Ghana is a beautiful country with beautiful people. Ghana and the United States are connected through our history. Sadly, Ghana was a country that was ravaged by the trans-Atlantic slave trade between 1500-early 1800s. Ghana was a British colony between 1867 until March 6th, 1957. Because of this colonization, English is one of the main languages in the country. Ghana was one of the first African colonized countries to gain their independence. Since then, Ghana has slowly progressed to where they are on the verge of becoming a first world country. The country is growing and progressing. Though extreme poverty is still prevalent along with modern day slavery along the coast and on Lake Volta, it is considered one of the most stable countries in West Africa.

Ghana is a completely different country than what we are used to in the West. Though the language is similar (English), the climate, the food, and the culture are very different. Ghana’s climate can be very hot and humid, think Florida in August times ten.

• We will spend most of our time at City of Refuge Ministries. We will lodge in their volunteer house.
• Food will be provided by City of Refuge Ministries and they will be authentic Ghanian food.
• Our service projects will include helping in the classroom, some manual labor, and whatever they need to accomplish.
• We will visit Cape Coast and tour the slave castles. These slave castles were holding places for slaves before coming to the west.

Each Gap Semester is limited to 4 students.

We are proud of our commitment to keep our student to leader ratio at the incredibly low level of five students for every leader.  The quality of your child’s experience is our primary objective and we think you will see the results in the testimonials from past trips!

• Educational, learning about the history of slavery the trans-Atlantic slave trade and modern-day slavery in Ghana
• Relational as we will spend time with the staff and children at City of Refuge Ministries playing soccer, basketball, art, assisting in the classroom, as well as other opportunities to build relationships.
• Spiritual as we will spend time discussing God’s view of justice and our role in joining him in making things right in the world.

The hard stuff

• Weather will be very hot, humid, and uncomfortable, even at night.
• There will be limited vegetables and fruit. The food tends to be a little spicy food with a lot of rice.
• There will be little to no cold drinking water, but there will plenty of purified water.
• There are no hot showers, only cold showers that we can take once a day.
• We will sleep in bunkhouses with bunk beds.
• There is a seven-hour time difference between the West Coast to Ghana.
• There are many mosquitos so bug repellent is necessary.
• Because we are guests in their home, we will be expected to follow their guidelines for what we wear. This is a must!

The fun stuff

• We will attend a 2 1/2 hour church service on Sunday.
• We will spend a lot of time with the children at the children’s village.
• We will assist in the classroom at Faith Roots Academy.
• There is plenty of soccer and basketball to be played.
• We will visit Cape Coast Castle to learn about the history of Slavery from Ghana.
• We might also visit the coastal community.

An attitude of humility, flexibility, and teachability is essential for this trip.

No electronic devices (cell phones, I-pods, PSPs, etc.) cameras are the only exception

We will have three pre-trip meetings either in person or online. These meetings are required for participation.

We will eat amazing Mexican food, prepare meals together, and eat great Ghanian food. Filtered water will be provided throughout the trip.

Due to the nature of this trip, we are requiring an application to be submitted for this trip. The Ghana trip is NOT a first come first serve trip. The application deadline is February 28th. After the application deadline, we will contact you about your trip status.

The cost of the trip is $2000 plus airfare. There will be five monthly payments of $400 each. If you are accepted onto the trip there will be a $500 non-refundable deposit due on March 15th.

Airfare can range between $1200 and $2,000. We will work to find the lowest and best airfare. We typically fly one of the three following airlines: United, Delta, or British Airways. You will also incur expenses related to a VISA, pre-trip vaccines and spending money ($150-250 is recommended). 

We understand that this is a very expensive trip. We offer one fundraiser where you can write your friends and family asking them for financial support. If you want this letter, please let us know. Unfortunately, we do not have any scholarship money available.