Mac Sarbah, a graduate of Harvard, Columbia and Cambridge Universities, who studied under very dire conditions in rural Ghana as a young student, has launched a social company called EDAcme to give back to needy children in society.
Mac studied with kerosene lanterns at Yeji in rural Ghana, walking several miles every day to attend a school that did not even have enough classrooms, teachers as well as learning and teaching materials.
Back home, Mac did not have access to potable water and electricity, but he was driven by the only value his father left him with, raw passion for knowledge and that is what got him to the top.
Mac also had to ride on counselling from his teachers, professors and even class and school mates to keep braving the storm and scaling over obstacles to reach where he is today.
He has therefore sworn to prevent other young people in rural Africa from going through what he went through. That is why he launched EdAcme to provide a support system for such children, especially in Africa to help them realize their potential in education and entrepreneurship.
Speaking about what motivated him to launch the company, Mac Sarbah said, “I am one of many kids from rural Ghana and Africa, who studied with kerosene lanterns, walked miles and faced many odds, but because of the support I received from God, teachers and professors, class and school mates, coworkers and managers, family and friends, I found myself at Legon, Columbia, Cambridge, and Harvard.”
He noted that many other kids, from similar backgrounds, have been successful, because of effective support systems, and he intends to create one for such kids.
“My journey has taken me to about 24 countries on 4 continents. Along the journey, I have met many young people who have gone wayward. Many bemoaned the support systems they lacked. This is why I set up EDAcme,” he said.
The company’s support system for African youth is even more important now that Africa is projected to have over a billion young people under the age of 25 by 2050.
Experts fear a time bomb, describing it as a looming major humanitarian crisis, because of massive youth unemployment, as governments in Africa struggle to provide jobs for young people. There are fears of violence, and exacerbated mass migrations across the Mediterranean to the West for greener pastures.
But Mac Sarbah’s EdAcme, may just be the window for many youth to escape a life of despair.
