I grabbed the microphone and took in a deep breath. The day I had been working on for the past month was finally here. As I exhaled to begin speaking, all of the anxiety I had been feeling left my body as excitement and pride filled the space that the nerves once obtained. I looked […]
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Before I came to Liberia, so many people told me, “Oh, you are going to go there and gain such an appreciation for how good we have it here.” Or a variation of the sort. I’ve always carried that with me in the back of my mind accompanied by a snark, “you don’t quite get […]
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I sat in bed staring at the chipped blue paint on the walls. The afternoon sun streamed into the room in long rectangles, squeezing between the frosted glass slats of the window. Speckles of dust lazily drifting in the air were illuminated as the light reached in and further faded the remaining pigment on the […]
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It is a typical Wednesday in the Upper Manya Krobo district. I do not teach today; instead, I dedicate my time to MOFA (Ministry of Food and Agriculture – USDA equivalent) and the extension portion of my job: visiting local 4-H Clubs, visiting farms and consulting extension agents on various facets of tropical agriculture. I […]
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November and December is the holiday season. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, all a time when we reflect with our family and friends about the all that we have witnessed and endured throughout the year. We express gratitude for surviving our hardships and solidarity in our mistakes. Last year, I celebrated Thanksgiving at one of […]
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“What do you miss most about home?” I remember asking that question to a friend who had been living in Haiti for half a decade while visiting them. Sitting on their front porch and looking out at the beautiful mountain landscape around us, they sighed, “I don’t know, maybe driving?” It didn’t seem like a […]
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I was roaming from class to class as I usually do during our routine morning break time of the school day. The air was filled with the sound of trampling feet rushing to the lunch line, the bouncing of soccer balls, and the mumble of varied conversation throughout the classrooms. During today’s morning break, I […]
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I walked through my community as the sun was starting to set and the air felt cool from the storm that had just passed. I watched as chickens, followed by their chicks, and goats roamed through the streets, as water flowed through the rocks in the dirt road. Community members called my name as I […]
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The hot sun blared down with a merciless pulse of unwavering heat. Sixty-seven learners sat in their cramped rows that had morphed into a disorganized blob of desks. There were no lights above and a glare from the barred window shown on the chalkboard. The glare made it so that 75% of my 67 learners […]
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My eyes shot open. It was early. The sun was just about to rise. Today was the day I had been impatiently waiting for—my 4-H Club would finally begin work on our farm. The PTA Chairman, Mr. Appiah, was kind enough to lend us an acre and a half of land. The chief and elders […]
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