Mr Robert Jackson (left), interacting with some of the volunteers after the swearing-in ceremony

22 US volunteers in to teach

Severious Kale-Dery Aug - 11 - 2017 , 05:00 2 minutes read

Twenty-two United States (US) citizens who are in the country to undertake two years of voluntary work in the education sector have been inducted.

The volunteers, who have been deployed throughout the country to teach in basic and second cycle institutions, will be teaching mainly mathematics, science and art.

They have been posted to mostly rural areas and deprived communities and schools where teachers are lacking. They will be transported to their locations on Sunday, August 13, 2017, to begin their work.

Before being posted to their respective locations, the volunteers were taken through a three-week pre-service training and orientation on the culture of the communities they would be going to.

Grass-roots ambassadors

Addressing the volunteers to give them the “matching order”, the US Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Robert Jackson reminded them that they were in the country to serve as “grass-roots ambassadors”.

“Working diligently in your communities, you will touch lives in unimaginable ways.

“Through your actions and attitudes, your service and your kindness to others, you will show that Americans care deeply about Ghanaians and are committed to work side-by-side for the long term,” he told the volunteers.

Mr Jackson described the volunteers as “change agents” and asked them to find new approaches and new knowledge that would help make their communities happier and more productive places.

Orientation

The Country Director of Peace Corps, Ms Caria Ellis, explained that the volunteers had all visited their places of posting for familiarisation before the official induction.

She said the entire Peace Corps in the country would visit the volunteers from time to time to find out how they were faring and that all would be reassembled in Accra after three months to assess their impact and later after nine months, until their term ended.

The Deputy Minister of Education in charge of JHS and TVET, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, commended the volunteers for their spirit of volunteerism and readiness to serve in rural and under-resourced communities, where even some Ghanaians were not prepared to accept postings to.