Sixteen Patience Blocks

When George Mwinnyaa was five his father passed away, leaving seven widows to support themselves and their children. George’s mother struggled to feed him and his six siblings, but she made sure they always attended school. “My mom knew,” he says, “Education is more important than food.” George’s school in Ghana had no library, gymnasium, cafeteria, or even electricity. At the end of his senior year his test scores were not high enough for admission to Ghana’s public universities. Instead, he earned a community health worker certificate. George later met and married a Peace Corp volunteer, and they moved to Nevada. He worked as an elementary school janitor while he attended a community college. In 2015 Johns Hopkins offered him a full scholarship. This spring he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in public health studies. “In America,” George says, “I have learned dreams can turn into an unexpected reality.”