Prominent private legal practitioner, Lawyer Sylvester Isang, says his charitable work is rooted not in wealth but in the painful memories of growing up in poverty, experiences he says continue to shape his outlook on leadership and service.
The Master of Chambers at Isang@Law Chambers based in Tamale said his humble upbringing has convinced him that genuine development begins with extending a helping hand to those facing similar hardships.
Speaking in an exclusive interview, Lawyer Isang said every scholarship he awards and every community intervention he undertakes is inspired by his own life’s journey.
“I know what poverty looks like because I lived through it,” he said. “When God blesses you after you have gone through hardship, the best way to thank Him is to touch the lives of other people.”
He recalled returning to his community to register residents onto the National Health Insurance Scheme at his own expense, only for one elderly man to question why he was spending his time and resources helping others instead of enjoying his success.
“They knew how difficult my upbringing had been, so they wondered why I was still sacrificing for other people,” he said.
Rather than being discouraged, Lawyer Isang said the encounter strengthened his conviction that true success is measured by the number of lives one positively impacts.
“If two or three young people become nurses because I intervened, those beneficiaries will also support their families, and the impact will continue from one generation to another,” he explained.
Lawyer Isang also paid tribute to the late Cardinal Peter Porekuu Dery and the FIC Brothers in Nandom, whose acts of kindness towards needy students inspired his own commitment to community service.
He recalled receiving exercise books, school uniforms and occasional financial assistance from the FIC Brothers during his school days, describing those seemingly small interventions as life-changing.
“I hope one day to establish a fund that will support their work while I continue my own interventions,” he said.
Despite his success as a lawyer, Lawyer Isang said memories of his childhood remain vivid.
He said he still remembers accompanying widows to gather firewood and witnessing the daily struggles of vulnerable families.
“I know what GH¢300 or GH¢500 can mean to a widow trying to feed her family because I have lived that experience,” he said.
Even today, he added, he sometimes feels uncomfortable when clients spend large sums on hotel accommodation for him because he instinctively compares such expenditure with what the same amount could do for struggling families back home.
“No matter where life takes me, I don’t think those experiences will ever leave me,” Lawyer Isang said. “They continue to remind me why service to humanity must always come before personal comfort.”
Source: www.kumasimail.com
