Greetings from Ghana!

As a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV), I interact with a culture different from my own every day. This took some getting used to, but through our three-month training and by spending time with locals as much as I can, it is easier for me to navigate my new environment than when I arrived. However, while this training and spending time with locals helped me to integrate better into Ghanaian culture, it did not prepare me for the other culture into which I would soon be immersed: PCV culture. The way PCVs behave and communicate is unique to ourselves. In fact, much like our host countries’ cultures (as PCVs are found in nations across five different continents) as well as our own native U.S.-American culture, there are both positive and harmful aspects of our way of life that have come about to help us cope with the unique challenges we face. The most notable parts of PCV culture, of course, are the “strange” ones that most people cannot understand from the outside looking in but ar

This week, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi hosted over 50 JHS and SHS students from 8 different regions across Ghana. The reason? STARS conference, standing for Students Taking Action Reaching for Success, where students got to participate in workshops on leadership, gender equality, science, entrepreneurship, self-esteem, and computers. They even got to experience yoga for the first time, which all of them enjoyed. The best part, though? Having 9 smart and sassy students from 4 different schools for the deaf participate! We had sign language classes every morning, which the students helped me teach. In addition, we had a session on deaf misconceptions, where the students talked about their experiences navigating a world biased towards hearing people. In a society that still uses the term "deaf and dumb," we opened a lot of kids' minds to injustices that exist barring equal access to deaf individuals to many of Ghana's institutions. I wa