Alumni Blog

Broken Bones

I’m left with just 12 more days in Ghana… the teaching is finished and exams will be starting on Wednesday. Hard to believe it’s all coming to the end! Yesterday my Ghanaian “dad” said he wanted to discuss something with me. When I went to their house in the evening, as is my nightly ritual, he told me he wants to throw a party for me before I go, if I would like it, where we’ll cook some banku or rice or any food I like, all eat at the table together and have pictures taken, so that I can bring them home to show my friends and family my Ghanaian family. It was so touching! So we are planning to have the party on Sunday.

“Madam, a surprise!”

I had a really frustrating morning in class this morning.

Defining Poverty

I’ve been in Sega, Ghana for over 2 and a half months now and am left with just 4 weeks to go… time just seems to fly! Barack Obama arrived in the country last night, which is causing some excitement! It is nice for Ghana to have something to be excited about after weeks of rain.

Former Participant/Current Mentor, Tabitha Kroeker, Speaks from Ghana

It is raining here in Sega. The pitter patter on the tin roof is so refreshing!

Not long ago a close friend/mother figure from Canada passed away. This has been very difficult for me, especially as I am so far away. Today I received news that the mother of a student I am particularly close to at the school here passed away early in the morning. The mother lives in another part of Ghana about 6 hours from here. Last year during one of the mid-term vacations, I went with my student, Lawrencia, and spent about 2 weeks at the mother’s place, in a beautiful little village near Kumasi. The mother spoke only a few words of English, but we walked to the farm together, ate together, spent hours sitting together under the mango tree and communicated in the limited Dangme I could speak and understand. She has been here visiting the past couple of weeks (in a village about a 30 minute walk away, where Lawrencia lives). I was just at their house last Saturday, with Ezekiel (another student, and little “brother”), where the mother pounded fufu for me and served it with a huge bowl of soup full of fish, eggs and meat! She has been sick for a long time, but seemed so strong sitting there pounding the fufu, greeting me with her huge welcoming smile and a big hug. It is such a shock, just 5 days later to hear that she has died. And I just attended the funeral of another student’s mother 2 weekends ago.

Superhero…. Not Yet

Going to Africa was one of those things I had always wanted to do. When I was invited by Intercordia to go to Ghana for the summer it felt like everything was finally falling into place. I discovered while I was in Ghana through the other Intercordia volunteers that everyone joins the organization for different reasons. To me Ghana was about going and making a difference in the world; I was on a mission to leave all my own issues and weaknesses behind. It never occurred to me, to be honest that I might get homesick, that the culture shock would at times be overwhelming or that my own prejudices would follow me on the experience I felt I was born to live. Looking back, I can’t pin point what made me believe I would go to Ghana and play the role of a superhero; Ghana became not about saving others but rather about discovering myself.

Electricity in Ghana- Essential to Development?

An editorial piece from Ghana argues that in order to meet the Millennial Development Goals the rolling power outages in the country must be stopped.

Youth4Change

Youth4Change is a program initiated by former Intercordia participant, Amanda Holler during her placement in Ghana in 2007 and continues to thrive today.

Ghana: An Example of African Democracy

See full article at http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1864675,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-world

A Year in Ghana

Tabitha Kroeker had spent the summer of 2006 in Honduras, and then lived in Sega, Ghana for a year in 2007-2008. Here she offers some words of reflection upon her experiences: