Heading to Ghana today!

Abbie and August are leaving on a jet plane for a Quest in Ghana! We wish them all the best; here’s some news about their plans.

Abbie and August are students from the University of Notre Dame who have been selected by the Kellogg Institute for a United Planet Quest in Ghana. They will soon be flying across the Atlantic to volunteer in the small village of Putubiw for 9 weeks.

Abbie from Notre Dame!

Both Abbie and August are becoming increasingly excited about the adventure ahead of them; after months of planning, the reality is finally setting in. As excited as she is, Abbie is also a little nervous, “It will be the longest I have ever been abroad so I am, of course, a little nervous as well.”

Even though they have prepared themselves, they are both aware of the major cultural differences they will be encountering while abroad — but are feeling confident and ready to start their Quest to Ghana.

“I learned that Ghana has a rich culture with very open and accepting people. Because of this, I knew that Ghana was where I wanted to volunteer,” was what August discovered after some research. He has always been fascinated by African Culture, but has never had the opportunity to travel there until now.

What drew them to choose Ghana has been the broad richness of the Ghanaian culture, and their curiosity for the lives of the locals. They feel fortunate to have been given this wonderful opportunity, and Abbie hopes to next year be able to travel back to West Africa “to conduct personal research” and “hopefully my quest will open my eyes to some issues of interest that I can look into as possible research topics.”

August will be in Ghana in August

Even though they’re trying to maintain a low level of expectations, both are looking forward to meeting new people and diving into a new culture, to becoming involved in the local community, to trying new things and broadening their horizons.

Abbie wants to involve herself as much as possible in the village life and to learn as much as she can from those she will be working with at the clinic. While August knows the first phase will be difficult and challenging, he says “I expect to be blown away by the beauty and richness that the country, people, and culture of Ghana have to offer me.”

Both Abbie and August are conscious about the challenges they will be facing, and agree that the cultural differences will be the most testing. In addition, the language barrier will also affect their ability to understand and communicate with the local community.

For August “It will be a big adjustment living in a rural village in a country that I have never been to before,” but he is already thinking of how to overcome these obstacles. He hopes to overcome this challenge through developing strong relationships with his host family as well as with other members of his host community. Abbie, on the other hand is more concerned about the culture shock, “I think the greatest challenges will be adapting to the culture differences since I have not traveled much outside of the United States.”

August hopes to achieve a better understanding not only about the culture, but also about himself. “A volunteer experience abroad like this Quest to Ghana will allow me to not only teach others, but to learn a great deal. I hope to broaden my horizons”, in more ways than immersing into a new and foreign culture but exploring his own personality and character as well. He is curious to see how this experience will change him as a person.

Ghana is SO INTERESTING it’s just too much…

Besides gaining a better understanding of other cultures and the lives of the people of Putubiw, Abbie also hopes to become more confident in her own abilities to adapt to other cultures and “to understand the ways of life of people who are different than me.”

We wish the both of them lots of luck on their wonderful adventures and are  looking forward to hearing about their experiences when they return home!