Program Reviews

Hello, my daughter went on the Costa Rica beach side service adventure trip. Initially, my wife and I were really worried sending her to a foreign country alone. I can honestly say I was very pleased with the way GLA handled everything. I needed to get in contact with her on the trip and they quickly got her to a phone. I felt very confident in the GLA staff and program. I am so excited for her to be going on her next trip this Spring to the Dominican Republic. Thank you GLA!!

My daughter went on the 2 week Tanzania trip in 2017. I cannot say enough about how fantastic GLA is! She had the trip of a lifetime. Not only did she fall absolutely in love with Tanzania (the second she got home she has been bugging us about going back!), she loved the experience as a whole, exploring, teaching the children, and meeting new friends from all across the globe and spending this journey with them. She has truly met friends of a lifetime and has already reconnected with some friends back here in the United States multiple times! How cool is that? I would highly recommend GLA to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Their professionalism is amazing, and they truly do everything they say they are going to do. They made planning this trip very easy and will answer any question with delight! From the second we began to plan our daughters trip with GLA, to the second she returned home, everything went as smooth as possible! GLA changed my daughters life, and for that, I am forever grateful!

This previous July, I took a two week service trip to the Dominican Republic with Global Leadership Adventures, and participated in their Global Health Initiative program. The experience was absolutely life changing. The home base we stayed at for our two weeks in Barahona, Dominican Republic was beautiful. The living conditions were above average, and I was so comfortable the duration of the stay. The mentors and directors are some of the nicest, most genuine people I have ever met. They are willing and able to help with any problems you may have, whether it be related to the program or not. The educational part of the program was amazing. I have an entire notebook filled with interesting facts I learned about the Dominican culture, memories I made, notes, and graphs. We even had the opportunity to have an organized debate on universal healthcare. Every night, we would finish up our day of service and adventures with a lecture, followed by mentor groups, where we would just sit and talk, unwind, and become closer as a Global Leadership Adventures family. For anyone interested in going on a Global Leadership Adventures trip, I would 100% recommend this company. I've never had a more rewarding experience. A+ for GLA!

This past summer, I traveled 7,515 miles from New Jersey, USA to Tanzania, Africa, all thanks to Global Leadership Adventures (GLA). Truthfully, words could never adequately describe the experience I had. Before leaving, I was skeptical of the GLA Tanzania Alumni I would see saying things like "life changing" and the "experience of a lifetime". Boy, was I wrong! It definitely is something that you have to experience for yourself to truly understand. However, I hope that in seeing my love and passion for the program, along with thousands of others teens from all around the world, that you are inspired to give it a go! On the Tanzania 14 day program, you get to teach at a primary school for one week, complete 30 hours of volunteer service (doing some type of refurbishing on the school), spend a day with a host family, explore local markets, villages and communities, spend time in an orphanage, hike the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro and even swim in a river there, tour a coffee farm, dance with locals, create traditional African art, embark on a two day safari (AMAZING), try new and exotic foods, and SO much more. Additionally, you make real, deep, meaningful connections with like-minded teenagers who will absolutely, positively be some life long friends of yours! Most importantly though, you learn about yourself! Whoever you are and wherever you came from, you are guaranteed to be enlightened, awakened and have an entirely new perspective on the world at large once your time is up! If you're really daring, I would even say to go for the Flagship (21 day) program, because 14 days really fly! Take a chance! GO FOR IT!

I went to Belize two summers ago and it was the most amazing thing I've ever done. Everything about it was so incredible - the safety, the service, the excursions, the staff, etc. I went on the three week trip and it was everything I could have asked for and more. We taught a three week summer camp for kids at a local primary school. I really liked how we stayed in the same classroom each day, so we could make meaningful relationships with the students. After 10 days of camp, my class was like a family. It's crazy how close you can become with someone in that short amount of time. It's been a year and a half since my trip, and I still talk to the kids through Facebook. I even got to go back to Belize with my family for spring break and visit all the kids I taught at. Although the trip eventually ends, the relationships and memories are lifelong. The service was definitely my favorite part of the trip.
In the afternoons, we would go on excursions! My favorite was the weekend trip to Caye Caulker - one of the many beautiful islands of Belize. We went snorkeling, swimming and got to relax on the beach and reflect on all the amazing memories we made. Some of the other excursions we did were cave tubing, orange picking, going to the zoo and many more!
Safety is definitely GLA's main priority. The homebase is super safe and the staff makes it feel like home. I can't speak highly enough about GLA. I had such an amazing time in Belize that I went on another GLA trip this past summer!

I recently traveled to Guatemala through Global Leadership Adventures and had the most awesome experience! I met so many new friends that I am still in contact with while learning and helping out in a different country. From traveling to Guatemala there are so many different goals I have set for myself to reach corresponding to the service work we did there. The staff members are so welcoming and I felt safe all the time, so I would totally recommend GLA!

Over the past summer, I went on this program and I was pretty nervous to travel alone and not know anybody. Little did I know that I was going to have the time of my life! This program helped me meet people that I can call my long lost bestfriends! I developed relationships with people who amazed me everyday with their kindness and generosity! I developed myself as a person through many different aspects. First, this trip helped grow my love for community work and missionaries. It makes me feel better about myself when I am helping others and this program was all about that. Second, I went out of my comfort zone and was able to have a fun time without having to worry! There is so much more I could include but I reccomend that everyone goes on a trip with Global Leadership Adventures and sees for themselves. The staff who accompanied me on this trip was awesome. I couldn't of asked for better people to lead my way to bettering myself as a human and bettering the people of Belize. The housing of this trip was awesome and the beds were comfy. The food was out of this world! I’m currently missing the abnormously large amount of plantains that would be accessible to us at all moments. This program has influenced me to want to be more involved with my community at home and the world around me! I will be going on another missions trip just because of how awesome this one was. My favorite memory about this trip was working with the kids. I worked with the younger age group and they were all so adorable and excited to learn. What I really took out of this experience is the fact that kids in Belize wanted to learn so bad while people at my home complain about going to school everyday. The kids in Belize would showup to the school we taught at running up to the friends I made and I hugging us! They would say thank you as much as possible just because we taught them the alphabet or some numbers. This really amazed me and made me realize that I need to be more grateful about how lucky I am to be able to go to school everyday. I reccomend that everyone who can goes on this trip and makes a memory close to this one. A memory that can change their outlook on life and make an extraordinary impact just like Belize; The Iniative for Children did for me :)

My daughter traveled to Ecuador and Galapagos the summer of 2017.
She had an amazing trip and now is taking her second GLA trip this spring break 2018. GLA staff was great. I recommend GLA for teens who are independent, spirited and looking for a way to give back to the world. Although I am just a parent and didn't get to go myself it was amazing to see the oppuertunity spark her interest.
Pam Prast mother of 15 year old traveler.

The global leadership adventures is a beyond extraordinary program. I am 17 years old in high school and I wanted to go out and do something new I came upon the program as a basic ad lurking on social medias. I spent hours roaming their website from looking to videos, blogs, and pictures. I decided to enroll into the beachside service program in Costa Rica, Global leadership adventures helped step by step they even had checklist for me ! This team made my experience breath taking, I met people from all over the world, learned to be more independent, and I even keep in contact with my mentor. If anyone is looking to travel abroad I would highly recommend global leadership adventures. The trip impacted my life in so many ways I see the world differently I interact with people differently even myself I learned to be more open and willing in many situations. On GLA trips they make you feel like your at home!

This past summer, I traveled to Anloga, Ghana for three weeks on the Children of Africa program with Global Leadership Adventures (GLA). In simple terms, this trip was a life-changing experience. Between the perfect balance of service, culture, and the incredible people I met, I will forever remember my time in the amazing country of Ghana. Our days began at 7 am with a delicious breakfast, then we broke into our three mentor groups to go to our schools. At Zico Primary, my mentor group’s school, we started by making bricks; these bricks would go toward building school facilities because there is an issue of overcrowding. After brick making, we taught for an hour. My two partners and I taught first graders english, science, and math. I had never taught before in a classroom setting so it was quite challenging but very fun and rewarding by the end of the three weeks. I made an incredible relationship with my students and learned a bit of Ewe, the local language, along the way. After returning from school and eating lunch, we did a variation of activities each day. For example, one day we shopped in the Anloga and Keta markets. There, we bought traditional fabric which we then brought to seamstresses who sewed clothing for us. When we returned from our afternoon activities, we ate dinner and began our evening activity. Days were packed full with lots to do and each activity had the purpose of meeting new people and learning about Ghanaian culture. Aside from the schedule, I want to acknowledge the amazing staff on site. Each mentor group has a mentor and a local staff member; there is also an international director and a local staff director. Everyone is extremely nice and approachable. They accompany you on every adventure and they are great people to get to know and talk to; they each come from such interesting and different backgrounds so make sure you get to know them! GLA does an amazing job at finding incredible staff, providing a fun, activity-packed trip, and ensuring our safety. I cannot recommend this company enough! I will never forget my experience in Ghana and will remember all of the wonderful memories I made there.