Growth School Days Unfolded Tema/SOS (Hermann Gmeiner) “Ayah! Ayah!” Several near-adolescent boys, with their newly cracking voices, shouted at me, making funny faces and strange gestures because of my name, among other things. I squirmed—actually, I froze with fear. I was in primary five and had just gained admission to S.O.S. Hermann Gmeiner School in Tema, as it is now called. Ayah was my middle name, but at that time, I felt I should not be telling anyone about it to avoid a similar reaction. I had done so well in the admission examinations at S.O.S. that most of the teachers had begun to boast about my academic prowess. In fact, the teachers had been so impressed with my handwriting that they didn’t even bother marking my exam scripts before admitting me. Unfortunately, this backfired on me, as I became a target for male bullies in my class. I was mostly ahead of the boys in all subjects. Soon, I began to have a sinking feeling in my stomach when I woke up each day to go to school. But I would still put on a brave face and go. Despite all the jokes about my name, I still had friends in the class, and my best friend, Eunice, and my sister, Anita, were sympathetic to the name-calling. The Birthday Journal 13
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