What comes to mind when you hear words like Ghana, rural areas, education, and challenges? There is often a significant gap between imagination and reality. Even after visiting the country myself, it’s not easy to answer this question fully.

 

In August and September 2019, I participated in the Global Volunteer program run by AIESEC. I spent two months in the rural village of Bosom, Ghana, working with a local NGO on community development and education. My motivation was to help the children of Ghana, expand their futures, and make a positive impact. However, through this volunteer experience, I realized that I cannot easily speak about their lives without truly understanding the complexities involved.

 

“I want to become a pilot, but I can't go to school, so I think it's impossible.”

“It’s normal to walk two hours to the farm every day.”

“This stone in the village must never be touched.”

“To teach children for their future, those who don’t listen are beaten with a whip.”

 

These statements shook me deeply. The issues of educational inequality, traditional beliefs, and inefficient agriculture cannot be neatly summed up in simple terms. I was taken aback by the deep complexity of these challenges, which I had previously only seen from an academic perspective. What I contributed through volunteering was likely limited to making memories with the villagers and helping to ease their burdens in a small way. But the biggest lesson I learned was how little I truly knew about the world.

 

Volunteering is not about consuming social issues or seeing them as something distant from us. It’s about connecting genuinely with the people you serve, doing your best with what you can offer, and immersing yourself in the local life with all your senses. And that also means maintaining a humble attitude, recognizing that you cannot fully understand the local world. If you are drawn to words like social issues or volunteering, visit that place first, before you think about it too much. I believe that real experiences, rather than abstract knowledge or assumptions, will break down your preconceived notions and lead you to the next step.