Ophelia's story
Ophelia Brakwa, 16, wants to be a maths teacher. She lives in Aboasa, a small community with which ActionAid works. Aboasa is two hours’ drive from central Accra, along pot hole-ridden dirt tracks
My favourite is maths, because I can calculate well.
To achieve her dream of becoming a teacher, Ophelia must study in the evening. Her village does not have electricity, so Ophelia’s family rely on a single kerosene lamp.
I use a lantern to read at night. We have one lantern for my family. Sometimes I am stopped from studying because my mother needs the light.
If Ophelia qualifies as a teacher, the Ghanaian government will have to pay her through taxes they collect. Aid money is great for building schools and buying books, but it’s too unpredictable to cover the salaries of teachers.
The people of Aboasa pay local taxes, collected by the local chief. So what do they think about Accra Brewery, which has not paid any income tax in the past two years? Ophelia says:
I am appealing to the companies to pay their taxes so that the government can provide our schools and light and water, because we are the human resources of the future.”
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Marta's story
“In the last two years Marta has paid more income tax than the giant multinational next door has paid in Ghana.”
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