Program Reviews

We had a 21-day tour in South Africa with EDU Africa and I had the experience of a lifetime! I was so happy during our trip, I learned so many historical stories, lessons, and events that greatly interested me. I miss the great daily schedule and touring, however, I found that I have missed the communities and cuisines within South Africa the most since I have left. While in South Africa, I learned so many new things about some of the local cultures, especially the Zulu culture. Our driver and guides were amazing and caring towards us, and I have only missed Africa since I have left.

Edu Africa's program is enjoyable and educational at the same time. They always ensure that the chosen topics spark interesting dialogue between the participants, and the presenters do a good job of imparting their knowledge. The discussions are always insightful and all participants are given a chance to share thoughts or ask questions.

The program also shares a lot of information about various African countries and it isn't rigid in the method used to share this information. They invite people from all walks of life, from artists to authors and leaders of protest movements, to give a more profound meaning to various issues that we see in Africa. I think this program is always structured and executed well.

The program was very educational and enriching especially the breakout rooms or discussions rooms. I have meet kind and humble individuals and it was nice conversing and exchanging ideas about movements and what they could possibly do to enhance our lives and the society we live in for the better.
I have also learned alot about the history of Zimbabwe and what makes their country great and of course "its the people". And that sometimes us citizens of our nations, we define the image of our nation.

EDU Africa created phenomenal programming to allow the students and I to gain a deeper understanding of Cape Town's social, political, economic, and cultural landscape. We were able to enjoy Cape Town's natural wonders and animals, while also learning from residents of the Cape Flats who were willing to share their stories with us. An emphasis on community engagement makes this program such a unique and valuable learning opportunity!

Traveling to Kenya and experiencing the culture, people and essence was life changing. As an academic and consumer of culture, the intentional curriculum of Edu Africa and the Kenyan people was the perfect combination.

It's been a long time since I've visited a country and have felt like I belong. Kenya and Edu Africa did that for me. The Edu Africa staff, service staff, Brackenhurst resort, Masa Mara, the Maasai people...

I look forward to bring more service minded people to partake in the Edu Africa/Kenya/Maasai people experience!

As as promised, as long as I'm alive, I'll be back!!

EDU Africa tailored the program to our unique course curricular and interests. We were interested in a comparison between environmental issues in our home city and those in Cape Town. We provided our itinerary and list of studies from our home city to them, and a rough list of activities we were thinking of from previous year in Cape Town, and Dave did an amazing job of fleshing out the specifics of an incredible program. They were also attentive to Covid concerns throughout the planning process and even when someone on our course got sick. The connections that they set up with University of Cape Town and with individuals on the ground, including meals at peoples homes, were fantastic. Those experiences brought the program from an A to an A+. The program facilitator, Barnabas, was with us the entire time and became an integral part of our group. Couldn’t have asked for more out of him and the way that he connected with students. Wonderful overall program. Can’t wait to do it again.

Working with edu.Africa has been transformational! In an effort to globalize the curriculum in two of my writing classes, I contracted with edu.Africa to customize a Virtual Exchange on the topic, “Understanding the Effects of Capitalist Consumer Patterns.” My students heard from professionals and interacted with peers, creating final products that were written in collaboration with students from Africa. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Everyone I worked with as part of this program was professional, friendly, and accommodating. The students on both sides fully participated, demonstrating intercultural communication skills and an understanding of social justice. Based on student feedback this program was exceptionally well organized and fully engaging. Some of the take-aways were that students from my class were surprised to learn that students from Africa had the same interests, insecurities, goals, and passions. The program gave students a chance to find commonality among their peers from another country and left them feeling more connected with others around the globe and confident about interacting with culturally diverse populations.
I have since worked with the group to offer another program to the next level English Composition class: “Reclaiming Spaces: Land Dispossession & Black Identity in South Africa.” This, too, was a real hit with the students. By examining the inequity between races related to space access in South Africa, my students were able to make connections to concerns related to race relations in the U.S. They were able to examine this issue through the lens of social justice. A highlight for my students was interacting with Njabulo Hlope, a street artist. It unfolded as the program brochure had described it: “(Hlope) believes in the power of public art to kickstart critical conversations about identity, race, and belonging.” These conversations continued throughout the semester and inspired several research writing projects that demonstrated critical and global thinking. This program has definitely brought a passion into my classroom that has students finding purpose in their writing about real world issues.

This was an eye opening and priceless opportunity to learn about South Africa/Cape Town (the social issues, differing approaches/solutions, and how to create programs, engagement, social enterprises, collaborate, a how to network). It really opened my eyes to the various ways to approach an issue. I discovered how important it is to approach issues under the framework tailoring to suit the targeted audience. It is not a matter of implementing our ideas rather collaborating because no on knows better than the people with the lived experiences under these oppressive policy and challenges. I got exposed to things that would take a life time to come across. Having a great supervisor and program director like Nicole Mostert made all the difference in the world. I hope to keep these connections.

Roseanne brought Tanzania to our students.
She was approachable, educational, and full of joy!
Our students found the content both beneficial and engaging and by the end of the program were asking the instructor if we could jump on a plane and go meet her and her colleagues in Africa. The students were able to meet their service project partners and we found ways to interact with them through virtual platforms to make the program feel more "real".

Thank you for this experience.

Our students loved it!

EDU Africa worked with us to create the College's first virtual program. We chose Physical Therapy for our 4-week service learning module. Our students met with the partner's weekly for synchronous sessions and completed work on their own. The experience culminated in students presenting their class projects and leading their partners through PT stretches.
EDU Africa was responsive in design and sought feedback afterwards. The students loved this experience! We have every intention of offering this program again!