African Studies class and Scholarships

AFRICAN STUDIES CLASS
My friend who is going to Africa with me, Krista and I wanted to take a class that would help us prepare for our trip. The African Studies course description said we would spend the semester learning about African geography, culture and religion. Krista and I really wanted to take this class but we didn’t get accepted. Therefore, we had to force-add the class. In order to force-add the class the professor had to sign a form for us. We both emailed him and told him that we are going to Africa this summer and wanted to take this class to prepare. He signed the form and said, “don’t drop out of my class.” I was soon going to learn what he meant from that.

He was the type of professor that scared me to death, but at the same time I was so interested in what he was saying, I couldn’t get enough of the class. It was so unpredictable and not like any type of class I’ve ever had. The first day of class he encouraged everyone to drop out because he didn’t like teaching this many students. He broke all kinds of rules, did anything that society would consider inappropriate, and said things that would make your jaws drop.

The class was the complete opposite of what we expected. He talked about how the world is divided into the “west” and the “rest”. The “west” is the US, Europe, most civilized countries. The “rest” is Africa and other developing countries. He wants the West to stay completely out of Africa. He believes we are ruining Africa by disapproving of their customs and enforcing our culture onto theirs. He wants the Peace Corps out of Africa, the military, mission trips, study abroads, and even the Red Cross out of Africa. We didn’t talk about Africa very much, we talked about our country and many, many examples of when our country has killed innocent populations of people. I think he is concerned that if we go to Africa and help them learn to educate themselves and become independent, that they will become a threat to the US, and then since we have always attacked anything that becomes a threat to us, he is assuming we would attack Africa. Therefore, he is looking out for his native home (he’s from Mozambique) by encouraging the west to stay completely out of Africa. That is my own conclusion for why he would tell us all these theories that I had never heard before.

He is a very persuasive man. We watched a lot of movies and clips that are very convincing. Check out the zeigust movie at www.zeiguist.com. If nothing else, it makes you think. I am a very gullible person to begin with, and listening to him for almost 4 hours a week, he has almost brainwashed me into believing I’m doing this awful thing by going to Africa. We talked about a lot of other topics, and our class discussions got very heated. I loved this class because it made me think about my opinions and where I stand on issues. I could see both sides on multiple issues. After this class, I would always have lunch with a classmate and talk even more about our topic from class. Ultimately, I think that’s what our professor was teaching us… getting us all worked up to stimulate conversations and find out what we believed. However, if there is a horrible natural disaster or something awful happens in Africa, I don’t agree that its better for the American Red Cross to stay out and let them handle it. They are just helping to save lives and they mean well. So I did think some of what he said was a little unreasonable, but otherwise he has done a very good job of convincing me going to Africa is a bad idea. He will be a little voice in my head the entire month. He talked about how the “west” has animalized Africa by associating it with elephants, lions etc. Africa has some of the worlds most beautiful creatures, but to him it’s a bad thing. Words like jungle and tribes are western terms that we have attached to Africa. I could go on and on about all the things he talked about but I took notes on the last day of class, which were his broad conclusions/big ideas he wanted us to take from the class.

1. Stay out of Africa
2. West has disempowered Africa
3.12/13/14 million Africans killed by Europeans
4. Question everything that we believe is “reality”
5. Question your location in reality
6. Question identity ( no one was black until white people arrived)
7. Don’t trust any concentration of power (government, university, professors)
8. Don’t trust the rich
9. Disagree with the way Africa has been represented
10. Poverty is politically produced
11. Take your own defense, don’t rely on others
12. Terror is a method, not an identity
13. Question the notion of time
14. Culture of cannibalism (drawing resources from other cultures)
15. Culture of imperialism
16. One rule for the west, another for the rest

He did clarify himself one day and told us not to confuse his views as anti-American. He will get very upset if you say that to him. He doesn't support the war, but he supports and respects the soldiers over seas 100%. There were many VTCC in our class and he made sure to make that point clear.

He has gotten to me, and I often find myself rethinking a lot of things. I definitely analyze a lot more in life and society because of this class. (He hates the government, police, authority etc) But at the same time I was really confused because I had never heard this point of view before. My mom knows a person who is from Malawi and is thrilled that I am going to his country. Oprah went to Africa for Christmas Kindness and her leadership academy, which are western concepts. So I knew everyone didn’t think like him and I wanted to find out more.

I often asked people who took his class, and I was reassured that most people don’t share the same opinion as him. I met Jen who went on the same trip to Malawi last summer and also took his class. She has a minor in Africa Studies. Jen told me that most of the African Studies Department doesn’t agree with him either. He is a separatist and has strong opinions about everything. That made me feel A LOT better. I am very easily convinced and I feel so silly because I force added his class and told him I was going to Africa. That’s why he told me not to drop his class. He thought I would drop it because he was telling his students not to go to Africa. He figured I would drop it because he was telling me I was not doing a good thing. Well, I stuck with it and he gave me a B+.
I am glad I took the class because it will make me much more respectful of their culture and customs. He said the west often looks down upon the traditions and customs of the African culture and we think our way is better. I learned a lot from the class and have a better understanding of the entire world.

SCHOLARSHIPS

This trip obviously is going to be very expensive. I knew that going into it, but money wasn’t going to stop me from studying abroad. I also felt like this particular program gave me a better chance at receiving scholarships because I was truly doing a good thing by teaching and helping the people of Malawi. Most study abroad trips that involve a big city and lots of shopping. However, applying for scholarships takes a lot of time and effort. I did take parts of my application and put together an essay. I used versions of this essay to apply for 3 scholarships. The essay questions were almost the same, which made it easy for me. I got 2 out of the 3!!! The College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences offered $1,000 to a student studying abroad. The Malawi program is under the CLAHS and I’m a communication major which is under CLAHS also. So I think that really helped me!!! This was my first scholarship I had ever gotten, so I was really thrilled!!! I even got to go to a very special banquet and was recognized. Part of the deal with accepting the scholarship is that I will have to write something about my trip and also have some type of display. I plan on doing that already, so it will be perfect!! I love scrapbooking!

The second scholarship I got was $300 from the Education Abroad program. $300 is the max amount they give for students studying over the summer. Again, I am really excited they picked me! I can’t wait to come back with amazing photo albums to share!!

The 3rd scholarships I applied for but didn’t get, was the study abroad scholarship offered through the Communication Department. It was $1,200 but since my trip didn’t focus on studying communication, I’m guessing they gave it to another student. That’s okay, I was still really grateful for the ones I did get.

I had planned on applying for more when I had free time in May. Haha I don’t have any free time! I’m hoping that once I make videos, photo albums and write essays about my trip that I can enter them in for scholarships.

Travel Doctor Visit

I am SO glad I decided not to work at Cheesecake Factory this summer. I felt like I needed to work 7 days a week since I would be loosing a whole month of work. However, I need so much time to get ready for the trip, I wouldn’t be able to do it if I had to work weekends at Cheesecake. Anyway…

I wanted to write and talk about my trip to the travel doctor. My mom had told me the doctor's office offered an International Travel Clinic and that sounded like it was worth my time to check it out. I knew I would have to get multiple shots, and that there was a specific amount of time in-between the shots so we scheduled the appointment over winter break. Looking back I regret going that early, because the information the doctor talked about isn’t fresh in my mind right before my trip. It turns out I had already gotten all the shots I needed from trips to Jamaica and Cancun. The only ones I needed were Typhoid and Malaria which both some in pill form. So I actually didn’t need to go that early but I wouldn’t have known that until I went. Oh well.

Overall, I thought it was really helpful! I won’t know until I actually go ( I could get sick and say “Why didn’t he tell me about that!”) but I learned a lot and my mom took some notes. He talked about basic international travel tips and health concerns. He calmed my nerves (and my moms!) about the likelihood of getting sick. He said that the most common cause of death in the US, as well as abroad, for my age group is trauma. He warned me to be careful about any type of transportation that doesn’t look safe. Thankfully, I’m traveling with a large group that prearranges transportation. The Dr had been backpacking to Africa, so he knew what he was talking about! He slept in a tent next to zebras!

The same rules apply in Africa, like to always travel with a buddy and never go anywhere alone. Always let someone know where I am going and when I expect to return. Silly stuff like that, but is important to keep in mind.

He encouraged me to research healthcare in Africa. In case of an emergency, we wouldn’t want to be researching locations...we should already have them on hand.

I’m a big dog lover, but he said that the last thing I would want to do is touch a dog or even interact with a dog. They are the most common way to spread rabies and it is just not worth risking.

He gave me a prescription for Typhoid prevention. I can take it anytime before I leave. 4 pills to be taken over 6 days. Once I’ve done that, it works for 3 years. Sent the prescriptions to Price Club yesterday. It takes a little longer since most pharmacies don’t keep them on hand.

He talked a lot about the food and water. The guidelines are ones that will be difficult because it's simple things you do everyday in your routine life but in Africa they are critical to follow. Cannot drink any untreated water or ice. He suggested that alcohol or anything bubbly/carbonated would be better than unbottled water. He also warned that sometimes they will try to refill waterbottles so I have to be sure they are sealed.

My next door neighbor gave me some water purification drops! A small bottle that will be perfect for my trip and will make me feel better…I just want to be sure its clean water!!!

MUST STAY OUT OF LOCAL LAKES, RIVERS, CREEKS ETC.

As a general rule, he said hot foods should be eaten hot. Avoid buffets, no street vendors. Hot meat is okay but hot meat and vegetables is questionable. Only eat fruits that can be peeled. Do not eat fruits or vegetables that have been washed with water. No salad.

He said to watch the local ex-patriots for where to eat, what to drink etc. We have already heard of a good place in town…its called Tasty Bites!

Even at restaurants, he said to be sure to ask for soda without ice. And to bring individually wrapped straws because you don’t want to put your mouth on the cup. But he said its important to be polite and not insult the locals. He told a horror story, but I forget the details. I just remembered that the moral of the story was to bring straws!

What we spent the majority of the time talking about was diarrhea! Haha Sorry this is a little personal but it’s a serious issue when traveling internationally, so I’ll share!

He explained 3 kinds of diarrhea. The first kind is a change of bowel habits due to travel and different kinds of food and meal times. It’s common- basically just learn to deal with it.

Food poisoning comes on quickly from eating contaminated food. You will vomit and have diarrhea. Very important to keep hydrated and will probably last about 24 hours and you will feel very weak after.

The 3rd is traveler’s diarrhea and its explosive. He gave me two prescriptions to go ahead and fill and bring with me in case I will need them for this. One is an antibiotic and you should be better before the second pill if it is truly traveler’s diarrhea. The other pill is Imodium and it will slow your bowels so the diarrhea is less frequent. Must keep hydrated.

You need to see a DR if any of the above come with a fever, blood or pus. Dehydration is a real problem and if you are not peeing then you are dehydrated and you need to see a DR.

Lastly, he talked about the 3 options for the Malaria pills. (I explained that in the previous post below)

To avoid mosquito bites he recommended sleeping nets over my bed and wearing PJ’s with elastic ankles and waist. Africa is the real outdoors, and “Off” mosquito spray doesn’t do a darn thing. He recommended a spray with a high concentration of DEET. Luckily my neighbor went to Honduras a couple years ago and gave me her extra DEET spray!!

The doctor was great and really helpful. But he used a lot of big words and important language that was a little over my head. My mom and I talked about it when we were driving home and I often went “ Oh that’s what he was talking about!” haha I’m glad my mom was able to explain it to me! So most of what I wrote above is notes she typed up for me to understand!!!

Back to blogging with less than a month left until I leave!

I can’t believe the last time I posted was in February! Obviously I’m not very good at keeping up with this blogging site! I didn’t forget and it was always on my “to do list” but it just kept getting pushed to the bottom of the list because I had so many other things going on! School, sorority, service chair and babysitting take up all of my time. As I look back and read what I wrote, I really wish I had kept up with the blog. It’s a great memory of my trip from beginning to end. There has been a lot that has happened with my trip since February, and I’ll do my best to update it, thankfully I’ve kept a list of things I wanted to write on the blog.

EMT....
One of the activities that kept me sooo busy this past semester was my EMT course. My entire life I have been interested in the medical field. ER was my favorite show growing up, and I volunteered at Fairfax Hospital for about 5 years. I used to think I wanted to be a doctor when I grew up, but when math and science were not my specialty, I knew medical school wouldn’t be a good match for me.
Even though I have recently steered my career path away from medicine, I have never lost my passion for it. Becoming an EMT has always been on my list of things I’d love to do sometime in my future. Just one of those cool things along with skydiving, going to Hawaii and meeting Oprah! Haha When I came to Tech, I looked up the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad, and in order to be a member, it requires at least one overnight a week, and to be on duty at football games. It was much more of a commitment than I was willing to make.
However, I did see that they offered an EMT-basic course for academic credit. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take this class and actually earn credit. It was from 6-10pm on Monday and Thursday nights and occasional Sunday afternoons. I knew it was a huge time commitment and that my schedule wouldn’t allow me to do it each semester. And since my spring schedule was free during that block and I knew I was going to Africa this summer, I thought the information would be very helpful to take with me to Africa. That persuaded me to go ahead and sign up for the class this semester.
I went in to it not really knowing what I was getting myself into. I knew there was a state exam at the end, but I wasn’t concerned with passing it, I just wanted to learn the information because I thought it would be helpful in Africa and just in everyday life! As the semester went on, I was missing out on a lot of events because of my EMT class. And I was spending a significant amount of time learning and studying skills and procedures for this class. I was beginning to feel like I didn’t want to put this much time and effort into something and then not pass! But at the same time, I didn’t want to set my heart on passing and then fail. This was all new to me, I had no background in emergency medicine and I sometimes felt like I was in over my head.
I could go and on, but the important part is that I passed!!!! I was so surprised!! All my hard work had paid off! While I don’t want to join an agency and run on an ambulance (I don’t have time for that) I think the information is really helpful to know and I hope to be able to volunteer in the classrooms to help teach other EMT’s in the fall. I’m really glad I took this class before I went to Africa. Hopefully I won’t have to use any of the training, but I’m somewhat at ease just knowing I am prepared.

Recent Stuff...
Memorial weekend just past and I spent 4 days getting ready for Africa, yet I feel like I’m getting nothing done and my list just keeps getting longer and longer. I spent a lot of time making an Africa booklet for my parents while I’m gone. I’ve printed out the itinerary, flight information and collected all the parent's information of the other students going. That way our parents can contact each other if they need to. I also made copies of my passport, insurance cards, license etc. I’m giving copies to Dr. Kelly to keep as well. So hopefully I don’t loose anything and there is no trouble getting back to the US, but I have copies of everything all over the place! My parents better claim me! The booklet was quite a project, but I am very proud of it!

I also spent a couple hours on the phone calling pharmacies trying to figure out how much my medications are going to cost. There are 3 type of pills for Malaria. One very expensive (over $200) but there are no side effects. One very cheap (like $10) but causes sun sensitivity, and one at a medium price but may cause nightmares. I immediately crossed out the nightmare one ( I already have a very creative imagination!) and I’m torn between the cheap and expensive one right now. I’m going to make some more phone calls and make a decision soon. Some girls going on the trip said that their insurance covered some of it. I’m hoping!

On Memorial day my mom and I went running around completing errands. First we stopped at LL Bean and looked at everything, but I was not impressed and moved on. We went to my favorite, The Container Store because they were having a travel sale. Luckily I won a $25 gift card from a drawing, so that helped me get some cool packing supplies. I am in need of a 2nd pair of comfortable shoes for Malawi. I’m going to use my old sneakers but needed another pair of something cheap. I didn’t want to spend a lot especially since I know they will be ruined quickly and I’ll probably leave them there anyways. It’s very hard to find shoes, I’m very picky. I found Ked’s version of sneakers that are actually very comfortable, cheap and don’t look awful with skirts. It's so hard to know what the perfect type of clothing and/or shoes to bring is. I hope these will work out.

I also started the brainstorming process of a book I’m going to make to tell the Malawi students about myself. The girls who went last year said the Radford students did that and they really wished they had bought a book to share. I’m going to include pictures of my dogs, my family, some of my favorite teachers, snow, and me when I was their age. I don’t think it’s a good idea to show pictures of my house, my school or anything like that. I’m trying to keep it simple, but this is the type of thing that will take me forever because I want it just perfect.

Dr. Kelly has been sending us assignments to complete before we leave for Malawi. I’m kinda panicking about when I’m going to find time to complete them! Basically its reading textbooks and articles about the history of Malawi and writing a response. It’s research I should be doing anyway. However, I’m a movie person. I’ve been watching tons and tons of youtube videos on Malawi. I really want to see the Madonna documentary on Malawi called “I am because we are”. I have no idea if its even available to watch, but I’m going to try to figure it out. I’m going to have to buckle down and read these articles ASAP.

I’m getting really excited about my trip and I can’t believe its so close! Right now I’m just overwhelmed I don’t know where to begin. I have lesson plans to make, supplies to collect, stuff to pack for myself and the kids as well as lots and lots of research and reading to complete. It will all get done.... somehow.

Yesterday Oprah had a special on her O Ambassador program. I missed the first 15 minutes of it, but the parts I saw were amazing!!!! It got me sooo excited and showed me what to expect. She has a similar program where school aged kids go all over the world to poor countries and help build schools, raise money and interact with the local children. The students who went on the trip talked about how hard it was to watch the locals drink the dirt water because they knew it would get them sick. But they had no other option. They also talked about how much the locals taught them because they are sooooo grateful for what little they have. Oh how I can’t wait to meet the people of Malawi!!!

I need to post a couple more things about what I meant to post over the last few months, and then I’ll hopefully be updating each day. I am planning on writing my journal in Word and then buying Internet for a short time, just enough to post the blog while I’m in Africa. Hopefully that will work. If not, I’ll post them all when I get home. And I just recently explored Snapfish and I think it will be perfect to use for my pictures. While I am very busy and I can find plenty of things to do instead of writing my blog, It kinda calms me to sit down and write instead of stressing…. And I know I will have something to look back at as a memory of my trip. I cannot believe I’m going to Africa!!!

I am babysitting my little girl in Arlington, Cassie, until I leave on June 21st. It worked out really well because her mom was willing to use me as her nanny for the weeks I was available and find someone else while I’m gone. What other job would be so flexible! I’ve taken her to the library a couple times and there is a world map in the entrance and each time I stop and look at VA and the distance it is to Malawi. I swear its getting longer and longer. haha I sure am dreading the flight!