Our Generation Voluntary Organisation

A typical vague, diplomatic response to this question would be along the lines of: “to fulfill a sense of global responsibility by learning about and empowering communities to empower themselves.” The problem is, vague, diplomatic responses don’t help people, such as prospective interns make good life decisions. Like most things in life, the truth is more complex, and less cheesy, than the typical answer.

Having a humanitarian-driven heart means that I want to use my life to serve others. As such, I originally intended to travel to Ghana in order to complete a community development service project with my school in the impoverished area of Nabdam. When deciding to embark on this endeavour through my school, I decided that I wanted to maximize the positive impact that I could make whilst there, and therefore I decided to research volunteer programs that I could join after my school trip finished.

I wanted to check off two major things on my bucket list: participate in some type of volunteer mission abroad, and go on a solo adventure to a foreign country. I had just completed my first year of graduate school, so the timing was perfect. Furthermore, I was curious about healthcare services in a less developed country, and seeking the challenge of traveling alone to test my limits.