My name is Ayidibey Monica, and I am twelve years old and I live with my parents in a place called Wobelensa in Ghana. It is a place where we farm millet and maize, rice.

I would like to be a nurse one day. I want to heal people from sickness or disease. I also like studying Mathematics and Science. We have classes on our people’s history and the world, computers, maths, english, science and creative arts.

I like going to school, for example, the time that I was not schooling, I didn’t know how to read, how to write, I didn’t even know what people said when they were speaking English. Because of school, I know all these things!

Going to school helps us to know who we become in future and reading also helps us to know things that are written. For example, when I am going to the market, a place where I don’t know, I know how to read and I can get to know where the place I am going to is. So I will never get lost!

I go to Azenab Girls Primary School and I am in class six. We are about 28 in my class, but some of them drop out. It’s because some of them are pregnant so they decided to drop out. Girls face more challenges because of that, it becomes difficult to continue education with the child. Boys don’t have those problems. 

We were in months of lockdown due to the pandemic. Because of that, we didn’t have many books. I am happy now school has reopened.

At school, we have storybooks, textbooks and others. There are many books that I like! Mostly storybooks because the story gives us much knowledge and wisdom on how to go forward in education and how to live in our surroundings and it helps us to protect ourselves as girls.

If I came to school and there was not a single book I would be sad, because I would not get a book to read!

If someone said ‘oh books are not important’ I would tell that person she is out of her mind! I will convince her and change her mind with a story which brings people together. 

All images © Book Aid International/ Natalija Gormalova