FROM ADIORKOR NUMBER TWO TO ASHESI

I am determined to make it in life to help my family come out of our impoverished situation. I would have been a school dropout but for the free Senior High School policy by the government because my parents would not have been able to afford my High School fees.

We came into contact with Mabel in March 2020. She was among the second cohort of the I MADE IT students at St. Monica’s Senior High School, Asante Mampong. As we went through their terminal reports, we realized that Mabel was the weakest academically and financially among the entire group though very humble, hardworking and determined to MAKE IT.

I was born in a village called Adiokor Number Two near Drobo in the Jaman South District in the Bono Region. The village is surrounded by very high mountains and farming is the common occupation that most people in the village do to earn a living. One major problem facing my village is communicating with the outside world. If it becomes very necessary, we have to go to the next village or climb some of the hills or mountains before we can make or receive calls.

One of the modules of the I MADE IT programme is our Vacation Reading Exercises, where the girls are given books to read and make submissions on their reading assignments via email. Due to the communication challenge in her village and with Mabel’s determination to MAKE IT to the next level of passing her West Africa Secondary School Examinations (WASSCE), she appealed to one of her school teachers to allow her to stay with her, to enable her do her vacation exercises online. The teacher agreed and that enabled Mabel to successfully complete all her exercises.

According to my mother, my father was a hardworking tailor who supported her in taking care of our family. Unfortunately, he fell sick a year after I was born and could not sit to sew. He decided to farm - though not easy because of the pain in his waist - to enable us get something to eat and then sell the excess farm produce if any, to supplement the little from my mother.

My mother carries an old sewing machine on her head and goes around the village mending people’s clothes. The little she gets is mostly used to supplement whatever my father brings from the farm.

My father therefore consulted a church member who was also a friend to assist him in taking care of my education. In 2010, I was moved to Sunyani to stay with this man who took care of me from Class 1 to Junior High School (JHS)3. He did not only pay my fees but took care of me as his child. Everyone knew him as my father and he was determined to take care of me even to the tertiary level. However, he died just when I was about to enter the Senior High School (SHS). I had no choice than to move back to my parents in the village.

In terms of education my village has no well-structured buildings and the needed facilities to enhance quality education. Fortunately, I was posted to St. Monica’s Senior High School after my Basic Education Certificate Examinations.

To enable me go to school, I needed to buy a mattress and other school items in the prospectus before I could go to school. My mom had to borrow money to buy all the items and till date she is still in debt. We live in a house which belongs to my mother's uncle. It is in a bad shape and it might collapse when it rains heavily, but we have nowhere to go.

I am always ready to learn new things. When I realize I do not know something, I get closer to whoever has that knowledge and tap from them. For example, I got closer to my peers who are grade ‘A’ students because I had to excel in the WASSCE to enable me continue with my education through sponsorship. I always had a book and pen ready to learn new things because I knew with determination and hard work, I would MAKE IT.

We kept on counselling all the girls to be diligent with their work both at school and at home. This was to, in effect, build an attitude of resilience to enable them overcome any challenge that might come to steal their success. Mabel took these lessons very seriously. Some few months into the programme, she became very confident, asked all the difficult questions and was always eager to take leadership positions during their team work projects.

What inspires me is the history of people from poor backgrounds who made it in life. One such person is Abraham Lincoln. I relate so much with him because history has it that his parents were very poor, just like mine, but with determination and hard work he was able to become the 16th President of the United States of America. I may not be the President of Ghana but may set up my own technological company.

As the first child of my parents, I am determined to work hard and take my family (parents and sister) and I from poverty as cruel as this.

Mabel is currently a first-year student at Ashesi University, pursuing a four-year Bachelor of Science programme in Computer Science. We are grateful to Ashesi University for giving Mabel financial aid through the Mastercard Scholars Foundation programme.

I am grateful to God for how far He has brought me and very excited to become an Ashesi student, where students are made to be critical thinkers and an Ashesi graduate to help transform my family, my community, my nation Ghana and Africa as a whole.