I have only been in the country for 5 days and I?m already blown away by the beauty and experience of this trip. From the first day we met with our providers from Edu Africa, I knew it would be an amazing program. I went on the trip knowing very little about South Africa and I have already learned so much. The economy and business practices have several similarities, yet are very different from America. We have learned about the unfortunate extreme poverty levels and what local business leaders are doing to try and help. One business owner we were able to speak to owns a small business in Khayelitsha, one of the largest but poorest townships in South Africa. He shared his struggles with running a business with the low-quality education system, as well as his passion for helping his community. Working together and leaning on the people around you is very big in their culture. Something that really shocked me was how underdeveloped their infrastructure and government are. Things we went through in America decades ago, like building cities to hold millions of people and desegregation, are recent issues here they are still facing. Overall this trip has already been a very eye-opening experience to different cultures and economic situations.
We have been learning a lot but also have had a couple of free days to really get to know the other students and see this beautiful country and all it has to offer. We walked along the beaches, paraglided over the city, and went on a safari!
