Rolf Olson addressing dignitaries
More than 5,000 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Ghana in the last 10 years, with over $50 million invested in human and financial resources in rural communities across the country.
This was disclosed by the Peace Corps Country Director for the African Region, Tamu Daniel, at the commemoration of 65 years of Peace Corps service in Ghana.
Ms. Daniel said the investments have supported education, health, agriculture, food security, youth development and other community-led initiatives.
She said 65 years offers perspective on what happens when people continue to show up for one another and when partnerships endure across generations.
According to her, while the statistics matter, they only tell part of the story, as the most important achievements of the programme – human connections, trust and friendship – cannot be quantified.
She cited host mothers who embrace volunteers as their own children, teachers and volunteers collaborating for student success, and farmers sharing generational knowledge with young Americans as examples of bonds that have defined the programme.
Ms. Daniel paid tribute to the people of Ghana for opening their communities and hearts, to Peace Corps staff as the institutional memory of the programme, and to volunteers who leave what is familiar to embrace the unfamiliar. She noted that while projects and reports may fade, the human connection built over 65 years travels across generations.
The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, said since 1961, when Ghana became the first country to welcome Peace Corps volunteers under the vision of President J.F. Kennedy and President Kwame Nkrumah, the partnership has become an enduring model advancing education, health and food security.
Mr. Iddrisu said, “the volunteers left the comfort of the United States to serve in deprived rural communities without electricity, water or internet connectivity, driven by a commitment to support health and education”.
Touching on education, the Minister said volunteers have supported STEM instruction, foundational literacy and inclusive learning in mainstream schools and schools for the deaf, shaping Ghana’s human capital by nurturing engineers, teachers, nurses, doctors and leaders.
He praised their learner-centred and play-based pedagogy and their promotion of local languages and sign language for learners from kindergarten to Primary Three.
The Minister acknowledged Peace Corps staff, host families and Ghanaian counterparts for ensuring volunteers are prepared and integrated into communities, and reaffirmed government’s commitment to deepening the partnership for the next 65 years.
The Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Accra, Rolf Olson, has described Ghana as the birthplace of an extraordinary partnership built on mutual respect and shared success.
Mr. Olson noted that President John Dramani Mahama has spoken about how a Peace Corps volunteer shaped his early education, proof that one teacher can build great things.
He expressed gratitude to government partners, ministries and host families for sustaining the partnership.
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke