Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Spring 2018 | Page 5

Sarah Strassler is pictured here
after being designated Queen
Mother of Menji, Ghana
What Strassler doesn't mention, and maybe that is why
she is respected by her peers and beloved by those she
is trying to help, is that a significant portion of her
time was devoted to improving the community, and
specifically the lives of the girls and women of Menji. ers and staff at the school and together they worked to
raise enough money to build a new dormitory for girls.
As with so many other parts of her life, she dove into
this project head first.
"When I arrived at the school, it was difficult for girls
from the area to stay at the school and attend classes,"
she said. "There was one dormitory for girls, but it was
crowded, and the walls were made of thin sheets of
aluminum. It wasn't all that safe." "My second year in the country there was an influx of
additional teachers and I had a chance to step away
from the classroom and focus a little more on the com-
munity," she said. "Together we raised the maximum
amount we could ($10,000) and worked for more than
a year to build the dorm."
Strassler went on to explain that in this community, if
girls wished to attend the school they often had to rent
a small room in town and that by itself had inherent
risks.
"If a girl stayed in town, away from the school, there
was the chance that she would have a relationship and
might even become pregnant," Strassler said. "That
would be the end of her education."
Strassler took it upon herself to join with other teach-
Story by David Arenstam · Photos Courtesy of Sarah Strassler
Almost fortuitously, after Strassler had been living and
working in the country for a year, the government of
Ghana changed their official stance on public educa-
tion and instituted a policy that allowed its citizens to
attend high school without having to pay any tuition
fees. The dormitory that Strassler and her colleagues
were building couldn't have come at a better time.
"One of the best memories I have is seeing the dorm
filled with students," Strassler said and paused again.
"It felt like we had done something important."
5