Asian Tiger Economies

The boom in Asian markets over the last 15 years or so is hopefully an inspiration for the economies of Africa and Latin America.

India is also beginning to take off in quite dramatic fashion, following to some extent the rapid boom in China.

However, historically the 'Tiger' Economies refers to Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Hong Kong was the model that has been duplicated by the rest. It is interesting to note that in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, Britain governed them before independence. The trade links and contacts utilised by the UK is probably the main reason for this and not some old Imperialist propaganda! It is also important to recognise the large Chinese populations in these nations or the influence China has had on their indigenous culture.

The reasons for the growth of these nations have been many. It is often reckoned that:

• low Government spending has also encouraged high investment from overseas
• an emphasis on creating skilled workers in place of a reliance on natural resources
• excellent labour relations between employees and owners
• having a 'can-do' philosophy
• focusing on emerging markets and technologies
• adopting Japanese Production Methods

They have specialised in either Financial Investment or Information Technology.

South Korea is the world's largest shipbuilder and from the ashes of the Korean War they have created global multinationals such as Samsung, Hyundai and Daewoo, all permanent rivals of their more illustrious Japanese counterparts.


What are the future implications for the EU? Or for the USA? Or even Japan, who for so long has been the Asian economic superpower, but after the 90s and deflation, Japan may find it hard to regain its omnipotence.

These traditional Asian Tigers along with the likes of Thailand, rely heavily on exports. With the world currently in recession, fewer goods are being shipped abroad to the Western consumers who buy these goods due to their technical brilliance, and more often than not, their low price.

Many of the Tigers relied on Tourism also, but again more and more people are staying at home (incidentally, this factor is reported as having boosted our own Halfords company in the UK as more people bought camping equipment and bikes rather than jetsetting off across the globe), but where does it leave the Tiger economies?

It will be fascinating to watch African and Latin American nations who do not have vast natural resources trying to emulate the Asian Tigers. Whereas the other developing nations who do have vast natural resources may opt for the route that the likes of Dubai are going down by using their current wealth to prepare for the days when the oil runs out.

If we are to summarise the emergence of the Tigers it really is down to their committment to low cost and good quality.

Johnnie Walker in Kilmarnock - Diageo and Stakeholders

Read this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8248348.stm


 Identify
 Interest
 Influence
 Conflict of Stakeholders

DEFINE STAKEHOLDERS

Stakeholders are a group of individuals with a key interest in a business or organisation.

INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS

 Owners/Shareholders
 Johnnie Walker Managers in Kilmarnock
 Johnnie Walker Employees in Kilmarnock

EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS

 Kilmarnock Residents
 East Ayrshire Council
 SNP - The Scottish Government
 The UK Government
 Banks
 Johnnie Walker Customers


POTENTIAL EXAM QUESTIONS

Describe how 5 different stakeholders of Diageo could influence the
organisation.

Stakeholders are groups of people with a key interest in an organisation.

At Diageo's Johnnie Walker plant in Kilmarnock internal stakeholders would be:

 Managers
 Employees
 Shareholders/Owners

Managers can influence the organisation by making important decisions on the running of the firm for example what products to manufacture.

Employees can affect the quality of a product or service by how hard they work to produce the finished article.

Shareholder/Owners can change many things in the firm, for example they can buy more shares or vote at the AGM to replace the Board of Directors if results are not to their liking.

External Stakeholders would be:

 Customers
 Local Community
 Government
 Banks
 Suppliers

Customers can influence Diageo by deciding whether or not to purchase the product or service.

Local Community - in this case the Kilmarnock residents may decide to petition the organisation to make a change to their policies (eg their environmental policies), or in this specific case to keep jobs in Kilmarnock.

Government (in this example it could be Scottish Government, the UK Government or even East Ayrshire Council) can change or alter legislation which can affect production of a product or the working conditions of the employees (health & safety laws for example).

Banks can influence a firm by approving a much needed loan to keep a firm afloat in times of recession

Suppliers to Diageo can affect the firm quite drastically. They can alter the price of raw materials which in turn will affect Diageo's profit margin.

Cooperative Learning and Curriculum for Excellence

Some years ago I benefited greatly from a 3 day inservice delivered by Canadians Norm and Cath Green to the staff of Jordanhill School.

The 3 day inservice was all about cooperative learning, which was seen as another learning and teaching aid along with AiFL. It is now clear to me that Jordanhill were ahead of the game in that they knew such concepts (along with Critical Skills) were the foundations for Curriculum for Excellence.

Cooperative learning is not just collaborative learning or groupwork - this was a salient point from the outset.

There are 5 key elements to cooperative learning:

Face to Face Interaction - group memebers promote each other's success, social skills improved and needed

Positive Interdependence - the group's performance depends on everyone. Groups will sink or swim together!

Group Processing - group reflects on how they are and have worked as a team

Interpersonal Skills - social skills taught and developed such as: leadership, trust, decision-making, communication, managing conflict

Individual and Group Accountability - to avoid social loafers group sizes are kept small and everyone has a clearly defined role in the task (ie researcher, reader, designer, project leader etc)


Group Forming

When it comes to presenting their findings, using a little bit of randomness like drawing names ensures they all have to be aware they can be asked to perform!

When forming groups mixed ability is normally the best.

Cooperative Learning Tools that I use:
Appointments - pupils have an appointments card which they have to fill with other pupils names. In doing so they are creating a whole list of teams they can be asked to form. i.e. 10am partners work together one week, then 2pm the next. Helps breakout of friendship groups.

Jigsaw - pupils are divided into home groups where they are then sub-divided into expert groups. The expert groups go and meet up to learn part of a topic and then later return to their home groups to teach the rest of the home group the topic. eg Home group is told topic is HRM. The expert groups are: Recruitment, Training, and Legislation. So the Home group splits and sends members to each of the 3 subtopics. So member A learns about Training along with the other experts from other home groups, and then returns later to teach his/her own home group Training.

T-Chart - a piece of paper that is divided into a T. It is useful to organise information such as advantages and disadvantages etc.

Benefits of cooperative learning

 less academic pupils learn skills from the more academic pupils
 increases self-esteem among pupils
 develops social skills
 increases knowledge retention
 develops oral communication

Further Reading

Here is an excellent video on You Tube with some tips for cooperative learning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LWE2HF1v1Y

More You Tube information on Cooperative Learning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxHJEmiDCKY&feature=related

Please share you ideas and opinions with me here on the blog.

Famous Products - 3M Post-it Note

The Post-it note came about by a bit of chance and being aimed at the wrong target market!

In 1968, the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M) developed a sticky, re-usable adhesive. A scientist called Spencer Silver was the inventor and he tried to gain recognition and support for the product within 3M.

Six years later, with success eluding Silver, a co-worker called Art Fry ised the sticky adhesive as a hymnbook bookmark! Fry - who was not the inventor but was certainly an innovator - developed the product and helped lead the commercialization process. After an unsuccessful launch in 1977 due to poor customer trials, a better trial resulted in a full product launch within 12 months to North America and Europe.

The Post-it then became a must have for every office stationery supply!

Think of such a simple idea and product and how it has totally transformed the way we operate in our daily lives.

Students no longer highlight their textbooks; they use post-its to mark important sections, meaning they get more money back when they sell on their pricey textbooks.

Office staff can disseminate work to colleagues via a handy post-it on top of a circular or memo.

The list is endless and another example of a great product that found it's market by serendipity.

Sears Tower (1973-2009)

It is now called the Willis Tower, but I reckon it will revert back to its original and more famous name of the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

At 1450 feet it is the tallest building in the USA and in July 2007 I even visited this amazing feat of engineering myself! This was a picture I took on what was a glorious summer day that then turned into a thunder and lightening storm!

The tower was the brainchild of Sears and Roebuck who in the 1960s were the world's largest retailers. The idea to house many of their employees under such an impressive roof was implemented and from 1973 until 1998 the Sears Tower was the world's tallest building, eclipsed by the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The CN Tower in Toronto is taller but different categories place the CN Tower as the largest freestanding structure in the Americas.

I am fascinated by such skyscrapers as not only are they an amazing feat of construction and engineering but they represent man's ambition to be faster, longer, taller in all such weird manner of feats!

I am lucky enough to have stood on the skydeck of the Sears Tower (as it was called then) and also the Petronas Towers. I'll have some work to do to visit both the Tapei 101 and the Burj Dubai before new buildings in Shanghai and Chicago outstrip the current number 1 and 2 tallest buildings!

International Business News

DUBAI METRO OPENS!

In Dubai, the long awaited Dubai Metro opened some seven days ago and so far over 323,000 people have used the new transport system.

However there are still another 10 of 20 stations to be finalised and opened for commuters. How will it impact on Dubai? That remains to be seen as Dubai attempts to become the Las Vegas for the 21st Century or indeed the Entertainment Capital of the World (outside the United States at least!)

GLASGOW RAIL LINK AXED

Scottish ministers have been accused of being "anti-Glasgow" over the decision to axe the Glasgow Airport Rail Link amid concerns about spending cuts.

The city council said the move was "a dagger in the heart" of the west of Scotland economy.

Ministers highlighted significant investment in the city's transport, health and housing.

Up to £182m had been earmarked for improving the line between Glasgow and Paisley, with £47m already spent.

RECORD SALES FOR IKEA

Swedish furniture giant Ikea enjoyed record sales of 21.5bn euros ($30bn; £19.1bn), despite slowing growth.

Ikea said sales for the year to 31 August rose by 1.4%, down from 7% growth in the previous year.

"It has been a challenging year in which we have had to adapt to changed market conditions," said Ikea's new chief executive Mikael Ohlsson.

His predecessor slashed 5,000 jobs to cope with the drop in demand due to the financial crisis.

The company said it had opened 15 new stores worldwide since last September.


AIRLINE RAISES BILLIONS!

AMR, the parent of American Airlines, has raised $2.9bn (£1.8bn) of new financing to help it through the global downturn in air travel.

The group said $1bn of the total came from advanced sales of frequent flyer miles to Citigroup bank.

A further $1.6bn came from a sale and leaseback arrangement with General Electric's aviation division for planes it had already ordered.

The airline also said it would add capacity at key US airports.

Shares in AMR jumped 18% on the back of the news.

AFRICA ONLINE
A new high-speed undersea cable connecting East Africa with the rest of the world is poised to go live. The launch of the government-backed East African Marine System (Teams) comes as providers face a backlash over slow connection speeds and high prices.

Internet providers have increased speeds and lowered costs since the Seacom cable went live in August.

But users say services still remain too expensive for most ordinary Kenyans.

Senior government official Bitange Ndemo said there was evidence that some internet service providers (ISPs) were "fleecing the public".

Almost two months after the first high-speed cable made landfall, the highest residential internet speed offered by Kenya's largest ISP remains capped at one megabit per second (Mbps).

That speed is available only at night and at weekends, for an annual cost of $1,440 (£860). The average Kenyan annual wage is about $800, the UN estimates.

End of the i-Pod?

The new Sony A-Series Walkman is being launched and is quite clearly the thinnest personal music player yet. How will this affect the market leader, Apple's i-Pod?

The Japanese corporation famous for the original personal music player seems to be finally hitting back at the mp3 players and i-pods that have killed firstly their tape deck walkman and then the CD diskman.

For more information read these articles:

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/opinion/1533918/the-ipod-age

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/blog/eyeonasia/archives/2009/09/_walkman_vs_ipo.html

Keith Floyd

As a keen traveller myself, I was saddened to hear of the passing of the flamboyant Bon Vivant, Keith Floyd.

Keith Floyd was famous for his excellent cookery programmes - long before Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver I might add - but also for his wit and love of travel.

Along with Michael Palin and Francesco Da Mosto, Floyd was my favourite Travel Show host. He would cook in some of the oddest or most familiar places! For example one moment he'd be cooking near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, or then cooking meat in the middle of a Spanish desert for Iberian cowboys.

A remarkable man, who will be much missed for his knowledge and enthusiasm.

Carl Sagan and Cosmos

I am often asked by the pupils and students in class about events or people that inspired me. Sometimes I struggle to think on my feet as I do not wish to give a glib answer! For example, in the world of sport, I have always been fascinated by the effect football managers have. Brian Clough, Jock Stein and Alex Ferguson and the 3 men I would say stand out from the crowd. In Business, Donald Trump has always been someone I thought is incredible because he knows the importance of good PR. In many ways he is like a politician. And being an avid movie fan, I have always been inspired by the likes of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and James Cameron (I can't wait to see Avatar!).

However, one remarkable person from my childhood is not from the world of sport, movies, or business. That man is Carl Sagan.

Carl Sagan was a scientist who, when I was very young, made an epic TV show called Cosmos. Now that may not seem to amazing, but back in the early 1980s special effects and the power of imagination was limited to programmes like Star Trek, Doctor Who, Twilight Zone, and the underrated The Outer Limits.

Cosmos was a serious attempt at mainstream science. Now we have David Attenborough and his fantastic natural world programmes, but apart from The Sky at Night (which I still watch!!!), and Open University programmes science was absent from TV.

Carl Sagan took us on a voyage of discovery. He showed us the insides of great stars, speculated about life on other planets, enlightened us about the plight of scientists from history, educated me and others on what a Googol was and it's big, BIG brother, the Googolplex!

We saw comets, asteroids, planetary rings, supernovas, Red Giants and White Dwarfs, pulsars, quasars, black holes, galaxies, and even speculation on multi-universies... basically the meaning of life, the universe and everything, as Douglas Adams would say. (42, by the way.)

The one episode I recall stronger than the rest was the Italian kid on his scooter who sets off for a journey around town and the countryside while his brother waits on a park bench. But the scooter kid travels at the speed of light. He wizzes around the beautiful scenery, while his brother waits. When his trip was over he goes to the bench to meet his brother... who is an old man! Time stood still for the speed of light traveller, but not for the brother waiting.

Mind blowing stuff when you are 7 or 8 years old. In fact it is still mind blowing.

I bought the book some years ago but only this summer, when I returned from Ghana, did I find that Cosmos was available on DVD at long, long last. I made the purchase and spent a lot of my free time in the holidays recapturing my youth and expanding my mind once again.

Truly inspiring stuff. So Carl Sagan is one of the real heroes of my life. He was also an early pioneer of conservationism, and an ardent critic of the wastefulness of the Cold War. Billions of dollars and roubles were spent on creating death and destruction instead of building tools for peace.

I would like to think that in the next Great Library at Alexandria there will be a copy of Cosmos (book or DVD?) safely stored forever for future generations to travel in the 'starship of the imagination' and be blown across space and time in that dandelion.

African Friends

Our visitors from Ghana, Robert Forsson and Emmnuel Boateng have enjoyed themselves so far in Scotland. The weather hasn't been too bad to them! Our VIPs have spent a lot of time in Hamilton Grammar and have seen many lessons in different subjects. Not yet, however in my own class! That is something we aim to rectify very soon.

The partnership, the friendship that has grown between the two communities is special. I hope that it has a lasting legacy and again as I have mentioned previously, the opportunity of young Ghanian and young Scottish minds to have their experiences broadened by a trip to another world... well that is Curriculum for Excellence!

I look forward to going back to Donkorkrom and visiting the Orphanage, as well as actually teaching at DASHS. It would be a privilege and another fantastic experience.

CEIS Conference at Radisson SAS Hotel

Hamilton Grammar School were invited by Kirsty Blair (Determined to Succeed) and Claire Fraser (the Social Enterprise Academy) to showcase our good practice in terms of Social Enterprise initiatives. Our school is particulary fortunate to have Frozoz - the Smoothie Maker, and the Eco Group/Ghana Project.

My role was a small one, the marketing of Carbon Offset certificates to local companies who sponsored acres of Ghanian Mango farm.

Our pupils were Jamie Hendry, Rebecca Irvine (of Frozoz) and two former pupils, Stuart Bence (Eco Group), and Fraser Porteous (Young Enterprise). They manned the stand well and were excited to hear the Key Speaker, Kevin Lynch of Rebuild Resources Inc, who as well as co-authoring Mission Inc, he helps chronic addicts and alcoholics become clean through a programme of work and recovery.

We were priviledged and honoured to be invited. It was a worthwhile day for our pupils and we gained some interesting contacts which we aim to develop further.

Ghana July 2009 - My Real Life African Adventure

What started out as a small action point in a rather large working document created and edited by pupils of Mr Dyer's Eco Group ended up with myself, Mr Dyer and Mr Bowen flying over the incredible red-brown of the Sahara desert to arrive in Accra, the capital city of Ghana.

We were met by one of Kwahu Province Ministers, Alex, who on the first night took us to a rather swanky hotel in Accra. So upmarket was this hotel that we decided against using our mosquito nets and indeed using DEET.

The next day we travelled on some concrete roads (built as part of the 50th anniversary of Ghanian independence) and some red road (though the word road is a misnomer). Red road is like the waltzers. Up and down you go with a few rockings from side to side.

Our destination was the mountain village of Abetifi. The climate was cool and rather appealing to the milky white Scots in our party. There we met Emmanuel, who was acting Moderator of the Church of Ghana, no mean feat!

During our stay in Abetifi we visited the large Mango Farm, the one that is the template for the smaller farm in Donkorkrom. We even got to see the £15,000 tractor, bought by donations raised by Mr Dyer's church and our school, Hamilton Grammar. The tractor cuts down the manual work and increases production!

The mangos were planted for two reasons. To help offset in a small way the carbon pollution created by organisations in Scotland, and secondly to offer a regular income to the local people.

From Abetifi off we went to catch the Ferry to Donkorkrom, over the world's biggest man made lake, Lake Volta! The scene we witnessed was one of the most memorable I have ever been a part of. Indeed Mr Bowen commented that it looked like something just out of a Michael Palin travelogue. Perhaps, but at least Michael Palin had a professional film crew with him!

The ferry was packed full of people, some in African garb and others wearing discarded Western clothes. People carrying goods on their head were commonplace, and quite a few merchants were selling some rather odd looking fish!

The ferry looked like the Western Ferry one takes to cross over from Gourock to Dunoon, a journey I have taken a few times, and one Mrs Munro (another member of our group) had taken a zillion times! Indeed she wondered whether our ferry was Clydebuilt.

After the ferry we had more red road to avoid being travel sick on, before we reached the beautiful rural area of Donkorkrom.

Our mission in Donkorkrom was a big one.

My role was to help in the school (Donkorkrom Agric Senior High School - DASHS for short), Mr Bowen and Mr Dyer were writing a partnership agreement between DASHS and Hamilton Grammar, while trainee doctor Kim Dyer (Mr Dyer's daughter) was leading the charge to the Spartanburg Orphanage, the beneficiaries of the majority of our fundraising.

The orphans usually had one parent alive, but they had been abandoned. There were House Mothers who looked after them, and an incredible man called Papa Anaba who ferried the kids to and from school and just about did everything for them. Oh and he could also seem to sort any vehicle problems with a little bit of TLC!

The orphans represented the side of Africa which is common on our TV screens. They were the emotional heart of our visit. The long term dream of Mr Dyer is to see the kids in the orphanage go to Nursery (which they do) then on to Primary, Middle School and then DASHS.

At DASHS we met Mr Robert Forsson, the Headmaster of the school. Some of us were also lucky enough to stay at the Headmaster's residence, where we were looked after very well, as we had in Abetifi.

We also met Victor 'Obama', the Head Boy. He was quite a character and indeed was DASHS's version of our own Stuart Bence!

We also were introduced to Chris and Tammi Martin, American Peace Corps Volunteers who were just a year into their own adventure. Chris is a Professor of Woodwork at Iowa State University, and Tammi is teaching ICT in DASHS. You can read their African Odyssey here: http://www.chrismartinfurniture.blogspot.com/

We also met the Chief of Donkorkrom and indeed the Afram Plains. It was an unusual ceremony because the Chief did not speak, but one of his sub-chiefs did. We were made very welcome and they were very happy with our mission.

At DASHS, we installed laptops donated by a college and thanks to Elorm aka Sunshine, we got the internet connection up and running. Pupils did a little PowerPoint (all kids love PowerPoint!) and also we did some Podcasting!

I also created a blog for Hamilton Grammar and DASHS to hopefully continue the partnership.

Papa Anaba took us to the Donkorkrom Mango Farm and we took some Thank You photographs for our kind sponsors.

There was also a football match between DASHS and the village. Mr Bowen and myself went on for a small part of the game, but the boys were fitter, stronger, faster. Mr Bowen played for about 30 minutes, but I am afraid to report I only went on for the last 5. I do have dodgy knees, but even so if Mr Bowen could pass the ball square in the 6 yard box I would have been celebrating my first goal outwith the British Isles!

The orphanage is not a sad place. Indeed the kids are well looked after and they have a ball. It is great to see a place were kids who are in need of love and attention receiving just that. It also hit home to me that perhaps many of our own pupils in Hamilton and in Scotland do not always received the emotional support that young people need. In that regards, I was very fortunate to have such a loving and compassionate Mum and Dad.

As a Teacher, I think being compassionate is a major part of the job. Yes we do have to be firm and fair, but we also must have empathy. Children are vulnerable and need on occassion someone to stick up for them, be kind to them, and make them laugh. That is the part of the job many people do not realise I feel. Teachers are people, we are not robots programmed to "EDUCATE!" like some Pedagological (is that a word?!) Dalek!

Kumasi is the second largest city in Ghana and we were treated to an incredible day and night there. Kumasi is more typically African (even though I know that there is no real Africa at all... Africa is so huge and so wildly different and diverse!) than the more Westernised Accra.

Kumasi was home to some beautiful wood carvings, where we had to haggle with the sculptors like something out of the Apprentice! I can safely say that I purchased two Lions, a giraffe, and an elephant for a few quid! Even though we would like to pay more, we risked creating jealousy and perhaps a bit of trouble for the vendors who were lucky to receive our Cedis (the Ghanian currency).

In Kumasi we visited the Palace of the Big, BIG Chief. Our guide reminded me of Frankie Howerd and his jokes and routine were quite superb. I have been to Verseille, the Louvre, Grand Canyon and a few other places in between with cracking Tour Guides, but our dear friend in Kumasi is the hands down champ.

The weather in Ghana was rather wet, which suited me because the heat could really have ruined a good sleep every night. Another plus is that Ghana is the same time zone as the UK!

The food consisted mainly of rice and free range chicken, though we did eat some meat. There were some little sausage things that I have to admit I really liked. The heat killed our appetites though, and I am not always one for a breakfast, lunch and dinner back home. In fact I rarely ever eat lunch, dating back to my uni days in the 1990s. Though since I have returned from Ghana I have been attending our school canteen for some health grub!

Ghanians do like their customs and meetings! It is required when visiting somewhere new to declare your intentions individually! And you give presents when you arrive and receive gifts when you leave! Poor old Santa must sweat when heading for West Africa!

Another interesting highlight was the historic visit of President Barack Obama to Ghana, his first visit to Sub-Saharan Africa. It was a controversial visit in that he rebuked the land of his ancestors (Kenya) to visit Ghana. Our Peace Corps friends Chris and Tammi were invited along with the other US Volunteers to wave Obama off at Accra airport. President John F. Kennedy formed the Peace Corps in 1961, and Ghana was the first destination of the Volunteers. Perhaps there was symbolism in Obama selecting Ghana?

Obama-mania was widespread. His speech was probably like Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. Every man, woman and child were glued to the TV set. Obama was rather straight forward in his speech and it was by no means a whitewash. He spoke freely of the corruption and civil fighting that had and was occurring in several African Nations. It was a brave, if well needed speech.

Obama also visited Cape Coast, which was a port and final call for many West Africans before they were shipped off as slaves to the New World. I would love to return to visit the museum and have time to reflect on the enormity of what happened to innocent people. In a way it must be similar in some aspects for Black people of West African descent to go to places like Cape Coast as it would be for Jewish Europeans to visit Auschwitz or Dachau.

An interesting fact was learned just after our visit. In Athletics, most of the world's top sprinters can trace their ancestory to West Africa due to their physical strength and bulky physiques. However, East Africa, with more slender frames and more mountainous regions are built for distance running! So no wonder Sir Chris Hoy took up cycling.

This incredible story is not yet over. In less than a week we will welcome Emmanuel and Robert Forsson to sunny Scotland and show them what life is like for us here.

And there is a development that Hamilton and Donkorkrom may end up as Twin Towns. If this did happen, then what an incredible legacy for Sinclair Dyer and Kim Dyer.

Kim is a medical student and she needed some extra experience. Sinclair wasn't sure what to do, but a Ghanian who had received some help from a relative for Mr Dyer told him to take Kim to Ghana. Against perhaps his better judgement he did. It seemed at first a strange and perhaps trouble-laden trip... but all the fears any father would have taking his little girl out to a strange new world was proven to be unfounded. The Ghanians treated Sinclair and Kim like their own.

And do you know what? They treated everyone of us like their own. They are a hard act to follow, that is for sure!