J.08 Update: An action-packed week in Cape Town, South Africa
"On 27 February, we docked at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in beautiful Cape Town, which offered a great view of Table Mountain and Lion’s Head, both icons of Cape Town’s famously gorgeous landscape.
Given its rich history and culture, South Africa was an attractive case study for students in all Learning Circles: all but about a dozen of us chose to participate in Academic Field Programs (AFPs) in this port. Coordinated by The Scholar Ship’s in-country academic partner, the University of Cape Town, the AFPs took us on varied site visits that included local businesses, townships on the outskirts of the city, and an HIV/AIDS clinic, as well as local historical sites such as Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent the majority of his 27 years in prison.
When AFPs concluded, we set out to take advantage of the wide array of activities that the Western Cape has to offer. About fifty students participated in a day-long community service project in which they painted a local school. Adventure was an ongoing theme throughout the week, from hiking Table Mountain to sand-boarding. Nearly a hundred of us attended a South Africa Stormers/New Zealand Crusaders rugby game.
Our activities were certainly not confined to land! While in South Africa, The Scholar Ship Research Institute hosted two research conferences onboard: “Confronting the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Policy Responses in India & South Africa,” participants in which included leading HIV/AIDS researchers from around the world, and “Information Technology Applications: A Workshop for Capacity Building of Young African Scientists,” which drew young scientists from all over Africa.
About 25 student affairs professionals from universities around South Africa also visited to the ship to learn about The Scholar Ship's unique model and to exchange ideas. Finally, a group of students from the LEAP Science & Maths School, a Cape Town secondary school working to improve the skills of previously disadvantaged populations, visited the ship for a tour and presentation.
After our whirlwind week in Cape Town, we are pleasantly exhausted as we settle in for a long leg at sea."
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