kwame

At  four years-old, I was sent away by my parents to help my elderly grandparents. While living with them, I was denied an education. I work all day and on weekends. I searched for snails in bulk and gave them to a woman, who in exchange, gave me porridge every morning.

When I was five years-old, I started taking my grandfather out on the lake to fish. My grandfather found it very difficult to paddle, so even though I was young, I had to use my tiny arms and paddle my grandfather around the lake.

My dream of obtaining an education was distant. I could not visualize a future for myself. Even though I was not going to school, a retired teacher realized my desire for education and began teaching me during his leisure time. The teacher attempted many times to encourage my grandparents to send me to school. By the time I was six years-old, the teacher had successfully convinced my grandparents to enroll me in school.

Unfortunately, the same year I started going to school, my dad and mom also divorced. My parents argued over who would be able to have me during vacations. I had been living with my grandparents and had not seen my mother in several years.

One day, I met a woman who told me she was my mother. She explained that she wanted to take me away secretly since my father would not permit her to see me. I hadn’t seen my mother and wasn’t sure if she was really my mom, but I agreed. She directed me to come when my father was not home.

She took me away to a town in Volta Region where we began a fresh start. My father continued on with his life with his new wife and children. He hardly ever called to check on me and my two younger sisters.

We struggled very much in our new life together. It was hard to watch my mom suffer to care for me and my siblings. I worried a lot about her health, our survival, and my ability to stay in school. After school each day, my sisters and I had to hawk fish to generate funds for our school fees, our feeding, rent, and other living expenses. My mom sold fish at the market all day except Sundays.

My mother’s fish trading business was able to hold us for a while but eventually it collapsed. Life became very difficult for us. My sisters and I attended school for a while on credit. We took up every kind work that came our way to try to pay the bills. We sold mangoes and filtered water at the vehicle station and market.

Our school fees kept piling up on us and my sisters and I were forced to dropped out of school. I tried reaching out to my Dad, but I was told he was complely broke due to excessive intake of alcohol. I felt completely crushed and hopeless about my future. Every night before going to bed, I prayed and asked God for help.

Fortunately, a charity school admitted me and my sisters as day students. My life became optimistic again. Since we did not have to pay for school fees or books, all the money we generated from hawking fruit was enough to manage our other living expenses.

Back then, a friend told me that in order to get a sponsor, we had to work hard. So, studying hard was the only choice I had and I took it very seriously.

My efforts were recognized by the owner of the school. She offered to accept me as a boarding student under her sponsorship. Even though I got the opportunity of a lifetime, I was about to encounter another obstacle with the director of the school.

The owner of the school was a foreigner and only visited Ghana for periods of time. When she was away, the children were subjected to hard labor. The director made us work for him to build his businesses. We had to walk far to the river to collect water and carry cement blocks. I stayed focused on my goal—graduating from school—and continued to endure all the misery he put us through knowing it would all be over one day.

After I received admission to senior high school, life at school worsened. Though my sponsor continued to pay my fees, the funds went through the director and he delayed paying my fees to the school. I was discharged from school on several occasions because of unpaid fees.

My studies were constantly disrupted and I was falling behind. I was even dismissed on several occasions in the examination hall during exams due to unpaid fees. I suffered anxiety from the fear of my unpaid fees and saw my hope of graduating slipping away from me.

I tried several times to explain to the owner of the school that my fees were not being paid, but she did not believe me. She had sent the money and the director told her my fees were paid. The director was angry with me for reporting back to the owner of the school and began to hate me.

Out of desperation, I reached out to Jennifer at Dream On and explained what was happening. She investigated the situation and Dream On came to my rescue and paid my school fees for the remainder of time in high school.

When I look back at all the long days of being forced to work, the nights I could barely keep my head up to study, and the amount of classroom time that I lost, it is a miracle that I not only completed school, but that I also performed very well on my national exam. Dream On believed in me and helped me graduate from high school and enter college. I am now in my second year of nursing school at Valley View University.

I pray that God will bless Dream On International financially to assist children who struggle through life like I did. I am so grateful for all the people who have made it possible for me to be standing where I am today.