There are many kinds of stories of hope but I like the ones which tell us to ’Never give up’. Examples of such stories include the story of Francis Sosu and the writer of the Harry potter. Having a ‘no giving up attitude’ means believing in your potential to be successful and making sure you don’t quit trying till you attain your goals no matter the obstacles faced. For example, America’s great inventor Thomas Edison made countless efforts at inventing the light bulb, but he didn’t quit the idea until it was realized in 1879. Similarly, I would like to name my story “Never give up”.

 This story of hope started from New York where I stayed with my parents where my Mom was a dentist and my Dad a bank Manager.  I was in grade 6. I was having learning difficulties but didn’t know why. When I asked my parents I was told that when I was five years old I had a motor accident which affected some parts of my brains. I was filled with sadness , pain and sorrow because my parents had not told until  I was  12 years  and  in grade 6. My parents consoled me before we all went to bed that night. The next morning I went to school , I met my friend Ida and I told her what had happened .

 After I told her about the incident, she told me she was sorry for me. I forgot about it and continued with my studies. Within some few months it was time for us to write our end of term exam. I studied very well but still failed. When my parents heard this they were not that sad because of the incident that had happened. This also wasn’t the first time I failed. It even got to a point that I was fed up but I told myself that I can do it . While we vacated and we were home, I studied hard so I knew I would do well in my academics. Within a twinkle of an eye,we were in the final term in grade 6 and again I didn’t perform well even though I struggled to learn. We vacated and came home safely.

While I was home, I was studying very hard and I told myself that I would never give up till I become perfect . Some few months later, school re-opened and I found my self in Grade7 where many new students came to the school and this made me much excited. Later, I was looking for my friend Ida.

When I was having a conversation with her she wasn’t nice to me. Not knowing that she had informed almost half of the class about what I had told her. Since I heard that, I parted way with my friend.

Afterall, she didn’t even apologize. I then became very idle since I had no one. Because of what happened people were gossiping about me and I was looking forward to see some one who is smart and also kind hearted to become my friend. 

One of the new students who was called Mary had all the qualities I was looking out for. Eventually she became my friend. Both of us studied together, she taught me what I found difficult in my studies and she also gave me good advice always. A boy called Samuel who always attained the first position liked to brag about it and tease me. He also liked to underate people but I didn’t pay attention to him. Very soon It was time for us to write our exams. This time round I studied extra hard with the hope of making it. Some weeks later, the result was ready. when I went to check mine, to my surprise, I and my friend Mary attained the first position. I was very excited and proud and so were my parents when they heard it. All of my classmates especially, Idan wanted to be my friend again but I didn’t allow her. She learnt her lesson. If we see our life there is time and place for everything. Every flower blooms at a different place. Don’t compare yourself to others.

 There is a quote which says it always seems impossible until it is done. don’t lose faith when you see others achieving their success. Just have faith that your time is coming. If you have not reach your goal yet, don’t lose hope. Just keep holding to your dreams no matter how hard it gets. Never give up, be patient, be persistent and keep your efforts in the right direction and always say to yourself ‘my time is coming’. And when it comes people will yield in admiration because great things take time.

Remain Hopeful 

Many people call me names  because of my lofty goals, but I know that as long as the sun rises every day, there is hope. Maame Esi Dorothy may your soul rest in peace. Grandma, why did you leave so soon? Your death has been a huge blow because you were the only source of hope in a home with a mother who wants her son to be a bookworm and a father who wants his son to become the Elon Musk of the family. You vanished into the morning midst of April’s last days of 2022, precisely how and when is locked up in your wooden box under six feet. Your last words to me at Amedzofe only a week before, were, "My grandson, always remain true and hopeful in every situation and God will do the rest."

Little did I know that more sadness was coming in spite of losing my greatest diamond in the desert. One day, around mid-June at school, something unusual happened. The whole school was

summoned to the school’s assembly grounds at a very odd time. We all wondered why. Nevertheless, we all went to the assembly grounds to hear why we were

called.

Our headmaster told us that two people from a non-governmental organization were there to talk to us. The two vi informed us that they work for an NGO called STEM FOR ALL, whose goal is to improve the teaching and learning of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in Ghana. When the man talking was wrapping up the longest speech in history, he said something that amazed me. He said, "The organization is only going to take GHC 5.00 from interested students, which included free accommodation, food and some more for two weeks."  My father encouraged me to go to the STEM camp..

Four buses picked us up on to go when the time came. After two hours of driving, all four buses suddenly stopped and we were ambushed by armed men. The whole thing turned out to be a kidnapping plan, and by the time we were aware we had already on an island.

We were not the only children who had been abducted. The men forced us to work day and night on their farms and stone quarrying sites and within a week, they separated the boys from the girls. In the 21st century and an era of civilization, slave trading proved to be still in existence because ships came in on regular basis to take away children as slaves. My friends and I prayed and hoped that we would be  free someday. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days and days into weeks.

As if struck by lightning, I remembered Grandma’s last words to me which gave me hope and courage to escape. I put together my escape plan with the help of a kind albino boy  I met on the island called Andy Clark. 

My new friend stole the key to the cage we were kept in  when the guards were not watching. He was very swift about it. We sneaked out quietly in the deep of the night. 

While  escaping, I found a door that was slightly open. I peeped in to see what was going on in that room. I saw the man who came to our school, and he was talking to a man who I suppose was an obstetrician or a gynecologist. From their conversation, I learned that the girls were kept in a separate room because egg cells were extracted from their ovaries and sold in an illegal fertility clinic to people 

Looking to have children through In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). I locked this information at the back of my mind. My  friend and I took the bull by the horns and made our escape. The sea turned out to be our next obstacle.  Thankfully, we found a boat and managed to get it afloat somehow. We at sea for two days without food or potable water. We were hungry and scared. It was very frightening the way the sea roared. We also had no idea which direction we were going.

We finally got to shore.   We asked for a police station from some fishermen ww met at shore and headed straight there to report our ordeal. The police, with help from the military, raided the island and many of the children were saved. They reunited with their families and loved ones. I was quite sad because I lost a some of my friends. 

At a point in time, I had wanted to give up on the idea of escaping because I knew it was going to be harder than the hardest level of Mission Impossible, but Andy used this quote by Barack Obama to give me courage: "Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to fight for it."