Adwuma, adwuma!

"Work, work!"
Adwuma yε. "It is good to work."/"Work is good."

This is a typical greeting and response among co-workers, and one that I can expect to hear from my supervisor, Mr. Amuzu, about once a day. Seeing as I haven't written much about work lately, allow me to share with you some updated attitudes toward my job at the Office for Students with Special Needs at the University of Ghana. The words themselves are a little outdated (each month, one of the five of us Bridge Year students writes an update on our experience on behalf of the group, so when it was Cole's turn to write about November he asked us to fill out a survey about work so that he could write about it, my complete answers to which I am sharing with you here; check here to read the finished update), but the thoughts are still pretty relevant. So without further ado, my answers [and a few updated thoughts]...


Q: What has been your most challenging experience at work so far?

A: Rather than a single experience, the most challenging aspect of my work has been the helplessness I often feel when I recognize a problem that is outside the realm of my ability to fix it. Whether the "problem" is a lack of adequate equipment [or space], a particular student's impairment, or an organizational issue [of the sort that happens in all offices], I often can do nothing to solve it. For example, one problem is that there is simply a huge volume of text to be scanned, edited, and Brailled, so some students don't receive their course materials until two weeks before exams; however, I can't solve this by working faster than I already do.


Q: Do you feel that you are "making an impact?" Why or why not?

A: In short, yes and no, but I can elaborate. Because the scope of my work is limited to scanning and editing, whether I make an impact of visually impaired students' learning through the materials I prepare for them depends mostly on whether the students do their readings--most do, but some don't. However, enough do that I know my work is good and worthwhile--for example, a level 600 students who is pursuing his law degree. I can delude myself into thinking that my impact is minimal when I think about not creating lasting change in the Office for Students with Special Needs (because the staff there are highly competent and capable of affecting their own change), but my real impact is evident though the students who learn and perform better because of my work. If I am not "making an impact," it is only because of my own misguided perception of my work.


Q: What has been your most rewarding experience at work?

A: My rewarding experiences are all pretty small: handing a blind student a Brailled copy of a text that I scanned and edited, learning from a deaf students how to respond, "I'm fine" when he signs, "How are you?", and sending a completed volume to my supervisor to be Brailled. It is also particularly rewarding to have my work affirmed. My supervisor once told me that although I should keep showing up at 8:00 am, my productivity would still be unusually high if i didn't come to work until 11:00 am.


Q: Now that we have reached the halfway point of working with these NGOs and University Organizations, are there things that you would like to change for the remaining time? Goals, attitudes, approaches, etc.? [This survey was distributed in early November, and I completed it on 11 November. It is hard to believe that I have only about a week or two left at work before Christmas and then our move to Kumasi!]

A: Being that I essentially work at a desk job in an office, I would like to be intentionally more relational. My coworkers and the students we serve are quite friendly and not shy to engage me in a conversation, but I can let myself become so focused on the amount of work that needs to be done (or the intriguing content of my work--political theory, the world media prism, 19th century West African history, communication theory, macrosociology...) that I don't often venture outside the "me ma mo akye" ["good morning to you all"] realm. When I have had extended conversations, they have been fascinating, so over the coming weeks I am going to strive to me more relational to catch some more Ghanaian culture, build friendships, and practice Twi! [Update: Especially as the volume of our work has been reduced as the end of the semester is imminent, I am glad to report that I think I have been very successful at pursuing my goal! I have learned a lot about perceptions of wealth, America, marriage, and more through conversations with my coworkers. One of the reasons that I was hesitant to talk more was that I was self-conscious about my still-inadequate ability to converse beyond the basics in Twi, but I now understand that there's nothing wrong with using English even as I practice Twi. After all, learning Twi is important, but so is learning culture, and expecting myself to have a sophisticated conversation in a language I have been studying only three months is an unrealistic expectation that would inhibit my understanding of Ghanaian culture.]


Q: How does your experience differ from what you expected? What did you expect coming here to work for a volunteer organization?

When I considered what working for a volunteer organization might be like, I think the best way to describe what I imagined I would be doing is "forging"--forging relationships, forging solutions, forging a new path of change. (Come to think of it, maybe forging isn't the best word because of its possible meaning of falsifying/forgery, but in the "blazing a trail" sense it's exactly what I intend.) Rather than innovating and pioneering, though, I am filling a set role. Some days I feel distinctly like a cog--functional and necessary, but replaceable. But I know I do good work [though sometimes I am liable to be discouraged by the apparent monotony of it], and I don't mean this despairingly; on the contrary, the fact that I am an interchangeable part reflects well on my office, for it means that it will not be crippled by a void in leadership or vision come early January when we move to Kumasi. Although my role is much different from my expectations, I am glad it means my office is organizationally sound.

[at work editing a text to be Brailled for a visually impaired student]


[my wonderful coworkers!]



So, dear friends, I leave you with a little insight into my work, at least as it has been for the last three months. With changes on the horizon come 6 January and our arrival in Kumasi, I can't predict what work will look like in another three months, though I do know I will be working as a teacher or teacher's assistant in a middle school. As I have learned, any expectations I have of work will probably not prove to be spot on--but I am looking forward to what the new stage of work and life in Ghana will bring!

Also, here's a link to a short video spot that is part of Princeton's alumni giving campaign and features the Bridge Year program if you are interested in viewing it.

Wo ne Nyame nkכ; me ne Nyame ntena.
You and God should go; I and God should stay.