Reading Maketh A Man- The Story of a Young Ghanaian Girl

By Joe Kingsley Eyiah, Teacher-Brookview Middle School, Toronto-Canada

The famous English writer, John Milton once said, “Reading maketh a man”. How true! The old Good Book says that ‘for lack of knowledge my people perish’. Yes, knowledge is power. Though knowledge comes to us in many forms, it best comes in the pages of a book. However, we won’t know until we read what is written in the pages. Therefore reading is the key to knowledge. It is said that the one who reads is a leader!

As a parent and a teacher by profession I can’t overemphasize the importance of reading to the teaching and learning process. Teachers always encourage their students to read. And students who read a lot excel in the academics. It is good to catch them young with reading! My experience as teacher both in Ghana and in Canada has shown me that most Ghanaian children either don’t like reading or not encouraged to read. It is therefore very encouraging to hear of a young Ghanaian under the age of 10 whose love for reading has catapulted her into writing. Her books are being published and sold by iUniverse Online Bookstore. ‘My Amazing Short Stories and Questions’ is her current publication on the market. Go to www.nanareads.com. She is Nana Abrefah who lives in Alberta, Canada.

This young talent has been discovered this year by the Ghanaian News of Toronto-Canada and will be honored at the 8th Ghanaian-Canadian Achievement Awards to be held in Toronto on August 16, 2008.

Nana writes on her website, “I am 8-years-old, in grade 3 and I love to read and tell stories. I started reading at an early age and still do everyday in my life. I tell stories about things I see and things I learn both at school and everywhere I go.

I live with my parents and my younger brother in Leduc, Alberta in Canada. I love to read and write.”

Nana Abrefah is a shining example for all young children and more particularly Ghanaian children, as far as READING is concerned. Reading and writing are bedfellows. Students who read everyday improve upon their vocabulary, at least fifty percent every year! Reading thus helps students to comprehend situations and issues better. It also exposes them to a variety of writing styles by different writers. Variety is an important key to successful writing. Sentences are creatively constructed and varied in the writings of students who read a lot. Students who read frequently also have many ideas to write about as seen in the case of young Nana Abrefah.

I will like to use this opportunity to congratulate Nana Abrefah on her achievement with reading and writing so far. Hers is good news to write about! Behind the success of Nana are her parents and teachers. I say job well done to them too. May I use this forum to appeal to all Ghanaian parents to encourage their children to read for, ‘reading makes a person knowledgeable’ Let’s make our children more knowledgeable by reading to them if possible and get them to read to us frequently. There are a lot of good books out there for reading. I end my focus by quoting parts of a poem written by a Grade 12 student, Mohammed Hassan of Toronto, and published in the Urban Voices by the Toronto District School Board in 2004:

“ ‘I Will Read It Again’, I just opened it and only read the first page and already it speaks to me. It speaks so loud. It uses words that are so sweet and beautifully seductive. It speaks of ideas that make me think…..” Enjoy reading this article!