First time out of the United States!

Like in my title this was my first trip out of the United States. Many of my family and friends were worried that I chose such a remote and far away place to be my first international trip but I cannot stress enough how perfect this was for my first time out of the country!! I was constantly given reminders through give on keeping up with papers (passport, visa, vaccinations ect.) which helped me a lot to understand what I needed to do and in a timely manner. They also even have a travel agent as an option to help with flights which I loved to lessen my stress. Even when I did have a flight cancellation due to weather I was able to easily figure it out and had Give staff leader, Hannah, also helping me if I were to need any extra assistance. Once arrived I was a bit nervous not having any service but Give staff was there to pick me up and greet me! I also loved not having to worry about accommodations and food as that was all included! It really allows you to be able to relax and take in the beautiful place of stone town when not having to try and search around. When we arrived in Kairo I was so excited to see how close we were to the Indian Ocean!! It was paradise!

Our days of education and construction were always well planned out in advance and so it was easy to get in a bit of a groove. Those days were also very rewarding to see the progress in the students (including myself as I learned a lot from them too) and in the construction you will do at the school. Some days were very hard during construction but the energy with the staff and our group made every minute of it worth it! And to know that the kids at that school will be able to use the pathway we created for years to come.

Outside of education and construction there were so many activities planned that I had not known about so it was such a cool surprise to be able to learn Swahili, weave, cook and see how soap is made by the local women!

Adventure days were amazing! Coming from a land locked state it was so cool to be able to be at the beach, on an island or always having time to swim in the ocean! Even on these days you learn so much about Zanzibar and their culture as well. Always ask questions! Staff were always so sweet to answer my questions I had and they welcomed them all the time.

One of the coolest experiences I have now to date would be swimming with wild dolphins! I am such an animals lover and seeing how the locals have turned their attention to protecting the dolphins while also still being able to support their loved ones amazes me.

Overall I can’t express how amazing this trip was for me and how it has created such confidence in myself in my future travels and how they can align to my beliefs. They did an amazing job and I hope to be back again soon!

Book the trip!! You won’t regret it! :)