Ghana: Children of Africa

My name is Leia and I am currently a senior in high school. Over the summer break me and my family decided to enroll in a volunteer organization abroad with Global Leadership Adventures. I enrolled in the three week summer program called Ghana: the Children of Africa. The volunteer mission of the trip is to learn how to build bricks to organize a new school for the education field in Ghana. As students we also went to local primary schools to teach children academic subjects such as Math, English, and science. We were each assigned a partner to teach the primary students at the two different schools.

During the three weeks we wake up to eat breakfast at 7:00 and then we leave to visit the school for brick making at 8:00. We were split into two separate mentor groups to perform the brick making and organize meetings. It was a fun and playful competition about who could make the more and higher quality bricks. We gathered the materials such as shovels, buckets, and cement. We mixed the dirt and cement with water and put it into the brick container. Then we lay the container on the ground to form the brick. After the brick making, we traveled to the schools. I love the children because they were very warm, welcoming, and friendly. My partner and I came up with lesson plans to read English stories to them, multiplication and division problems, and living vs nonliving in science. I loved playing rock paper scissors, duck duck goose, and drawing with them.

I had a wonderful experience with the local staff, international staff/mentors, and most importantly meeting new students from around the world to appreciate Ghanaian culture. I loved the cultural activities such as learning the drums, participating in Ghanaian dance moves, cooking red red and fried plantain with the chefs, getting my hair braided, high school cultural exchange and visiting a local church. I loved having dance parties at night with my peers. I deeply enjoyed the high school cultural exchange because we played games and sports and it was fun to interact with students my age. I still speak to some girls I met in Ghana. It was amazing to engage with the cultural traditions and celebrate. One of the reasons I chose the Ghana program is because my parents and family are from Jamaica. Jamaica and Ghana have a very close history and way of life such as food and social customs.

I love Global Leadership Adventures because of the values they teach to the students about how to become a leader. Global Leadership Adventures is very passionate about how a leader doesn’t always have to be born but can always be made. Every day on the trip there were one or two leaders of the day and we would wear necklaces, direct the cultural activities, make announcements, write a journal entry of the day and more. It is crucial to build up the confidence and find the leader inside of you. It was fun to engage in the mentor groups and talk about how we were doing and participating in social activities. I also loved the full group meetings because of the bond we shared and learning about different strategies to be a leader.

Prior to this trip I did not see myself as a leader but the experience, support, and independence I have gained has increased my confidence and self- value. I highly recommend Global Leadership Adventures to any student because the program was life-changing and an experience I’ll never forget.

Our experience with Global Leadership Adventures (GLA) has been outstanding. From the very beginning, the entire process was well-organized and thorough. The GLA team provided excellent communication, ensuring we were well-informed and prepared every step of the way.

My daughter recently participated in the GLA program in Ghana, and it was an incredible experience for her. The program was meticulously planned, with a perfect balance of educational activities, cultural immersion, and community service. She felt safe, supported, and inspired throughout her journey.

The dedication and professionalism of the GLA team made this experience truly memorable for my daughter. We are grateful for the opportunity and highly recommend GLA to other families seeking meaningful and impactful travel experiences for their children.

During the summer of 2023, I attended my second GLA program. I went to Ghana where for two weeks, I worked in a school with a group of other like minded youth from around the United States. We worked in a classroom teaching and we helped to build a floor in a building that was to become an office. I loved my experience. It went above and beyond my expectations. My dream is to lead a life of service working in the non-profit sector with feet on the ground. Ghana was a great way to start this. I loved working with the children and other kids on the program and the GLA staff was amazing. This program helped define what I want to do with my life, and, as cliche as it sounds, was truly the experience of a lifetime. The service was fun and rewarding and we were truly immersed in the culture, something I believe that is uniquely GLA. We were able to meet people who hold leadership positions in the village and get hands on cultural activities such as Batik cloth making and bead making. GLA is one of the best experiences I have ever had and I encourage everyone who has the opportunity to go on this trip, to do so.

My son went to Ghana for two weeks this summer. (Previously he went to Thailand and Costa Rica with GLA.) This trip seemed to have the biggest impact on him. (In fact, it was the subject of his college application essay!) The Ghana trip immersed him in a community that was the least familiar. Drinking water out of plastic bags and taking cold showers was one thing, but it was really seeing the village - the homes, clothes, food, technology, etc. - and meeting the people (kids and adults), that had him evaluating what makes people happy, what creates meaning in life. He saw firsthand that our way of life (middle-class American) is not the 'best' or 'right' way of life. This challenged his assumptions and, in turn, taught him that many popular assumptions might not be completely correct. It really opened his mind, which I think is so important as he heads off to college. He loved working with the kids and was amazed at the rigor of their education. I truly think that his travel with GLA has been one of the most valuable things we have done to shape him into a confident, open-minded, worldly young man.

Global Leadership Adventures is hands down AMAZING.....My experience in Ghana was absolutely incredible and I can honestly say it has changed my life forever. Ever since I was a little girl I have always had the dreams to help those in need and to travel. But I was often told I was too young and to wait until I am older and more mature. GLA believes that anyone can become a leader it doesn't matter how old you are. I am so incredibly happy that I decided to do this trip at 14 years old because it completely flipped my life around in the best way possible.

While in Ghana we were able to participate in so many amazing cultural experiences including Ghanaian dancing, Bead markets, and we were even able to attend Church.
The service aspect of the trip was also a part that left me absolutely speechless. We worked in classrooms of children ranging from babies to 6th grade helping with their overall care and also very important academic skills the children would need to move on to their next grade.
But the truly most impactful part of the trip for me was park time. We did this every single day of the program for at least 2-3 hours. This was the time everyone made the deepest connections with the children of krobo that I will cherish forever.

An aspect of the program I wasn't expecting to be as impactful as it was. Was the teens I got to experience the whole thing with. I can truly say that each one of them will be my lifelong friends and I am so grateful to GLA for giving me that.

I will be returning to the same program next year and plan to until I age out of GLA. I would encourage EVERY SINGLE PERSON to participate on this program and honestly any program GLA has to offer.

Since I was young, I've always loved to travel and do volunteer work. When I found GLA online I was ecstatic to complete both of the things I love to do at once, the only problem was picking a country (because of the variety of countries they offer, which I LOVED) and the price. The great thing was GLA offered grants and scholarships that enabled me to travel to Ghana, so don't let the price stop you from enrolling all you have to do is talk to a GLA representative. I picked Ghana the 21 day Children of Africa trip because of the motive of education and cultural immersion. Once I enrolled GLA had helpful tips on packing and what to expect which really prepared me for my journey, even a webinar to further prepare the students and parents. Throughout the whole process GLA was available to answer questions and keep both me and my mother informed. Once we arrived in Ghana the staff was outside the airport waiting for our arrival to welcome us to the country, all the students checked in with the staff and were given a way to communicate with there parents that they made it safely. From that point till the very last day the staff was hands down AMAZING. The trip was everything I ever hoped for: culturally immersing, exploring the sites, interacting with the locals, playing and teaching kids, etc. The trip exceeded my expectations, it was truly life changing being able to share a passion of travel and service with people from all over the world your age. I will never forget this experience.

Hi! I am a Global Leadership Adventures Alumni and I had an amazing trip with GLA. I choose Ghana: children of Africa and this was the best experience of my life. In Ghana, we lived in a house that was in the village I volunteered in. There wasn't ever any moment that I felt unsafe. At the age of 15, this was not only my first time traveling into Africa but my first time traveling alone. I feel that I have grown a lot, everything from no longer having a single story of Africa to knowing how to check in my bags. I didn't know much about the culture. shortly after arriving we got a little history and visited a host family to learn how to speak some Krobo. The program staff were very supportive and were always there to talk if you needed anything. a million words can't begin to explain the love, joy, and so many more emotions from this trip.

Hi! I am a Global Leadership Adventures Alumni and I had an amazing trip with GLA. I choose Ghana: children of Africa and this was the best experience of my life. In Ghana, we lived in a house that was in the village I volunteered in. There wasn't ever any moment that I felt unsafe. At the age of 15, this was not only my first time traveling into Africa but my first time traveling alone. I feel that I have grown a lot, everything from no longer having a single story of Africa to knowing how to check in my bags. I didn't know much about the culture. shortly after arriving we got a little history and visited a host family to learn how to speak some Krobo. The program staff were very supportive and were always there to talk if you needed anything. a million words can't begin to explain the love, joy, and so many more emotions from this trip.