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Rutherford County's Ali Bovender had every intention of going to Africa to make a difference. But what she found was that the change she experienced came from within herself.
Bovender, a sophomore special education major at Western Carolina University, traveled to Africa last fall with a group of education students in order to experience their schools in Africa by observing teaching methods and taking part in classroom instruction. She learned of the opportunity last spring.
"I'd always said I was going to Africa," she said. "When we were told we were going, I called my mom right after class and said 'I'm going to Africa.'"
Once in Africa, the group visited different schools to see how teaching methods compared to those in the United States.
"We noticed that when we teach in the U.S. we are teaching critical thinking," Bovender explained. "Much of their instruction is strict memorization. One of the biggest differences is the students are crazy to learn."
Teachers had been on strike because they hadn't been paid in months, Bovender continued, and those who were in the classroom were working for free because they didn't want to leave behind their students.
"But even in the classrooms without teachers students were doing their work," she said. "The students who understood the concept would get up and teach it. They look at their education as a way to better their lives."
The school Bovender learned most from was one in a slum. The extreme poverty in that area of Nairobi was one students were prepared for in advance.
"We were told not to cry or look shocked, because the people there didn't see anything wrong with how they lived," Bovender said. "The difference in poverty here versus there is that the people are completely proud of what they have - they are very proud of whatever their job is or whatever they are doing. They are a very positive, upbeat people."
At the end of one school day, a student they'd worked with came up to the group before they left, speaking to them in Swahili. Unsure of what he was saying, the group asked their translator for help. It turns out, the boy was asking for water.
"We gave him our water, and he drank like I've never seen anyone drink water before - I thought he was going to suck the bottom of the bottle in," Bovender said. "As he walked off, a group of kids came rushing up to him and I started to stop them. But, I was told they were all as thirsty as he was.... I never thought I'd see the day where children fight over water. Our kids here have no idea what it's like to go without."
As a result of the encounter, the WCU group has decided to raise money to have a well dug for the school, which would provide water not only for the students, but also be sold to local people in order to recover operating costs.
"We have been talking with different Rotary Clubs around campus about helping to build the wells, and I'd like to speak with other local groups about their help as well," Bovender said. If your group would like to help with the project, please contact Bovender at Aebovender1@catamount.wcu.edu.
Following the trip, Bovender said she is more committed now than ever to teach special needs children.
"I had planned to go to school for agriculture education," Bovender explained. "My senior year in high school my guidance counselor asked if I'd help in a special needs classroom, and I fell in love right then and there."
For a brief time, she switched her major to speech pathology. But after returning from Africa, she made the decision that special education was her calling.
"I definitely want to make sure my students have a grasp on the world around them," Bovender said. "I hope to put a passion for learning into them, and to make them excited and ready to learn and better the world around them."
