A Conversation with Rachel Reuter: CGIS South African Programs Visit

NB: Great. I know that interest in South Africa has increased a lot recently, so it's great to know that we're branching out and hopefully giving students what they want. But what do you think some students could get out of traveling to this country, or specifically Cape Town?

RR: Absolutely, yeah I think that Cape Town is such a unique place, and it really gives you the opportunity to have a multi-faceted experience all in one city. It is both right on the coast and also surrounded by mountains, so you kind of get that mountain view, you get the beach, you get the water. It's also a very vibrant and diverse town. It has a ton of history, and so there's many museums and cultural artifacts to get to learn more about things like Robin Island and all of the Nelson Mandela and apartheid history. There's just really fascinating stuff there. I also think that it's a great opportunity for students who are wanting to do something a little bit outside of Europe, but maybe aren't fully ready for what would be typically called a non-traditional location. It is a blend between a European-type city mixed with a little bit more traditional and cultural heritage of Africa. So I think it's a nice mix, especially if you're just starting out looking into non-European locations. There are also so many organizations doing community work, engaging with the community, and doing all these great things that there are so many places that, even if it's not officially with your program, that you would have the opportunity to volunteer or just to learn more. Then I think it does kind of push you to be a little bit more independent. Certainly you could still travel, but it's not the same type of travel as going from, like Paris to London. So you would have the opportunity to see and do a lot more travel within South Africa and explore more that way.

NB: Yeah. Thank you so much for your response. Are there any specific majors or fields of study that you think would benefit from some of our programs in South Africa?

RR: So we now have 5 different programs in Cape Town, so there is a lot of room for a lot of different majors. The GCC that we will be offering again this year, and hopefully in the future, is on leadership and is in STEM in particular. So that's a great opportunity for STEM majors, to learn more from really important and powerful leaders in the world, or in Cape Town specifically within the STEM field. 

The public health in Cape Town program is great for pre-health majors, pre-med and nursing students. And things like that, you don't do hands-on work, but there's a lot of shadowing involved, and you get to really see the difference in how healthcare operates here versus in Cape Town.

And then with the University of Cape Town, the great thing about our university study programs is that you can take classes in anything that the local university offers. So, most of these universities are similar to the University of Michigan, where they have courses in natural sciences and social sciences and humanities, engineering, business, ect, so it certainly offers a wide variety that you can take as a student. So I think you can really make your own experience out of it, whether you're trying to take your major required classes or just taking electives.

And with internships, we work with IES in Cape Town and there are some fields that are easier to get an internship in, such as health, community work, community organizations, human rights, and that type of stuff. But either way IES will make an effort to find an internship in virtually any career field, so if Cape Town is something you're interested in, I would recommend reaching out to IES and asking what sort of internships they might have available for students.

NB: Yeah, that's a unique experience, actually. But to touch on your role in CGIS as a health and safety specialist, what are some health and safety concerns you think that students may have for traveling to this country, since it is a little more unique, and some people might have some preconceived notions about it.

RR: In general, I'm a huge proponent of more non-traditional locations outside of Europe, and so I'm always happy to try to dispel any misconceptions about those types of locations. I would agree that, I think South Africa and Cape Town in particular have some misconceptions about it. It's a big city and just like any big city even in the United States, there's always going to be some level of crime, particularly petty theft, and any sort of opportunistic crime can happen and it does happen in Cape Town. So it's also about just knowing this going in, knowing how to stay safe by not walking alone and not going after dark, especially alone. Transportation safety is also really important in Cape Town, so generally speaking we tell students not to walk, but instead to take an Uber or something like that. I don't mean that you can't walk from one block to the next, but more if you're going from the housing to downtown Cape Town it's only about a 10-minute drive. I'm sure it's feasible to walk, but safety-wise, it just makes more sense to Uber. The nice thing about Cape Town is that Uber and transportation in general is so much cheaper than it is here. It'd probably cost you about $7 to $8 to Uber from downtown to back to the housing. I think one of the other things that people don't necessarily think about is hiking and water safety. I know that lots of students hike here or maybe have even done hiking in other states. But I think it's important for people to understand that these are very rugged mountains, so you really are going to need to be prepared. It's not something you can just head out after class in your backpack and tennis shoes. So having that preparation and knowing how long it's going to take you to get up and get back down and other safety precautions like that. The same goes with water. Obviously Michigan is surrounded by water, there's lakes everywhere, so most students have a lot of experience with swimming and water. But this is also the ocean and it is very volatile, so again making sure that you're doing some research ahead of time, especially around riptides and things like that, and knowing where to go and where not to go. But all in all, I think Cape Town is not any more dangerous than any other major city. But it is important to do the research to find or to learn more about the actual risks that are involved in each specific city, like Cape Town.

NB: Yeah, thank you so much for touching on some of the precautions that students should take. I think that can definitely help alleviate some of the fears. I know I studied in Italy, so it's interesting to hear that some of the worries that people have when going to Italy, such as pickpocketing and petty theft and stuff, are the same types of worries in South Africa, and just because it's not in Europe and is not in a traditional location, doesn't mean that it's any more dangerous than anywhere else. But overall, how would you rate the safety in South Africa? How safe did you feel when you were there?

RR: Yeah, I mean I have had the opportunity to travel to a lot of different locations and a lot of non-traditional locations, and I felt very safe in Cape Town. There certainly is a lot of messaging around being safe, so it's not like you would sort of show up and no one would counsel you on precautions. Both the providers and partners that I met with have very robust safety presentations and information. Even the hotel I stayed at reminds you to take an Uber or things like that. Overall, I felt very safe. I did go out after dark but I just took an Uber and I never had any concerns about doing that. I also traveled by myself, and I think sometimes being a woman traveling alone, there are definitely those concerns, but again no, there was never a point where I felt unsafe. So I think it's just important to know what the risks are ahead of time, and then  think about how to mitigate them. And as long as you do that, it really isn't, you know, any more dangerous than most cities in the world.

NB: That's really great to hear. I know another concern students may have and tend to have with programs is the thought of if they need to know another language to go to South Africa, so do you need to know another language for all these programs? Is getting around in English very common?

RR: Absolutely. So I believe that South Africa has 27 or 29 national languages and English is one of them and it is widely spoken. It is one of the more popular languages to be spoken, and especially in Cape Town, where there are more foreigners, English is not a problem. I certainly don't speak any of the other national languages and I had absolutely no problem getting around. Most people are fluent in English and all of the coursework for CGIS programs is in English as well. You might hear other languages in the background, but speaking to them in English is no problem. Of course, I would say anytime you go somewhere where there's another language,  it's always helpful to learn just a few phrases like hello, goodbye, thank you, those types of things. That's always seen as a nice positive outreach, but not required. And you'll have the opportunity to learn more about all of the different languages while you're there.

NB: Yeah, I know South Africa is definitely a harder vacation spot for people in the US, so it would be nice to have that option of just being able to go there for a reason, with a program, and then travel around a lot more than I'm sure people can in their average life. But what would you say the highlight of your visit was?

RR: I think meeting with students that were already on the ground either interning or doing study abroad programs. I went during a period where we didn't actually have any students locally, but I met with students from other universities and it was such a great opportunity to hear about their personal experience, as opposed to just kind of what we hear from the providers or from the institutions. To hear what their day-to-day life is, see the housing, seeing their daily commutes firsthand, and just having the opportunity to sort of experience life as a student in Cape Town. I also visited Stellenbosch, which is a city nearby Cape Town, it's about 45 minutes away. That was really interesting, because in a lot of ways, it's very different from Cape Town. It's sort of a college town as the University of Stellenbosch is there, and in a lot of ways it reminded me of Ann Arbor as it was kind of a smaller, quaint college town. There’s lots of outdoor seating and restaurants and it was just very much the vibe of a college campus. So that was really interesting, and a nice difference from Cape Town. And then, on a more personal note, the highlight of being in Cape Town outside of work was visiting the penguins at Boulder Beach. You get a chance to get really close and see them, and they are an endangered species there so it's just a really great opportunity to see penguins Africa, so that was cool.

NB: Do you think, after your visit, that there's a possibility of more programs in South Africa for CGIS?

RR: I do. I think the interest in South Africa in general has increased quite a bit in the last 5 years, especially post-COVID. As we see more interest, we will definitely look into exploring more options. One of the main purposes while I was there was to see if working with one of these new providers would be useful, especially in relation to the University of Cape Town. The University of Cape Town can be kind of complicated. There's a lot of visa and registration stuff. And so we have debated whether or not we will still offer the exact same program, but it would be through a provider rather than a direct enroll. We haven't made any final decisions yet, but I definitely think it's possible.

NB: Great, I think that can definitely be reassuring to some students. To finish off, overall, what would you recommend to students thinking about studying on either one of these programs or in this location? Do you have any general advice?

RR: Yeah, I think this is a great option for students who have either maybe done a program in Europe already or they want to find something a little bit off the beaten path, per se. I think that it's important to go in with an open mind and a willingness to learn. South Africa has so much history, it's got such a fascinating culture. One thing to keep in mind, and this is frequent in a lot of countries, but people talk much more openly about history, such as inequality, politics, identity, and all of those things. It’s very much a part of daily life and you should be prepared to be asked about these types of things out on the street, or maybe with your Uber driver. But I want to make it clear that people aren't doing this to try to pigeonhole you into a certain political identity or anything like that. They're really just curious, and especially when they find out that you're an American they may be even more curious. I felt very comfortable sharing my own identity and political affiliation and things like that, and I didn't get the sense that even if I had differing views, I would have had a problem. The people in Cape Town are very welcoming, just constantly wanting to know how they can make your experience better and how they can help you see or do things that will make you want to come back to Cape Town, or tell others to come to Cape Town. It's a very warm and welcoming community. I think it's such a fascinating opportunity to have that big city vibe of Cape Town, but then also be on the coast and have the option to go to class, then go to the beach, and then maybe go out downtown that night. I really think it combines a lot of really interesting worlds and gives you the opportunity to do all of these things in one place that you might not be able to otherwise.