Andrea facing the reality that is South Africa

Andrea with so much to think about

I’m a Journalism major with a Human Rights minor planning to graduate in spring 2014. When I entered UConn as a freshman, I was a biomedical engineering major and pre-med. After too many didactic science classes at UConn, and a quarter-life crisis, I decided I would rather study in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. But before realizing Journalism was the place for me, I bounced around a variety of majors and career paths. It took me until the end of freshman year to realize I didn’t want to go to medical school, instead, if I were going to pursue a career in health care, I would be a Physician Assistant. It made the most sense for what I was passionate about – Emergency Medicine – and the accelerated track to largely the same scope-of-practice as a medical doctor just made more sense. Through sophomore year I fully planned on finishing my pre-med courses, taking the MCAT the summer after my junior year, and applying to PA schools senior year. But slowly throughout the course of my studies at UConn, I came to realize I’m more interested in the bigger picture – not just medicine at the level of patient and healer. I think we’ve been operating with a seriously flawed healthcare system and industry in general in the United States, and I’ve decided I’d rather help people by trying to fix the system than joining the chaos. After I graduate next year I’m hoping to start working in public health in some capacity. I’ve been considering applying to the Peace Corps for a long time to either work in Health Promotion or Education, but I’m hoping my time here in Cape Town working at Treatment Action Campaign helps me decide exactly what path I’ll take after UConn.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) reports that South Africa is the country with the greatest number of infected persons in the world, making prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS a top priority for the country. Treatment Action Campaign is largely responsible for the progress South Africa has made combatting transmission and providing antiretroviral drugs to treat those already infected, so I’m incredibly excited to have the chance to learn how it operates and help it continue to decrease infection rates and increase ARV adherence.

After decades of apartheid, South Africa held its first non-racial elections in 1994. The parliament elected at that time along with former president Nelson Mandela crafted and implemented a new Constitution to ensure a bright future for the country. The Republic of South Africa officially adopted its new constitution in 1996 – and it is one of the most progressive in the world. It’s been praised by human rights organizations around the world for guaranteeing and protecting important human rights – and it’s one of the reasons I was so excited to study abroad here. Among a slew of other things, the constitution guarantees citizens the right to life, health care, sufficient food and water, and dignity.

I was incredibly excited to study human rights here because with the constitution backing citizens’ demands for their rights to be upheld, it seemed like it would be easy to facilitate positive change. In a nutshell, we would be able to find the problems, pinpoint what rights were being disregarded, tell the government what they were doing wrong, and they would fix it. With such a strong, progressive constitution, it was really easy for me to hope from afar that drastic change was right around the corner and our presence at various NGOs, NPOs and other human rights organizations would really do a lot for the country. I know the naïve ‘swoop-in-and-fix-it’ thought process is very American of me, and I know most well-intentioned organizations that fail to effect positive change do so because they don’t consider the country, culture, traditions and whatnot… but reading their constitution I took for granted there would be an atmosphere of hope the second I landed in the country.

The reality I’ve found is much different. Though there are definitely hopeful, motivated, optimistic humanitarians afoot here who lead and take-part in some of the most amazing organizations I’ve ever come across, a large part of the people I’ve seen don’t feel optimistic. The fact that South Africa has an incredible, advanced constitution doesn’t mean people are chasing down government officials carrying highlighted copies of the constitution telling them what’s wrong with the country and how to fix it. The atmosphere in townships and informal settlements that house hundreds of thousands of people just a few miles away from million-dollar beach-front properties is oppressing and stagnant. Driving past miles and miles of informal shacks that house entire families with no plumbing, electricity or privacy, I feel like I’ve seen democracy fail. Instead of endless hope and a surge of motivation to change the country, I feel extremely humbled and somewhat nervous for the future of the country. The fact that so many human rights violations can take place – and have been taking place for decades – just miles away from enormous wealth is really gut-wrenching. It’s disgusting to see the differences in how people live here – the very wealthy and the extremely poor – and it’s almost nauseating to come home to a beautiful house after visiting a township where ten families have to share one port-a-potty that’s 50 meters from anyone’s ‘house’.

Cape Town is and isn’t what I expected. I knew I’d feel a lot of what I do, but I underestimated the magnitude of my emotions. Everything we tour is emotionally taxing in some way because of the levels of poverty we witness. The saving grace is knowing that we will be doing our best to change what we can and help however we can. South Africa has a lot of problems but there’s also a lot of cause for hope. I think the hardest thing for me on this trip will be figuring out how to turn the shock and disgust I feel seeing so many human rights violations into motivation and hope for progress.