Pushing Personal Boundaries in Uganda Past Review
By Rachel D (PSYCHOLOGY., Wellesley College) for
SIT Study Abroad Uganda: Global Development Studies
yes. This definitely changed my academic interests as I am no longer interested in this sort of development work. It also gave me a broader perspective on the world, and I have a lot of interesting stories to share!
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Each lecture was taught by a different person. Some where professors from the local university, members of parliament, or specialists in whatever field they were teaching. Lectures were mostly powerpoints with little discussion from the class. Workload was minimal. Many got away with not doing any readings and only handing in necessary papers. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Administrative staff in Kampala were SUPER helpful, but sometimes did not understand some American cultural things that would have made the experience better. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
Able to accommodate Vegetarian. Food was mainly beans and rice! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The trip provides a lot of excursions and outings which are really cool! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Insist on going to foreign doctors! Ugandan doctors diagnose EVERYTHING as malaria and give unnecessary medications. Lots of vaccinations and meds required for the program. Don't wear expensive anything (especially jewelry) in Kampala and it will get stolen off your body. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Not much at all compared to other programs. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | During the independent study, they give you a very small stipend that will not cover all expenses! Be prepared to use your own money. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | none |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
You could practice the language with your homestay family, fellow classmates and administration staff at the program. Greetings were highly important to learn, but most conversations with locals in Kampala could be in English. They also speak other languages outside of the capital so it was unhelpful for the independent study. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Be ready to be uncomfortable a lot. And don't think that you're going to make a difference while you are there. Developmental studies majors most suited for this program. |
