Life changing. Touching. Heartwarming. Emotional. Amazing.

These are some of the words the Richland Collegiate High School (RCHS) students and administrators used when describing the trip they took to Senegal over the holiday break.

The group of six RCHS students and three administrators journeyed to Saint-Louis, Senegal, in West Africa in December to meet Senegalese peers at Ameth Fall Girls High School and participate in a seminar on youth and women’s issues.

RCHS Superintendent and Richland College President Steve Mittelstet led the group and was joined by RCHS Principal Kristyn Edney, Richland Humanities Executive Dean Sherry Dean, and ESOL Instructional Specialist Alice Lee.

Dr. Mittlestet said the trip was a tangible example of Richland’s vision to be the best place to learn, teach, and build sustainable local and world community.

“The heartwarming hospitality our delegation received at every turn was indicative of the impact this sustained international service-learning project has had with our Senegalese partners and provided palpable evidence to our students of the mutual benefits of sustainable community building in their lifelong roles as global citizens,” Dr. Mittelstet said. “It was a pleasure and an honor to report back to their parents at D/FW (International) Airport how proud they would have been of their offspring.”

RCHS student Sheila Enoh was deeply impacted by the group’s trip to Gorée Island, one of many departure points on Africa’s west coast for the slave trade and home to the infamous “Door of No Return.”

“Being on this island was very hard for me because every step I took could have been the same steps my ancestors took,” Ms. Enoh wrote on the students’ blog about the trip. “Hearing the stories of what my ancestors went through and seeing their living conditions in the slave houses stirred up many emotions within me. As much as I felt like crying, I could not let the tears out because they suffered and died for a purpose and that purpose is so that their descendants could live and have a better life than they did. This is what I truly believe.”

A joint entry on the blog by students Armon Raphiel and Victor Barrios praised the journey as a “life-changing experience” and said they are “planning for the future and are already trying to figure out a way that we can all come back next year with the next class of privileged students.”

To read more entries on the students’ blog, visit www.richlandcollege.edu/senegal.