Education is your ticket out of poverty; Zongo youth advised

Students from Zongos in Asawase and neighbouring communities in Kumasi in the Ashanti region have been challenged to concentrate on their strengths and maximize the opportunities education presents them.

This was the focus of the third edition of the Zongo Dream Mentorship Clinic organized at the Asawase Community centre on October 17.

Hundreds of students between ages 5 and 20 selected from various Junior and Senior high schools participated in the Mentorship Clinic.

The latest edition of the mentorship clinic comes after two earlier successful programs in Accra which sort to break barriers while encouraging the students to stay focused on their academic exploits.

The Mentorship Clinic championed by the Zongo Inspiration Team (ZIT) involved several professionals and community leaders who engaged the students by sharing their life stories and achievements.

Some of the mentors included, 2015 Young African Leaders Initiative Network (?YALI) Fellows Dr. Richard Selormey, and Lawyer Faiza Abdul-Salam, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Lecturer Mustapha Hameed, Forensic Accountant/University of California alumnus Hajia Zalia Qassim, and entrepreneur Rabiu Maude just to mention a few.

The programme under the theme,"Nursing roses from concrete" was graced by other dignitaries including the Municipal Chief Executive Asokore Mampong Alhaji Nurudeen Hamdan and The Ashanti Regional Chief of Kotokoli.

Delivering the keynote address, Alhaji Hamdan warned the kids to stay away from social vices and that, "If it's to be, it's up to you. Challenge yourselves and make your parents proud".

A Lawyer at the Attorney General's department Faiza Abdul Samad who was also part of the long list of mentors also said, "the fact that you are from the Zongo community doesn't mean that you are challenged in any way. We are just on a different location on the map, but we are as better as any kid growing in a good neighbourhood."

Addressing a group of students when the mentor-mentees sessions got underway, Broadcast Journalist Nabil Ahmed Rufai charged the students to be confident and "surmount all the challenges and weather the storms because tough times don't last but tough people do".