Volunteer Reflections - Girls Empowerment: Summer Serve and Learn 2012

GHEI's Summer Serve and Learn sessions came to an end last month and our volunteers are now back at home in North America, digesting all that they've seen and learned through the experience.  Susan Choy, a volunteer from the first session of the summer, has been gracious enough to offer these insightful reflections on her time spent working with us in Humjibre.

1) Why did you choose the Girls’ Empowerment session?

Currently, I volunteer with New York City’s chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW-NYC). This non-profit is a dynamic advocate for women’s rights through the promotion of comprehensive reproductive healthcare access, economic empowerment, and campaigns to end violence against women. I began to connect these global issues during my international immersion trips to Nicaragua and involvement in the Southeast Asian Student Association while I was a student at Boston College.

When I learned about GHEI’s Girls’ Empowerment session, I was inspired by the idea of engaging in a global experience to help empower young girls. This session is designed around leadership, life skills, and reproductive health issues related to boosting the confidence of young female Ghanaians. I read in the GHEI Handbook that “in many impoverished societies including Humjibre, female education is considered an economic tradeoff. Oftentimes, families need their children to help with younger children or home chores rather than go to school and oftentimes, young women are forced to forgo their education” (pg. 1). The session’s objective is to motivate these young women to continue their education and equip them with the knowledge and self-confidence to set goals to achieve their aspirations. Education is a start to leveling the unequal playing field, and women deserve an equal opportunity and encouragement to access educational resources. The ideals of the session, and GHEI, are aligned with my own passions for social justice, so it was a fitting partnership.

2) What were some specific challenges that you faced in the session? How did you overcome them?

It was difficult to temper my desire to introduce more women’s reproductive rights ideas into the curriculum for the girls. I definitely felt that they were smart enough to learn a lot more and become advocates for their community. However, the planning sessions with the team helped me take a step back, and I realized that they needed to become advocates for themselves first. This understanding helped me scale back my “grand” ideas and focus on ensuring that the girls learned the core concepts of family planning and life skills.

Additionally, it was difficult, at times, to ascertain whether or not the girls understood the core concepts, due to cultural/language barriers. It was helpful to explain concepts in a couple different ways, review concepts at the end of the sessions, and ask the girls questions about the lessons. More importantly, Aggie, Jen, Raven, and Happy were fantastic in assisting us to infuse our lessons with culturally relevant ideas and terms.

 3) What were some of your “lessons learned?”

• Be flexible. Situations come up unexpectedly

• Be open. New experiences are right around the corner and try everything at least once.

• Be willing to listen and learn. The local people know what is best for their community.

All too often service can be misconstrued as “us” helping “them.” The most enriching part of a service experience is working alongside the local people and learning their stories. This mutual understanding can lead to collaborative efforts that have the most impact. GHEI has reinforced this concept for me.

4) What were some memorable moments of your experience?

I was most impressed by the tenacity displayed by young Ghanaians to strengthen their communities. GHEI’s core foundation is in local capacity building as the sustainable method to help the community progress. GHEI has activated a youth literacy campaign by engaging students in a Read-a-Thon at the GHEI community library. GHEI has trained community members to become Community Health Workers, who develop outreach events and maintains the health initiatives. Some of their projects include bed net demonstrations for malaria prevention, hand washing programs in schools to improve hygiene and sanitation, reproductive and sexual health education, and HIV/AIDS awareness. GHEI offers supplementary courses and tutoring for students who are falling behind and for high-achieving students to further excel. Ghana’s youth is central in all of these programs, which is a strong display of GHEI’s methodology at work.

I enjoyed learning from the girls beyond our lessons in the classroom. It was great to cook local dishes with them, learn Ghanaian games, and to visit their families. These activities supported the idea that we have much to learn from each other. There is such a great need for us to unite our efforts in direct action to improve our global community, and I feel deeply privileged to be able to help in some small way.

5) What is your advice to potential volunteers?

a) Absorb as much as you can of this beautiful country because you never know when you will come back.

b) Take control of your experience. If you want to learn about an issue or want to do an activity, take initiative and ask respectfully.

c) Reflect on how your past experiences are informing your current interactions and how your time in Ghana will play a role in your future.

Ultimately, the experience is what you make of it. Give the community your energy and commitment, and make your experience worthwhile!

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