Rachel with the Asantehene, Otumfour Osei Tutu II

 Have you ever dreamt of having your books on a shelf in a library?

Well, eight-year-old Rachel Yram Perpetual Brain Tugbedzo is living that dream to the fullest. She is among the few Ghanaian children using the pen to change the narrative and raise the coun­try’s flag high.

Rachel is arguably Ghana’s youngest writer at the mo­ment. At age six, she had her first book, “More Nice City” published.

BACKGROUND

Rachel was born on No­vember 20, 2014, in Mepe in the Volta Region to Mr Enoch Mensah, an Education Con­sultant and Mrs Portia Akosua Tomeleku Tugbedzo, a Teach­er.

At age three, she was said to have read more than a doz­en novels. She kept reading till she felt that spark to put down her first few words.

These few words became a sentence, a sentence became a paragraph, and a paragraph became a full story. Her par­ents impressed by the inter­est their daughter showed in writing, kept encouraging her to continue.

By age six she had written more than 50 stories. This had led to the conception of the idea “More Nice City”, a book she cherishes so much.

The 22-page book takes readers on an imaginative journey through the mind of the young author. The book also sought to give readers a sense of hope and enable them face life head-on despite challenges.

Rachel told The Specta­tor that the book was moti­vated by her favourite author “Nana Ama”. The moral lesson behind the “More Nice City”, she said was to encourage people not to give up no mat­ter what others do to make them unhappy. We shouldn’t let that take our happiness away.”

“Daddy Sam and Mummy Sandra”, her favourite charac­ters in the book are fictional representations of her par­ents. Aside from her love for writing, she enjoys track and field events.

ACHIEVEMENT/ADVOCACY

Rachel holds the award for being the Youngest Author in 2022. She has achieved this feat at the “6th Ghana Association of Writers (GAW) Literacy Awards, 2022”.

Prior to that, she present­ed copies of her book “More Nice City” to personalities who later endorsed the book due to its compelling content.

They included the Asante­hene, Otumfour Osei Tutu II; United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultured Or­ganisation (UNESCO) Country Representative, Mr Rahaman Abdou Diallo; the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Adutwum among others.

The above-mentioned had supported her in various ways. The Asantehene took some of her book for the Palace Library and donated an undis­closed amount of money to support her writing journey.

The UNESCOC Country Representative, Mr Diallo, ensured that the book got the international recognition it needed. Through his endorse­ment, Rachel had been called by international news outlets to share her experience so far.

Rachel has taken the man­tle to ensure that all children in the country get access to books to read so they can ben­efit from the treasures hidden in books. With the support of her parents she has organised reading clinics in some com­munities and schools.

She has also donated copies of her books to various schools and libraries nation­wide.

Recounting one of her proudest moments, she re­vealed that “one time I was on my way to the washroom in school, I heard students from Kindergarten (KG) 2 reading my book. I felt motivated and fulfilled.”

 By Jessel Lartey Therson-Cofie