Wurzweiler Students Visit Ghana

Wurzweiler students Oluwole Akinkunmi, Maria Cruz, Jennifer Shapell and Faith Lawrence are Fellows with the Children of the World Community Program/ Immigration Project based at the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). The goal of the project is to prepare MSW social work students for leadership roles in child welfare and for culturally competent, neighborhood-based, approaches to practice with immigrant families.

During winter recess, these students were involved in a unique learning experience as part of their field experiences. They participated in a study abroad intercession course at The University of Ghana in West Africa, where they had an enriching and rewarding cultural experience.

While in Ghana, the students toured the Elmina Slave Castle, visited the Ghana Department of Social Welfare and attended lectures at the University of Ghana. Each student conducted field work in separate field placements in the OSU Orphanage located in a suburb of Accra, the West African Aids Foundation (WAAF), and the OSU Children’s Home (a group home for abandoned and neglected youth).

In these field placements the students learned skills that will enable them to better serve the immigrant families they are working with. The importance of empathy, the need to overcome resource shortages, and the challenge to provide vital assistance are just some of the issues which the students confronted.