Despite paying to have the visas expedited, founder Destiny Alexander said she couldn't get answers about when they would be returned.
Frustrated and running out of time before their scheduled departure, Alexander reached out to ABC11 Troubleshooter Diane Wilson for help. After ABC11 got involved, the group received its passports with approved visas just in time, allowing the teens and their chaperones to make the trip.
Now they're back home in Durham, reflecting on an experience they say changed their lives.
"It was 100% worth it," one teen said. "I got to talk to a whole lot of new people.," said Arrie Clendenning, a 16 year old part of POOF.
The nonprofit helps teens connect financial literacy, entrepreneurship, legacy planning and travel through real-world experiences. For many of the students, the trip marked their first opportunity to travel internationally. "It's a good experience for teens like me who don't have the opportunity to travel or do things such as traveling to Africa," said Samantha Fisher.
During their 10-day trip, the students immersed themselves in Ghanaian culture, learning local customs, exploring markets, visiting businesses and schools, feeding monkeys and visting a snake encounter. One of the most meaningful parts of the trip came during visits to local schools.
"Seeing all the kids welcome you," Fisher recalled. "When we got on the bus to leave one of the schools, they chased us all the way out." Fisher also says she learned to apprecaite more all we have in the US. She adds, "I would definitely say that it's an eye opening experience, because I think that a lot of the things that we have here, we take for granted, like here, we can like now it's hot and people are probably complaining, oh, it's so hot, but not everyone in Africa has guaranteed air conditioning or guaranteed hot showers. So I think that a lot of the things that we have here we take for granted."
The experience inspired the students to continue helping long after returning home. Destiny Alexander said they discovered students were learning computer skills without having access to actual computers.
"The teachers were drawing a mouse, a desktop and a monitor on the board, and the students knew all the functions like they had a computer," Alexander said. "We want to give them those 25 computers."
The organization has set a goal of raising enough money within the next 90 days to provide computers for the school. The trip also gave students a firsthand look at entrepreneurship, another key focus of the POOF Teen Center.
"We met a small business owner, the Chicken Man. He started his business back in 2018 where, he made homemade pizza and then started selling him a small boxes," Clendenning added, "I learned a lot from how small things can turn into big things."
Alexander says she's grateful the community believed in the students and helped make the journey possible and the all learned so much.
"I think the biggest education to take away was the entrepreneurship and the education. As for the fun, they learned that vacation looked a little bit different in Africa versus other places," Alexander added.
The POOF Center already has their next trip planned in December. They are going to New Orleans. To learn more about the POOF center click here.