Mary Kay writes:
I want to introduce you to a young man that I have just
met. His name is Sampana Abel, and he
lives in Bolgatanga. He completed Junior
High School in June, and took his Basic School Certificate Examinations at that
time. These examinations are the
culmination of primary and junior high school in Ghana, and your score on the
BSCE determines whether you will go to high school or not. Abel scored well enough in his exams to move
on and received notification that he had a place at Bawku Technical High
School.
But Abel has had a difficult childhood. His childhood home in the village was
destroyed in a storm. Six of his siblings have died at very young ages, leaving him with only a brother and a sister surviving. His parents have suffered from poverty and illness and were homeless for some time. Abel had nowhere to stay until a local woman
took him in, in exchange for him working on her farm and around her house; the
work was hard, and life was not easy. Often
Abel couldn’t go to school because he had to work. Lately, though not an orphan, he has been
living in an orphanage run by a friend of mine, Mama Laadi, outside of
Bolgatanga.
In Ghana, secondary education is not free. Most high schools are boarding schools, so in
addition to tuition costs, money was needed for room and board. By the time Abel was able to pull together
enough money for his school fees at the end of October, school had already
started. When Abel showed up, the
Headmaster told him that the class was full and there was no room for him.
Abel tried to get into other schools in the area, but they
were all full. A couple of schools would
have been willing to take him into the freshman class, if Abel were willing to
pay a bribe to make it worth the school administrator’s effort. Of course, Abel barely had the money for
school fees, so he couldn’t afford to pay any bribes on top of that.
While watching television one night, Abel and Mama Laadi saw a program sponsored by the Methodist Church
Ghana. During the program, the show
advertised the Methodist Education Unit and provided a phone number to call for
more information about attending a Methodist School. Abel called and asked about schools in the
Upper East Region and the potential for assistance to impoverished students
. He was referred to his local Methodist
minister, Very Rev. Samuel K. Bessa-Simons.
Very Rev. Bessa-Simons met with Mama Laadi and Abel and told
him about the new Methodist Senior Technical School that will open in January
in Sakote. While the Sakote school does
not have boarding facilities, it turns out that Sakote is Abel’s home
village. His parents are back living in
Sakote, so he will have a place to live and go to school. In fact, one of my photographs of women at
the new boreholes in Sakote included Abel’s mother in it!
Abel wants to thank Living Word UMC and the friends he has
never even met for providing such a great facility for his village. He is excited about the opportunity to get an
education and promises to work hard.
When I asked him what he wanted to be now that he will get an education,
he didn’t know how to answer. He said,
“I never thought I would have the opportunity to get an education, so I never
thought about what I could be.” After
some contemplation, though, he said he would like to become either a pastor or
a teacher.
We may never know the number of lives we touch or the impact
we have on others, but every once in a while, God gives us a glimpse of the
difference we can make in one young man’s life!
Thank you, Living Word, for your love for Ghana and for making education
available for young men and women like Abel.
"Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of one who has no sense The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool of a fool invites ruin." Proverbs 10:13-14 (NIV)
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