Calm Before the Storm
Next week I will be boarding a plane on my way to South Africa for the first time, but last summer I had never been on a plane in my life. Something about the last year has allowed me to visit four different countries, but I know this experience will be entirely different. Last summer I visited Greece, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland, spending the majority of my time lounging on the beach, eating pasta, drinking sangria, and visiting museums. Although I had a great time, I didn’t feel any sense of cultural understanding. I chose this study abroad experience because I know I’ll get a chance to meet the locals in communities and actually engage in cultural exchange.
I’m going into my fifth year at Northeastern and I’ll soon have to make semi-permanent decisions about my career. After taking the social entrepreneurship intro class, I was introduced to a topic of study that would utilize my business skills and still contribute to a social mission. I am so excited to go on this dialogue and explore the theories behind social entrepreneurship further, with my main goal being to figure out my core values and immerse myself in a new environment.
This trip will focus on some of the most pressing issues of our time: poverty, classism, racism, and sexism. Although I know that South Africa has a unique social and political climate compared America right now, some parallels will exist. The ultimate goal of this trip is to consult small businesses and come up with solutions to some of the problems that plague townships and informal settlements. However, I firmly believe that I can learn even more than I can be of help. I want to explore the ways our countries are the same, and the ways that young people are finding empowerment in America and South Africa.
With any travel there are some apprehensions. I want this experience to be different from the “voluntarism” that exists in white culture. This term speaks to the growing popularity of traveling to developing countries to volunteer, while unintentionally causing emotional distress to locals or simply taking a tour of someone else’s poverty. I think that the fundamental values of social entrepreneurship – specifically empowering local communities and creating solutions based off of communicated need – will avoid anything that seems exploitative.
I’m looking forward to so many different things on this trip: hiking Table mountain, swimming with the sharks, learning some of the languages, visiting the townships, eating Cape Malay food, and dancing on Long Street. I can’t wait to write about these experiences and learn as much as I can about South Africa!
