Submitted by Brandon Leung on the 2017 winter session program in South Africa sponsored by Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice and the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics…
Fifteen hours later and we finally arrived. After an intense plane ride, we eagerly took our first steps on South African land. At first, we were all pretty restless from the traveling and the 7-hour time difference from the United States. The second day was when the fun started to begin. Our first stop was Pretoria. We took a bus tour around Pretoria where we were lucky enough to see a plethora of wildlife around the mountain area, which surrounded parts of the city. It was amazing to see how close the animals were in relation to civilization without them being too afraid of oncoming traffic.
During our 2nd day in Pretoria, we visited the Lesedi Cultural Village where we got to experience the culture of the Zulu, Xhosa, Pedi, Basotho, Nguni and Ndebele people. We got to walk around and experience some of the customs each tribe practiced and learned a lot about the history behind what South Africa is today. One of the customs, we fortunately were able to experience was the eating of the Mopane Worm. After watching the different dances each tribe practiced, we were able to watch some women crafting jewelry that we were able to purchase. It was eye opening to see how much of an influence the Dutch culture was to the South African culture.
For our placements, I was fortunate enough to be paired with the children at the Luvuyo’s Children’s Orphanage where we worked with assisting the aunties that helped run this institution. All the children were so eager and happy to see us that they embraced us with open arms and wide smiles! I met a two-year-old little girl named Solumi who absolutely stole my heart. By the end of the day, she had fallen asleep in my lap and refused to let me go. That night it was harder for me to fall asleep, too. I can’t wait to return and see all of the smiling kids’ faces!