Why did you decide to volunteer abroad with Operation Groundswell in Ghana?
Lev: My former housemate and close friend Jeremy Kirshbaum recommended me to apply to an OG trip after he was hired as an OG guide. I was anxious to get out of my small college town and took his advice on a whim.
It was one of the best decisions I've ever made! I was intrigued by the fact that the program didn't consider itself as a mere tourism group, but offered a trip all over Ghana while closely interacting through communal work with the local residents.
I've never heard of the word backpactivist until I joined OG, but now I have a very good understanding of the term due to my experience. By working with other people and hearing about their lives I learned much more about the struggles and successes.
Also, our two guides facilitated very well construed and insightful discussions which challenged us to look at the events that happened during the day through different lenses and encouraged us to form opinions.
Has your worldview changed as a result of your trip?
Lev: Yes my worldview was enriched dramatically after my trip with OG to Ghana.
As mentioned before, I feel like I received a fully fledged class in social sciences and humanitarian work due to our discussions. The discussions happened every few days in the night before we prepared for bed. We reanalyzed our experiences and discussed what we thought it meant with the rest of the group.
Hearing stories and opinions of our guides, who were experienced travelers in Ghana, made us understand the cultural differences and social trends we saw on a much deeper level. The impact of the trip itself is insurmountable.
I became much more politically engaged. The trip inspired me to engage in my community and pursue a career in the humanitarian sector.
What was the best moment of the trip?
Lev: It is hard to say what moment of the trip was the best, as there were so many euphoric moments on a DAILY basis which contested to be the best that I soon lost track of them.I remember having a discussion with my team members a week after coming into the country and agreeing in unison that everyone feels as if they were in Ghana for at least a month because memorable events where so tightly packed into each day.
I can say that the most memorable part was when we all climbed an enormous mountain in Volta Region and stayed the night in a remote village of Wli Todzi. Sitting in the village, looking at drummers beating rhythms and tending to the fire, I experienced an elating feeling of the peculiarity of the situation I found myself in.
Here I was with a group of newly acquainted but dear friends, sitting and chatting as if we were at a college event, but instead being in a village in Ghana, surrounded by intrigued but very friendly local residents and listening to drummers under a cool night sky. Moments just as unimaginable as this one came time and time again, but this one stuck in my memory.
How has this experience impacted your future?
Lev: A local resident of one of the towns we visited told me in a prophetic voice that traveling is like having a pouch of magic power herbs in one's pocket at all time. I couldn't agree with him more.
After coming back I felt like I had a much more sober outlook on my last year of college, on the years ahead, and on what I want to do with the time. I felt a sudden surge of energy which felt like inspiration, propelling me through challenges for months on end.
Apart from the sensational experience I also gained an outsiders perspective on my own culture, perceiving it now with the anthropological eye I attained while in Ghana.
Professionally, OG was as a good as a qualified summer job. I am pursuing a career in international aid and the fact that I had experience surviving and working with others in a foreign country before I even finished college made me stand out from my peers.