Do you remember Remember Akakpo, the girl who survived accident that killed 9 schoolmates; She has just entered SHS and appealing for support
The remarkable story of defiance of a basic school learner who soldiered on along a route that claimed the lives of nine schoolmates continues into senior high as she begins the latest phase of her education.
Remember Akakpo defied the danger of daily boat rides for two more years at Faana in Accra, after nine schoolmates who also used the boat perished at a canal separating her school from the island she commutes from to school daily.
But the story of courage and resilience now faces a major test as she contends with the cost of items on the school prospectus and personal stuff for the three-year senior high school (SHS) journey.
Read also: A year after Faana disaster: Teenager defies odds to chase dream
Buoyed by determination, Remember has appealed for public support to purchase personal and school items in the prospectus to make her dream of entering SHS a reality.
After braving the odds by walking across streams of water to pick a canoe to the island community of Faana, Remember completed junior high school when she wrote the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), and qualified for placement into SHS.
Miss Akakpo was placed in Zion College (ZICO) at Anloga in the Volta Region by the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).
But due to a lack of money to purchase the items on the prospectus, Miss Akakpo was unable to report to school when the first-year students reported on Saturday, October 17, 2025.
Narrating her situation to the Daily Graphic, she said she desired to pursue her second cycle education to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse.
“I need support to buy the items on the prospectus to enable me to go to school. My parents are not financially sound to foot the bill, so people should please come to my aid. I want to go to school,” she said.
Her father is a fisherman and her mother, a fishmonger, both economic activities characterised by uncertainties, she said.
Miss Akakpo said the risk she took by taking daily boat rides to school, despite the dangers, had paid off and she was now on course to realise her ultimate dream of becoming a nurse, if only she could get support to cover her prospectus and other expenses.
Defiance
Now 15, Remember remains the tangible face of determination who overcame the horrific memories of the canoe disaster that claimed the lives of nine schoolchildren at Faana, an island community at Bortianor in the Ga South Municipality in the Greater Accra Region on Wednesday, May 10, 2023.
On the afternoon of that fateful day, the country was struck by a catastrophe on the canal that the schoolchildren traversed to and from school.
The victims were on their way back from school at Wiaboman in the Weija-Gbawe Municipality to Faana when the canoe they were travelling on capsized on the canal as a result of tidal waves.
The deceased, who were between one-and-a-half and 12 years, were among a group of 12 children who were on board the canoe when it capsized.
However, three others, including the paddler of the canoe, survived.
Prior to the disaster, Remember and about 60 other children travelled daily in a canoe across the canal that separates Faana, near Pambros Salt Industries Ltd, to and from school.
However, the tragedy deterred the rest of the children from the high-risk adventure, leaving little Remember, then a Form Two student at the Vision Redeemers Academy branch at Mpoase in Dansoman, standing alone.
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