Scholarship / I always participated in activities of student-led organizations ever since I started university. [2]

CHEVENING NETWORKING ESSAY

Chevening is looking for individuals with strong professional relationship-building skills, who will engage with the Chevening community and influence and lead others in their chosen profession. Please explain how you build and maintain relationships in a professional capacity, using clear examples of how you currently do this, and outline how you hope to use these skills in the future.

I probably have passed the word count and would appreciate any deductions too.

Studying is more than just a degree. Instead, building relationship and network is one of the most important things whilst on campus. So, I always participated in activities of student-led organizations ever since I started university. In 2016, I got the chance to be the an SRC General Assembly Representative and also 1st deputy speaker of Parliament for Jean Nelson Hall. I always believe in the power of networking. Even more so, in this modern era. Therefore, from my freshman year to graduation, I had already participated in conferences for example the SHRM-Forum Ghana, Centre for Ageing Studies, and Africa HR Leaders conferences in order to build my professional network from diverse industries around the world.

At the 4th Public Service Commission Conference for HR professionals, HR professionals from different industries presented role specific education and capacity building to over 240 professionals that were present. From the event, I got the chance to interact with and build relationships with members of the HR fraternity. For example, I met Mr. Edward Adu, a renowned HR professional at Zenith Bank Limited and a conference participant. His expertise on and passion for work life balance, how to adopt to AI taking over human resource roles like recruitment and the need to bring back the 'human' in human resources awed me to the core and impressed me so much that I decided to request to engage further on the subject which he happily obliged. I maintained regular communication with most of the people I met at the conference exchanging intriguing ideas and viewpoint on HR given the rise of technology on the job and the unease it brings.

With the increasing number of reports by students on the difficulty of accessing internships, the SRC General Assembly charged an ad hoc committee to solicit internships for over 500 students of which I was a member. I knew I had the network to both my university and human resource professionals. By taking advantage of my networking, it became possible for us to provide over 460 internships to students and also hold career events during hall weeks and my church's youth assembly, with great speakers from across the country, for example Dr. Hazel Berrard Amuah from Guinness Ghana, Papa Kwesi Arkhust among others, thus, building a broader network. Mr. Edmund Adu also mentored me on my career and I have discovered my passion for human resource management. Thanks to my inquisitiveness and proactiveness to get more experience in the field, he referred me to a part-time HR opening with a start-up doing amazing work on developing software for local businesses whilst I was still in school. In turn, I was able to provide for him some data regarding work life balance and commitments amongst working adults and also contribute to his research.

Becoming a part of Chevening community, I believe that global connections to future leaders and influencers is a huge advantage, which will be essential for my personal networking and career development. I am committed to devote my time to maintain my networking in Chevening, thus building a stronger relationship. One way to do it is by attending events while also conduct trainings, seminars, workshops, and inviting some Chevening fellows to share their knowledge and experience to young people in Ghana.

Scholarship / "action at home" - influence on people's lives through orphanages (leadership essay) [3]

CHEVENING LEADERSHIP ESSAY

Chevening is looking for individuals who will be future leaders or influencers in their home countries. Explain how you meet this requirement, using clear examples of your own leadership and influencing skills to support your answer.

I probably have passed the word count and would appreciate any deductions too.

Leaders have a strong influence on people's lives, they can make their lives better or worse, destroy poverty or make people poor. September 2017 came by and I was getting close to my 13th week being on Balloon Ventures ICS programme. Planning a very impactful "action at home" got me thinking and thoughts of what to do became a nightmare. On ICS, I worked with entrepreneurs whose businesses were in agricultural development and the zeal and passion they exude in their business directed my attention to undertaking an "action at home" that centered on agriculture. Quickly, my attention was directed to how orphanages feed.

I realized that many orphanage homes in Ghana relied heavily on inconsistent seasonal donations and this forces them to choose between feeding their children a balanced meal, supporting their education or employing sufficient number of caretakers. As a result, children in these homes feed on starch-based diets with little or no protein and other nutrients and have higher rates of malnutrition than their counterparts. To add, orphanages are often overlooked as places for the implementation of any kind of solution. Through collaborating with local authorities, NGO's and volunteers from University of Ghana School of Agriculture, Agri-Help was born. This initiative sought to revive the passion of agriculture in orphanages by developing, offering education and skills in urban agricultural practice and establishment of farms to help rural orphanages grow their own food and reduce the over reliance on seasonal donations. We want to look beyond occasional donations ensuring sustainable food production in local orphanages fulfilling SDG 2 and indirectly helping to eradicate poverty whilst ensuring good health and wellbeing.

Given the brilliant idea, there was the problem of funding. Together with the leaders of partner organizations, we divided the volunteers into teams with the task of raising funds and also gather donation materials. I led the fund-raising and projects team. By the two months end period, we had passed the GHC 7,500.00 set target. We did this by adopting a number of strategies. For example, explaining the projects to students in their lecture halls to solicit donations, negotiate with local authorities for farm lands and meeting company executives to discuss sponsorship deals ranging from farm inputs, feeds and money.

The results were 300kg and 250kg of cassava and maize yearly as well as 75kg, 96kg, and 50kg of pepper, okra, cabbages, carrots and lettuce quarterly. We also had 4500 pieces of Tilapia every six months. Overall, the project directly impacted over 540 youths and 78 children, enabling them eat balanced meals as well as teach 3 rural orphanages to take responsibility and play an active role in feeding their children balanced meals, inspiring other homes to do same. From having the project in the homes, the children did not only learn about urban agriculture but understood the connection between the farm and the plate, ensuring that these orphans are equipped with the skills and knowledge in urban agriculture, becoming independent at adulthood.