Biographien: Maxwell

In den vergangenen Tagen, nachdem die meisten Vorbereitungen für die Gruppenpräsentationen abgeschlossen waren, haben sich die am Projekt beteiligten Schülerinnen und Schüler an den zweiten Pflichtteil ihrer Aufgabe gemacht: die Biographien. Hierbei mussten sie Paare bilden. Jeweils ein Teilnehmer oder eine Teilnehmerin aus Ghana sollte eine deutsche Schülerin nach Informationen zu ihrem Leben befragen, und natürlich auch umgekehrt. Aus diesen Fragebögen, die sich auf die Familie, die Schulbildung, typische Tagesabläufe, Hobbys, Vorlieben und Abneigungen, Religion, wichtige Ereignisse im Leben, Zukunftspläne und andere Themen mehr beziehen sollten, sind dann englische Texte entstanden, die Teil der abschließenden Ausstellung am kommenden Samstag werden.

Die Biographien-Idee war, wie sich rasch herausstellte, sehr gut, denn sie beflügelte die Kommunikation zwischen den Schülern und Schülerinnen über die gesamte Gruppe hinweg. Gemeinsamkeiten wurden entdeckt, manchmal ganz überraschend, aber auch völlig unterschiedliche Lebenswelten wurden deutlich. Sicher ist, dass praktisch alle Biographieschreiber und -schreiberinnen durch diese Aufgabe eine Menge gelernt haben.

Wir wollen die so entstandenen Biographien in den nächsten Tagen nutzen, um zumindest einige der am Projekt beteiligten jungen Ghanaer und Ghanaerinnen näher vorzustellen. Los geht es mit Maxwell Quayson.

Biography of Maxwell

Maxwell Owusu Quayson is a 1.80 meter tall friendly young man. He has black hair and dark skin, which is pretty normal for the country he lives in – Ghana. But his constant smiling and good-humouredness make him special. His benevolence that makes you feel better whenever he looks at you with his optimistic smile is exceptional. Then he shows his characteristic big gap between his teeth. This tooth was lost when he fell out of a tree as a child.

Maxwell (hinten rechts) beim Ton-Workshop
mit Berenice, Francis, Kirstin und Emmanuel

Maxwell’s date of birth is the 8^th September 1992 – he was born on Tuesday, because of that his Fanti name is Kobina.  So his full name is Maxwell Kobina Owusu Quayson.

This 19-year-old man lives with his family on the beachside of Cape Coast – in the south of Ghana. There he lives with his 22-year-old brother Christian Owusu in a little house. They both are half brothers, because they have the same mother but a different father.

The mothers name is Yvonne Owusu, she is 42 years old. Maxwell’s father Ebenezer Quayson is 44 years old.

Maxwell also has two sisters: The first, Euphemia Quayson, is 20 years old. His little sister Sandra Quayson is 12 years old.

Maxwell’s father is an electrician. He works the whole day. But his mother also works really hard. She sells goods like fruits in the street.

Maxwell himself goes to school in Moree to Moree Senior High Technical School. When school is closed at 3 pm he goes to his brother’s shop in Cape Coast where he helps him for two or three hours. After that he goes home if he has to do some homework. If he hasn’t got to do any work in the evening, he goes back to school to study with a teacher and other students for ca. 2 hours. The topic about which they are learning is always different. He doesn’t have to go there but he tries to learn as much as possible to get a good job later.

He would like to become a soldier. His reasons for that dream are the following: “I want to save my motherland (country) – with honor and dignity. And I also like to see people wearing the uniform.” Maxwell is really purposeful so I believe that he will do it. I’ll cross my fingers for him.

But in his spare time he also loves to play football. He has been playing for years, since he was in the fourth class of the Low School. He spends every free second at playing football with his friends. They all help each other to get better and better. If he has holidays, he plays every day and also on school vacations. Normally he is humble and a little bit shy but by playing football he gets new self-confidence and motivation. He is saying about himself: “I am good at playing it!” Maybe he will become a professional football player. This would be safer for him than being a soldier. He certainly has the talent!

Whichever job he will get, he just hopes that he will drive his own car one day. He would gladly drive a Toyota or Audi. “These cars are especially pretty”.

A second talent of his is drawing cartoons. He has a lot of fun doing that and he also teaches himself by reading a lot of books about Graphic Design. Every day he draws better and better. At home he has a whole collection of pictures he has drawn in many hours.

Another hobby is playing video games. If he plays video games, he plays only adventure games. Maxwell thinks that there are no better games at all.

When he is at home with his brother they often cook his favorite food: rice and stew! After that he spends time stroking his cat Cerven. If his best friend Vincent Boateng meets him for playing football after this, the day is pretty perfect for Maxwell! Often Maxwell and Vincent go to the Christian Methodist church together and after that they just listen to some music. Maxwell and Vincent’s favorite music “Kill me shy” by D-Cryme is always with it.

But in spite of all the fun he has with his friends Maxwell never forgets how important it is to be motivated to study much for school. He already understood how important it is to have a good education. Whatever job he will do and however his future will look, he will find his way.