Connecting rural children to opportunities

Kudakwashe Faith Nhanga

After paying visits to a few schools, especially one in Kitase, a village close to Ashesi, Kuda says she began to realize just how underdeveloped the schools are. She adds, "As a student who is on scholarship, I understand that I could not have gotten to where I am by my own efforts; I needed someone to support and bolster me. Thus, likewise, it is also important that when we have a platform, we also do our parts in supporting others so that there are no children who have potential and can make a tangible difference in the world, who will not be able to reach their fullest potential due of lack of resources." Kuda tied her Act of Global Citizenship beautifully with her observations. She shared, "We engaged the communities of Berekuso and Kitase in the build-up to the act. The act eventually took place in Kwabenya at a junior high school there. Through the Mentor's Network, an Ashesi student-led organization, we taught the children in Kitase during weekends, and from this, we managed to develop metor-mentee relationships. And we also paid visits to Sambel Academy and explained to them our vision and they also added their input. My ultimate motivation was to communicate with the students, and hopefully inspire them in some way. We asked the students to write down answers to questions like 'What do you want to be when you grow up?', 'How will you achieve that?', 'What are the challenges you think you may face along the way?', 'What university do you want to attend?'. The responses we had from these questions made me realize that dreams that these students harbour, and I realized that rather than them simply relating with me, I could see pieces of myself, my dreams and my drive in them. They have big dreams, and I hope that they will achieve them."