Dickinson to Durban » Entries tagged with "HIV/AIDS"
My Week with Makaphutu
By Sam Pollan ’14 Working with the Makaphutu Trust in the week following our time at the COP was an incredible experience. After two weeks of dawn-to-dusk attendance of the conference, I was expecting things to slow down in the Valley of a Thousand Hills. This, however, was not the case. Our time and manpower was put to work at the Makaphutu Children’s village where we efficiently sorted dozens of boxes of clothes and food for distribution. In addition to the sorting, which would have taken days had only the Makaphutu employees been working, we also painted a building that was going to be a new dorm for the children. And of course, throughout the process the children were hanging all over us. Although it wasn’t quite the same time commitment … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change
What do Apartheid, COP17, and Poverty Have in Common?
By Timothy Damon ’12 The answer: South Africa. Apartheid and COP17 may both have ended, but the effects of racism still continue to this day and climate change has only begun to manifest its seriousness. Poverty and unemployment, old problems, yet reign, as does the constant impact from HIV/AIDS. It was against this backdrop that I experienced South Africa during the three weeks of our Mosaic. It was a trip that has left me with much … Read entire article »
Filed under: Environmental Justice, Environmental Politics, Mosaic Action, Student Research
In my mind, in my heart.
Claire Tighe ’13 The opportunity to visit a children’s trust in Africa is a great privilege. During my visit with the Makaphutu and Lily childrens’ trusts in the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa, I experienced first hand the true need that these people have. For someone who has read endless articles, seen documentaries, written papers, and discussed in various classes how HIV/AIDS and poverty have ravaged South Africa, I had only experienced this need with my head. As a westerner, I may never understand this life, but during my time in this region I began to formulate and understanding for it with my heart, not just my head. I felt the hands of women who wanted to work, of children who wanted to eat. I heard the laughter of people with … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Mosaic Action
The meaning of community.
By Emily Bowie ’14 “In developing countries, the norm is for about 2% of children to be classed as orphans, but in South Africa, that figure is more like 17%.” ( United Nations Children Fund) My American naivety once again became apparent to me during the third week of our trip in South Africa. We were told that we were visiting an orphanage and doing some volunteer work and other than that we had little idea of what … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mosaic Action
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