Anna Wiese
Teaching and Assisting in School
I spent a month living with a host family in Ghana when I was in high school, two years ago. It was the first time I had traveled alone to a foreign country. It was a great learning experience and gave my the opportunity to grow in my understanding of the world. It was the first time I had been fully immersed in a cultural community that was very different from my own. Everyone I met was very welcoming and invited me into their homes and wanted to share something of theirs with me. The community I lived with was so friendly and accepting of outsiders. When I would be walking home in the evenings people always offered for me to join their family for dinner. They would ask me about how I was liking their country and they were so proud of the things their country had accomplished. People enjoyed sharing their culture with me and teaching me key phrases in their native tongue. I was rarely called by my real name, the children I worked with called me “Auntie” and the adults nicknamed me “Akosua”. In Ghanaian culture common nicknames are given to people by the day of the week they were born on. The majority of the people I met lived in poverty, it was very humbling to see people who have so little, but we’re willing to freely share what they had with me. I am so grateful to Sally and solutions for Life for providing me with such an amazing and impactful experience
USA.
