For 17 students from Northeastern University in Boston, Ghana was never meant to be just another study destination. It became a classroom without walls, where hospitals replaced lecture theatres, villages became laboratories of human connection, and history challenged long-held assumptions about identity, healthcare and service.
What began as an academic exchange programme evolved into an immersive journey through Ghana’s schools, hospitals, orphanages and historic sites, exposing the students to a country many admitted they had previously understood largely through stereotypes.
Organised by the OG World Foundation, led by Chief Executive Officer Edward Tetteh, the programme combined academic learning with community service under the leadership of Dr. Vanessa Dianna Johnson, Associate Professor of Applied Psychology at Northeastern University.
By the end of the tour, many of the students spoke less about what they had taught and more about what Ghana had taught them.
From Stereotypes to Reality
For several participants, arriving in Ghana meant confronting narratives they had absorbed growing up in the United States.
Anna Paula Llompart admitted that, like many Americans, discussions about Africa were often dominated by images of poverty and underdevelopment.
“Even though I tried not to believe the stereotypes, coming here completely changed my perspective,” she said.
Instead of finding a country defined by hardship, she encountered one actively investing in education, healthcare and social development while working within its available resources.
“It was inspiring to see how committed people are to improving their healthcare system and educating their children. Everyone we met was welcoming and determined to make things better.”
Her experience reinforced an important lesson often overlooked in international development discussions: developing countries are not passive recipients of assistance but active societies continuously building their own solutions.
Healthcare Beyond Technology
For biomedical engineering student Tahmir Murphy, Ghana became an eye-opening lesson about global inequalities in healthcare systems.
Her objective was to understand how medical technology designed in developed countries reaches African hospitals.
At the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC), she discovered that equipment procurement often depends less on technology than on after-sales support.
Hospitals sometimes avoid purchasing sophisticated medical equipment from overseas companies because manufacturers have no technical representatives based in West Africa.
If critical equipment develops faults, repairs can take weeks, disrupting healthcare delivery.
“Something as simple as not having company representation on the continent can stop hospitals from using certain technologies,” Murphy observed.
She believes such experiences will fundamentally influence how she approaches biomedical engineering in the future.
Service That Changed the Volunteers
While students conducted health screenings, taught personal hygiene in schools and donated educational materials, many admitted that the greatest transformation occurred within themselves.
Murphy said every visit left him emotionally connected to the communities.
“I thought I was coming here simply to volunteer,” she reflected.
“I didn’t expect to feel so connected to the people or to leave every school and health facility wanting to understand more about how people live.”
At schools, orphanages and community health centres, students discovered resilience that challenged assumptions about development.
Rather than focusing on limitations, they encountered communities determined to educate children, care for vulnerable families and create opportunities despite resource constraints.
Identity Rediscovered
Perhaps the most profound transformation came through visits to Cape Coast and Elmina castles.
For many African American and Caribbean students, standing inside the slave dungeons transformed abstract historical knowledge into something deeply personal.
Murphy, whose family originates from Jamaica, described the experience as pivotal.
“It made me realise my ancestors didn’t simply appear in the Caribbean,” she said.
“They had lives, cultures and communities here before they were taken. Being in Ghana made me want to understand that journey.”
Similarly, Tatiana Pierre-Rene, a Haitian American pre-medical student, said visiting the castles strengthened rather than diminished her sense of identity.
She described feeling immense pride in the resilience of African ancestors whose culture survived unimaginable hardship.
“Thousands of my ancestors are buried on this continent,” she reflected.
“I realised they carried enough strength to preserve their culture even after everything they endured.”
For her, Ghana became more than a destination.
“It felt like coming home,” she said.
Discovering the Power of Community
Beyond history, students repeatedly highlighted Ghana’s communal way of life as one of the country’s defining strengths.
Tatiana was particularly struck by the emphasis on collective identity.
Travelling across different regions, she observed that despite multiple ethnic groups and languages, people communicated easily across communities.
She admired how many Ghanaians naturally learn several local languages through everyday interaction.
“Everyone seemed to belong,” she said.
“Language wasn’t a barrier. It was something people embraced to connect with one another.”
Her most memorable experience came at Potter’s Village orphanage, where she watched caregivers constantly remind children that they were “royalty.”
Rather than focusing on loss, staff reinforced confidence, dignity and belonging.
“In America, especially for Black children, confidence often has to come from home because society doesn’t always build it,” she said.
“Here, the community seemed determined to build every child.”
Preparing Better Healthcare Professionals
For Dr. Johnson, these personal discoveries are precisely why the programme exists.
She believes future healthcare professionals cannot fully understand patients unless they appreciate how culture, economics and community influence healthcare decisions.
“The goal is for them to understand that healthcare is not just about medicine,” she explained.
“When they become doctors, nurses or healthcare professionals, they will remember that inability to follow treatment isn’t always because people don’t care. Sometimes there are structural barriers.”
She also hopes the students return home viewing healthcare as service rather than simply a profession.
“They are not just practitioners,” she said.
“They are service providers.”
Building Bridges Across the Atlantic
Beyond academic learning, Dr. Johnson sees the exchange as part of a broader effort to reconnect African and African American communities.
Through initiatives such as the Kindred Spirits Book Club, which links Ghanaian students with American students through shared reading and discussion, she believes young people on both sides of the Atlantic are beginning to understand their interconnected histories.
“We’re planting seeds,” she said.
“Seeds that help young people understand that our histories are connected, that our futures are connected, and that we have a responsibility to support one another.”
For the Northeastern University students, Ghana became more than an educational destination.
It became a place where history became personal, healthcare became service, and volunteering became a journey of self-discovery.
For Ghana, programmes such as these also demonstrate the country’s growing role as a destination for educational exchange, cultural diplomacy and global learning—one where visitors often leave having discovered as much about themselves as they did about the country.
