It’s been a few busy months since I’ve returned from Africa between additional traveling, moving, starting a new full-time job, and figuring out post-graduation life, but I’ve had time to reflect on my journey and to remember what sticks out the most.
To say the way of life in Ghana is different than here in the U.S. hardly quantifies the extreme differences the I witnessed, lived, and worked in for three weeks. When I first arrived in Ghana to met up with Joseph–a local Worldreader employee–we replenished my fuel tanks by finding palatable food by American standards. I took the advice of doctors and others to not eat fresh produce or water. However, after one meal I realized how difficult this would be and realized my trip wouldn’t be too enjoyable if I became paranoid about my diet. I threw that advice out the window, street food it was for me! So that’s my advice when traveling overseas, eat street food. The price is rockbottom and the quality is top notch! By doing things like this, I was able to truly embrace the Ghanaian culture and make my relationships with those I interacted with more relevant and more personal.
While looking for a local vendor one day to eat a local favorite, fufu, in the village of Adeiso, I noticed I had a shadow following me. I turned around to a hoard of preschool aged kids awestruck by the presence of an obruni (Twi for “white person”) in their little village. They didn’t speak English but I did a hand motion to indicate that I wanted to take a picture of them. After taking the picture I showed it to them on the screen and they shrieked and smiled and laughed. This drew the attention of even more kids. This was a special moment for me in Ghana, to bring so much joy to this kids through the act of taking their picture and exchanging high-fives. I had a similar experience later on my trip while in Elmina. I walked along the beach for a minute and a kid, selling water, came up to me and asked me to take his picture. So I did and I told him it’ll probably be on the internet–he was so happy! I gave him 5 pesewas for some of the water he was selling and we parted ways.
I’ve already shared two stories of me walking around by myself. Anywhere I went in Ghana, the villages, various parts of the bustling capital Accra, I felt comfortable walking around by myself at anytime of the day. I often felt more comfortable than I do in many American cities. This is a testament to the kindness and the respect for the community that Ghanaians have. Everyone was so embracing of me. When meeting people, I quickly learned about the lack of personal barriers that are common in African cultures. For instance, when I met people for the first time I was usually asked if I was married and then regardless of my answer I was then asked if I had any kids.
I could share stories and write a while book on my experiences while in Ghana, but I’d like to transition to what I did while I was abroad.
My work with Worldreader was essentially divided into two projects: firstly, determining the effectiveness of the Saturday out-of-classroom exercises. The Saturday OCEs are an extracurricular program where students can come to the school and read a story and then be asked critical thinking questions about what they read. The students are then treated with “minerals” (known as soda or pop Stateside) at the end of the program while socializing with us and other students. Secondly, to help with the organization of the organization, I will be developing a mobile phone application that can be used by Worldreader employees in the field to track and monitor the use of the eReader in the schools.
To complete the first-half of my project, I interviewed almost 60 people between students, teachers, authors, publishers, and students from local universities and international schools who volunteer with Worldreader. I used this information to determine worked well with the Saturday OCEs and what didn’t. When returning home, I wrote up an extensive report about my findings and submitted it to Worldreader.
Starting more recently, I’ve begun developing the outline and specifications for the mobile phone application. Over the next several weeks, the background work for the project should finish up and the actual coding aspect can begin. Completing this project will help Worldreader to track the distribution of eReaders easier as well as to compile information pertaining to the use of the eReaders.
All in all, I had an amazing trip, meet some amazing people, and formed great relationships with people from all over the world. I had a meal in Ghana where there were three people sitting at the table. Joseph from Africa, Colin from Europe, and me from North America, what a unique experience! I’d go back in a heartbeat and I plan to continue working with such a great organization that’s changing the lives of hundreds of students in Africa.
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