Five students from Bryn Mawr and Haverford and five students from the University for Development Studies worked under local mentors in four education-focused community organizations in Dalun, Ghana, a vibrant community in the country's Northern Region. Woven through their internships in a preschool, community radio station, computer literacy center, and Black is Beautiful project interrogating colorism and skin bleaching, the students took regular lessons in Dagbani, the local language, and learned about the classical drumming and dancing tradition of the Dagomba people. They conversed, questioned, and collaborated on projects. Their purpose: to re-imagine education in the context of history and culture for just futures.
A new dimension of this year's program was a weeklong in-country academic orientation at the University, where students discussed guiding texts, heard from local professors and education officials, and visited a new contemporary art center, with a tour by its renowned founder.
