I can’t really put all of the experiences I’ve had in the past 2 and a half weeks into words. I’ve seen and been through so much. Even though it’s impossible to sum it up I thought that the best way would be through pictures because a picture is worth 1000 words. RIght?

Being back has been so surreal. I’ll be sitting on the couch watching T.V. and it will suddenly occur to me “Wait… about 48 hours ago I was in Ghana.” The first meal I had being back was a cheeseburger with fries and a milkshake and I can tell you that a burger and shake has never tasted so good. Although I do miss a lot of the friends I made I’m really glad to be home and share all of my experiences from the past 2 and a half weeks. With these pictures I hope to do the same with you.

Everyday we would have classes and then when we weren’t teaching we would help with the reading program where we would basically sit and read with the kids for about 50 minutes asking comprehension questions in between. 

This girl was one of my best friends from Heritage Academy. Her name is Felicity and she was in my 7th grade class. She is extremely smart and talented. Reading with her was always a breeze. She was one of the most kind selfless people I met on this trip. Everyday when we would come to reading period we would write each other notes. By the end of the trip these notes started turning into gifts and now we both have friendship bracelets we made each other to remember one another. Felicity unlike most people never asked for a gift or a letter. She always gave but never expected something in return which for someone her age in her environment is pretty remarkable.

These little cutie’s names are both Esther. I met both of them pretty late into the trip since I didn’t have any classes or reading periods with them but they became two of my favorite kids by the end. Every time they saw me they would run over and give me a huge hug. It made me feel really appreciative that someone was so happy to see me because I was just as happy to see them.
This was one of my other reading groups and they were always super fun to read with. Their names from left to right are Hannah, Dorcas, Samuel, Abigail and Abigail. They would always come up with creative ways to make reading more fun. For example, their favorite book was called Biscuit which was about a dog named Biscuit. Every time the book said “Woof Woof” they would have to say it as if they were actually a dog. By the end we would all get excited when we turned the page and saw that we got to say “Woof woof!” Hannah since she didn’t speak english very well always enjoyed the “Woof Woof” more than the others because it was easy for her to read. This is Hannah in the bus that took 600 kids to school everyday. Although this bus can seat probably about 25 kids about 60 kids would be shoved in at a time in order for everyone to make it to school on time. Traffic laws never really applied in Ghana…
When we weren’t teaching we got to do some sightseeing! The bridge I’m on in this picture is at Kakum National Park. These bridges were about 300 meters about the ground. This was the Coconut Grove Beach Resort we got to relax on during the weekends when we weren’t teaching or doing community service.

Well that’s about it from me. There’s a lot more to say about this trip so I hope you read some of the other’s posts because we each had our own unique experiences. Although, at times, this trip was really difficult I know it was definitely worth it because it really did change my life. I want to thank all of the seniors and faculty who were also on this trip for being such a great group and really adding to this amazing experience. 

Until next time!

~Arielle