Emily Ellson, Whitney Keltner, and Jacob Wessels
Emily Ellson
Luther College
Participants in the 2010 ACM Student Symposium on Off-Campus Study
- Program: Luther College: Africana Studies 239: New Hope Summer Camp, South Africa: Service Learning and Vocation - January 2010
- Graduation (all): Spring 2011
- Majors:
Emily Ellson: Major in Elementary Education; Minor in Special Education
Whitney Keltner: Majors in Biology and Psychology
Jacob Wessels: Majors in Biology and Chemistry
Joys and Challenges of Service Learning at New Hope Summer Camp, Cape Town, South Africa
During our month in South Africa, we experienced the joys and challenges of service in the world by working as mentors for youth ages 5-16 in a summer camp in Cape Town, South Africa. Organized by the foundation New Hope Feeds Africa, a non-profit group in the Cravenby neighborhood, the camp provided games and activities for children to help them develop a positive sense of self, as well as a daily meal sponsored by Luther students.
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At left: Video of the presentation by Emily Ellson, Whitney Keltner, and Jacob Wessels at the Symposium.
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Whitney Keltner
Readings and class discussion were focus on the realities of these young people's lives, including poverty, gangsterism, physical and emotional abuse, HIV/AIDS, and structural racism and sexism.
Despite our preparation, we were not ready for the realities we witnessed. The close connections we formed with community members gave us insight into the struggles often faced in a country still recovering from the strong reverberations left by apartheid. Homelessness, unemployment, and illiteracy are still realities that face the majority of South Africans today. Many South Africans continue to live in townships they were forced into under the Group Areas Act.
Jacob Wessels
While in Cape Town our lives were transformed by the children and the people of Cravenby we got to know. Our experiences allowed us to reflect on how we live out our vocation of service from a position of privilege in a wondrous but complicated world.
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