Cutting the umbilical cord

The safest way to avoid major tests in your life is to decide not to fulfill your vision. In other words, just decide not to be yourself, and you won't have too much trouble in life. Of course you also will end up being and doing nothing." - Myles Munroe.

Photography by Joseph Osei-Bonsu

Once upon a time, there lived a young man called Ajingo. He was a senior at the University of Cape Coast, in Ghana, pursuing Music as his major. He was a natural at playing both the piano and football. He pursued both disciplines passionately, against the desires of the wicked Dean of Music. The Dean was an arrogant and heavy-handed professor, who made the lives of all his students miserable with his somewhat inhumane attitude towards them. As far as the Dean was concerned, every music student in the university was his subordinate, and all the music students were expected to behave as such.

A time for war

" For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven...A time for war and a time for peace." - King Solomon

Photography by Joseph Osei-Bonsu

 "No, you can't say that! That pig did deserve to die for his crime!", argued Maribel. Oliver sharply responded, "So what are you saying? That because this old man defiled an 8-year old girl, he has lost his right to a fair trial?". "I'm simply saying that he deserved the fate he got.", replied a nonchalant Maribel. "And by 'the fate he got', you mean murder?", Oliver questioned sternly.

The Art of Emotional Manipulation

"To err is human; to forgive, divine." - Alexander Pope

Photography by Joseph Osei-Bonsu

 The phone kept ringing, like it had every morning and evening for the past 13 days, until it finally went to voicemail. "Hello my love! It's Giovanni...again. Today's Sunday, the beginning of a new week, and my feelings for you haven't changed. I'm sorry for hurting you. Please find it in your heart to forgive me. I love you.", confessed a depressed-looking Giovanni after the beep from Antonella's voicemail had toned.

Return of the bête noire

*The story you're about to read is completely fictional and has no bias intentions to spite or appraise any of the characters described in it*

Photography by Joseph Osei-Bonsu

 How is it possible that he could be here? There are over 200 million, other Muslim Arabs like him, fighting against a mere, 6 million Jews. What were the odds that he would one day become a captive of  this small enemy, Israel? What is really incomprehensible, is that all the combination of the Arab-Islamic armies that dwarfed Israel’s were defeated time after time - humiliating to the Arab-Islamic world.

Mo' pain, no gain

"A thousand saints cannot stop one imp from wreaking havoc: they can only hope and pray that it doesn't. After all the 'amens' have been said, the imp wreaks havoc anyway." - Joseph Osei-Bonsu"

Photography by Joseph Osei-Bonsu

"For twenty years I served your father and this bank very well. In all that time, your bank never lost a lawsuit. In all those years I never asked for a single thing, other than the hours I billed the bank. If any of your customers, employees or competitors tried to bribe me into undermining you, I never betrayed you. Nor did I ever ask you to meet or beat their offer. No, I remained loyal! You made me put in extra hours that I never billed you for. I worked for you through the scorching heat of the day and through cold and sleepless nights. Yes, for twenty years I slaved for this bank! I worked for fourteen years for your father: six years for you. And you barely gave me a raise on my salaries! In fact, if it wasn't for the company's policies, you would probably be sending me away empty-handed!", complained the bitter lawyer.

Forgetting to remember

 "I thought about the days i had handed over to a bottle..the nights i can't remember..the mornings i slept thru..all the time spent running from myself.”
― Mitch Albom

I called her upon receiving the tragic news. It turns out I didn't even need to call at all: Fosua was fine and dandy. How could a teenage girl who had just lost her brother, her father and her home in one night, be so sober and so calm? Yes, both men died from different causes; however, the conundrum lied in the timings of their deaths - both at the eleventh hour.

F. A. I. T. H.

Photography by Joseph Osei-Bonsu

 "Whenever we are balancing on our limited human conditions, that's where our life starts. That's where we start living." - Philippe Petit

Faith is actually an acronym, which stands for the:
F - Fight
A - Against
I - Interim
T - Tests and
H - Hardships
caused by a decision.

Faith is a fight. A fight elicited by a decision. Faith is not a religious experience, but an everyday experience, because decisions are made everyday. E.g. You have decided to go to Manhattan today for the first time in your life. You don't have a car but you still want to do so. Then, you have to 'fight' the obstacles of your vehicle-less-ness, the uncertainty of weather, the distance of travelling, the constraints of time, the financial demands of the trip, your lack of direction to your destination and the possibility of getting lost. Even though all of these obstacles eliminate the guarantee that Manhattan will be accessible to you, you still follow through on your decision. You: