and assess the cracks that needed repair. I was also excited to be involved in the construction of the domestic terminal, which was underway at the same time. My timeat theGhanaAirportAuthority was a fantastic experience, though it was marred by a tragic incident. One day, I was shocked to learn that an older worker who was helping to bend steel for the tarmac reinforcement had died. He had been with us the day before. It turned out that he had slipped on the rods he was bending and fallen from the second floor. He was rushed to the 37 Military Hospital but succumbed to his injuries. The man had been wearing regular sandals instead of safety boots, while all the experts were in proper safety gear. This tragedy underscored the critical importance of adhering to safety standards. Although we completed the runway before I left, the domestic terminal was about 70% complete by the end of my national service. Business Woman à la Cash After my national service, I secured a job at Ghana Emulsion, where we sold road construction products. While working there, I started developing an entrepreneurial mindset. Inspired by the women empowerment work of the 31st December Women’s Movement, led by Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, I decided to start a business. That’s how my colleagues, also engineers, and I began a small construction business focused on car parks. We would procure the bitumen emulsion, build prototype roads to verify the quality, and then execute the jobs at hand. Every time, the guys would say, “Monica, you go look for the jobs.” At that time, I wanted to add road markings to the business because there was only one contractor in Ghana doing that. I thought, “This is something I could make a lot of money from.” The plan was to have all road markings performed at night when traffic was less busy. So I bid for some of those contracts and secured the jobs! The Birthday Journal 21
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