When I was a kid growing up in Ghana, and my mum and I were struggling, some special people helped us get through it. I had to get support just to go to school. I remember this awesome woman who just decided to help my mother pay for my junior and senior high school fees, because she loved how I was always helping people at church and taking part in church programmes. After I graduated, I wasn’t sure if I could get a good job because in most instances, you needed to be well connected, and I had no connections. Eventually, I got a job working as a recruiter, at the same time as I was doing my national service.
I remember saying to my boss, “I’ve never had a proper job interview, I wouldn’t know what to do” and she recommended I go along to an interview experience day with Standard Chartered. I was just there to learn, but I got hired! That’s how I got into a career which I never thought I would have. And I was voted Ghana employee of the year, 2015/2016!
Through the hardest times of my youth, volunteers helped me, and since I’ve been old enough, I’ve been a volunteer. The support of others made me who I am, so I know first-hand how important volunteering is. My youth made me a very determined, but also a very caring, person.