PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!
Here are a few things to know and expect:
- Blog posts are written by onsite program staff and/or students and sent to our Headquarters team who will post the blog on this page.
- We typically receive 2-3 blog updates per week from each program, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post every day – that’s totally normal.
- Blog updates received late in the evening or overnight will be posted the following day.
- Blog updates received on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
- Due to many factors such as internet accessibility, program staff aren’t always able to send photos, so some blog posts may contain text only.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.
For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.
-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team
Click here to jump down to the most recent post!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 9
Dear GLA Ghana: Children of Africa Families,
Hello – We are so glad all students have arrived!! Our morning arrivals had a nice afternoon together and our nighttime arrivals finally made it! We got settled into our beautiful hilltop homebase in Asitey, Odumase Krobo, Ghana. We will be busy over the next days with orientation, getting sized for Ghanaian clothes in the local style, touring the village and schools, meeting the students and teachers, and a bonfire welcome on day three.
Next we delve into teaching and construction work at several local schools, working on leveling new floor areas that will be covered with smooth cement. Over the next weeks we will also hike around the Boti Waterfall, make local cedi beads, make our own batik fabric, organize after school activities with the local schools every afternoon, and generally participate with local activities at homebase and in town. An exciting schedule!
Student leaders of the day will be writing a blog post every one to two days to keep you updated about all the great things they have been up to. Our schedule is packed so besides the blog we won’t be on our phones very often. We truly hope the students enjoy a break from their phones and fully immerse themselves into the life and culture of our Ghanaian village.
We have 5 staff directly with the students, plus the support of our very experienced homebase staff for cooking and cleaning, plus Aba (local administrator and chef) and Nana Ama, a local teacher and long time teaching and activities mentor to GLA, and of course the 24/7 support of the office staff. We look forward to a great program. Keep your eyes open for the first student blog!
Best,
Clint, Henry, Nana Ama, Jose Luis, Avi, and Lartey
BLOG POST FOR JULY 10
Last night our nighttime arrivals made it to homebase and had a late dinner and got settled. Today was the first day the whole group was together, and we spent the day playing some games for everybody to get to know each other, a walking tour of the village, and time with the local kids in the park. A nice day!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 11
Today we visited the schools where we will do construction and teach. One of the schools was preparing for their graduation ceremony and so they decided to practice their songs and dances with us as their audience. We got to see them do local dances and then we all celebrated with them, was fun!
After lunch we organized some games with the local kids in the park. In the evening we had a bonfire and learned local music, and the full moon was rising over Krobo Mountain, and we watched it from the rooftop with popcorn. A nice evening!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 12
Hello from Krobo!
Today was a super fun day. We started off the morning with porridge, sausage and bofulot (like donut holes!) for breakfast. After, we went straight to the school to work, mixing concrete and laying it out. Then we came back to home-base and had red red ( a traditional black eyed pea stew served with plantains, it was really good). Later on we split into three groups and visited local families who taught us krobo songs and phrases. As usual we went to the park to play with the kids which is always fun, today we tried to teach them sharks and minnows.
When we got back, we sat down for dinner and ate pasta with egg stew. To end our day we had a naming ceremony where we wore special clothes and painting. Our krobo name was given based on our place in our family and characteristics. We also learned the Dipo tradition, a particular tradition in Krobo. Thank you all for reading, see you tomorrow!
– Ellery and Mario
BLOG POST FOR JULY 13
Since today was Sunday and no school, we drove to the Huhunya forest preserve to see the twin Boti waterfalls from the Ponmpon river, and famous mushroom rock and saw a three headed palm nut tree. After hiking we had lunch in the nature preserve and then headed back to homebase. The drive was nice as we saw some other parts of Ghana as we drove.
Then we headed to the village park to organize games with the local children. We had a big game of red light green light led by the leaders of the day (us!) before splitting into smaller groups for volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and soccer with the locals.
After a long day we had dinner and rested with a movie set in West Africa, The Woman King, to get ready for another busy morning of construction at the public school.
Sidney and Ian
BLOG POST FOR JULY 14
Today was another incredible day here in Ghana! We spent the morning working on a construction project helping to build or add on to the schools making smooth surfaces for the kids to play and study on. It was hard work, but so rewarding to see the progress we made and know that it will benefit the community.
In the afternoon, we learned the next step in processing the corn we will give as a gift to our host families that teach us Krobo songs and language.
Then we split up into our mentor groups for an activity, and then we headed to the local park to organize the local kids into games. Their energy and laughter was joyful and so much fun to be around, and it was a joy to see them having so much fun. We played games, such as a different variation of duck duck goose but with a rock and you would drop it behind the person that you wanted to chase while saying “ there’s a fire on the mountain, run, run, run.”
Later in the day, we had the opportunity to learn more about the Ghanaian culture. Papa Henry came to talk to us about the culture of the Krobo people, and where they originated from. Some of the kids were teaching more Krobo words that I now can’t remember but it was a fun way to connect with the local language and people. It’s amazing how much you can learn just by being open and observant! After the Ghana history the “tuck shop” opened and we had snacks and free time together. Tomorrow is our last day of construction and then we have three days in a row in the classrooms teaching and helping the school prepare for their graduation ceremonies. Tomorrow will be an even greater day! 🙂
Reagan and James
BLOG POST FOR JULY 15
This morning we woke up to a yummy breakfast of rice pudding, french toast, and orange juice! Soon after, we went to the local public school and mixed concrete to help make a new classroom floor! We switched halfway through and went to a different local school and laid down more concrete (hard work!) then we went back to home base for a nourishing lunch of waakye and hibiscus rice then almost the whole group took a big nap! Once we woke up we got ready to go have a Krobo lesson with our host families and we learned some words and songs! Fun fact: In Krobo, Kake means One! Then we headed to Asitey park to play some games with the kids.
After freeze tag, volleyball, soccer, and other mini games we were all exhausted and welcomed dinner with open arms. Tonight we had oven roasted chicken and french fries. We also had the BEST mango for dessert, we aren’t even exaggerating. SO GOOD. Then we had a group of Krobo dancers and singers come perform for us and even teach us some Ghanaian dances. Afterwards we had our phone time and took showers before heading off to bed. Tomorrow is a teaching day! Goodnight Ghana!
-Josie and Helen
BLOG POST FOR JULY 16
Today we woke up to another exciting morning in Ghana. We had breakfast first, which was a delightful combination of sugar and chocolate donuts paired with tangerines and rice pudding. Then we got ready and created lesson plans for teaching at the private school. We split into groups based on class grades and each took on the responsibility of teaching a class for a few hours. So much fun!
After our teaching we headed into the market for a friendly competition between our groups. We got to find different food items on a grocery list for the kitchen and communicate to locals in the Krobo language. We were then judged based on presentation, bargaining and quality of the food!
Later we went to the park to organize games for the local kids for a few hours. When we finished we had dinner, mentor group meetings, and finally a dance practice for our performance on Saturday! Tomorrow we will teach again and create even better lesson plans!
– Ellie and Julia
BLOG POST FOR JULY 17
HELLOOOOO WONDERFUL PEOPLEEES. Today was a great day in the gla house. We spent our morning creating lesson plans and teaching at the Edmon private school. We had a lot of fun in our classes and the kids were EXTREMELY well behaved today!!!
After that we all braved the huge hill on our way home. We then had a great lunch, and then free time to rest and nap. Some of the girls spent part of the afternoon dancing in the rain on the roof to pass time!!
Then we practiced our dance for the last day and made lots of progress (sort of). Then we all headed to the park to teach the kids a new game, and played a couple rounds of blob tag with the kids before breaking into groups for other games. After dinner we had our mentor groups where we got some great song recs for each other. Lastly we had story time with Papa Henry, traditional Ghanaian folk stories that teach morals to the children. We can’t wait for tomorrow our last day of service!!
LOVE U ALL
– SARAH AND ANNA
BLOG POST FOR JULY 18
Today we had our last day at the Edmon school which went well, with lots of farewells at the end with the kids.
After lunch we had a visit with our host family to practice our Krobo and Krobo songs. Then we tried to teach the local kids kickball in the park—a work in progress—and after that all the other games with them.
After dinner we met the Queen Mother for this area, and she told us about her life and responsibilities, starting a school here, and we asked her questions, very interesting.
And it was James’ Birthday! We had a nice cake with dinner for him!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 19
This morning we woke up to corn flakes, cocoa puffs, scrambled eggs, and pancakes. After breakfast we were taught how to dye Batik fabric which is stamping wax onto fabric then dying it to create designs. We all made our own batik then played some uno, and had lunch. For lunch, we had fufu and palm nut soup. The whole group was dividing on whether or not you chew fufu, what do you think? Anyways, after a filling lunch we had some rest and conversations with our friends then we prepped for our debate (more about that later) and had a group discussion about our program and goals.
After that, we went to Asitey park and played with the kids for a while. We had a great dinner of french fries and chicken (made us miss home) then we had our debate. So basically, we were debating a hypothetical of a foreign company opening a large international style development in Odumase Krobo. We had to consider environmental impacts, the way it would affect local business, benefits to the Ghana economy, and so many concepts we have never thought about. It gave us a lot of insight into life in Ghana and current world politics. After we decided to open the business in Krobo with the deal that it would donate 2% yearly to baboon welfare (inside joke), we got our phones and took our showers. Goodnight Ghana❤️
-Leaders of the day Josie and Ian
BLOG POST FOR JULY 20
Today we had a fun Sunday, visiting the local’s church, where we sang our a song in Krobo to the church. After lunch we went to an interesting place where they make the traditional Krobo beads by hand. They taught us the whole process from grinding glass to firing the beads in homemade kilns (made from termite mounds!). Mr. Cedi’s beads were even in Vogue magazine. And then while walking the nice grounds we saw some coconut trees and next thing we knew one of the workers climbed up and got us all coconuts and showed us how to open them—was really fun!
Then we had a last day in the park with the kids, playing volleyball until sunset. After dinner we divided into three teams and had a mini Olympics, with a trivia round as well. Tomorrow we go to a swimming area on the Volta River!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 22
The last days were really fun and super busy. We went to a swimming resort on the Volta river where we went on short boat tour, swam, had lunch, played volleyball and hung out. Then we went to a bead shop where there were all kinds of nice bead jewelry.
Later we modeled our Krobo clothes in a fashion show with the kids, had dinner, then a big farewell dance.
Then packing, and the next morning the later flights visited one of the schools again, and went to a market and mall in Accra.
