I first came across Nana Awere Damoah, when I was updating the scholarships for Africans group on Facebook. He introduced himself as a Chevening Scholarship alumnus of Nottingham University in 2005/6 and offered to share more information about his experience with anyone that was interested. It just so happened that he was interviewed on Jamati.com, which is a site I founded, just last month as well. So, I decided to reach out to him and see if he’d share his experience with our readers and he obliged. So, thank you Nana for sharing your story with others, especially those aspiring students out there looking for funding opportunities to further their education. So, enjoy the post in his own words.

Who is this guy…

My name is Nana Awere Damoah. I was born in Accra, Ghana and reside in Tema, Ghana, with my family – my wife, Vivian, and our two boys, Nana Kwame Bassanyin and Nana Yaw Appiah. I have lived all my life in Ghana except for my year’s study in the UK. In 2007, I spent three months in Kenya and South Africa, on a short term attachment with Unilever factories in the two countries.

My background is in Chemical Engineering, with degrees from University of Nottingham, UK (2006) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana (1999). I studied in Nottingham as a British Council Chevening scholar. My entire working career has been with Unilever; I joined Unilever in 2000, and worked as the Quality Audit manager for four and a half years, and subsequently for nine months as the Oils/Spreads Processing manager, before I left for the UK. On my return, I rejoined as the Production manager responsible for Spreads and Cooking oils, and since November 2007 as the Production Manager and Head of Department for the Foods factory in the Ghana site. I served, from 2002 to 2004, as the National President of Joyful Way Incorporated, a Christian evangelistic music group formed in 1972, with branches in Ghana and associates spread all across the globe. I have been a member of Joyful Way since 1992.

My hobbies are reading, writing, watching movies, being with friends and mentoring young people. My friends tell me I am quite jovial!

The Chevening scholarship opportunity

The Chevening Scholarship (www.chevening.com) is awarded to applicants from commonwealth countries to study in the UK each year. The Chevening program is made up of the main (or core) scheme and the central Jointly funded schemes[1]. The main scheme covers postgraduate courses (primarily) and intensive short courses. Various organisations like Shell (private sector) and Universities (higher education institution) partner the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to operate the central jointly funded Chevening schemes. In my case, the Development Solutions scholarship program of the Nottingham University was the partner. The scope under the central jointed funded scheme is more varied, and could cover fellowships, vocational qualifications and research attachments.

I had known about the Chevening scholarships through the British council in Ghana, which advertises for applicants every year in the newspapers, and also through research on scholarships on the internet. In my specific case, I found out about the Development solutions awards through the links on the Nottingham University website concerning scholarships. Each university has pages dedicated to informing prospective international students about funding and the information on these pages are very helpful.

The Chevening scholarship criteria includes leadership potential, residence in a developing country at the moment of application, a willingness to return to one’s country of origin to assist in its development after the period of study and a good fit for the award – development-oriented courses of study.

Myriad benefits that accrue to the scholar, the country of study, in this case the UK, and the University of study. The scholar gains a unique insight into the culture of the British, and in her interactions and studies, brings her own culture to bear, acting like a collage through which her colleagues can learn about his country. The University gains a lot from this experience, in that through the community of international studentship, learning is enhanced from different points of view, networking which is key to global business is fostered, and these overseas students act as ambassadors on return to their countries of origin. The experience of studying and interacting with students from over 150 countries, learning their ways of life and becoming friends with them for life cannot be quantified. The scholarship opportunity also afforded the platform to calibrate my intellect, abilities and behavior against the best in the world, and that had greatly enhanced my self-confidence and attitude. The process of applying for the scholarship itself brings out the best in the applicant – your success will depend on your communication skills, the quality of essays you write and the tenacity you employ to achieve your objective.

Opportunities for funding

As intimated earlier, on the ‘prospective international student’ pages of most University, I found lots of information about scholarships that are offered by the Universities and also by external partners of the Universities. One needs to realise that the Universities need international students to improve their rankings and the quality of their curriculum, so there are focused efforts to reach, attract and help these students. Africa is a good hunting ground! Partial scholarships also exist, especially to support tuition fees. The prospective students should spend time researching on the internet, there are a lot of opportunities out there. The British council in respective countries (and their website) can also be a good source of information. A good website for further research is www.educationuk.org. I must reveal here that it took me two years to first secure my admission to Nottingham and then to source and obtain the scholarship. Students should be prepared to put in some hard work, of research, of correspondence, of honing writing and essays skills, etc. In the end, it is the patient and unwearied individual who is able to take out the heart of the ant, to achieve his objective!

Current and future projects

Currently I am focused on my work in the manufacturing industry and my writing, maintaining three blogs: www.excursionsinmymind.blogspot.com, www.patmoscollections.blogspot.com and www.storyloom.blogspot.com. I recently had my first book ‘Excursions in my mind’ published by Athena press UK (www.athenapress.com) released on Amazon. The launch is planned in December 2008 in Ghana. I am working on a novel about the legendary spider (Ananse) in Ghanaian forklore, and also on my second book of reflective essays. In the future, I plan to expand my voluntary service of mentoring young people, so they can be empowered as the next leadership of our continent.

References

Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Chevening scholarships programme annual reports (2002-03, 2003-04).

[1] Chevening scholarships programme annual reports 2002-03, 2003-04