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It is often said that faith can move mountains; but faith needs something of value - something productive to be faithful about. By itself, faith cannot budge an anthill, even like nature, it abhors a vacuum. To move anything worthy or symbolically heavy, faith craves a better half, a bulldozer; and the bulldozer happens to be a sense of purpose. Now, anchored in faith, a sense of purpose seals the ready covenant for the magic that heaves the figurative mountain. The advent of mobile phones has accelerated people�s confidence in heaps and leaps and produced proud performers in the most obscure, dank, unimaginable places. There are - today � some stark, true-to-the-bone, unadulterated illiterates who have defied the gods of illiteracy with nerve. On the quiet (especially those who choose to hide their nakedness) they have taught themselves the numbers on the mobile phones: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Who knows, in due course, our so-called �unschooled� sisters and brothers might tackle the next big hurdle, the alphabets; abc, def, ghi, etc. to spell basic names and save them on the phones for the next call. The very same fountain of determination and humility that unravelled the mystery of numbers may help to accomplish the feat of letters as well. Was it faith that got our �unschooled� populace to be so driven? Maybe not entirely so; but the sense of purpose prevailed: that is to say, the urgent need to stay with the times and to connect with loved ones from afar. The following man-made variation of William Shakespeare�s lines in �Hamlet� may be the sign for our times: �Above all: for thine own self be refreshed / And it must follow as the night the day / Then canst not then be false to the purpose within�. Back in the day, Barack Obama (born of a Kenyan father) defined a seemingly impossible purpose: To be the first African-American President of the United States. Once that critical threshold was visualised, the Rubicon was crossed: a brand new life emerged and arraigned itself like a peacock for posterity. Faith merely nudged Obama to get on with it: Yes, you can! Where a sense of purpose doesn�t exist, one has to define, or at least imagine one to start with. K.B. Asante, in his book, �Voice from afar�, intimated a comparable sense of purpose. He asked, �How would you like to be remembered and for what?� He advised students, for instance, to compose their own obituaries in advance. He said, �It may sound bizarre but there is something sobering in it. Even if you are 20, try to compose one. Imagine that you live long and your best friend is to read the tribute or eulogy at your burial service. What would you want him or her to say?� He hinted, �If you compose your own obituary at 20, you have time to make sense of your life. Think about it.� Similarly, when Peter F. Drucker (the late great management guru) was thirteen, he had an inspiring teacher who one day went round the class and asked each pupil: �What do you want to be remembered for?� When no one could give a specific answer, the teacher chuckled and said, �I didn�t expect you to be able to answer it. But if you still can�t answer it by the time you�re fifty, you would have wasted your life.� With technology nudging at our elbows these days, the sooner the better. We need to create a society in which as much as possible, people can work to help themselves. With the relevant educational systems across the length and breadth of the country, people can do better. It�s not about having people sit endlessly listening to lectures. We need �minds-on�, �hands-on� productive attitudes which our �unschooled� but gritty population has shown. In certain interviews with Oprah Winfrey, she said she simply couldn�t take an extended vacation and relax. She felt compelled to do something that made her feel productive: �I discovered I didn�t feel worth a damn [unless] I was accomplishing something ... Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.� Her schedule is hectic, but it�s exactly the kind of life she planned for: �I�ve always said I wanted to be so busy that I wouldn�t have time to breathe.� If the purpose is to seek greatness in life, she said, �you will be known for doing great things.� For her, greatness comes from work and service, knowing that there is a difference between the job one does for wages, and the work one is born to do�. �You really have to work hard to let what you are come through,� she advised. There�s something strong and elevating to be said for the early sailors: They steered every type wind in the course of a defined purpose - the destination. Even the most unfavourable winds were tacked - in zig-zag motions � for the thrust forward.