Boston University sophomore Molly Byrd is trading her cushy digs on Commonwealth Avenue for the slums of Uganda this summer ‘- and she can hardly wait.
Byrd is one of the many students choosing to spend time studying or volunteering in Africa rather than in the more developed regions of the world. Byrd said she will head out to Uganda this summer for four weeks to do volunteer work.
BU International Programs administrators have noticed that students are increasingly interested in study abroad programs in Africa, Kathleen Rodriguez, a program manager for the Africa programs, said. BU International Programs currently offers programs in Morocco, Niger and Senegal, and the Niger program is the most popular, she said.
Study abroad programs, whether university-affiliated or through volunteer organizations, do more than churn out students who are more competitive in the job market. Students who study abroad also become aware of lifestyles beyond the United States, especially those of developing countries like Africa, BU External Education Director William Waller said.’
‘If [students] get out and understand what it’s really like to live in a transitional environment, they’re going to be a broader individual,’ Waller said. ‘They’re going to view the world with more compassion.”
Byrd said ever since hearing about the horrible living conditions in Uganda a few years ago, she has wanted to travel to that country.
‘I think in the case of Uganda, especially northern Uganda, people have been suffering from this war for so long, and I think it’s important to be there so they know they aren’t forgotten,’ she said.’
While there, she will spend two weeks in southern Uganda working with Come Let’s Dance, a nonprofit organization that works with impoverished African children, helping children living on the streets and in the slums of Kampala, Uganda’s capital city, and two weeks in northern Uganda working with ChildVoice International, a Christian nonprofit organization that helps child soldiers and children affected by war.
The humanitarian situation in Uganda, a developing country, is one of the worst in the world, ChildVoice International coordinator Jenn Shepherd said.’
‘Kids were just being abducted,’ Shepherd said. ‘Our mission is restoring the voices of the children silenced by war. We believed someone needed to go help these children because they have no voice. We wanted to go over and help give them their voice back.”
ChildVoice International’s current focus in Uganda is offering education, counseling, life skills training and income-generating projects to young rape victims, many of whom are now teenage mothers.’
‘We want to heal them emotionally, heal them physically,’ Shepherd said. ‘We want to help their children, their families, their community. [Interacting with volunteers] helps them to realize that someone does care about them. People come from America, from Bulgaria, to hang out with them, to teach them, and it’s definitely encouraging for our students.”
Byrd said she hopes working with those impoverished girls in Uganda will broaden her understanding of the world.’
‘I just hope to get a more real sense of what it’s like for [the people of Uganda],’ Byrd said. ‘Living in America, it’s like this paradise compared to what they’re living in, and I just think it’s good to get a reality check.’