The Groundwork
A faculty familiarization trip to Ghana — see the ground before you bring your students to it.
For Faculty & Study Abroad Staff
You can't design a program for a place you haven't stood in
The Groundwork is a short, working familiarization trip for HBCU faculty and study abroad staff. You walk the sites your students would walk, meet the in-country team who would carry your program, and leave with a draft itinerary mapped to your curriculum.
No sales pitch, no pre-packaged tour. It exists so that when you stand in front of your provost, you are describing a program you have already seen work.
The Itinerary
Five days on the ground
Arrival in Accra
Airport pickup, hotel check-in, and a welcome dinner with the Nkabom in-country team. Orientation on the week ahead.
Accra as a classroom
Visit the sites your students would study — Black Star Square, W.E.B. Du Bois Centre, Jamestown — and meet the local educators and guides who teach them.
Cape Coast & Elmina
The castles and the Door of No Return. Walk the most important site of any diaspora program and see how we prepare students for it emotionally and academically.
Program design workshop
A working session with our academic team: map your syllabus to sites and experiences, draft the itinerary, and pressure-test budget and safety plans.
Community day & departure
Visit our community partners, experience the cultural programming students remember most, and depart with a concrete program draft in hand.
Ready to see it for yourself?
Book a call with our academic partnerships team. We'll cover upcoming Groundwork dates, costs, and whether the trip is the right fit for your program timeline.
Scheduling opens through our contact form while our booking calendar is being set up.