John Powell - Books on Ghana
The Colonial Gentleman's Son
The Colonial Gentleman's Son: The story of a young man in a young country (Click on picture for link to Book Guild Publishing)
The Colonial Gentleman's Son
Kwame Mainu is a young man born in Ghana in 1957 just four days before his country gained independence and cast off its old name, the Gold Coast. Kwame's personal journey to maturity is set against the background of his country's political and economic development in a wide-ranging saga. Finding himself responsible for the welfare of a large extended family, and against all odds, he gains an education in Ghana and the UK. The temptation to earn large sums of money carrying anonymous parcels abroad is set before him. Kwame is torn between his conscience and his family's demands. His story is a microcosm of the dilemmas facing Ghanaian society since independence. There are many social, cultural and economic pressures to confront, and great tensions between the forces of religion, money and tradition. As Kwame struggles to do the right thing, he must face the scorn and disapproval of his own wife and family. What is the best choice for him to make?
Books on Ghana
My books on Ghana are based on more than 26 years working to promote grassroots industrial development employing the resources of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. In The Colonial Gentleman's Son, the story is told through the fictional life of Kwame Mainu, a young engineer who joined the industrial development programme just as the university opened the first Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit (ITTU) at Suame Magazine, Kumasi, Ghana'a largest informal industrial area, in August 1980.
Engineers and other professionals involved in Third World small enterprise development might be interested in my two earlier books published by Practical Action Publishing (http://www.practicalactionpublishing.org/). The Survival of the Fitter tells the true stories of many Ghanaian engineers and industrialists who worked with the university between 1972 and 1995. The Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit is a handbook describing in detail how this concept worked in practice over this same period.
Engineers and other professionals involved in Third World small enterprise development might be interested in my two earlier books published by Practical Action Publishing (http://www.practicalactionpublishing.org/). The Survival of the Fitter tells the true stories of many Ghanaian engineers and industrialists who worked with the university between 1972 and 1995. The Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit is a handbook describing in detail how this concept worked in practice over this same period.