|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
Students, alum tend to orphans and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro
5:54 p.m., March 5, 2007--Six UD students and one alumnus attended the seventh World Social Forum (WSF) from Jan. 20-25, in Nairobi, Kenya, where four of them worked as volunteers at two homes for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS complications. Six of the students also traveled to Tanzania and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa at 19,340 feet. Zachary Schafer, a senior history, international relations and economics major from Unionville, Pa., Susan Lister, a senior computer science and psychology major from Oakland, N.J., Amy Vernon-Jones, a senior agriculture and natural resources and history major from Amherst, Mass., and alumnus Ming-Jay Shiao, from Stow, Ohio, who received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in January, said working at the New Life Home Trust and Cheryl's Home orphanages was the most rewarding part of the winter break trip. “We did everything except change the diapers,” Schafer said. “For me, that was the most significant part of the whole trip, which surprised me because of what I thought of Kilimanjaro. It's the feeling of knowing a child who might have HIV/AIDS and, therefore, might not live past the age of 8 or 10, missing out on the things in life that we take for granted.” Shiao, who was named 2006 Truman Scholar, said working with the orphans brought statistics to life. “We always hear about the HIV/AIDS situation, which affects up to 20 percent of some countries, and after a while you become numb to statistics, but to hold someone who is impacted every day by those statstics, who is part of the statistics, is overwhelming,” he said. Kelly Livingston, a senior computer engineering major from Kingsport, Tenn., who also attended WSF, said care and food made the difference between life and death for the orphans.
“Now when I think about HIV/AIDS, I will think about Peter, Rhoda, Adi and Ambrose,” Schafer said. “It gives you more inspiration and more hope and energy. You see those kids and you realize that they deserve a future.” Schafer said the group, which planned the entire trip on its own, decided to work at the orphanages to maximize the value of the WSF trip, which was made possible through financial support from the Department of Political Science and International Relations and Alumni Enrichment Awards from the UD Alumni Association. Except for Scarlett Shaffer, a senior anthropology major from Columbus, Ohio, all members of the group also climbed Kilimanjaro and paid for that part of the trip with their own money. Livingston said attending WSF, which drew more than 50,000 delegates from about 100 countries, and learning about extreme poverty was an eye-opening experience because “not coming from those kinds of situations, you take things like clothes, automobiles, electric power and water for granted,” he said. “We talk about making them cheaper, not realizing that a lot of people around the world are struggling for those same things.” During WSF, the group met Wangari Maathai, who became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace" by promoting ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development in Kenya and the rest of Africa. Emily Helmeid, a senior Latin American studies, international relations and three languages major from Fond du Lac, Wis., said the sharp social and economic disparity in Kenya was illustrated when she and Livingston mistakenly took the wrong matatu (commuter van) on their way to their host family's house found and alighted outside a sprawling mansion in a different neighborhood. “It was about the size of a whole city block and it had every type of security device on the high fence to keep people out,” Helmeid said of the house. “And right outside the gate, there was a person selling bananas on the street trying to make some money.”
After attending WSF, Shiao and five of the students took public buses to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, a dream that Schafer said he had nurtured for 15 years. The seven-day camping expedition began with bad weather forcing the group to skip a two-day acclimatization hike and instead be driven up to the Shira Plateau, at an altitude of 11,000 feet. Accompanied by guides and porters, the group camped along the route, where they joined two older British climbers, a lawyer with extensive knowledge of the geology of the mountain and an artist who shared his expertise as a hobby ornithologist. Carrying a UD banner that the students had made while they were in Kenya, the group began the final ascent at midnight and reached the summit at 8:15 a.m. on Feb. 2. “We all became great friends here at UD, and that was the culminating event,” Helmeid said. “The part at the top--holding the flag together--symbolizes what we'll always remember about being at UD,” Schafer said. Shiao, who suffered mild celebral edema--painful and potentially fatal swelling of the blood vessels in the head--and had to descend quickly from the summit, said the challenge of climbing the mountain is similar to tackling social problems. “Everything in life is a challenge, but getting to the top and seeing that it's possible makes you realize that it's worth it. Dealing with social problems also is a challenge, but when you get it done it is worth the effort.”
“This idea, that the University should help students do new and out-of-the-box things that they otherwise would never have the chance to do is, to me, one of the noblest parts of UD's commitment to teaching, both in and out of the classroom,” Schafer said. “I hope that more students take advantage of the opportunities available here to really push their limits and develop a proactive attitude toward their college experience.” Schafer said scaling Mt. Kilimanjaro was thrilling, but it is not the most memorable part of the trip. “I was surprised, but the greatest sense of achievement, the part that stayed with me, was the orphanages,” he said. Schafer is planning to write his senior thesis on orphanage infrastructure in Kenya and possibly spend one year after graduation working at orphanages there and helping them link up with churches and other organizations in the U.S. for financial support. Article by Martin Mbugua
|
|
|
