Customized Faculty-led Programs in Sub-Saharan Africa

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!!

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 my first international rotation and EDU Africa planned the trip so well. It was very organized with just the right amount of academics, culture and fun. We had support the entire trip with phone numbers and transportation was always scheduled for us. We also had a fun intro week with Swahili lessons, visits to the local markets and a brief introduction to Tanzania culture. We chose to have them organize our trip to Zanzibar for a weekend off and it was amazing! I couldn’t have planned the weekend getaway better myself. Thank you EDU Africa for the amazing experience.

This experience was wonderful and transformative! The itinerary was amazing and I loved the variety of experiences that we had. From the hospital to the beaches of Zanzibar everything was amazing! I felt like we were able to see so much and do so much within 5 weeks. Everything was very well organized and the staff was amazingly helpful. I always felt safe and well taken care of. I would love to come back one day to this beautiful country! This program is overall great from both an educational standpoint and a travel standpoint. Highly recommended!

This trip was absolutely incredible! I learned so much while working in the hospital, but EDU Africa also did a great job at making this trip memorable for us in other ways. They planned an incredible weekend in Zanzibar- from hotels to tours and everything in between. They also planned 3 safaris to round out the trip. I would highly recommend it. We were also able to travel early to hike Kilimanjaro, which was challenging but amazing. EDU Africa was very flexible about arranging extra transportation and accommodation.

We had a 4-wk rotation in Tanzania and we had an amazing time. We spent two a week in orientation, 2.5 weeks working in women’s health at KCMC in Moshi, and reflections following that. Our program organized incredible cultural experiences for our free time - trip to Zanzibar, visiting the hot springs and waterfall in Moshi, 3 days of safari, and staying in a rented camp among a Maasai community. We were also able to come early and climb Kilimanjaro. We were do well-supported. Incredible experience

I'm a college professor, and my colleague and I took 12 undergraduate and graduate students to South Africa for a study abroad program to compare historical influences and criminal justice system practices.

Our first program a success. The program was incredible from start to finish, and the students found each of the activities to be inspirational, educational, and informative. One student noted in her final assignment that she learned something from each and every visit and interaction. The program was the perfect balance of educational and fun, and the students enjoyed themselves and learned everywhere that we went.

The accommodations were perfect, and everything was planned out extremely well. Everyone we met from professors to magistrates and attorneys to museum docents were knowledgeable, friendly, and informative.

Most of all, our tour guides, Nompilo and Alfonso, made the trip extraordinary. They were always enthusiastic, energetic, and friendly with the students. I am deeply grateful for their assistance on the trip and for everything that they did for our students and me. The students had nothing but amazing things to say about them, and they were truly invaluable. They literally worked for 17+ hours per day, and they were always attentive to the students’ needs. They both also went out of their way to ensure their safety and provide them with insight about the locations we visited, the culture, and their own perspectives.

The program and the experiences were incredible, the two of them as our tour guides easily solidify our decision to return to SA and tour EDU Africa again. I strongly recommend this company for any college group who is looking to explore, learn, and grow. When Alfonso introduced himself, he told us that he wanted this trip to change our lives, and it did! Thank you all for everything.

This was the first for our group to visit South Africa and it was amazing! Our students are from different disciplines exploring the relationship between culture and leadership and the agenda that Des had put together for us was full of useful activities. I especially enjoyed being able to go to different homes to share a meal with the locals, and our visit to Robben Island. I think our talk with Christo Brand and Lionel Davis could've been incorporated with the Robben Island visit, or maybe have either of the two be our specific tour guide on the island. Frans was such a splendid guide and driver - lots of knowledge about the area, very warm and welcoming to us, and very patient and flexible!
Our stay at the Team House was wonderful! All our meals were delicious and prepared on site for us. We had almost exclusive use of the house for our group with lots of space for debriefing, blogging and vlogging.