Through the Ayele Foundation, founded by BYU–Hawaii student Cassis Smith, opportunities for peacebuilding in Ghana have increased. Another BYUH student, Sho Andrus, a senior majoring in international cultural studies from Japan, is putting his knowledge of peacebuilding to work while trying to create change and a space for peace within Ghana.
According to ayelefoundation.org, the mission of Ayele Foundation is to “provide every child in rural Ghana with a better future through the fostering of literacy and embracing of technology. We believe that by creating educational opportunities in vulnerable areas and addressing the need for enhanced curriculums and teacher retention, students from rural areas doing so in a manner that addresses the need for electricity generation and technology development in rural areas, those advancements can be made even more effectively and with more enduring results.”
Sho Andrus is currently in the middle of his 3-month-long internship in Ghana working on creating peace within the area. Andrus found out about this opportunity through career services. On his internship, Andrus is teaching peacebuilding concepts in a junior high school area that is full of ethnic conflict.
According to Andrus, he is in an area called Bawku, in the Upper East Region. Two tribes, Kusasi and Mamprusi, have been fighting over chieftaincy. Andrus said, “Right now, it is seemingly settled because of the intervention of Army (there are army officers almost everywhere with guns). But they still have that animosity to each other so people's hearts are not at peace.”
According to Andrus, this conflict have been going on for more than 30 years in the area of Bawku because the parents and the community teach the children to hate the other tribe and be involved with the conflict. “They are exposed to hatred and insecurity which is hindering the development of the community,” he said.
Andrus believes that it could be very helpful for the kids in the community to learn more about peacebuilding principles and ultimately become ambassadors of peace and help them to change from within. “If the youth can start seeing the people of their conflicting group as people, instead of seeing them as bloodless objects, they will start hearing positive narratives about the other and, although not easy at all, the conflict can end at their generation.”
A few of Andrus’ goals are to help the students understand basic peacebuilding principles and apply them in their own life. After going through this experience with the people of Bawku, Andrus said “I also want to be able to apply the peacebuilding principles more in my life through this experience and to also make friends.”
Andrus shared that he is the only one in the area right now and that sometimes he feels what he is doing is very tiny. He assumes that there will be a positive impact on some of the students and he hopes that more people can become involved with this. In closing he shared, “food is great in Ghana and I am loving it! Also, the people are very open and nice. So even though I am in a conflicting area, I am really enjoying my stay here.”