As we approach our final presentation on our community engaged learning on Friday, it is bittersweet. It is sad to leave our community sites for the final times, but it is also an amazing feeling to look back and see how much we were able to accomplish this semester! I have added a page to my blog for each of my community sites (linked below). I also wanted to provided a brief summary of the projects that were completed at other sites!
At the Erasmus Early Child Development Center (ECD), they organized a zoo trip for the Grade R (equivalent of kindergarten) students using money from our GiveCampus fundraising. At Sjambok Primary School, three of us met weekly with about fifteen girls to talk about menstruation. Thanks to donations outside of our GiveCampus fundraising they were able to leave the school with a supply of over 3000 pads to help female students who would normally skip school during their periods. At Funanani Primary School, they focused on helping the students with their reading skills and updating the school's library. They were also able to start a pen pal exchange between a grade 3 class and a third grade class in the United States. Thanks to the $6000 raised through our GiveCampus campaign, at an ECD in Pretoria West, they were able to arrange for flush toilets to be installed to replace the unsanitary drop toilets previously being used. In all of the locations, we were able to spend time interacting with the students even when they did not speak English which was always a refreshing break from the more frustrating parts of our projects.
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5/21/2018 0 Comments Sesriem, NamibiaThis weekend I was able to make a quick trip to the sand dunes in Namibia. Needless to say, it was stunning!! The day before I arrived it rained for the first time in six years and I was able to capture a beautiful and unique photo (center). It was a 5.5 hour drive from the capital of Windhoek to Sesriem, over four hours of which were on gravel roads. We enjoyed the uniquely Namibian road signs and dots on the map that are really just gas stations and a bakery.
As the title explains, this week we traveled to the Limpopo province of South Africa where we were hosted by Professor Themeli's extended family as we learned about Venda culture. (For those who don't know, Professor Themeli is a Fordham professor from South Africa who helps to oversee the Ubuntu program.) His sister was even generous enough to lend us some traditional wraps to wear over our skirts for when we met the chief. The ceremony included music and dancing as well as what seems to be every South Africans favorite activity - making the Americans dance with them. It was incredible to drive five hours north of Pretoria and suddenly be surrounded by people wearing Fordham shirts and be treated with such hospitality. After this we were able to see more of the beauty of Limpopo. As we drove around the area, we began to see the truth in Limpopo being called "the bread basket of South Africa." Besides seeing lots of farms growing everything from bananas to tea, we saw banana and mango trees growing wild on the side of the road. Our final destination was the big baobab tree which we were able to climb. Here the landscaped changed from the lush surroundings of where we were staying to dry grass land but the colors were still beautiful.
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