Miss Ghana USA ’18 urges youth in the Diaspora to turn brain drain into brain gain

Miss Ghana USA 2018, Heather Akua Owusua Afriyie has urged Ghanaian youth in the Diaspora to “turn the idea of brain drain into brain gain” by coming home to learn and also share their knowledge and experiences with their compatriots.

She also called for the use of social media to market the opportunities in Ghana in order to accelerate the nation’s foreign investment drive.

According to Ms Afriyie, the youth are the major driving force within the Diaspora and, “As time progresses, I truly believe we can turn the idea of brain drain into brain gain for our homeland Ghana”.

The beauty queen made the remarks when she met the Director of Diaspora Affairs at the Office of the President, Mr Akwasi Awua Ababio at the Jubilee House, Accra, as part of activities marking her visit to Ghana following her crowning as Miss Ghana USA 2018.

Highlighting the importance of the Diaspora Affairs Office, she suggested that the office could use social media to market internship opportunities in Ghana for Ghanaian students living abroad to encourage more people to visit the country.

Miss Ghana USA 2018 also visited the Little Big Souls, a charity organization that works to improve outcomes for premature babies in five African countries - Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Guinea and Zimbabwe.

She donated various items to the organisation and spent time interacting and hearing the stories of mothers in Ghana who gave birth to premature babies, who have now developed into vibrant children. “The children are indeed filled with the blessings of God,” she noted.

“It was truly an honour and words cannot express how humbled I was to be in the presence of the mothers and their children. Truly, with God, everything is possible,” Ms Afriyie said.

She heard how the mothers were scared and went through very traumatic births, but through faith and prayers they managed to raise their premature babies into healthy children.

The mothers said they were now dedicated to telling their stories and educating everyone about how they survived it all.

Founded nine years ago by Edith Uyovbukerhi and Yvonne Frances Igweh, the Little Big Souls organisation works to bring awareness to the issues surrounding prematurity and the lack of resources to adequately care for the premature babies.