By Rebecca Ekpe
‘’I thought it was a really amazing time,’’ Vanessa Jones, from New York has been a US Peace Corps Volunteer who has served for a year and four months at Techiman in Ghana’s Bono-East Region.
“My experience of integrating in Ghana has been really amazing. Everyone is so welcoming, they are very accepting and interested in trying new things, …. fashion, food and the culture’’….
Vanessa, sharing her experiences in an interview with Journalists in Accra, said she served as a health Volunteer, teaching health, sanitation and hygiene.
‘’I go to the clinic and I help the health staff there, and then for my community, we’re working on a toilet project, so we’re helping build the dreams for all the households that don’t currently have and to help eliminate open defecation,’’ she said.
Simply a message of helping to address the needs of their communities and impacting lives. On April 4, 2024, a new batch of 20 Peace Corps Volunteers were sworn in as trainees in Health and Agriculture.
At a colourful swearing-in ceremony at the US Ambassador’s residence in Accra, Ghana, Her Excellence Virginia Palmer admonished the volunteers to represent the answer to Ghanaian communities’ requests, especially as Ghana is going through a difficult trajectory.
‘’You are coming at a time……this is a tough time for Ghana….Ghana is coming out of tough times,’’ Ambassador Palmer said, but noted that the ‘’interethnic relations’’, should serve as a ‘’source of great stability and model for Ghana’’.
The 20 new Peace Corps Volunteers will be deployed to communities across Ghana over the next two years. They will help to plan community improvements, work in schools teaching agricultural techniques and protecting the environment.
New Volunteer, Victoria Bajek from Erie, Pennsylvania told Journalists at the swearing-in ceremony that she is excited to be in Ghana and looks forward to ‘’share and being part of the community’’.
35 Peace Corps Ghana Volunteers are currently serving in six regions across Ghana (Bono East, Eastern, Greater Accra, Northern, Oti, and Volta Region). The April 4, 2024, swearing-in ceremony brings volunteers in Ghana to 55.
Ghana’s Minister of Communications and Digitalisation in a message, commended the resilience of the volunteers and their ‘’dedication and willingness to make positive change in their communities’’.