My paternal grandmother was a devout Catholic and had a strong influence onmy faith during the years I lived with her in Kpando. Although my mother was Presbyterian, I remained Catholic when I latermoved back toVakpo to livewithmy motherandmaternalgrandmother.Iwasbaptised around 1953, when I was about 12 years old. My Catholic upbringing also shaped my early education. I started primary school at the Vakpo Adomi Roman Catholic School around 1949. In those days, there was a simple way of determining whether you were old enough to start school: you had to stretch your hand over your head and touch the opposite ear. At the time, the school was one of the best in the Kpando District and attractedmany pupils from the surrounding villages. I remember going to school on my first day with a cloth tied around my neck, as my uniformhad not yet been sewn. School life was interesting. We walked to school barefoot, and one of my very good friends was the lateMatthew Ziku. Each morning, we had to arrive early to sweep our allocated plots before classes began. We ran a double shift, closing at 12 noon and returning at 1 p.m. for the afternoon session, which ended around 5 p.m. During that short break, we would hurry home, attend to our chores and sometimes go to the farm before racing back for afternoon classes. I did very well academically, particularly in arithmetic, which was one of my favourite subjects. I progressed quickly through school and was fortunate to skip some classes. After ClassOne, Imoved straight toClassThree and was later advanced again. The primary school headmaster, the late Mr. Matthias Attah, took a particular interest in me because I was very neat and doing well academically. Little did I know then that he would one day become my father-in-law. After primary school, I continued to middle school, where I took and passed the Common Entrance Examination in 1956, earning a place in secondary school. It marked the beginning of a new chapter in my life, one that would soon take me farther from Vakpo than I had ever been before. 2026 GSTS Founders’ Day. 10 The Birthday Journal
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