“I am always looking for opportunities to push the boundaries of what I know to help me continue to expand my horizons.”

–Maya Haria

Name: Maya Haria
Home Country: United Kingdom
Education: University of Warwick
Passions and Interests: Field hockey, traveling, and international development
Transformational Experience: Dominican Republic: Building a Sustainable World™
Making an Impact: Raised $8,000 and helped to start a micro-enterprise program based on small-scale cacao plantations in the Dominican Republic

Most people who plant seedlings in the ground have modest hopes for their garden: a lovely view, perhaps, or even some vegetables to use for homemade recipes. And while Maya Haria is modest about her accomplishments, her ambitions and achievements are anything but.

Her goal? To raise $8,000 to fund a cacao plantation project in the Dominican Republic.

$8,000 is no small amount of change, so Maya put a plan in place to raise all the money she needed to fund the project, with the help of others involved. She held bake sales. She raised money through online, charitable giving pages. And she even encouraged family and friends to pitch in what they could. In the end, she raised the funds to get her cacao project off the ground.

The end result? Several greenhouses constructed from foundation to ceiling, and two completed cacao plantations, contributing to a total of 10,000 cacao plants.

Maya’s journey began when she first attend the Building a Sustainable World™ program through GLA in the DR back in 2012. She selected this program not only for its focus on environmental conservation, but also for its commitment to the people in these Dominican communities.

One of the main reasons I chose my GLA program was the focus on sustainability, and being able to be a part of projects and initiatives that are designed to be sustainable means that every time you help someone, you know that you aren’t just helping one person. You are starting something that will continue to impact the lives of them, their families and the people around them.”

Along the way, something changed. While her initial focus was on sustainability, she realized she was much in “a much better position to pinpoint” problems and solutions at the macro level – looking at the scale of the problem for a distance to find solutions that are sensible and effective over the long-term. Neither Maya nor her parents had expected such a dramatic shift in her viewpoint.

Prior to my first GLA trip, I think my parents underestimated the impact that it would have on me and on the next few years of my life. Having returned to the Dominican Republic for two more summers, they have definitely seen the impact that my GLA program has had on my life, and how it has influenced the direction that I have chosen to take… My program choice definitely expanded my understanding and passion for international development. I am now studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and am interested at looking at development from the point of view of policy-making and economic development, building on the experience that I have had through my GLA program and with 7 Elements.”

Maya decided on the cacao plantation project because it was something that could be replicated by others. This pilot project will allow local Dominicans to profit off of these cacao plants over the long term, and she was involved from the initial planning stages to the final construction. Maya plans for more in the future.

Her plans for the future are not set in stone yet, but she’s committed to doing something meaningful with her time and energy now that she’s had a taste of what these kinds of projects can mean to people in-need. She said of her future goals:

Ideally I would like to have influence at a macro level, whether it be related to policy-making or using my skills to have a strong involvement in the non-profit side of the career path that I choose to pursue.”

Maya is currently attending the University of Warwick, where she is on a committee that organized a sports and activities day for 200 disabled children, and supports ‘Mind’, a mental health charity.

Program Maya attended:

GLA Dominican Republic: Building a Sustainable World™

Curious about exploring your own GLA adventure? Check these out:

• GLA Dominican Republic: Building a Sustainable World™
• GLA Dominican Republic: Global Health Initiative™
• GLA Dominican Republic: Beachside Service Adventure
• GLA Dominican Republic: Spring Break Service Adventure

“The girls in the village don’t normally continue education past age 12 because of this problem.”

–Kelsey Glancy

Name: Kelsey Glancy
Hometown: West Chester, PA
Education: Villanova University
Passions and Interests: Country music, animal rights and surfing
Transformational Experience: Ghana: Building Healthy Villages™
Making an Impact: Started G.I.R.L. drive to provide pads and underwear to girls and women in rural Ghana

One of the truths few people like to admit when traveling to the developing world is that basics we consider ordinary and essential are far from that in places where even running water is rare. While participating on the Ghana: Building Healthy Villages™ program with Global Leadership Adventures, Kelsey Glancy got a firsthand look at the effects of not having access to the sanitary items people back home are used to having within arm’s reach.

After volunteering on a two-week project building a compost toilet from start to finish that would benefit local families in Dzita, Ghana, Kelsey saw how access to a private place to use the bathroom can be so profoundly life-changing for a person. These toilets reduce the risk of illness and diarrhea, and provide privacy for women and girls that is sorely lacking. It’s this last element that really resonated with her.

It opened my eyes to the struggles girls face due to their lack of sanitary items, and it gave me a desire to help them.”

During her time in Ghana, Kelsey made friends among the locals in the community. She wanted to give back to those who had given her a new outlook on the world – in particular, an 8 year-old girl named Abby. Kelsey says Abby was “energetic, sassy and always happy.” Despite the fact that Abby was not fluent in English, they grew close during Kelsey’s time abroad.

What she learned during that time was that girls in these communities have a tough time completing an education. By the time they reach the age of menstruation, they do not have pads, underwear or other sanitary feminine products that make staying in the classroom comfortable and safe for learning. So they miss school during their periods. And then they fall behind, month after month. And once they miss too much time at school, they fall so far behind that many of these young women simply drop out.

Often, women who drop out marry someone 2-3x their age, have children very young, and end up mired in poverty.

After learning all of these terrible facts, I realized that this would all one day happen to Abby; I knew I had to do something to prevent it, and that is what influenced me to start a Feminine Products Drive at my school and three other schools in my area. The “Ghana Improving Rights for Learning” or G.I.R.L.”

The drive was a huge success, providing 28 large boxes filled with sanitary pads and underwear to girls in in the Volta region of Ghana, where Abby lives. Kelsey partnered with Village Exchange Ghana, an NGO, to hand out the materials. Staff at the NGO will provide girls in the community with an education program on the use and importance of the pads, as well as answer feminine health questions.

Kelsey found the letter she received from her partner organization in Ghana to reflect what’s at the heart of her accomplishments, and her continued drive to give back:

The most rewarding part of volunteering for me is the after-effect, or the person’s response. The NGO in Ghana (Village Exchange Ghana) that I partnered with for the G.I.R.L. drive, sent me in an email after they received the products. It read: “The girls will be very happy. I will also like you to give us a brief background about yourself and all those who supported in getting the sanitary materials to Ghana.  I will tell them this on the days we carry out the demonstration and distribution of the sanitary materials. This is just to let them know something about the one who sent the sanitary materials to them. I think this will motivate and encourage them, and will make them very happy that someone far away somewhere cares about them.” The last line is what truly made me smile – that the girls are so grateful that someone far away thought about them and wanted to help them. I find it amazing how one person can lift up another person so high, by sometimes even the smallest acts.”

You can check out more about G.I.R.L. on its Facebook page.

Kelsey is currently attending Villanova University. She’s been accepted to the College of Nursing.

Program Kelsey attended:

GLA Ghana: Building Healthy Villages™

Curious about exploring your own GLA adventure in Ghana? Check these out:

• Ghana: Building Healthy Villages™
• Ghana: Sports Service Adventure
• Ghana: Children of Africa™

“The people I met left a big mark on my life.”

–Julia Nijnens

Name: Julia Nijnens
Hometown: Little Silver, NJ
Education: Currently in High School
Passions and Interests: History, English, writing music, and track
Transformational Experience: Ghana: Building Healthy Villages™
Making an Impact: Featured in two newspapers for her volunteer contributions with GLA in Ghana

One of the realities of living in the Volta region of Ghana, like many other areas in rural Africa, is lack of access to toilets. In Dzita, Ghana, 10,000 people live and work without adequate access to sanitation, and operating toilets are few and far between. Most people are forced to use the bathroom out in the open, which is particularly problematic for women.

Fortunately, there are teens like Julia Nijnens who are not only willing to lend a hand to a community-in-need, but who are excited to bring much-needed solutions to problems that are often overlooked back home in the west. Julia joined Global Leadership Adventures for two weeks on its Ghana: Building Healthy Villages™ program, and she was excited before she even left. It wasn’t until she arrived in Ghana that she began to see that reality was a bit different than what she thought.

I had all these dreams about it, and when I got there, all my dreams were so far off. It exceed my expectations.”

Dzita was safe, the people were exceedingly kind and welcoming, and the village was on beautiful coastline with lush vegetation and unbelievably starry nights. Still, for all of the natural beauty of the area, the issue of toilet access loomed everywhere. Access to toilets helps to prevent diarrhea and other illnesses, and is an essential component to local public health.

On this program, Julia joined her follow student volunteers in constructing an eco-compost toilet, from start to finish, in just two weeks. When they arrived at the work site, there was only a foundation on the ground. By the time they left, they had provided a family and its neighbors – 43 people in total – with a compost toilet building they could use any time of the day.

Julia wasn’t left to her own wits to get the job done either. Building a compost toilet is hard work, but it’s rewarding work, and she has the help of GLA directors to make the two-week completion deadline.

[My directors] were both amazing leaders and they had an impact on me every single day. I was inspired by their hard work and dedication. They were well educated about everything we were doing and always knew how to help us.”

From mixing cement and pouring concrete to building the walls and the compost chamber, Julia was involved in every step of the construction project. With the guidance of her directors, the help of local carpenters, and the commitment from her fellow GLA student volunteers, they were able to change the lives of 43 people in only two weeks’ time.

Julia also learned about how projects in developing communities make the most out of volunteer efforts by making as many projects as possible serve multiple purposes. Given the decline of the local fishing game, more Ghanaians than ever before depended on farming to provide for their families. So the compost toilets provide one final gift to their families beyond sanitation alone: they provide highly potent compost that will help to improve crop yields in the community.

After returning to the U.S. from Ghana, Julia started working at the nearby supermarket so she can save up for future volunteer work abroad, and she looks forward to picking up a few things for her new friends back in Ghana.

Looking back on her GLA experience and how it moved her to continue contributing to the world, Julia learned to appreciate the little things:

I got back from Ghana and had a completely different outlook on everything. I smiled when I turned on the faucet to brush my teeth and felt so lucky when I went to take a shower and the water was warm. Ever since I returned from Ghana I appreciate the little things in life rather than stressing unnecessary things. Going to Ghana has inspired me to return to the town in which we stayed and do another trip. The conditions in which I was in for two weeks have inspired me to really make a change and return.”

I never thought that flushing a toilet when coming home would be such a big thing.”

Julia attends high school in Little Silver, NJ. She’ll be participating in the Ghana: Sports Service Adventure program this summer.

Program Julia attended:

GLA Ghana: Building Healthy Villages™

Curious about exploring your own GLA adventure in Ghana? Check these out:

• Ghana: Building Healthy Villages™
• Ghana: Sports Service Adventure
• Ghana: Children of Africa™