Books to Better Lives

Sebastian had a smile on his face every time he recounted times past when he used to struggle to find books to help him study. An 18 year-old, final year student in Senior High School (SHS), he had been finding it next to impossible to pay for the kind of books that explained economics in understandable terms and being an economics student this proved to be a very dire situation.

On average these books cost $20 apiece, about the same amount as a month’s water or electricity supply. 

“Due to financial difficulties it was very hard to purchase books that reached the standards I needed to help me study but all this has changed since we got the new books,” he said, unable to hold back his smile.

In 2013, a donation of books was allotted to Golden Gate SHS, in the Mpohor Wassa Area Development Programme (ADP) in the Western Region of Ghana, and these books changed the lives of the students enrolled there.

“The books have helped us in so many ways! It has helped me study and understand not just my core subject but also English and ICT. It also helps me do my homework. When I get my homework I just go straight to the library and use the book as a guide for free which is amazing,” Sebastian said.

“The best thing about these books is that they break down the language to our level which helps us understand what we are learning as opposed to the ones we had before,” he added. With the shelves in the library stocked with books of all kinds covering different subject matters, the students were brimming with excitement. Sebastian even gave the testimony of his classmate who was touched by the book in a more profound way.

“My classmate, Elizabeth, who came from a traditionalist home, gave her life to Christ after reading “Handbook of Christian Belief” so these books are touching lives in more ways than just academically,” he eloquently stated.

Confident and proud of not just himself but his friends as well, he said, “My results have gone up since I started using the donated books to study and so have that of my friends I study with. On behalf of the staff and students of Golden Gate SHS I would like to say a massive thank you to the donors. As a library prefect, not only have they given me books to stock my shelves with but also tools to better my performance.” The same sentiment was echoed by his friends who sat by him as he spoke to me.

With an air of maturity beyond his years, he spoke, “These books really were sent from above."