David Amenu, a Carpenter’s Tale

One of the things that makes our groups great, is the way that our members share their knowledge. Nowhere has this been more obvious than in the story of how David has come to our group, the encouragement and tips he has had from his colleagues on the group has been outstanding, here is his story……

My name is David Amenu and I am 26 years old. I was born in Kpassa, which is in the Volta region of Ghana, West Africa.

My father’s name is John Amenu and my mother’s name is Yoyo Kissel Amenu. My father was a farmer and my mother is a trader, they met at Kpassa. I was 10 years old when my father died of a stroke. When he died my mother was the one who had to take care of the family. Altogether our family has three brothers and three sisters, I am the youngest child.

I began my schooling in Kpassa LA Primary School, with the support of my mother.

Our house is located in the centre of town, near to the Nkwanta-Bimbila Road. At the front of our house is the carpentry shop, which is owned by my uncle. So after school every day I went to help him, even in school vacations I helped at the shop, until my time at primary school finished.

I continued my schooling at Philip Akpo Senior High School, which is located in our regional capital of Ho. It was a very difficult time for us, my mother was taking care of me but it was not easy for her, so I joined a group of carpenter’s who were expert in roofing. So every day, after school, as well as at weekends and in the holidays I was doing carpentry work to help pay for my schooling.

All the practical knowledge I gained whilst working with the carpenter’s really helped me in my studies at school, so my performance at school was very good, therefore all the teachers and masters liked me so much that they gave me the post of Science and Aquatic Prefect in school. My favourite subject at school was B.D.T. (Building and Design Technology). Because of the help I got from my carpentry work, I was able to complete my Basic Education Certificate Examination (B.E.C.E.) and I got grade 14.

I gained admission to Nkwanta Senior High School in 2010 and completed in 2013, with the help of my work as a carpenter, as things were not going well for my mother.

After I finished my schooling I decided to open my own carpentry shop and I was managing it myself. My customers liked my work because I had the patience to do whatever they asked me to make for them.

One day, I was researching on the Internet, when I saw the Carpenters’ Talk Group, I requested to join and was accepted. I read the rules and regulations and I saw that it could help me if I used it according to the rules.

Carpentry work has been my everything, when it got to times when there was no help from anywhere, the carpentry was there and I really enjoyed the work too. It has helped me to travel to different places, I’ve even travelled to Gambia to do carpentry work. I hope, one day it will be my profession.

I think we all believe David is already making Carpentry his profession, we look forward to hearing much more from him.