Ujima

by Tamara D. (Dalton Class of ‘07)

Summer Academy at Cape Town is the four-week-long intensive program in Cape Town, South Africa where I took classes, went on trips, and did community service this summer.  Our classes consisted of South African History, Geography, Modern Africa and Global relations, African Ecology and Zoology, African Language and Literature, and African Music and Art.  Throughout the four weeks we did community service in local townships and went on trips to places such as Robben Island.   We also stayed on a beautiful campus overlooking the ocean in Simon’s Town, Cape Town. About 40 kids attended the program: 15 from various countries in Africa and the rest from different regions of the U.S.

South Africa has such a rich and varied culture.  There is so much we can learn from this remarkable country, in particular their great sense of community.  That we could experience this is remarkable, because just ten years ago Summer Academy wouldn’t have been able to exist in South Africa because of apartheid.  My classes consisted of white and black South Africans and many other races of people. This is something that would have been outlawed ten years ago. Summer Academy in itself is an important mark in South African history.

The Cape Town program challenged me academically and emotionally. I will never forget walking in townships and seeing such extreme poverty, or the conversations that I had in my classes.  I made friends with people from all over the world and I spent the most intense month of my life at the Summer Academy. I learned a lot about myself and other people. It was the type of experience that I wish that every person could have.

More details for the Cape Town Summer Academy can be found on their website at www.theacademyct.com