A former student of BigBoss who is now a popular chef recounts how he was challenged because of the course he was studying in school.
He said he was given a woman’s name because many thought the Home Economics course was for women alone.
“It [the trolling] was more intense when I was in Bolgatanga Senior High School. When I went to SHS 1, when they found out that I was doing home economics, they had to give me a female name. In my dormitory, I was called “Sister Wisdom.”
Chef Abiro Wisdom Seidu Napaana, who is now a celebrity revealed this when he spoke to Bolgatanga-based A1Radio.
Chef Abiro Wisdom was speaking, sharing his experiences about growing up and learning how to cook in an environment that sees cooking as the work of a woman.
He spoke about how he was able to overcome the stereotypes. The former BigBoss student recounted some of the terrible experiences he had while in school.
“I was not a sweet thing, but I had no choice. I realized that in order to stop those things, I had to prove myself. When the term was ending, I realised that I had had enough of what they were doing. I got angry, especially with the science students. I asked everybody to bring out their results so we could compare. At Bolgatanga Senior High School, at the time that I was there, every home economics student was doing chemistry. So we compared the core subjects and the chemistry and found out that I was doing better than all of them. The mockery stopped on that day”.
He added that he had to face the stereotypes because of the dream he had at the time, but mentioned that others could not stand it and had to give up.
Mr. Abiro used the opportunity to encourage families to support the dreams of their children.
His efforts at studying home economics have paid off as he has been selected to lead young Ghanaian chefs for the Young Chefs African Culinary Cup in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Emirates.
“Cooking is a science. Cooking is an experience. Cooking is an art. If you are to do it, you have to do it passionately. You have to be very sensitive, you have to be very attentive, “the young chef added.
