When in Ghana/what was your project: While in Humjibre our group focused on two separate issues, one for each of the two weeks. The first week we focused on wound care and preventing infection. Because many of the children do not wear shoes in the village, they often get cuts on their feet from running around or playing soccer. In response, we taught a hand clapping game oriented around this lesson in the classroom, which the children ended up playing with us for the duration of our stay. The second week we focused on dental care. While implementing our project, we realized that the availability of toothbrushes was extremely limited, so we adapted our lessons by incorporating the use of chewing sticks, a local practice that was already part of their daily regimen. It was this adapting of our lessons to fit the local environment that has left a large impact on me and understanding the inner workings of volunteering in an unfamiliar setting.

Current schooling/career: Undergrad at New York University – Broadcast Engineer at The Metropolitan Opera

Future career goals: Get MBA in broadcast media.

How has your work with GHEI influenced you?
GHEI has impacted me mostly by showing the importance of grassroots community building and to reach out beyond my daily scope and path in life. Ever since my GHEI trip, I’ve made an effort to make some of my annual ‘vacation’ time from my day job spent on this type of community building, whether local or abroad.

What is your most memorable moment in Humjibre?
It’s a tossup between watching a twelve year old peer educator showing our group how to use a condom and traveling to a local radio station to observe the Humjibre Adult Peer Educators perform a live radio drama about AIDS. When we returned, the looks on the villager’s faces that tuned in where priceless. The admiration and respect that both the young and adult peer educators have earned amongst the villagers in these two instances is remarkable. Needless to say, they are spreading information about critical health issues that will aid in the enduring upbringing of future generations in Humjibre.

What would you say to someone considering volunteering with GHEI? Make sure that you’ll be okay with not updating your Facebook status for a while. (Mattew, continued)