One of the best moments I’ve experienced here was the other night. While sitting at the faculty table eating dinner, my friend Amy sat down next to us with some great news. Three girls from our very own Gashora Girls Academy had been accepted into the African Leadership Academy.  To understand what incredible news this is you have to first know a little bit about the ALA. So I turned to my friend and teacher extraordinaire here at GGA, Sam, and she filled me in. The ALA is one of the best schools you can find anywhere in Africa. It is a leadership school that opens doors to incredible opportunities. If you’re lucky enough and academically driven enough to have the honor of being accepted and attend the ALA, it basically allows you to go to college anywhere in the world including schools in the states such as Harvard and Stanford, usually on full ride scholarships. But they only accept around a few hundred people per year out of all of Africa. And THREE of our girls were accepted. So Amy, (who by the way is also a rock-star administrator here and very much responsible for the girls acceptance into ALA) asked all of us at the table if she thought she should announce the great news to the school at that moment and we all agreed it would inspire everyone in the room to hear about their peers being accepted to such a prestigious school. So she and Alain, our soon-to-be headmaster, went to the front of the 270 some students, microphone in hand, ready to announce the news.

The girls had been waiting weeks to see if anyone had been accepted, so when Alain simply said “Good evening everyone. Can I please have Peace come to the front of the room” everyone knew exactly what she was being called up there for: They knew she had made it: She had been accepted into the ALA. The dinning hall exploded with energy, girls screaming and jumping up and down in support for their friend. But they didn’t seem to be expecting another name so when Alan said the second name, everyone in the room exploded with even more cheering and jumping. The supportive energy in the room was amazing! And when even a third name was called the room of girls couldn’t stand it. They erupted and hollered and clapped and were literally jumping for joy. It was beautiful to see how positively the school impacts these girls and to see what they can achieve. Absolutely amazing. And my friend Sam was so proud because she had worked right alongside those girls throughout her time here.

I  just have to say, Sam is incredible. What she accomplishes at this school is inspiring. It is not just the astounding amount of work she accomplishes in one day around the school but also the relationships she has with the girls. You can tell the girls just love her and for good reason. They respect her, they learn a lot from her and they laugh hearty laughs at her fun-loving antics. I’m so inspired everyday seeing what she does. I could tell she was excited to see adventures and possibilities coming to fruition for the three Gashora girls that night.