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Canfield duo serves community in Africa
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Neighbors | Submitted.Canfield natives Brad Bennett and Kirsten Midgley participated in a month-long service learning trip to Lesotho, Africa, during which they performed many community service projects, including building chicken coops and piggeries, building cabinets, planting gardens and building playgrounds.
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A group of 38 students participated in a month-long service learning trip to Lesotho, Africa, led by Dr. Scott Rosenberg, African Studies professor at Wittenberg University.
By ABBY SLANKER
Canfield natives Brad Bennett and Kirsten Midgley recently returned from a month-long service learning trip to Lesotho, Africa. Dr. Scott Rosenberg, African Studies professor at Wittenberg University, led the group of 38 students.
While in Lesotho, the students learned about the language and culture of the Basotho people. In addition, they performed many community service projects, including building chicken coops and piggeries, painting classrooms, building cabinets, planting gardens and building playgrounds.
This was Midgley’s second experience traveling abroad with the program. She participated in the program in 2009 and was excited to return.
“I actually participated in the program in 2009. I was attracted then because of a study abroad opportunity in a place I had never heard of before and wanted to take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see it. I knew many other classmates that had gone on the trip in 2008 and everyone could not say enough good things about their time there.
“I was privileged enough to be asked to return this past summer as a chaperone and helper to my professor, Scott Rosenberg, and his wife, Crystal, who were leading the trip with their family. After falling in love with the land, people and culture there, I was so excited at the chance to return where I had learned and grown so much two years before,” Midgley said.
When asked what her personal goal for this trip was, Midgley said she wanted to learn more about the Basotho culture.
“My personal goal for this trip was to gain a further perspective of the people and way of life and to also experience it through my peers who were new to the trip,” Midgley said.
Bennett’s goals were similar, and he also took away a better understanding of life in Africa.
“My personal goals for this trip was to really experience the culture of Lesotho and to help those who are less fortunate than myself. I hoped this trip would open my eyes to the rest of the world and what is going on out there because I have always grown up in a bubble, and I have never really had an opportunity like this one, so it was very exciting to get this chance.
“I took away from this trip a lot more than I expected to coming into this trip. It really showed me how blessed we are in the United States, how people in poverty really live, and an understanding of Africa that isn’t portrayed in the media,” Bennett said.
What most surprised both Bennett and Midgley was the welcoming nature of the Basotho people and how they had so much to give and how appreciative they were of the help the students provided.
“I remember being most surprised at the love and vitality of the Basotho people. The statistics are not good for the country as a whole. It is completely stricken with poverty and HIV/AIDS, but these people believe they still have so much to give, so much love to give, and so much to celebrate.
“I was also surprised at the incredible mountains — it’s not called the Mountain Kingdom for nothing. Living in the “plains” of Ohio all of my life, the sights were stunning,” Midgley said.
According to Bennett, he will never forget his favorite experience of his trip, as it has had a lasting impression on him.
“My favorite experience of the whole trip was when we threw a carnival at the Baylor AIDS clinic in Lesotho, which is an out-patient hospital for kids under 18 with AIDS. Most kids are there from when it opens because it is first-come, first-served. So for two hours we threw a carnival for the kids, that included playing soccer, playing with bubbles, face painting and a few others. It was experience I will never forget. The smiles on the kids’ faces were incredible, and it will be a memory in my mind that will stick out forever,” Bennett said.
Midgley’s favorite experience of her trip revolved around Kick4Life.
“My favorite experience of the trip was helping out at the Kick4Life center in Maseru. It was a great mix of meeting and working with some Basotho and American volunteers that were acting interns for the Kick4Life organization. Kick4Life uses the people’s love for soccer to sponsor HIV education and health care at its complex,” Midgley said.
During their trip, the students traveled throughout Lesotho and spent two days on safari in South Africa.
“The last couple days in South Africa, we went to Kruger National Park. I took part in two safaris, one of them walking and one of them in an open top vehicle, kind of like a bigger jeep. Both were absolutely incredible. On the walking safari, we didn’t get to see as many animals as the driving, but we were able to follow a rhino, which we were 30 feet from.
“During the all-day riding safari, I was able to see all types of animals that included a cheetah, lions, giraffes, elephants, zebras, buffalo, hippopotamus, crocodiles and a many more small animals. It was so much fun and we were very close to almost all of these animals, anywhere from 10 feet to 50 feet,” Bennett said.
Bennett is a junior business management major at Wittenberg University and is studying in London, England, for the fall semester. Midgely is a 2011 graduate of Wittenberg and attends medical school at Georgetown University.
For more information about the trip, how to get involved, or to donate to the 2012 trip, contact Dr. Rosenberg at srosenberg@wittenberg.edu. Donations are used strictly to fund the projects in Africa.