Features
Waakye Girl- Part 5
David picked up the phone to answer the call. Surprisingly, it was from Stella.
“Good afternoon, Stella. I hope all is well”.
“Yes, David, all is well. I wanted to pass on some information to you. Yesterday my parents and sisters went to the guy’s house and tried to reason with him, but again he was very rude, so my father took me away.
Early this morning I told my parents that I have had enough, and I would not go back. I will rather pursue a degree course as you advised, whilst continuing to work with them to sell the waakye”.
‘Well Stella, I think you have taken a very good decision. You have all my support”. “So can we talk when you close from work today?”
“Yes, of course. I will be there”.
Stella was waiting by the roadside. David stopped, and she got in.
“Good to see you, Stella. So, how are you feeling now?”
“I’m quite okay. I have a few regrets about having gone into a relationship that failed, but I don’t feel guilty because I went in with my parents’ blessing.
Perhaps I should have stood my ground and refused to go into a relationship in which I wasn’t personally convinced about. But I’m looking forward. I am ready to start the degree programme.
As I told you, I am interested in the accounting profession. Did you say Adwoa is studying accounting?” “Yes, she’s doing Part 1 of the Institute of Chartered Accountants programme at the Polytechnic. She started last month. She leaves the office at 2pm, starts at 2.30 and closes at 7pm”.
“That’s very interesting. Because I spoke to my cousin who did a first degree, and is now doing the professional accounting course. She advises that I start with the professional course if I am so interested, because on completion I would be able to do a Master’s degree in Accounting or Finance”.
“Ei, Stella, since when did you become so knowledgeable about these things?”
“Well, I give thanks to you, because since you suggested it to me, I have been searching the internet, and talking to two of my relatives. So can I discuss the admission process with Adwoa tomorrow?” “Certainly. In fact, take her number from my phone, and call her this evening. So you can go over the issues when we stop to buy waakye tomorrow.”
“That’s fine. Now I have something to look forward to. Many thanks, David”.
“I will accept only a small part of the thanks, because it’s obvious that you had it in you. A girl like you should be treated with great respect”.
Stella called Adwoa, and learnt that applications would be closing in a few days. So Stella went online, submitted her application and paid the application fees, and three weeks later she joined the course. She left the waakye joint at 1pm, got to school before 2pm and closed at 7pm.
One of Adwoa’s mates drove to Madina after lectures, so he dropped Stella at Dzorwulu. Within a few months, Stella had been transformed.
Aperkeh had rejected her, but she was now a pretty, smartly dressed and ambitious accounting student, whilst still assisting her mother in the waakye business. She and Adwoa developed a great friendship, not only sharing course materials but also visiting each other at home.
Over time, she and David also developed a fondness for each other, but they never discussed issues related to relationships until much later. On Saturday evenings, the three of them went out to eat and enjoy live music, and they seemed quite happy together. It was 7:30 at Parliament, the open air bar and grill where young guys met their ladies to chat in a pleasant environment.
Aperkeh and his colleagues, with their ladies by their side, had already had a bottle or two, and the conversation was flowing rather smoothly. Out of the blue, Boogie introduced an interesting topic.
“Hey, Aperkeh, do you know what? I saw your former woman, Stella, in a uniform, entering the Polytechnic. I didn’t know she was academically inclined”. “I’m sure you saw the wrong person. What would a waakye girl be doing at the polytechnic? I’m sure she wasn’t the one you saw. Stella had no class, and no ambition, that’s why I threw her overboard.
What was annoying was that a classless girl like that wanted to tell me what to do. She wanted to restrict my movements. She got angry when I got home smelling of beer. Annoying”.
“But Aperkeh,” Bookie replied, “isn’t that what any serious or sensible girl would do? You don’t expect her to sit there and watch you spend your salary on beer and girls, do you? Any woman who doesn’t complain is not worth keeping”.
“My brother, save your breadth. She’s already gone. And I have replaced her with two classy girls. The show goes on”.
“I think you will soon realise that you made a mistake with Stella. That girl is really beautiful, and she’s got character, and I’m sure she’s the one I saw entering the polytechnic”.
“You must be joking, Boogie. I have two gorgeous girls at my beck and call, both graduates. Why should I bother with a Waakye seller? And take it from me, Stella does not have the brains to go to the polytechnic. Now, let me get some more beer”.
By Ekow de Heer
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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.”
