Fati S.Banda

Law | Media | Policy | Focused on governance, policy & development

[Fati S.Banda @FatiBanda_]

Grandma had a dream.
Now I get to live a small piece of it. ❤️

[Dr. Banda Khalifa MD, MPH, MBA @dr_bandak]

😆😆😁😄… mom said she wanted one of her daughters to read the news…

Now her granddaughter, named after her, is learning how to read on TV @ladyft04

[Fati S.Banda @FatiBanda_]

@BFrisky Thank you 😊

[Fati S.Banda @FatiBanda_]

Did you catch yesterday’s episode of Good Evening Ghana? 🇬🇭

[Fati S.Banda @FatiBanda_]

I carry her name and the responsibility that comes with it.

Her sacrifices helped educate generations of our family.

This was me at grandma’s house and it was one of my best times.

As a law student, that means everything to me.

Her story reminds me that legacy is built through sacrifice and faith in what children can become.

Happy Mother’s Day to the woman whose name I am proud to carry.

I am happy my son(my uncle )is telling the story 😂 @dr_bandak

[Dr. Banda Khalifa MD, MPH, MBA @dr_bandak]

I am the last of 8 children.

That is not the full story.

My mother carried 11 children.

She lost 3 along the way.

The child born after me did not survive because we had no one who could perform a cesarean section in our town.

I remember that day vividly…. Waving at her as she was being taken to the nearest referral facility (St. Patrick's Hospital, Offinso )

That is another story.

So when people call me the “last baby,” I know the name carries joy, pain, survival, and grace.

My older siblings often tell me:

“You had it easy. Things were much tougher before you came.”

Maybe they are right.

But I also saw the struggle.

I remember my Mom doing all kinds of business to support Dad and keep us moving.

Selling fried fish.

Selling sachet water.

Going deep into villages to buy foodstuffs for resale.

I remember us going to buy maize from farmers so we could sell on market day.

The long days.

The carrying.

The uncertainty of whether the profit would be enough.

My mother could not read or write.

Yet she understood education better than many people with degrees.

I still remember her selling some of her clothes to contribute to school fees.

At one point, she had 3 children at the University of Ghana at the same time

→ Law School

→ Biological Sciences

→ Business School

Imagine that.

That kind of strength is hard to explain.

Later, she built her business.

And she built it well.

She became successful enough to win multiple government contracts supplying foodstuffs to more than a dozen schools and polytechnics across Ghana 🇬🇭. My high school included.

There were times when I would follow her to see the accountants/Bursar at Prempeh/Owass, etc., before we could reach for a calculator; she often already knew the final figure.

I still don’t know how she did it.

Our house in Abofour was always full.

Children everywhere.

Some were relatives.

Many were neighbors.

Some were just children who needed support.

She paid school fees for children she did not give birth to.

She fed people.

She helped people.

Today, she has multiple grandchildren named after her.

When I am in a good mood, I call them Mom.

→ @FatiBanda_ & 5 others not on this platform.

Her story deserves a book.

Maybe one day I will write it.

—-

But today, I just want to say this:

One woman’s courage can change the direction of a family.

One mother’s sacrifice can open doors her children may spend a lifetime walking through.

One woman with no formal education can still be the reason people enter classrooms, government offices, parliament house, hospitals, universities, and rooms she was never invited into, and become successful entrepreneurs.

My mother’s story is why I believe women’s education, women’s work, and women’s economic power can change generations.

When one woman is supported, the impact rarely ends with her.

—-
On this Mother’s Day, I celebrate my mother, Hajia Fati.

I celebrate every woman who goes above and beyond, so the next generation has a chance.

Happy Mother’s Day to the women whose sacrifices are still speaking through generations.

—-

For everyone who still has their mother with them:

Call her.

Ask her about the parts of her story you were too young to understand.

Some of the sacrifices that shaped us were made before we even knew what sacrifice meant.

[Fati S.Banda @FatiBanda_]

@dr_bandak You can cook ?🥲

[Fati S.Banda @FatiBanda_]

Sometimes the difference is structure.

When students know what is expected and are assessed fairly, hard work has a better chance of being seen.

[Dr. Banda Khalifa MD, MPH, MBA @dr_bandak]

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝟗𝟎% 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐀. 𝐘𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐫.

People sometimes say:

“You cannot get As that easily in Ghana or Nigeria.”

I understand why they say that.

But I think they often give the wrong explanation.

It is not always because the subject is harder.

It is often because the learning environment is different.

I have studied in Ghana.

I have studied in the US.

And in my experience, the difference was not that the subjects suddenly became easier.

The difference was the system around the student.

In many US classrooms, the environment is built to help you succeed if you do the work.

→ You have access to office hours

→ You have clear grading rubrics

→ You have databases, writing support, and learning platforms

→ You often know what is expected before the exam

→ There is usually no artificial limit on how many students can get an A

That last point matters.

In some courses, if 90% of the class meets the standard, 90% can get an A.

That changes the psychology of learning.

You are not fighting your classmates for survival.

You are trying to meet a clear standard.

Another difference is assessment.

Many exams are less about “chew and pour.”

They often ask you to apply concepts, interpret scenarios, solve problems, and think beyond what was said directly in class.

So when someone from Ghana, Nigeria, or similar systems brings strong discipline into that kind of environment, they can do very well.

Not because the work is easy.

Because the system gives effort a better chance to show.

That is the real lesson for me.

What changed my grades was hard work inside a system that gave students the tools to succeed.

How is the experience in your school/program?

[Fati S.Banda @FatiBanda_]

@TRAVIS7uu1 ❤️

[Fati S.Banda @FatiBanda_]

Grandma had a dream.
Now I get to live a small piece of it. ❤️

[Dr. Banda Khalifa MD, MPH, MBA @dr_bandak]

😆😆😁😄… mom said she wanted one of her daughters to read the news…

Now her granddaughter, named after her, is learning how to read on TV @ladyft04

[Dr. Banda Khalifa MD, MPH, MBA @dr_bandak]

😆😆😁😄… mom said she wanted one of her daughters to read the news…

Now her granddaughter, named after her, is learning how to read on TV @ladyft04

[Fati S.Banda @FatiBanda_]

@dr_bandak I want to be like you 🥹

[Fati S.Banda @FatiBanda_]

The Flag The Face