Raymond Tuvi: ‘Prisoner’ of Korle Wokon
Every special person who touches our life leaves their own unique mark on our heart; a mark, which can never be chiselled away even if the years eventually pull us apart.
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One such person who is touching lives within his community is Mr Raymond Tuvi. He was recently nominated as a hero by one Madam Susan Adu-Aryee, the Country Director of the World Education Inc. Ghana, for The Mirror Achievers Profile.
In an interview with Mr Tuvi at The Mirror office on Monday, he described himself as the ‘prisoner’ of Korle Wokon. This is because he resides at Korle Wokon, a suburb of Accra, and their surrounding towns where he does humanitarian work for the benefit of all and sundry.
Touching lives
After receiving his first degree from the University of Ghana, Mr Tuvi decided to give back to his local community. As a result, he came to reside at the Korle Wokon area, where his immigrant family has had a home since the late 1920s.
“There, I pulled together 30 of the youth in the area to embark on community-based activities. The group was later named the Youth Agenda in January 2000”.
He stated that the Youth Agenda began work as a community-based organisation under the auspices of the social Investment Fund of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Project (GPRS I).
“Youth Agenda’s first project was developing a programme to upgrade preschools in the Accra Central Area. This was executed at no cost to the contracting organisation,” he mentioned.
Mr Tuvi and his youth group further undertook a number of other development projects in the area. Principal among these are a five-satellite clinic project, which was inaugurated by the then Minister of Health, Dr Kweku Afriyie, in April 2002, and a two-storey Malnutrition Rehabilitation Centre at the Princess Marie Louise Children’s Hospital that bears the name of Youth Agenda on its walls to date.
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Mr Tuvi who is passionate about malnutrition in children explained that malnourished children experience developmental delays, weight-loss and illness as a result of inadequate intake of protein, calories and other nutrients. “Therefore, a reason for building the rehabilitation centre was for parents and guardians of such children to be taught ways of fortifying meals for them to boost their immune system,” he explained.
According to him, between 2003 and 2005, Youth Agenda implemented a GH¢25,000 Ghana AIDS Response Fund project in the Accra-Tema area to educate people on the HIV/AIDS virus and issues on adolescent reproductive health.
Having worked as a Media and Public Relations Consultant for the UNICEF and the Good Governance Department of the National Catholic Secretariat between 2004 and 2005, he embarked on a nationwide tour assessing UNICEF projects in the fields of Girls’ Education, Immunisation, Polio Eradication, Guinea Worm Eradication, Iodized Salt Consumption and Birth Registration.
Mr Tuvi said his favourites in the community are children, widows and orphans whom he visits regularly to give his widow’s mite.
Child Prodigy
Raymond Tuvi burst onto the national media scene as a 14-year-old student who competed and won the popular national radio quiz competition “What Do You Know?” in 1985.
For his prize, he was presented with a return KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Business Class ticket. Besides a string of victories in “What Do You Know?” he was also the reigning champion of several episodes of the television equivalent “Best Brain.”
Furthermore, he won several essay competitions. These included first place in the Central Region Red Cross Essay Competition in August 1988 with a scheduled trip to the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games in South Korea. among other prizes.
In 1989, he won another essay competition organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross. He represented Ghana among 138 countries at the International Red Cross Youth Supercamp held in Italy and Switzerland in August 1989.
Educational Background
Young Raymond started school at Morning Star School at Cantonment in Accra. There, he showed early signs of brilliance so he was jumped to take the Common Entrance Examination one-year ahead of schedule.
With flying colours, he gained admission to the St Augustine’s College, Cape Coast, on a Government of Ghana scholarship. He was one of the best students in his class, scoring grades to be classified under Division One at the Ordinary Level Examination, thereby gaining entry into the Sixth Form at St Augustine’s where he became the Assistant School Prefect.
"At the Advanced Level, I qualified for admission to the University of Ghana Medical School but was unable to take up the admission,” he disclosed.
He subsequently graduated from the University of Ghana, Legon, with a B.A. (Hons) degree in Psychology with Archaeology. While in Legon where he was a familiar name in public debates, he established the Legon Current Affairs Club in his first year.
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In his final-year, he was tasked by the then President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) and current Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, to found the University of Ghana Civic Affairs Club, which he did.
Family Background
Mr Tuvi was born on November 26, 1970. He is the first child of the late Mr Michael K.K. Tuvi, a prominent United Nations official, and Madam Mary Yokor Agbeko, sister of the late Col. Peter Mama Agbeko, the first lawyer and first director of the Legal Directorate of the Ghana Armed Forces.
He comes from Kordiabe in the Eastern Region. Raymond Tuvi is the author of two books for children: Uncle Spider’s First Law, a political satire in the mode of George Orwell’s classic, Animal Farm, and Ananse Modern Rhymes and Poems.
He is a staunch Catholic and is single. Asked why he is still not married in his early forties, he cheerily quipped: “Great leaders like Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah and former US president John F. Kennedy, all married in their forties.”
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