hello from Johannesburg!

I have only been in SA for a day but it is already amazing!

The last two days in DC were great. On Monday, our HIV/AIDS theme day, we watched the film 'sex in an epidemic' which was co produced by out professor shanti - which looks at the stigmas and misconceptions associated with HIV over the last two decades. After, we spoke to four different NGOs which work on HIV and sex related issues in DC. At night, we had a great dinner at almaz, an etheopian restaurant on u st, with Ihp alumni that live in the area. I sat with s man who went on Ihp in 1968! It was great to hear the stories memories and advice. On Tuesday, we lobbied with our senators to pass a legislation that prohibits child marriage in the developing world. Learning about the issue and lobbying on the hill was a great experience. At night, we had a final group meeting and check in before we left for SA. during this talk, we discussed our privileges and how they influence our lives now and the role we will play while were abroad. We also acknowledged how diverse our group is and how this will be a unique exciting and sometimes challenging experience for us all - a huge cultural experience in and of itself. I feel really fortunate to be part of such s diverse group, filled with all races religions and ethnic backgrounds.. I know I will learn so much from everyone. I went to Gw to say my final goodbyes which really set in the reality of my beginning.


After a long 16 hour flight I finally arrived to SA! We are staying in a community called wilgespruit west of joburg. A lovely woman named Anastasia who runs the community gave us a welcome speech about the place we are staying and about SA in general. Fun fact - SA has 11 official languages and most blacks here speak at least 6 of them. The food has been great and so accommodating to vegetarians! And the rooms are so nice, suite style..with bathrooms - so no bucket showers yet! Anastasia introduced us to her nephew 'shakes' who is 22 and is our groups party man because he is planning to take us all out tomorrow night! The landscape and weather is great as well. This afternoon, we went to the apartheid museum in joburg which helped me learn so much about SAs rich and sad history. It was really upsetting to learn that apartheid began right after WWII ended and that it lasted all the way through when I was born. Really sad. Everything is so exciting and I'm loving every moment of it. I will be in the joburg area for the next few days and will leave for very rural Bushbuckridge on wednesday.

Happy readings!
Jess

Stop 1: Washington DC

Hello from DC!

1 week down. 33 new friends. Filled with extremely packed days!

What a crazy, long week and a half already! I arrived to DC last Thursday with my mom to a room full of unfamiliar faces, my future travel buddies. After a quick family orientation, I said bye to my mom for the next four months and joined the other 33 members of my group in the William Penn hostel in Eastern Market, our home for the 2 weeks in DC. Right away, we all began to feel comfortable with one another and as a group set the standards for our group dynamic as we travel, grow, and learn together for the next few months. It almost reminds me of camp how quickly everyone is bonding when we all spend such intense time together!

A little about the group and program. My IHP Health and Community program is comprised of 34 students, 29 females and 5 males, and we happen to be the most diverse group ever! The group is filled with students mostly from schools in the Northeast and of every religion, race, and ethnic background. I already can tell that I am surrounded by an awesome group of people and will learn so much from each and every member of the group.

Through the semester, I will be taking 4 courses, taught by 2 traveling professors. The classes are: Health, Culture, and Community, Research Methods, Globalization and Health, and Public Health: From Biology to Policy. They all seem extremely interesting, and both of the professors, Sara and Shanti, have fascinating backgrounds. Because I wont have a computer, I will have to write all of my assignments by hand (cool and weird at the same time)!


For the first three days of the program, we had a very intense orientation, filled with discussions surrounding preparation for abroad, getting to know one another, and setting the rules and expectations of the group.

Each day begins around 8:30 and ends after dinner, and is filled with a mix of classes, guest lecturers, and site visits.

We officially began the IHP program this past Monday with MLK Day. Our group divided up to volunteer around DC as part of the MLK day of service. I volunteered at the DC public library dusting shelves, so fun! Other highlights of the week include: hearing from Ruth Levine, a global health figure from the Center for Global Development on Tues 1/19, meeting with the N St. Village and Africa Fighting Malaria NGO on Weds 1/20, hearing from Stan Dorn at the Urban Institute talking to us about the US Health Care reform on Thurs 1/21, hearing from guest lecturer, Robert Hecht who gave us a Global Health 101 (great speaker!), having a Q&A during dinner with volunteers from Metro TeenAIDS organization, doing neighborhood visits, and having a Q&A with Joni Podschun from So Others May Eat.

It has been such a great opportunity to hear from all of our guest lecturers. I especially loved our visit to the N St. Village NGO that provides housing for low income middle aged women of DC - we got to join them for an aerobics class! (I may try to teach a dance class for them next year when I'm back). I also greatly enjoyed hearing form the Metro TeenAIDS volunteers who do outreach work to youth of DC to inform them about how to stay safe and avoid getting HIV - also another organization I may want to get involved in.

We had a free weekend this weekend - so nice to relax and see Ariel and all of my friends at school! Everything is really intense, but I am loving the program and people already, and can't wait for all of the adventures I have ahead of me. Time is already flying by and by Wednesday at 5:30 pm I will be on a plane to South Africa!

Happy Reading,
Jess

(email me to keep in touch - jbscheer@gmail.com)

Welcome to my travel blog!

Hi all!

As you know, this semester I will be participating on a comparative public health study abroad program, the International Honors Program (IHP) Health and Community track 2 - traveling to Washington DC, South Africa, Vietnam, and Brazil during the course of 4 months. I will be exploring how people in these three very different countries create varied solutions to the common health related problems they face. I will be doing a lot of experiential learning, through site visits, case studies, and volunteer work. In each county, I will be living with a family in a homestay, which will enable me to feel more immersed in each culture. At the end of the 4 months, I hope to have a very good feel for all three cultures and their health issues and systems and be able to compare them to one another, and ultimately, discover where I fit into all of this and how I can make my greatest impact on the world. I hope to post frequently about my day to day experiences (including pictures and stories).

The best way to be in touch with me is to either post on the blog, or email me (jbscheer@gmail.com).

If you have any suggestions on places to go, things to do, or people to put me in touch with - I would love to hear it.

For more information about the program, check out the website:
http://www.ihp.edu/page/health_community/.

Wish me luck!!

Jess