My name is Faustina. I’m 15. I live in northern Ghana. I have a big family, with five brothers and sisters. And what I love most in life are books and learning.  

Where I live is very beautiful. It’s a wonderful place to be. There are so many fields, rivers and trees – places where you can use your imagination and dream.   

When I’m under the trees, I dream I’ll be a doctor one day. But if I’m ever to stop just imagining, I must have a good education.

In my community it is more difficult for the girls to study and get an education than it is for the boys. As girls, there are many things that can stop us staying in school.   

Many of us aren’t expected to have a career when we’re older, so we’re not encouraged to read or have books at home.  

Some girls in my village become pregnant or are married when they’re young. When our families have little money, we girls often have to leave school to help look after the house or work to earn money.   

But leaving school doesn’t have to stop girls like me from learning. Because if we have access to books, we can always keep reading.  

I love books, story books and schoolbooks mainly. I love storybooks because I read them to my younger sisters, so that they fall in love with books too. And I love schoolbooks because I get to learn.   

Reading makes me feel free. If I’m sad or upset, books make me happy again. Books make a lots of other girls I know feel free too. Because books can give us the chance to learn about the world and imagine a future of our own.  

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Photos ©Book Aid International/Natalija Gormalova Video and Photography