Changing lives in Ghana

Only a few more sleeps and Nursing student Heather Maitland will be waking up in a whole new world.

Maitland is part of a team of Malaspina University-College students and faculty who leave the comfort of home next week to fight poverty in Ghana, Africa.

“They say Africa changes you,” said Maitland, who signed up for the 25-day field school. “We’ve heard poverty in the rural villages is extreme. I expect to be humbled and inspired. This is a long term project and we have the potential to make lasting, sustainable change.”

The field school is part of a five-year initiative (2006-2009) spearheaded by Malaspina’s International Education department and funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) through the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC).

It’s a collaboration between Malaspina and two post-secondary institutions in Ghana, the Sunyani Polytechnic and the Faculty of Forest Resources Technology at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science. The partners are working on community development projects to reduce household waste, reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, improve forest fire management and develop ecotourism.

“Our partners in Ghana identified these four critical areas during our field school last year,” explained Malaspina Tourism professor Dr. Ken Hammer. “The focus this year is to develop and pilot a number of ‘knowledge transfer strategies’ in these areas, including new curriculum targeted at public school and university students in Ghana.  We hope to improve living conditions in rural communities and education is the key.”

The project is unique for Malaspina because it involves students and faculty from many disciplines including Tourism, Forestry, Nursing, Geography, Liberal Studies, Global Studies and Women’s Studies. “I believe it’s the most multidisciplinary field school Malaspina has ever had,” said Hammer.

It also supports on-going collaboration between students and faculty from Canada and Ghana, allowing them to learn together in an applied environment. Malaspina ran a field school in Ghana last year, and faculty  from the partner institutions have visited Malaspina twice so far. 

Two students – Amanda Moore and Leo Thuot – are currently in Ghana with Tourism professor Rick Rollins, laying the groundwork for this year’s field school. “Lea and I have been given the exciting responsibility of continuing the work started last year in Ghana,” said Moore in a blog from Africa.  

“We’ve spent the last five weeks building our team of students and lecturers at our two partner universities, and have developed three radio programs to educate the community about our topic areas; plastic waste management, bushfire management, and reduction of HIV/AIDS. It’s exciting to see all our hard work coming together to something tangible. Momentum is building and our partners in Ghana are really taking ownership of the project.”

Moore also participated in the Ghana project last year. “Experiences like this cause you to look at life through a different lens,” she said. “I have an even deeper passion to fight poverty locally and globally.”

Malaspina Ghana team members this year include Rollins, Moore and Thuot (already in Ghana), plus students Heather Matiland, Tyler Brown, Monica Rush, Caitlee Atkins and Hannah Watler, and faculty leaders Dr. Ken  Hammer (tourism), Maggie Kennedy (nursing) and Barry Ostrand  (forestry) .

The group raised about $2,000 for community development agencies in Ghana. The money will used to buy books, school supplies, food and clean drinking water for orphans.

In future years, Hammer hopes to involve more students, faculty and community members in the Malaspina Ghana project. To find out more, visit the Malaspina Ghana website at viu.ca/ghana