mayi mava a uniquely west african exchange program first annual program report: 2013

About mayi mava

Executive Summary: 3

Introduction: 6

Why “mayi mava”: 7

Pilot Program

By the Numbers: 9

English: 10

Homestays: 11

Peer Mentorship: 12

Cultural Excursions: 13

What We’re Doing Next

What We’re Building: 14

What We’re Changing: 15

Measuring Impact: 17

Facts and Figures

Who’s Who: 18

Founding Sponsors: 19

Finances: 20

Financial Projections: 21

A Final Word

Note from the Coordinator: 22

contents:

mayi mava, previously known as the Lokossa-Koforidua Opportunity Project (or LKOP), was run as a pilot program, a proof of concept for a larger student exchange program to support cultural exchange and language learning across West Africa.

In its fledgling summer, July 2013, mayi mava provided 12 teenagers from Benin, a small francophone west African country, with the opportunity to travel to neighboring Ghana for 3 weeks of language immersion and intercultural exchange. The program included daily English classes each morning followed by extracurricular activities and mentorship workshops in the afternoons and evenings. All participants stayed with Ghanaian host families.

The pilot was a great success on many levels, and, importantly, provided many ideas and lessons to be used in the development of the program in the future.

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executive summary:

african youth as the

agents of

cultural exCHANGE

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Marielle, age 17. Wants to become a nurse when she’s older. Shadowed the Head Nurse at Koforidua’s Regional Hospital with mayi mava.

introduction:

We learn so much from stepping outside our homes, away from our towns, into new countries and new landscapes. These moments outside are often of the deepest impact, the moments that stay with us longest and shape most forcefully our ideas and ambitions.

For those of us with means to eat and attend school, it is taken for granted that these parts of our personal development are equally necessary steps in the process of becoming the selves we want to be. But for those who have to worry about paying school fees each year and about getting food to eat during the dry season, these kinds of questions are treated as a luxury, as an afterthought for the day-to-day basics that many already struggle to attain.

This program exists so that in the struggle for the basic necessities, the more abstract but equally important goal of self-actualization doesn’t get left by the wayside. mayi mava exists because if a dozen teenagers get closer to realizing their potential during a summer abroad, they will contribute that much more to the development of their communities.

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why “mayi mava”

i will go and come.

In order to become her greatest self, to realize his potential, folktales from every corner of the earth resonated with the same theme: the heroes had to stretch their wings and venture into unknown kingdoms.

In Ewe, mayi mava literally means “I will go and come”, and is often used to loosely mean “I’ll be right back”. We choose this language because it ties the two countries – Ghana and Benin – together; this phrase would be meaningful for every one of our pilot program’s participants. Yet through the experience of journeying beyond their comfort zone, we hope that this program will help these commonplace words take on new meaning for all of our students, so that they can envision greater journeys for themselves, and can return from this first adventure with “the power to bestow boons” on their communities.

In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell wrote of the process of going and returning repeated in tales around the world:

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.

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Jospin, age 15:

“Since when I live in Ghana, I change more and more.”

by the numbers:

- 12 students:

12 Beninois teens participated in the pilot program, ranging in age from 12 to 17 years old – 6 females, 6 males.

- 3 Ghanaian interns and 1 American coordinator:

Our leadership team comprised 4 college students – 3 from Ghana and 1 from the United States – working together to develop a curriculum and program model that was uniquely West African, and to help our students reach their goals.

- 6 peer mentors:

6 students from the local New Juaben Secondary School joined our program as peer mentors and new friends.

- 3 weeks:

2 trips, 2 local excursions, 2 leadership workshops, 1,000 memories

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english:

Our students began the summer with a wide range of English skills, and a limited toolbox of study skills. Though they had been studying the language for 3-4 years, most struggled to converse beyond basic greetings.

Our coordinator developed a grammar-centered activity-based curriculum designed to strengthen our students’ communication skills and deepen their understanding of how the English language worked. The students adjusted to a new and different classroom style, which employed small-group and individual exercises to build fluency. They completed interviews and scavenger hunts and campus tours – and most importantly, lived in immersive homestays where they practiced English from morning to night.

Through this multi-faceted approach, the students took steps toward English fluency, and we learned a great deal about how to structure a functional English curriculum for francophone West African learners.

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homestays:

Our 12 students stayed with 9 host families in Koforidua, Ghana, affiliated with a local church. The students enjoyed their host family experiences, and our host families were highly enthusiastic about hosting the Beninois students, sharing food, language, and culture with the youth during their 3 week homestay.

The host families met with the project coordination staff before the arrival of the students for an orientation on the program, and received weekly check-in phone calls from the program coordinator. We observed that the most successful host families, by and large, were those with more children, as this gave the students a more comfortable way to practice English and ask questions in the home.

One host sister, a student at University of Ghana, Legon, was so excited about the program and the opportunity to share Ghana with our Beninois teens that she volunteered to guide our trip to the campus in July.

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peer mentorship:

Our students had several opportunities to bond with other students, and by our observation, this was the most powerful, effective, and positive component of the program.

Peer mentorships with 6 students from nearby New Juaben Secondary School contributed immensely, through daily after-class activities, and participation in leadership workshops at the YMCA and cultural site trips, described on page 13.

The peer mentors from New Juaben Secondary School were passionate and friendly partners for our Beninois students, many of whom were slightly younger. They were conscientious friends, ensuring that our Beninois students understood difficult English concepts during workshops, and even contributed their own ideas for program design, such as hosting our students for a regular class day at New Juaben, which were integrated into the program impromptu, and were a great success.

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cultural visits and events:

Each weekend, our participants traveled together with our local interns and peer mentors to a different site, in order to gain a broader picture of Ghana and its history.

On one weekend, the group visited Accra, during which they toured several sites: the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial, dedicated to the nation’s founding president and hero; the University of Ghana; and Labadi Beach, which was the first time most of our students had ever visited the beach or ocean.

The Koforidua based excursions proved equally exciting. One tour of the Koforidua Bead Market allowed students to discover traditional Ghanaian crafts and dance, while sharing some of their own. A visit to a regional Hospital gave our participants the opportunity to get inside the world and day-to-day life of a doctor, bringing concrete form to the abstract ambition voiced by many participants at the outset of the program.

what we’re building:

- strengthening partnerships:

In our pilot year, we developed great local partnerships with Koforidua institutions including the Christ Complex School, the Koforidua YMCA, New Juaben Secondary School, and St. Bakhita’s Church. The YMCA and New Juaben have been especially proactive and enthusiastic about strengthening and formalizing our ties. Growing those relationships will help us to solidify our program and create a sustainable model.

- deepening curricula:

Our curriculum was developed from scratch by our coordinator, based on student learning levels and ongoing feedback from students and from other mentors. We hope to work with experts in the coming years to hone our approach to teaching and developing effective, independent

learners.

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what we’re changing:

- 6 weeks instead of 3:

Doubling students’ time in-country will allow us to spend the first 3 weeks focusing on intensive English study, and the second 3 weeks on creative student-led projects.

- full time ghanaian leadership:

Hiring Ghanaian staff on longer-term contracts will allow us to attract talent, invest in program planning and curriculum design, and develop a sustained vision for the program.

- leadership training for staff:

Partnering with other exchange and leadership programs to provide our staff with an immersive training will ensure that our leadership has the tools they need to make the program valuable for participants.

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making and measuring impact:

- preliminary impact evaluation:

After selecting a group of finalists to participate in next year’s program, we plan to randomly select the actual participants. This will allow us to measure the benefits of the program along several lines, including both English and broader cognitive skills, life ambitions and outlook, and future school performance, by gathering and comparing the results of both our actual participants and those randomly selected out.

- focus groups:

Programs like mayi mava affect many parties – host families, program leaders, peer mentors – beyond their target group. We hope to collect information on how the program is viewed by all involved parties, in order to continuously strengthen our model during this critical early stage. Focus groups held with our participants after the initial pilot indicated that increasing training for local interns and leaders should be a key priority in future years, and that providing some orientation for host families could also greatly improve the experience for both hosts and students.

who’s who: the executive team

Angelica Calabrese

Coordinator

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Callie Lowenstein

Co-Founder

Hannah Trachtman

Co-Founder

Gloria Abankwa

Country Representative

who’s who: the board of directors

Mona Niina Iddrisu

Xorla Adzoyi

Justice Quame-Amaglo

Kantos Kodegnon Suhuyini S. Shani Zango

Nicolas Gboyou

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Michael Baskin The Boehm Family Neil Botwinoff Ben Burns Charlie Carberry and Kathleen Dunne Betsy Kates Maria and Bernard Harris Louise Hindal Catherine Jampel

Lex Kelso Ernest Kwarteng Claudia and Jeff Little Art Lowenstein and Annie Patton Emily Orlins Yakir Reshef Joel Trachtman and Lauren Richman Carter Smith and Common Ground Coffeehouse

founding sponsors:

Without whom, none of this would have been possible.

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finances:

total raised: ~$8,500.00

total pilot costs: ~$8,000.00

Staff 25%

Homestays 39%

Excursions and Activities

20%

Transport and Materials 13%

Fundraising and Admin 3%

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financial projections:

projected costs: ~$36,000.00

We were thrilled about the success of the pilot program. But we take seriously the importance of iterating on what we have learned in order to continuously improve the program. To do so, we hope to invest in our program development, staffing and training, and in the length of the program, as detailed on page 15.

These investments will also increase our budget significantly:

- Doubling the length of the program to 6 weeks: + $7,000.00

- Increasing participants to 20 students (6 wks): + $10,500.00

- Hiring 1 Ghanaian coordinator for 6 months: + $4,500.00

- 1-2 weeks of training for program leadership: + $6,000.00

Your continued support will allow us to reach these goals and create a sustainable, strong organization for the future. Please note that we are in the process of applying for 501(c)(3) status, so we hope that by next year, your donations will be tax-deductible.

The city of Koforidua is framed by two green mountains rising side by side in Ghana’s Eastern Highlands. Every morning, as we waited for the last students to arrive, I would watch the low, gray clouds slip across the mountains, hiding their sloping peaks. The mountains greeted us on our first morning together and on our last, a reminder of the peaks that we had yet to conquer, and the ones that we had conquered already.

When the students arrived, streaming out of the rickety black tro tro that had carried them over Ghana’s rutted roads, I could scarcely believe it. In securing their arrival, it seemed we had already scaled peaks, navigating bureaucratic regulations and last-minute travel snafus - but it had only begun.

That first day, we took a photograph; the students gazed fixedly out of the frame, timid and apprehensive, unsure of whether or not they’d be able to make it through this new adventure away from home. But they were not alone; I was also apprehensive. Would I be able to support them, teach them, encourage them?

Gradually, the students grew accustomed to the rhythms of their host families, to Kof’s transport system, to the challenging homework I assigned them; I grew accustomed to drafting lessons, to creating space for learning in the classroom and outside of it.

A Note From Our Coordinator:

There were days when the students’ enthusiasm faltered, and days when mine faltered as well, when teaching English seemed an almost Sisyphean struggle; but then, a moment would appear to redeem it all: Laetitia’s shy smile as I returned her 100% correct worksheet, Jospin’s eager friendships with our peer mentors at New Juaben. More than their success, I was proud of their effort. They had chosen to challenge themselves, to push the boundaries of what they thought they were capable of.

On our last grey Ghana morning, with the rainy season clouds drifting again across Koforidua’s twin peaks, we gathered at our usual meeting spot. We posed for pictures, the students smiling wide through teary eyes, passing around a notebook to record addresses and phone numbers. They hadn’t learned English perfectly, but they had learned to keep trying.

The tro tro, packed with students, snuck out of the lot and into the traffic of Kof’s main road. I watched as it drove east, towards the mountaintops hidden in fog, towards Benin. They had only spent three weeks in Ghana, but this, we hope, was just the beginning: they will go and come. Mayi mava. We will keep learning and climbing, towards an empowered youth and a thriving, interconnected West Africa. We thank you for making this possible.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Angelica Calabrese

(continued)

contact us:

For Partnership Queries: Angelica Calabrese: angelica@mayimava.org

For Donor Queries: Callie Lowenstein: callie@mayimava.org

For West Africa-Based Queries: Gloria Abankwa: gloria@mayimava.org

learn more:

www.mayimava.org