Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – Gambians should commit to inspire, encourage, educate and help each other every day, if we are to progress. Like everyone, I have made many snap decisions in my life, some consequential, some not. Some of the most consequential decisions I have taken are, in my opinion, those that changed peoples’ lives for the better.
About two or so years ago, the word “Fantastic” popped into my head. It was a revealing and inspirational moment that made me stop to ponder the word. I thought to myself, “Fantastic” is a great word (especially when it is exclaimed), because it has a sincerity and enthusiasm all its own!
And so I decided that from that day on, I will use “fantastic!” as often as possible to encourage people and show them my unreserved appreciation of who they are or what they’ve done or said. I’ve kept doing that since that fateful day, and nobody has ever been mad at me for using the word on them or their actions.
Some months ago, I made another important decision in my life. Although my decision was about actions I had been doing practically all my adult life, to stop for a moment to internalize and formally adopt it as a lifetime Mission was an inspiring experience in and of itself. Like my decision about the word “fantastic,” the inspiration for this decision just popped into my head like a bolt from the blue.
The decision I took on that fateful day was this: that I will, every day for the rest of my life, endeavor to inspire, encourage, educate, and help people. Every day!
I have used many approaches to achieving the above four criteria in my new mission in life. Take inspiration. I enjoy inspiring people, and fortunately, I don’t have to struggle to do so.
Each person (or audience in some cases) is different, but I have many arrows (from Allah to national development issues and space) in my quiver. Although I’m not an overly religious person (Allah knows this), I often times use Allah and His Wonders to inspire people.
One story I tell happened one afternoon when I got up to perform my ablution before my prayers. I saw a small plant, which inspired me to think to myself: Allah is not wicked but very kind.
First, I thought to myself, Allah could have made leaves to be transparent so that we would never enjoy the shade of a tree. But he didn’t and made leaves opaque to sunlight so we could, on a hot day, find shelter under plants.
Second, Allah created a symbiotic, mutually beneficial relationship between us and plants, where plants use carbon dioxide to produce carbohydrates (food) and give off oxygen in the process.
On the other hand, animals (including human beings) use the oxygen in our respiration and give out carbon dioxide. And Allah, through plants, provides this (part of what scientists call “ecosystem services”) for free.
Space is another topic I often use to inspire people about the wonders of Allah. For example, I often point out three stars that form Orion’s Belt, a near-perfect straight line in the night sky. The furthest of the three from Earth is Alnilam, which is 1,200 light-years away.
A light-year is the distance travelled by light (which has a speed of almost 300 thousand kilometers [km] per second) in one year, meaning that Alnilam is 14.2 TRILLION (million million) km from Earth! Furthermore, what you see from Earth is actually what the star looked like 1,200 years ago.
The vastness of the universe is also demonstrated by the fact that Anilam, by astronomical standards, is not too far away, because the furthest star, Earendel, is 27.7 BILLION light years away!
The Milky Way Galaxy, in which our Solar System resides is a relatively small galaxy, even though it has a diameter of 90,000 light-years, contains 100–400 billion stars, and has at least as many planets. ESO 383-76 the largest of the estimated 200 billion to 2 trillion galaxies, has a diameter of almost 1.8 million light-years!
We all have our bad days and need encouragement once in a while. I remember a young man who one day came to my office for advice about his studies.
He came from a very poor background, and a university education was his ticket out of poverty. He explained his difficulties getting the government agency he worked for to support him in his university studies, to the point where his boss made it very difficult for him to find time to attend classes.
He broke down in tears, and I remember thinking to myself: this is the kind of kid who will become president tomorrow. I talked to him and encouraged him to understand that all that would come to pass, and he should manage his studies as best as he could. Thank God, he graduated, and he is now happily and gainfully employed.
Another incident I remember very well is when a friend of mine (let’s call him Samba) came to visit me at home to complain about his boss (let’s call him Madi), who was a friend of mine and was giving him hell! He almost broke into tears, and again, I had to encourage him.
I told him that nothing is permanent and that all he was going through would one day come to an end. Fortunately, sometime after, Samba had a job with another organization and moved on.
As fate would have it, Madi lost his job after Samba had left their organization and later passed away. The day Madi passed away, I immediately called Samba to inform him. I also told Samba that I called him to ask that he kindly, and for the sake of Allah, forgive Madi for how he treated him.
Samba said that he had forgiven Madi, and I thanked him for his kind gesture as a good Muslim. I also felt grateful that Samba was one less person Madi would have to worry about when he met his Maker. You never know what a few words of encouragement can do for people.
I’m not an educationist, but education is my passion for various reasons. First, I always tell people that the first instruction from Allah SWT to Prophet Muhammed, SAW, was not for him to practice any of the five Pillars of Islam.
The first instruction was “Iqra,” to learn. For this reason, it always gives me great joy to educate people and help them get an education.
Fortunately, I am able and more than willing to educate people about many issues, especially science and technology, and the world around us. I take particular joy in explaining complex scientific issues to illiterates, especially those in rural areas like my home, Ballanghar.
Thus, I have explained to people and written many articles and hosted radio programs on various subjects ranging from COVID-19 vaccines, the International Space Station to astronomy, aviation, environmental issues, computers and the internet, geography, and everything in between. Surprisingly, I often learn a lot as I teach other people about the world around them.
The fourth plank of my mission is help. Help doesn’t only mean giving people money or material things but also includes being there for them, introducing them to people who can help them, and (especially for our illiterate relatives from rural areas) helping them navigate the maze of bureaucracies in, e.g., government offices and hospitals.
I also take particular delight in helping kids by advising, encouraging, inspiring, and educating them about their studies, especially regarding career choices and university education.
It is very pleasing to have people remind me of my rendering them or their relatives assistance, whether to get medical treatment or to help them with their studies, and sometimes I cannot remember ever providing such help!
I find it very rewarding to have resolved to make it my mission for the rest of my life to, every day, inspire, encourage, educate, and help people.
Fortunately, I don’t have to actively seek opportunities to do this; the opportunities come on their own. And I’m deeply grateful. So every time someone thanks me for being there for them, I humbly accept it and think to myself that it is me who should say, “Thank you!” for helping me meet my goal for the day.
So, what’s the point of recounting all this? Well, I believe that if The Gambia (or indeed any country or society) has to progress, we must start with ourselves.
Instead of cutting each other down, we must clean our hearts (raxas xol yi, as the Wolofs say) and dedicate ourselves to inspiring, encouraging, educating, and helping each other every day. Imagine what our country (or the world, for that matter) would be like if we all did this. So please go ahead; you too can do it!
Dr. Katim Seringe Touray
