Renee traveled to South Africa to study for three weeks and came back a better woman.
She knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime trip so Renee wanted to get as much out of it as she could. She knew she would focus on her classes and excursions, but she also knew it would be important to meet and speak with South Africans and immerse herself in their culture.
For three weeks, she attended the University of Cape Town. She studied the political structures of South Africa, the Apartheid era and the country’s continuing struggles with race and class divides. In an HIV/AIDS class, she analyzed the differences in access to treatments in South Africa versus other parts of the world.
“I can’t wait to apply what I have learned to my future as a nurse as I take care of underserved populations in poverty-stricken areas.”
This was such an eye-opening experience.
During her trip, she also visited the Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre and the Slave Lodge, where exhibits explore the long history of slavery in South Africa. She took a boat ride to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, and visited the Heart of Cape Town Museum, which pays tribute to the first human-to-human heart transplant performed in 1967 in Cape Town.
Renee also went hiking, horseback riding on the beach, took an early-morning safari, fed elephants and went to the southernmost point of the country.
Those three weeks changed her life.
“I ventured to South Africa where things that we take for granted, such as water and Wi-Fi, are very limited. I believe the experience made me a better human in general, with changed views of the world, other people and myself, as I witnessed extreme poverty and inequality firsthand.”
