eye in the building. Whatever problems we each brought to the meeting were quickly discarded as we agreed with Ben to move forward.

Ben Antwi graduated from Bible School and went to a village called Kwame Boafo. He negotiated with the Chief for a large piece of land with the promise he would start a farming project and a school. The farming project now gives jobs to most of the villagers. The farming project supports the running of the school. On the hot day of March 2006, Ben Antwi stood up to officially declare the school open. It had been running for two years, but this was the day the education ministry declared the school a legal educational body. They lauded Ben for his efforts in seeing the school come into existence. I’m not sure if Ben ever heard the proverb: "If fate throws a knife at you, there are two ways of catching it - by the blade or by the handle", but I know his life bears evidence of his ability to catch the knives by the handle and not the blade. 


Word Count : 1,281 (excluding prompt)