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For Immediate Release
May 22 , 2007
students to take summer service learning trip to south africa
LINCOLN, Neb. —When Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Prince Cedza Dlamini, spoke last fall at the University’s annual Visions & Ventures Symposium, he challenged students to get involved in helping shape the future of the African continent.
“My ears perked up,” said Janelle Andreini, Assistant Director of the Career and Counseling Center.
Her ears weren’t the only ones to hear a message of motivation and need in South Africa and the neighboring country of Swaziland. Andreini will lead 13 members of Nebraska Wesleyan’s Global Service Learning organization to South Africa, beginning May 22, where they will delve into some major social issues: healthcare, specifically HIV/AIDS; poverty, and lack of educational resources.
“No matter where you are in the world, you have a responsibility to be a socially -conscience member,” said Andreini.
Dlamini will accompany Global Service Learning for the majority of the trip, which will include a daily service learning focus. Dlamini revisited Nebraska Wesleyan University earlier this year to further discuss with the organization his goals and how Global Service Learning could help.
Among the group’s projects:
* Hope House, a community care center that offers care and support to terminally-ill patients, especially those living with HIV/AIDS.
* Hospice at Home, a care facility that assists cancer and HIV/AIDS patients who have been discharged from hospitals because they can not accommodate terminally-ill patients.
* Orphanaid Programme, a program that provides financial assistance to orphaned families.
* The Manzini Diocesan HIV and AIDS Programme, a program that aims at reducing the HIV prevalence rate in young people under 30 years by mounting HIV/AIDS awareness and behavior change workshops.
* Parish Nursing Rural Clinic, a clinic which provides HIV/AIDS treatment to those who need it most in rural areas of Swaziland.
Andreini said the students are especially interested in HIV/AIDS awareness and education, particularly following a 2005 service trip to North Carolina where they worked on similar issues. Swaziland has the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the world.
While the students will complete day-to-day tasks such as dispensing medication, running errands, reading books to patients, and accompanying hospice workers to home visits, the group’s main goal is sustainable development — an opportunity to create long-term benefits. Some of Global Service Learning’s preliminary ideas include developing websites and generating fundraising endeavors.
In addition to service learning projects, the students will also have the opportunity to visit the Nelson and Winnie Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu and Hector Peterson Museum and Memorial, the Apartheid Museum, and climb Sibebe Mountain.
The group returns June 5.
“We want to recognize that our world is a small place and our actions are important to others,” said Andreini. “And their actions will have a impact on us.”
Other Summer Travels
Summer won’t necessarily be a relaxing one for faculty and students, but it will definitely be educational. Five faculty-led trips — including the trip to South Africa — have been scheduled.
Here’s where they are going:
* Twenty students will join Political Science Professor Bob Oberst for a three-week trip to India where they will visit the Taj Mahal, the pink city of Jaipur, the holy city of Varanasi on the Ganges River, the Darjeeling tea area of West Bengal, Sikkim, Calcutta, and Bombay. The students will meet with development agencies and aid groups and will complete a service project.
* Loretta Fairchild, Professor of Economics, will lead eight students to Queretaro, Mexico the the annual intensive Spanish program at the University’s sister school, ITESM. Students will study Spanish for four hours each day, live with local host families, and tour famous sites of Mexico City. The trip is May 25-July 4.
* Cathy Nelson-Weber will lead eight students to Granada, Spain, for a month-long immersion experience. Students will take classes at the University of Granada. The students are participating for a variety of reasons ranging from completion of a general education language requirement, further explore their major or minor, to embarking on a short-term international experience in preparation for a semester-long study abroad trip. The trip is June 28-July 30.
* Jeff Mohr, Associate Professor of Social Work, will take 10 students to live on an Indian reservation, as part of his social work and anthropology courses. Students will live on the reservation for five days and be instructed by members of the Omaha and Winnebago tribes. Areas of instruction will include Native American history, culture, relations with the federal government, poverty, reservation life, and prospects for the future. The experience will include field trips to tribal buildings, schools, bison herds, social centers, and historical sites. The trip is July 9-13.
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