13 days! 13 days… 13 days, and we’ll be off to Ghana, after 7 months of preparing for 4 weeks of living and volunteering in a far-off community; learning and exchanging our histories, cultures, and ideas every step of the way. This notion has yet to sink in for me, and as I sit in my living room typing this blog I’m trying to remember every moment that has led up to making this idea a reality and I’m overwhelmed by the number of things that come to mind.

I remember the very first time all of the leaders sat down in a room and decided to take on this seemingly impossible project, after weeks of researching other opportunities and finally deciding to reinvent the wheel and help to create something entirely new. I remember reading the never-ending stack of applications, the solid week of back-to-back interviews, and the final six-hour deliberation process that led to 13 exhilarating phone calls to the new members of our growing team. I remember our first team meeting, with all the energy, excitement, and uncertainty surrounding what we were setting out to do together. I remember the endless (and still going) meetings about contracts, risk assessment, in country scenarios, grant proposals, fundraising events, ethical volunteering, and more. I remember late night phone calls, subway rides, and countless discussions with my co-leaders and members about our ideas, expectations, and things we’ve come to learn from one another, and from this experience thus far…

Clearly I remember lots of things, but all of this cannot compare to one thing I keep reminding myself throughout this entire process. And that is to keep going, keep learning, and keep changing- hopefully for the better. No matter how much I think I know, (and how much I’d like others to think that I know), I can never underestimate the power of learning together, and this is what the ASB experience provides in spades. And so, with only a few sleeps left before we step onto a plane and begin a whirlwind of tro-tro rides, new smells, tastes, and adventures, I just wanted to thank all of you who have helped to make this happen. You guys and gals have kept up the spirit of ASB and have kept us all going, learning, and changing.

With exactly two weeks to go before departure, many of us are entrenched in the vaunted exam period of the semester. Whether it be business, social work, engineering, or anything else for that matter, its safe to say all of us are engaged in one form of studying or another. But while I find myself preparing rigorously for my exam, I give as much, if not more thought to the other test I will encounter in two weeks time. Seeing as this is my first REAL journey overseas, I am doing my best to mentally prepare for this absence from home. Of course I do so without letting any stress or worries enter the fray. For me, it’s an exhilarating, yet mysterious feeling knowing I am mere days away from embarking on a journey across the world. As the days wine down, I’m sure this excitement will only heighten.

As for our ASB journey as a team thus far, I feel we continue to grow closer. Every week is met with more and more laughter, which I believe contributes to everyone’s comfort zone. Though the time is nearing, I am confident each of us will continue to play our roles in contributing to this trip’s success.  I know I certainly will. 

Anyways, I could ramble on and on about what I’m looking most forward to in Ghana, but I think it would be best to sum up how I feel in these few words: “Culture of the Mind must be subservient to the heart”-Mahatma Gandhi. I find this quote to be exemplary of my mindset at this point, which is to live out this journey not only for myself but for others as well. 

But enough with the sentimental stuff, we’ll have plenty of time for that in Kledzo, KLM airlines, etc. 

My fellow team members, I salute you guys. Let’s make this happen. 

Ché

This is my first time writing a journal…this is my first time partaking a an extra curricular activity in Ryerson University…and this is also my first time leaving North America…There is a first time in everything and I am proud and honoured to experience this “first time” with my ASB leaders and team-mates. Though we have not left to Ghana yet, there has been so much I have learned from each one of them. That is the beauty about our team. We each come from different walks of life. Some of us are in our last years, while others in the first year or two. Majority of us are in different programs and all have different responsibilities outside of school. Yet all of us have a common goal - to learn and be humble about it, in hopes that it can change us for the better. I am sure that everyone in our team has been going through a lot of first times. What is amazing is that that we are doing these “first times” together. That is something you can’t buy or ever repeat. 

     I hope that we maintain and progress this process of growth as we depart and head into Ghana. Over there, everything will be a first time. There will be times of joy and times of sadness. There will be times of laughter and times of conflict. It is bound to happen. What is important is that we ought to remember who we are and why we are there. We are a team who wants to humbly learn to change for the better, whether it be ourselves or others around us. That is all I have to say. And so this is my first time ever finishing a journal.

VISA or MasterCard?

Properly preparing for a trip abroad take a lot of work and planning, you should study about the local culture, be aware current events in the country and sign up for travel alerts from the Foreign Affairs Department for starters. 

But one of the biggest pet peeves I’ve had is going through the bureaucracy that is applying for Visas. The form must be “completed in Quadruplicate and in Capital Letters”. Ok, sounds simple enough; fill in a one page form in block letters and then do it again three more times. How hard can that be? Well it turns out filling in Visa forms can drive you insane.  

Every character needs to be legible, there can be no mistakes. You can’t cross out anything or use whiteout. You can’t write it out once and then make copies; it all has to be done by hand. If the clerk at the embassy isn’t satisfied then your Visa’s not processed and it will hold back the whole team and endanger the project.

Writing in all caps is counter intuitive to me … and my writing is incredibly messy, which is why I type everything out. So it sucks when I get the half way down the form and fill in “Date of Departure” as “Apl” instead of “APL”. Great. Now that form is invalid and I’ll have to throw it out and start all over again. And yeah, we tossed out a LOT of invalid forms. 

This whole experience was like being punished and forced to write lines in elementary school. Sandwiches should not contain sand.
Sandwiches should not contain sand.
Sandwiches should not contain sand. 

But we can’t really complain since the team has it easy. We just need to FILL OUT the form. Our coordinator Taryn is the one that tells us precisely what we need to put down. Taryn is the one that collects the specific details like contact information and letters of references from our hosts in Ghana. And all then she needs to collect our passports, headshots, verify our forms are filled in correctly and then send it to the Ghana High Commission in Ottawa. 

So in short, a big shoutout goes to Taryn for managing the logistics that will get us to Ghana, what a gal!