Title: Olivia: The glitter in the Agbogbloshie slum
Agbobloshie is a slum in Accra notorious for every vice imaginable, but in the midst of all the rot associated with the slum, an academic gem has sprouted.
Born on July 25, 1993 and raised in the slum, Olivia Agbenyeke has defied all the trappings of the slum - teenage pregnancy, prostitution, drug addiction, robbery, noise pollution, despicable sanitation conditions and late night sleep for helping her father in his drinking spot business – to emerge as an academic prodigy.
Having obtained grade A in seven subjects, Olivia may be one of the best science students who wrote the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 2012.
She had grade A in Social Studies, English, Core Mathematics, Elective Mathematics, Integrated Science, Physics and Chemistry, with the only blemish being a grade B in Biology.
These results may be normal for a girl who lives in a plush residential area and attended an elite senior high school, but for a girl from a slum who attended what may be described as an ordinary school, the results are quite abnormal.
Inside Agbogbloshie
Mrs Clarissa Oman Saniba, a Science teacher at St Joseph’s Junior High School at Adabraka, where Olivia attended basic school, once accompanied her home and she was stunned by what she saw in the slum.
“I was surprised to see where she lived; it was not a conducive place for learning at all. I believe if she had had better conditions, she would have performed far better,” she said.
As I tried to trace Olivia’s house at Agbogbloshie to talk to her father, I was equally stunned by the volume of filth, the cacophony of noise by traders, loudspeakers and the repulsive smell of liquid and solid waste that filled the air.
The drinking spot owned by Olivia’s father is a popular joint, but without the guidance of a little girl I asked for help from, I could not have found my bearing to the house.
As I followed the little girl, staggering over the filth and rough terrain, and meandering my way through a public and household bathhouse and structures of all kinds, I came across the stark reality of life in a slum.
And from what Olivia’s father told me after our meeting, the route I had used to the house was not ‘friendly’ because there were guys who could easily detect the presence of ‘strangers’.
Olivia was exposed to all the social vices one could think of in a slum.
In addition, she had to serve customers at her father’s drinking spot, sometimes till 12 midnight or 2a.m., but she managed to soar high in her academic pursuit.
“I was aware of the social vices in the area. It was not a conducive environment for learning. The situation was even worse for me because I had to help my father in his drinking bar business and that made it impossible for me to study at home,” she said.
Her heavy domestic chores included carrying crates of minerals from the Accra Brewery Limited (ABL) on the Graphic Road to Agbogbloshie before or after school hours on a regular basis.
Secret of academic success
Even at a tender age, Olivia knew that the environment at her home in Agbogbloshie and her heavy domestic schedules would not allow her to learn at home as much as she desired.
“So when I was in junior high school, I decided that each day after school, I would stay back and learn for two hours before going home,” she revealed the secret of her academic success.
Mrs Saniba confirmed that story.
She said Olivia was very studious and every day after school had closed around 4p.m., she would sit under the trees on the school’s premises to learn on her own.
“She was always found sitting alone; she didn’t mingle with friends,” Mrs Saniba recalled.
That reserve attitude or what some people commonly term “anti-so” may be born out of a life under a very strict and disciplinarian father.
But she is very thankful to her father, Mr David Agbenyeke, because his strictness has been very helpful to her. It made her stay indoors always and that must have reduced the bad influence of the slum environment on her.
She was quick to point out that it had not been easy at all, given the fact that her two younger sisters were finding it difficult to cope with academic work in school probably due to the effect of the environment.
One secret of Olivia’s academic success that she may not be conscious of is her family name – Agbenyeke.
Literally, it means ‘The root gives life’.
And by inference, the root will germinate anywhere provided there is water.
Academic awards
Olivia had established her academic prowess right from St Joseph’s Junior High School at Adabraka, Accra, where she swept five prizes when the teachers decided to organise the first-ever academic excellence awards for students.
Olivia had established her academic prowess right from St Joseph’s Junior High School at Adabraka, Accra, where she swept five prizes when the teachers decided to organise the first-ever academic excellence awards for students.
She went ahead to prove her mettle at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in 2008 when she obtained grade one in seven subjects and grade two in three other subjects.
That performance gave her a very good chance to gain admission to any of the first-class senior high schools in the country.
But her desire to attend Wesley Girls High School, Holy Child School and any of the famous schools in the Central Region to enhance her interest in the study of science was subdued by her father’s insistence that she attended Keta Senior High School in the Volta Region.
Father David’s choice was not bad after all, and daughter Olivia was not disappointed in the end.
“When I got to the school (KETASCO), I realised that it had everything I was expecting. The facilities and the teachers were very good,” she said.
With the support of her father, life at KETASCO was very comfortable.
“He made me feel comfortable when I was in school. I did not lack anything.”
To Mr Agbenyeke, a middle school leaver, his avowed commitment to take care of his children’s education is to make them achieve what he could not achieve in education.
Redeeming that commitment has never been easy but he had single-handedly discharged it through a savings account he opened at Databank to serve that purpose.
Right from SHS One, Olivia started picking academic prizes as she was adjudged the best student in Integrated Science during the school’s speech and prize-giving day ceremony.
Olivia was then far away from the social decadence at Agbogbloshie and the troubling commitment of selling drinks at her father’s spot till midnight, which deprived her of enough sleep and time to learn, but she never lost touch with home.
“Looking back at where I was coming from and being the first child, I always made sure my academics were very good so that he (father) does not regret,” she said.
But putting her background aside and forging ahead, Olivia also had her eyes fixed on the dividends of academic success.
“When I got to the school, I learnt there was a scholarship facility for academic excellence and so that motivated me to study hard. I also made friends with some of my seniors to encourage me to do better,” she recalled.
With her ambition in sharp focus, Olivia also set up a personal goal, and that was to make grade B the lowest result in every subject she offered.
In Form One, she had not started doing elective subjects and so she could only pick the prize for Integrated Science, but when the elective subjects were introduced in Form Two, she increased her portfolio of academic laurels.
Out of eight subjects, she swept four prizes in Biology, Core Mathematics, Elective Mathematics and Physics, plus a fifth prize as the overall best female student in Form Two.
In Form Three and Form Four, it was business as usual as she grabbed the same prizes, but on those two occasions, swapping Integrated Science with Biology.
Her classmates, especially the boys, marvelled at her academic prowess.
“Sometimes when I was sitting alone, they would come and look over my shoulders to see what I was studying but it was the same thing we were all taught in class,” she said.
Moment of family pride
Olivia was a member of the Keta Senior High School team that participated in the National Maths and Science Quiz competition.
She shared some fond memories of her sitting with her father and siblings at home to watch the recorded version of the programme on Ghana Television.
It was a proud moment for father and daughter and, indeed, the entire Agbenyeke family.
“I was very happy. Many of our family members called me from all over the country to express delight that I have such a brilliant daughter,” Mr Agbenyeke said.
Olivia’s participation in the National Maths and Science Quiz may have brought joy to the family but she can never forget her school’s narrow loss to Koforidua Secondary Technical School by 59 points to 60.
Ambition in limbo
In spite of her academic achievements, Olivia’s ambition to become a medical doctor and neurosurgeon in the future is fast waning due to lack of money to continue her education.
All things being equal, she should have been a first year medical student now, but her father could not afford to buy university admission forms for her last year.
“I was so disappointed but I have faith in my father because he has not failed me before,” she said.
Even in her disappointment, the constant smile on her pretty face never fades.
This year, with the help of her father, she has bought admission forms from the University of Ghana, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University for Development Studies.
She is hoping to pursue her ambition of studying medicine at the university.
But considering the dwindling financial status of her father as a result of bad business, that hope may turn out to be another year of disappointment for Olivia.
That would mean staying at home for two years regardless of her chain of grade As.
As a responsible and committed father, Mr Agbenyeke is very willing to finance Olivia’s university education but he admits he lacks the financial wherewithal now.
That is why he is trying to convince her to forget about her medical school ambition, which has a huge cost implication, and, instead, opt for a course in the Humanities, which may be manageable in terms of cost.
But for Olivia, the desire to be a medical doctor and neurosurgeon is the root of her life, and that is exactly the meaning of her family name – Agbenyeke.
While waiting for the realisation of that dream, the 19-year-old potential medical doctor and neurosurgeon, with her impressive academic results, is counting herself lucky to secure a teaching job at a preparatory school at Adabraka, while still helping her father in his drinking bar business at Agbogbloshie after school.
As a well-wisher, who is deeply concerned about Olivia’s future put it, “We should not allow this brilliant girl to rot in the house.”
Story: Kofi Yeboah
Some Comments…..
“This is where Ghana is getting it wrong in education. A
gifted girl from this background should have a scholarship. We are failing as a
nation. Anyway, a fund should be set up for members of the public to donate to
this girl's education.” The_wonder_boy
“GOD PLEASE HELP OLIVIA, PLEASE SEND A HELPER TO HER NOW
IN JESUS NAME..... YOU SAID EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE WHEN WE MENTION THE NAME OF
JESUS CHRIST PLEASE LORD LET THE NAME WORK FOR HER, THIS GREAT WISDOM YOU HAVE
GIVEN HER LORD PLEASE LET IT CONTINUE........... FATHER LET THY WILL BE DONE
AMEN!!!” Kojo Junior
“I hope someone goes to the aid of this girl. I had the
same grades in SSSCE but soon discovered that in Ghana good grades don't do the
trick if you are from a poor background. I was lucky to get a scholarship
outside and escape what I call an "education quagmire" . Instead of
government scholarships going to deserving people like her, it goes to the
wards of cronies and sycophants of the government.” Nana Yaw
“My heart aches that with all her academic success and
obvious potential not one person among her mentors considered marketing her
potential to the state or soliciting financial help from the government. Our
country has enough money to pay up to $100,000 ex gratia but cannot make room
for people with no help but great potential. Our priorities are just wrong.”
Kwasi ON
“Can someone set up a fund? I am happy to contribute.
What are the costs involved. As a medical doctor myself, I find it a terrible
shame that someone as talented as this can't go on to be a medical doctor. In
the States, Olivia would be snapped up by a Harvard or Yale or Stanford.” Kwei
Q
Really (dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot) its times for
Ghana’s hidden rich to come out of their fefe homes and help the likes of Olivia,
because (dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot) we don’t want this talent to go to
waste!!!!
I’m thinking that maybe this present government should
stop giving positions to ‘Hindu-Goddess-sex-experts’ and create a youth
[education] advisory post for this most deserving of young ladies or sponsor Miss
Agbenyeke and enable her to become “a medical doctor and neurosurgeon.”
Anyway, I’m a bit disappointed that there are no contact
details for us humans –wanting to help or contribute to Olivia Agbenyeke’s on-going
educational needs. God bless Mr Agbenyeke, Olivia and the rest of the Agbenyeke
clan…..
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