‘Mentor youth to discover talents’

A former Deputy Minister of Tourism, Ms Abla Dzifa Gomashie, has urged past students of second-cycle schools to mentor the youth to help them discover their talents.

She said past students could leverage their expertise to inspire the younger ones to contribute their quota to the development of the country.

She was speaking at a grand durbar to climax the 25th anniversary and homecoming celebration of the 1993/1995 batch of St Louis Senior High School Past Students Association (SLOPSA) in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.

It was on the theme: “Getting a seat at the table: A woman’s viewpoint.”

Ms Gomashie, who is also a past student of the school, indicated that the young generation was growing in a challenging world that was on the fast-technological lane and not the world in which women made babies, spent all their time nurturing and forgot to live.

“It is a world in which women are presidents. If our girls will discover their place at the table then we must, as past students, be given more opportunities to share our experiences more often to inspire, motivate, encourage and guide the next generation,” she said.

Citing renowned author Zig Ziglar, she said when the students were motivated, it affected their learning, behaviour and achievements.

“Motivation gets you going and habits get you there. Make motivation a habit and you will get there more quickly and have more fun on the trip,” she stated.
According to her, the question of who a woman is was essentially a social construct and not universal.

“The training of a woman who should dare to sit at the table should have a universal module. It cannot be taught only at home, school or church, neither should it be culture specific. It should be through values such as hard work, truthfulness, creativity, etc. It should be through exposure to role models and through the books, poems, films, etc. It is limitless,” she noted.

The anniversary and homecoming

The association, led by the celebrating year group, used the occasion to inaugurate its anniversary project for the school— a 20-seater modern public place of convenience.

Earlier, SLOPSA members took turns to mentor the students about their career choices, the expected life challenges and shared experiences on how to overcome them.

A fundraising dinner dance was organised and a joint church service was also held at the school chapel.

1993/95-year group

The President of the 93/95 year group, Mrs Gloria Achempim-Ansong, said the training they received at St Louis had played a major role in their orientation towards working hard and giving back to the school, which had made them who they were.

She noted that for any social and economic development, adequate sanitation and good hygiene were essential to good health and that a lack of proper sanitation caused diseases.