Standing there in a group of Booker Washington Institute (BWI) FFA leaders and alumni, I looked off in the distance in the direction of our FFA students who were laughing, yelling, and running around while playing ultimate frisbee on the football field. It was after our FFA End of the Year Program and the sun […]
Continue Reading
I wake up every morning with a similar routine not worrying about getting caught in a net of some sort. I stumble out of bed, I feel the soft carpet under my feet as I make my way to the kitchen. I turn on the lights without ever wondering if they will stay on. Fix […]
Continue Reading
I remember the first time I saw him, this tall, lanky student briskly across the Kumbungu High School campus. With over 2,000 students at the school in which I taught, I was unsure at first if our paths had crossed before. All students at my school were required to wear the school uniform. This meant […]
Continue ReadingWelcome Home 2016-2017 Fellows On June 26, we welcomed home our third class of AgriCorps Fellows from Ghana and Liberia. As a team, they trained 90 teachers in experiential education, taught 800 students agriculture and integrated sciences and built the capacity of 700 4-H and FFA members. Chairman Conaway Mentions AgriCorps In May 2016, Representative […]
Continue Reading
Nearly one year ago, Nick and I were saying goodbye to Ghana. I remember it vividly. The AgriCorps crew was bunked up in the Sleepy Hippo Hotel in Accra, a musty haven for foreigners where the beer was cold and company exotic. Nick and I were spoiled with our own room, complete with a […]
Continue Reading
The student advisor turns and asks, “Madam President, why are you so stationed under the flag of Ghana?” At this question Regina, an 8th grade 4-H member begins to beam in her school issued yellow and blue dress uniform and brings her hands up to her chest as she begins her part of the 4-H […]
Continue Reading
“Welcome! Welcome to Liberia!” This is a greeting that I heard many times during my five-day stay in Liberia to visit my son, Nathan, and his wife Anna. This was inevitably followed by a Liberian handshake; which involves a normal handshake, followed by a thumb grip, and ending with our two hands clasping with fingers […]
Continue Reading
A familiar face emerges from the dark, striding into the warm embrace of a flickering orange street lamp on the edge of town. He carries a white box and a toothy grin, “Erik, you have to see. They are here.” Peeling back the tattered cardboard flap, a flutter of red and white feathers leap forward […]
Continue Reading
Beautiful flower petals adorned all around us as drumbeats reverberated through the air. A joyful celebration was about to ensue filled with champagne spraying through the hall, cake being cut, and crazy dance moves all around. I had no idea what to expect yet was so excited to be celebrating the wedding of one of […]
Continue Reading
Much of my efforts this past couple of months have gone to planning a speaking competition for the students of Ghana’s Northern Region. Time is spent contacting sponsors, seeking out judges, reserving venues and helping students prepare to compete. Unfortunately, public speaking is a completely foreign subject to most kids here. School systems in Ghana […]
Continue Reading