Six years ago I got to hear that Korley, who was in Junior High class one, was sleeping on the porch of a house near the school. He had heard about our school, believing that key to his success in life was learning English. He was labouring for the house’s owner in return for so-called board and one of our teachers had taken pity on him and was trying to scrape together enough for the small fees we charge. His English was virtually non-existent. We were able to find a sponsor for him and three years later, he had worked so hard, not only was his English good, he had obtained the grades to go to the best technical college in the district. The problem was that he had no hope of finding the money to pay for the fees.
When I got to hear about this, I was so impressed at how hard he had worked and struggled with his board, we decided that Help Tafo would sponsor him through college. When I told Korley, he fell on his knees and started crying. He’s very tall and it was really difficult hauling him up off the floor(!).
I recently asked Korley to write about his experience at Juliet Johnston and St Paul’s Technical College for our website and this is what he wrote:
"Korley Eric is my name. I am 25 years of age. I was born in 7th July 1990. I am a Ghanaian and my parents are Mr and Mrs Korley. My father is a farmer and my mother is a trader. They live at Somanya with my siblings. (About 50 miles away from Tafo.)
I attended Juliet Johnston School for Junior High. This school is a school of kindness, honestly and hardworking. I got a successful quality training from Juliet Johnston and base on that, I got the opportunity to further my education at St Paul’s Technical College with the help of Help Tafo Trust.
St Paul’s Technical College was established in 1957. This school is the best school among all technical schools in West Africa. I am studying Automobile Engineering. My aim of studying this course is to be an engineer as my future career. I have the interest of how engineers design and build engines and machines. I also aim to come out with my own design of heavy duty engines, vehicle engines and all types of machines if God permit."
