by Elizabeth Young
Out of hundreds of study abroad students at Sweet Briar College from the last three years, only nine women have chosen to go anywhere on the continent of Africa for their term abroad. Being abroad is a part of our Sweet Briar Promise, citing “Global Discovery” as an integral part to any person’s educational growth, and yet the vast majority of students have chosen to pursue solely European “discovery.” Certainly more students from Sweet Briar are choosing to go to Africa, as opposed to a more traditional study abroad experience in Europe, but the proportion remains curiously low.
With a growth of available programs, Sweet Briar has a list of Study Abroad alums from countries as varied as Egypt and Tanzania. It is still a small list of women who choose to go, though, and the International Studies department does not actively encourage students to pursue time in Africa despite insisting that every major has a corresponding program on the continent. From Anthropology to Zoology, a program exists for study on the continent; social sciences can study the culture and history of Africa, science majors can examine the diverse flora and fauna the continent offers, and even arts majors can work on exploring the aesthetic of the continent.
Two Sweet Briar students who recently researched going abroad to Africa eventually decided on two different countries. As such, each had very different experiences. Just as a foreign exchange student would have a different “American” experience in Los Angeles, Bangor, ME, or Sweet Briar, these students had entirely distinctive voyages. Valuable experiences, both of them, but distinctive nonetheless.
Sarah Jones, class of 2011, spent the fall semester at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. Very much a college town, Stellenbosch was far removed from the images of Africa that dominate the media; whether they be from the news, a sitcom, or an infomercial asking for humanitarian aid. She says that she always had access to food and water and anything else she might need. “I lived like a ‘normal,’ affluent, white South African.” Her work with HIV/AIDS brought her to the decrepit townships on the outskirts of the city, but even that was not her focus in the project.
“We collected government condoms and we placed them in bars. A lot of people don’t associate drinking with HIV, but we instituted a program that would keep condoms behind bars for the bartenders to distribute to students,” she explained. Using her class project about spreading AIDS Awareness to inform other students in a similar socioeconomic condition reveals much about her education and her living conditions while abroad. Her explanation that the dichotomy between white Africa and black Africa is expansive is just the basic reaction. Sarah readily admits she did not feel any kind of “culture shock” in the transition to the South African University. Her time at Stellenbosch was plainly and distinctly in a white Africa, and while she regrets not being able to visit the townships more frequently, she says, “I definitely saw it, but I did not live it.”
“Fake Africa” is what Carlie Adams, class of 2010, calls Sarah Jones’ experience. Carlie spent her junior year in Senegal. This country is on the completely other side of the continent, in the Maghreb. South Africa was colonized by the Dutch for primarily the exploitation of raw materials, whereas Senegal was a former French property used as a trading post. This categorical difference between the imperialist powers that colonized each country really accounts for their different evolutions and each student’s experience abroad. While entire books have been written on why these historic differences affect every day life, the clearest reasoning is that the South African colony instituted a social separation between white colonists and black natives because of the nature of their work in the country. This did not exist to such an extent for the French in Senegal because the French never became a true majority in the country and only used their connections in Senegal to facilitate trade across the Atlantic Ocean. Sorry. History Major. I digress. The excessive differences between Sarah and Carlie’s experience, and the idea of discrediting Sarah’s time in Africa as ‘fake’, prompts the question of whose experience was more representative of Africa as a whole.
Why is it ‘fake’? “[Sarah] used English as her primary language and was in a region that was much more developed,” Carlie insisted. “My least favorite part of everyday life was the language barrier.” Sarah did not encounter this issue at all during her time in Africa. People there do speak Afrikaans, a bastardization of Dutch which is closely related to German, but on the rare occasion Sarah encountered it she was able to follow along as she speaks German. Carlie had knowledge of French, the official language of Senegal, and she was learning to speak Wolof, a language used in three different African countries, but still this language barrier existed for her.
It was not the only blockade to Carlie’s assimilation, however. “I’d like to say that I experienced a ‘real’ Africa,” Carlie mourns, but she says, “no matter how good my Wolof got, I was still white.” This immediate exclusion made it impossible to join in, especially temporarily, to African culture. There is a distinction between their African experiences, but not many students from Sweet Briar can ever really be in “Africa” anyway. The instant polarization from everyday activities that visitors to the continent face is irreparable, but it should not obstruct all semblances of a meaningful experience. Sarah was very upfront about her reasoning behind choosing South Africa: an interest in a slow opening to the continent. The highly westernized culture of the area around Stellenbosch was ideal for the structured exploring of Africa.
Their advice for other students who are thinking about choosing to spend time anywhere on the African continent? Sarah’s is one of adventure: “Don’t be afraid to take every opportunity. I regret not taking opportunities to visit townships and volunteer – giving back”. Carlie’s advice is more practical and encouraging: “I cannot even begin to explain how my education benefited from me being in Senegal… I feel like I have a much better understanding of the world.” Despite both women being clearly disappointed in their level of involvement they could attain while on their study abroad, neither regrets their decision or would choose a different location for travel. Should other students consider going to Africa? As Sarah Jones puts it: “Yes.”
