A Dream Of A Lifetime Fulfilled In West Africa

By Laurie Borst

At 15, Allie Clement has realized one of her life’s dreams. This past July, Allie traveled to Ghana in West Africa. Her first impression upon arrival was, “I want to go explore everything!”

Allie joined 26 other students as part of the Summer Team Mission program, offered through AFS (afs.org). As with students who study abroad for a year, the teenagers lived with host families. Allie’s host family consisted of the mother and two brothers, ages 22 and 10. The father lived and worked in Germany, coming home just a couple times a year. Allie had the opportunity to speak with him on the phone on several occasions.

Allie arrived in Accra, Ghana’s capital, on July 1. She left on July 30. Ghana is one of the more developed nations on the African continent. Many families lived in houses, but the décor was minimalist. No family had accumulations of “stuff” piled around.

The wealthier families owned television sets. Oprah was on every day. Most of the telecasts were old American shows or shows from Nigeria.

“And everyone watches MTV. Teens and adults watch it. My brothers watched it all day. They were surprised that I don’t watch it. I was ‘the American who didn’t watch MTV.’ I read my AP English books instead,” Allie reported.

“It’s hard to get novels in Ghana. Religious books were readily available, but you couldn’t get fiction. My message now is, read books!”

Not all homes had running water. Where Allie stayed had cold running water. She took “bucket baths” while there.

In the cities, one finds stores like our grocery stores with products similar to America: bar soap, packaged cookies, etc. But along the roadsides, local farmers and vendors sell everything imaginable.

As Ghana is a coastal country, fish is a large part of the diet. Chicken is also available. Allie is a vegetarian, but her host family had no trouble accommodating her dietary preferences.

Most Ghanaians depend on public transportation. “There are taxis and trotros. The trotros are like VW vans that they cram full of people,” Allie explained.

Pets and livestock are not fenced in Ghana. “You see goats, chickens, cats, and dogs running everywhere in the neighborhoods,” Allie said.

Allie worked in an orphanage as a member of the Summer Team Mission. The orphanage, The Christ Faith Foster Home, also houses a preschool that local students can attend. Allie and the rest of the mission members worked at the school for 14 of the days they were in Ghana.

Each day, they spent five to six hours teaching students, painting. and doing carpentry. They replaced mosquito netting on windows around the building. The netting is necessary to keep malaria-carrying mosquitoes out of the building. They also planted a vegetable garden with tomatoes and okra.

Prior to the journey, Allie was required to get immunizations for hepatitis A, meningitis, and yellow fever. An oral vaccine for typhoid was also necessary. While in Ghana, Allie had to take anti-malarial pills.

The trip was not all work. Allie visited Kakum National Park, a nature preserve and rainforest. She participated in a canopy walk. “I’m afraid of heights, but I had to do it,” Allie stated. “It was 200 feet above the rainforest floor. You walked on a narrow rope bridge, one person at a time. The rope bridge was in segments with platforms in between.”

Allie visited two slave castles, forts where Europeans kept slaves before shipping them to America. Elmina was a Portuguese fort. Cape Coast was run by the British and the Dutch. These forts were also commercial centers. Gold was stored in vaults.

“It was emotional to see the dungeons. It was really gruesome. They don’t teach about this in school,” Allie said. “It was a powerful experience.”

“This has been an amazing trip. It’s made me realize how lucky we really are in America. It’s a great feeling to go out and explore the world. I would definitely recommend it to others,” Allie said. “It taught me a lot about myself.”

“It was such a culture shock coming back. All the stuff we have. I’m sick of hearing complaining about going to classes in portables. In Ghana, not everyone can even go to school,” Allie explained.

To make the trip, Allie had to do some fundraising. The trip cost $5,000. A bake sale was held at St Rose Church, which raised $1,600. Student Government, the Rotary Club, and Knights of Columbus each provided sizable scholarships.

“Many people in town contributed,” Allie said. “The church was very supportive.”

Back in Newtown, Allie lives with her parents, Linda and Kevin, and her younger siblings, Danny and Kara. Allie is a junior at Newtown High School this fall.