Country Manager at Society for Family Health International Ghana (SFHIG), Theresa Maame Ekua Galley, has shared her inspirations, people she looked up to as role models and some fond childhood memories.
In an interview with Rev Erskine on the YLeaderboard Series, preferably called Maame Ekua, the SHF Ghana International boss revealed that growing up in Tema, her parents were the role models she looked up to as they incorporated their strong personalities into nurturing the family.
The familiarity with her father exposed her to the world of sports and the basic rules of football. “Naturally, growing up, my parents were my role models. Very strong characters, especially for the type of discipline they instilled in us. My dad introduced me to sports, and I’ve since had some knowledge of football with the offside rule and stuff like that,” she shared.
“Chelsea is my favourite team and with Ghana, it definitely has been Hearts of Oak,” she added.
According to Maame Ekua, her parents were not the only personalities she revered, but her teachers from primary to secondary school.
“When I went to school, well I can’t really recall what happened around Kindergarten but somewhere around Primary, I remember my teacher – Mr. Boye, very determined; and he treated us like we were an investment for him. Those were the times you were afraid of your teachers even more than your parents because they wanted you to do well,” she said.
“When I went to Aburi Girls, I looked up to my French teacher, called Madam Owusu-Addo. I was a Science student then but looked up to her because she was a young woman, had a young family, and lived at the Aburi campus with us so we got to grow with her – the way she treated her husband, managed her kids and the way she managed us. She was so graceful, she had such a poise and she’s there for you. Those were the people I looked up to, growing up,” he added.
Sharing her experience with mentorships and talent development training programmes, Mrs. Theresa Galley urged mentors to be intentional about the messages shared in order to inspire and develop them to their full potential.
In her view, success depends greatly on an individual’s ability to coexist effectively with their environment. “I always tell the young ladies I mentor that working is not just doing the technical things, but also about how to interact with people. Your ability to interact with different people defines who you are at the workplace.”
The Healthcare Business Executive, sharing some advice to the youth, urged that they cultivate self-discipline and determination.
According to her, though life could take its toll, harnessing self-discipline and determination “is the key to victory”.
“As you grow, as you mature, you begin to get intentional with your aspirations, your dreams, career and what you want to do with your life. Some go as planned, some don’t but as you get there you overcome the challenges and grow with it. I didn’t know that’s how life was going to go for me – with the things read about me. You want to become something, you want to live your life in a particular way but life has its ways,” she added.
She also admonished the younger generation to submit to service to be able to harness their craft through experience. “Unfortunately, these generation of young adults want to just go in head first. You need to learn and serve at the feet of a master. That is what defines those who are good at what they do,” she added.
Theresa Maame Ekua Galley was appointed the Country Manager of the Society for Family Health Ghana in July 2019, and has since influenced family health orientation in Ghana. During her reign, SFH International launched its operations and products in the Ghanaian market earlier this year to ensure improved health services and access to reproductive health services for Ghanaians.
“Today’s interview on the YLeaderboard has been insightful, this time not only about education, but ultimately, about the importance of family orientation and how significant talent development is to the Ghanaian community. To our young brothers and sisters, let’s not be in the rush and rely on comfort; like Maame Ekua said, today, we need to be humble to serve, then we become master. We are glad and privileged Maame Ekau had some time to spare with us and that was worth it,” Programmes Manager of Y107.9 FM, Eddy Blay Jnr., remarked.
