You Are Most Welcome

Gala Girls 2016

Sitting on the beach with our toes in the sand and the waves crashing on shore, it's near impossible to reflect fully on this journey. The past five weeks have been filled with smiles, sweat, tears, laughter and most of all, learning. We learned that the health of a country is multifaceted. So many pieces influence a person's health, and therefore improving the health of a country is complex. There are projects we have here that are continuous, like Chanshegu's health center and Project GROW, and there are smaller projects, like sexual health and relational practice teaching. Sometimes we felt as if what we were doing was not making a difference, yet on some level we know it did. Even if only to one person, us individually, or to someone back home raising their awareness of global health.

The kindness and warmth we were welcomed with was unanimous across the country, coming from old and new friends. If it were not for the amazing partnerships we have here in Ghana, we would not have been able to accomplish what we did. Our long term relationships are wonderful and they allowed us to build on past projects and happily helped us create new ones.

It is our last night in Ghana. This amazing place has stolen our hearts and become a home to us. We came here with our teacher as a mismatched group of UBCO nursing students, and have grown into a family. What we experienced will never be fully understood or mean as much to anyone as it does to us.

We will return to Canada full of stories to share and the responsibility to spread awareness. The Ghana many people see, the beautiful beach resorts and national parks, is nothing compared to what lies beyond the concrete roads.

While we would like to believe our time here made a difference to the people of Ghana, we think Ghana made a bigger difference in each of us. We will never forget the kindness, the love, and lessons this country has given us.

-The Ghana Girls of  2016