roos gallery

The Brain Intuition

As I sit and reflect ,back in the days when I imagined gray walls ,the concrete that covers within,the heavy mighty gates that guard it ,the little twin cats called snow bell and Lola,the guinea pig called Kristofer ,the little bird called pinnacle,the gerbil called jiji and an imaginary brother call Nathan ,;;my vision was great tall walls ,great big canvases,and unkept bed and an answer phone ,those movies stole my dream . A child ,a cat called snow bell,a guinea pig called Kristofer,had a gerbil and a bird {gi gi and pinnacle ) sadly no longer with us ,my brain intuition provided the solace of the latter ,knowing the first wish couldn’t have been granted…smile

just wait one more day

roospooscreate

I do remember when the phone rang ,a silent voice at the end ,I just knew what was gonna come out of the invisible Tone.I am sorry to say ,he passed!! not shocked ,but just angry how selfish you could be ,just few more days ..found myself saying ,wait ,just one more day ,let me get there so I can say goodbye , still angry with you !!whats the point ?still think about the fishing days ,your memory comes alive when I stare hard enough into space ,still hoping you might tap me on my shoulder oneday and wake me up from this insane dream ..Then I look at your burial..empty space,blur,sleep tight daddy you bugger ,you could have waited another night!!

An African gem -{great son of the gold coast}

dairy of a poet..
REV GADDIEL ROBERT ACQUAAH
First African Chairman of the Gold Coast Methodist Church

He was a great and distinguished Theologian, Educationist, Writer, Composer, Musician, and Bible translator from English to Fante, Hymnist, Editor, Linguist a member of the Coussey Committee, Nationalist, Patriot and the first African to Head the Methodist Church in the Gold Coast.


Rev. Gaddiel Robert Acquaah was born on 25th July 1884, at Anomabu. His parents were Rev. Robert Mensah Acquaah of Kuntu and Mrs. Charlotte Acquaah of Anomabu. He started school at Wesleyan School at Anomabu in 1889 and completed his elementary education in the same school in 1897. He then continued his education at Wesley Collegiate School at Cape Coast from 1898 to 1902.

From 1902 to 1904 he studied electrical engineering at Obuasi under the sponsorship of Ashanti Goldfields. He did not really have an aptitude for the course so midway through it he abandoned it and entered into the teaching field where his interest lay. He taught at various Methodist schools in the Central and Western provinces. He was so good that within a short time he became the Headmaster of Shama Wesleyan School. In 1909, he joined the staff of Mfantsipim School. He taught in the school for ten years. While there, he entered the Methodist ministry and was ordained in 1912.

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Rev. Gaddiel Acquaah was a great expert in the Fante language. He authored many Fante books, composed several Fante songs and translated some English Methodist hymns into Fante hymns. As an authority and scholar of Fante language which he wrote and spoke very well, the Methodist Church, entrusted him and a Committee, with the assignment to translate the English Bible into Fante. In the course of this assignment, Rev Gaddiel R. Acquaah and his Committee produced and published a Fante word list, which was approved by the Education Department for use in the schools.

In 1944, the translation of the English Bible into Fante under his general editorship and chairmanship was completed. It was a remarkable achievement by him and the Committee. The significance of this achievement was that an African had made a major breakthrough in the translation of the Bible from English into Fante. The much dreamt of Fante Bible now became a reality and available to the thousands of Fantis and other Christians who could read Fante. When he left the Mfantsipim School as a member of staff in 1919, he was attached to the Methodist Training College at Aburi. He spent four years there and rose to become the Vice- Principal of the College as well as Reverend Minister of the Aburi Circuit of the Methodist Church. In 1923 he returned to Cape Coast as Superintendent Minster of the Cape Coast Circuit of the Met5hodist Church.

<By the time he was elected Chairman of the Gold Coast District of the Methodist Church, Rev Gaddiel R. Acquaah had served as a Superintendent Minister in all the Circuits of the Methodist Church in the Gold Coast. When the Church celebrated its Centenary on 1st January, 1935 he was very much involved in its preparation. He was a member of the Committee, which planned it and wrote the words of the centenary hymn “Centenary Bells”.

Born in the Victorian age, he grew up with the virtues of that era. He was thus a great disciplinarian and moralist and fought to inculcate the moral fibers in school children. He believed implicitly in the Sunday School System and encouraged it wherever he was.

For him, it was to complement the regular school system, provide Christian education and general knowledge. It was his greatest concern that church services and activities should be meaningful, beneficial and comprehensible to the several unlettered members of the congregation. So he embarked on composing several Fante songs and translating many of the hymns in the Methodist Hymn Book into the Fante language. The Christian Asor Ndwom contains many of his compositions and translated hymns.

He also wrote many books and poems in Fante for use in schools Sunday Schools and the Church. Among them are the following Oguaa Aban (Cape Coast Castle), Mfantse Akan ahyese (Fante Primer for Beginners), Mfantse Amambre (Fante National Constitution), Mfantse Akan Mbebusem (Fante- Akan Proverbs), John Wesley Methodifo Asore hon farebaa 1703-1791 (John Wesley 1703-1791), Kyekyeewere Ndwom (Songs of Comfort).

He also composed several national songs, some of which were for the celebration of the Silver Jubilee of King George V in 1935, Coronation of King Edward VIII IN 1937 and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in1953.

He was a nationalist to the core and believed in the capacity of the black man to rule himself. He believed in equality of races. He found the yoke of colonialism too heavy to bear like the cross of Lorraine. It was with this in mind that the late Lawyer R.S. Blay and founders of the U.G.C.C. invited him to deliver the opening prayer at the inauguration of the Convention at Saltpond on 4TH August 1947.His prayer on that historic day fired the imagination of his fellow nationalists to double their effort to emancipate the country.

In 1948 when the U.G.C.C Big SIX were arrested, students of Mfantsipim, Adisadel and St. Augustine’s College went on strike for their release. The schools were closed down. Rev. Gaddiel R. Acquaah as a member of the Mfanstipim School Committee and Superintendent Minster of the Cape Coast Circuit stood the test of time in his untiring efforts to have the school reopened and all the students re-admitted. It was to his credit and that all of his African members of the Committee, that all his two objectives were achieved.

In 1949, Rev. Gaddiel R Acquaah, was appointed a member of the Coussey Constitutional Committee which was set up to examine the proposals for constitutional and political reforms in the Gold Coast. The Constitution he helped draw up became the basis of the 1951 elections, which ushered in a ministerial form of government in the Gold Coast and led the way to independence on 6TH March 1957.

For his services to God and country, Rev. Gaddiel R. Acquaah was elected the first African Chairman and General Superintendent of the Gold Coast district of the Methodist Church in 1950. This was the greatest honor any African Reverend Minister of the Methodist Church could hope to attain, but it was almost impossible in those days. He was further honored with the award of O.B.E. by the British government for his services to the Church and the State.

Rev. Acquaah performed his duties as Chairman of the District with ease and assiduousness due to the many varied experiences he had gathered over the years in the ministry. He commanded very great respect and his presence was felt wherever he appeared. His flock loved and adored him for his Fante songs, poems, classical language and books, and above all for his simplicity and Christ-like personality.

He was always on the move. He toured the whole District several times during his chairmanship and represented the District in many overseas conferences and meetings. His numerous activities and ceaseless call as a Pastor, Poet, Song Writer, Composer, Translator, Manager and Administrator took its toll on his health.

In March 1954 he toured the Central Province within the District of the Gold Coast Methodist Church and on his return to Accra on 19TH March 1954, he was suddenly taken ill and passed away peacefully.

He was mourned throughout the Gold Coast. Tributes poured in from all over the Country and overseas in memory of this great son of the Gold Coast, who like Moses, had the vision of the Promise Land . His beloved Ghana was three years away from the time of his call to be with the Lord.

REV GADDIEL ROBERT ACQUAAH (OBE)

Books on Amazon

Mfantse nkasafua nkyerewee nye ho mbra: A Fante word list with principles and rules of spelling by Gaddiel Robert Acquaah (1944)Mt|dis as|re ba biara ahosiesie. |fa methodistnyi biara ho. Nyankop|n, pensa pensa mo mu. Twi by Gaddiel Robert Acquaah (1953)Mbofraba asory ndwom. (Kwasida Skull Ndwom. Fantse.) by Gaddiel Robert Acquaah (1929)Mfantse-Akan mbbus|m. Fante-Akan proverbs by Gaddiel Robert Acquaah (1940)Mt|dis as|re ba biara ahosiesie. Onyame, hwehw| me mu. Fante by Gaddiel Robert Acquaah (1953)An African gem -{great son of the gold coast}

7books at the British library

Title: Mbofraba asory| ndwom. (Kwasida Skull Ndwom. Fantse.).

  • Author: Gaddiel Robert ACQUAAH
  • Publication Details: London ; Cape Coast : Atlantis Press, [1929]
  • Identifier: System number 000012231
  • Physical Description: 15 p. ; 8º.
  • Shelfmark(s): General Reference Collection 3435.gg.78.
  • UIN: BLL01000012231

 

 

 

The land time forgot

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the land time forgot Mon May 12, 08 06:06 PM | Category: All

The land time forgot……………………..

How I cherished the rainy days of the time spent on the island. Called the Wight…oh the beautiful isle …your sea pebbles shine at night.where the sea speaks the reality of this world today.where the mountain has the faces of our ancestors…

where the cliff rises up to the shanklin chine, the beautiful Zen haven of the island ……where the birds echo every whistling sound, where young men fish at night just to feed the big cats.

 

The warmth of the their people and a saint called queenie …Home …  the island for its natural calm and beauty surpasses all internal anger. ……

 

Posted by roospoos creations on 19/04 | tags: mixed-media performance landscape

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money should mean nothing..

width="450"So catching up on twitter and insanely everything is about money ?my people money is a state of mind  ,money the enemy makes the world go round ,so I had thought ,what if the whole world refuse to acknowledge the meaning ?The worth of it ,where you can happily go into a shop and be given items without the need  for money exchange , everyone wants to help you make more money ,what people forget is money doesnt mean a thing when you are sixfeet under.

Money the root of all evil ,money kills the soul ,money needed for everything ,food,water,shelter,.why,why why has it?So we get all this creation for free,but man has to tweak it for a cost ,the greediness of the poor soul who knows not..!!  Everything has a cost ,man made cost ,the rush of lets get it all culture ,with no regards for the human next door…we blink money ,we eat money ,we drink money ,we die money ..and then what? all at a cost what is mine is mine ,we are so consumed by money ,we probably say money and think money before we remember ourselves. Please dont sell me money because I will have to find the color of it to give it to you, so you brag about your riches ?

Takes me back to the beginning ,who am I ,who are you ?where do you come from?will you be rich sixfeet under? I think not ,but your state of mind will find peace ,you will be smiling down there,you wouldnt worry about who is spending your money ,because it will be intact mentally ,a state of mind ,mentally rich!!!peace be unto our souls for chasing after a piece of paper and riches that will never accompany us down under!!