3 Ghanaian Youth To Receive Award From Queen Elizabeth

Three young Ghanaians have been selected by Queen Elizabeth to be awarded for their respective contributions to social development in Ghana.

The three are Derrick Omari, 22; Alimatu Bawah, 28; and Shadrack Osei Frimpong, 26.

They are among dozens of youth from Commonwealth countries to receive the Young Leaders Awards at the Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, June 26, 2018, for their exceptional contributions to their communities.

The Queen's Young Leaders Award recognizes and celebrates exceptional people aged between 18 and 29 from across the Commonwealth, who are taking the lead in their communities and using their skills to transform lives.

Winners of this prestigious Award will receive a unique package of training, mentoring and networking, including a one-week residential programme in the UK after which they will receive their Award from the Queen.

One of the nominees, Derrick Omari, who spoke to Citi News said his nomination followed several recommendations about his work.

He founded Tech Era, a non-governmental organization that runs an IT literacy program and exposes persons with disability and less privileged persons to technology in order to give them hope and potential to transform their community and not only themselves.

Tech Era is currently training blind students in Akropong school for the blind to use smartphone and computers to solve the problems they face and empower them to achieve their potentials.

He told Citi News that “it is an incredible opportunity to be honoured at this stage by the Queen of England.”

Another nominee, Alimatu, is the co-founder of CowTribe, which uses mobile technology to provide animal health services to rural livestock farmers. The platform has helped to link farmers with veterinary services more quickly and easily, via a simple booking app.

Farmers can also subscribe for vaccination reminders, outbreak alerts and animal husbandry management advice. The service aims to reduce livestock mortality and increase farm productivity and income.

She told Citi News that, “it is something that I never had expected. Even though I know that what I am doing is an exceptional thing because it's never been done. It is a form of endorsement that animal health is as important as human health and this award is a challenge to do more. The award is not giving any financial support to any organization but it is giving a tailor-made training that helps the projects.”

“It is a good thing being recognized for doing something good but we shouldn't be working for awards.”

The third Ghanaian recipient of the award, Shadrack, is a social entrepreneur working to improve the lives of people living in rural communities in Ghana.

He is the founder of Cocoa360, which runs a free girls' school and medical clinic in his community, funded by proceeds from a community cocoa plantation.

In 2017, three Ghanaians, Elijah Amoo Addo, Winnifred Selby and Efua Asibon also received the award.