When Katherine Niemann decided to take a gap year and volunteer with a service organization, she didn't realize the dream would take her halfway across the world.

The 2010 Pioneer graduate initially considered a program in Kentucky, but eventually determined it wouldn't give her enough opportunity to work with children. Her search for the right program eventually led her to an orphanage in Ghana, Africa.

The experience solidified her love of travel, adventure and service.

“I want to see and do everything,” Niemann said. “I think I need about three lifetimes to do what I want to do.”

In Ghana, Niemann was assigned by Volunteers for the Amelioration of Rural Areas to work at the local orphanage. VARAS is a non-governmental volunteer organization that is meant to assist people who face problems such as poor health care, education, unemployment, lack of clean water and improper supervision of the environment.

Activities a VARAS volunteer at the orphanage is responsible for include keeping the orphanage clean, helping to bathe the youngest children, cooking, teaching, coaching, motivating and playing with the children.

Before she left, Niemann raised more than $10,000 from family, friends and her church community to pay for her trip to Ghana, and also to reimburse her host family.

As a thank-you for all of the help she received, she kept a blog, From Ghana With Love, to chronicle her experiences.

Niemann describes Aflao as a dusty, poor and welcoming place. The biggest culture shock for Katherine turned out to be the language barrier.

“I knew there were hundreds of native languages there, so I didn’t know what one I’d be using,” she said. “I did not realize how often they used the native languages, and they did not understand how quickly I spoke.”

It took months for Niemann to learn how to communicate with her family, and her host father, Worfa, quickly became the middleman for conversations between Niemann and her host mother, Victoria.

Speaking a native language called Ewe, Niemann became functionally fluent and learned how to answer and ask the basic questions.

During her nine-month stay in Ghana, Niemann volunteered at an orphanage about a half an hour walk from her host family's home.

Working with 8 to 13 year olds, Niemann taught English, math and art. She was an assistant teacher in the headmaster’s class.

Niemann said she became most connected with a 13-year-old boy named, Wonder.

"He has the brightest smile you can imagine. He was one of my top students; an amazing artist," she said.

There were many differences in the methods used to teach the children at the school. Niemann observed that the education system relied heavily on memorization, and she said she set out to teach them the “why.”

“I would try to kind of create a hybrid, teaching them critical thinking through memorizing a process,” Niemann said.

Another large difference Niemann had to adjust to was the use of caning as punishment.

Niemann said when she needed to instill discipline, she would resort to raising her voice, but it often would not faze the children.

Educational differences were not the only ones that made Niemann bend to fit in.

“I really missed the freedom,” she said.

Ghana is currently a safe, stable country, but Niemann's host family was constantly questioning what she was doing and where she was going. Her host mother once explained to Niemann that she would gain a bad reputation if she stayed out late.

“It just wasn’t culturally acceptable for me to be out that late,” she said.

Although some of the rules may have been strict, Niemann's parents say they are grateful for the family that took in their daughter.

“The real unexpected jewel in all of this was her host family,” said Katherine's mom, Melinda Niemann. “She wasn’t just living in Ghana for those nine months —, she was at home.”

Katherine said it was difficult to say goodbye.

“I thought I wasn’t a crier, but I bawled, it was kind of helpful for them to say to me, ‘we’re going to see you again,’ ‘see you later.’”

During her flight home, Niemann says she dreamed of Ghana.

“I had never dreamed about it while I was there; I dreamt about home,” she said.

When she landed in Washington D.C., Niemann said she hated everything.

"I was already missing Ghana terribly, and then all of a sudden it became undeniably obvious that I wasn't there anymore," she said. "Everything in me wanted to turn around and get right back on a plane to my dirty, broken down, lovable Ghana."

The Niemanns were glad to have their daughter back, but it was bittersweet because Melinda Niemann knew her daughter was no longer doing something she enjoyed.

Since returning, Niemann has attended freshman orientation at Northern Michigan University and is looking forward to studying speech pathology during her time in Marquette.

Ghana isn't the first foreign country Niemann has traveled to — others include Egypt and Guatamala — and it's not likely to be the last.

“Her passport doesn’t expire for a while,” Melinda Niemann said.

Michelle Meunier is an intern for AnnArbor.com. Have a community news tip? Email community@annarbor.com.