On a sweltering June day, Dr. Martha Sedegah traveled to Ghana’s Assin-Nsuta village to visit the newly constructed primary school building.  She wanted to meet with the teachers to discuss academic progress and decided to drop into a few classes.

As Dr. Sedegah walked through the 2nd grade classroom and smiled at the sight of the kids with their eyes glued to the front of the room. As she looked around, she noticed something that was out of place. There was a man sitting in the back row who was much older than the other students. He was wearing the same uniform as the small children— a yellow shirt and khakis.  Her first thought was that this man might be a class helper or a teaching assistant. He was very attentive in class, writing in a notebook and affixed on every word spoken by the teacher.  He noticed Dr. Sedegah, smiled upon her and continued writing without exchanging any words.  She left the class puzzled and was determined to find out why this older gentleman was in a classroom normally reserved for six and seven year olds.

She later learned that he was a 55-year-old cocoa farmer named Kwaku Badu. His reasoning for returning to school was simple.  When he would sell his goods in the town’s markets, he would often become frustrated. “Anytime I go to sell my cocoa, it is placed on a scale and because I cannot read, it is the cocoa “krache” (official) who tells me how much my cocoa weighs and pays me according to whatever the cocoa “krache” comes up with,” explained Mr. Badu. “Next, I take my money to the bank, and there again, the bank “krache” takes the money and I cannot even read what has been put into my accounts.”

He decided that he could no longer risk losing money and took bold action to change his situation.  He purchased a school uniform, notebooks, and pencils and then enrolled in the same school that his children attended. Since that day, he has never missed a day of class nor an assignment.

“Mr. Badu thanked me for seeing the importance of education that made me build this school and I thanked him in return for exemplifying exactly what I have been telling the kids all these years,” Dr. Sedegah said.

The cocoa farmer’s story proves that education is priceless and it is never too late to receive one.