Isaac Essel
22 August 2007
Accra — A group of 10 young Ghanaians are currently in the United Kingdom (UK) for a youth exchange programme called Belongings.
Belongings is a 2 year project by the British Council to create opportunities for young people from Africa and the UK to explore identity and community through a series of international exchanges. At a pre-departure get-together to congratulate the 10 participants for being the pacesetters of the project and to bid them farewell, the Deputy Minister for Tourism and Diaspora Relations Mr. Kofi Osei Ameyaw advised the participants to hold themselves high and be good representatives of Ghana while in the UK.
He said, "Ghanaians are known to be calm and friendly and are always welcome every where we go. I hope you will be good ambassadors in the UK to continue telling a good story about Ghana".
Mr. Ameyaw said he was excited to see more females than males constituting the delegation: "I'm happy to see more women than men - this project has given women a greater opportunity than the equal opportunity that we've all been calling for. That's good in terms of affirmative action, and I believe that you'll not let the British Council and their partners and all of us down".
Belongings is being run by British Council in partnership with Global Youth Action Network (GYAN) and Self-Help Initiative Support Services (SHISS). It uses a simple design to provide creative individuals with the opportunity to have life-changing experiences which they then share with their home communities. On returning home they work with schools and youth groups, developing projects that share the experiences of their journeys with others.
The Deputy Director of British Council Ghana, Amanda Griffiths asked the participants to equip themselves with the skills and knowledge that they will acquire through the project, and impart it with their chosen communities both in Ghana and in the UK.
"This is a great challenge for you as participants. I say to you that you will be leaders in our increasingly globalised and therefore shared - world. Through this project you have the opportunity to create new relationships that in turn help your communities to increasingly be part of the global village", she said.
Mr. Amanda wished the participants a safe journey and said the British Council and their partners "very much look forward to hearing, seeing and reading all about the experiences they will have and how they take the project forward when they get back".
A 5-day training workshop was held a week earlier to prepare the participants for the exchange.
The leader of the group Prosper Ahmed Amuquandoh said the project is a very good one which should have started long ago. He said it's a project that focuses on the youth in relation to their culture and identity. He said most many young people have lost their cultural identities. They try to identify themselves with western styles, adopting the way they speak, the way they dress, and even the way they talk, "not to talk about their food and other things."
He said he expects to "meet young people who will inspire me for greater heights, and widen my international network as a young person. I also expect to either change my perceptions or confirm some of what I have heard people express about the western world."
The 10 participants who have been selected for the first phase of the programme in Ghana include Gifty Pearl Abenaab, Prosper Ahmed Amuquandoh, Gideon Mensah-Commey, Samuel Antwi Addai, Brown Osron Yao Anibra, Selina Madjoa Kobe Ansah-Koi, Naa Lamioko Lamptey, Justice Akpedonu, Priscilla Anowa Hazel and Renate Ama Dzodzomenyo.
In an interview after the workshop, Gifty Pearl Abenaab, French and Linguistics student of University of Ghana described the event as inspiring, informative and educative.
She said: "The workshop has over-met my expectation. It's really gingered and inspired me. There were so many lights that were thrown into most of the things. We went through personal discovery, drawing inspirations within ourselves".
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