By Grace Marfo | Teen Girls Club Program Officer
At just 17 years old, Fidaus, a student at Namon Senior High Technical School in Ghana’s Ashanti Region, is shaping a future defined by education, purpose, and possibility.
Fidaus is a graduate of Self-Help International's Teen Girls Program, which delivers a holistic package of support that encourages young women to complete junior high school and continue on to senior high school. The Teen Girls Club programming includes health and hygiene education, leadership development, and academic support, especially English-language competency. Hands-on workshops help the girls learn skills like sewing, crochet, and beadwork they can use to earn an income.
Some academically talented graduates of the Teen Girls Club without the financial means to attend senior high school are also awarded scholarships. Fidaus is one of those scholarship recipients.
As a beneficiary of the SHI scholarship program, Fidaus receives support to cover all required items listed on her school prospectus (such as uniforms, books, and stationary), along with termly assistance for transportation and essential practical tools. These resources may seem small, but they remove real barriers, allowing Fidaus to attend school consistently, participate fully in her studies, and focus on learning rather than financial strain.
This spring, the Self-Help International (SHI) team paid a surprise visit to Namon Senior High Technical School to check in on Fidaus. The headmistress welcomed the Self-Help team warmly and personally led them to Fidaus’ classroom. Fidaus looked up and froze for a moment as she recognized familiar faces she never expected to see. Then she smiled. “I’m doing very well,” she said.
During the visit, the team also learned of a defining decision Fidaus had made: She recently switched her program from visual arts to home economics, guided by a clear and compassionate dream: to become a midwife. Fidaus wants to care for mothers, support safe deliveries, and stand with families during some of life’s most critical moments.
The home economics program requires students to have a sewing machine. During a second follow-up visit this summer, the Self-Help International team presented Fidaus with a sewing machine of her own.
Today, Fidaus remains focused, hopeful, and determined. Her journey is still unfolding, but because of your support, Self-Help International can ensure that she is not walking it alone.
Your generosity does more than cover school costs. It nurtures a dream, eases a family’s burden, and helps build a future where Fidaus can serve others and transform lives, one birth, one family, one community at a time.
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