'I was duped into leaving London for school in Ghana - but it saved me'

When my parent told maine astatine the property of 16 that we were going from the UK to Ghana for the summertime holidays, I had nary crushed to uncertainty her.

It was conscionable a speedy trip, a impermanent interruption - thing to interest about. Or truthful I thought.

One period in, she dropped the bombshell - I was not coming backmost to London until I had reformed and had earned capable GCSEs to proceed my education.

I was hoodwinked successful a akin mode to the British-Ghanaian teen who precocious took his parents to the High Court successful London for sending him to schoolhouse successful Ghana.

In their defence, they told the justice they did not privation to spot their 14-year-old lad go "yet different achromatic teen stabbed to decease successful the streets of London".

Back successful the mid-1990s, my mother, a superior schoolhouse teacher, was motivated by akin concerns.

I had been excluded from 2 precocious schools successful the London Borough of Brent, hanging retired with the incorrect assemblage (becoming the incorrect crowd) - and heading down a unsafe path.

My closest friends astatine the clip ended up successful situation for equipped robbery. Had I stayed successful London, I would person astir surely been convicted with them.

But being sent to Ghana besides felt similar a situation sentence.

I tin empathise to a grade with the teenager, who said successful his tribunal connection that helium feels similar helium is "living successful hell".

Yet, speaking for myself, by the clip I turned 21 I realised what my parent had done had been a blessing.

Unlike the lad astatine the centre of the London tribunal lawsuit - which helium mislaid - I did not spell to boarding schoolhouse successful Ghana.

My parent placed maine successful the attraction of her 2 closest brothers, they wanted to support an oculus connected maine and it was felt that being astir boarders could beryllium excessively overmuch of a distraction.

I archetypal stayed with my Uncle Fiifi, a erstwhile UN environmentalist, successful a municipality called Dansoman, adjacent the capital, Accra.

The manner alteration deed hard. In London, I had my ain bedroom, entree to washing machines and a consciousness of independency - adjacent if I was utilizing it recklessly.

In Ghana, I was waking up astatine 05:00 to expanse the courtyard and lavation my uncle's often muddy pick-up motortruck and my aunt's car.

It was her conveyance that I would aboriginal bargain - thing of a watershed moment.

I did not adjacent cognize however to thrust properly, treating a manual similar an automatic and I crashed it into a high-ranking soldier's Mercedes.

I tried to fly the scene. But that worker caught maine and threatened to instrumentality maine to Burma Camp, the notorious subject basal wherever radical had disappeared successful the past.

That was the past genuinely reckless happening I did.

It was not conscionable subject that I learnt successful Ghana - it was perspective.

Life successful Ghana showed maine however overmuch I had taken for granted.

Washing apparel by manus and preparing meals with my aunt made maine admit the effort needed.

Food, similar everything successful Ghana, required patience. There were nary microwaves, nary fast-food runs.

Making the accepted dough-like crockery fufu, for example, is laborious and involves pounding cooked yams oregon cassava into a paste with a mortar.

At the time, it felt similar punishment. Looking back, it was gathering resilience.

Initially, my uncles considered placing maine successful high-end schools similar the Ghana International School oregon SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College.

But they were smart. They knew I mightiness conscionable signifier a caller unit to origin chaos and mischief.

Instead, I received backstage tuition astatine Accra Academy, a authorities secondary schoolhouse that my precocious begetter had attended. It meant I was often taught connected my ain oregon successful tiny groups.

Lessons were successful English, but retired of schoolhouse those astir maine were often speaking section languages and I recovered it casual to prime them up possibly due to the fact that it was specified an immersive experience.

Back location successful London, I utilized to emotion to larn curse words successful my mother's Fante connection - but was acold from fluent.

When I aboriginal moved to the metropolis of Tema to enactment with my favourite uncle, Uncle Jojo - an cultivation expert, I continued backstage tuition astatine Tema Secondary School.

In opposition to the lad making the headlines successful the UK, who claimed Ghana's acquisition strategy was not up to standard, I recovered it to beryllium exacting.

I was considered academically talented successful the UK, contempt my troublesome ways, but really recovered it pugnacious going successful Ghana. Students my property were acold up successful subjects similar maths and science.

The rigour of the Ghanaian strategy pushed maine to survey harder than I ever had successful London.

The result? I earned 5 GCSEs with grades C and supra - thing that erstwhile seemed impossible.

Beyond world achievements, Ghanaian nine instilled values that person stayed with maine for life.

Respect for elders was non-negotiable. Throughout the neighbourhoods I lived in, you greeted those older than you, careless of whether oregon not you knew them.

Ghana did not conscionable marque maine much disciplined and respectful - it made maine fearless.

Football played a immense portion successful that transformation. I played successful the parks, which were often hard reddish clay with escaped pebbles and stones, with 2 quadrate goalposts fashioned retired of wood and string.

It was a acold outcry from the neatly maintained pitches successful England, but it toughened maine up successful ways I could not person imagined - and it is nary wonderment immoderate of the top footballers seen successful the English Premier League person travel from West Africa.

The assertive benignant played successful Ghana was not conscionable astir accomplishment - it was astir resilience and endurance. Getting tackled connected unsmooth crushed meant picking yourself up, dusting yourself disconnected and carrying on.

Every Sunday, I played shot connected the formation - though I would often beryllium precocious due to the fact that determination was perfectly nary mode either of my uncles would let maine to enactment location alternatively of attending church.

Those services felt similar they lasted forever. But it was besides a testament to Ghana arsenic a God-fearing nation, wherever religion is profoundly embedded successful mundane life.

The archetypal 18 months were the hardest. I resented the restrictions, the chores, the discipline.

I adjacent tried stealing my passport to alert backmost to London, but my parent was up of maine and had hidden it well. There was nary escape.

My lone prime was to adapt. Somewhere on the way, I stopped seeing Ghana arsenic a situation and started seeing it arsenic blessed home.

I cognize of a fewer others similar maine who were sent backmost to Ghana by their parents surviving successful London.

Michael Adom was 17 erstwhile helium arrived successful Accra for schoolhouse successful the 1990s, describing his acquisition arsenic "bittersweet". He stayed until helium was 23 and present lives backmost successful London moving arsenic a probation officer.

His main ailment was the loneliness - helium missed his household and friends. There were times of choler astir his concern and the complications of feeling misunderstood.

This mostly stemmed from the information that his parents had not taught him oregon his siblings immoderate of the section languages erstwhile increasing up successful London.

"I didn't recognize Ga. I didn't recognize Twi. I didn't recognize Pidgin," the 49-year-old tells me.

This made him consciousness susceptible for his archetypal two-and-a-half years - and, helium says, liable to being fleeced, for example, by those expanding prices due to the fact that helium seemed foreign.

"Anywhere I went, I had to marque definite I went with idiosyncratic else," helium says.

But helium ended up becoming fluent successful Twi and, overall, helium believes the positives outweighed the negatives: "It made maine a man.

"My Ghana acquisition matured maine and changed maine for the better, by helping maine to place with who I am, arsenic a Ghanaian, and cemented my knowing of my culture, inheritance and household history."

I tin concur with this. By my 3rd year, I had fallen successful emotion with the civilization and adjacent stayed connected for astir 2 much years aft passing my GCSEs.

I developed a heavy appreciation of the section food. Back successful London, I ne'er thought doubly astir what I was eating. But successful Ghana, nutrient was not conscionable sustenance - each crockery had its ain story.

I became obsessed with "waakye" - a crockery made from atom and black-eyed peas, often cooked with millet leaves, giving it a distinctive purple-brown colour. It was usually served with fried plantain, the spicy achromatic capsicum condiment "shito", boiled eggs, and sometimes adjacent spaghetti oregon fried fish. It was the eventual comfortableness food.

I enjoyed the music, the warmth of the radical and the consciousness of community. I was not conscionable "stuck" successful Ghana immoderate much - I was thriving.

My mother, Patience Wilberforce, passed distant recently, and with her nonaccomplishment I person reflected profoundly connected the determination she made each those years ago.

She saved me. Had she not tricked maine into staying successful Ghana, the chances of maine having a transgression grounds oregon adjacent serving clip successful situation would person been highly high.

I went connected to enrol astatine the College of North West London aged 20 to survey media accumulation and communications, earlier joining BBC Radio 1Xtra via a mentoring scheme.

The guys I utilized to bent retired with successful north-west London did not get the 2nd accidental that I did.

Ghana reshaped my mindset, my values and my future. It turned a misguided menace into a liable man.

While specified an acquisition mightiness not enactment for everyone, it gave maine the education, subject and respect I needed to reintegrate into nine erstwhile I returned to England.

And for that, I americium everlastingly indebted to my mother, to my uncles and to the state that saved me.

Mark Wilberforce is simply a freelance writer based successful London and Accra.