Primary School Teacher Who Swims to School Goes Viral (Video)
To cope with the challenges of teaching in schools in rural communities in Ghana could be quite daunting for those coming from far distances.
By Henry Iheanacho
But a 36-year-old teacher devised an unconventional way of transporting himself to school when motorable means seem impossible.
The Head teacher of Lonpe MA Primary School, Kwame Mensah, has gone viral after it was reported that he swam to school located in the Northern Region.
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His love for impacting knowledge in pupils motivates him to wake up, dress and find a way to get to school everyday though it is usually very challenging.
The man who teaches primary 1 to 6 recently traverses an incredibly long distance to be in school on time to tutor the pupils
Kwame owns a motorbike which he mostly uses to take himself to school but there are occasions where it breaks down and he is forced to swim through a river to cover a considerable part of the journey.
One time, he was lucky to get a 9 kilometre ride offered him by a good samaritan who was returning from hospital with his wife.
However, they could not take him all the way so he had to swim across a river –Dakar — and then continue for three more kilometres.
According to Kwame, his connection with rural schools began when he graduated from college in 2009.
He revealed that through his years as a teacher, he’s been moving from one school to another and admits, teaching here is frustrating as it is dangerous.
“Teaching in rural communities is not an easy task especially as I have to swim across this river everyday to get to my school. My family is very worried.
“The pupils are at a huge disadvantage because I have to teach all the classes from basic one to six and this is stressful”, he said.
Meanwhile, a video of him swimming in the river Dakar while heading to school was shared by Ghana’s TV3.
Watch the footage below:
[ICYMI] Meet Mensah Kwame: The 36-year-old teacher who swims to teach pupils of the Lonpe MA Primary School in the Northern Region of Ghana.#TV3NewDay
pic.twitter.com/HypT6azuZf— #TV3@25 (@tv3_ghana) August 16, 2022
In reaction, @iPopAkara; Person wey suppose dey go olympics, dey go river go swim to teach primary 1-6, this life get as e be.
@rekssedy93; When you teach in a rural area, you’ll think your situation is bad until you hear of someone else’s. The funny thing is that, he is not doing this because he loves the job but because he wants the best for those kids.
@asabere_james; Massa his situation is very unpleasant but I doubt he’s doing it for the sake of the kids . He’s doing it for his to put money in his pocket . Nobody works for the love of it in Ghana here.
@AlfredBeuce; Nobody is asking where are his clothes. If he is swimming to reach school how did his clothes get on the other side? He could have used the same transport his clothes used.
@hotmelanie1; Wetin be this , Makes me remember this book I read, Unexpected Joy at dawn. The guy was always trekking to school to teach his students.
KwakuPrinceGh; Why is he putting himself through this stress? For the love of teaching and the kids? Oh What if he drowns?
@kizitojnr1; Make them carry am go commonwealth games cus…….
@KelvinMakelele; Sharp he go win medal unlike the guy way take 3 mins complete heat
@yahxeed_; Must be a maths teacher. 😭
@NanaQwesi86; Sadly, at the end of the year he’ll be given 7% increment for risking his life whiles those moving around in V8 increase their salaries by over 60%.
