Greetings from Brazil!! :)

Hello! :) Hard to believe this is the last country for my program. I will be back to the Untied States, May 18th. 

I arrived to São Paulo, Brazil April, 15th. For the first few days my group stayed in a conference center where many retreats are held. It was really nice to have a few days to adjust to the 5 hour time difference and catch up on sleep from our 6m departure from Cape Town, South Africa. I am now only a one hour time difference from US eastern time which has been so nice!!:) 

The primary language here in Brazil is Portuguese so managing the language barrier has definitely been difficult at times although thankfully spanish is commonly spoken by many so I can at least get by on most occasions! :)

São Paulo is the third largest city in the world so it definitely has been an adjustment attempting to understand the transportation system in such a big city with so many people everywhere. Brazil is also the host of this years World Cup so as time passes more and more people will soon start to come. 

During our time in the retreat center we were able to explore some parts of the city of São Paulo. Our group went on a hike in one of the largest urban forests in the world one day which was amazing to see.

We also were able to go to the Afro-Brazil museum which was one of the best museums I have ever seen. All of the exhibits were so detailed and informative.

After a few days of adjustment our group was off to our rural visit in, Parra du Torvo,  the southern most part of the Sao Paulo state, 6 hours away from the city. This part of Brazil is the country side and was absolutely gorgeous. When we arrived to our destination we took a boat across a river to get to the place where the family we were staying with lived. Fun Fact: although my program did not allow for us to zip line, instead of using the pulley boat system to get across many of the family members would take the zip line that they had created to get back and forth. I definitely was very jealous.

 

After arriving I quickly was able to come to terms with how amazing the area was. We went to amazing waterfalls right after arriving! :)  I was definitely surrounded with nature and it was so nice to get away from the city. The purpose of our trip was to learn about the rural life through learning the narratives of the people we met along the way.  I quickly learned how amazing and inspiring Pedro, Maria and the rest of their family are through their continued selflessness during our stay in their house. Agro-foresting is a type of agriculture that looks to grow both fruits and vegetables that will be able to both sustain lower income families and allow excess for sell. The Brazilian government partners with the five Agro-foresting farms and provides incentives and money for the goods that are produced. This type of farming is moving away from mono-culture farming as this type is very detrimental to the land in the long run and was the original mode of agriculture before agro-foresting was discovered and implemented. 

Pedro was part of the first efforts to integrate this into both his family and his community. His intelligence in regards to farming and each individual plant, vegetable, and fruit he was growing is admirable. He is so knowledgable and really lives a life to ensure the environment is protected. Pedro described humans and nature as one in the same. Pedro emphasized the fact that many times people view their role as above that of nature when in reality everyone and everything should be treated equal. The three days I spent on the island with definitely be experiences that I will keep with me for the rest of my life. The compassion, care and love this family showed to all 35 of our group members was just amazing! 

 

The last few days of our rural visit we stayed in the city near by in a hotel. We visited the Qulimbo community which is a community where in the time of slavery in Brazil, many slaves escaped to this are many years ago. The community presently is made of slave descendants and our group was fortunate to hear their struggles and fight to keep the rights to their land.

After a week of moving around quite a bit I am now moved and settled into my home-stay where I will be for the last few weeks I am here.  My home stay family has been so wonderful and I have only been here a few days. I am looking forward to learning more Portuguese, exploring the city and of course valuing all of the time I am able to spend with my host family! :) 

During my rural visit I heard very unfortunate news about my grandmother unfortunately falling and breaking her leg . :( I am so happy to say that the surgery went well and I am hoping all will continue to go well in her recovery. It definitely is not easy being so far away when something such as this happens but I am continuously so grateful for all of the support and constant contact I have been able to have with my family. I am wishing her a speedy recovery and I look forward to seeing her in a few weeks! :)

I hope all is well with everyone! :) Thank again to everyone for your continued support! 

Hillary xoxo 

"I may not have money but I have all of the riches in the world, just look around me" -Pedro ( in reference to his extreme value and connection with nature) 

Last few days in South Africa! :(

Hello!!:):) Greetings from South Africa!!! I hope all  is well with everyone! I officially started spring break this past Tuesday morning and it has been so nice to be free of class work and assignments these past few days. I am definitely sad to leave my wonderful family in the Bo Kapp as I learned so much from them and really enjoyed the bonds I was able to form with with my host sister and mother!!:):)

My host mother and sister! :)

I started my spring break off by going to Kruger for a two day safari!! It was absolutely AMAZING!!:) the group of seven girls who decided to do this for our spring break had so much fun but slept very little. We arrived to the Kruger National Reserve at 2:30am on Tuesday morning after a flight and a three hour bus to get there.  We soon were told that our tour begins at 4:30am to ensure we are the first to the gates when the park opens. So after two hours of sleep we were up and ready for the days adventures!!

We started with a tour through the game park on the search for any animals with our amazing guide Dave. We saw so many different animals; it was amazing to see these animals all in their natural habitat! 

Safari!! :)

The next day we woke up again at 430 and started off again on our journey to find as many animals as possible!:)

Safari-Day two! :)

 We continued the rest of the day with stopping at the natural gorges and the third biggest canyon in the world!! Absolutely breathtaking views!!:)

After the safari we continued on our way back to Cape Town through a bus and another flight home. I am staying in an apartment for the next few days right in the central part of the city of Cape Town. The views from my bedroom window are amazing!!

View from our apartment

Today I was able to go on a wine tour. Wine is a big part of the culture here in South Africa so wine tasting is very popular!!:) I went to six vineyards all of different sizes. It was such gorgeous day too!:))

For the next two days I plan to just relax and lay by the pool in our complex!:) My group leaves Tuesday morning for San Paulo, Brazil which is where I will spend my finals four weeks of my semester! I have had so many amazing wonderful experiences here in South Africa! My academic program has been extremely busy but was very well run here making everything all the more fun! My two home-stay experiences were so wonderful, and really have begun to help me shape the public health career I am striving for in graduate school. I definitely have felt so welcomed here in Cape Town! I will really miss all of my daily encounters with all of the people I have met throughout all of my experiences here!

I hope all is well with everyone! Thinking of you all! Thank you again to everyone for all of your continued support; it really means a lot to me! 

Hillary xoxoox 

"There is no passion to be found playing small in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."-Nelson Mandela 

Last week of class in South Africa!

Hello!! Greetings from South Africa! :) I hope all is well with everyone! The past two weeks have been remarkable! I transitioned to another Home-stay in the Bo Kapp. This is a muslim community located on the outskirts of Cape Town. I have found it is so nice being so close to the center of the city. 

View of Cape Town from my Cape Point Tour 

Living in a muslim community has been by far one of the most rewarding experiences I have had on this trip. I have learned so much about the islamic faith and traditions. Prayer occurs five times a day and the times of the prayer all depend on where the sun is located in the sky. Here in the muslim community at each time of prayer there is a calling throughout the community reminding everyone to pray. At this particular time the first prayer is around 5:45 am each morning so it definitely took a little adjustment getting used to the wake up call even though it is so peaceful and calming. 

This is a picture from the Bo Kapp where my homestay is. 

I also was fortunate to attend a muslim service with my host family. This service was for only women and is held every Monday evening. Typically the service is held in  Africans but since there were a few american students in attendance the host mother who leads the group spoke in english as well. It was such a wonderful experience to be with such an inspiring group of mothers. 

My homestay partner, Candice and I dressed in traditional wear for our first service at a Mosque

My group also was able to meet with members of the Muslim Student Association from a local college for a panel discussion on their religion and the college life. The students were so open when it came to conversations about the clothing women and men wear, their prayer ritual, the foods they eat and even their dating lives. It was such a wonderful experience to talk to students our own age and get to hear their perspectives.

Last week I stayed very busy with class work and site visits. We went to the NGO Klethmpi which is an organization that established HIV clinics and empowers community members to get involved through training programs. These programs lead to employment within their own community through community health care worker positions or other similar job options.   

The NGO flyer for Khethpimpilo

Later in the week my group took a visit to the University of Cape Town campus which was gorgeous. The view from the top was amazing. It was such a great feeling to be on a college campus again and see other students my age. I was even able to meet up for lunch with a Saint Michaels student who is studying abroad for the semester at the University of Cape Town! :) 

Over the weekend I went to the Old Biscuit Mill market which was filled with so many things I wanted to buy! :) The food part of the market was amazing!! There were so many options all of which looked delicious. It was so hard to decide. 

old bisquit mill market 

 I also was fortunate enough to listen to many amazing great lecturers these past two weeks. Many spoke about their specific research experience in regards to the public health related fields. Many of the people studied at University of Cape Town for the doctoral level degeres. 

Hard to believe this is my final week of classes here in South Africa. Next Monday, April 7th I start my vacation week. I am going with a group of friends on a mini safari for three days and then we have rented an apartment for the remainder of the week. I definitely am getting so excited to finally have some time to unwind and relax after a busy last few weeks! 

This week has been comprised of a lot of work to finish up end of country assignments and presentations. I am definitely looking forward to Monday! :) I am getting so excited for vacation to officially start on Tuesday!! 

 

This is the view from the gym I have been going to! :)

Today I was able to go to Table Mountain which had some of the best views I have seen yet of Cape Town! It was such a gorgeous, beatuiful day which made the views even nicer. 

Table Moutain! :)

I hope all is well with everyone. Sorry for the delays in the posts the internet has been very hard to come by here in South Africa. Wifi is much more expensive to get here. 

Hillary xoxoox 

"The heart of human excellence often begins to beat when you discover a pursuit that absorbs you, frees you, challenges you, or gives you a sense of meaning, joy, or passion." -Terry Orlick 

Greetings From South Africa!! :)

I have almost been here in South Africa for two weeks and wow it has been amazing. My final days in Vietnam consisted of finishing a lot of final country assignments as well as our end of Vietnam dinner banquet. This is where we were able to thank our wonderful country coordinators as well as all of the amazing student volunteers that were so helpful when translation issues came up.

Pictures from Vietnam country banquet 

Now to South Africa! The time is just flying by. I am having such a wonderful experience. After arriving to South Africa almost two weeks ago my group spent the first few days at a hostel in muzienberg. This hostel is located right on the ocean which had some of the best views when it came to watching the sun set and rise each day. 

The view from the hostel

After a two day transition period we were off to our first home stay experience in zwelethemba. Zwelethemba is a black township community that was created during times of apartheid. Race is definitely something that is talked about much more openly here than I have ever experienced in the US. I had never been in a situation where I stood out as much as I did these past ten days; yet I have never felt more welcomed and protected in any other place I have stayed. 

My homestay house!:)

Each morning I woke up to my host mothers good morning. on days that I went running it was my host brother that she made get up at 7am to sit outside and watch my home-stay partner and I run. It wasn't even the fact that I ever felt unsafe it was just my home-stay mother being so protective of my home-stay partner and I. My host mother treated us like her own children. 

Family pictures

Through our morning runs I was able to meet some adorable neighborhood children that began to join in on our morning running routines. They were so cute and actually if anything they sped up my running pace. Their drive and desire to learn how to do push-ups and squats as I taught them a new move each morning was hard to compare to anything I have ever seen. These children would come knock on our door two hours after we finished our running workout to see if we wanted to go back out and run again. Most of the time the children ran in flip flop type sandals if they even wore shoes which a few did not own. I was running in sneakers and still these children were keeping up with me. I learned so much from these children and my morning runs each day with them.

Each day we would make the 15 minute walk to the local library where we would have class. In Zwelethemba our group was so fortunate to have so many panels of individuals from the community that wanted to speak with us. From the youth panel where we talked about gang violence, drug use and other peer pressure that face the youth these days growing up in this township. We also were able to hear each of the five mid 20 year old guys tell their experiences as well as the extreme unemployment rates within South Africa. We also had a mothers panel as well as a reconciliation panel. This panel was especially touching as one of the worchester 1999 bombing victims told her story and her journey in later going to the prison and forgiving the bomber that traumatized so many people that Christmas Eve day. Olga has been featured in the national geographic magazine as well as was recognized by Desmond tutu for the human reconciliation act award. She was such an inspiring women and I am so grateful to have met her and hear her story.  

Later in the week we spent time doing a photo-voice project which by far has been my favorite project on this trip. We gave cameras to people within our families or local community members and asked them to take pictures of places that were healthy or unhealthy in zwelethemba. It was such a unique opportunity because the people had the ability to take pictures of whatever they wanted to within this assignment without any guidance from us. 

Each student picked two pictures with the help from our families that we mounted on construction paper and will have displayed within the zwelethemba library. All of the children that participated were so excited to see the picture they either took or were getting prepared to be put on the library wall. 

Later in the week my home-stay partner and I made dinner to show our appreciation for our family hosting us. We kept it simple and made a spaghetti dinner with salad, garlic bread and chocolate chip cookies!:):) 

Although it wasn't the same as my home-stay mothers amazing cooking; she was so appreciative. Many of the things Elizabeth cooked were similar to what my family cooks in the US which was really comforting to be closer to my US in comparison to Vietnamese food which was definitely  a major adjustment. 

My experience in zwelethemba was nothing but extraordinary.  My host mother Elizabeth is one of the most hard working people I have ever met. She is so religious and so appreciative for everything god brings into her life. She works as a social worker for the school for the deaf about 15 minutes outside of the township. She deals with children of all ages and asks as resource for so many children that are abandoned as a result of being deaf at a young age. My host brother even stated that when he is younger Elizabeth would use so much of her own salary to give back to these children that her own family would struggle to out food on the dinner table each day. Giving back and helping others is her mission no matter what. She is a true discipline of god and I could not have been more inspired by living with such an incredible women and family these past 10 days. I know my experiences here in zwelethemba will stay with me for the rest of my life. I even hope to be able to make it back to this township community at some point during my graduate school years. Tears have filled my eyes as I am leaving a community and family that I have become so close to these last ten days.

On Monday, March 24th I will be off to my second home-stay experience in South Africa in the Bo Kapp which is a Muslim community located very close to the heart of Cape Town. As sad as I am to leave zwelethemba I am excited for the new experiences I will be able to embark in this weekend and with my new home-stay in   completely new part of the city.

I went to Cape Point this past weekend. I was told by our tour guide that the drive around the Cape is one of the most scenic in the world! :) It was remarkable. I also went to Boulder's Beach which is one of the few sands beachs with penguins. It was amazing!! 

I hope is well with everyone. I am continuously so appreciative of all of the support everyone has given me. I am so grateful.

Hillary :) 

"Everyone leaves footprints in your memory, but the ones that leave foot prints in your heart are the ones you will truly remember"- Nicolas sperling