My husband Jim Earl and I traveled with Leslie Steeves to Ghana in the summer of 2011. Leslie’s expert guidance helped us learn about Ghana’s history, Leslie’s program, and the meaning and power of journalism in the country.

Leslie’s contacts run throughout the country’s many levels – political, academic, and personal. Leslie was unfailingly generous with her time and expertise in showing us Ghanaian recreation (a beach overnight), transportation (tuk tuks), media (cell phones with radio), investigative reporting (journalists presenting to the class), and Ghanaian street life. Leslie provides her students, who are immersed in Ghanaian life, with exactly the right amounts of both hand-holding and pushes towards independence.  

The most memorable moment was visiting the Gold Coast slave castles. We saw The Door of No Return through which Michelle Obama returned in 2012. My dream would be for study-abroad programs in Europe to bring students to Ghana to learn about colonial history and to contest Eurocentrism – to which I confess I’m prone.  My trip to Ghana changed my attitudes.