Day 8: Girls Education Initiative of Ghana (GEIG) Empowers Impact with Alt-Break Student from US

Photo Credit: GEIC Staff

Thoughts from Sanaa:

Another wonderful day in Ghana. Today, we worked with GEIG's university students to workshop budgeting, fundraising, implementation, and marketing for GEIG's mission of making sanitary products and academic supplies more accessible to young women in their communities. Students worked together to brainstorm ideas for potential ways to execute this mission, and it was successful! Everyone had great ideas to share, and the interactive activities expanded our previous thoughts. At the end of the workshop, we exchanged contact information and now look forward to working closely with GEIG when we return to D.C. Our partnership will not be separated by an ocean! To end the day, AU students went to see a live band performance in Accra! We are all dragging our feet to leave!

Peace,

Sanaa

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What did we do today?

In Part II of our community service, we worked with the NGO "Girls Education Initiative of Ghana" today, focusing on suggestions to help advance their mission and goals.

Photo Credit: Sanaa

We split ourselves into four different groups and gave presentations highlighting the tools and ideas we thought may best serve GEIG and enhance its growing success! The sections consisted of ideas on Programming & Implementation, Marketing & Communication, Budgeting & Financing, and Fundraising. Each was detailed and had an interactive component, where scholars from the "Teenage Girls Empowerment Program" were able to practice applying action steps and our suggestions, to their program. For example, they filled out budgeting templates, brainstormed mentorship activities, and everyone shared their thoughts on effective ways to implement outreach strategies to teenage girls.

From coming up with step-by-step plans to distribute girls' school uniforms to underprivileged neighborhoods or using "Student Spotlight Videos" on social media to increase awareness and community impact, it was a great opportunity to collaborate in a mutually beneficial dialogue.

But beyond the logistical skills, it was also a major space for American University students to learn from GEIG. When it came to the mission of GEIG there were cultural taboos and different perspectives that existed in Ghana that do not exist or function the same way in the U.S., Because of that, it was crucial for us to understand how to adapt our suggestions and personal understandings. We needed to meet our Ghanaian partners where they were INSTEAD of trying to force Western solutions that would not serve THEIR community in the best way possible.

Photo Credit: Sanaa

Photo Credit: Johneé Wilson

It definitely seems like everyone was able to learn a new skill, shift their point of view, and gain deep connections -- It was inspiring to know that people on the ground, and not political elites, are putting in hard work to make a change in people's lives every day!

Tomorrow is our last day, and we will be flying out back to the States at 11 PM GMT... be on the lookout for our "last but not least" blog post!