The Peace Corps continued its Thought Leaders series with a virtual gathering on July 21. Four returned Volunteers — all professionals in technology — provided their viewpoints on leveraging technology to maximize effects in socioeconomic development, and how Peace Corps Volunteers can shape global development.
As the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted learning in schools, one Volunteer made a difference by teaching deaf children in Kenya and training their teachers online.
Peace Corps staff member Yussif Alhassan is a programming and training specialist for the education sector in Ghana. In that role, he provides technical and programmatic support to Volunteers working in schools, and has worked with six Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH) Volunteers. As the Peace Corps celebrates Deaf Awareness Week, we sat down with Yussif to ask him about his experience in Ghana.
In a small community in the Northern Region of Ghana, groups of farmers toil for hours a day, filling 50-liter cans from hand-dug mini-wells to water their garden plots by hand.
Brothers first, Peace Corps Volunteers second, Zane and Alex grew up with a desire to travel and serve. That desire has led them to Costa Rica and Ghana, respectively.
When I joined the Peace Corps, I
had just finished my undergrad and didn’t know what was next. The Peace Corps
was something different, interesting and challenging.