Interview with Leah Ruehlicke, Global Nomadic alum
GO: Why did you decide to volunteer with Global Nomadic in Ghana?
Leah: Basically, all through school I knew I wanted to travel after I graduated, but I wasn't sure where. In the beginning of my fourth year a few friends and I started talking about taking a trip somewhere overseas, but it was all very up in the air and very dependent on who got jobs when. It soon became very clear that if I actually wanted to travel, I was going to have to do it solo or it would never actually happen. I didn't like the idea of wandering the world as a lonely tourist, so I decided to look up volunteer opportunities. The one that caught my eye the most was the Journalism/NGO management position since it somewhat related to what I wanted to do with my life, and since I didn't have a country in mind that I was dead-set on visiting, I figured I may as well pack my bags for Ghana.
Leah volunteering in Ghana with Global Nomadic
GO: Describe your day to day activities as a volunteer.
Leah: Each day in my position was very different. Some days I would spend a few hours downstairs in the workshop with the workers helping them cut bags, cut fabric, do the washing, etc. Other days would be spent with the other interns working on the company blog, creating our documentary video, or brainstorming on ways to promote the company. Finally, for a week we were stationed in the mall selling the newest company product; the Trashy SmartBag, which is an accessorized reusable shopping bag. This week was really interesting because you got to see firsthand how differently countries perceive "being green". In North America, it's cool to be environmentally aware. This concept has definitely not yet reached cool status in Ghana.
Fishing boats on the coast of Ghana
GO: How has this experience impacted your future?
Leah: To be completely honest, I don't think this experience will have much impact on my professional or academic future. It was a very short lived internship, for one thing. That being said, the impact it had on my personal life - even only being there for one, quick month - was enormous and easily outweighed any professional impacts it could have had. I learned so much about myself. I've always been a somewhat panicky person and although I can easily go with the flow on a Saturday night out, I have a really hard time doing so when it comes to life in general. This experience made me so much more relaxed and, at the risk of sounding cliche, so much more in tune with what's actually important to me. I won't say I was more scared to come back home than I was to leave, but I was equally nervous - just for different reasons. I have never felt the way I did while I was over there, and I was really scared to lose that person. I'm welling up just thinking about all this, man! GO OVERSEAS.
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I have been sitting here for ten whole minutes trying to think of a clever/interesting way of starting out this review and it has reached the point where my brain hates me, so I'm just going to dive right in. Plain and simply, go overseas. And not only that, go overseas with Global Nomadic.
The entire process leading up to my trip could easily have been ten times more stressful than it actually was (and the stress I did encounter was more or less due to the fact that I am scared of everything - including needles, which you need A LOT of if you choose to go to Africa). You will be matched up with two correspondents at Global Nomadic - one to help you figure everything out before you go, and one actually in the country you are travelling to to assist you with things (cultural orientation, setting you up with a host family, etc.) directly related to the country and project you are working on. Both of these people maintain excellent contact with you, and you never feel like you are totally on your own. Being a first time traveler, this definitely made the process less stressful for me.
My stay in Ghana was the hardest and most amazing thing I have ever done. I lived with a host family, and although it was a far cry from the way I'm used to living in North America, it was much nicer living conditions than I was anticipating. The volunteer association I was placed with was called "Trashy Bags", and although it wasn't clearly outlined what my work would be, I didn't mind it too much as it allowed me to be pretty innovative and creative in how I spent my time.
One thing I simultaneously liked and didn't like about this program was that I went completely by myself - it wasn't with a group, so I didn't have friends immediately which made it a bit harder to get used to being away from home. However, when I began at "Trashy Bags" I was pleasantly surprised to see three interns already there through another organization, and these people quickly adopted me as one of their own. I became and continue to be great friends with these people, so although I hated being alone at first, I came to see that had I not come alone I never would have bonded with these people and there is no way I would have wanted to miss out on that opportunity.
I did find that Global Nomadic was a bit pricey. Going overseas is going to be costly whichever organization you go with, but compared to some of the people I met over there, I did find that Global Nomadic was one of the more expensive of the bunch.
Long story short, GO.