Why International Development?

One of my career goals involves working in International Development, especially doing development work in West Africa. As a Ghanaian immigrant, my parent moved to the U.S for me to have a better education and work opportunities just like many other immigrants. I want to be able to help the Ghanaian government plan and execute its development goals to advance and grow the country’s public sectors. My interest in international development lies in education and health because these public sectors in Ghana don’t have enough resources and investment to help and educate the people. I know firsthand the experience of inaccessible and poor education through my elementary and middle school schooling in Ghana. My classes didn’t have enough resources such as teachers, books, pens, chairs for all the students. This inaccessibility of education because of high costs and poor quality was the same reason my parent migrated out of the country.

At the beginning of last year, my experience working with Inspiring Youth African Network (IYAN), a local Ghanaian NGO that provides quality access to education helped me to further understand how important my goal of public service in Ghana is. During my experience with IYAN, I was able to see the poor conditions of schools and the lack of resources in the city (Accra) and towns (Volta Region). All the schools I visited didn’t have enough space for their students and there was a lack of classroom materials for both the students and faculty. This was a stark contrast from the U.S middle and high school that I attended in Minnesota. My experience with IYAN further ignited my passion for the social issues of limited access to quality education and healthcare. I realized that there is a lot of work that needs to be done in not just Ghana but other West African countries when it comes to development in the public sectors. This is why I have concentrated on West Africa in Global Studies and through my experiences. I have taken courses in African Development and African politics, wrote research papers and projects on West African countries and their social issues, and taken advantage of opportunities to travel to West Africa so I will have the best expertise for my future public service goals.

My internship at MIT D-Lab helps to understand how an academic NGO works in development. D-Lab work involves creating toolkits and framework, running workshops and training, fieldwork, and research. D-Lab believes in a user-centered approach for international development which means that D-Lab centers and values the voices of those they create and design content for. In action, they give the tools and educate people so they can create their own solutions and engage their communities. This is an important approach in development because you often find one-size-fits-all solutions for those in “developing” countries or little involvement for communities that development projects are involving.