Some teens spend their summers lounging by pools. Catherina Leipold spent one of hers across the globe, having a life-changing experience.

Leipold, who graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in 2012, spent three weeks during the summer of 2011 in Senegal with Walking Tree Travel, a service program that sends teenage participants to one of seven countries in Central America, Africa or Asia to work on projects such as building community centers, digging water wells and painting buildings.

It was a trip that changed how she looked at the world. The first week was spent traveling with four other girls, and the last two weeks were spent with a host family in the isolated village of Dindefelo.

Leipold, now a freshman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said her experience in Senegal was key in her decision to major in international relations.

“You can read about a developing country, but until you experience it for yourself, and see that your efforts really have an impact on the lives of your host families and their communities, you catch the bug and get a higher purpose,” she said.

She went from having one sibling to sharing a home with eight other kids. She even shared a bed with her host-sister N’deye.

She picked up some Tulaar, the dialect spoken by her host family, and learned to say “I’m hungry” and “I’m tired.”

Almost two years later, she still vividly recalls helping prepare meals, washing clothes in a river and rounding cows up in the middle of the night.

The program made such an impact on her, she stayed involved with Walking Tree Travel and now is in charge of its social media and marketing.

Read more at: http://www.gazette.net/article/20130424/NEWS/130429641/1007/bethesda-chevy-chase-grad-changed-by-trip-to-africa&template=gazette