Precious Words speaks to Ghana
University of Indianapolis students will travel to Africa next month to help build a school in Afram Plains, Ghana, as part of the Precious Words Project.
With the help of her students, Assistant Professor of Business Administration Jodie Ferise founded the Precious Words Project after leading a Spring Term trip to Ghana in May 2011. The project has since gathered more than 15,000 books to help stock school libraries for Ghanaian students. The upcoming trip will establish a library for a new primary school.
A group of 12, most of whom are UIndy students, will leave for Ghana on Christmas Day and spend 12 days in Ghana before returning on Jan. 8.
According to Ferise, this trip will bring much more than a library to the Afram Plains primary school, which currently exists as an unfurnished, concrete building. Plans for the trip include training local teachers, stocking the school with supplies and hosting a sports camp and vacation Bible school.
Ferise said that Precious Words has gathered 3,000 books and 150 school kits, complete with backpacks and supplies, for this trip. These supplies, along with the construction materials and furnishings for the school, already have been shipped. Once in Ghana, the materials will be transported in dugout canoes across Lake Volta, one of the world’s largest reservoirs, and trucked up a hill to the school.
In addition to transforming and stocking the existing school, the group will work one-on-one with students on reading.
Outside of the classroom the Precious Words group also will host a sports camp, made possible by donations of sports equipment by UIndy’s football and soccer programs. Ferise stressed the generosity of these athletic programs, which donated used jerseys, backpacks and balls. According to Ferise, the children in the Afram Plains area have never had the opportunity to experience sports.
“They’ve had no recreational materials at all,” Ferise said. “What we are hoping to do is to actually spend a lot of time with some of the older kids, so that when we leave, it’s like we’ve left little coaches behind who then can take over.”
Jodie Ferise greets students from Afram Plains, Ghana, during a trip with Precious Words Project, a nonprofit organization that she founded with UIndy Students. The project plans to visit Ghana every Dec. and May. Photo contributed by Jodie Ferise
This idea of continuing the work that the Precious Words Project does during each trip reflects the group’s goal of sustainability. Ferise said that she hopes their work will empower individual Ghanaians and entire communities.
Ferise explained her goal of empowering Ghanaians through literacy and education, calling the establishment of libraries the hallmark of the project.
“The hope is that everywhere that we go, we will always build a library. That’s the point of Precious Words,” Ferise said.
Ferise said that while many students will never see the world beyond Ghana, she hopes books will provide them rich, empowering reading experiences. The literacy rate of Ghana is very low, and even primary education is a privilege, because many areas in Ghana do not have schools.
Ferise described the Ghanaian students’ willingness to learn and appreciation of education, even in a barren, unfurnished concrete classroom. She said that the students are happy with very little, compared to Americans, who often feel entitled to education on their terms.
“They’re so content there. They don’t feel like anything or anybody owes them anything,” Ferise said. “So therefore, they are super grateful.”
Ferise told the story of a young, married mother that she encountered during a previous trip to Ghana. The woman went to classes every day because there was not a school to attend during her earlier years.
“She was in fifth grade because she wanted to learn how to read,” Ferise said.
Sophomore Marketing major David Schlecht traveled to Ghana with the May 2012 Spring Term trip and will return to Ghana during the upcoming trip. He said that the best part of the experience is interacting with the Ghanaian students.
“You see kids on commercials and you feel really bad [for them]. But then when you go there, you make this special bond, and it’s very hard to leave that,” Schlecht said.
Ferise plans to continue returning to Ghana each May and December. May’s trip will be an official UIndy Spring Term trip, during which students will study small business start-ups and return to the Afram Plains primary school. Ferise said that the project is always accepting donations or help. For more information, students can visit preciouswordsafrica.org.
