By Bonny Burrows
It’s safe to say that Eric Agyeman had no easy upbringing.
Born in Ghana, Mr Agyeman struggled in Australian schooling, the curriculum and to fit in.
So after his fourth suspension, the teenager was given a holiday ticket back to his birthplace.
He was told it was a three-week holiday, a gift from his father.
But it wasn’t.
Instead, the so called ‘holiday’ became the toughest, yet most life changing seven years of Eric’s life; seven years of poverty, isolation and depression.
It led Mr Agyeman to breaking point, and he tried to take his own life.
Fortunately he was unsuccessful.
Gradually things got better; he ended up in a prayer retreat in the mountains of Ghana, eventually moved back to Australia and met his Iraqi wife Sandy.
Today the 31-year-old is an author, the founder of PVBS – a clothing company specialising in Year 12 jackets – and mentor for troubled African teenagers.
He is also a motivational speaker who shares his story with students in a bid to let them know, “it will all be ok”.
One of his most recent discussions was at one of his company’s clients, Chairo Christian School Pakenham in mid-February.
“The focus of the talk was resilience,” Mr Agyeman said.
“We know students feel the pressures of life and the school asked me to come alone and chat to them, to encourage them to go on in life despite what has happened or what they’re feeling.”
For some, it was the loss of their parents, for others it was the struggle of trying to juggle school, work and social commitments.
“My story resonated with them,” Mr Agyeman said.
“I went through a lot of racial abuse at school, joined a gang. In my youth, I wasted it – it was over before I knew it.
“I wanted them to know that no matter what has happened you can achieve anything, despite what your past may be.”
The motivational speaker said student feedback was “really positive”.
Students were really engaged in the discussion, he said, and asked questions a range of questions including about how to save for cars and how to make an interracial relationship work.
Mr Agyeman describes himself as an open book – nothing is off limits.
If it helps young people discover their “inner king and queen” and live life to their fullest potential, he said he was more than happy to continue sharing his story.
And he plans to again at the school early next year.
“I have this saying, that in every young boy there is a king, speak to the king and the king will answer. In every young girl there is a queen, speak to the queen and the queen will answer,” Mr Agyeman said.
“One of my biggest inspirations in Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech. I aspire to reach people like he has, and to be a voice that speaks to life and hope.”
More information on Mr Agyeman can be found at: http://www.ericagyeman.com.
