Each mid-semester break, juniors enrolled in the Leadership 4 class travel the breadth of the country seeking opportunities to serve communities. The class, which focuses on servant leadership, is the final leg in a series of leadership seminars students take while at Ashesi.
Over the years, students have worked in orphanages, health centers, schools and community libraries tackling issues in the areas of mental health, education, social exclusion and migrant communities. The class, which runs for juniors, every semester is centred on the core values of servant-leadership.
“It’s service-learning, not just service,” said Dr. Esi Ansah, lecturer of the Leadership 4 class. “So when they go out there, they are expected to position themselves as learners and return with a wealth of experiences, knowledge and new perspectives in terms of how they see people. Leaders lead by example, not just show the way, but also join everyone else on the journey as they lead.”
In this feature, students share their experiences engaging with different communities in the fall mid-semester break.
Adenkrebi Junior School, Eastern Region, Ghana
Ezekiel Sebastine '18, Alieu Jallow '18
Our project is about empowering junior high school students both in and out of the classroom. In the classroom we taught in three core areas; Maths, Science and Information Communications and Technology, and outside the classroom, we organized sessions to encourage the students to ‘take charge’ of their lives. Through allowing them to open up about some of the difficulties they or their families face, in terms of socio-economic setbacks, we helped push education to the fore in their lives. Finally, we also touched on basic ideals of leadership, values and habits.
Blessed Hope School, East Adenta, Accra
Brian Obi '18, Neina Yakubu '18, Samuel Gu '18, Dyllis Quansah '18, Kojo Anyinam-Boateng '18, Carla Arthur '18, Donald Anderson '18, Gilbert Tackie '18, Caleb Turpin-Quaye '18
At Blessed Hope School, we worked on generally helping to enrich the educational experience the students have in the school. This included rehabilitating parts of the library, introducing visual aids to help with teaching in the classrooms and also redesigning the playground. All in all, our objective of enhancing the student-learning experience was achieved and we felt accomplished.
The biggest takeaway was that while the students in the school are very intelligent, they have very little exposure. We on the other hand, are very privileged to be in an institution where our values, ideals and attitudes are being shaped. We're definitely indebted to our larger community. It was a draining yet exciting experience to impart knowledge, skills and character to the younger ones.
Awaawaa2 School, Haatso, Accra, Ghana
Selassie Gborglah '18, Deborah Akosua Attuah '18, Frances Antwi Donkor '18, Bless Ayikpa '18, Lisa Emefa Sengretsi '18
We worked with children who have some form of speech or communication impairment. In this case, most of them have been diagnosed with either autism, down syndrome or cerebral palsy.
Working with the children, we realised that we should never take for granted the fact that we can communicate with other people. It is a blessing that we can speak to and understand other people when they speak to us.
Ahote Sanitation Project (Berekuso)
Kwabena Adu-Darkwah '18, Justice Nyamadi '18, Joseph Akin '18, Michael Amponsah '18
The project aims at promoting environmental sustainability practices. It focuses mainly on recycling and composting as a means to combat climate change. We worked on building a prototype for a 'compost-barrel' that will serve as part of the goal to introduce composting to the Berekuso town.
We can all contribute our quota to a better society if we set our minds to do so. At the end, the joy and fulfilment surpasses all the pain and sacrifices.
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