Katherine: looking back, moving forward

I have developed a reverse homesickness for Cape Town.  I have learned and changed a lot since studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa.  A major change I have noticed in myself is my awareness of racial layouts everywhere I go.  I am much more attuned to noticing inequality, separations, and how America is not quite the “melting pot” it claims to be.  Also, I have become much more vocal about challenging racially infused comments that my friends, family, and others make.  Much of what I notice about race is frustrating because if the mighty United States cannot make equality and racial mingling work, who will? It is also hard to talk about race with Americans because it is a taboo subject that many people try not avoid discussing because we like to think we have moved beyond this hurdle.

After returning to the United States, I was home for a few weeks before I moved down to Washington, DC for the summer.  I took a political science class at Georgetown University and interned at an HIV/AIDS organization called MetroTeen AIDS.  This was an extremely valuable experience to have had after being in South Africa because I was able to connect my experience abroad with something in the United States (something I highly recommend doing for all you future study abroaders).  After  volunteering at the Treatment Action Campaign which is an HIV/AIDS organization in the Cape Town township of Khayelitsha, I was able to bridge this experience by working at MTA.  I found that problems that surround HIV in South Africa are similar to HIV/AIDS issues in the United States.  Washington, DC has the highest rate of HIV in the United States- 1 in 20 people, or 5% of the population in the district.  This is a staggeringly high number for the United States, a country that is supposed to be more advanced then South Africa.  As in South Africa, HIV is heavily stigmatized in the United States and affects the poorest areas.  The poorest areas of DC are those that are predominantly inhabited by blacks, just like South Africa.  At MTA, I scheduled and helped present HIV 101 presentations to affected youth.  While I lived in the wealthiest part of DC (Georgetown), I was able to balance out my experience of DC by working in the poorest areas (the southeast quarter).

It has been frustrating trying not to talk too much about my experiences in South Africa to my friends and family.  I do not want them to stop listening to me or get sick of hearing about, “well in South Africa I…”  It is an experience that has had a permanent effect on my life.  My experience has solidified by decision to choose a career path where I continue to help others.  As of now, I have applied to Teach For America and hope to be able to continue to serve others if I am accepted to teach within this organization.  

Katherine with her supervisors: Shena and Nicole at MetroTeenAIDS