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> Features > Pg 2 Feature Stories > Organization aims to bring future leaders of Ghana to America
Organization aims to bring future leaders of Ghana to America
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Springfield Public Schools teacher Jen Pelletier (center, back row) was FLO Ghana's first volunteer to go through the organization's training and teaching program. "I try to give everything in all that I do," she said. Reminder Publications submitted photo
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By Courtney Llewellyn
Reminder Assistant Editor
SPRINGFIELD Any teacher in the United States today could tell you that instructing children, no matter what their ages, is not always an easy task. The teachers involved in the Future Leaders of Ghana (FLO Ghana) organization could tell you that teaching students in the west African nation is a bit more difficult, though.
"Although English is their national language, there are so many people that speak tribal languages," Springfield Public Schools teacher and FLO Ghana founder Andrea (Stephens) Boyko said. "Without learning the [English] language, these kids have a very slim chance to get out of poverty, since almost all businesses in Ghana are run in English.
"I saw really bright kids trying really hard," she said of her time teaching in the country. "I thought that if I could take them to the U.S. for a year [for schooling purposes] it might give them a chance."
Bringing students from Ghana to the U.S. is one of the goals of FLO Ghana, an organization that Boyko started last year. The FLO Ghana student exchange program selects underprivileged youth from Ghana to study in America for one year, during which time they will experience "a life-changing adventure" and learn English, "a step of immeasurable importance to financial success in their country," according to information on the organization's Web site.
"Ghana desperately needs positive leaders to help solve the many problems its community faces such as HIV/AIDS, child labor, pollution, poverty and the lack of quality education," the site stated. "The Future Leaders of Ghana is helping to educate these 'future leaders!' We believe there is no one that can better solve the problems Ghana faces than members of its own community."
In addition to bringing youth to the U.S. to study, FLO Ghana also sends teachers to the African country to lead classes. Boyko first traveled to Ghana last summer and spent a month there teaching.
"I saw a really big need there," she explained. "I wanted to think of a way to send volunteers and make a real change."
This summer, two more educators made the journey to aid the Ghanian children in their learning Jen Pelletier, a Springfield Public Schools teacher, and Shelley Bishop, a speech pathologist for Belchertown Public Schools.
"It's not as difficult as I thought it would be," Pelletier admitted. "The students were really respectful and really wanted to learn."
Pelletier is the first volunteer to go through the organization's training and teaching program. She taught at a school in Ghana for two and a half weeks, where children studied English, math, the creative arts, science and Ghanian language.
The trip was her first outside of the United States.
"The country was completely not what I expected," she said. "The people are so welcoming. They have spirit and a rhythm of life that's just beautiful. That rhythm starts when the rooster crows in the morning."
Pelletier said that while the focus of the teachers' trip this summer was on education, the three women also brought needed medicine, visited orphanages and volunteered at a church.
"I got involved because I didn't want to talk about doing things, I wanted to take action," Pelletier said. "I needed to take this opportunity."
Boyko used this summer as her opportunity to move forward with her plans to bring Ghanian students back to Massachusetts. The Amherst school system is willing to work with FLO Ghana to teach these students for a year, and Boyko is aiming to bring some of her brightest students from the country here by next September.
"My goal is to dream big," Boyko stated. "I'm aiming to bring 10 students over here in our first year."
She's also hoping to bring more teachers to Ghana this winter during the public schools' and colleges' winter break. "It's not just teachers they need," she explained. "We need people who can paint, who can build, who can sew anyone who can help."
"We're really trying to make a difference," Pelletier said. "We're doing big things to supplement and enhance learning [for the students]. We want to have more schools and people and children touched.
"If you're really interested in making a difference, contact the organization," she continued. "I feel that I've changed for the better as a person [because of what I've done in Ghana]."
FLO Ghana is currently looking for donors with artistic abilities to donate goods for holiday craft fairs so that the organization can raise funds toward the student exchange part of its program.
"Every little bit helps," Boyko noted.
To make a monetary donation and to learn more about FLO Ghana, visit www.futureleadersofghana.org.
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