SIT Cameroon: Development and Social Change

City scavenger hunt, class on the beach, courses that make you re-think your perspective... check. This program is so much more than I ever could have expected. The topics had all of the student discussions rolling over into lunch time, and the French instructors worked with us once on one to ensure we were all reaching our language goals. The instructors and the curriculum truly altered my understanding of development, and made me analyze the impact my cultural values had on my views of development. Additionally, I think the program and location draw in a very unique group of people, which makes the program that much more special. The people I was with really shaped my experience in a positive way. This program is not for the faint of heart, but it is for someone looking to step outside their comfort zone.

When I got back from abroad everyone asked "How was it? Was Africa so much fun!" After making it clear I could not comment on Africa but could tell them about the places I had visited in Cameroon, I also corrected their notion of study abroad as "fun". Being in Cameroon was challenging, lonely, tiring, boring, far from home....and taught me so much about the legacy of colonialism that I have been benefiting from. Everyday I was witnessing something new and wrestling with it. This all sounds pretty daunting and cynical right? But I don't want to tell you I had this "amazing African adventure" or that now I can't wait to go back and work for some development organization. I left Cameroon with more unanswered questions than when I arrived. But I think this is GREAT! My host families were all unique and different, incredibly generous and welcoming, and humbly opened up their homes to me. I embraced being American for the first time while abroad, through coming to a better understanding of the culture I came from. I also saw a lot of strength and dignity in Cameroonian culture that was very different from where I come from and very different than the media portrayal we see of Sub-Saharan African countries. I would highly recommend this program to everyone. It does not try to make you a tourist but it also acknowledges that with your western-background you cannot fully assimilate into Cameroon, it's a good balance. A good challenge.

Studying abroad in Cameroon with SIT was one of the hardest and best things I have ever done. It’s one thing to learn about African political systems, it’s another thing to sit in the living room of one of the most prominent Cameroonian politicians and learn about how his career and country have been impacted by neocolonialism while drinking his tea. It’s one thing to learn about deforestation and displacement of indigenous peoples, it’s another to stand in a quickly disappearing rainforest in the pouring rain and talk with the Bagyeli people, see the suffering loosing their land has caused. It’s one thing to grow up seeing constant images of poverty and disease associated with Africa, and a totally different thing to dance the night away in a local nightclub with Cameroonian college friends who are a lot like you (but with better fashion sense).

It’s one thing to learn by reading facts and stories flat on a page, it’s another thing to learn by living. SIT Cameroon teaches you to learn by doing, and it will probably be one of the hardest and most rewarding risks you'll ever take.

P.S. After two years, I am flying back to Cameroon this week!