Submitted by University of Michigan-Flint student Briana Dodd, originally from Tallahassee, Florida. This July 2016 trip is connected with a University of Michigan-Flint International and Global Studies (IGS) study abroad course: Rethinking Social Development in Southern Africa.

Briana Dodd with children at the Ubuntu camp.

Today, July 14, 2016, we conducted our last day of our Ubuntu camp with our kids. It was bittersweet because all of the confusion, disorganization and hassle was over, but I began to realize that I would never see those kids again. The biggest impression on me was made by the kids. As I continued to work with them, I began to consider them “mine” in the sense that I had become their caretaker for those couple of hours. Meal times are always so stressful because we have about 100 kids show up and they all rush to the lunch line. Although it is stressful while it happens, when I look back on it, I can do nothing but smile because I know that those smiles on their faces were unshakable. Knowing that you are the direct source of someone’s happiness is a great feeling.

This camp has brought nothing but joy, hope, and happiness for tomorrow. Although those children live in poor conditions, when we asked them what Ubuntu meant to them, a lot of them said hope—hope that the next day will be better than their last. Even though there is a language divide, and the majority of my group did not speak English, the carefree looks on their faces told me everything I yearned to know.

I plan to become a school psychologist, and I learned several things that will help me as I try to grow in that field. I think the main thing I took away from this camp was how to work with kids when they don’t know what you are saying. A lot of the activities I conducted with my group were less directive and more hands-on. I had to show them what I wanted to do. I think this experience opened my eyes in a sense that I realized that talking is not the only form of communication and, although my kids were small, they understood me. You always hear that there are more ways to communicate than just talking, but it doesn’t hit you until you are forced to do just that.

Briana briefly worked with this group of girls.