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Volunteer Benjamin Peter Hayzlett was an American volunteer with Challenging Heights in 2009. Challenging Heights has had many volunteers who have all made significant contributions to the organisation but Ben was a pioneer in terms of what those volunteers could achieve. Ben arrived in Ghana in May 2009 to teach at Challenging Heights School and immediately, the organisation’s Executive Director James Kofi Annan had his doubts. James was worried that the children would find it hard to understand his American accent and wouldn’t be able to learn from him. James also worried that the living conditions in the impoverished community would be too primitive for Ben. It didn’t take long for Ben to change James’s mind! Ben adapted to life in the community almost immediately and the children responded so well to his teaching he was able to work with students from the lowest to the highest level. Being the first volunteer to teach at Challenging Heights School wasn’t the only remarkable thing Ben was able to do during his time with Challenging Heights. One day while he was working in the school disaster struck. The roof of a newly constructed building collapsed. No one was hurt but it was a major setback for the school. Ben was one of the first on the scene, salvaging cement and materials and carrying it on his head like a true Ghanaian! Not only this, but Ben was able to rally together his family and friends back home to raise money to support the cost of fixing the damage. Ben is still remembered as the bravest volunteer to ever work with Challenging Heights. He ventured into the territory of the child traffickers in remote Lake Volta for 6 days! In remote fishing villages along the banks of Ghana’s Volta Lake, child traffickers put children to work on their boats and subject them to abuse and dangerous working conditions. Challenging Heights visits these communities to rescue children and to educate the communities on the issues and potential consequences of child trafficking. These communities lack accommodation so Challenging Heights staff have to stay under the same roofs as the traffickers themselves. The danger of this situation didn’t concern Ben who spent an entire week living in these communities helping with education campaigns and paving the way for Challenging Heights’ first rescue operation. On the lake, the room Ben was given to sleep in was so small he had to bend down to get into it. There was no running water, no electricity and no bathroom. Despite all these challenges, Ben lived with the fishermen, ate the same food and drank the same stagnant water! The Colleen Halverson Purpose Club based at Challenging Heights School is named after Ben’s mother who he says is a source of inspiration for him. |
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