Trent-in-Ghana Participant 2011-2012
As a Bachelor of Science student from Dalhousie University, my unique experience participating in the 2011-2012 Trent-in-Ghana program remains the most memorable part of my undergraduate degree. Without reservation I can say that studying in Ghana was one of the best decisions I have made. It was an amazing, crazy, heavy, frustrating, eye-opening experience that showed me more than I could ever put into words. Ghana took a no holds barred approach teaching me about development, my own bias, the difference between visiting a country and living in one, and about myself. Summed up as the hardest and most rewarding year, my classmates became my family, something distance could never change. The placement opportunity, which drew me to the program, is unique and serves to provide invaluable development experience. I came to Ghana as a Biology and International Development Studies double major interested in global health. With the help of my friends and coordinator I found the ideal placement focusing on maternal health in the context of development.
I completed my internship at Pathfinder International, dividing time between first, the Tamale Fistula Center, in Tamale, Northern Region, exploring the collaboration between Pathfinder International and Ghana Health Services in the area of obstetric fistulas prevention and treatment. And second, at the Pathfinder International Ghana country office, in Bolgatanga, Upper East Region, exploring the organization’s current Comprehensive Abortion Care project in an effort to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity due to unsafe abortion. As an intern, I learned more about my own views on development, and gained substantial hands on experience unattainable in a classroom setting. Throughout my placement I was able to explore and deepen my understanding in maternal health, specifically in the areas of abortion and obstetric fistulas, as well as the structural factors which predispose women to unnecessary and preventable maternal morbidity and mortality. The people I met through my internship were the key to my experience, and I am honored to call them my friends.
My advice to anyone considering the program would be that this experience will be what you make it; it will change your life if you let it. Maybe not in the ways you think, but the knowledge and experiences you can gain if you are open to them are virtually endless.