During Winter Intersession, many Ohio University students relaxed, visited family and worked — but a select few played with jaguars and elephants, bungee jumped and learned about the Zambian culture.
A group of 18 students explored the southern African country from Nov. 18 to Dec. 22 as part of a $4,070 program.
The Institute for International Journalism and the University of Zambia’s Department of Mass Communication collaborated to organize the program, which allowed students to volunteer, intern and take classes.
Another aspect of the trip, learning about the Zambian culture, was significant to some of the students traveling there.
“As an African American woman, I always wanted to know about the culture and where my ancestors came from,” Danielle Parker said. “I wanted to see how Africa is now.”
Parker interned at the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, the top government-owned media center, where she shadowed reporters and helped them produce stories.
“The media in Zambia is government regulated; they try to make it seem like it isn’t, but it is,” Parker said. “I basically did PR work for the government.”
Brooke Bunce, a sophomore studying journalism, said visiting Zambia marked her first time studying abroad.
“I pictured Africa as a place where people don’t have food to eat with children that had sad eyes and huge bellies because they were starving,” Bunce said. “I did see some of those things, but then there were so many things that surprised me, especially the happiness.”
“The people who had close to nothing were so happy and it made me grateful and realize that I don’t need things I think I need.”
Bunce spent her time volunteering at Chikumbuso, a grassroots project in Ng’ombe, Zambia, which provides free schooling for children and trains women to sew clothing and other textiles to sell.
“A lot of parents and kids are affected by HIV in Zambia and can’t afford schooling or even food,” Bunce said. “No matter how big I think my problems are, Zambia made me realize that things can always be worse.”
Students also took mainly lecture-based courses at the University of Zambia, which sometimes featured politicians and religious officials as guest speakers.
Heather Farr, a senior studying journalism, said the group was able to travel on the side.
The travelers were able to play with cheetahs, ride an elephant and jump off a bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
“My most memorable experience of the trip was bungee jumping down Victoria Falls,” Parker said. “I am not a very adventurous person by nature, and jumping off bridges is not something that I would do, but this whole trip for me was about stretching my limits and doing things that I thought I would never do. Jumping down the falls was the pinnacle of what the experience meant to me.”
bc822010@ohiou.edu
