Beatrice Didongo
Beatrice lost her father when she was three, leaving her mother to fend for her four daughters and son. Beatrice and her siblings consequently grew up severely malnourished. In an attempt to earn a little money so the family could eat, Beatrice and her sisters would roam the streets selling yams, but only after school, as their mother insisted that her children received an education.
Because of Create Change, Beatrice did not drop out and instead is a prefect at Vitting Secondary School. She is also the first female cadet leader at her high school, and leads an all male cadet team. Caring, charismatic and a natural leader, Beatrice hopes to become a state agricultural officer so she can share better farming practices with rural communities.
Faiza Saaka
Faiza grew up in a happy home with her father, mother, her father’s second wife, and her eleven brothers and sisters. Faiza continuously performed at the top of her class, and consequently was teased by boys in her class for being ‘too knowing’. This only caused Faiza to work harder to prove herself. .
Confident, witty and opinionated, Faiza claims her motto is ‘What men can do, women can do better”. Because of her passion for female equality and gift for public speaking, she was selected to speak about girls’ education at a regional event. Faiza plans to attend university so she can one day work as a girl child education to protect the rights of women and girls in Ghana’s Northern Region.
Fayudatu Yakubu
Fayudatu family is poor, but did their best to provide their children with a good education. Once in high school, Fayudatu was elected to sit on the school’s student council as secretary. After students in her school began to protest about the continuous increase in school fees, a riot ensued which led to the automatic expulsion of all student council representatives.
Thankfully as she was a Create Change sponsored student, Fayudatu was placed in a new school so that she could finish high school. Although she missed two months of class, she is still at the top of her class. Headstrong with a strong sense of integrity and compassion, Fayudatu is undoubtedly a leader. She hopes to attend nursing college so she can treat people in remote rural villages who don’t have access to healthcare.
Gladys Sayibu
Gladys has always been determined to be somebody ‘big’ in life, even though she was raised by a single mother who struggled to put food on the table. Through menial labour, Gladys’ mother managed to take her as far as junior high school. Once at the senior level, fees became too much for her mother to bear. Create Change thankfully stepped in before she had to drop out.
Gladys performed well through school, and was elected to be the library prefect because of her fascination with books. While other girls would socialize, Gladys could be found tucked away in the library reading anything she could get her hands on. Gladys’ hopes to be a female politician in future, so she can bring change to her community and ensure the rights of widows and children are protected.