ABOUT THE PROGRAM

THE WTAMU SOUTH AFRICA PROGRAM

In 2018, Dr. Enyonam Osei-Hwere, the Program Director, developed an experiential and service learning program focusing on global media and social change. Students who enroll in the program  spend 13 weeks on campus and then travel to Cape Town, South Africa for two weeks to complete the cultural immersion and service learning components of the course. Each time the program is offered students and faculty travel with children’s books, art supplies and media equipment for their experiential service learning projects. For the 2022 program, there will be 2 major components of the program similar to past programs but on a much larger scale. The two components will be promoting literacy and engaging in service to others by building community gardens for victims of domestic violence and mental health facilities in the Western Cape and developing marketing plans and campaigns for 6 youth entrepreneurs staring new businesses. To help us accomplish our goals, the panhandle community will be invited to invest literacy into the lives of children by donating books and sharing words of encouragement and help us raise money for the community garden projects. The 2022 course creates opportunities for students to chose to be a part of a multi-discipline program and serve others and training victims of domestic violence and teachers in township schools on how to use social media effectively to promote the work of the shelter that openly welcomes them when they and their children are in need. So that other women in circumstances similar to theirs will know where to find help and respite.

 

 

The literacy component of the program is pretty significant and aims to gift books and literacy to children with limited to no access. To meet this goal each participant in the program donates 50lbs of space one of their luggage to help the group transport books cost free to Cape Town. Experiential service projects make up the other large component of the program. The objective of the program's service projects are to partner and collaborate with South Africans and transfer skills and knowledge whiles building efficient tools and content to help the organizations we partner with to better accomplish their goals in service the South African communities of youth, women and children they serve. 

The group has partnered with local non-profit organizations in the Western Cape including The Big Issue, Aspire Youth; Lwandle Migrant Museum; Building Bridges and iKhaya Le Langa on trips in 2018 and 2020 to create media and literacy projects, campaigns and outreach targeting under-served youth, women and children. 

 

 

MEET THE 2018 GROUP

This West Texas A&M University experiential service learning program began in Spring 2018 with the maiden travel to Cape Town taking place between March 5 and March 18, 2018. An amazing group of 23 people under the leadership of Dr. Enyonam Osei-Hwere made the long trek including an 18 hour layover in Dubai, arriving in Cape Town, South Africa on March 7. The group was made up of 13 undergraduate students, 6 graduate students, 3 faculty members and our broadcast engineer. Whiles in Cape Town, the group worked with 3 non-profit organizations who work with marginalized youth and 2 elementary school based in 2 Townships in Cape Town, South Africa.  It was a life-changing trip and experience and one of the most successful programs sponsored by the study abroad office at West Texas A & M university under the directorship of Carolina Galloway.  


MEET THE 2020 GROUP

 

There are 11 participants this year under Dr. Osei-Hwere's leadership including and 5 returners for the 2019-2020 program. The student participants are undergraduate students Cody Stephens, Chase Brady, Hannah Frick, Maria Valles, Gloria Torres, Alexander Kypfer, Lourdes De Avila and Katy Zimmerman and graduate student Dane Glenn. Remaining participants are Professor Connie McKee, and Frank Navarrete. Jordan Conde is a senior high school student from Dumas, Ellee Reeves is a senior high school student from Wellington. Both will be representing their schools on this second edition of the service learning trip to South Africa. The group will depart the United States December 30th, 2019 and return January 15, 2019. The group will be working with two non-profit organizations namely iKhaya Le Langa and Building Bridges creating websites, developing a campaign and creating videos and content to support the work of the two organizations. Students will also work with two schools by building libraries with books we travel with from the United States and provide kids with sports equipment.

 

THE 2022 GROUP

In November 2022, a group of 37 faculty and students from the Department of Communication and College of Agriculture will embark on another program to Cape Town, South Africa to continue this tradition of service and sharing literacy with marginalized youth and children. This will be our largest group to date and we are thrilled for this great opportunity to share our humanity and learn about gratitude and perseverance from our South African friends. 

For our literacy component we are partnering with Storybrige under the leadership of Chandra Perkins and Leaders Readers Network under the leadership of Chris McGilvery to gift children brand new books for the first time in the history of the program. We need a lot of support on this new direction for the literacy component of the program and will appreciate your help purchasing these new books. We will be reaching to friends, family, churches and community members to help gift these new books at minimal cost to precious children in South Africa. Stay tuned for more!

 

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