Eastern Europe
Sierra Leone
I am a Masters student in The School of International Studies, my focus is International Trade and Development, and I wanted to tour countries I had given top preference for during my interview for the Peace Corps. This has been a great experience to tour the two post Soviet countries of Ukraine and Moldova that are under developed, but have a relatively recent substantial superpower history. Our first day in Chisinau consisted of a walking tour to get maps and get oriented with a small portion of Chisinau near the city center. We became familiar with the location of the open market, grocery stores and tourist attractions. That afternoon, we walked through the open market recording local prices for fruits, veggies, bread, and meat to compare with prices from other studies.
The second day, after we had been living out of backpacks for a week, we put on nice clothes and went to ULIM (rough translation: University Liberal International) where we met with the president, vice president, provost, and vice provost. We toured the university which is compact into a full city block because it is located in the downtown Chisinau. After our tour we had a formal meeting where the history of the university was explained, as well as the recent occurrence of the agreement between universities located in various countries, the strong vision of the international alliance of the ULIM with other universities. The president went into detail about the importance to the ULIM, the city of Chisinau, and the country of Moldova.
Following our meetings, the university arranged to have two students/university assistants and a professor accompany us to lunch and then provide tour services to a nearby village.
The students were very accommodating and the guide had in-depth knowledge of the region. In the glacial valley we looked at a monastery that had been carved out in the center glacial mountain, we also looked at the Christian orthodox church, as well as the ruins of a Turkish community bath.
We met with the students for coffee and I was able to ask questions about their university course load and structure, test taking structure, etc. It is very similar to the US. While talking to them they said Kelsey Walters (OSU graduate student), our guide knew the language and culture so well they couldn’t tell if she was Moldovan, Romanian or American. I most enjoyed connecting with the people, any chance I got to make connections was most valuable to me.
Cody Hunter
Sierra Leone
"The study abroad experience in Sierra Leone was life changing. We had the opportunity to utilize our talents and skills in a developing world in order to make a difference in someone’s life. I had the opportunity to work with the orphans- completing a study that will eventually be used for my Wentz Research project. I used a survey to collect data on their preference of food so that when a linear programming model is created to provide a least cost diet simulation for the orphans, their preference of food can be taken into consideration.
The kids were very inspiring. To know the tragedies they came through and to see the hope, love, and life in their eyeswas moving. The same individuals who had watched their family’s be mutilated and lived in extreme poverty conditions, were Christian believers who thanked God daily for His many blessings He rained down on them. They were willing to give up food so that we could eat. This type of self sacrifice was to be noticed, and retold to others. It was a gift to have the opportunity to learn from these individuals... knowing that I was learning from them, and they were learning from me.
We traveled abroad with an excellent group of people; people that became more than colleagues and fellow travelers, but rather friends. During the nights, we would gather together and visit, telling stories and listening to the wisdom of those who sat with us. We learned the essence of communication and relied upon each others abilities and talents to survive the week-long extravaganza to a foreign world. We were pushed outside of our comfort zones and encouraged to experience the culture, customs, and traditions of the African people on a personal level. In order to fulfill this challenge, I tried cows milk... which in Sierra Leone due to no electricity, pasteurization process, and lack of infrastructure, was curdled, sour, and raw. I soon learned, after my arrival back into the States, that such countries usually preserve such delicacies with urine.
I’ll never forget the people I met, the relationships I built, the training I recieved, the perspective on life I obtained, the appreciation for what I have, the knowledge of other cultures, the experience of a developed world, etc. This trip was remarkable, moving and life-changing."
Shannon Watson
Our trip to Sierra Leone, Africa was the first time I have been out of the country. Everybody told me I was in for it traveling to Africa as my first experience out of the country, and they were right. This trip introduced me into a completely different culture. Once we became situated we began working on producing the garden beds. We had the opportunity to work with local orphans and students, and this was the most rewarding part of the trip. We got to work with the kids and share our ideas and opinions about the best way to arrange the gardens and prepare the irrigation and trellis systems. Since they were from local area we were able to blend our knowledge of agriculture with theirs to produce a more efficient production system. We could spot right away which students had the most interest in agriculture as we would provide each student with the opportunity to work with us and a few really took the lead.
We also went to Njala University where we met with professors and discussed our core curriculum and views of agriculture compared to theirs, and we were able to view some of the different projects they were working on.
Although our stay was short, it was one of the most life changing experiences I have ever had the opportunity to participate in, and I plan to return to Sierra Leone sometime in the near future.
Richard Moore
