Meeting Madam Melanie Thaddae Kasise for the first time after only hearing about her in the media is a thrilling encounter.Main reason; she is the first female to have been educated in the Upper East Region. Well, do I hear you ask 'and so what?'For a region that is through and through patrilineal culturally and therefore respect the rights of boys to go to school whiles relegating the rights of young girls to the background, it took Madam Kasise’s mother the will and desire to break the fortified challenges that prevented women from stepping out and getting counted in the region to achieve this height of recognition.Born in Navrongo in 1935, Madam Kasise completed her Middle school education at the St. Agnes Girls Middle School, Jirapa in the Upper West Region. She went on to the Holy Child Women’s Training College in Takoradi in 1956 where she attained a Teacher’s Certificate ‘A’ in 1959.She proceeded to the University of Cape Coast between 1976-77 and graduated with a Diploma in Advanced Study of Education.During her formative years in Sirigu where she hails from, Mad. Kasise walked about 15 miles with a pot in hand daily to fetch water to keep the home running.Among some of the challenges she faced while growing up was the fact that she had to struggle with the idea that she was almost given out as a maid servant.“The first challenge I had was, I would have been given out as a maid servant. I was given already. If I was not retrieved back so that I could go back to school, I wouldn’t have been what I am today,” she explained.She said growing women in her community depended heavily on men to be able survive. She said her mother was a great inspiration for her artistic qualities and her excellence she attaches to education.