Esther

By the time I turned 13 years old, both of my parents had passed away. My older sister, Lydia, took on the responsibility of trying to care for me and my brother, Ben.

Our struggle to survive was great, and by the time I completed junior high school my sister told me that there might not be enough money for me to continue on to high school. I had a passion for writing and dreamed of being a journalist and poet. All of the feelings inside me about the loss of my parents and the fight for survival came out onto paper. I wrote poems and practiced them aloud.

As a young girl without the protection of parents, some people tried to exploit me. One man, though he did help some, also used my vulnerable situation to raise his standing in the community. He humiliated me by publicly announcing that I was a “poor orphan girl” that he was helping. After that day, I couldn’t walk through the village without people calling me “orphan.”

Other men promised to send me to school but instead attempted to make advances on me. They wanted me to believe that I would have to give them a part of me in exchange for an education. I never gave in to those men and I shared my dilemma with the president of Dream On.

Dream On intervened and matched me with a generous sponsor who helped me to continue on with high school and has been supporting my education since. Toward the end of high school, I developed a health condition that required two surgeries and continues to require monitoring. I completed high school in spite of my health problems.

I was able to move away from my village and start fresh when I went to college. I joined my new family at the Dream On Home and became a student at BlueCrest College. In August of 2021, I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and Journalism.

Over the last few years, I have worked hard to gain as much experience as possible to practice my craft. I have been invited to perform spoken word poetry at celebrations and events, have been nominated for several poetry awards, and completed an internship at the Ghana News Agency.

I represented Accra in the 2018 Miss Metro Ghana Pageant and was awarded second place in my region. I was honored with the Board's Choice in the 2020 Communications Student Awards and was awarded the UMB Ghana Tertiary Award in Poetry. I was invited to perform a poem I wrote on human trafficking through irregular migration at an event that was sponsored by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

My artistic exploration also includes photography. I enjoy experimenting with self-portraits and have participated in many commercial modeling jobs. Some of my self-portraits have brought me back to my village, where I have revisited my native roots in visual expression, this time through a different lens and with confidence.

I enjoy any project where I can be engaged in creative thought and expression. I am most passionate about expressing the daily struggles of the disadvantaged in Ghana through spoken word poetry. It is my hope as I move forward with my artistic and journalistic career that I will create awareness about a variety of human rights, environmental, and cultural issues in an effort to advance positive change in Ghana.

There was a time in my life when I felt hopeless and didn’t think I would even be able to attend high school. With the help of Dream On, I have come far to realize my dreams. I miss my parents every day, but I know that they are watching over me and are very proud of the woman I have become.

I am so grateful to my sponsors for supporting my education and helping me to overcome my health issues. I would not be where I am today without you.

Left to right: (1) Esther (in front) with her siblings, (2) Esther (in front) at her father’s funeral, (3) Esther’s mother, (4) Esther just before her mother’s funeral.

Left to right: (1) Modeling job at Katalist Studio, (2) Untitled self-portrait, Native Series, (3) Untitled self-portrait, Native Series, (4) Modeling job for Psalmist Graphics and Media.