74-yr-old Japanese Student Promotes Education.

Mr. Tanaka Takeru , a 74 year-old Japanese industrialist who is currently reading a Masters Degree course in Business Management at the prestigious Osaka Prefectural University in Japan is promoting and spicing up the value of education by teaming up with a 10-year-old Japan-born Ghanaian girl, Irene Asaa-Sarpong. Miss Irene Asaa-Sarpong, born and bred in Japan by Ghanaian parents who are resident in Japan is moving from Japan to her native country, Ghana for an educational program that will help her practically familialize herself with life in her homeland. She will be studying at the KNUST Primary School in Kumasi.

The first and last time she visited Ghana was for a monthlong period when she was just 4 years old and couldn't make much out of her trip. With sharp, penetrating, big-balled eyes and speaking Japanese more fluently than Akan her native language, Miss Asaa-Sarpong who has been surrounded by Japanese classmates, and culture for the greater part of her life has mixed feelings over her departure from Japan.For anything, she would be missing her 4th grade classmates, playmates and the only friends she has ever known in her life, but she is determined to learn new things, experience a new lifestyle in her homeland and share what she has learnt from Japan.

During a privately-held traditional Japanese farewell party hosted for her by a warm Japanese family, Mr. Takeru Tanaka the host who is a resident of Chihayaakasaka, the only village in Osaka expressed the thought that education is the key to the socio-economic development and transformation of every country and must be acquired at all age levels without any limits.

While jovially rubbing his bald head to emphasize his point, Mr. Tanaka said $B!H(Bat my age I am enjoying life back in the classroom as a student despite the hard challenges involved$B!I(B. He further stressed that education is very important and age should never be a barrier to acquiring knowledge

Following the traditional Japansese practice of offering travelling money-gifts to children, Mr. Tanaka presented 50,000yen, an amout equivalent to about US$700 to little Irene and encouraged her to use part of the money to support any educationa program or childr en who may need finacial assistance in their academic career as she would find best.

The parents of Miss Irene Asaa-Sarpong feel that it is important for Ghanaians to let their children who were born or domiciled in foreign countries have the chance to connect with their roots and homeland from time to time when feasible and financially affordable to avoid making them feel completely alienated from their roots and some of the cherished social values of their homeland.

Great men think; wow, they think big, they think better, they think brighter, they think big but they never, never forget GOD! They also know that many, many things are wrought by prayer than this world can think of.