Trent-in-Ghana a Unique Opportunity to Learn New Things
Fourth-year International Development student reflects on her study abroad experience
Each year, International Development Studies students from Trent have the opportunity to apply their education into real-life experience, by studying abroad in Ghana. Julia Mason, a fourth-year student, has spent the last five months living in Ghana as part of the Trent-in-Ghana (TIG) year abroad program. Currently, she is taking part in an internship at the Northern Sector Action on Awareness Centre (NORSAAC), an NGO located in the Northern Region of Ghana.
Ms. Mason took the time to answer some questions about her unique experience:
What has life been like in Ghana?
“I have been living in Tamale since October, and along with my five TIG housemates, I have been enjoying the Northern lifestyle and all that it has to offer. We have quickly adjusted to grocery shopping in the market and bargaining for better prices on some of the things we buy (a practice which made me very nervous at first but has quickly become kind of fun!). We get around very easily now by ‘yellow yellow’, which looks like a three-wheeled golf cart and is a popular mode of transportation here.”
What are you learning in your placement with NORSAAC?
“The placement side of the TIG program gives students a chance to connect their classroom learning to what is actually happening in development today. Working with NORSAAC has been an incredible learning opportunity for me as a student. For myself personally, my goals involve a career in academia, so it was extremely important to me that I engage in some kind of experience that would develop my understanding of how things are actually done in the field. I would not have felt right to pursue that kind of career without ever engaging with international development practically beforehand. I have had the benefit of learning about the bureaucratic processes NGOs have to engage with in order to get their programs running on the ground and to sustain their funding. For example, some of my work at NORSAAC has involved reporting to UNICEF Ghana about the results of the past year of an ongoing project, Promoting Adolescent Safe Spaces (PASS), which is funded by UNFP-UNICEF Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage in Ghana.”
How has it challenged you?
“Being in a place very different from home, I have had to adjust my expectations for what my routine looks like day-to-day and embrace what I can learn from something new. Ghana is a little slower-paced than Canada. However, the emphasis on human connection in Ghana is something I think I’m going to miss when I get back. Social relationships are prioritized more in various aspects of day-to-day life and I have found that people dedicate more time to interacting with one another than what I see in North America. It has made me feel more comfortable and confident in my day-to-day life as well as in the workplace, and I can’t help but consider that valuing wealth at the expense of human connection might be inhibiting my personal growth rather than pushing me towards my goals.”
What approach to learning has set you up for success?
“Saying yes to new things has been such a huge contributor to my learning here. I’m terrified of heights, but I went on our group’s trip to Kakum and walked the suspension bridges. Bargaining can be tricky, but I visited the cultural market in Tamale with my friends, and we found so many cool things and met someone who gives painting lessons who we will be meeting again! For reading week, a bunch of us went to Busua to learn to surf. Ghana is a beautiful country with so much to offer to people who are wanting to learn and explore.”
The Trent-in-Ghana Program enables undergraduates to deepen their understanding of comparative and international development by living, studying and working in Ghana. Students participating in this program spend a full academic year in Ghana, participating in several field trips and working for 10-12 weeks with a development organization.