It was quite a summer vacation for 7 young leaders from the Simcoe Muskoka YMCA.
They spent the last three weeks of August visiting and meeting with youth in Sierra Leone in on the west coast of Africa.
They spent time visiting schools, a peace memorial and the slums to find out what the YMCA of Sierra Leone is doing to help young people in that Country.
Sara McNeil is one of the local teens on the trip and says it was a life changing event for her.
She says even when they visited the slums, young people there were very optimistic that conditions in that country are improving.
Jim Pomeroy is with the Simcoe Muskoka YMCA and says the country is slowly rebuilding after a devastating civil war that lasted for more than 12 years.
He says the YMCA in Sierra Leone has set up community centres in the slums to help young people acquire skills that can help them find jobs and become self supporting.
Pomeroy says the youth leaders are now raising awareness in the community about what the Y is doing in Sierra Leone.
