Story by Elena Crouch Growing up, I didn’t truly appreciate the opportunity, or the value, of receiving an education. My parents didn’t have to choose which of their two daughters would be able to attend secondary school. It didn’t matter how much money my family had, it didn’t matter that my sister and I were both female:…
Category: Africa
Job Title: Nursing Assistant or Friend?
Story by Caitlin Do I had no idea what to expect when I landed in Cape Town. The only pictures I had in my head were the ones I had found online, specifically of the hospital in which I’d be interning with, as well as the home that I’d be living in. I couldn’t have…
You Don’t Know Anything, Try to Learn Something: Reflecting on My Time in Burundi
Story by Peter Vaselkiv On my flight to Bujumbura, I had so many things going around in my head I was almost numb from trying to figure out what to expect. Looking back on my time in Burundi, it occurs to me now that trying to frame something before having feet on the ground is…
It Takes A Village: I am. You are.
Story by Francesca Batault Growing up in South Africa has undoubtedly been one of the most enriching and empowering experiences of my life; there is little that South Africa does not offer. School mornings began with the warm embrace of the African sun, class excursions took us to the heart of Soweto and the depths…
Change Starts With One
Story by Anna Butler, Founder of modzi, NU ‘14 | anna@modzi.org Photo by Marisa Kallenberger | kallenberger.m@husky.neu.edu Having been a student at Northeastern’s Boston campus for a total of three semesters, the majority of my studies were spent familiarizing myself with the global challenges I sought to alleviate. I strove to create as many experiential opportunities as possible, and…
Fear into Fortitude: Interfaith Peacebuilding Lessons from Liberia
Story by Sydne Mass | mass.sy@husky.neu.edu One morning in 2003, Leymah Gbowee awoke from a dream that would change the course of her country’s history and her life. Liberia had been in the midst of its second civil war for four years. The death toll would rise to 250 thousand people, with one million internally displaced…
Answering the Questions Behind Boko Haram
Story by Devin Windelspecht | windelspecht.d@husky.neu.edu On February 1st, 2016, events in Nigeria once again seized global headlines. Fighters from Boko Haram, West Africa’s most notorious and deadly militant group, stormed the small town of Dalori in the northeast of the country, killing 86 people, including children. Horror stories emerged of militants firebombing houses with people…
Sudan Bombing Its Own People
Story by Caroline Boschetto | boschetto.c@husky.neu.edu For half a decade, the Sudanese government has waged a violent war against its own citizens with bombings that target the southern provinces of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. These government bombings have caused widespread destruction, death, and displacement, according to Nuba Reports, a Sudan-based news source focused on the…
Education in Zambia: The Struggle for School
Story by Shelbe Van Winkle | vanwinkle.s@husky.neu.edu Photo by Marisa Kallenberger | kallenberger.m@husky.neu.edu Out of all the countries I’ve traveled to, studied in, or even lived in, I never thought Zambia would be the one I returned to… that was until I got here. It wasn’t the beautiful orange African sunsets, nor the marvelous wonder that is Victoria…
The Public Reacts to Terror in Kenya
Story by Colleen Luibrand | luibrand.c@husky.neu.edu It appeared to be an ordinary morning at Garissa University in northeast Kenya on April 2, 2015. Several students were gathered at the on-campus mosque for their morning prayer rituals, and many others were sleeping or studying for exams. Things turned deadly shortly after 5 a.m., when gunshots echoed throughout…
Being Taught the Value of Education in Zambia
Story by Olivia Arnold | arnold.o@husky.neu.edu Photo by Yasmeen Al-Haj | alhaj.y@husky.neu.edu A good education is something many American children take for granted. I myself am no exception. I went through the moaning and groaning of having to wake up at the crack of dawn to drag myself to school, sit in a classroom all day and…
