"The younger students really want to know one thing: are there big differences between you and me?" says Akua Akyea, a UI alum from Ghana who has participated in the University’s International Classroom Program (ICP) for the past seven years. "I spend a lot of time speaking about commonalities. They ask if we live in houses and have roads and keep pets. And, of course, I answer yes to all of the above. As they get a little older, they understand the similarities, so we address the subtleties–the realities of living abroad."

Akyea is trilingual, speaking fluent English, French, and Ewe, an indigenous language of Ghana. She came to Iowa in 1993, following her parents who had moved here so her father, an international peace worker, could complete a cross-disciplinary Ph.D. in anthropology, art history, and English. Akyea also completed a bachelor’s degree in an interdisciplinary program–Literature, Science, and the Arts–at The University of Iowa. Then she went on to earn a J.D. as well as a master’s degree in African American World Studies.

Someday she plans to start a law practice specializing in immigration and domestic violence. But right now, she is very happy to be interim assistant director of cross-cultural programming and outreach in International Programs at the University.

"This program is so important," Akyea says. "It’s great for international and internationally minded students because it gives them the chance to speak about and validate their experiences. The audience gets to see that moment at which people from different cultures can communicate and have a dialogue. This is so helpful in building communities."

ICP recruits volunteers from countries around the world, offering them the flexibility to talk about various areas of expertise: everything from native dances to the religions or economies of their countries of origin. Schools in southeastern Iowa request ICP speakers to augment curricula ranging from social studies to history to world government.

The University also uses ICP volunteers to enrich classes. The Department of Spanish and Portuguese, for instance, invites native speakers from Mexico, South America, and Central America, as well as Spain. They help students hear and understand the differences between dialects and understand the cultures that shape and mold the language.

But it is the contact with young children that Akyea says makes the program most satisfying. So satisfying, in fact, that she has gotten both her brothers–Ansa, an MFA student in theatre arts, and Modei, who recently finished a bachelor’s degree in Literature, Science, and the Arts–to speak about Africa in elementary schools.

"What I know about young children is that they take information and blend it with what they know already," Akyea says. "Once we visit them, the world makes perfect sense–they don’t see any rough edges. I love that about them."