The nine local college students who spent seven weeks in Ghana earlier this summer had little choice but to chat each other up into the wee hours.

It was almost too warm to sleep.

"It was really, really hot," said Ally Bell, a rising Duke senior. "All the time. It was hot at night and hot during the day. We didn't have air conditioning. We had fans that were on a 60-minute rotation, so every 60 minutes someone had to get up and turn it back on."

The trip, a Duke study-abroad program, sent five Duke students and four N.C. Central University students to Ghana for seven weeks. They studied at the University of Ghana, met the locals and even spent 10 days living with native families.

The inclusion of the NCCU students came thanks to $70,000 in scholarship funding from Duke. It allowed the students two experiences: One, a glimpse at life in Africa. Two, an opportunity to make new friends with people they may not have otherwise met.

The nine students came from a variety of backgrounds. Two of the NCCU students grew up in African nations. One woman is from a large family in South Carolina and recently spent time in Iraq as a National Guard member. Another woman is from Trinidad.

Here's what one Duke student who attended wrote to Duke President Richard Brodhead upon returning to Durham.

"This summer, I traveled overseas for the first time in my life with the Duke in Ghana Study Abroad program. I owe Duke immense gratitude for many, many aspects of my invaluable experience there, but I particularly appreciate your office's support of the participation of four students from North Carolina Central University.

"Not only did Tracey, Da'Vita, Buka, and MacSwain become close friends of mine, but their backgrounds and perspectives enriched the group's experience of Ghana and enlivened its conversations. My time in Ghana would have been far less meaningful without their presence, so I sincerely hope that Central students will be allowed and encouraged to participate in this study abroad experience in the future."

Bell, the Duke senior, is from South Dakota. She came away thrilled with the experiences she had in Ghana and in getting to know her fellow travelers.

"It was a lot of people who did a lot of different things," she said. "... Seven weeks is a long time. You can get on people's nerves. But we were still friends at the end."