Dr. Juliet Bushi at Botswana Open University (PROVIDED BY J. BUSHI/University of Windsor)
By Kate Hargreaves
A new opportunity for experiential learning and research is available to UWindsor students this coming summer in Botswana.
Part of the Faculty of Education’s Global Community Engagement Program (GCEP), which already provides international service-learning opportunities in China, Jamaica and Tanzania, Botswana is the latest country to be added to this list of options.
Faculty of Education professor Dr. Juliet Bushi, who is spearheading the trip, has spent years building a partnership between UWindsor, the University of West England and Botswana Open University through collaborative online intercultural learning.
Now that collaboration is shifting to an in-person experience as UWindsor students can now travel to campuses in Botswana’s Gaborone, Kang and Maun.
“It’s a very exciting opportunity,” says Bushi who has been to Botswana multiple times herself. “It’s a very beautiful country, very safe and welcoming. I love to be there because for me it’s an opportunity to listen to my own rhythm, it’s just so quiet and slow paced.”
Beyond enjoying the beauty of the country, students will engage in learning opportunities and research, helping to build their skills and gain global competency.
With three-week self-funded and three-month Mitacs-sponsored options, they will have the chance to travel across the country, learning from local students, teachers and community members in three regions. They will then share their experiences and what they learned at a dedicated symposium when they return to Windsor in the fall.
The initiative builds on the foundation of the other GCEP programs, such as three-week service-learning trips to Tanzania or three-month Mitacs-funded exchanges to China, Bushi explains.
Similar to the Tanzania trip, which over the years has expanded to include nursing and social work students in addition to those from the Faculty of Education, the Botswana opportunity is open to education, nursing, social work, science or psychology students, both graduate and undergraduate.
Like GCEP China, the Botswana exchange is also reciprocal, with students from Botswana Open University scheduled to travel to Windsor next fall.
“We’re exchanging knowledge,” says Bushi. “It’s two-way. UWindsor students are going to be working with and learning from teachers who have been teaching 10 or 20 years, with community organizations who have a lot of cultural capital and vice versa.”
Bushi says she hopes that students will be able to bring what they learn home to their classrooms, social work or nursing roles back in Canada in addition to contributing to educational, community-building and healthcare access in Botswana.
“We’re going to be doing sex education, preventative health education and raising funds to buy materials and supplies to give to folks there in support of community organizations,” Bushi explains.
Part of this contribution involves helping Botswana Open University update its outdated computer labs with a SSHRC-funded supply of laptops to support students’ scholarly work.
“Through the GCEP program, we’re reaching far and wide, leaving our impact on these organizations and communities,” says Bushi.
Informational sessions will be held Monday, Oct. 26 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. and Wednesday Oct. 28 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. for students interested in learning more. To register or for more information, contact Dr. Juliet Bushi at jbushi@uwindsor.ca.
