In early February of this year, Gabrielle Guerra, a native of Massachusetts and a graduate of Boston University, returned from a 7 week Quest in Ghana. We had the pleasure of interviewing Gabrielle to hear a bit about her incredible travels and had to share some of her stories with you!
Crazy beautiful Ghana
Gabrielle’s first “United Planet experience” was when she spent a summer volunteering at the Boston office as the marketing and communications coordinator. She interviewed many alumni from United Planet programs and she explained that her decision to travel to Ghana was based mainly upon the amazing stories and rave reviews she heard from volunteers who had been there.
She decided to take some time off work and go explore the incredible country she had heard so much about in order to be exposed to a different culture and make an impact. Her trip was fulfilling and her memories will last her a lifetime.
Gabrielle arrived in Biakpa, Ghana in the middle of December, 2010, just as the holiday festivities were beginning. The holiday celebration in Ghana was definitely entertaining for Gabrielle. She told us all about the soccer (futbol) tournament that she watched on New Years Eve.
Soccer game in Biakpa, Mt. Gemi in the background
She explained that in Biakba there are three teams with uniforms and every village had their own soccer field; no matter how few resources they had or how poor their economy was. The people in the community would take about three days to cut the grass with knifes to make the fields.
The games were fun to watch, as well as the brass band which marched through the village. Everyone was dancing and celebrating and they slaughtered farm animals to eat. Because mostly each village is designated as either Christian or Muslim, the people went to church many times during the holidays.
Gabrielle with one of her students in Biakpa
Her first three weeks were spent teaching English and math to a small class of about 6-7 junior high school students in Biakba. The classroom was small and intimate and she really enjoyed teaching such dedicated kids. Because of the holidays, all of the students were on vacation while she was there, but the 6-7 students showed up every day for a 6 hour lesson from Gabrielle.
She explains that, “the leaders had met with the community to tell them that a volunteer was coming to teach the junior high students and that it was very important for the students to attend vacation school and try to learn as much as possible from me,” which was a huge help in organizing and accomplishing as much as she was able to.
Her experience teaching these students was wonderful and she still has been able to keep in touch with some of them since coming home.
Classroom in Biakpa
For the next four weeks, Gabrielle was stationed in Putubiw where she was given three part-time jobs. Her experience in Putubiw was challenging, yet ultimately fulfilling.
She recounted her time there and the difficulties she faced explaining, “I taught English at the junior high school, started writing a proposal to obtain funds for a computer lab at the school (this is still in the works), and also taught extra English classes at night to a small group of junior high students. After the first week and a half, I stopped teaching during the day because the students were unbearably difficult and there was a lot of research for the proposal that required me to travel.”
Instead of being frustrated by the difficulty of the students at the second junior high, Gabrielle made the most of her time by putting her efforts into an impressive grant proposal project which she is still working on.
She said that the villagers are also trying to raise money to get electricity to the school as a starting point for the project, and they are all incredibly excited about the potential to improve their school system!
Pounding “fufu” with host Mom
Gabrielle loved the food in Ghana. She raved, “it’s incredible! It’s mostly starch based and they don’t eat much meat unless it’s a holiday, but it’s a little bit greasy and great comfort food!” One of her best memories from Ghana was the first time she ate fufu; one of the staple starches in the Ghanian diet. She described fufu as, “kind of like mashed potatoes, but sticky and sweet,” and said it is made by peeling and mashing a root called casaba and then mashing it together with cooked plantain. They use the fufu in soups and eat it with their hands. Gabrielle said of her first fufu experience, “the first time I ate fufu I was eating it with my hands and the country coordinator Akos took a picture of me and said ‘this is so African! We don’t normally see Americans eating with their hands.’ They love when people adapt to their culture.”
Even more than the food, Gabrielle loved the people that she met. She spoke fondly of the many people she came across during her trip, “I met so many great people, my host family, the teachers I worked with, and the people I met at the lodge who were also traveling…they were all really friendly.”
Gabrielle and an elder in Biakpa
She encountered friendly people throughout her many travels as well; from Peace Corps volunteers who were working to improve the tourism industry in various parts of Ghana, to friendly travelers from Europe who just wanted to embrace the culture to the fullest.
One of her favorite travel experiences was when she went up to the elephant reserves, about two days worth of traveling away. She saw only one elephant, but felt lucky to have seen it because it was the dry season and most of the animals had retreated further into the reserve. She also saw some baboons, warthogs, and other native animals.
When asked if she would recommend this exact trip to anyone else, Gabrielle answered “yes!” without any hesitation. For those people lucky enough to have the same opportunity in the future, she also had a few words of wisdom to share: “Keep an open mind, be pro-active and independent, and bring a lot of lotion and conditioner if you go in the dry season!” Sounds like Ghana is a wonderful place full of amazing people, sights, foods, and culture…thanks for sharing, Gabrielle!
Gabrielle with some extremely adorable kids in Ghana
United Planet offers a variety of program options in Ghana. Find out more and enjoy!
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