Global Leadership Adventures (GLA) Reviews

My 16 year old daughter went on the 14 day animal rescue program last summer. I was hesitant at first since she had never traveled alone. We then found out one of her teammates had done a trip the summer before and she and her mother spoke highly of the experience. I gave in. Jules had the most amazing experience. Everything from the service work, the cultural learning, and of course the friendships. The staff were attentive to the students and Jules expressed that she always felt safe. Jules is a vegetarian and had no problem eating on the trip. The blog posts that were supposed to be 2-3 times a week, were almost daily which was very helpful for a nervous parent. To be able to read and see pictures of what they were doing, how much fun they were having, and how happy everyone seemed eased my concerns. She would have stayed longer if she could have and is already signed up for the upcoming summer for trips to the Galapagos and Thailand.

My daughter Hollie did the 2 week Tanzania trip with GLA in June, 2017. Hollie absolutely loved the entire trip, and was so inspired by it, that her feet have not touched the ground since! Thanks to the meaningful service work that GLA did on her trip (refurbish the classrooms), Hollie even took her service a step further when she returned home, by creating a fundraiser for the kids school, to further refurbish. Her fundraiser has gone very well so far, and she even has future plans to return back ASAP. Also, Hollie made several amazing friends on her trip, three of which happen to be from the same state as us, so they have gotten together multiple times, as well as two who live in the town where she will be attending college, and ones who stay in touch over the phone. GLA sparked a passion in Hollie that I know will be lifelong. If your child is thinking about going on a GLA trip, stop thinking and just GO. They will come home with so much more appreciation of the life they live in the USA.

Last school year, I decided on a whim that I wanted to go on a service trip abroad and began my search online for a well-qualified program that would meet my desires. I came across Global Leadership Adventures, and with reviews such as these, I made the decision to trust my travels with this organization. Throughout the application and admission process, the GLA staff was super helpful with any questions me or my mother had and could answer anything I threw at them by email within a day.
I left Virginia not knowing what to expect but once I met up with other girls in New York, some more in Amsterdam, and everyone else in Ghana I knew these next few weeks were going to be the best of my life because I was already becoming such good friends with the people on my trip.
Everyone from the people on the plane, the GLA hired staff, and the members of the Krobo community were so welcoming and positive which was a great start to the trip. This was by far the best experience I've ever had from playing with the kids, participating in local traditions, learning at the krobo girls high school, building bricks, and teaching the kids English.
The goodbyes were the only bad thing about this trip because the kids wouldn't let go and it was hard to make them do so. Ghana will forever hold a special place in my heart.

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 :)