Pictured: Former President Rawlings and his wife at the funeral on Wednesday

Last Friday, for the first time since arriving in Ghana, the streets were silent in Accra. Market women packed up their provisions and textiles from street shops, taxi drivers took the day off and grocery stores and diplomatic missions closed their doors. Friday was also the first time a President had died in Ghana.

Multiple streams of income have never been a way of American life. After all, before the economy collapsed, many people spent their years toiling away at one company waiting for the day they could collect their retirement funds. But tough economic times have forced many people to create several streams of revenue just to stay afloat.

When I first moved to Accra last year, I must admit it was lonely.

After all, I had no friends and no family, and although English is the country’s official language, many prefer to speak a local dialect, which left me lost in translation.  Slowly but surely though, I soon discovered the number of young entrepreneurs in Ghana was more than I ever expected.

The other day in my internet browsing I ran across an article entitled, “Nineteen Things All High School Students Should Know.” Of course, with the economy being bad, most of the facts were focused on the financial burden of getting a college education— no surprise there.  I think most Americans are aware of the fact that the cost of college education has gone up dramatically in the past decade. However, the reason I really found this article relevant is because it discussed the reality of college graduates that refuse to think outside of the box.