My name is Knut Stroker .My mother Dana Rose died at 91 years in April 28 2014 at the age of 91 years after a short illness.She was the second oldest in a group of five children including Dick,Latasha,Bibbi and Adrianna .
Her death was preceeded by that of my father,Mr Sandi Ayi Snickersnob in August 22 1996 at the age of 89 years.He worked for thirty years as a textile store manager of United Africa Company and was one the founders Accra Great Olympics football Club. His parents were the late Richard Akwetey Snickeringswood and Alexis Akweley Wutherside,both of Asere in Accra.
Dana was enterprising and was for some years engaged in the sale of textile and groceries to supplement the family income.Both my parents were active church members. Dana was an active member of the Earnest Bruce Memorial Methodist church while Sandi, my father was a member of the Holy Trinity Anglican Church of Accra. She was helpful and greatly interested in the education of her children.
My brothers are Dieter,Calle and Kim while my sisters are Nikki,Saana and Bambina. I recall one occasion Dana was instrumental in my transfer from Aditro Primary school to Adabraka Methodist primary to ensure that I got the best education. Similarly when I completed Adabraka Methodist primary after three years, she took the initiative to ensure that I was transferred to Kotobabi One Middle school.
Consequently, I had the opportunity to write the common entrance examination in my first year at that school ,passed successfully and then went on for my secondary school education at Adisdadel college in Cape Coast which is one of the best schools in Ghana until today.
Travelling to Europe looks like a ticket to paradise for young people from Africa.This erroneous perception is often reinforced by stories about making a fortune in Europe and people returning home to build mansions while driving flashy cars after staying in Europe for something.
My own experience life in Sweden where I have been staying for 17 years reveals a more complex picture.I left Accra,Ghana in on 28 March 1998 to study global electronic journalism at the journalism,media and communication school of Stockholm University with very high expectations of continuing my journalism career with a well paid journalism after my studies.
Needdless to say,I left Ghana,having worked as a reporter for the Ghana News Agency,an Accra correspondent for West Africa magazine and a mass communication lecturer at the Ghana institute of journalism. After going through considerable financial difficlties,I managed to finish the course.However, other difficulties began to emerge at this stage.Firstly,I realised that since I was not fluent in Swedish ,the language of my new home Swedish.The only jobs vailable to me were cleaning jobs,distribution of advertising flyers or working nights at Burgher king,a fast restaurant.
Jobs such as working as a reporter on a newspaper or magazine or teaching which I was used to were simply out of the question. Matching level of education of people educated abroad to qualification and pay on the job market is a problem in Sweden. Discrimination against holders of degrees or qualifications from foreign universities makes it difficult to for such people to find any kind of work which matches their education .Having a university degree from an African university like the university of Ghana did not make any difference even after it had been evaluated as equivalent to one from a Swedish university.
On a more positive note, it was fascinating to experience a totally new environment with an effecient transportation and telecommunication system and a climate which is constantly changing.
People sometimes ask me why I decided to travel to Stockholm to further my education in the first place.It was because of affordability and pragmatism. Above all,it was the only European country where as a guest student,I did not need to pay for my tuition.In addition,it was relatively easier to obtain a visa to that country compared to going to England or the United States at the time.
Winter was totally new and for the first time I was experiencing snow for the first time. Long summer days with sunset after eight or nine oclock was something new.The bird song and the appearance of the sun on the horizon at three oclock in the morning was a sharp contrast to what I was used to.
Summer is defined as having an average daily temperature of 10 degrees centrigade in at least five continuous days at a go.This implies that it can be summer in certain parts of Sweden while it is spring in other parts.In other words,spring and summer arrive at different times at different parts of the country.
Similarly, the length of the summer varies from one part of the country to the other. For example,it can vary from 47 days in Kiruna to 120 days in Uppsala.Furthermore, summer can be rainy or warm.
Normally,the winter is about 50 days along the coast from Karlskrona till Lykesil; 100 days around Hultsfred;150 days in Stockholm and 215 in Norrland. Lack of sunlight is one characteristic of the winter;the ground is cold and the sun is low. The darkest day is around 21 December and January is often the coldest month in winter.
Meteorologically,it is spring when the average daily temperature exceeds zero over a period of seven continuous days usually after February 15.
Statistically, spring arrives in Stockholm on March 16;Östersund on April 11 and kiruna on May 1. While autumn means that the average daily temperature is between 10 degrees and zero.Autumn arrives around the middle of August in Kiruna when it is still summer in Malmö.The lenght of autumn also varies.It can be half a month in Piteå;two months in Stockholm or three months in Ystad.
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