Manuela Ewoenam Doh ’21 takes tidiness in the lecture halls very personally.

At Ashesi eating in lecture halls is prohibited. However, this is one of those rules that most people simply forget about, or in some cases, may simply ignore. Not Manuela, though – she usually goes out of her way to remind her classmates to not eat in the lecture halls, and in some cases, picks up after people’s mess.

So when her classmate, Tamisha Sebefie ’21, run into Manuela reprimanding a group of students for eating in class, she considered it laudable,  and promptly nominated her as a candidate for Caught Being Good.

“It’s a rule that we so easily forget,” Tamisha said. “I thought it was a bit weird and admirable that Manuela took it so seriously.”

Tamisha (right) nominated Manuela for her courage in encouraging their classmates to keep the lecture halls tidy

In November 2017, the Office of Student and Community Affairs launched Caught Being Good, an initiative to celebrate everyday actions that make a positive impact in our community. With a goal to encourage each other to do good, everyday and live out the values for which Ashesi stands for, the initiative, fosters a sense of community, responsibility and ownership.  

“It’s really the simple acts done by people in a community that raises the image of that setting,” said Frances Awua-Kyeremanten, Associate Director of Student Affairs. “Our community’s growth, by and large, is built on the contributions of its members, in sometimes very small and almost unnoticeable ways, and we’d like to acknowledge and encourage them to keep being that asset. Through Caught Being Good, we hope to celebrate everyday people for everyday actions, and start a chain-reaction of people always seeking to do good.”

When Dejoie Ifashabayo went to pick up a book from a friend’s room, he noticed one of the occupants, had suddenly fallen seriously ill. He managed to mobilize a few others, and helped him to the Health Centre.

Every month, members of the community nominate students they observe doing random acts of good. Following this, a committee of students, staff and faculty vets the nominations and selects up to five students who are publicly acknowledged for their actions. 

For Melanie Koranteng who went to the aid of a librarian who was overwhelmed by a barrage of students trying to process their requests at the library, helping others should be second-nature. “Good deeds done out of love will help us will encourage others to do same,” she said. “You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works.”

Melanie Kwarteng came to the aid of one university librarian who was overwhelmed by a barrage of students waiting for their requests to be processed 

Other students who were Caught Being Good in January 2018

Nana Kwame joined Melanie Kwarteng to relieve the librarian of his heavy load while serving students

Matthew went around campus, picking up pieces of litter, from the lecture halls, canteen and the hostels.

February 10, 2018, Oak Plaza Hotel – Ashesi’s Career Services office held a breakfast meeting to kick-start its mentorship program for second and third-year students at Ashesi.

The goal of the initiative is to help students build guided professional experience through a year-long paired mentorship program. Students who sign up for the program are connected to volunteer mentors selected from industry, corporate Ghana and from Ashesi’s alumni community.

“Navigating through school; classes, project work and building a career can be overwhelming, particularly when not guided,” said Akua Ampah, Career Services Coordinator. “Our goal is that the mentorship program will help ease this journey for the students. By pairing them up with people who have walked the paths they’re hoping to walk, we believe they will get a clearer perspective to add to what they learn in the classroom. For the mentors too, we are confident they will learn a lot as they engage with the students.”

The breakfast meeting, besides serving as the launch for the program, was an opportunity for mentors to meet one-on-one with their mentees for the first time. Overall, the 60 mentor-mentee pairs will be expected to work together over the year.

“I’m quite excited about the opportunity to mentor a student from Ashesi, particularly because I am alumnus, and have gone through similar challenges of being a student there,” said Abdul-Latif Issahaku ‘05, Data and Devices Manager, MTN Ghana. “Getting to meet my mentee and having a sense of her expectations and challenges, and chatting through how I can be helpful makes me excited. Though I graduated some 12  years ago, the challenges and experiences students face are still very similar, so having someone who has already taken this journey, with added experience can be a very useful asset.”

While the program will be formally curated by the Career Services office for a year, the hope is that both mentor and mentee can benefit from a long-lasting relationship that will provide growth opportunities for both parties.

“I signed up for the mentorship program because I wanted to connect with an experienced and more informed person who will guide me, provide career counseling and help in my personal development,” said Angela Antwi-Boateng. I happen to also be a mentor of some high school students myself, so the main idea is to transfer and direct lessons and guidance I get from my mentor to my mentees – it’s more like an inlet-outlet cycle for me.”

When Jason Nkansah ’21 was in middle school, he was teased and bullied for his weight. Over time, he developed insecurities about himself – avoiding social circles as much as possible.

Years later, now as a college student, Jason is no more the defenseless middle-school kid who was at the receiving end of jokes and ridicule from his friends. Having overcome his troubling experiences from bullying, dealing with insecurity and feeling unaccepted, he believes his story is one members of the Ashesi community need to hear.

So when he heard about the Human Library, he signed up, alongside 20 other volunteers.

“Before this, I had never told my story, but I felt people needed to know that I went through experiences like this,” he said. “As human beings, we hurt people and do get hurt at times, and perhaps there’s someone who felt or is feeling like I did, so I owe it to them to share how I overcame my struggles and insecurities.”

Organized by the Office of Diversity and International Programs, the focus of the Ashesi Human Library was to encourage open conversations and provide a platform for people to share their stories with other members of the community. 

“In the long term we believe the stories shared will help us understand the diverse groups we have on campus, as well as help people connect and empathise with one another,” said Benardine Holdbrook Ghanson, Diversity and Inclusion Officer.

In 2000, two Danish brothers started the Human Library as a movement designed to build a positive framework for conversations that can challenge stereotypes and prejudices through dialogue in a community. Over time, the initiative has spread worldwide, and has been adapted by a number communities to help people share conversations that matter to them.

For its first edition, Ashesi’s Human Library attracted faculty, staff and students alike, many of whom shared very personal parts of their lives.

“The Human Library serves as a spring board for other initiatives aimed at building strong connections within members of our community,” Ghanson said. “ So we hope to leverage the connections made to help build a more tolerant community.”