Features
A genius breaking new grounds …the story of Lawrencia Aggrey-Bluwey
In the small town of Kpando Gadza in the Volta Region of Ghana, Ms. Lawrencia Aggrey-Bluwey was born to two Civil Servants; Dr. Francis Aggrey-Bluwey of blessed memory and Supt. Cecilia Aggrey-Bluwey.
She had a “fairly normal childhood” but discovered early in life that she was good at other intellectual activities such as spelling competitions, quizzes, debates, and delivering speeches.
It is, therefore, no wonder that she has climbed the academic ladder and at age 30, she is the youngest person pursuing Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Health Policy and Management at the University of Ghana Business School.
With quite remarkable experience as a health professional, Lawrencia is currently on the path of influencing health policy as she is focused on training up and coming healthcare professionals.
Speaking to The Spectator, she said “the only way to build a formidable health system is to fully equip the incoming generation of healthcare professionals with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitude to function effectively both within and outside the clinical setting.”
Education
Lawrencia obtained aggregate seven when she sat the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in second year at Asuofia D/A Junior High School, Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region.
With this excellent score, she proceeded to Archbishop Porter Girls’ Secondary School (APGSS) at Fijai near Takoradi in the Western Region, where she studied General Science.
Recalling her days at APGSS, she highlighted her active participation in a number of extracurricular activities with debating as her favourite.
As Chief Debater and Assistant School Prefect at the time, she led her school to win second place on the national stage at Ghana at 50 Interschools Debate.
Lawrencia was a member of Ghana’s delegation to the International Junior Science Olympiad in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2006 where the team won a Bronze Medal.
Nursing
After successfully passing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), she gained admission to pursue a Bachelor of Science Degree (Bsc) in Nursing at the University of Ghana Nursing School.
The decision to pursue nursing, according to her, was driven by “the passion to help people in pain and the need to impact the lives of many who need help within the healthcare setting.”
After certification as a Registered General Nurse (RGN), she began her career as a Rotation Nurse at the Achimota Hospital in Accra. She served also at other facilities including the Police Hospital, C&J Medicare Hospital at Sakumono, and the Shai-Osudoku District Hospital at Dodowa, where she spent the greater part of her working years in Clinical Nursing practice.
With about eight years experience as a healthcare professional in the public and private health sectors, Lawrencia aims to “change the narrative of the nursing profession” in the country and to reassure the public that “there are still good nurses in Ghana who can be trusted for their services to God and nation.”
Academia
Lawrencia said she felt “a strong urge” to impact more lives other than being a clinical bedside nurse, hence the decision to upgrade herself academically.
“I have always wanted to help health workers acquire top notch clinical and administrative skills so that they could deliver excellent healthcare and eventually make Ghana’s health system a formidable one,” she noted.
For this reason, she took up and completed Postgraduate Diploma in Education at the University of Education, Winneba in 2015 and went ahead to acquire Master of Philosophy Degree (Mphil) in Health Services Management at the University of Ghana Business School in 2017.
This knowledge and her prior clinical experience, therefore, laid the foundation for her to well establish herself as a professional teacher and health services manageress.
Lawrencia began her tutoring journey at Wisconsin International University College at Haatso, Accra, where she handled Health Management courses at the School of Nursing and supervised both nursing and midwifery students.
She is currently an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Education, Winneba, where she teaches Health Administrators and Educators, and has additional skills in classroom and curriculum management, teaching, supervision, data collection and data analysis.
Interests
As an Academic and Researcher, she has interests in Health Policy (Conventional and Alternative Healthcare), Healthcare Governance, Nursing Advocacy, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Health Education.
She noted that the field of Conventional and Alternative Medicine was still at its infant stage hence the need for government and stakeholders to focus more attention on that sector.
“Health policy for both Conventional and Alternative Medicine is the discipline which sets the foundation for providing the best level of healthcare.
“It is the pillar which gives us the capacity to plan and make solid decisions which are of major importance in protecting the collective welfare of the entire population in our Health System,” she said.
The Lecturer further observed that there were “numerous inconsistencies especially with the implementation stages of our health policies,” in our part of the world hence her passion to “delve into the policy circles and make significant impact.”
Inspiration
Ms Lawrencia Aggrey Bluwey said her inspiration comes from seeing the people around her succeed as well as her quest for excellence in everything she does.
“I am very passionate about challenging the status quo as it has always been my aim to prove to the world that it is very possible to go beyond perceived societal barriers and make a difference in whatever you set to do,” she said.
In spite of the challenges of juggling professional and family roles, she says that it is “important for women to develop their intellectual and professional capacity in order to “improve the society in which we live.”
She insists that social barriers should not limit young girls from achieving their dreams, and that they should identify a mentor, be ready to learn, imbibe the word of God and have the determination to succeed in all endeavours.
By Ernest Nutsugah
Attention-Deficit or Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often mistaken for laziness or indiscipline. In consulting rooms across Accra and in reports from school teachers, the pattern repeats: children who are bright but forgetful, parents who feel helpless, teachers who see incompleteness.
Research is clear-Barkley (2015) and others describe ADHD as a difference in the brain’s regulation of alertness, impulse and working memory, not a lack of effort.
The family’s role begins with structure. Regular sleep, predictable meal and homework times, and a simple visual list (uniform → books → water → corridor) provide the external scaffolding of these children need. Praise what is completed—“You opened the book and wrote the first sentence”-instead of rebuking what is missing.
Schools can help by seating the child front-row and centre, giving short written plus verbal instructions, allowing brief movement breaks, using quiet nonverbal cues and, where possible, grading effort and method as well as neatness. These adjustments reduce conflict and raise submission rates without lowering standards.
Couples and caregivers should share roles: one grounds, one pivots, and both protect rest. Shame-“bad parenting, bad child”-needs replacing with fact: different wiring, needs scaffolding.
Outcomes improve not by promises of perfection but by daily routines, clear limits and warmed connection. One homework slot kept, one instruction chunked, one calm repair after blurting-these small wins shift the family climate and let the child be seen beyond the label.
Resource
• CPAC (award-winning Mental Health and Counselling Facility): 0559850604 / 0551428486
Source: REV. COUNSELLOR PRINCE OFFEI’s insights on special needs support, relationships, and mental health in Ghana. He is a leading mental health professional, lecturer, ADR Expert/Arbitrator, renowned author, and marriage counsellor at COUNSELLOR PRINCE & ASSOCIATES CONSULT (CPAC COUNSELLOR TRAINING INSTITUTE) – 0551428486 /0559850604.
WEBSITES:
https://princeoffei22.wixsite.com/author
https://princeoffei22.wixsite.com/website
After two weeks of hectic activity up north, I drove to the Tamale airport, parked the car at the Civil Aviation car park as usual, paid the usual parking fee and boarded the plane for Accra.
Over the last two weeks, I had shuffled between three sites where work was close to completion.
One was a seed warehouse, where farmers would come and pick up good quality maize, sorghum and other planting material.
The other was a health facility for new mothers, where they were given basic training on good nutrition and small scale business.
And the third was a set of big boreholes for three farming communities.
The projects usually ran on schedule, but a good deal of time was spent building rapport with the local people, to ensure that they would be well patronised and maintained.
It was great to be working in a situation where one’s work was well appreciated. But it certainly involved a lot of work, and proactivity. And I made sure that I recorded updates online before going to bed in the evening.
When the plane took off, my mind shifted to issues in Accra, the big city. The young guys at my office had done some good work. They had secured five or six houses on a row in a good part of the city, and were close to securing the last.
When we got this property, unusually, Abena greeted them casually, and appeared to be comfortable in the guy’s company.
I was quite disappointed to hear that, because until the last few weeks, it seemed as if Abena and I were heading in a good direction. Apart from the affection I had for her, I liked her family. I decided to take it easy, and allow things to fall in whatever direction.
Normally I would take a taxi to her house from the airport, and pick her up to my place. This time I went to my sisters’ joint, where they sat by me while I enjoyed a drink and a good meal.
“So Little Brother,” Sister Beesiwa said, “what is it we are hearing about our wife-to-be?”
“When did you conclude that she was your wife-to-be? And what have you heard? I’ve only heard a couple of whispers. Ebo and Nana Kwame called to say that they have seen her in the company of—”
“Well said Little Brother,” Sister Baaba said. “By the way, Nana Kwame called an hour ago to ask if you had arrived because he could not reach you. Someone had told him that Jennifer had boasted to someone that she had connected Abena to a wealthy guy who would take care of her.”
I was beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. So I think Jennifer fed her with false stories about me in order to get her to move to the Ampadu guy. Jennifer must have been well compensated for her efforts.
“In that case,” Sister Beesiwa said, “you should be glad that Abena is out of your way. She is easily swayed. Anyone who would make a relationship decision based on a friend’s instigation lacks good sense. I hope the guy is as wealthy as they say?”
“Who gets wealthy running a supermarket chain in Ghana?” Sister Baaba said. “Our supermarkets sell mostly imported products. Look at the foreign exchange rate. And remember that Ghanaians buy second-hand shoes and clothes. Supermarkets are not good business here. Perhaps they are showing off that they are wealthy, but in reality they are not doing so well.”
“Amen to that,” I said. “I’m beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. So I think Jennifer fed her with false stories about me in order to get her to move to the Ampadu guy. Jennifer must have been well compensated for her efforts.”
She said that David Forson was only an agricultural extension worker in the north who did not have the resources to take care of a beautiful girl like her. And apart from being wealthy, the guy comes from an influential family, so Abena had done much better leaving a miserable civil servant like you for him.
“Amen to that,” I said. “I’m beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. We would be able to sell all five houses to one big corporate customer, and we had already spoken to a property dealer who was trying to find a buyer in order to get a good commission.
That was going to be my biggest break. I had asked the boys to look for a large tract of land on the outskirts of the city where we could develop our own set of buildings, blocks of storey houses and upscale apartments. Things were going according to plan, and I was quietly excited. However, things were not going so well regarding my relationship with Abena.
My buddies Ebo and Nana Kwame had called to say that they met Abena and her friend Jennifer enjoying lunch with a guy, and Ebo believed that Jennifer was ‘promoting’ an affair between Jennifer and the guy. They were of the view that the promotion seemed to be going in the guy’s favour, because only an agricultural extension worker in the north who did not have the resources to take care of a beautiful girl like her.
And apart from being wealthy, the guy comes from an influential family, so Abena had done much better leaving a miserable civil servant like you for him.
“As I’ve already said, I will stop by her place, but I will mind my own business from now. Hey, let’s talk family. How are our parents? And my brothers-in-law? And my nephews and nieces? Why don’t we meet on Sunday? I’m going to drop my bags at my place, and go to see Mama and Dad.”
