Program Reviews

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.

My GLA experience in Bali was amazing and one I know I will not forget!

By being on this trip, I have developed leadership skills and better yet, friendships that will last a lifetime. Being a leader is not easy and can be a difficult task. However, on GLA's Bali program, each student was required to lead the entire group for one whole day. During the program, I realized that a leader must have deep convictions of his goals, be clear about what needs to be achieved, find the strength of each individual, and work with those strengths.

Being a leader was also very important in the classroom. On the first day of volunteering, we began with thirty students. And by the end, we concluded with almost ninety students. We taught English in meaningful subjects such as health, hygiene, body parts, animals, colors, numbers, and much more. Being a leader was important in the classroom to achieve the task at hand. We had to work with each other to create meaningful lesson plans. Meaningful lesson plans would then result in a transformative experience for the students we taught as it was just for me.

If you are thinking about joining GLA's Bali: Land of Discovery program, it is perfect for any person of any character. Bali is truly a land of discovery where you will always have a place in your heart for and a home to go to!

Bali is full of many fun activities to take part in and the staff will be sure that every student gets the most of their experience their! From getting off my flight in Denpasar, to going on an ultimate scavenger hunt in Ubud, to relaxing at a resort in Lovina, to taking a spider boat ride in the sunset, to going Scuba Diving for my first time in Amed, and most importantly volunteering at local schools in Singaraja, it was a fun and life changing experince I will never forget!

This was seriously the best experience I have ever had. Going into the program I was nervous since I was traveling alone, first time out of the country, and I didn't know anyone, but that's what made my experience even better. I made amazing friends who I miss dearly and the GLA mentors and Hotel Playa Garza staff were so amazing and supportive during my 3 weeks in Guanacaste. They don't lie about cultural immersion. Thoughout my whole stay we were talking with locals, participating in common acts, and comparing our lives with their during feedback every night. The adventure is no joke! Zip lining, surging, hiking, and whitewater rafting were extremely fun and something I had never done before. And not forgetting the main purpose, the children we met changed my point of view and I now hold a special place for them in my heart. The moment we finished the park for them, the smile on my face was from ear to ear just like the little ones faces were. That moment will be one of my favorites forever. I am so proud of myself for pushing my limits and it definitely paid off this summer and I would love to do it 20 more times if I could.

I went to Ghana this summer on the children of Africa program. I was there for three weeks. Those three weeks couldn't have been any better. The cost is completely worth it, the things you see and things you get to do are a priceless experience. I have traveled a lot but no trip has stuck to me like this one. It has opened my eyes so much to what I can do and has really helped me in deciding my future.

I absolutely loved getting to know the local staff and just walking around the village that we stayed in was so wonderful. Everyone that we encountered was so welcoming and kind, even though we were mzungus (white people). Whenever we passed people on the streets, a simple smile and hello would always be exchanged. That is possibly what i miss most about the trip; the common kindness that everyone carried with themselves.

I traveled with Global Leadership Adventures on the Children of the Maya trip to Guatemala, and I can truly say that it was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I not only met some amazing people from the country itself, but I met other students who are now some of my closest friends. Working with the kids at the schools where we volunteered was so heartwarming. We were all able to connect with these kids and to feel like we were making an impact. On top of all that, I gained a whole new understanding of Guatemalan culture that I never could have gotten without traveling with GLA and learning from the mentors and the local people we met. It was truly a life-changing experience, one that I will never forget.

I traveled to Peru last summer with Global Leadership Adventures and was completely blown away by the experience. I hadn't done a trip without knowing anyone going into it, so I came into the experience more than a little nervous and wary. But GLA exceeded all of my expectations. I felt completely safe and secure at every moment, and that was a big deal to me. The accommodations on the trip were great and the mentors on the trip were absolutely fantastic. Right from the start, I felt welcomed and supported, and as the trip went on I only grew more in awe of how cool they were. The other great aspect was they really take leadership, adventure, and cultural immersion into account, almost as much as they do meaningful service work.
Yet what made my trip truly exceptional were the other students. Before the trip, my friend who had done GLA Costa Rica told me that GLA attracts really cool people and I was going to make some really great friends, and that proved so true. Somehow I was lucky enough to get to explore Peru with 30 of the coolest, nicest, funniest people I had ever met. Lasting friendships just formed instantly and I'm so grateful for the relationships I formed, and my trip wasn't an exception to the norm. As I look at my opportunities in the future, I really don't know how anything could top my trip with GLA last summer.

Hello everyone! I was in the GLA Peru: Service in the Sacred Valley trip. My three weeks in Peru with Global Leadership Adventures were amazing! From hiking the Inca Trail to building a greenhouse for a local village in Cusco, the projects we worked on and the activities we did every day were unique and forced us out of our comfort zone to figure out new ways to achieve our goals. Our service project was to build the foundation for a greenhouse, and a major challenge was figuring out a system of transporting huge rocks up a hill and into the walls of the greenhouse. With the help of our mentors and other locals, we broke up into teams and built up the wall with impressive speed. The mentors on our trip were consistently dedicated to our success; they are inspirational people who taught me to look at the world in different ways and have helped me understand what I want to do in the future. At the end of my trip, I felt that I had made a definite impact on the village I worked in, and also that my worldview and understanding of problems faced by developing communities was deepened. I definitely recommend Global Leadership Adventures to anyone interesting in making a change while immersed in another culture.

If interested, you can visit their website at www.experiencegla.com or you can search "GLA Peru" in Facebook to read more about the trip and have questions answered from GLA Alumni.