Fall Break in Ghana:
Culture & Community Centered Development
Coupled with community-centered learning in Ghana, this co-curricular course introduces students to the complexities of development and volunteerism – from large institutions and NGOs to small grass roots organizations. Students will explore how development efforts can further marginalize the very communities they intend to serve. We will then examine the value of a community-driven approach that recognizes culture and history as a model for local and global sustainable development.
This course is delivered in three interconnected components. During summer term, students will participate in several preparatory class sessions and online modules including training in community-based learning. This will be followed by travel to Ghana, for intensive experiential learning with local partners Empowerment Squared and School of Dreams, both nonprofit organizations dedicated to community development and upliftment through education. Students will engage with leaders of local non-profits and enterprises to learn through real stories about the challenges and successes to empowering communities and how structural barriers are being addressed. This experience will wrap up with two required fall term class sessions, during which students will apply lessons learned in Ghana to a local context, concluding with a final audiovisual project.
By participating in this program, students will:
- Identify key factors in the success and failure of development and volunteerism locally and abroad.
- Understand the benefits of a holistic approach to community-based development shaped by history and culture.
- Engage with Ghana leaders who work to address inequities in their communities.
- Consider forms of structural barriers in development and how to curtail harm.
- Learn to be in right relationship to those most impacted by the issues of the course, including each other.
- Reflect upon our experiences and personal identities in relation to our local communities.
Credit/Registration: Students will be registered for CIVC T380 Culture and Community Centered Development 3 credits as part of their fall term course load. Students must leave room for the 3 credits in their credit load when registering or will be billed for credits exceeding the 20 credit maximum.
Eligibility: This program is being offered in partnership with Drexel's Center for Black Culture (CBC) and the Lindy Center. Students will be selected based on a track record of engagement and leadership with the CBC, BRIDGE programs, and/or local civic engagement / justice work. The program is intended for students in all majors with an interest in development work, social enterprise, sociology, political science, social justice, and/or global studies.
Course Structure & Requirements
- Pre-Travel: 3 in person classes (below). BBLearn readings and audio/visual materials, discussion board posts, and reflective writing assignment to prepare for experiential learning in Ghana.
- Ghana: program activities, interviews with community leaders, group discussions
- Post Travel: 2 in person sessions; final project
Instructors
Ahaji Schreffler, Senior Director, Education Abroad (ahaji@drexel.edu)
Sharde Johnson, Director, Center for Black Culture (snj32@drexel.edu)
Pre-Travel (Summer Term): In person sessions and BBLearn readings and audio/visual materials, discussion board posts, and assignments to prepare for experiential learning in Tanzania.
Summer Sessions 5:00 pm - 7:00pm (dates TBD)
Week 6: Lecture and discussion
Week 8: Lecture and discussion
Week 10: Pre-departure orientation
Ghana Experiential Learning: Active engagement in program activities, dialogues with community leaders, peer-led group discussions, reflective journals
Post-Travel (Fall Term): 2 in person wrap up classes; final project
TENTATIVE GHANA ITINERARY
Day 1 Arrival & Cape Coast History
After arriving in Accra and traveling to Cape Coast (with lunch en route and time for currency exchange), students begin with a guided visit to Cape Coast or Elmina Castle. Grounding the program in the history of the transatlantic slave trade situates contemporary development within legacies of extraction and inequality, followed by a welcome dinner and course orientation.
Day 2 Nature, Sustainability & Reflection
A morning exploration of Kakum National Park highlights environmental sustainability and community interdependence, with a boxed lunch before traveling to Nsawam. Evening downtime for dinner and rest allows space to reflect on land, ecology, and holistic development beyond Western growth models.
Day 3 Civic Engagement & Creative Economy (Aburi)
At the Youth Bridge Foundation Civic Hub, students examine youth-led civic participation as a grassroots development strategy, followed by a picnic-style lunch. Visits to Tetteh Quarshie Cocoa Farm and Aburi Craft Village including conversations with artisans and tailors demonstrate how agriculture and creative enterprise foster local economic sovereignty; dinner is on own in Aburi.
Day 4 Enterprise, Identity & Nationhood (Accra)
A social enterprise “reality tour” in Accra explores how young entrepreneurs respond to structural barriers through innovation, with lunch and dinner on own in the city. A visit to the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and an evening of music and culture connect economic development to Ghana’s liberation history and national identity before returning to Nsawam.
Day 5 Education & Community Leadership
In Kwakyekrom, classroom visits and conversations with teachers and school leaders center education as a community-driven development tool. Lunch and dialogue with the Nsawam Chief offer insight into traditional governance and collective leadership, followed by rest, reflection, and a shared group dinner.
Day 6 Health, Ancestral Knowledge & Wellness
Engagement with a traditional herbalist center, research institute, and community midwives highlights indigenous knowledge systems in maternal health and wellness. Lunch and dinner on own provide flexibility, while structured reflection encourages students to consider how development can either marginalize or honor ancestral expertise.
Day 7 Justice & Reintegration
A practitioner roundtable on justice and prison reintegration examines structural inequities and restorative approaches, with a boxed lunch and time for reflection. A group dinner invites continued dialogue on dignity-centered justice and parallels across global contexts.
Day 8 Community Partnership in Action
During two “Give Back” project sessions focused on digital skills, mentorship, or storytelling students engage in reciprocal exchange with youth participants, sharing lunch together. The day concludes with a closing circle, reinforcing ethical volunteerism and right relationship.
Day 9 Global Commodities & Closing Reflection
Visits to the Cocoa Research Institute and related agricultural enterprises (with boxed lunch) illuminate Ghana’s role in global commodity chains and the inequities embedded within them. A final closing circle and farewell group dinner synthesize learning and prepare students to apply community-centered development principles at home.
Day 10 Departure
Early morning transfer to Accra airport marks the transition from immersion to integration, carrying forward lessons on culture, history, and community as foundations for sustainable development. The return group flight lands at JFK airport in late afternoon .
Due May 1st - $380 Advanced Payment + $25 Application Fee
Due July 1st - $2,600 Final Payment
*All payments are non-refundable unless declined admission.
Included in Program Fee:
- 9 nights accommodations double occupancy
- 8 Breakfasts, 6 lunches, 4 dinners
- Program visits and tours
- Museums entry fees and local guides
- Local transport including airport transfer
- Group airport shuttle to JFK funded by the CBC
- School of Dreams Onsite support team
- On Call emergency assistance and health insurance
Not Included in Program Fee (Estimated):
- Regular Drexel tuition
- Round trip flight NYC to ACC $1,500 (flight scholarships available)
- Passport $165
- Ghana tourist visa $60
- Rail transfer from JFK to 30th Street Station $30
- Meals not included $120
- Yellow Fever Vaccine $150
- Spending money $80
- Text books: $20
Financial Aid: Grants funded by Drexel Global and the Center for Black Culture ranging from $900 - $1,600 will be awarded to all students with demonstrated financial need (per Drexel Central guidelines) to offset the program expenses.
Decisions will be made after the May 1st application deadline. Any student with
high financial need who is accepted into this program will receive some level of financial support. All scholarship recipients are required to complete a post travel project during fall term to raise awareness about study abroad or their scholarship will be rescinded.
- Program Partners: Empowerment Squared and Schools of Dreams
- A group flight will be arranged from JFK to Accra.
- US Citizens are required to obtain a tourist visa for entry to Ghana. Other nationalities should confirm visa requirements on the Ghana Embassy website.
