Teen Ink

kofidaako posted this thread...

THE ‘EYE’ IN LEADERSHIP.
For weeks I pondered over the essay. I needed to find out, “What makes me an outstanding global leader.” My thoughts were gloomy.
I consulted Benedict for help. After pondering a while, he smiled and said, “Your eye Papa Kofi, your eye.” Then it hit me, ‘visionary leadership’.
This revelation suddenly awoke in my mind’s eye a memory that had been tucked away and almost forgotten. During the first term of my senior year, Victor walked up to me one day with an idea to start a mock child adoption program in the school. We got to work and developed a plan for the program. We visited an orphanage nearby and with their permission, collected data of the orphans and built a database.
So Project 127 Adopt- a- Kid (as we called it) works like this: the students identify a child they have common interests with or like via the database, register with the group and fill out forms for adoption. Every term, these ‘parents’ support their adopted child with money, clothing or food.
I convinced couple of boys to join our group. The toughest challenge was gaining approval from the school administration. We had several meetings with the school chaplain, our perseverance paid off and we got the approval we needed.
Project 127 was successful. It brought a lot of smiles to the faces of the children at the Efutu New Life Orphanage. Victor and I gave them a hope.
Efutu is just a small community in Ghana but a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Soon, I would reach out to the world.
What makes me an outstanding global leader? Vision, purpose, perseverance, hard work, the humility to work with others and my willingness to help others achieve their goals. We hope Project 127 continues after we are gone.