18-Year-Old SHS Student Manufactures Car; Mother Appeals For Support

By:  Gifty Arthur

An 18-year-old student has taken his knowledge in automobile engineering to another level to the astonishment of many in his community in the Western Region.

Master Obed Obeng Dansoof of the Community Vocational Development Institute in the Tarkwa Tamso enclave of the Western Region has single-handedly manufactured a vehicle that is not only used to carry passengers, but also load goods.

Obed’s mother, Margaret Obeng, who expressed desire of her son accomplishing his dream of becoming a great engineer in the shortest possible future, is therefore, appealing to philanthropic and benevolent individuals as well as, organizations to help harness the youngster’s innate skills to that effect.

According to the teenage inventor, who is able to move his Mahindra-like pickup vehicle around the community, he named his newest car “never give up”; revealing he gave it that name because of the challenges he had to go through while putting it together.

“Because of the challenges I was going through, I have named it, “Never give up”, but it is not a name for a car”, he stressed.

The second-year auto engineering student reveals the vehicle took him eight months to put together.

In a video sighted by The Anchor, the young technical student was seen driving his new vehicle on the main road, with his friends onboard and with no technical difficulty, whatsoever, even though he is yet to put finishing touches on it.

A highly-impressed police officer, who first encountered Obed while driving in the area, had to stop the youngster for interview.

Obed, who readily gave answers to questions was applauded by the officer and his colleagues who encouraged him to continue his good work.

The Anchor later gathered that this is not the first time the genius is manufacturing something of this nature.

According to the mother, he has in the past made a Mowag, security alarm, tricycle, incubator and others, even though, he has not undergone any sort of training.

“He is simply a genius. I can’t even describe it. Anything he sees, he memorizes it and he replicates it. That is what he has been doing since he was a child, but what he is doing now amazes us all.

He repairs everything he comes across including bicycles, motorbikes, and tricycles, popularly known as aboboyaa for small fees,” his mother Mrs Obeng said.

She told this paper “Sometime ago, he told me he will manufacture a car; so recently, he told me he has saved some money amounting to two thousand (GH¢2, 000) on his own to purchase all the items he will need for the process to start the manufacturing [process] and true to his words, he has done it.

It is left with some small parts he needs to complete”.

Speaking to The Anchor, Mrs Obeng said Obed, who is the last of her five children, is a very intelligent young boy; “But we are poor and so our wish is that he is able to further his education so that his good work will be beneficial to all.

On the future of his son, Mrs Obeng said that “Obed told me he wants to do something with his hands.

What we all wish for him including his father, Samuel Obeng is that because we are poor, he gets the needed support and assistance, so that he can acquire the needed knowledge and become useful to this country”.

Mrs Obeng said the latest work by her son, has been tested by many people including journalists who came around to interview him, even though, she is yet to have the experience.

Obed who was not present as at the time of this interview is said to have discussed his new vehicle with his school’s head mistress and assured her that upon completion, he will present it to the school for exhibition or any other useful purpose.

“This one, he has not completed it so there is no ‘glass’ that is why he has not presented it to the school”, she added.

The 18-year old is the reserve type. He is hardly seen with his mates, as he always prefers alone time.

 Source: The Anchor