While reflecting on my experience with my Global Brigade traveling to Ghana this past August, I think about what I first thought going into the trip: I am going to help those less fortunate and serve them in the best way that I can. If Adam Davis were to listen to my theory or goal, he would categorize me “by alleviating your suffering, I take care of myself” (Davis, 2). While my heart did hurt for the people in Africa I didn’t think that I would necessarily take care of myself. I just knew that if I went there and served others, I would feel good.

Upon my arrival to Africa, this all changed. We get to Ghana and even in the airport I could already tell that I was in for some culture shock. There wasn’t a Starbucks or a cell phone charging station that I could stop in before heading to the community. It was a partially outside airport where bags were thrown everywhere and you had to find yours and get out. So this already gave me an idea of the service I would be providing, and to what kind of people, in what kind of place.

After settling in and getting acclimated to our lodge, we were immersed into the community. We saw how the people lived. They had absolutely nothing compared to what most Americans are used to. They had never seen medicine before; some never had even seen a white person. I knew that no matter what we brought to this community, it would be life changing.

We served the community by setting up a clinic for them to attend to have their medical needs addressed. We took their vitals and symptoms, sent them to a doctor for consultation, filled their prescriptions, and educated them on how to take them and take care of themselves. We gave them control for the first time in their lives of their own health. They didn’t know that by not boiling their water they were at a huge risk for a parasite. They didn’t know that when sleeping without a mosquito net they were the most vulnerable to catching malaria. So we told them. We gave them the proper education to better themselves and their health.

We observed how they lived and behaved. Sanitation was a huge issue. There were feces all over the ground and wild animals running around. They didn’t have toothbrushes or tooth paste to clean their teeth. So we gave them the tools and resources needed to fix their current problems at hand. This is how we physically served the community.

But this whole time as I am reflecting on my experience, I struggle to say that I actually served the people of Ekumfi Techiman, Ghana.

I find that they were actually the ones to serve me. What I think that Adam Davis was lacking in his article were the reverse effects of serving in a community. He addressed how service is good in saying that “service might produce goods that are necessary, educational, pleasurable, beautiful, hold, or right” (Davis, 3). But he didn’t address the way that they would make us feel during and after the trip. Going into Ghana I had some expectations, but what I actually felt and experienced while there were indescribable. That community has forever changed me. They have filled a void in me that I never knew I even had.

I went into the trip meeting complete strangers, knowing nothing about them and they knowing nothing about me. But I left being completely inspired and touched by some of the most beautiful people I have ever met, inside and out. I truly think that the people of that community served me by giving me an appreciation of life that I couldn’t receive anywhere else. They forever changed my outlook and perspective on things and humbled me beyond my wildest belief. They made me feel like I was the one with the wrong outlook on life. Even though their lives weren’t glamorous or filled with expensive things, they were happy. They were truly happy to be surrounded by family and friends and a great sense of community. It embarrassed me to think about what Americans needed to be happy.

So when reflecting on my experience and connecting it to Adam Davis’ article, I find myself struggling. Yes, he makes very good points about how service is all about not addressing inequality and people often do it for the wrong reasons, but I can’t help but to critique him on finding a better meaning of service as a whole. He failed to acknowledge those deep and emotional connections you receive and give off. Contrary to what Davis said, I do not think that it makes you feel good. I think that service makes you good as a whole. It stirs up emotions and touches you in ways you never thought were possible. It builds these relationships with strangers to a point where after the service is completed, it is all you can think about. Davis doesn’t tell you that after completing service, whether who it is for or why you are doing it, that your life will be forever altered. If it is not, then you have not found your right form of service.

I do believe that some service is not for everyone. I know that I have had to complete community service events in the past and I just wanted to get through them. I didn’t appreciate or embrace the cause. The tasks were boring and I was forced to do it. But Ghana was different. The people there really affected me and they changed my world.  I wasn’t trying to just complete a task or get credit for it. I went there willingly with some expectations, but at the end of the trip found myself crying saying goodbye to my new friends and not wanting to leave. To me that is the most important part of service. It is all about not only serving others, but also allowing them to serve you and that is what I felt I experienced this past August in Ghana.