Ghana: An Immigrant’s Journey into American Healthcare

Ghana Neopaney

In July 2008, Ghana arrived in Cincinnati with his parents and two younger brothers.

Housing and employment were not readily available, so they were paired with another family in a single-bedroom apartment. Within 24 hours of their arrival, Ghana's family was introduced to representatives from Heartfelt Tidbits, who explained what would be happening over the next few weeks and the importance of the whole family learning to speak English.

Ghana spoke the best English of anyone in his family, and he was over 18. He shared that he dreamed of going to college and perhaps even completing a year of high school. He was devastated when he learned that because he spoke the most English, he would need to work before anything else could happen and would most likely become the family's sole provider until his parents learned English.

“When I came to the US I didn’t know what to expect. I knew I wanted to attend college and live the best life I could for my parents. After all, they made a tremendous sacrifice for my brothers and me years before when they fled their homeland with us to keep us safe. I’m happy because I see them happy, proud and at home here.”

Ghana agreed that he would do whatever he needed to do to make sure they were successful in their new home. He secured a job as a bagger at Kroger, while his brothers began school in the fall and his parents focused on learning English. Eventually his father began working at Cintas which provided Ghana an opportunity to cut back his work hours and begin college.

In the spring of 2008 he began working on his associate's degree in biomedical technology from Cincinnati State University. From there he went on to receive his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. During this time he also became a homeowner in Colerain Township, a husband, and a father.

After graduating college he secured a job at Varian, a company that creates cancer treatment equipment, and became trained on their Proton Therapy equipment. Today, Ghana is an integral part of Varian’s staff at Children’s Hospital in Liberty Township.

When Sheryl first took Ghana to register for courses at Cincinnati State, he asked how he could ever repay Heartfelt Tidbits for their help. Her response, “be the best you can be.” Ghana has truly accomplished this and exceeded all of our expectations for the man who arrived unsure of his future, but confident in his potential for success.