Former Crossroads Africa volunteers from the 1970s to 2010s describe how six weeks in African communities transformed them. They built lifelong friendships, gained deep cross-cultural understanding, and worked alongside local counterparts rather than imposing development. The program's intensive training and affordable, non-profit model created bonds that lasted decades.
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I decided to come back to Crossroads because I had a phenomenal experience in 2006.
And I had an opportunity to participate as a volunteer in Operation I was a Crossroads volunteer in Crossroads Africa in the summer of 1981. My wife also is a Crossroads alumni, having been in Liberia in 1978.
My first contact with Crossroads volunteers goes back to 1982. I was about 13 years old when a group of Crossroads came to my village of Penyem in The Gambia.
The mission is not to develop Africa. The mission is to develop cross-cultural relationships, friendships among people on the continent and Americans. My group got along so well. We were all such good friends, and we've maintained our friendship after going back to the States.
It's funny because even though we're all from America, I feel like our group is very diverse. Not always necessarily racially diverse, but culturally diverse, experience, They're very happy to have us.
We brought a lot of supplies that they can use moving forward, and even just like the lifelong connections that we make. So when you get older, come back and help out.
I have a special connection with Operation Crossroads Africa, and I can't— I feel like everybody, the alumni, you just can't let it go.
Everybody I keep in contact with through phone or Facebook.
I see that clearly in 7 weeks, a lot of magic had to occur for folks to, you know, continue the relationship 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 50 years out.
Just amazing.
Fantastic.
So, so, so rewarding. Well, Dimbayah was a good one.
Yeah, it means family in Mandinka. I think acceptance is a big part of it.
I think life-changing. It's just a whole new perspective on how to think of things here and They just show you a whole new side of life.
It's a not-for-profit-making organization, and we have kept that legacy because with James Robinson, he wanted to make sure that this organization is affordable.
You are put with a group of people who are so diverse in the first place, outside of Africa, and then you go into a place Where you've never been, most of us.
Well, then also I guess the fact that the way that we're paired with local counterparts and working together, we're not, you know, we're not really working for them, they're not working for us, we're not like on our own independent project.
And I think one of the things that makes this program unique is that you learn by living with people that you're helping.
For that to still exist in the world where immigration Laws are all over the place and there's great concerns of safety and a lot of people are afraid and there's fear for flying and there's a resistance to actual human contact versus social media.
That's been some of the most rewarding parts of it.
Another thing that I like is just the intense training that we've had to prepare us for cultural exchange and, you know, potential differences that might arise. One of the reasons I came was for personal growth, and I definitely feel like that's a work in progress every day.
I expect to be surprised. I expect to be challenged. I expect to be frustrated and tired. There's nothing to complain about.
The food is good, we eat very well. The people are overly nice, they're almost too nice.
I had heard so many stories about, you're gonna love the kids, they're all gonna jump on you, they're all gonna be playing with you all the time, and they were completely right.
No matter, like, your level of success, it's just always really accomplishing.
To serve, to educate, to teach, to build, and to unify the group as well as myself.
I believe that it'll better you. Not only will it better you, but it'll better the people also in Africa to have that type of interaction. I also believe that inside of everybody, everybody really likes to volunteer. You just don't know it yet until you actually do it. So once you volunteer, you'll really like it, and then you'll want to do it again.
You're going to learn so much about yourself, about different cultures, And you're just gonna be immersed into culture. Like, when you're immersed into something, you have no option but to adapt. You have no option but to observe. You have no option but to grow.
The experience will inevitably change the way you think about yourself, the way you think about how you interact with the world around you and the other people in your life, what you think about Africa.
You should join Crossroads because it'll be the best experience of your life. Seriously, you will meet friends here, you will meet friends in Africa.
I've had better things happen to me in my life because I was a part of Crossroads than if I had never been a part of Crossroads.
I don't think there's a professor out there that will be able to teach you What you learn within the 6 weeks.
Where else would you get that time if you don't take the time to do it?
