It is so frustrating when people ask, “How was Ghana??” – how in the WORLD do I craft a few sentences about the most important and rewarding experience of my life? It is impossible! There is just no way to explain to people the extent of my experience; I don’t even know how to explain it all to myself. What I do know is that I experienced every emotion possible, every day. Sadness, happiness, exhaustion, annoyance, excitement, joy, frustration…you name it, I felt it every day. What I learned in Ghana, is to first learn (and for the most part, accept!) the culture before letting one of these emotions overrule the rest.

I saw volunteers come in for two weeks, and let frustration rule their experience- when if they had only gotten to know the culture, they would have felt differently. The Ghanaian people are truly amazing. In my two months in Ghana, I never felt scared or unwelcome- which I think is remarkable (especially for an American!). Everywhere I travelled in Ghana, I was met with smiling and helpful people.

My experience in Ghana wouldn’t have been half as awesome and rewarding, however, if it hadn’t been for the Ghanaian IVHQ support staff. They went above and beyond their responsibilities to make sure that all the volunteers felt comfortable, safe, happy, and welcome. While I was in Ghana, I had some medication shipped from America, and Eddie and Eric (two of the support staff) spent two full days at FedEx straightening out all the taxes and duties. Not only do they care for the volunteers, but they also genuinely care for each of the program sites. I honestly don’t know how they keep all the programs, children, and volunteers straight, let alone actually CARE for each of them. They work so hard.

Each of the IVHQ staff made my time in Ghana exponentially better and more rewarding- they were such an essential part of my experience. We now joke that they are my new “big brothers”! Not a day goes by when I don’t think of the children in the orphanage-what they are doing, if they have enough food, if they are healthy. Their happy faces are a part of me now, a part that I hope to never forget.

If you want to be inspired, if you want to become a better person, if you want to see children who have nothing, yet are purely and simply happy- GO TO GHANA.

The local staff are fantastic. The local people were very appreciative and helped us find ways to help out. Living accommodation was great. Our housekeeper was fantastic and she took care of anything we needed.

My favourite moments were meeting other volunteers, using my limited Spanish with the locals, and interacting with the children.

This was an amazing experience. I met the most amazing people and have made some good friends. The volunteer work was mutually beneficial as I learned much while helping a need. I'm so very happy I got the chance to experience another place and culture. I hope to be back or to try a new place in the future.

Everything is going great actualy! I love the city, the volunteer house, and most of all the street children market program.

It is a bit unnerving, as this is my first time out of my own country, and Quito is relativley huge compared to where I´m from. But it´s exactly the kind of learning experience I wanted to have.

Also, it helps that the local staff are so accomadating; I honestly feel I could go to them with any problems I might have.

I had a fantastic time in Costa Tica! Thank you for your help and the good organization of both IVHQ and the local staff! My project was absolutely amazing. From the first day to the last day, I was always super excited to go and spend the few hours with the children. My project was exactly what i thought and hoped I would be doing. Most of all, I really enjoyed the fact that I needed to take charge and bring in my creativity to my project!

My experience here, although very short, was still wonderful. I feel like I was able to immerse myself in Costa Rican culture and the importance of volunteers in these places. Overall my accommodation was very good. The living arrangements exceeded my expectations by a lot. I did not expect to get placed in such a nice home. The living conditions were great.

The kids seemed so appreciative of the littlest things. We had the best time playing with bubbles and running around popping them while singing songs. I also loved my weekends off to travel and explore Costa Rican culture. This is a beautiful country.

I would for sure recommend this program to someone else. I'm even considering doing another one in Asia next year!! Overall, my experience was fantastic. Thank you for all your help and thank you also to the local staff for their support in San Jose.