Program Details: Safety & Security
(Download this Safety & Security Brief as a PDF document here)
Global Leadership Adventures is dedicated to providing the safest international service-learning programs possible. Safety is our absolute highest priority.
We take great care in providing our family a safe, comfortable environment to explore a new country and develop personal leadership. Our staff, with many years of combined experience working on successful international student programs, makes sure that every student is safe by taking the following measures:
Program Design
First and foremost, our programs are designed exclusively for high school students. Unlike programs that accept teens, college students and adults, our programs are designed from the ground up to meet the unique needs of teenagers.
From the lodging we rent, the vehicles we drive, the meals we prepare and the staff we hire – each element of the program is built to ensure the safety of our students while also allowing them to explore a new country and experience a new culture.
Read more about our philosophy of service-learning.
In-Country Preparation
Before students land in the destination country, our staff has already taken precautions and made preparation to ensure student safety.
- Develop extensive emergency procedures to handle any unforeseen circumstances
- Employ US Program Directors that hold Red Cross certification in First Aid and CPR
- Conduct background checks on all US staff
- Research the best hospitals in the area
- Develop on-call relationships with local English-speaking doctors
- Maintain evening security personnel to ensure safety of our Home-Bases
- Ongoing monitoring of current events in our destination countries using our in-country staff as well as US State Department information.
Note: GLA will cancel a program if the US State Department issues a Travel Warning for that specific country. In this situation, families will be offered a full refund of your tuition, including the deposit.
Pre-Departure Preparation
The US-based staff works with families before students depart for their program to help them prepare thoroughly for their journey and also to set proper expectations for living in a country very different from their own.
Our staff assists families with:
- Resources to obtain passports, entry visas, and immunizations
- What to expect while traveling to your destination country
- Advice on packing
- Sharing of individual flight information among enrolled students
- Facilitating communication between parents and students during the program
This enables students and their parents to adequately prepare for the exciting journey ahead.
Travel Medical Insurance
Global Leadership Adventures purchases supplemental secondary travel medical insurance and emergency evacuation assistance for all students.
Group Lodging
Global Leadership Adventures programs all have group lodging unless specifically noted. Students and staff live in a GLA Home Base. The GLA Home Base varies from country to country, but is a dedicated facility with space reserved exclusively for Global Leadership Adventures students.
Group lodging allows our staff to provide a safe, secure physical environment for students as well as oversight to ensure food and water is clean, hygienic and healthy.
Read more about lodging in GLA Home Bases.
Supervision
We maintain a 10:1 student to staff ratio, and often times the ratio is even smaller. This allows our staff to get to know each student and provide close supervision and support during community service, cultural activities and excursions.
Students are under staff supervision almost always, unless they are explicitly granted time to explore independently within a pre-defined area. For example, when visiting an open-air market, wandering through a bazaar or engaged in a village ceremony.
In these situations, students are always instructed to use the buddy system and venture with a friend. In addition, students are briefed on what to look out for and what to avoid. We make sure that participants are ready to explore without feeling overburdened. Our main objective is to provide every GLA student a safe, wonderful and memorable experience.
Read more about our expert staff.
