'My dreams have been validated' - Student tells CCF for paying her fees

From the quiet corridors of her home in Bawaleshie, Tamim Atika Ghandah birthed the dream of becoming a teacher but realized it was almost impossible.

She is from a poor home.

But she kept the faith, her countenance best describes the old saying ‘every dream is valid’ so far as one believed in it.

The 21-year-old had gained admission into the Accra College of Education but her GHC500 savings could only pay 20% of her first-term fees.

Determined to fulfill her dreams, Tamim took up a waiting job in a restaurant at the University of Ghana which paid her GHC400 a month.

She later worked as a sales girl at an electricity retailing shop in Okponglo, a suburb of Accra, which paid her GHC500 every month.

“I have always wanted to impact knowledge and that informed my decision to be a teacher but it has not been easy finding the support,” she said.

Tamim’s parents had moved from Bawku in the Upper East Region to Accra in the early 2000s to seek greener pastures; they were both petty traders.

Her mother plied her trade at Makola market whereas her father sold foreign fruits and vegetables.

The family was surviving until her father got involved in a car accident in September 2022.

“Even though I knew it was going to be difficult to raise my fees, considering the pressure on my parents to cater to me and my younger siblings but I knew I would find help.

Unfortunately, my father almost lost his life and that got me shaken for a while, he still cannot walk” she recounted.

The Kumasi Islamic Senior High School graduate has a younger brother, Khalid, whose kidneys do not function.

He has both kidneys failed from birth, therefore, consumes most of the parent's income.

“My brother’s condition needs lots of attention both financially and physically, so I had to help my mum in the market, I joined her to sell children’s watches and all sorts” she added.

The self-driven, Tamim had earlier enrolled at the Ghana Institute of Languages to pursue a diploma in Dutch and Arabic, the plan is to position herself for teaching opportunities outside the country.

“I want to be able to take advantage of opportunities especially in Europe hence my decision to study Dutch” she noted.

After, her father’s accident, Tamim did not know how her dream of becoming a teacher would be achieved.

“I nearly gave up” she added

The teaching dream has been ignited by Crime Check Foundation’s education series.

The Foundation made full payment of her school's first year’s fees, GHC 2500, and money for upkeep.

“I am grateful to the foundation and its donors, I pray for God’s infinite blessings on you and I promise to make good use of this opportunity given me, I will make you all proud,” she said beaming with smiles.

The Crime Check Foundation’s Educational Support Fund supports needy but brilliant students

The foundation, is, therefore, appealing to the general public, and benevolent individuals to support a worthy course.