In this interview, we hear from Dylan Denner. Dylan is a Peace Corps volunteer working as a Education volunteer in Ghana. What Dylan shares gives us a better understanding of the work volunteers do. We learn about the challenges, rewards, and personal growth that happens from volunteering in a new place. Dylan talks about living in a different country, working with local people, and dealing with surprise situations. Join us as we learn about Dylan’s journey and see how volunteering with Peace Corps can change lives.
Table of Contents
- Volunteer Experience and Motivation
- Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
- Surprises and Challenges
- Advice and Support
- Practical Tips and Language Learning
- Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
Volunteer Experience and Motivation
1. Can you tell us more about serving as an Education volunteer in Ghana?
Sure thing! But before we get started, I do think it’s helpful to start with some geography. If you aren’t familiar with Ghana, then it’s worth a quick glance at Wikipedia before continuing!
Peace Corps in Ghana
In Peace Corps Ghana, we have three sectors of service: Agriculture, Health, and Education. As of this writing (July 2024), there are about 50 volunteers in the country and 5 education trainees in pre-service training. The Volta/Oti region has the most volunteers, with approximately 20, followed by the Northern region with around 15, the Eastern region with about 10, and lastly, Brong-Ahafo with around 5. Volunteer sites vary considerably throughout the country in terms of population, amenities, housing, language, accessibility, network, etc., so it’s not very productive to delve into that here.
Education Sector in PC Ghana
Within the education sector, we have three “branches” of service: deaf education, literacy, and Math/Science. The Math/Science volunteers teach at the junior high school level (equivalent to grades 7-9 in the US). However, the specific subjects and classes they handle are determined through discussions with the headmaster/headmistress. The deaf education program seems to offer more options regarding subjects and classes, as I know of one volunteer who taught creative arts at the primary level. The literacy program is starting this year, so I don’t have any specifics about that program, but it seems to be marketed as a primary school (first to sixth grade) intervention program.
The school environments for volunteers also vary considerably. Some volunteers teach class sizes of sixty students, while others only have six. This past year, my Form 1 students (equivalent to 7th grade) were about 20 in size. Some schools have 10 teachers on the Junior High School staff, which is enough to cover all the subjects, while others may only have 3. Literacy and English comprehension at some schools are naturally better than others, but it is a common challenge.
School Schedule and Language of Instruction
School generally begins around 8 AM and closes around 2:00 PM, Monday to Friday. There are three school terms: the first term runs from September to December, the second term from January to April, and the third term from May to July. English is supposed to be the language of instruction after Primary 3 (or third grade), but the extent to which this is upheld depends on the teacher and school environment.
Discipline and Corporal Punishment
Corporal punishment is illegal in Ghana, but the extent to which this is upheld also varies significantly by school. In most volunteers’ schools, I’d feel confident in saying that corporal punishment is present to some degree. Navigating the discipline and punishment of students is another common challenge that education volunteers experience.
2. What motivated you to join the Peace Corps and choose Ghana?
This is a favorite question of mine, because I think there are so many hidden stories in every response! I must confess that, although I am currently nearing Mid-Service Training, I previously served in Ghana as an education volunteer (in the same community) from 2019-2020. So, I feel as if I should rephrase this question to “why did you first join the peace corps, and why did you decide to rejoin?”.
Discovering the Peace Corps
I learned about the Peace Corps in 2018 (fall semester of my undergrad, senior year) from a random marketing email a few weeks before Ghana’s application deadline. In that email, there was a quote that said:
“It is well to be prepared for life as it is, but it is better to be prepared to make life better than it is”.
When I was considering what to do after graduation, I felt very prepared for my options. I had just recently stepped away from a position at the NASA Glenn Research Center as a data systems engineer because I felt that volunteering for the K-12 STEM events at the center was more fulfilling than my work responsibilities. I realized that I wanted my work responsibilities to be centered around encouraging and supporting students in achieving their dreams, and being a lecturer at a university was the way I wanted (at that time) to go about it. Sure, a PhD would be 4 or 5 years of difficult work, but it wouldn’t be all that new of an experience for me.
The Appeal of the Unknown
So, when I reflected upon the quote, “It is well to be prepared for life as it is, but it is better to be prepared to make life better than it is,” I was really shocked. The Peace Corps felt like a mysterious challenge, one that was bigger than myself or teaching calculus, and I was unsure about how it would turn out. That made me slightly uncomfortable! I also figured that, worst case, I could have an epic experience and then go to grad school. So, I began to consider joining the Peace Corps just out of the tremendous fascination it brought me.
The Shift in Focus
When people would ask me what my post-graduation plans were, I listed the graduate programs I had been in contact with and then mentioned the Peace Corps last. When I mentioned the Peace Corps, people were suddenly engaged! They had questions, they had concerns, they even had their own stories and advice! I loved that engagement, and it seemed to be missing when I mentioned graduate school. Then, when other people asked what my plans were after graduating, I began to mention the Peace Corps first. That’s pretty much when I knew that joining the Peace Corps was what I wanted to do—when I stopped being able to mention my other options in conversation.
Influences and Decision to Rejoin
I was also in a relationship at the time with an individual who had done quite a bit of traveling. She was very encouraging of me to do something like the Peace Corps because she probably saw how blind I was to my own ignorance about the world. She knew I couldn’t understand through explanation; it was something I needed to experience. It might sound harsh, but she was right, and it’s something I am tremendously grateful for.
Reapplying and Renewed Motivation
Then, after joining Peace Corps Ghana and being in country for 10 months, I was evacuated due to covid-19 in March of 2020! It is a whole story within itself, but ultimately after returning to the U.S., I decided to reapply to Peace Corps Ghana for the June 2023 education cohort. It was much more “difficult” for me to decide to rejoin the Peace Corps than when I first applied, and I am curious if anyone who reapplied to Peace Corps also feels the same. I think it is because I knew what I was getting myself into. The “adventure” and “new culture” aspect that was attractive during my first application was significantly diluted.
Personal Growth and Mindfulness
Why I rejoined the Peace Corps is still too nebulous for me to put succinctly here, but it would be something like wanting to live more intentionally, with more mindfulness and letting go of my attachments. I wanted to see myself more clearly. My experience and deepened interest in meditation, mindfulness and Zen Buddhism were major contributing factors of me rejoining.
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. Tell us more about your home situation:
Well, my family back in Cleveland rocks… shout out to the Denner family, hopefully they are reading this! Haha, but I assume you mean my home in Ghana, so let’s continue.
Naturally, people are curious about what their living conditions could be for two years, but first a quick note! I want to avoid injecting my opinions into these responses, but this is something I think is worth mentioning. I believe it’s a common trap for volunteers to compare housing situations with other volunteers. People seem very quick and confident to judge what is “better” or “worse.” Volunteers may think having running water is better than having to fetch water, or having a good network is better than having a bad network. The list goes on and on. To quote my man, Kid Cudi, “Not everything that shines is gold.”
Perspectives on Living Conditions
Here’s an example: assume someone does not have running water in their house, so they have to fetch water from the pipe at the center of the community. Maybe that is a tremendous opportunity for that volunteer to meet people and integrate into the community. Maybe at the end of two years of service, this is something they are very proud of, and it becomes a cherished memory for the rest of their life! Or maybe fetching water is an absolute pain in the butt, and it’s a major reason the volunteer wants to early terminate their service. Who knows?
My point is, that you simply don’t know how your housing situation is going to affect your service. Someone’s favorite aspect of their housing may be your absolute worst nightmare (although I imagine no one is fond of mosquitoes). For many people, having a big house with lots of private space helps them recharge and stick out the hardest parts of service. For others, a large house with lots of private space could cause them to feel very detached and alone (this was me during my first service). They wish it was easier to be “a part” of the community and often spiral with negative thoughts about how they are not a “good” volunteer because of it.
Adapting to Your Housing Situation
Ultimately, most people probably have no idea what living situation will be “good” for them because they have never been in a situation like the Peace Corps before. Don’t add more salt to the food before you taste it… because you’re not one of those people, are you? So, let’s just relax with the posh corps and suffering Olympics when it comes to housing!
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming… my housing! I have a single bedroom in a house with other rooms rented out to other people and families. I really enjoy my arrangement because I think I have many of the benefits of having a “host family” but still feel as if I have the freedom of being on my own. Someone is always around to hang out with or ask for help, but I’m free to travel and manage my own food as I see fit. It’s hard to estimate how many people stay in the house because people are often coming and going, but there are at least five adults and 10 children who are regular.
My Living Space
My room is roughly 14 feet by 14 feet, and I also have a small foyer (measuring 7 feet by 9 feet) and a porch area (4 feet by 11 feet). There is a single door that separates my headmaster’s living space from my foyer. Theoretically, if that door was kept open, we could combine our spaces and share everything (food, tools, storage, water, etc.), and I would still have my bedroom door that I could lock. Theoretically, of course.
Water and Electricity
There is no running water in the house, so we all collect rainwater when possible. There is a pipe that carries water from the district capital to the villages in my area, but it flows irregularly. If my water is finished at the house, I just ask a madam in the house to inform me when the pipe is flowing so I can fetch water. If I am not around and the pipe is flowing, usually someone will fill my water barrel for me, and I will repay them. The electricity is much more consistent than I recall in 2019, but it is still normal for there to be outages every day. It usually only lasts for a few hours, and usually, I am at school or out of the house. Only rarely is the power out for more than a full day.
Toilet and Bathing Facilities
There is a toilet and bathhouse next to the house, which is kept locked although theoretically, I could share the key with the other adults in the house. The toilet is bucket flush, and the whole experience is quite comfortable. I could bathe in the area next to the toilet, but I prefer to bathe in the open-air bathhouse that’s attached to the side of the toilet structure. Nothing beats a cool bath outside to the sound of the village!
Community and Connectivity
The network at my site is on the lower end of average, but I am quite happy about it. Choosing not to be on social media and not being able to go on social media are, in fact, different things. I live a half mile from the school, and my house is pretty much in the center of the village. I live in a small community of 300-400 people, but there are neighboring villages 1 mile and 2.5 miles away that I visit frequently.
4. Any memorable experiences you’ve had with community members?
Oh, this is another favorite question of mine! I think someone’s response says a lot about what they value and enjoy sharing with others. I have to say that one of my favorite experiences was my first day back in my community after leaving in 2020. Getting to see friends that I left on such short notice in 2020, and oh how much the kiddos had grown… it was a very emotional experience! People seemed so happy that I decided to come back again.
Small Moments, Big Impact
I’ll also add that this experience recalibrated what I deemed to be important. The things that people remembered and wanted to tell me about my first service were things that I would have considered to be “small” things. For example, “You went to the farm with me,” “brought us bread from the market,” and “You played with us after school.” Obviously, there’s a language barrier, but nonetheless, it inspired me to be more mindful of the actual “important things” I do each day. Things like holding hands with the kids on the way to school or making a joke that had all the teachers belly laughing.
Family Visit Highlights
Another major highlight of my service has been when my sister, mom, and dad came to visit me in Ghana. We spent some time in my community, and they got to experience a “day in the life”! All the stories that had been shared about Ghana, from my first and second service, and of my family back home to my friends in the community; my two worlds collided. Now my family asks about how my friends are in the community, and people in the community really ask about how my family is doing!
These are two well-defined favorite memories, but there are plenty of silly ones too that wouldn’t make much sense unless I provided a lot of context… but I can include pictures!
Surprises and Challenges
5. What has surprised you most about Education challenges in Ghana?
Okay, so this is the question that I had the most difficulty with as I’ve attempted it five or six different times now! I have made peace with the fact that it’s impractical to weave everything I want to say into one coherent and succinct response here. If I knew who I was talking to, then it would be much easier to choose how to approach this question… but since I have no idea who I am talking to, I will just provide what I consider to be the most straightforward answer. However, I welcome anyone who wants to reach out and explore (what I believe to be more interesting) perspectives.
Straightforward Answer
My basic answer, summarized, would be something like: “Expecting the kids to learn a more difficult curriculum (as compared to the same grade level in the U.S.) in their nonnative language is asinine.” Admittedly, I am not too familiar with the current curriculum standards in the U.S. and other lower-middle to high-income countries, but I would be in utter disbelief if someone said that Ghana’s basic school curriculum was below average.
Language Barrier Challenges
It’s not as if my students are incapable of learning the material; it’s just that their first language is not English. Consider how many people you knew in school that struggled with mathematics. Now, imagine if everyone had to learn mathematics in French. The teacher teaches in French, expects everyone in the classroom to speak French, and the homework and exams are also completely in French.
I don’t want to dive into it more here, but that would be the basis of my most straightforward answer!
6. What challenges did you face while working on Education projects with community members?
So, I wouldn’t necessarily consider anything I do with community members as “education projects” as the most “educational” thing I do is draw and color with some of the kids that live in/near the house with me. Even at the school, we have not done any projects or grants in my first year of service. I think this gets into a touchy topic in the Peace Corps, which is projects and grants. I don’t want to lay out my philosophy or beliefs here per se, but I’ll just say that the school and community leadership have yet to organize themselves in such a manner to begin such work. There are plenty of ideas and desires, I am not ignorant of that, but there hasn’t been sufficient leadership or collaboration. But again, that is something that can be explored further elsewhere!
Focus on Community Integration
Thus, without secondary projects, most of my attention and focus has been on just being a friendly and caring member of the community! I find myself very occupied and challenged with that as it is haha. I mentioned above that my family came to visit me in Ghana, and that visit was so special in many ways because of how warmly the community welcomed them. Now, I’m aware that I am unable to discern how much of that “warm welcome” was de facto Ghanaian culture versus how much was because of my “integration,” but such is life.
Community Welcome and Project Discussions
After my family left the village, I recall some conversations with them regarding which projects I was planning to do since now they had some understanding of how things were in the community. I didn’t really have a good answer for them. In some sense, my project has just been what they experienced. My time and awareness have been centered around being cool and friendly with people. Maybe if my interactions were for other underlying intentions, maybe things would be different. Maybe, the school and community leaders can pull themselves together for us to address a challenge in the community during my second year. We shall find out!
Disclaimers and Reflections
Now, more disclaimers, because I love my disclaimers. Firstly, I’m not claiming any merit here nor do I think I’ve failed as a volunteer. I don’t think what I do, or what I believe, is better or worse than what anyone else does or believes. Also, I think it’s significantly easier to develop a close sense of relationships with people when the community is so small (again, just a few hundred people). So, to each their own. I’m just sharing my experience!
Advice and Support
7. What advice would you give to someone considering serving as an Education volunteer in Ghana?
This is a big question! I’ll try my best to slice it up into what I see as three somewhat distinct parts: advice about choosing the education sector, advice about choosing Ghana, and advice about joining the Peace Corps.
Advice About Choosing the Education Sector
The Peace Corps has numerous sectors, which you can learn about on their website, but most countries tend to have just a few of those sectors. I believe that the “education” sector has more of an innate structure for volunteers. However, a challenge is that it can be difficult to measure “progress” and “impact” in real time. For example, a year into service, a health volunteer can look at the fact that they supported the building of 10 household latrines in their community, but an education volunteer may just have the end-of-the-year test scores (and in my experience, very poor test scores) to measure the outcomes of their efforts.
I also think the work in the education sector very much leans towards “human centeredness” from the perspective that your day-to-day work environment is specifically about what people know and how they think. This isn’t more or less valuable than, say, an agricultural volunteer supporting a shea butter processing project, or a health volunteer organizing a WASH program, but I do think that it is somewhat different. It hopefully goes without saying that being a teacher is very difficult and choosing to be a teacher in a new culture with a language barrier is kind of like deciding you’re going to row a boat across the Atlantic Ocean and right before you push off the dock, you punch a few holes in the bottom of the boat. It’ll be a good story if you make it!
Advice About Choosing Ghana
I think Ghana is a great country to serve in, but I think the same could be said of any country. First, English is the national language of Ghana, so I imagine that the level of English here is somewhat above average compared to most Peace Corps countries. There are still plenty of areas in the country with low English literacy rates, but I’d be comfortable in saying that when you travel to a market town or larger, you’d be 99% okay speaking only English.
Secondly, Ghana is technically a “lower-middle income” country, and thus I believe Ghana has all you could really ask for (in the big cities). The rural areas are very much rural and less developed, but the big cities offer most things within reason. So, in Ghana, I feel like you can have your Peace Corps cake and eat it too. Tasty.
Lastly, I feel as if Ghana has a very rich culture, history, and cuisine. Obviously, every country has culture, history, and food so I’m not trying to get into a food fight about it, but I’ve found everything in Ghana to be fascinating. Put it this way, I’ve never seriously wished I had chosen to serve in a different country, but I am also interested in serving in other countries after service.
Advice About Joining the Peace Corps
My PCV friend and I joke about how we would never recommend the Peace Corps to someone else, but we are both so happy that we decided to do it. At the same time, I often feel like the Peace Corps is the best “job” in the world and it would be cool if more people decided to experience it. I think my hesitation comes from the idea of “encouraging” someone else to join while using my experience as the reason why I think they should join because I know of people who feel very differently about joining the Peace Corps than I do!
I think if I was on a panel of 20 randomly selected volunteers who all shared their honest advice about joining (keyword “honest”…), then I’d feel more comfortable in sharing my own as it would probably be a more representative sample. I have had a very positive and fulfilling experience with the Peace Corps to the extent that I am considering reapplying again after my time in Ghana, but I get nervous about blindly shouting from the rooftops about how great I think the Peace Corps is. Do I think the Peace Corps is for everyone? Absolutely not. Are there people who may never consider or be aware of the Peace Corps that could have a great experience? Guaranteed.
8. What skills do you think are most important for a Education volunteer in Ghana?
The skills and qualities that are important for a volunteer ultimately depend on what type of volunteer that person wants to be (and that may or may not be a straightforward question for people to answer, as I know my answer has changed a few times). If you want to do more “development” or 1st goal work, then having clearly defined goals, ambitions for after service, leadership, and project management skills will undoubtedly be helpful. If you want to vibe and really experience the culture, then being extroverted, risk-averse, inquisitive, and easygoing will suit you well. If you’re looking to sort out the world’s problems (and at the same time, some of your own), then you’ll be plenty busy if you are introspective, think critically, investigative, and have a hard time sleeping at night.
All those things aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, but I think it’s a very difficult task if you want to do them all well at once. But my advice would generally be for people to take a massive chill pill and a slice of humble pie. Before you get adjusted at site, don’t lock yourself into a mental cage, throw out the key, and then paint yourself into the corner of the room when it comes to how you think about your service. Especially in the first year! It takes time for the big picture to come into focus.
Regardless of why you joined the Peace Corps, you’re going to have to make do with what’s available to you. So just wait and see what you have to work with, then do your best to make it work! Allow yourself to learn and adjust along the way, it will help you from being hard on yourself.
9. How has the Peace Corps training helped you during your service?
Ah, another hot topic issue in Peace Corps circles—the helpfulness of staff and training! I’ll try to remain impartial, as I have my more elaborate comments on the matter.
First, I will say that I think Peace Corps does an above-average job with easing trainees into the day-to-day life of living in a new country. Peace Corps trainees often spend more time in the country (~3 months) than volunteers from other “volunteer programs” spend in total. In Ghana, during pre-service training, trainees will live with a host family for the majority of their first three months in the country. Some people love it (me), others hate it, but it does give you a firsthand view of life in the community!
The language training we receive in Ghana is first-rate, regardless of ultimately how accurate it is to the language/dialect spoken at the site. I think a lot of the helpfulness of training comes from the relationships you’re able to build with the trainers and your host family, and that is dependent on a lot of variables. Other than that, I’m not so certain I think there are many useful parts of training. Not because the training is “bad,” but more so I just don’t think it’s helpful for what volunteers fundamentally struggle with. A topic for a later conversation!
Practical Tips and Language Learning
10. Anything that you packed or didn’t pack that you’d like to tell future Ghana volunteers?
I think packing is often an overly stressful part of preparing to leave for the country. I recommend giving it a fair bit of thought but try not to agonize over it. The message I would share with others is, don’t undervalue the things you’ll use every day in favor of things you’ll use in an “emergency” or “worst case” scenario.
For my second service, I brought a yoga mat, meditation pillow, and plenty of artwork because I knew I would appreciate them every day. It’s easy for people to ruminate about things they’ll need in a case of “challenge” but overlook the other 99% of the time. Yes, I’ve had the lights go out at my place for multiple days and all my electronic devices died. It would have been nice to have a solar-powered battery pack, but outside of that one instance, the other 363 days this year, I’ve been extremely happy I prioritized my yoga mat, meditation pillow, and artwork.
11. How has learning the language been?
Ahhhhh language learning! Another great topic in the Peace Corps world. I absolutely love my local language (Ewegbe or Ewe). There is great pride in being Ewe in the Volta region, and the language is a big part of that. I’m not totally knowledgeable about the history, but it’s my understanding that the land in Ghana now called the “Volta region” was part of German-Togoland before Ghana gained its independence. So, as it’s been communicated to me, the Ewe people have a somewhat freestanding culture that is tied to both Ghana and Togo.
Back to the language, I’m not conversational in Ewe by any means, but I’ve taken largely to greetings, directions, and school language. Being able to communicate at school, greet people, and respond appropriately along a wide range of situations (time of day, relationship with the individual, who is doing what when the conversation starts, etc.), along with informing people about where you are going and what you are going to do, seems to be enough in my book.
Language learning is a major challenge, but I stand by my belief that it is the single best method for integrating into your community. Cooking would be my second-best method for integration, but that’s probably more debatable! A beautiful part of language learning is that anyone in your community can help you. In situations where people may see you as more knowledgeable than them because you’re American, it’s great to flip the script and show them that they have plenty to teach you!
Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
12. How do you think your blog contributes to your overall mission as a volunteer in Ghana?
I do have a little informal blog but it’s nothing noteworthy! This question made me think about why I post on my blog, which I’m not sure I had ever put into words before so thank you Jim for that! I suppose I use my blog as a public journal. I feel like when I’m writing something that other people will read, I feel compelled to lay out more of the context and back story. I like doing that with my blog because the many of the things that I take as common knowledge now, may not be common knowledge to me in 10 years! So, when I look back, I will be happy to have a more robust selection of stories and memories on my blog. It’s just a bonus if anyone else benefits!
13. Any last comments you’d like to pass on to future Ghana volunteers?
Phew, at the end of the interview… these things require some mental energy and willpower to type out! Something to pass on to future Ghana volunteers? Mhm… it’s a good question. Okay, let me try to lay out one idea.
Understanding Cultural Differences
It’s been my observation that people join the Peace Corps in some way, shape, or form because they want to help people. Unfortunately, I think many people (myself included) struggle when we first get to the country (and sometimes throughout service) because it is painfully obvious that we have no idea how to “help” people here. Not because we aren’t smart enough or compassionate enough, but more so because we don’t understand the culture and tradition of the people we want to help.
A silly example is that, in Ghana, giving someone the “thumbs up” sign is a signal of disrespect. Now, I’m curious as to how many people would have assumed that. I only learned that because I was giving people the thumbs up, and someone eventually told me I was insulting them, go figure!
Challenges with Hospitality
Something that many trainees and volunteers struggle with is the hospitality in Ghana. I remember during my first pre-service training, I wanted to show my host family that I appreciated them by helping with chores around the house. My host mom dismissed my help, and I thought she was not respecting my offer. But what I failed to understand was that my helping around the house, so early into training, would have reflected poorly on my host family because guests aren’t supposed to do that work.
So here I am, constantly trying to sweep or wash the dishes (which frustrated my host mom), and then she would, in turn, be stern that she doesn’t want me to help (which frustrated me). Meanwhile, we both just wanted to help each other but were only frustrating each other!
Embracing the Learning Process
I could think of so many other examples, and because of this, I think service is difficult in the beginning because you just don’t know anything! So, how are you supposed to help people when there’s an entire cultural system that you don’t have the faintest understanding of?
So, I think what I’d like to share with future volunteers is that it’s going to take time, and unfortunately, you’ll learn a lot of things the hard way. There’s no avoiding it, so don’t be down on yourself or shy away from opportunities! Think of it like learning to play a new instrument or a new sport. The more you practice, the more natural it will become. No shame in making mistakes or missing shots when you are a beginner. I think it’s normal.
Personal Growth Through Service
In the process of learning about a new culture, you’ll also inevitably learn a lot about your own. As you learn about other people, you’ll learn about yourself too. Be sincere and humble about what you think you know. Be honest, patient, and forgiving… I think you’ll find that the simple things aren’t always the easiest!
Best of luck to everyone!
The content of this post does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or Ghana Government.
