By Monica McClintock

I met Father Paul Mensah in 2009 while he was serving at St. Catherine Church in Morgan Hill. He was born and raised in Awaso, Ghana, Africa. Father Paul had a dream of establishing a school in his small village and providing a quality education to the children of Awaso. His dream became a reality with the founding of Awaso Academy International, fondly called the Jewel in the Jungle. Father Paul lived to see several classes graduate Grade 9 and continue their education in high school and college. Sadly, he passed away in 2021. 

In January, I had the pleasure of visiting AAI. This was my third visit to the school but this trip was special. The flagship class graduated three years ago and now are in university. Several alumni visited the school and shared their dreams with me. They are on their way to becoming mechanical engineers, civil engineers, nurses, and educators.  

I traveled with Jacqui Kanode and our supporters from Drayton Valley, Alberta, Canada. Jacqui is a retired educator and a member of Advent Lutheran Church in Morgan Hill. She is a longtime supporter of AAI. Our team designed an improved irrigation system for the produce farm, checked in on the newly established chicken farm, worked on the final stage of the water filtration system and launched the Rocket Math program. We also visited the extremely successful bakery. 

The good news is, the school is well on its way to becoming self sustaining. The produce farm, poultry farm, fish farm and bakery are all thriving businesses. These businesses supply food for the school and the community. Bread, chicken, eggs and fish are sold in the village. The purified water will be shared with the village once the final phase is complete. As Father Paul would say, “Let us all say Amen!”