Andrea Solomon

My study abroad experience began with a three-day stopover in London, after which we continued on to South Africa.  I took two classes during my four-week stay at Stellenbosch University in Stellenbosch, South Africa.  The courses were an Introduction to South African History, Politics, and Economics and a Service Learning in Community Development course.  The Service Learning course by far consumed most of my time as classes often ran seven days a week.  We began with two weeks of theory on community development, followed by two weeks of a combination of theory and application at our service sites.  I was placed at the Ikahya Trust Center, a community center for AIDS orphans, in the township of Kayamandi.  We worked with the after school program which was designed for children grades 1-7 as we created a holiday program for them.  The theme of our program was “relationships;” we endeavored to teach them to identify good friends, help out at home, find role models in their everyday lives, etc.  My trip concluded with a 6-day tour of the southern coast known as the Garden Route in which we were able to whale watch, ride elephants, pet cheetah, zipline, bungee jump, and tons of other exciting things.