What Happens When We Grow Old?

“Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members”.--- Pearl S. Buck

I started to pen down my words after years of careful scrutiny and it has gotten to the point where I cannot keep myself from lamenting on this issue. The issue is about the insensitivity of Ghanaians to the aged and disabled and also our shortsightedness as a people.

Judging from recent developments and our general attitude towards posterity, I have come to the conclusion that WE fully intend to live now and destroy future generations. The irony of our actions is that we would be around when this future generation arrives. They would hold us accountable for failing to preserve that which ought to have been theirs.

I am excited when I see our skyscrapers and the magnificent overpasses which has become the trend of urban construction.In our bid to make more use of land, control traffic and prevent the loss of human lives through road accidents we have elevated land and made an Avant garde of it. The sheer mastery of architecture leaves me in awe.

Taking the flight of stairs two at a time on the Kaneshie Overpass, I was slightly irritated when at the top of the staircase, an old lady was taking all the time in the world to climb, I huffed and hurriedly passed by her. I heard her mutter something under her breath that stopped me dead in my tracks.

What she said to me filled me with gloom almost as if she had pronounced a curse on me. She in fact had not cursed me but had said what was inevitable to every human being. She simply said “wo b3nyini ab3to” which translates into English “you too will grow old.” I walked away slowly unable to shake off the feeling of dread that had suddenly enveloped me.

Suddenly I was disenchanted by the skyscrapers and overpasses that have been constructed with no thought for the aged and disadvantaged. I started to search for disability friendly buildings in Ghana, after all old age could be seen as some form of “disadvantage”- to be politically correct. To my abysmal dismay, my search proved futile. So I asked myself a simple question. A question I have no doubt you have asked yourself whilst reading my rumblings. “What will happen to us when we grow old?” when we are no longer agile and cannot take the stairs two at a time. Take a critical look at all our buildings and begin to question the provision we have made for TIME.

We would curse ourselves in the future for our past folly and be trapped in the agony of having none to blame. Our children will huff and tut at us while they hurriedly pass by but will never succumb to guilt when the onus was on us to build for our old age.

I recently read in the news that the Ghana Federation of the Disabled wanted to take on the government of Ghana for constructing overpasses that inhibited their ability to access the roads. They took their petition to the high court only to meet a three-storey flight of stairs with no access to an elevator. This is an epic slap in the face. The irony of the situation was no lost on them as they proceeded to seek legal action against the Court.

In a “culturally proper” society like ours, where we pride ourselves with having utmost respect for the elderly and look down our noses to people of the Western World as having no respect, we should bow down our heads in shame that we wrestle with the old and the disabled for seats in buses and parking lots. I don't think we have stopped to think about it. We curse old people as witches and we forget that we too will be old.

This is an appeal to stakeholders to put in effective measures to ensure that our buildings have the correct structures for the old and aged because after all TIME will catch up with us.