From the corporate world to gospel - Weigewor

Living with different people almost all the time, always having to fight and do something out of the ordinary to be noticed, constant abuse and neglect from family relations have shaped my personality and created within me a strong and burning desire to right those wrongs in any capacity that I possibly can.” Weigewor.

As the world’s celebration of women continue to help younger women aspire to be more than what their cultural settings have confined them to, it is always exhilarating to encounter a woman who has broken barriers to reach heights a lot of us can only dream about.

Weigewor, known in academia as Dr. Patience Aseweh Abor is an enigmatic female conquering academic whilst beautifully lighting up stages with her unique voice and intriguing brand of music. Even though I’ve admired this young woman from my days at Fountain Gate Chapel Int. in Ofankor, it was not until a few weeks ago that I decided to draw a bit closer and share her story with the world. The aura of positivity and tenacity that emanates from her life on social media intrigued me enough to want to know more and hence this article.

Born on 6th September in Accra, to Mr. Joseph Aseweh Awudanpugie & Madam Margaret Wetia, both natives of Kayoro in the Kasena Nankana District, her first challenge was leaving her parents to stay with her grand mum at Achimota before re-joining her mum and step father in Yapei and later Tamale. This was after her parents divorced.

A key effect of her parents divorce manifested in an inability to get proper parental guidance in pursuing and aiming for any particular heights. Her only resolve was to keep passing every exam she wrote, and for that matter she never thought about a particular career or position in future. With no proper role models to aspire to, she just depended on her God given instincts, wild imaginations and books that served as inspiration to seek a life better than anyone in her immediate environment.

With the above as hindsight you can imagine the turbulence she had to deal with whilst pursuing an adulthood of positivity. A former pupil of Our Lady of Fatima primary school, in Tamale and Yapei Presby Primary & JSS, both in the Northern Region, Weigewor proceeded to Nungua Senior High School after which she gained admission into Bagabaga Training College, (comma) but her inability to buy the prospectus required to start school on time led to losing the spot. When she arrived late at the school, her place had been given to someone else; despite the tears she shed in a bid to still get admission, her consolation was a spot in the admissions of the following year.

This never materialized, as her name was not in the list of admissions for the following year even though she was given the impression that she would make a smooth sail into school because of the previous year’s mix-up.

The above experience frustrated young Weigewor for two years. Somewhere in that state, she found inner strength and boldly applied to Nurses Training College and the University of Ghana. This was an act of faith as she describes it; she simply trusted God for the necessary funds when accepted into either of the schools. Her grades were great enough to get her in any of these institutions.

This was however not because her parents were so poor but because they had both gotten married with other children, and each of them seemed to be concentrating on their ‘new families’ and none really paid that much attention to her next level in terms of education. Her mum’s salary as a teacher then could not help much beyond a periodic supply of foodstuffs.

As expected, she gained admission into the University of Ghana to pursue Biological Science and later BSc. Nursing. Life at the university was the defining moment for her; a well-carved curriculum led her to self-discovery, a situation she attributes to the study of Behavioral Psychology, Sociology, Biological Foundations of Psychology amongst others.

At this stage of her life she had never been in a relationship so she finally allowed herself to experience love when she met Professor Joshua Y. Abor who conspired with God to open her eyes to love on earth resulting in a marriage and three children.

“It was also at the university that I finally allowed myself to appreciate what was meant by Love and accepted that fact that someone else could love me aside God. So I got married in my 3rd year to the first and only guy I ever dated. So, hey, University was great. Hahhahaha.”

Upon graduation she also successfully pursued the following courses:

· MTech Environmental Health (Cape Peninsular University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa) · MPhil Health Administration (University of Ghana, Legon, Accra) · Ph.D. Management (University of Southampton, UK).

She is now a senior lecturer at the Department of Public Administration & Health Services Management,at the University of Ghana Business School.

Apart from having a passion for singing, her first fan was her gandma who loved to listen to Weigewor sing Catholic hymns whenever she returned from work. So when she joined the then Word Miracle Chapel Int. now known as Perez Chapel in Yapei and Tamale, she volunteered to sing before the Pastor would preach.

The response by church members was so encouraging she kept on singing and later composing her own music. She later joined the Miracle Voices Choir when she relocated to Accra for Senior High School & her university education. She has never stopped singing since then.

Wegeiwor is actually a name her maternal grandma gave her due to the frustration surrounding her upbringing. Her grandma asked a proverbial question ‘who has God despised’? i.e. to say that God does not despise human beings, it is human beings who despise one another. So to honor God for all the blessings, she decided to choose that as her stage name.

Along the way, her musical composition began taking shape as she made it about the truth in her journey and experience in the Lord. Irrespective of the rhythm or genre, her lyrics project what she knows and believes as true.

In 2012 She released her first Album, “Oh Jesus” which was well received because of the uniqueness of her brand, and the spiritually uplifting nature of hWegeiwor2er lyrics and vocals.

Often times we find that the very educated indulge in the arts as a hobby, however she sees music as a part of her being hence time management is of essential importance to her. This ensures she doesn’t compromise her responsibilities as a university lecturer and in her own words; “By God’s Grace it’s been working so far.”

I can never speak with an achiever from the savanna without asking the all-important question; “What is the biggest challenge the savanna needs to overcome in the quest to further develop?”

“I think aside quality education to change the mindset of the inhabitants of this area, an Agricultural revolution (equipment and evidence based method) is what would transform the lives and eventually bring up development in the savanna, considering that the major occupation of these people is agriculture and land is not a problem.”

Her latest single “Alijanda” is a precursor to the wonderful music she is putting together for her next album, which will be released soon.