Top marks in her class, wise beyond her years, yet Valentina still has the curiosity of a precocious eleven year old. Sadly, this was not always her situation. After her mother pased away 5 years ago, she was sent to her extended family and was removed from school.

Adu Emmanuel is shy at first. He is short with a large head and a perpetual smile on his face. Behind his shy exterior and toothy grin is a very gifted mind. He provides keen insights during NewsHour discussions, excels at school, and overall, shows promise to be one of the top minds in Ghana.

William Agbo is a young man who has shown remarkable poise and resilience throughout his young life. Growing up in a small shack in Madina, William stood out among his peers from an early age. When others were misbehaving in secondary school, William always carried himself respectfully.

Divine is a tall seventeen year old who has one of the brightest futures. He has been with Teach on the Beach for seven years. Ali first found him with a bad, infected cut on this finger and since then Divine has overcome his own personal demons to grow into a responsible and active young man.

Henrietta is a very focused student. When she was not challenged enough in her classroom, she found Aaron and Ali and bugged them about what they were reading, if they could read to her, or write math story problems for her.

Emmanuel Yao Duah is a born leader, possessing the charisma, mental quickness and confidence needed to make a difference in this world. I first got to know Duah about a year after he had lost his mother, a very tough blow for him. He struggled a great deal from his loss, often closing off to others and his responsibilities as a student and TOB Scholar. With a helping hand he has persevered and thrived.

Ben Haruna is a curious and energetic young man. Part of the original group of kids Alison and Aaron met in Madina, Ben spent the first years of his life living in a one room dwelling made of crude wood and cement blocks where he shared space with his 4 siblings and mother.

Henry introduced himself to Alison in 2004 setting off a chain of events that led to scholarships for himself, his sister, and a couple of his friends from Madina, a slum in the capital of Accra. He is open, honest and full of energy, when he wants to be.

Anthony Kusi is from the Brong Ahafo region city of Berekum. A Teach on the Beach volunteer found Anthony in the little village of Akom where he was living with his grandmother, both his parents having passed away. 

Louis Cobbina came to us from a very poor village in the Oppon Valley. He is generally reserved but especially quiet around volunteers because he doesn't have confidence in his English. Louis is in his element when there is work to be done - he can handle himself with difficult physical tasks quickly figuring out the most efficient way to work without a word of complaint.