For Abugri Osman Zulfa, the dream of furthering her education almost ended just days before it was meant to begin.

At 23, Zulfa had already endured more loss than most people her age. She lost her mother while she was still young and grew up under the care of a stepmother. Her father, Abugri Osman who became her emotional and financial backbone, died in 2023 just as she was preparing to gain admission to Gbewaa Training College in the Upper East Region, after completing senior high school.

With her father gone, survival became her immediate priority. Zulfa turned to petty trading to support herself, uncertain whether her long-held dream of continuing school would ever materialize. When her admission finally came, there was no one to support her financially. Only three days remained before she would lose the opportunity altogether.

Then the Sung Biela Foundation stepped in.

“If not because of the Sung Biela Foundation, I wouldn’t have gone to school,” Zulfa said. The foundation paid her admission fees just in time, allowing her to begin a journey she feared had ended before it started.

“I really appreciate what Hajia has done for me. I will work hard to show my appreciation.”

Her uncle, Amadi Abugri, still remembers the relief. “We didn’t know how we could have supported her. The help came at the right time. We are still in their hands,” he said.

Zulfa’s story is one of several unfolding under the Sung Biela Foundation, a non-profit organisation that aims to turn vulnerable people’s lives around in the Upper East Region. All of stories of loss, resilience and second chances.

For Oswin Azumah, a visually impaired 21-year-old political science student at the University of Education, access to learning has often been shaped by what he lacked rather than what he had. Without a computer, keeping up with academic work was a daily struggle. Through the foundation’s scholarship programme, Oswin received a laptop.

“In the absence of a computer, learning becomes difficult,” Oswin explained. “Today, through the foundation, I have received one. It will help me improve my academic performance.”

His mother, Monica Azumah could barely contain her joy. She described the foundation’s founder, Hajia Zainab Awinbe, as “God-sent,” saying the support had filled her heart with renewed hope for her son’s future.

For Albert Ayamba, now 23 and a third-year student at KNUST, life unraveled early. He lost his father in 2011, his mother just before writing the WASSCE, and later the elder brother who had taken him in, all before reaching adulthood.

“When my father passed on, paying school fees became difficult,” Albert recalled. “There was a lot of struggle in the family.”

Today, Albert studies Logistics and Supply Chain Management, supported by an annual scholarship from the Sung Biela Foundation, along with additional items to help him remain in school. What once felt impossible is now within reach.

In the Binduri District, two brothers, Moses and Awini Adakudugu are redefining what support can look like when it extends beyond charity.

Born visually impaired, 25-year-old Moses has been supported by the foundation from senior high school through to the University of Ghana, where he studies political science. In 2024, the foundation provided him with a laptop, a white cane, financial support and food items, ensuring both academic success and mobility on campus.

“She has given me a scholarship through her foundation,” Moses said. “Long live the foundation.”

His elder brother, 32-year-old Awini, took a different path. With GHS 5,000 from the foundation, he established a home-based nylon rope furniture business, producing chairs, tables and mats.

“Vulnerable people like me can come and learn the craft,” Awini said. “That is how it will grow.”

Another life transformed is that of Amobire Shadrack, 27, who graduated from the University of Education in 2025 with a BSc in Political Science. Visually impaired, Shadrack’s education was fully supported by the foundation from level 100 to 400, including accommodation and admission fees.

“Even completing SHS was not easy for me,” he said. “Through the Sung Biela Foundation, I completed university.”

For Hajia Zenabu, founder of the Sung Biela Foundation, these stories are the result of collective kindness. She credits donors who respond swiftly when they learn about beneficiaries’ struggles, including sponsors who funded a laptop for a student after hearing about his challenges.

“If more people contribute in the same way,” she said, “I believe the world will become a better place.”

In the determination of Zulfa, the academic persistence of Oswin, the resilience of Albert, and the self-reliance of Moses, Awini and Shadrack, one truth stands clear that, with the right support, even lives shaped by loss and disability can be rewritten.