Advertisement
Paying it Forward
By Nichole Huck
Everyone needs a little help sometimes. Friends, family, churches, even benevolent strangers came together to help get me to Africa. It is truly amazing to know that people would selflessly give to you without expecting anything in return. I know I will never be able to pay these people back for their kindness - I can only hope to pay it forward.
In my eight months in Ghana I have met a lot of really bright, incredibly motivated young people. Two girls from a school near my radio station were guests on a program about barriers to education. Both of the girls were desperately in need of financial help to attend school. One of the girls repeated the same grade again because she wasn’t able to pay school fees for another school. She came everyday even though she didn’t have any books and had to walk for an hour to get to school. The other girl also had no books and depended on her friends to share their lunches with her.
After I wrote a story about Zalia and Rafia, a few friends from home offered to help. Four people donated some money and I was able to open up a student savings account for both girls. I told them that we were helping them because they are bright and work hard and deserve to be successful. I told them that we’ve all needed a little help along the way and that the best way to thank us is to work hard and do well in school. Their success will be our greatest reward. I gave them each my address so that they can write and let us know how they did on their exams and if they got into the schools that they wanted.
A few weeks later a boy showed up at my office holding a piece of paper with my name on it. He told me his name was Taufik and he is cousins with Rafia, one of the girls we sponsored. He finished Senior Secondary (High School) and was hoping to go to college. He brought along his report card for me to see - I was impressed. He had scored top marks in almost all of his subjects - no small feat for a student from the North who is taking the same standardized tests as students in the more developed South.
Taufik started visiting me at work nearly every week. Through our conversations I learned that both his parents are dead and he has no one to help him. He sometimes goes to Rafia’s house to eat, but there is no room for him to stay there. Rafia’s mother only makes a few dollars a week selling sachet water and she already has three children sharing one small concrete room.
Taufik stays in a small room with two other friends, two of them share the mattress and he sleeps on the floor. Taufik took a year off between junior high and high school. He didn’t have any money for school fees so he started working manual labour jobs whenever he could to save up money to go back the following year. He managed to save up the equivalent of 50 dollars and was able to put himself through high school.
Taufik dreams of becoming a doctor/nurse because he knows the Northern Region is short of medical professionals and he wants to help. He struck me as incredibly bright and genuine and although I didn’t make any promises I really wanted to help him. I asked him to look into the cost of University and into savings accounts. One day I asked him why he hadn’t applied for nursing in the North. He told me he hadn’t applied because the application form was 30 dollars. I asked him when it was due, he said in two days. We rushed around got everything together that he needed for the application. When he had completed it he brought it to me to look at before mailing it off. He was grinning from ear to ear.
It further reinforced my desire to help him in whatever way I could. The idea of taking on the responsibility of someone else’s University Education is overwhelming, especially when I think of the bills I have waiting for me when I get home. It would be easy for me to say to myself, ‘well what would he have done if I hadn’t come?’ But I did.
Charity doesn’t seem like a very sustainable way to help someone, but sometimes people can’t wait for a sustainable solution. Sometimes people just need something to get through the day and tomorrow they will deal with what is thrown at them. If you ask people here how they are doing, a common answer is ‘I’m managing’ - And that about sums it up. Being intelligent and working hard doesn’t guarantee you a job. People who are successful are those who have family or friends who are able to help; People to send them money or get them a job. Others take it one day at a time and hope that that their luck will change.
The next week Taufik and I went to the bank. As we sat in the air-conditioned room waiting for our turn I handed him an envelope with 500 cedi (dollars). He held his handkerchief over his eyes, trying desperately to hold back tears. After he had filled out everything and we left the bank I asked him if everything was ok. He told me he was just overwhelmed. He never thought that it could really happen and when I handed him the money it just hit him. He was thinking about how happy his mother would be. He kept telling me that he won’t be able to pay me back but that he hoped God would bless me and my family.
I told him I’m already blessed. I told him that I have received scholarships to go to University so it was an honour to help someone else now that I am in a better position. I will soon be going back to Canada where I will be once again earning a salary. And I know that even if worse came to worse I would be able to stay with friends or family members until I could get back on my feet again.
The young people I met don’t have that luxury. All money that enters their home is needed for the basics such as food and water. There is nothing leftover for frivolous things like books, library membership fees, or new clothing.
For so many people I have met here, there really is no saving for the future. The money you have, you need right now. If someone helps you, you may be able to do something you never allowed yourself to dream about. And when you are in a position to help others you do the same.
I have been repeatedly astounded at the generosity of people here. My co-workers who don’t earn any money will give what little they have to a friend in need. They will share the very last of what they have with someone without thinking about where they will get more the next day. The attitude is help others when you are able and when you need help others will help you. Ghana is truly a country full of people paying it forward.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.085s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 5; qc: 51; dbt: 0.044s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
India J
non-member comment
Moved by your tale of generosity...
Beautiful story..:) http://off-thebeatentrack.blogspot.com/