Africa Poem

Africa, Africa, rugged, rural, and raw.

We came, we met, we conquered, we saw

How to do business here, how to do agriculture and how to do education,

All the while we were hoping for a two week long vacation.

We met with ministers, with vice chancellors, and with department deans

We saw that they had great opportunity but lacked significant means.

We can help these people we said

We’ll bring them education in agriculture to keep them well fed

There is nothing that’ll stop us as long as we pursue

The good project that we came here to do.

All our good hopes, inspiration and dreams

were somewhat tempered by the encounters and scandalous schemes

that we ran into some times in our adventures out

after dinner when we took a most disastrous route.

It took us by policemen each carrying a rather large gun

They stopped us and decided to ruin our fun

They wanted our passports, a bribe, threatened to take us away

We proclaimed this is not a warm welcome which could entice us to stay

After a half hour of sublime and subdued protest

They could save face and finally gave us some rest.

But all is not lost with this country, Mozambique

It is worth some investigation before a critique

The people in general are kind and sincere

They are simple, lack knowledge and also lack fear

This in itself is entrepreneurial enough

We just have to find the diamonds in the rough

Who are enterprising and willing to do what it takes to succeed

Who have the abilities to learn how to prosper, how to follow the creed

Of those who find capital, invest, make crops to sell

Rather than being a part of a drug cartel

For in the former is the future, in the latter is the past

While we bring this to Africa, we’ll have quite a blast.

Africa, Africa, rugged, rural, and raw.

The place of hope, change, and awe.