Week 4

Date: 1/30/11 - 2/5/11

Hours Worked: 32

Total: 171

Week's Activities:  

     This week was quite frustrating. We invited all of our students from last week to come and meet with us individually for a review of their business plans. They all said that they would come but none of them did. We were able to find other things to do with our time but it wasn't what we were meant to be doing.

Lessons Learned:

     The lesson learned for this week is that in the future we need to set up specific appointments with our students. Giving them our office hours did not prove fruitful in getting them to come and see us.

Week 3

Date: 1/23/11 - 1/29/11

Hours Worked: 29

Total: 139

Week's Activities:  

     This week has been life changing for me. In addition to teaching our first workshop I also gained many insights into the development world and how things really function. Our first workshop started off with 13 students and then within about 15 minutes we were down to 12. We thought he was just going to the bathroom but then he never came back. By the end of the week we had ten participants complete all of the exercises and graduate from the workshop. It was great to take the things we learned during our training in Salt Lake and put them into practice. It was much harder but also much more rewarding then I thought it would be.
     On Saturday we had the opportunity to go to the MTC with the Area Medical Advisor. He was going there to speak with the missionaries about health and give them their first round of hepatitis B shots. His wife was the one who actually gave the shots and we assisted her in that task. It was wonderful to meet the missionaries and see their wide eyes on their first real day in the MTC.

Lessons Learned:

     Starting a business in Ghana is much harder than I expected it to be. I know it is hard to start a successful business anywhere but the factors that make it hard are so much different here in Ghana than they are in the United States. Thursday's discussion made me grateful to live in America in a way that I had never thought of before. We were discussing ideas of how we can set our business apart from the competition. They kept making comments about how you need to come up with an idea, make lots of money from it, and then walk away from the business. I was so confused by this sentiment and was really struggling to understand why they all seemed to think that this was a great idea. It all become clear when one of the participants raised his hand and explained that in Ghana they have intellectual property laws but they are rarely enforced. If someone designs something new the government will not protect their idea. The barriers to entry are so low that it's almost not worth inventing something new because others will just copy you and make just as much money with a smaller initial investment. I had never thought about being grateful for patent laws and protections but this whole discussion really opened my eyes. Government in America may have its good things and bad things but overall they are doing a pretty decent job at giving Americans opportunities to succeed.

Week 2

Date: 1/16/11 - 1/22/11

Hours Worked: 37

Total: 110

Week's Activities:  

     This week was mostly focused on getting settled and acclimated. On Sunday we attended church for the first time and it was so fun to meet the members and get to know them a little bit. Monday we went into the office and met the ERC assistant manager for the first time. He told us about the work we would be doing here and then gave us a cultural training. It was so wonderful to learn more about the history and culture of Ghana. It is a beautiful country with many natural resources; right now the struggle is to use them to their full capacity.

     Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings we attended the Career Development Workshop to get a sense of what it has to offer. We will not be teaching that workshop but it is nice to attend so that we can refer people to it if that is what they stand in need of. It also helped us to learn a lot about the typical teaching style in Ghana. 

     Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons we spent exploring the city of Accra. Rebecca, one of the volunteers at the ERC, was our lovely tour guide. She showed us the good places to shop and some of the sights that we should see while we are here. 

Lessons Learned:

     Teaching in Ghanaian schools is done much different from that of the United States. I don't want to resort to that sort of teaching but it is helpful to know what most of our students are accustomed to. 

     We also learned about the tourism and transportation options here in Accra. I must admit that the tourist spots are fewer in number than I had hoped but I'm sure we will find many interesting adventures along our way. 

Week 1

Date: 1/9/11 - 1/15/11

Hours Worked: 63

Week's Activities: 
     This week was spent doing training in Salt Lake. Each day was long and tiring but I enjoyed every minute. Most of the time was spent trying to absorbe, practice, and perfect the teaching techniques of the people who are experts on the Self-Employment Workshop.
     This week was also spent getting to know my companion, Kirsten, and the other interns. Even though the other interns are going to Bolivia, Peru, Mexico, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic we are going to keep in touch via the internet and learn from the experiences that we are all having.
     The week ended with traveling to Accra, Ghana. It was a long flight with several delays but it was well worth it. It was funny to leave during a snow storm and land in the Harmattan weather of Ghana. 

Lessons Learned: 
     I learned that being a teacher is more than sharing knowledge with your students; being a teacher is about facilitating a discussion that will help your students learn how to apply knowledge in the future. I also learned a great deal about how LDS Welfare Services works. This is very helpful for me because this is an organization I have always been interested in working for.