I started school late, at age thirteen. It was very difficult to relate to other students since I was the oldest person in the class. Whenever I made a mistake the other students would laugh at me.

Furthermore, I was always falling behind in my lessons. I lived with my aunt in the Karaga District of northern Ghana, and during harvest time – four months out of every year – I was removed from school to help my family with farming. Many times, I came close to dropping out of school as my parents could not take care of the fees. We were very poor. I was even going to school with bare feet. (more…)

Mariam is an orphan. She is 10 years old. She lost both of her parents to AIDS and lives with her grandmother in the Northern Region of Ghana. Thanks to Camfed’s support, Mariam is able to go to school and she studies in Class 3. Usually, Camfed doesn’t offer support to girls until they reach Class 4, but Mariam was chosen as a special case so that she could continue with her schooling in spite of losing both her parents. (more…)

Sumaya Alidu is 16-years-old and lives in the Northern Region of Ghana with her grandmother. Sumaya’s mother died and her father works many hundreds of miles away in Ghana’s capital, Accra. Sumaya missed many years of school before Camfed stepped in, but when she was 13, Camfed started to pay her school fees so that she could continue her studies. (more…)

When Sharifatu was 14, her family moved from one region of Northern Ghana to another. With two boys and three girls to support, the family could no longer afford the fees to send Sharifatu to school. That was when Camfed stepped in to support Sharifatu so that she could continue her education. Now aged 17, Sharifatu is looking forward to going on to Senior Secondary School and hopes to go on and train to be a nurse. (more…)