Ruby Yayra Ama Goka

Ruby Yayra Goka has worked as a dental surgeon for over eight years. She is a Specialist in Restorative Dentistry at the Volta Regional Hospital in Ho, where with the help of an NGO, Oral Health Express, she is leading the drive to promote oral health awareness in the region. Ruby Yayra Ama Goka is also a six-time Burt Award for African Literature winner in Ghana and is currently running a campaign to stock the regional library with books and to institute a mobile library among government schools in the region. Ruby is committed to helping African children learn to develop the habit of reading for pleasure and to ensure that the books read reflect their experiences and environment featuring characters who are ‘just like them’. For Ruby, African representation in literature for children and young adults matters because if African children see themselves in the books they read, they will be inspired to reach higher. Upon completion of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, Ruby plans to expand the mobile library project to other regions of Ghana and to continue to spread awareness of oral health issues through outreaches and screening exercises.