MY VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
by Michelle Ybarra,
Harvard '03

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From the first moment of my involvement with the GEP as a volunteer, I felt as if I were being welcomed into a family. In the United States, during preparation meetings for the summer of work I was about to undertake, I found support in abundance regarding every aspect of the trip, from calming my worries about the gravity of the AIDS and HIV education we were to implement, to concerns about health and comfort. In response, I was introduced to a network of people and staff that displayed a personal investment in each volunteer and their concerns or ambitions for the summer. Long before I set foot on Ghanaian soil, I felt that I had stumbled upon not just another volunteer organization, but a true community.

This idea traveled with us into Ghana itself, not just within the network of volunteers, but within the larger Ghanaian community. Having never set foot in Ghana before, I was amazed at the reception we received even within the first day. I did not feel like a stranger, but like a welcome representative of the GEP, an organization regarded with respect and enthusiasm. Ghanaians knew before introductions who we were and why we were there, and they responded to our presence with friendship, excitement, and a great deal of kindness.

I fell in love with the work that I did there and even more so with the people I worked with. The work we did was so draining, yet so inspiring. At a time in my life that was difficult for me personally, I found myself strengthened by the support of the community around me, the motivation of my fellow volunteers, and the enthusiasm on the faces of everyone we met.

Arriving in Ghana, we spent our first few hours at Aunt Lily's house in the yard playing games and meeting our neighbors, especially the children. The kids there were to become fixtures in our daily lives, as much a part of our experiences as the food and the ocean. We created a new family that day, one that transcended our circle of volunteers and included those I came to see as a primary focus in our work and our actions: children. Throughout the summer, they were there to teach us about a world very different from our own, while helping us to improve that world in the ways that we had set out to do. To me, they became representative of the aim of our efforts and the necessity of the HIV/AIDS information we disseminated. They became our friends as well as our hope.

Perhaps my most vivid memory in Ghana is the day we moved thousands of books into a new library in the small village of Nyanfeku-Ekroful. No sooner had we parked the van and began unloading the dozens of boxes of books, than children from all over the village ran over to help, some as small as 4 or 5, eagerly lifting heavy boxes onto their heads and carrying them down the road to the new library. They knew what the boxes were for, and they knew what we had come to accomplish. We never worked alone in Ghana, but always hand in hand with the Ghanaian community towards a mutual goal.

The GEP has constructed a community both at home and across the Atlantic that facilitates growth in a way I have never seen before. We did not arrive in Ghana as strangers to the country, but were immediately embraced into a community that already knew us, making our work infinitely more effective and sustainable. We shared ownership in everything we did with the Ghanaian community at large, as our success was not independent, but the results of a joint effort and the fruits of trusting relationships between volunteers and Ghanaians.

I brought to Ghana books and education about HIV and AIDS, and took away so much more. The warmth and potential I encountered cured me of a growing disillusionment regarding my own ability to affect change in a way that matters. I realize now that progress is not something easily accomplished alone, but in concert with others, be they highly educated volunteers or simply a child willing to listen. My summer in Ghana was too short, which is one reason I am so eager to return. But the friendships, the experiences and the inspiration I will take away from those eight weeks will surely last me a lifetime.