Back Row: Carrie Graham, Alyssa Hughes, Daniella Abelard, Cindy Bravo, Cynthia Tetteh, Maeve Maloney, Zuleika Candelaria;
Front Row: Chivelle Blissett, Leslie Rivera, Deborah Delianne, Eddie Woollacot

Welcome . . .

On May 10, 2013 ten eager students and their director Carrie Graham arrived in Cape Town to begin what is sure to be an amazing four weeks. The University of Connecticut’s Service Learning Study Abroad in Cape Town is designed to facilitate greater understanding of South Africa’s troubled past while providing opportunities to witness its vibrant hope for the future. While living, learning, and working in one of most beautiful settings in the world, students are placed at various service learning sites while participating in classes intended to help contextualize their experiences, expand their horizons and develop a deeper appreciation of what it means to be a global citizen.

As anyone who has been to Cape Town can attest, there are no words or pictures that can begin to adequately capture the beauty of the scenery or hospitality of the people here. Therefore, this blog is merely intended to provide an overview of the program and a glimpse at some experiences of students participating in this first ever 4 week "summer" program. Once again it is a privilege and honor to accompany a wonderful group of UConn students to a place I have come to know and love.

In peace, with hope, Marita McComiskey

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Leslie on how she's grown as a person


When I first arrived at my internship it looked bland and completely the opposite of my interpretation of what a school looks like. The classrooms were more like single bedrooms and didn’t seem so bright and inviting. On my first day honestly speaking I was not as excited as a few people were. I was more nervous and all that went through my mind is what did I get myself into. I am not going to say it was a good day or everything went well. The truth is my first day was eye opening. For the first time I was able to see what is the cold reality. City Mission didn’t have all the materials needed to run a “perfect” school. What I have failed to see my whole life is that it is not the school itself that makes it number one, but the students who make it worth wild. My time at City Mission was priceless. They have opened up to me as though I was of importance. One student told me they love when UConn students intern at their school because we are willing to listen. So with that I guess it is true, it only takes an ear to make a difference in someone’s life.

The hardest part of my time spent at City Mission was interventions. Interventions are when a teacher pulls out one or two students and help them with their individual struggles in school. For someone like me coming from America I thought they would need help in subjects like algebra. I was in for a rude awakening alright. Turns out my intervention was helping the sixth and seventh grade students with reading. Not just any reading but at a k-2 reading level. It broke my heart when I realized how far behind 13 and 14 year old kids are in education. I wish I could have given them everything I knew as if sending a text to another person. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t teach them everything. What meant the world to me was that I taught them something that they would remember. Sure I taught some of them to spell one through ten and how to add and subtract. However, the lesson that meant the most for me to teach them was that everyone is different and that it is okay. I told them how it took me more time to understand information given to me but that didn’t matter. What will always be more essential in life is not giving up.

I took part in the dramatic arts class of the 11th grade. I fell in love with it. That is the only time when the students can let go of all their emotions bundled up waiting to explode and be let go. As they created dialogues and monologues of their lives I could not help but feel their pain. How freely they have become to share such personal information. I found that to be a big difference from people in the states with people from South Africa. When I was abroad, right away I noticed how unified the people are. They rely on each other to gain back the strength they require to push through any hard times. The hope they acquire astounds me because in townships I have visited where tin poverty houses do exist, so does motivation, hope, inspiration and life.

The time I spent in the internship has helped me grow as a person. I have learned to be more appreciative of everything our schools provide for us. We have many resources that we take for granted and may never even think to use in our time being in school. To me I used to hate going to school but now I see how important it really is. For the students at City Mission school is their sanctuary, only hope, and in many cases their home

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