The following is a Yoruba poem sent to me via African Language Resource On-line...thank you Apetebi Osunfunmike Fagbenro-Amusan ISE NI OOGUN ISE - HARD WORK IS THE REMEDY FOR POVERTY Ise ni oogun `se Hard work is the remedy for poverty Mura si ise ore mi Keep up the hard work my friend Ise ni afi ndeni giga Through hard work , we become greater Bi ako ba reni fehinti Without any support system Bi ole la a ri We become a lazy person Bi a ko ba reni gbekele Without anyone to depend on A tera mose eni We work harder and harder Iya re le lowo lowo Your mother might be rich Baba re si le leshin le kan Your father might have a lot of horses ( richer ) Bi o ba gboju le won If you depend on them O te tan ni mo so fun o You will be disgrace - i tell you Ohun ti a ko ba jiya fun Whatever we didn't suffer for Se kii le tojo We never appreciate Ohun ti a ba fara sise fun Whatever we work harder for Ni npe lowo eni Is what we hold on to Apa lara One's arm is one's family Igunpa ni iye kan The elbow is the maternal relative Bi aiye ba nfe o loni If the whole world loves you today Ti o balowo lowo And you have a lot of money Won a ma fe o lola They will still loves you tommorrow Jeki o wa ni ipo atata Or if you are in a good financial position Aiye a ma ye o si terin-terin The world will respect you with laughter Jeki o deni rago If you ever in any hardship Ko o ri bi aiye ti nyinmu si o Just watch how the world will loose respect for you Eko si tun seni doga Knowledge keeps someone in a higher position Mura ki o ko dara-dara Make haste and get your education in time Iya nbo fomo ti ko gbon Harship is on the way for someone foolish Ekun mbe fomo ti o nsa kiri Tears is waiting for someone running around Ma fowuro sere ore mi Do not play around in the morning ! my friend Mura si ise ojo nlo. Work very hard time is running out!

Remember...We are a people of hard work...but for whom???????