Global Leadership Adventures (GLA) Reviews

It is very hard to summarized 3 weeks in to a paragraph, it is hard to believe but this trip has made a huge impact on how i viewed the world. I was very nervous and anxious before the trip because it was my first time ever leave the country alone. I was hoping that a member of GLA would somehow purchased the same flight I had but it did not happen. However, I was glad that I was by myself on my flight to Peru because it made me more confident and I even made friends with people. One thing I wish I knew was that I need to pick up my luggage when I arrived in Lima airport; when I landed in Cuzco, I found out that my suitcase was stuck in Lima and it would take 2 to 3 days before I could get it.

Flash forward to my arrival, I was the first student in my group to arrived. I was greeted by my mentors who made me felt right at home. When my fellow student arrived, they were so nice and sweet that I fit right in. The view I had of Peru when I got there was already amazing, but with the people whom I spend 3 weeks, I will never forget it.

The mentors were so friendly and sweet that our group eventually call them our dad, mom, and bigger sister. The locals were so sweet and amazing. The people i volunteer for treated us with respect and teaches us new skill;, they never made us feel uncomfortable at all and trusted us with all their heart. Even though the local live in poverty, you can never find them without a smile on their face. I have learn to be grateful for the privileges I have because the people in Peru always enjoy the little things in life even when things were rough.

The most unforgettable event that I will always treasure is when I learn how to knit with the women. It was the second to last week of my short trip and I promised my self I would learn how to knit, so I went to a workshop at the place I volunteered at and asked the women to teach me how to knit. Between my limited knowledge of Spanish and the women who couldn't speak English, they agreed to teach me. I spend an entire day learning how to knit in different patterns. The women were very gentle, they showed me the right ways when I was wrong, then eventually they allowed me to knit my first beanie. Leaving the women there was the hardest; they cried when I said goodbye. Even though I only knew them for a short period of time, tears didn't stop flowing out of one of the women's cheek. I promised her and myself that I would study hard and one day I will return and visit here and the people there.

Where do I even start? How do I explain the most amazing three weeks of my life? On the last day I was definitely not ready to go home. I could live there forever in all honesty. Our GLA group truly became a family. One student I became very close with through working with her separately and she, too, became a sister to me. The students are all so adorable. All of the people there are so friendly and loving--even if you've just met them. I daily miss being called "mzungu"(white person) walking down the road and random children running up to us to hold our hand. Beside the family, friends, and home I gained, we hiked to some gorgeous waterfalls, spent a day with some incredible Maasai in their boma, and got to see elephants, lions, and other safari animals in their beautiful homes which we call Tarangire National Park and Ngorogoro Crater. It really was an unforgettable trip. The truth is, I can't explain those three weeks there. I can't explain my love for the people, school, and even the town itself. I can try my best, but the only way anyone could understand is by experiencing it for themself. Don't miss out!!! You have all of this and more to look forward to.

This summer, I visited Ecuador and the Galapagos for 2 weeks with GLA. It was a truly rewarding experience- I met so many amazing people that I bonded with, and I did a lot of things (such as volunteer in a giant tortoise preserve) that I could not have done anywhere else in the world.
A highlight of my trip was swimming with sea lions. In the Galapagos, wild sea lions would approach us and swim circles around us while we were snorkeling. Even though it happened pretty frequently during our snorkeling expeditions, playing with wild sea lions never stopped being amazing.
Going through this program is a great experience, and I would recommend it to everyone. The Galapagos is beautiful and wild and completely unparalleled, and this program allows us to experience it to the fullest.

I had the time of my life in Ghana this summer building an eco-compost toilet for one of the local villages! I came home wanting to go back and I truly miss it every day. The lively spirit and the welcoming nature brought a smile to my face every single day that I was there and I made the most incredible friends of whom I still talk to all the time! If I could have spent my entire summer in Ghana I definetely would have and I hope to return next summer, as do some of the students from my trip! Everywere you go when you leave the home base you recieve warm welcomes and I have never felt so happy to be somewhere. I found wholesome comfort in a situation where I least expected it and I truly wake up every morning wanting to be back. We learned the local language there, "Ewe" and picked it up pretty fast so that we could communicate with all of the kids and people outside the village, which I thought was so important. Coming back to America and knowing the basics of Ewe after two weeks felt incredible and I was so excted to teach some of it to my family. The part of this trip that meant the most to me though was how much I was contributing to a community. You get to meet the people and play with the kids of which will be benefitted by his toilet for decades. I think before going on this trip I knew that public health was a huge issue, but seeing it firsthand absolutely changed my life and I plan to actually study public health and work on projects similar to this in my future. This was the most incedible experience of my life and everyone around me can see the change it made in my life. I hope everyone who is considering going on this trip next year goes for it- you'll be so happy you did!

This past summer, I went on the Thailand Cultural Kaleidoscope Program with Global Leadership Adventures and had an absolutely amazing two weeks. We were able to experience so many different cultural experiences in such a short amount of time, hence, I felt like we got a lot out of our time there. We went ziplining, tried and cooked local foods and dishes, bamboo rafted, explored Buddhist temples, hiked through hill tribe villages, rode elephants through the jungle, and bathed elephants in a local river. Along with this, one of the main focuses of our time in Thailand was going to a school and teaching English to the Thai children. It was an absolutely amazing experience unlike anything I had ever done before.
The GLA staff really made the trip what it was. They were knowledgeable about the country and made us feel safe at all times. Along with those important things, they were also very fun, funny, and easy to relate to.

GLA Costa Rica sports adventure trip was one of the best trips I have ever taken. The program provided top of the line housing and staff. I met so many people that I know will be life long friends. Experiencing the culture and meeting the locals was life changing. It changed my whole perspective of the world.

My adventure in Costa Rica was, without a doubt, one of the best experiences in my life. The three weeks were a perfectly constructed concoction of work, education, and fun(don't worry, they were mainly fun). Almost every weekday involved work early in the morning with the community. Sometimes the work was hard, but it was extremely fulfilling and it was never boring. We planted coffee plants, fertilized the land they were grown in, made bokashi(manure), mixed cement to make sidewalks and stairways, and stuffed eco-bricks. Every day, after lunch, the moms from the communities would make us delicious, authentic Costa Rican food. Usually we would return to home base for Spanish lessons- and several times these were held in the city, so we could unleash our newly learned Spanish skills on the natives. There were group activities every night that made sure we were introduced quickly and were all close friends within days. Every weekend, we were given a break from Spanish lessons and the community work and were instead taken on awesome excursions. The trip definitely changed my view on the world and was a great way to spend part of my summer, I wish there had been a way to extend my stay.

My only regret about the trip was having to leave all of the people I had grown so fond of during my stay and knowing I wouldn't see many of them again.

In June of 2015 I was part of Sports Service Adventure in Costa Rica with the organization GLA. From the minute we got into the village we were greeted with warm hellos from everyone. Pura vida.. it's a lifestyle. It's the way were welcomed and made to belong.
We had locals cook us amazing meals to get us all set for our hard day at work. Even though we worked really hard everyday we always had a fun activity to end the day off. The best part of this trip was feeling like you're a part of something great and knowing that you are changing the world. It was amazing to see the children so happy all the time. We were honoured to go play some soccer with the local kids and they were amazing, they're love for the game unreal and their playing was impeccable. I met some amazing people that I will never forget for the rest of my life. This experience has changed me in so many good ways. I am now so grateful for what I have and wanting to make a difference in the world. . Definitely the most amazing thing I've ever done.

I can honestly say that these two weeks I spent in Costa Rica were the best fourteen days of my life. I have always loved to travel and to do service, and this program was a perfect combination of both. While we got to visit many beaches and go on many adventures such as hiking a volcano and zip lining, we also had multiple days designated to working in local schools where we got to interact with locals and use our Spanish skills and also to working on reforestation projects.
During my two weeks, my group had the opportunity to see both the dry forest and the rain forest, a unique feature to the program I chose. This was definitely one of my favorite parts of the program because it felt like two different trips in one. I also became friends with people from all over the country, whether that be Ticos, students that travelled with me, or my mentors. My group bonded and got along since day one, and we still talk almost every day. At the end of the two weeks, there were many tears shed as we said our goodbyes and had our final late night conversations.
I have learned so much about myself and about our planet from this trip because of GLA and my amazing mentors. It is truly a life changing experience, and I could not reccommend it enough.

When I embarked on my trip to the Dominican Republic through GLA, I had no idea what was in store for me. I thought it’d open my eyes to the world and the different conditions people live in, but I didn’t realize how incredibly my entire perspective on life would be affected.
Between the community members I interacted with, the mentors helping us process it all, and the other kids on the trip, I was inspired. I realized I have so much compared to some people, and that I have the ability to make an impact in the world. I realized there are other people like me, who need to make a difference to feel satisfied with their lives. I learned life lessons from people who have experienced life much differently than me. The mentors were truly some of the most inspiring people I have ever met, and in my other peers I could see the potential to do so much good in the world.
The trip was a good mix of service work and adventures through the beautiful island. We took a weekend trip to Santo Domingo, went in the mountains, hiked to a waterfall, and went to a Haitian market. Throughout all of the adventures, I was grateful to be surrounded by supportive people, who didn’t pressure me into anything, but encouraged me to do what they knew I was capable of. I was grateful to be able to appreciate the peacefulness of nature, the loud market, the bustling city, and the beautiful mountains. Being able to immerse in a culture so unlike my own in such a safe way is something I’m forever grateful of.
On this trip, I met little kids who live in the worst conditions imaginable, and yet have the most beautiful laughs that they show off often. I jumped off a cliff and I hiked my first mountain, and was overwhelmed by the support and encouragement I got when I didn’t think I’d be able to do it. I helped to create cement floors and build community centers. I felt humble, excited, inspired... and now I feel changed. After returning home, I realize this trip changed the way I look at others, the world, and most importantly, myself. I am stronger than I think I am, and this trip helped me to realize that. I have learned that we all have the ability to change the world...we all can "be the change." I am so grateful to have had the chance to do this, and I would do it all over again if I could.