Whitney Grant

This dispatch is written by Whitney Grant who has just graduated in Sociology with a minor in Women’s Studies. She is interested in pursuing a career in hospital administration and has already landed a position in The MD Anderson Research Hospital in Houston Texas.She will be working on policy research and analysis. Her dispatch is entitled The University of Zululand will Always have a Piece of my Heart. This dispatch gives you an inside view of the POA life and here you get a feel of the fun and the intensity of the work and the comaraderie.

-Nesha

The University of Zululand Will Always Have a Piece of My Heart

We spent this past week at the University of Zululand which is an hour and a half away from Durban. This rural area of Kwazulu-Natal was very different from our time in Johannesburg and Durban, and we were all apprehensive upon arrival, but we soon found out that this would be one of the most memorable experience s of our trip. On our first day we were immediately greeted by one of the POA Alumni members, Sithembiso. Sithe (pronounced stay) took us on a tour of campus where we learned about the different programs the University had to offer. I began to feel welcome as we walked around and students came up to greet us and have brief conversations. What I found most interesting was the heavy interest in politics among the students on campus who are divided between the ANC and the IFP parties, especially since we were there right after local elections. That night we also met Ms. Gugu Gule aka Mama Gugu, who has been a committed supporter of the POA program at the University of Zululand for the past six years. I’ve heard many great things about Mama Gugu prior to coming to South Africa, and I feel blessed to have met her in person.

From Monday to Wednesday we were teaching the module to the student HIV Peer Educators in the University’s HIV program unit. On Monday morning we met Dr. Zethu Mkhize aka Mama Zethu who is the Director of the HIV Unit and another committed supporter of the POA program at Unizul. Mama Zethu is an inspiration to us all being such an accomplished woman having been appointed by the government to oversee changes in policy which affects the field of social work in South Africa. Since we had three days with two sessions per day this time, we had ample time to both teach the module and bond with the students which we didn’t have the opportunity to do at the other universities and institutions. It typically only takes a couple of hours to learn the module, so I really enjoyed stepping away from teaching for a while just to talk with some of the people in my group about school, pop culture and other various topics. At Wednesday’s POA graduation we were again blown away by the student’s creativity in translating and teaching back the module in their native language, Zulu. We are usually the bearers of gifts and gratitude during the graduation but this time Mama Gugu and Mama Zethu had something different in store. I was really touched and humbled when we were presented with gifts by Mama Gugu, Mama Zethu and the peer educators for our work at the University. I never realized how deeply affected people were by our work and POA because I’m always caught up in learning from others and all that they’ve given me.

The last three days at the University of Zululand were amazing because we had three days of leisure to attend events around campus and spend extra time with the students. Mama Gugu invited us to attend the University graduation on Friday and it took me back to April 30th 2011 when it was my turn to graduate from the University of Michigan. It was such a joyous occasion to see all of the accomplished students, the proud family and friends and hear the ceremony speakers and choirs. In that moment of being a guest I felt a connection with each graduate as they proudly walked across the stage because I know how much work, blood sweat and tears go into finishing college. We also had the opportunity to host a small house party for some of the students on Friday night. It was great to have time and space to just relax, talk, laugh, dance and bond.

On our last night at the University of Zululand we went to a closing dinner hosted by Mama Gugu and Mama Zethu. There was a lot of love in the room as we spent our last moments of the trip talking laughing eating and singing. As a special surprise Mama Gugu arranged for the choir director with whom we fell in love from graduation the previous day to come and sing to us. This is one of the many examples of the love and generosity that is shown by our family at the University of Zululand. The time that I spent at the University of Zululand was one of the most memorable experiences of this trip. Here the program directors are like our mothers because they take such good care of us, and the students are like our family because we’ve bonded with them more than any others during our stay in South Africa. I loved this entire experience and the University of Zululand will always have a piece of my heart.

Whitney Grant
POA Team Member 2011