2007.01.17: January 17, 2007: Headlines: COS - Ghana: Art: Painting: Murals: The Columbian: Erica Brown has has helped her students create seven murals on school buildings as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana
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2007.01.17: January 17, 2007: Headlines: COS - Ghana: Art: Painting: Murals: The Columbian: Erica Brown has has helped her students create seven murals on school buildings as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana
Erica Brown has has helped her students create seven murals on school buildings as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana
Brown teaches art at a school for the deaf in a village outside of the port town of Takoradi. The job is a perfect fit considering she has a degree from Western Washington University in mixed media studio art. She's learned two languages, Twi, which is spoken by most Ghanians, and Fante, which is spoken in the region where she lives. She has also learned American Sign Language with a few cultural changes, which helps her out on her job. During her time at the school for the deaf she has helped her students create seven murals on school buildings, including one to remind them to wash their hands with soap. "The students eat with their hands, so to prevent disease spreading we started a campaign to wash hands with soap, starting with a mural," she wrote in an e-mail.
Erica Brown has has helped her students create seven murals on school buildings as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana
Neighbors Go Global: Felida resident enjoys Peace Corps stint in Ghana
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
KIM JARVIS Columbian staff writer
Caption: A mural in Africa. This is not the mural Erica Brown painted with her students in Takoradi. Photo: CharlesFred Flickr Creative Commons
Erica Brown, a Felida resident, has spent the past year and a half as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana and has another six or seven months to look forward to upon her return this month.
Brown teaches art at a school for the deaf in a village outside of the port town of Takoradi. The job is a perfect fit considering she has a degree from Western Washington University in mixed media studio art.
"I'd always thought of doing some sort of service work," she said of her decision to join the Peace Corps.
The Skyview High School graduate spent her first two months in Tetcheman, living with a family and taking part in the Peace Corps training sessions.
She's learned two languages, Twi, which is spoken by most Ghanians, and Fante, which is spoken in the region where she lives. She has also learned American Sign Language with a few cultural changes, which helps her out on her job.
During her time at the school for the deaf she has helped her students create seven murals on school buildings, including one to remind them to wash their hands with soap.
"The students eat with their hands, so to prevent disease spreading we started a campaign to wash hands with soap, starting with a mural," she wrote in an e-mail.
She has also helped create a book on HIV and AIDS that incorporates English, American Sign Language and pictures to help the students understand the topic.
"It worked amazingly well," Brown said, "The kids were so attentive."
She has also created a girls club, "to empower the girls and educate them about female health," she wrote. The girls in Ghana do most of the work in the home and community while the men farm or work at other jobs, she said.
Brown is the daughter of Kathleen and Michael Brown, the pastor at First Presbyterian Church.
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Headlines: January, 2007; Peace Corps Ghana; Directory of Ghana RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Ghana RPCVs; Art; Painting; Murals
When this story was posted in March 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:




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Story Source: The Columbian
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Ghana; Art; Painting; Murals
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