Fati S.Banda
9 posts
@FatiBanda_
Law | Media | Policy | Focused on governance, policy & development
😆😆😁😄… mom said she wanted one of her daughters to read the news… Now her granddaughter, named after her, is learning how to read on TV @ladyft04
I am the last of 8 children. That is not the full story. My mother carried 11 children. She lost 3 along the way. The child born after me did not survive because we had no one who could perform a cesarean section in our town. I remember that day vividly…. Waving at her as she was being taken to the nearest referral facility (St. Patrick's Hospital, Offinso ) That is another story. So when people call me the “last baby,” I know the name carries joy, pain, survival, and grace. My older siblings often tell me: “You had it easy. Things were much tougher before you came.” Maybe they are right. But I also saw the struggle. I remember my Mom doing all kinds of business to support Dad and keep us moving. Selling fried fish. Selling sachet water. Going deep into villages to buy foodstuffs for resale. I remember us going to buy maize from farmers so we could sell on market day. The long days. The carrying. The uncertainty of whether the profit would be enough. My mother could not read or write. Yet she understood education better than many people with degrees. I still remember her selling some of her clothes to contribute to school fees. At one point, she had 3 children at the University of Ghana at the same time → Law School → Biological Sciences → Business School Imagine that. That kind of strength is hard to explain. Later, she built her business. And she built it well. She became successful enough to win multiple government contracts supplying foodstuffs to more than a dozen schools and polytechnics across Ghana 🇬🇭. My high school included. There were times when I would follow her to see the accountants/Bursar at Prempeh/Owass, etc., before we could reach for a calculator; she often already knew the final figure. I still don’t know how she did it. Our house in Abofour was always full. Children everywhere. Some were relatives. Many were neighbors. Some were just children who needed support. She paid school fees for children she did not give birth to. She fed people. She helped people. Today, she has multiple grandchildren named after her. When I am in a good mood, I call them Mom. → @FatiBanda_ & 5 others not on this platform. Her story deserves a book. Maybe one day I will write it. —- But today, I just want to say this: One woman’s courage can change the direction of a family. One mother’s sacrifice can open doors her children may spend a lifetime walking through. One woman with no formal education can still be the reason people enter classrooms, government offices, parliament house, hospitals, universities, and rooms she was never invited into, and become successful entrepreneurs. My mother’s story is why I believe women’s education, women’s work, and women’s economic power can change generations. When one woman is supported, the impact rarely ends with her. —- On this Mother’s Day, I celebrate my mother, Hajia Fati. I celebrate every woman who goes above and beyond, so the next generation has a chance. Happy Mother’s Day to the women whose sacrifices are still speaking through generations. —- For everyone who still has their mother with them: Call her. Ask her about the parts of her story you were too young to understand. Some of the sacrifices that shaped us were made before we even knew what sacrifice meant.
😆😆😁😄… mom said she wanted one of her daughters to read the news… Now her granddaughter, named after her, is learning how to read on TV @ladyft04
My dad never went to school. Whenever we came home on vacation, he'd tell us to say something in English and when we do, he gets so excited and will be clapping for us. Told me he'll take me to any school I wanted. Always told people "me ba wei )b3y3 awuraba" 😂😂
