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Welcome to Our Blog

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG

As anyone who has participated in UConn's Education Abroad in Cape Town will tell you, there are no words to adequately explain the depth of the experiences, no narratives to sufficiently describe the hospitality of the people, and no pictures to begin to capture the exquisite scenery. Therefore this blog is only intended to provide an unfolding story of the those co-educators who are traveling together as companions on this amazing journey.

As Resident Director of this program since 2008 it is once again my privilege and honor to accompany another group of remarkable students to this place I have come to know and love.

In peace, with hope,
Marita McComiskey, PhD

(marita4peace@gmail.com)

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Elizabeth can't wait to see what the next 3 months will bring

So I have not been the best about blog posting, but I think that now we are on a more set schedule it will be better.

Today was my second day at my internship and I cannot be more excited to work here for the whole semester. I will be working with the Cease Fire Program, which is associated with a community center that also provides computer services, printing abilities, hot meals and off-site addiction treatment facilities.  They also have a dispensary to provide medicine and wound dressings for the elderly who cannot wait in the long clinic lines. The people I have met so far that I will be working with are so incredible and passionate about the work they do with at-risk community members, I can’t help but smile just writing about it.

So far, I have been helping community members with their Curriculum Vitaes (CV), as many do not have access to a computer or the resources to properly format their information. The people range from young women who are applying for their first job, to former gang members looking for new lease on life.

Yesterday, I visited the off-site treatment facility for at-risk members called Camp Joy. The woman who I traveled with is a former gang member herself and is dedicating the work that she does now to help others get clean. She taught a class to a group of 18 or so men about how to properly communicate what they are feeling to better increase their chances of staying sober.

There were people at all different stages of their sobriety, members who had been there for a few days to a few weeks to the final days of their program.  I had the pleasure of talking to a man, not much older than myself, who had completed the program once before but had relapsed a year or so ago. He told me that his life had become too good, he had a great job working with his older brother, his mom trusted him again and he had a great girlfriend. And then he relapsed. Time had gone by and he lost all the goodness that had brought value into his life. His younger sister was no longer speaking to him, and their relationship brought him great joy, his mom cried every night and his girlfriend walked out on him. He then told me he was living in a pipe and knew he could not continue down the substance abuse path like he had before. So he quit cold turkey.


Now this young man has been clean for over a year and is a leader to other men going through this process who do not always have the strength to carry on with treatment. This is why we are in Cape Town. To hear the stories of those often hidden under humility. I can hardly wait to see what these next three months will bring.

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