Springboard Road Show Foundation

Augustine Bediako

Intervention: CoRe

Who Moved My Cheese?

Augustine mentions that during the many unanswered questions bothering his mind, the story “who moved my cheese?” which chronicled amazing ways of dealing with change and the superb presentation of the story in the e-learning sessions calmed him down and kept him on track. He shares his story.

I am Augustine Bediako. A Project support responsible for regions in the Southern Sector of Ghana on the CoRe Programme. “Man proposes, but God disposes” I had an agreement in place with the National Board for Small-Scale Industries in the Ashanti Region to organize the Youth Inclusive Entrepreneurial Development Initiative for Employment (YIEDIE) members in all the districts to develop group business plans for them to access grants and loans.

I visited four districts and organized five groups. Again, the electrical association of the Sekyere South District invited me to conduct workshops and develop business plans for interested members, but I could not do so because of the pandemic. News of the pandemic was first heard from afar, but it drew closer and eventually infected fellow countrymen, especially in Kumasi where I live. Watching television channels updating the public about the number of infected persons abroad and in Ghana frightened me. However, the lockdown was timely and did slow down some of my fears.

My livelihood as a technical business advisor and executive director of Skyhoz business consult was affected. The contracts I was about to sign with some customers could not materialize. My hopes were dashed. COVID-19 also affected my life spiritually. During and after lockdown, my children’s desire for going to church reduced drastically because they felt the quiet time and Bible studies, we did at home were enough. Generally, many people in my church were reluctant to come back to church after the lockdown because of fear. My social life was reduced to phone calls. There was no opportunity to attend social programmes because of fear and the restrictions imposed.

The CoRe Programme implemented by Springboard Road Show Foundation became the game changer in my life. Apart from provision of employment in terms of income, I listened to every single episode and shared it with my friends. I participated in most of the mentoring groups and did join most of the hangout sessions as well. These became the antidote to what I thought were challenges or problems. In fact, every component of the CoRe Programme influenced my life very positively ranging from resilience, health awareness, safety and wellness, workplace skills and job readiness.

One major question I grappled with was the question of how the whole world came to a standstill because of a virus. I had no answer. I went back to the Bible trying to understand it, but the situation kept growing from bad to worse.  The magical story of “who moved my cheese?” and its amazing prescription for dealing with change and that superb presentation of the story on the CoRe e-Learning session by Rev. Albert Ocran calmed me down and kept me on track.

The programme was characterized by great teamwork, rich content, excellent presentations, and useful information gathering and application. Here are my lessons:

  • Everything is possible if attention is paid to it in detail. I became a mentee in several mentoring platforms, and I really learnt a lot.
  • Social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and tweeter are more effective as compared to radio and television.
  • When planning, one must consider unforeseen circumstances.

In conclusion, I think the CoRe programme has been one of the best responses to the coronavirus pandemic. I highly recommend that it continuous even after the pandemic to positively affect the lives of direct and indirect beneficiaries across the country.

Thank you.