The commute to work is more than just a part of my day, it’s an unpleasant hassle. I wake up at seven every single morning, shower, get dressed and know my morning is gonna be a stressful one. As I stand at the tro tro stop with other locals trying to squeeze into a packed and sweaty hot van, I often miss out on the tro tro that I need because it is too full or the locals beat me to it. As if one tro tro isn’t enough every morning, I have to get out of my first tro tro in the middle of the highway and walk to a nearby tro tro station for my second one. After I get off my second tro tro, it is a 15 minute walk to my destination. It takes an hour and a half to get to my work and I am already exhausted with sweat running down my back by the time I walk into the doors of Orakle Advertising.

As I finally managed to find a seat on the first tro tro of my trip yesterday, I was expecting the worst. I was wrong, because that ride was actually the best I’ve had since I arrived in Accra. Rather than a little van usually loud and musty, it was calm and cool. I luckily got a seat next to the window, but that wasn’t the best part. A man was standing in the front of the van talking in a extremely calm manner, and the people were silent, giving all of their attention to the man standing. I could not understand a word he was saying, but the tone of his voice was so soothing and he began singing. He had a beautiful voice, and suddenly the tro tro seemed like a motivational lecture, not an irritating commute.

I asked another passenger who he was, and I found out he was a preacher. He sang, talked, and looked at every single person on that ride and I had never experienced anything like it. The sounds of street sellers were blocked out, and the constant honking outside of my window was no longer an issue. I wished I could have this man on every tro tro ride, because his preaching was so positive, and that positivity lasted the entire day. As he walked off the tro tro, I thanked him and told him he had made my morning. As I jumped on my tro tro this morning, I was hoping to see him standing in front of the van but that was not the case. Suddenly, it was that annoying tro tro ride that I had been so used to. But in the middle of my trip, I saw him at one of the tro tro stops and we made eye contact and he remembered me from yesterday. He looked at me, smiled and said, “Have a good day brother and my the Lord be with you,” and it turned my morning around. I realized I don’t need a preacher on every tro tro ride, I just need a positive mindset. It is truly the little things that one must appreciate. Rather than complaining, we must celebrate the fact that we are all alive and woke up this morning to see another day.