Public Agenda (Accra)
Wisdom Dzidedi Donkor
4 August 2008
Tamale — "I have dreamt and nurtured several dreams when I was a child. I have dreamt of becoming a very responsible woman in a very responsible position but believe me, I have never dreamt of shaking the hands of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom let alone having breakfast with him. Until several days turned into months and into years and I was still not waking from the dream I thought I was having before I realized it was not a dream but a reality. I become excited especially when I know that people of my background rarely get such opportunities in life".
These were the words of Ms Memunatu Yakubu the 29 year old lady who had "breakfast" with Mr. Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister of UK when she shared her experience with the Public Agenda in Tamale.
Who is Memunatu Yakubu?
Ms Memunatu Yakubu, aka Mama was born on Tuesday, April 3, 1979 to Mr. Yakubu Ibn Iddisah and Ms Helena Abdulai in Bole in the Northern region. She attended the Roman Catholic Primary School, St. Kizito Junior High School (all in Bole). She completed Damango Senior High School in 1999 and later enrolled at the Bole Vocational Training School. In 2006, she graduated from the Tamale Workers College with a Diploma in Business Studies (DBS).
Memunatu's Background
According to Mama, she is the second among eight children and a victim of broken home where she combined schooling with farming and other petty ways of raising funds to support her mummy in her upbringing though she admitted that her father also contributed to her upbringing. "My mummy took up most of the responsibilities" she said.
Meeting with Gordon Brown-the Prime Minister of UK
Recalling how she was selected as the only young female from Ghana and one of the few in Africa to meet with the current Prime Minister of the UK, Mama said it all started when she was at the Bole Vocational Training School. She said the school is a "Campaign for Female Education" (CAMFED: a Tamale based NGO with its headquarters in the UK that helps and promotes young girls to enroll in school) supported school a situation which made her one of the beneficiaries of the NGO,s programmes.
She explained that all beneficiaries of CAMFED formed an association by name CAMA (Camfed Association) which is a network of former CAMFED beneficiaries to give young women the chance to fulfil their potential and become change makers in their communities and she was elected the CAMA Coordinator for the Bole-Bamboi District in 2002. She said her new position was challenging as she had to combine coordinating the Association's activities with her acadamic activities. "I was privileged to attend several workshops and met several personalities, a situation that built so much confidence in me," she said.
Memunatu told the Public Agenda that after she completed her course at the VTC, she was employed as a typist at the Bole District Assembly Financial Office and was later made the National CAMA Coordinator. She recalled that CAMA-Ghana was invited to make a presentation in the UK on the theme "Girl Child Education towards a better future"
Mama said the DFID sponsored programme was to enable who ever was to be selected to meet Mr. Gordon Brown in a programme dubbed; "Breakfast with Gordon Brown"
"After months of searching I became the ultimate choice, though excited, I was not so surprised because my exposure with CAMA activities has done so much good to me. My confidence rose to a level I could not describe and I know that made the magic for me" she narrated with excitement.
Issues Memunatu discussed with Gordon Brown
"During the breakfast with Mr. Brown, I discussed with him issues such as the vulnerability of the girl child in Africa, the need for the African girl to have formal education, how poverty in Africa affects girl child education" etc.
Memunatu explained that after her encounter with Gordon Brown, she was hosted on BBC's "Women's Hour" where she made another presentation on the topic "Girl Child education in Ghana". She said its a memory that can never be washed away.
The result of Memunatu's encounter with Mr. Brown
Memunatu believes that her encounter with Mr. Brown has increased UK's contribution towards education in Ghana. She said CAMFED's activities has also been increased across 15 districts in the Northern Region.
She said in 2007 alone, 4,931 children were supported to access formal education, 2,876 community activists were trained in financial management, 208 rural women received business skill training, 109 rural women are currently been sponsored to under go a four year diploma in education programmes and 173 rural women had also undergone training to become health activists.
Mama believes her encounter in the UK has contributed to CAMFED's increased assistance to vulnerable girls like her.
Memunatu's Call
Memunatu who is currently the Women Empowerment Officer of CAMFED believes that the paper work is too much and said if half of the paperworks could be turn into reality, there would be no room for anyone to complain.
She said her heart bleeds when sees that young girls with very good talents are left to waste for no reason of theirs.
The 29 year old mother of one believes that whenever women are put in positions their performances often outweight that of men and charged stakeholders to consider female candidates whenever they are recruting persons to fill various positions.
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