Just recently, I found out that I was accepted to be a member on a brigade to Ghana this summer. As a member of Global Medical Brigades, I was beyond excited to realize that not only will I be going on my first brigade but I will have the amazing opportunity to actually visit the African continent. My happiness from the upcoming help I will be giving a community along with with adventure of traveling to Ghana bubbled through my shock of first learning I was accepted. Not only is this going to be my first time going to Ghana but it is the first trip that Penn State Global Brigades is going on since the Ebola epidemic made it unsafe for brigades to be sent to Africa. 

My anticipation for the trip stems from a multitude of various reasons. This will be my first mission trip where I will be volunteering in a medical clinical setting, I will be able to immerse myself in the local culture of Ghana and its people, and I will be working with other amazing Penn Staters to help empower and make an impact on local Ghanaian communities.

This week long brigade will begin with a rather long transatlantic flight, but the flight is worth what wonderful opportunities and memories await in Ghana. The typical layout of the trip has around four days dedicated to running the medical and dental clinic alongside local medical professionals. The clinic focuses on holistic healthcare and will also include general and OB-GYN consultations which will be such an incredible opportunity to experience. Some of the usual afflictions that Ghanaians have are malaria, hypertension, parasites, and myalgia. Through the clinics, we will assist in providing community members treatment they need.

The rest of the trip will focus on engaging in Ghanaian culture. Ghana’s culture has been heavily influenced by its history. As a west-African country, European colonization along with with slave trade heavily influenced the development of Ghana into the country that it is today. Ghana is a democracy of diverse people and an equally diverse landscape. The people of Ghana represent the influence of a diverse history with traditional African roots, Christianity, Muslim, English, and various other multicultural elements. The landscape of Ghana changes as you move from coastal savannahs to tropical jungles. Ghana is also for an African nation, relatively economically stable and had a relatively stable government as well. Yet it still remains a rather poor country that qualifies and is in need of assistance from the Global Brigades Organization.

This brigade will doubtless be equally fulfilling in reward from helping others, experiencing a new culture and way of life, and experience working in a clinical setting. Although a week seems like a good amount of time to spend in a foreign country giving aid, I know time will fly by and before I know it I will be headed back to America on a plane with the fresh memories of the brigade in my mind.