By Matt SpectorThe Daily Northwestern
A quarter-long seminar. Passports and visas. Yellow fever vaccinations. A 10-hour flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
Each item on this to-do list was worth it for the 14 students who spent Spring Break in Ghana, educating locals about HIV and AIDS.
It was an adventure some students called the Spring Break of a lifetime and the best learning experience of their college careers.
The trip was the culmination of a student-led seminar, taught by Weinberg seniors Miranda Hart and Sophie Miller, that focused on HIV/AIDS education.
The quarter ended with an Alternative Student Break-supported trip to Ghana for the 12 students and two teachers to put their knowledge to use. It was ASB’s first trans-oceanic trip and its second international trip.
The students spent the first day touring Accra, the capital of Ghana, to place themselves in the cultural context of the AIDS education work they would be doing. During the day, the students worked at a day care center, caring for more than 50 children under the age of four. The center was “nothing but two cement rooms with nothing but a few benches and a blackboard on the wall,” Hart said.
The ASB group sang to the children, played games and taught them the alphabet. Some of the children were orphans, while others were under the care of an older sibling.
“It was interesting when the children were picked up by their seven- or eight-year-old siblings, Miller said. “It’s a contrast to what we have here.”
At night, the students presented informational videos about sexual behavior to Ghanaians in their villages. After the video, the students led a question-and-answer session with the help of their liaison and translator.
“We had the session telling them about modes of transmission, being open about sexual health, practicing safe behaviors and the importance of getting tested for HIV,” Weinberg sophomore Vanessa Lee said.
To summon the villagers to the first educational session, 15 children between the ages of 5 and 12 brought out drums “as tall as they were” and started drumming the traditional music of the Ewe tribe, Communication sophomore Allie Silver said. The NU students later danced to the music and learned tribal dances.
“The people were so friendly and we just made fools of ourselves,” Lee said.
The ASB group included students from every class, with majors ranging from pre-med to film to global health.
“We had everyone from freshmen to seniors,” Hart said. “Racial diversity, all age groups. One person had been to Ethiopia before, and one person had never been outside the country.”
Miller said the students incorporated their experiences into their majors and interests. Silver and Becca Tesarfreund, a Communication junior, filmed documentary footage during the trip.
Silver said she is interested in filmmaking and exploring cultures through music. The trip complemented her experience with world music and traditional African music as a producer at student-run radio station WNUR, she said.
Lee, an anthropology major with a minor in global health, had the chance to visit a clinic and speak with a doctor.
“He said people didn’t come to the clinic until they’re dying of AIDS,” Lee said. “They’re too afraid to go to the doctor.”
Hart and Miller constructed the seminar from the ground up after receiving approval from the School of Education and Social Policy and the executive board of ASB during Fall Quarter.
The two devoted their time and energy during Winter Quarter to ensuring the seminar’s success, and they both said they learned valuable life lessons in Ghana.
“I think the most important thing we did there was that we educated ourselves,” Hart said. “ASB is a service-learning organization. We were in a culture (in which) we knew every moment was a new experience.”
Miller said her interaction with the Ghanaians was sometimes overwhelming because the problems the villagers brought up in the education sessions were hard to address.
For example, some villagers said they couldn’t afford HIV tests and asked why the government couldn’t pay for the tests.
Silver said going to Ghana opened her eyes to perspectives she couldn’t have learned about any other way.
“You don’t realize how little you know until you go there,” Silver said. “I learned more in that week than I’ve learned in a long time.”
Reach Matt Spector at [email protected].
