British-Ghanaian kid philanthropist and author of four books, Sarah Afua Kittoe, has been honoured with a special award at the Royal Global Awards 2024 in London, United Kingdom.
Sarah, now 12-years old, walked away with a plaque representing a Special Recognition for her exceptional dedication, tireless efforts and remarkable contributions to her community.
The Royal Global Awards, held November 23, 2024 at the exquisite Cavendish Banqueting Hall, recognised 10 young people for making extraordinary strides in their respective fields, which included sports, entrepreneurship, community service, mental health, education, peer-to-peer support and youth community outreach.
In all, there were 27 nominees in 10 categories of awards, and Sarah Kittoe was one of the ten that walked away with laurels on the night.
A citation that came with her award recognised her as an author and philanthropist with a “heart of gold”. For those who have followed the story of Sarah since she first visited Ghana in 2023 at age ten, you would recall that at age 9, Sarah published three kids’ books at a go; then at age 11, she published her fourth book.
Her published works are Lindsey and the Blue Fox, The Friendship Club, Sarah Kittoe’s Colouring Book for kids and finally, Ama and the Lost Key – set in her home country, Ghana, where she gained inspiration for the fourth book during her first visit.
Philanthropy
As if writing four books at her young age was not enough, Sarah elected to donate 100 percent of the proceeds of her books to charity. In London, Sarah has chosen the Wednesday Club of the Methodist Church in her Croydon community in London, which takes care of homeless people, and CentrePoint, a charity chaired by Prince William, which provides support for vulnerable kids as beneficiaries of her philanthropy.
Back in Ghana, Sarah refurbished the library and computer lab for Saint Paul’s Methodist Basic School at Tema, earlier this year. She provided 21 desktop computers pre-installed with relevant teaching and learning materials and also provided over ten boxes of books for the school’s library. Her family in Ghana also donated US$2,000 to the school on that occasion.
She promised to replicate the gesture across schools in Ghana and other parts of Africa as well as launch reading and writing clubs in all these schools to encourage kids in Africa to read and write as they compete for juicy prizes to be announced soon.
Little Sarah recently caught the attention of Alesha Dixon of Britain’s Got Talent fame, whose bestseller, Lightning Girl, inspired Sarah to create stories featuring characters who look like her, with the aim of inspiring other young people of African descent. Sarah is now in Class 8 (Form 2) at one of the leading private girls’ schools in London. She is already working on other books for publication.