For anyone who is going on Semester at Sea, who knows someone going on, or who has never heard of Semester at Sea at all...

Senase Village, Ghana changed my life. I got the experience to completely immerse myself in a world that I otherwise never would have been able to see, a third world country where first world norms like running water, toilets, and paved roads are non existent. I went to schools where walls did not exist and there were maybe a handful of pencils to go around for an entire class. 

Senase Village was an opportunity I had because I was a student on Semester at Sea. However, this experience wasn’t given to me by the insitution itself, but rather an amazing group of Senase villagers who opened their hearts and their homes to these foreign students. There have only been three groups of SAS students to visit Senase, but I guarantee that each and every student will say it was the most life-changing experience they have ever had.

The reason I am writing this post isn’t to try to summarize my experience in Senase (though I’m pretty sure that could never be done anyway), but rather to share this opportunity with anyone willing to read. Can Do Land Tours, the operating team of the Senase Homestay, among other student-oriented trips in Ghana, has been banned from the upcoming Semester at Sea voyages facebook groups (which have been its main source of self-promotion and registrations), and it’s founders fear that their programs with SAS students will no longer be able to run. Students promoting Senase and Can Do are being rejected entrance into the group and this lack of crucial space has created a major road black. I am reaching out the best way I know how, in the public web, to urge you to keep Senase in mind. If you yourself are going on Semester at Sea, fight for Senase. If you know anyone that’s going, tell them about Senase and to get themselves registered. If you have never even heard of Semester at Sea, I’m sure someone you know has and somewhere you can find a future student.

Here are some helpful links:

http://www.thesenaseproject.org/ <- To me, this may be the most important reason to fight for Can Do Land Tours. The first group of SAS students established a fully functioning NGO non-profit organization after their time in the village. Senase influenced them so much that somehow, someway, they were able to fully establish themselves from the middle of the ocean before their semester even ended. So far, they have built a brand new school and are working towards more aid to the community.

http://disneyalisaatsea.blogspot.com/2012_02_01_archive.html <- These are my blog entries relating to my experience in Ghana. Though they can’t in the slightest express how much Ghana changed my life, they can do more than this brief plea can.

Here is the facebook page for Can Do Land Tours, the company that runs trips in Ghana, including Senase Village. Join this page to support Can Do.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/CAN-DO-LAND-TOURS/104874722889866

Next, the link for the website of Can Do Land Tours, showing some of their hopeful offerings for the future. http://candotours.webs.com/

Lastly, here is a link to the head of Can Do Land Tours, Fred. Fred is a local of Senase and is a truly amazing person. If you are interested in a trip to Senase, please friend request Fred and send him a message. He has asked all of us to help him continue these trips, and he is a wonderful human being who loves Semester at Sea and it’s students. Fred is a true inspiration and will do anything he can to make these trips happen. You don’t need a big group of people to save this experience, we just need one person at a time. http://www.facebook.com/fredrick.benneh

Senase is inspiring, and it can’t be forgotten. Ghana has a place in my heart that no where else will ever come near. Some of my peers on the voyage didn’t think highly of Ghana, and instead prefered most of the other ports. For me, nothing will ever stand out the way Ghana did. Friends of mine expressed that their biggest regrets on SAS was not experiencing something like Senase. For me, not a single day, hell, not even a single hour, has gone by where I haven’t thought about this village. Semester at Sea is meant to be a life-changing, culturally enriching experience. And the trips that Can Do Land Tours provided are truly the definition of these goals. This village opened my heart to a whole new world and I will never be the same person. It kills me to see this program reaching its possible end. Senase needs us. Please share this message with anyone you might know. All we need is a chain reaction. Fred is heartbroken in facing this wall, but he is hopeful that we can all overcome it.

Thank you.

This is my favorite picture from Semester at Sea. I hadn’t showered for four days and I thought the dirt on my legs might never go away, but none of that mattered. I was surrounded by the kindest, most friendly, happiest people I had ever met. Looking at this picture brings back a mixture of tears and smiles. My time in Ghana has inspired me to devote myself to change. This is an experience that can never be duplicated. So one last time,I ask you to please share this message and help future voyagers experience what I got to.