“It really is the best place in the world,” senior Destiny Bell said. “Everyone is so happy and welcoming even though they have nothing.”
Bell is one of the many Arapahoe students who traveled to Africa this summer and brought back a new outlook on life.
Seniors Jordan Seibold, Sarah McIlwaine, Erika Wolff and Laura Feehs traveled abroad to Ghana, while Bell spent her time helping in Kenya.
Africa has 53 countries that are barely surviving. The U.S. government gives aid to 47 of those countries; but because of African government corruption, sources say that change in Africa will only come through NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and churches.
From west to east Africa, students are not only bringing change to those in need, but gaining a new understanding of what life means to them.
McIlwaine, along with Wolfe and Feehs, spent half of their time leading a Vacation Bible School and touring, and the other half building a school and playing with African children in Dagby, a small village located in the heart of Ghana’s jungle.
McIlwaine talked about their average day that included “making bricks, cementing, shoveling and pushing wheelbarrows… We played with the children who came down from their homes and would spend the day with us.”
Seibold, who was also in Ghana but with another church, had a different experience.
“For four weeks we stayed at a lady’s house and helped out with a church,” Seibold said. “We spent the other two weeks in an orphanage.”
Bell went with a church and helped out with a medical team.
“I took temperatures, heights and weights and helped the doctor out,” Bell said. “It was crazy some of the things we saw, that you would never see here in the states.”
She spent the rest of her time working with three schools in the slums of Mathare. She taught Vacation Bible School.
Bell got a very close look and understanding of Africa and its needs.
“We all see the commercials,” Bell said. “But I never realized how far it went until I saw all the kids attending school because of people that sponsored them.”
Because most Africans cannot rely on the economy or the government, they turn either to a life emphasizing families and friends or to a life emphasizing drugs and gang violence.
Bell recalls a story about a homeless child being beaten up by a gang of homeless men.
As she watched, she saw the men had stolen some shoe glue from the little boy.
“That glue was all that little boy had and he screamed and cried at the top of his lungs,” Bell said.
Homeless boys often buy shoe glue because it is cheaper than food. Sniffing the glue makes them less hungry and helps them stay warm at night.
“His screams will stay in my head forever,” Bell said.
People, especially those coming from the wealth of America, can easily be blinded by Africa’s poverty and crime.
Bell expanded on the aspects of life where she believes Africa is different from the States.
“Their lives aren’t based on time, but on family and friends and the memories they make,” Bell said.
She made relationships in Africa she intends to continue throughout her life. Bell remembers a fourth grader, Edith. She was amazed at how sincere she was even though she was younger.
“The saying, ‘How are you’ has become so meaningless [in the U.S.A.],” Bell said. “They really want to know how you are and what is going on in your life [in Africa].”
Bell admires the Africans’ faith. Similar to their lack of wealth, their lack of education causes them to rely more on trust.
“Most importantly, I learned how simple a relationship with Jesus is,” Bell said. “Here we make it so hard, but the Kenyans get how easy it is to love and worship the Lord. They taught me how to welcome people in with open arms.”
Jordan Seibold, who traveled to Ghana, recognizes something of worth in Africa’s relaxed way of life.
He also plans to return, possibly for a year before college to continue building relationships and helping the people in Africa.
“They need help over there,” Seibold said. “And they like to see that people care about them.”
Africa isn’t all grass huts and dirt; in some areas, it’s almost as westernized as America.
“There were billboards and lights and highways and cars,” McIlwaine said. “One day they even went into town and got all of us burgers and French fries
and Coke.”
McIlwaine went on to explain that even though the cultures are different, teenagers are still teenagers.
“I met two girls while in Africa, Pascline and Dorrine,” McIllwaine said. “We really connected with them because they are so much like us.”
Students of Arapahoe traveled across the world to offer help, but what they experienced changed their lives.
“They taught me more than they will ever know,” Bell said. “They did more for me than I could ever do for them.”