A trip I will remember forever; wonderfully, profoundly transformative. Past Review
By A student (Saint Mary's College of California) - abroad from 12/28/2016 to 01/08/2017 with
ThisWorldMusic: Traveling - Study in Ghana: Music, Arts, Culture
I did not expect to feel so moved by the experience or so at home at the institute. The entire staff (Dagbe and ThisWorldMusic) were open and real, offering the students a chance to engage deeply with the culture and the people. The cultural wealth and generosity of the Ghanaians I met impressed me. I feel compelled to examine my own life and culture.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Traveling to Africa required several vaccinations as well as taking and preparing to have medications while there. The program supplied helpful information for all of this and we were reminded daily while in Ghana to take our anti-malarial medications. Program leaders wanted to know about any health concerns while we were traveling and I was confident that I would have been taken care of had I fallen ill. |
| * Safety: |
I felt safe on this trip because of the program's attention to safety concerns, pre-planning, and vetting processes for accommodations, food, guides, and transportation. Had I not been with such a program I would have felt much less safe as the city of Accra and even the villages are so busy and culturally unfamiliar. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $100 |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I would pack a little differently if I were to go again. Although the packing list was thorough I think it would have been helpful for me to hear Leah go through her own packing list, particularly as far as clothes/shoes preference goes. Maybe helpful to remember that closed-toed shoes are definitely the preference for almost any outing. I also might have tried to do a little more interviewing with the Dagbe staff. I have more questions for them now that I'm back home and have been thinking about the trip than I was prepared to ask when I was there. |
