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Combating Xenophobia: The Impact Of Resettlement Cape Town, South Africa

This program investigates the globally unheard stories of xenophobic violence in South Africa. We want to focus this program around the central question of “how can we learn to find stories and amplify the voices of those we can’t hear?” This program will focus on the experience of asylum-seekers in South Africa. It will be an opportunity for students in the United States to directly learn from and engage with South African community members and leaders, allowing them to apply their theoretical learning to these lived experiences and create informed action. The program seeks to highlight the importance of understanding less-studied global issues, the power of transnationalism, and the privilege that comes with a United States passport.

Dates of Engagement: January 2  - January 14, 2023

Cost of Program: $2,600*

*Travel grants available on application

Deborah Tadesse

Deborah Tadesse is a senior from Baltimore, Maryland. She is part of the College of Arts and Science, where she is majoring in Public Health on the premed track. She hopes to pursue a future career in the field of Oncology. Being a first-generation immigrant from Ethiopia, Deborah has always been passionate about refugee, and immigrant advocacy work, with a particular interest in ethical issues of social justice. This prompted her to do public health work at Georgetown University, focusing on the disparities of patients with breast cancer in DC. In the future, she also plans to focus on the intersections between medicine and ethics, and in addition to getting her Medical Degree, she plans on getting her Masters's in Bioethics. She loves to travel and make new friends and connections, so she is so excited to have the opportunity to co-lead this program!

Nia Sayyed

Nia Sayyed is a senior from Baltimore, Maryland. She is a part of the College of Arts and Sciences, where she is majoring in Public Health, minoring in Biochemistry, and on the premed track. She hopes to pursue a future in medicine and particularly interested in conducting clinical trials for noncommunicable diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, and other illnesses that attack the central nervous system. Nia looks forward to expanding her knowledge to a global public health perspective and analyzing the effects of intersectionality on social justice issues, then drawing its relation to healthcare on a preventative and responsive level. To do so she is planning to get her Masters of Public Health prior to Medical School. She is eager to travel with a group of peers to co-lead this program to South Africa to create relationships with communities abroad, and strengthen the ones in D.C.

Day 1: Travel to Cape Town
Day 2: Arrive in Cape Town and meet VAC Team. Do a walking tour and go grocery shopping. Welcome Braai.
Day 3: Meet with Refugee Legal and Advocacy Center. Visit Scalabrini Center of Cape Town for volunteering. 
Day 4: Visit the District Six Museum. First Thursdays in Cape Town for some art galleries. 
Day 5: BoKaap Tour, and a conversation with the University of Cape Town Refugee Rights Unit.
Day 6: Lions Head hike and visit to Green Market Square. 
Day 7: Go on a Robben Island Tour. Walk at Sea Point Promenade.
Day 8: Visit Boulders Beach and the Cape of Goodhope.
Day 9: Meet with Adonis Musati Project. Go on an Apartheid to Freedom Walking Tour.
Day 10: Meet with the Church Unity Commission. Visit Table Mountain. 
Day 11: Meet with Refugee Legal and Advocacy Center and the One South Africa Movement. 
Day 12: Meet with Refugee Legal and Advocacy Center. Walk the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. 
Day 13: Explore V&A Waterfront. Farwell Braai. Depart from Cape Town. 

Apply TODAY!

South Africa's application deadline has passed. To learn more about the other Alternative Break programs in 2022-23, visit our program page.

For questions please contact altbreak@american.edu

INFORMATION SESSIONS

South Africa's information sessions have passed. If you have any questions about the program or application, please email us at altbreak@american.edu.