Students Travel to Africa
Posted on Thursday, July 17, 2008
Two Westminster College staff members accompanied a group of 14 students to South Africa and Malawi as part of a travel cluster course in May.
The course, "African History and Peace Studies Seminar," was taught by Dr. Patricia Clark, Westminster assistant professor of history, and the Rev. James Mohr, College chaplain.
In South Africa, the group visited Soweto, the Cradle of Humankind, and toured Johannesburg, the Apartheid Museum, and a wild game park.
The group spent most of its time in Malawi, the third-poorest nation in the world with an average income of $5 per week and a high rate of HIV/AIDS. They were hosted by members of the Pittsburgh Partnership, a group within the Presbyterian Synod of Blantyre.
Time was spent visiting churches and mission sites in the southern part of the country, where Westminster students sang at worship services; worked in three orphan centers; toured the Mulanje Mission Hospital; met with students from the Zomba Theological College; were honored guests at a Malawi Entertainment Night; and visited a Malawian National Park.
Students stayed with host families, where they experienced wonderful foods and learned about the day-to-day lifestyles that define African cultures.
Mohr said, "We were challenged by the needs of the orphan children, the stresses of the HIV/AIDS epidemic that Africa is facing, and the extreme poverty that seems to lurk on every corner."
"Surprisingly, most homes-or at least, villages-have electricity, although there is very little safe drinking water and people walk everywhere," he added. "American and African culture do not compare at all."
Contact Mohr at (724) 946-7116 or e-mail mohrjr@westminster.edu for more information.
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