Firefighter Goes on Humanitarian Trip to Ghana

Firefighter Kevin Duggan of Engine 263 has found his calling.

He traveled to Takoradi, Ghana, in March to help children in an orphanage, just months after returning from a humanitarian mission in Ecuador.

“It’s better than any vacation I’ve ever been on,” he said just hours after returning from the African nation. “It gave me a different view of the world.”

During the 10-day trip, Firefighter Duggan said he and a group of 23 students and chaperones from West Connecticut University helped children at a local orphanage (he was invited on the trip by one of the chaperones whom he met on his trip to Ecuador).

They poured a cement floor and painted a new 30 x 32 foot building with an aluminum ceiling and no windows that the Navy erected for the orphanage to use as a school.

He said no one in the group was skilled at construction, but they were creative with their execution of the project. For example, they used water bottles to serve as levels and drains.

The group also interacted with the children, teaching them English and taking them on trips to the ocean.

He said one of his most memorable experiences from the trip came while on a jog at the beach. In a fisherman’s village he encountered a group of children who had never seen a man with his fair complexion. They followed him as he ran, mimicking his every move.

“It was such an amazing experience,” he said.

He added that everyone he met was extremely welcoming and kind. They could not stop thanking him and wanted to talk about American life and politics.

“The people were so friendly,” Firefighter Duggan said of the African nation. “They really had a sense about being one with the world.”

After this and his medical mission trip to Guayaquil, Ecuador, with Healing the Children last fall, Firefighter Duggan said he is hooked on humanitarian work and is already planning his next adventure.

“I’m going to try to put together a mission trip - maybe one with a group of firefighters,” he said. “It’s in my blood now.”