Gold

Back in S.H.S we used to come together in the planting of trees and also painting some part of the school which made the school look so appealing and motivated a lot a students to join the award scheme

21

When our senior high school authorities deprived us on going for our expeditions

Ghana

Yes. Gold

Working to become but not to acquire has been my father’s words to me since infancy because he is a passionate civil servant. I never understood this powerful statement until I did a volunteering service at the animal science department of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Whilst growing up, I liked animals, particularly domestic animals, but I come from a society where sexism has made females dislike or have little interest in animals. But these volunteering services changed my whole mental picture of animal farms. On May the 25th, 2022, Tuesday, I was granted the opportunity to work on the school poultry farm as a voluntary service, which has been my dream over the years. This volunteering service affords me the privilege of preparing poultry feed with the accurate measurement of the various ingredients, such as maize or corn, wheat, wheat offal or bran, soya bean meal, groundnut meal, bone meal, vitamin and mineral premix, oyster shell (calcium 36%-41%). The washing of the water troughs, the giving of the vitamins to the birds as needed, and the picking of eggs was an extra work exercise as I bent continuously. I never knew that animals sometimes behave like we humans until one day after feeding the birds in the morning only to come back in the afternoon to realize that they had not consumed their usual consumption. I took it upon myself to consult my supervisor, and I noticed from him that it was time for vaccination. The biosecurity principles at the workplace were so overwhelming that, initially, I thought safety precautions were for workshops only, but at the farm they are highly regarded for the safety of the birds. Changing the animal droppings on a regular basis as their ammonia content rises will invite disease to the farm.This volunteering service was truly an eye-opening one and I am highly convinced that what a man can do, a woman can do better, as I happened to be the only female at that time on the farm, and I can recount it as one of the unforgettable moments in my life.This has influenced me a lot in that in the future I hope to own my own farm. The skills and exposure were free, but it is now part of my life.   

Participant