Gains All Around

International student returns home to help preschoolers succeed

February 20, 2007

Kwame Acquaah '07 with his aunt Christine Gyau, the principal at the preschool in the village of Teshie in Ghana.

You don't have to be an actuary to predict that throwing money at a problem won't make it go away.

Emmanuel Acquaah '07—Kwame to all who know him—wants to be an actuary and possessed that common-sense approach to problem solving before he visited his African homeland during winter break.

But after spending a month helping preschool children and their parents in Teshie, an impoverished fishing village in Ghana, Acquaah developed an even deeper appreciation of hands-on aid to the needy.

There is no shortage of need in Teshie, where social workers are attempting to combat rampant illiteracy by building a preschool program that is both appealing and sustainable. In many regions near Teshie, such preschool programs are a given. Parents know the value of having their children versed in, at minimum, English and math before starting primary school.

In Teshie, about eight miles from the Ghana capital city of Accra, many parents figure their children can get up to speed when they start primary school, not before. Instead, those children fall behind at the start of formal education, which begins at around age 6, and have a hard time catching up to their better-prepared classmates throughout primary and secondary school.

Change in attitude sought

"They see why primary school is important," Acquaah says of the Teshie village parents. "Some of them don't understand why preschool is important. There's not much you can do if the people's attitudes don't change."

To change those attitudes, Acquaah used age-old motivational tools—envy and peer pressure—to draw a crowd. Acquaah noticed that once village children saw a handful of other children wearing new clothes and carrying new pencils and crayons, they wanted to be part of the action. They went to their parents, who in turn visited the preschool to find out how they, too, could get the same items for their children.

Many of those items arrived in January with Acquaah, thanks to the generosity of Dickinsonians. Donated items, including school supplies, T-shirts and backpacks, came from Dickinson students, employees and their relatives. Dickinson Career Center employees Corinne Stefanic and Laura Kilko helped Acquaah solicit donations on and off campus by sending out e-mails and setting up drop-off boxes for the items.

He learned about the needs of the village from his aunt, Christine Gyau, the principal at the preschool and an employee of the Ghana Department of Social Welfare.

"The children were happy," Gyau said in a telephone interview. "They live in a remote part of Accra, and they are poor. We don't want to deny them an education. They are doing very well, but they still need more help."

Acquaah says the children were not alone in making educational gains.

A goal-shaping experience

"It was a learning experience for me," says Acquaah, who was born in Nigeria. "It makes you think beyond economics. It has helped me shape my goals. Most governments do not realize what is going on. My goal is to develop an understanding of the informal sector, which continues to be off the radar screen of the government." He says the government needs to embrace the informal sector if it is to succeed.

Acquaah's academic adviser, Nicola Tynan, assistant professor of economics, says she has no doubt about his ability to learn from his experience.

Before coming to the United States to attend college, Acquaah's computer skills were limited to having typed five sentences, Tynan says with a laugh.

"I was impressed with his ability to become proficient at things he had never done before," Tynan says. "He totally fit right in at Dickinson."

Acquaah, who last year studied economics in Dickinson's study-abroad program in Norwich, England, says his short-term goal, before becoming an actuary, is to be a research analyst. He also wants to continue helping the children at the preschool in Teshie and to raise awareness about the stranglehold malaria still has on Africa and Asia.

"I want to raise money to buy mosquito nets for people in those communities," Acquaah says. "I think I'll be able to do that here. Dickinson is all about engaging the world."