One aspect of being an AgriCorps Fellow is to work as an extension agent with local farmers and with Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) extension agents in our surrounding areas. Because of my role as an extension agent, I have had the pleasure of working with one particularly spunky MOFA agent named Victor Mensah. […]
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I am an educator in two high school classrooms and four National Diploma of Agriculture (similar to an associate degree) classrooms at the Booker Washington Institute in Kakata, Liberia. One of the classes, I teach is a class of 32 small ruminant enthusiasts. Well more realistically, there is me, the small ruminant enthusiast and 32 […]
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I walk into the classroom and grab a piece of chalk. Some students have gathered, but most of the wooden desks remain empty. I turn to the dusty chalkboard and begin to write: 4-H MEETING. As I write the agenda on the board, I hear the school bell ring. A voice calls out, “4-H Meeting, […]
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The long and dusty truck ride is over. I arrive in Konkoney to the site of a mountain with a protruding rock-face. It was early and the air was still cool. I am with OCP Africa, a private company out of Morocco that tests farmers’ soil for free, then recommends/sells fertilizer based on the results. […]
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I had just finished up teaching at the school for the day, lesson notes in hand and sweat on my brow, as the scorch of the Ghanaian sun sizzled on the back my neck. With the sounds of my students finishing up their closing prayer, I made my way back home. Just as I was […]
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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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I close my eyes and listen to the conversations happening around me. I don’t always understand what is being said because, most often, it is in Twi, but occasionally, a few English words will be thrown in so I can somewhat stay on track. It is a cloudy, cool day with the warmth of family […]
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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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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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