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Ghana called and Caden Walden answered. Can you blame him? The Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering junior Informatics major wanted a second opportunity at a transformational experience in the West African nation halfway around the world from the Bloomington campus.
He got it last month with Luddy’s three-week Ghana Tech Trip, duplicating and then surpassing last year’s debut opportunity.
“After having an amazing time, I was very vocal about wanting to go again and was offered the chance to return as a student lead,” he said.
Walden was one of seven Luddy students to make the trip under the supervision of Tiana Iruoje, Luddy director of student engagement and success, and Virginia Githiri, IU School of Public Health professor.
The other students were Louison Savarese (Computer Science), Jake Marcotte (Computer Science and Informatics), Ore Adeola (Informatics), Sarah McMahon (Informatics), Sahiti Kadiyala (Informatics and Finance) and Phenzi Blasio (Cybersecurity, Informatics, Psychology, and Global Policy).
“As the only returning student,” Walden said, “I was there to help my fellow students with whatever they needed while also supporting Tiana and Dr. Virginia in their leadership roles.”
The Luddy School partnered withYoung at Heart Ghana, an organization that improves digital education access to rural and disadvantaged communities throughout the country.
The trip was part of a cultural immersion experience. It included everything from learning African dances to visiting the national museum and the W.B. DeBois Museum to touring Elmina Castle, which had a key role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, to going to a health clinic to learn about services offered and technology usage to teaching children technology.
Students also attended the opening of the IU Ghana Gateway, which was established this year and located in the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in the Airport Residential District in Accra. The office is a hub to support IU in Ghana.
The mission, Iruoje said, focused on allowing Luddy students to develop technology skills for elementary schools and surrounding communities, implement STEM outreach programs, and help local students work with technology.
It also tied in with Indiana University’s overall goal for all students to have international experience.
Ghana was chosen because it’s an up-and-coming African country with increasing technology capacity.
Luddy students immersed themselves in Ghana’s culture and shared their technology knowledge, which included showing local students how to create their own videogames and music. They spent a week living with host families.
Students also visited the stunning Boti Falls outside the city of Koforidua and the Cape Coast’s Anomabo Resort. They taught basic computing at a school in a rural village and a variety of topics and ages (from fourth grade through junior high) in an urban school. That included basic programming through Scratch software as well as enough electrical engineering to use an Arduino board as a working scale-model for a smart farm irrigation system.
For Walden, this was just as much about friendships renewed and new ones made as it was about delivering the excitement of technology to a new group of elementary and junior high school students.
“I was able to skip the culture shock and adjust much more quickly as I already knew what to expect from the various facets of the culture in Ghana. We were all together through thick and thin, wet and dry, hot and hotter.
“I got to hang out and teach with some of the friends that I made last year, which was very nice.”
Blasio said the trip was a “profoundly transformative chapter in my journey as a technologist.”
“It afforded me an unparalleled opportunity to delve deeply into the intricate ways in which policy influences the infrastructure of daily life for Ghanaians, while also illuminating the vast educational potential within this vibrant society.”
Blasio was impressed by the local students’ enthusiasm over using IU-group-provided laptops, their awareness of their ambitions and the ways they planned to achieve their goals.
“The students clung to every word I uttered, eagerly anticipating each new concept as though it were a revelation,” Blasio said.
As a child of an immigrant, Blasio said the Ghana students’ efforts reminded her of stories her mother had told about her schooling in Kenya. That forged a deep connection to her East Africa heritage.
“I learned as much from them as they did from me,” she said.
Kadiyala, who had never previously visited Africa, called the trip immersive, insightful and meaningful.
“Working closely with students in rural areas was eye-opening and rewarding,” she said. “Students were excited to explore the various functionalities of technology. We were constantly greeted with a warm welcome and eagerness to learn something new.”
Kadiyala said she hopes to participate in more social work at the intersection of technology and community.”
Savarese said the Ghana trip ignited a passion to pursue future study-abroad opportunities.
“The world, and people’s lives and struggles, are completely different outside America,” he said. “Everybody should take any opportunity to study abroad, especially in a developing nation if possible.”
Iruoje said the trip accomplished more than providing great international experience. It showcased the advantages of an IU and Luddy School education.
“It was a great recruiting tool,” she said. “Ghanaians are excited about the potential of pursuing graduate school at IU."
Blasio was equally excited about how the trip will benefit her. She wants to apply the lessons learned in her own her educational journey.
“This experience is a beacon I wish to carry into my final year of undergraduate studies,” she said. “My aspiration is to emulate the profound clarity and unwavering determination I found in Ghana, inspired by the indomitable spirit of the Ghanaian students."