ARCC Gap: East Africa - Uganda, Kenya & Tanzania

I had the opportunity to go on ARCC Africa Gap and it was honestly one of the best experiences I have ever had. I loved being able to travel around Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania with a group of like-minded individuals and two supportive leaders. I learned and incredible amount about myself, who I am around a group and most of all, I was able to learn about the world. We were able to travel to many different cities in each country and see a variety of different landscapes and cultures. We traveled between rural villages and high populated cities to see the change that urbanization and development bring to a country. As a group we did a multitude of different projects involving people, animals, the environment and explored the importance of all three working together. I absolutely loved the past three months. The amount i have learned about myself and the world outweighs any 3 months I could've spent in a classroom. I'm so happy I chose ARCC programs to show me this amazing world.

To try and narrow this experience down to one place, one moment, or one story would be such a reduction of what this trip has been that it isnt even worth trying. Everything i have experienced in East Africa has given me a new found appreciation for my life back home, my friends, and literally everything i have. This once in a lifetime journey created more of a global awareness than i ever thought i would have. Experiencing the poverty stricken capital of Uganda, rafting on the Nile, seeing thousands of beautiful animals in the Masai Mara, teaching at a primary school in Kenya, and looking out over the great rift valley in Kajiado, are only a handful of the unbelievable experiences this journey has to offer. Every second of this trip has been worthwhile, and i would not trade it for anything.

The trip to Eastern Africa has easily been the most impactful 3 months of my life. Whether it has been installing solar panels for Maasai communities or teaching at a local primary school, the trip has been more than impactful on my life and on my perception of the world. Strangely enough, the most impactful part of the experience for me came from a conversation with a twelve year old boy that lasted fifteen minutes. When in Kampala, Uganda, ARCC was lucky enough to visit a children's orphanage for kids who were born with HIV. When we got to the orphanage, everyone was excited to see us and we were excited to see everyone there as well and soon it almost turned into a candy and dance party with kids ranging from the age of 3-12. For about two hours we all danced and sang songs, but as the visit was winding down, I was able to have the most meaningful conversation of my life with my new friend Andrew. Andrew was the oldest at the orphanage at the age of twelve and I wanted to get to know Andrew just the littlest bit more. I asked Andrew if he liked playing soccer or any sports and all of a sudden Andrew's eyes lit up and he started raving about his favourite team Arsenal of the English Premier League. I then asked him if he played soccer on a team and his smile quickly went to sadness. Andrew told me he has always wanted to play soccer on a team but was never allowed to because he was sick. After reality had hit yet again that for these last two hours, we'd been having the time of our lives with kids who struggle with so much more than I could ever imagine, I quickly wanted to change the subject and make him happy once more. I asked Andrew what he wanted to be when he was older and his response changed my life. Andrew told me he wanted to become a doctor to help cure himself and all his friends. I was heartbroken, I didn't know what to say so all I told him was that someday his dreams were going to come true. I knew that I was doing everything I could and I now know on this trip that you will experience rawness like never before, but at the same time, we as a group understand that we are doing everything we can to make this world a better place and leave a lasting impact. Before we left the orphanage, Andrew grabbed my hand and asked me for a watch because he has always wanted to be able to tell time. I knelt down next to him and I told him someday he will be my doctor and I'll repay him for his amazing work with the nicest watch I could afford and that brought his smile right back. At the end of the day there is only so much one individual or one group can do, but ARCC does that and still pushes the boundaries on the potential one can do. Never did I think a conversation of 15 minutes would change my life the way it has, and the thing that I will absolutely bring back with me is the drive, passion and desire to help kids like Andrew someday.

One of the MANY reasons I came on ARCC Gap Africa's trip was due to a life-changing week at an all-girls boarding school in Kenya: Daraja Academy. There, we shadowed girls (grades 9-12) through their daily lives, classes, and clubs. More impressive than their passion for learning and becoming activists of change, were their personal stories of how they got to Daraja. Daraja is free for all students, thus, the criteria is very harsh -- the admissions office finds girls who are in dire need of a free high school education, already a hard thing to obtain in Kenya, as well as within East Africa as a whole. These girls come from harsh backgrounds full of discrimination, inequality, and harsh traditions that are upheld by their tribes such as early marriage, early childbirth, and worst of all, FGM. I was lucky enough to make life-long friends who inspire me even months after this trip to make a change. While at Daraja, the ARCC Group had the privileged of teaching a free-range workshop. I choose "women's empowerment and risk taking" (Lessons I learned from one of my heroes, Rachel Simmons). We spoke on taking risks, the obstacles we must overcome as women, and how, together, we have more that unites us then divides us, proving how much change upcoming generations will create. Daraja was incredible, to say the least.
In general, the 3 months have flown by. Each project we have done excited me beyond belief and also challenged me to the levels nothing else ever could. I came on this trip to do something larger then myself, to tackle the tough realities of inequality, as well as broaden my perspective of the world; especially East Africa. The well-rounded itinerary that ARCC provides kept me engaged, focused, excited, and passionate. I have made life-long friends and have been inspired to continue my passion for social justice and my fight for equality across the board.
Aside from highlighting tough issues that consume the daily lives of East Africans across the board, this trip has also opened my eyes to issues back home in the U.S that need to be addressed, demonstrating that no matter what topic you want to concentrate on, ARCC shows you it all and more. You will leave this trip having found parts of yourself you never knew of, a well-rounded and diverse vision of the world you will both love and hate based on the simultaneous harsh realities of inequality yet the heart-warming hope you see within the eyes of the people, and, finally, the ultimate desire to stand up and make a change. In two words: life changing.

There are so many things I would LOVE to say about my Africa experience that ARCC has provided for me, but for my readers sake I will try and be brief. This experience is for anyone who is looking for adventure. Don't get me wrong this trip will flip your entire universe upside down, but it will make you so much more of a well rounded person. This trip gave me the perfect balance of exhilarating action (ex. white water rafting, safari, and scuba), and the experience of seeing how the rest of the world gets by (ex. installing solar panels, teaching in a local primary school, etc.). I will forever cherish my Africa gap semester, and I couldn't thank ARCC enough for making the whole thing possible.

ARCC Africa gap has been one of the best and most transformative experiences of my life. I was initially nervous to spend part of my gap year with an organized program, but I am now so happy that I did. ARCC has lined up some amazing service projects that cover a variety of topics, such as education and literacy, public health, and environmental conservation. My group (made up of 5 incredible students and 2 supportive, interesting, and well-rounded leaders) has worked at a rhino sanctuary, taught at the first free all-female secondary school in Kenya, installed solar panels in local Masai houses, and done a variety of other service projects. ARCC balances these intensive service projects with fun, adventure activities like rafting the Nile River, a safari in the Masai Mara, and scuba diving in Zanzibar. I never once felt unsafe in my surroundings. It is rare to get this sort of access to East Africa and I'm so happy that I was able to have this experience. I cannot imagine a better gap year experience.

Traveling to Eastern Africa through ARCC radically changed my life. Spending three months traveling to an unfamiliar place not only changed the way I see day to day life, but also completely changed my passion for my future. I left the States with no idea what career I wanted to study and pursue, and came back determined and passionate about the environment. Over the three months, our leaders had us(students) choose a topic of interest from five or so topics (art, environment, business, music, teaching etc.) and research different specifics within our field of "study" as we traveled the countries. This included interviewing locals, taking samples and getting to know more about the cultures we were immersed in. Although going on safaris, working on sustainable farms, living on one of the world's only rhino sanctuaries, teaching in schools, learning Swahili, building houses, living within Maasai villages, getting certified in scuba-diving, and working at an elephant and giraffe sanctuary were some of my favorite parts of the trip, I really valued the relaxed "capstone project" that ARCC had us do. Before going on my trip I did not have a clue what I wanted to study and after choosing environmental factors for my "capstone project" I realized that I wanted to study global environmental sustainability and came back with a whole project put together by local interviews, samples, and experience which I am currently able to apply to some of my college classes. I would suggest an ARCC GapYear trip to any and everyone who is looking for a semester full of adventure, unique experiences, and friends of a lifetime!

I had an amazing tim on the Africa gap trip. Some of the highlights were: Rafting on the nile, working in the slums of Kibera, and scuba diving in Zanzibar. For the first segment of the trip, we were on a farm in rural Uganda. During our stay there we planted over 300 Banana trees and helped out with day to day tasks such as feeding the pigs and planting vegetables in the gardens. One of the difficulties of the trip was how physically demanding some of our activities were, such as digging trenches for water flow at the ziwa rhino sanctuary or Building a lion-proof fence around a village in Kenya.