The past two weeks have been a blur of busyness.
We taught two classes nine business cases ranging in topics and problems from a local Ghanaian entrepreneurial start up decision, to a discussion on corporate social responsibility with a Canadian mining company operating in Tanzania. We facilitated heated debates and heard interesting discussions from a variety of perspectives. Teaching two classes provided insight into the benefits of the case-method of teaching ⎯ no two discussions were the same. The flow of conversation and the direction of the case are reflective of the students participating in the class. Each student looks at a case through a different lens because each brings a different set of experiences and beliefs to their analysis.
The second and last week of classes went by quickly. We spent time getting to know our students, asking them to share what they took away from the course, how they hope to apply their learning, and their career goals. It has been a great experience teaching at All Nations University and we are looking forward to keeping in touch with our students as we both take the next steps in our lives.
With the May 8th weekend free of teaching we planned a trips to Accra and Cape Coast. Ngozi, one of this year’s Field Marsham Scholarship recipients, is a great hostess and spoiled us with a homemade dinner with her and her siblings Friday night. The next morning we took a bus into Accra together and spent the afternoon at a mall and the local market.
Sunday we had a 6am departure for Cape Coast with Patrick (an Ivey PhD student conducting research). A canopy walk at Kakum National Park was the first stop along our adventure. Although we did not see any animals, the view from the treetop was beautiful. We arrived at our destination eager to learn about local history while touring Elmina and Cape Coast Castles, built 500 years ago by the Portuguese and Swedes, respectively. Originally for trading purposes, both castles were later used in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Despite learning about the slave trade in history courses, standing in the small, dark dungeons that inhumanely held captive thousands of people some time ago was a surreal experience.
We have been on other mini outings with Patrick, including walking up the mountain featured in our last blog post and visiting the Bead Market. There is still so much we want to do and see in the next two weeks! But first we need to fulfill the less-exciting teaching responsibility of marking exams and finalizing grades.