Grit, grace and groundwater: A Georgia Southern journey through Ghana

August 27, 2025

When Professor Worlanyo Eric Gato, Ph.D., watches his students walk through the iron gates of Cape Coast Castle for the first time, he doesn’t say much. He doesn’t have to.

“They feel it,” he says. “You can see it in their faces.”

That moment — walking the same stone floors where generations of enslaved Africans once stood — is just one of many that define Georgia Southern University’s Study Abroad Program in Ghana, a three-week immersive experience blending public health research, cultural engagement and emotional growth. Led by a multidisciplinary team of faculty from the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health (JPHCOPH), the College of Science and Mathematics (COSM) and the Institute for Water and Health (IWH), the program gives students more than academic insight. It gives them perspective.

Originally founded by the late Evans Afriyie-Gyawu, Ph.D., the Ghana Study Abroad Program has evolved into a high-impact educational model under the direction of JPHCOPH faculty members Bettye Apenteng, Ph.D., and Samuel Opoku, Ph.D., along with Gato. Their shared mission is clear: foster cultural awareness and empower students to address complex global health challenges — starting with those rooted in Ghana’s communities.

Real research, real impact

The program’s 2025 cohort took part in a collaborative research project centered on occupational and environmental exposures, particularly in illegal mining zones in Ghana’s Ashanti Region. Funded by Georgia Southern’s Internal Seed Funds, the IWH and the Office of Research and Economic Development, the project explored the relationship between water and soil-borne contaminants and chronic health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and metabolic syndrome.

“This wasn’t a simulation, this was the real thing,” said Nick Guerra, a graduate student studying public health. “We were in the field, collecting water samples, interviewing residents and working side by side with Ghanaian students.”

Their findings were sobering. Water samples from community wells revealed contamination by fecal bacteria. Soil tests uncovered dangerously high levels of heavy metals — arsenic, lead, copper, mercury — linked to illegal mining activities. And medical surveys showed widespread hypertension, often undiagnosed or untreated.

What made the work even more meaningful was its collaborative nature. Georgia Southern students were paired with their counterparts at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), building not only research teams but friendships.

“We taught each other,” said Tia Taylor, another graduate student in the public health program. “We shared techniques, ideas and stories. They were just as curious about us as we were about them.”

For Gato, the partnerships are central to the program’s success. “It’s not just about coming to Ghana and collecting data,” he said. “It’s about mutual exchange — of knowledge, of culture, of purpose.”

Learning beyond the classroom

Beyond the data and research, the students’ most lasting lessons often came from unexpected places: dinner tables, prayer circles and dirt roads deep in rural Ghana.

One night, when their van got stuck on an unpaved road, a group of local young men came to the rescue. 

“There was no tow truck, no roadside assistance,” Gato recalled. “Just kindness. The kind of kindness that stays with you.”

Hospitality became a theme. Students dined with host families, learned about traditional dishes and participated in household prayer rituals. They shared laughs, tears and silent moments of awe.

“These interactions humanized the experience,” Gato said. “Ghana became more than a destination — it became a network of relationships.”

Taylor agreed. 

“Their warmth was overwhelming,” she said. “Their faith, constant. It made me want to pray more, to be more grounded. It changed the way I see people — and myself.”

Cultural immersion meets academic rigor

In classrooms and research sites alike, students embraced a multidisciplinary lens. Their work spanned biochemistry, environmental science and public health — and was guided by faculty from three academic units. Each stop on the itinerary was carefully chosen, from university campuses to cultural landmarks, to create a holistic picture of health in Ghana.

Aslan, who led the environmental assessment and coordinated teams of students from both KNUST and Georgia Southern during the research leg, carried both personal and scientific aspirations into the study.

“Thirteen years ago, when I began my journey at Georgia Southern as a new faculty member, we launched a water quality and health assessment with the late Dr. Afriyie-Gyawu,” Aslan said. “That project produced an impactful research paper with students — one that still receives high citations today. Now, years later, to be collaborating with an exceptional team of new research partners from KNUST on such a cutting-edge project is beyond exciting. This project is a testament to IWH’s commitment to advancing global water initiatives, as our center continues to make a meaningful impact in Georgia and around the world.”

For Guerra, that meant recognizing how social and economic conditions shape public health outcomes. 

“Some of the people we interviewed looked decades older than they were,” he said. “It hit me — poverty and limited access to health care age you.”

Taylor, whose background is in health leadership, said the trip helped her mature both personally and professionally. 

“It’s one thing to read about global health challenges in a textbook,” she said. “It’s another to sit with someone, hold their hand and ask about their blood pressure.”

Growing the pipeline

The program’s future is just as ambitious as its present.

In its next phase, the Ghana Study Abroad Program plans to expand its reach to students from Georgia Southern’s Africana Studies Program and institutions across south Georgia, broadening access to underrepresented populations. New research partnerships with the University of Cape Coast and the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho, Ghana, will allow for more geographically diverse studies. The goal, according to Gato, is to build a sustainable pipeline for interdisciplinary, international collaboration.

“This is more than a trip. It’s a launchpad,” he said.

With strong institutional support from the Director of the IWH and faculty member within JPHCOPH Asli Aslan, Ph.D., the Dean of JPHCOPH Stuart Tedders, Ph.D., and Vice President for Research and Economic Development David Weindorf, Ph.D., the program exemplifies Georgia Southern’s commitment to global engagement. Even the logistical hiccups — missed flights, shifting hotel reservations, slow internet — became part of the learning process.

“We adapted,” Gato said. “We smiled through it. And we came back stronger.”

Advice for other faculty

When asked what he’d tell faculty thinking about launching their own global experiential learning program, Gato’s answer is simple: know your “why,” build your team and lead with gratitude.

“Let your local partners lead,” he said. “Listen more than you speak. And always thank the people who make the experience possible — from bus drivers to tour guides to the students themselves.”

A lasting legacy

For some, like Taylor, the trip was a connection to ancestral roots. For others, like Guerra, it was a journey into a future career in global health. And for faculty like Gato, it was another step in a long walk toward transformative education — one that transcends borders, disciplines and expectations.

“Everything we teach in a lecture hall comes alive in Ghana,” he said.