I visited Hohoe in the Volta Region of Ghana for the first time in March 2012 with a voluntourism group called CSS, teaching a Kindergarten 1 class at Christ Shalom Preparatory School. I returned to the same place in January 2013 and was lucky enough to work with the same class, now in Kindergarten 2. Later that year, I made the decision to take a leave of absence from work and independently move to Hohoe for a year to teach the same class for the duration of their Primary 1 school year. I acted as the primary Math teacher, assistant teacher in all subjects, primary teacher when needed, and did individual tutoring. Additionally, I was able to fundraise for multiple monetary donations throughout the year and new desks for the entire school with help from friends and advocates back home.

After school, I also worked with a human rights organization called iDEC Ghana, traveling across the region to teach Rights of Child classes (teaching children the fundamentals of their human rights). I also assisted as needed with individual cases, accompanied abuse victims to the hospital, and fundraised several donations.

Somehow amidst all that, I was also able to explore both tourist and lesser-known sites and take in the rich Ghanaian culture. Ghana is known as one of the most welcoming countries on Earth, and the people lived up to this. People spoke the tribal Ewe language in my region, but English is the national language, so there was never an English speaker too far. I learned that their pride for their beautiful country is deservedly deep, and not everyone is yearning to come to the United States. I learned the truth in that cliché, “ a smile is the same in every language” - despite adjusting to a different way of living like a fish out of water, a shared humanity and kindness made it home.

Kakum National Park

Has a 333-meter (1,093 ft) long canopy walkway, suspended up to 27 meters (89 ft) above the forest floor from trees that are over 300 years old. Cape Coast, Ghana