REACH intern: ‘What I’m bringing back with me from Ivory Coast!’

“These last two months in Ivory Coast have meant the world to me, and I can’t imagine a better place for me to have been for this specific summer,” said REACH intern Claire Richardson. “I’ve been changed, my mind has been stretched, and I’ve grown in ways I didn’t even know I needed to grow and learned so much more than I anticipated.”

Claire went to Ivory Coast with small gifts for people she would meet but didn’t realize how much she would be bringing back.

“I’m not talking about souvenirs,” she added. “I’m bringing a lot of things back that are more important than my neat African mementos.”

Here’s some of the items from Claire’s list:

• A renewed faith.
• A heart filled with love for people.
• A view that sometimes things aren’t wrong, just different.
• An appreciation for reliable running water and American milk.
• De-worming medicine!
• A desire to plant trees.
• A new perspective on how I should go about each of my days — with love first and foremost.
• The knowledge that a good hug and a smile can surpass any language barrier.
• Knowing that sometimes serving is just being with people rather than actively doing something.

Are you interested in having a life-changing experience like Claire’s next summer? Find information about REACH, our summer internship program, right here.