'A journey, not a trip': South Africa widens perspective for Atlantic City students
ATLANTIC CITY — The five high school students who left for a free trip to South Africa last month said they expected it to change their lives, and in a recent gathering at City Hall, they showed that it did.
“I spoke in front of 400 people (in South Africa), now I feel I can tackle anything,” said Melanie Victoria Hernandez-DiDomenico, a junior at Atlantic County Institute of Technology.
The students interacted with South Africans in schools, museums, poverty-stricken areas and middle-class areas. They also took a six-hour hike up a rocky mountain at Karee Berg in the Magaliesberg mountain range, saw lions and more at a safari park, and studied social justice issues while there.
“Before I wanted to work in AI (artificial intelligence),” said William Harris, a junior at Atlantic City High School, in a presentation Thursday in council chambers, during which each talked about what they learned and showed photos of important aspects of the trip for them.
“Now I want to work with people a little bit more, (even though) it may be less money,” said Harris, who chose to study how classism — or prejudice against those who are poor — affects both the U.S. and South Africa.
Harris and others said working with young kids in South Africa, and seeing the difficult conditions many live in in places like Kliptown, had a huge impact.
Kliptown is a suburb of the formerly black township of Soweto in Gauteng, where people live in shacks made of metal and boards, they said.
Tim Tran, also a junior at ACHS, said he plans to return to tutoring kids in math after having a great time teaching math to young kids in South Africa.
Atlantic City students say South Africa trip will change their lives
“I feel obligated to not just help people in America but also start tutoring around the world,” said Tran, who studied problems related to drug and alcohol abuse at home and in South Africa.
In both places, alcohol and drugs increase rates of HIV transmission, Tran said, but in South Africa, HIV/AIDS remains the leading cause of death.
The city spent $35,000 in federal American Rescue Plan funds to send five students and two adult chaperones on the two-week trip with A Leadership Journey, a nonprofit started by Atlantic City native Akeem Lloyd.
“Ever since I started A Leadership Journey in 2017, I wanted to get Atlantic City youth involved,” said Lloyd, now of Boston, at the presentation.
The nonprofit encourages teens to see themselves as not just U.S. citizens but global citizens, he said, who understand what goes on in their country or town is also happening elsewhere.
“It’s not a vacation. We do work,” Lloyd said. “It’s a learning opportunity, a privilege. That’s why we call it a journey, not a trip.”
The five students spoke about their experience and what they learned about their chosen social justice topics with confidence and conviction, and said the trip gave them public speaking and leadership opportunities that matured them.
Hernandez-DiDomenico chose Sexism in our Daily Lives as her topic to research. She plans to be a medical doctor.
Women still face discrimination on the job and catcalls in the street in the U.S., she said, but in South Africa she found male control over women’s personal lives.
Marriages are often arranged and the wife is sold to the husband’s family, said Hernandez-DiDomenico, who was wearing the blazer her mom wore on her arrival as an immigrant to the U.S. from Chile years ago.
“The worth of the wife is only discussed by men,” Hernandez-DiDomenico said, such as fathers and uncles.
She said the experience made her more grateful, after seeing how happy people were there who had so little.
“They play soccer in shoes that are falling apart,” she said. “I hope to be as grateful.”
“Sexism is worldwide issue, not just in America,” said Makiyah Coppin, a sophomore at ACIT who also chose to study sexism and gender roles.
Coppin plans a career in forensic science.
Evan Johnson, an ACHS junior, studied the educational systems of South Africa and the U.S.
Primary school is grades 1-6 and high school 7-12 in South Africa, Johnson said. A second language of either Afrikaans or English is started seriously in third grade.
“A lot of students there speak very good English,” said Johnson, who plans to be an engineer.
The students were chosen from about 70 high school age applicants who wrote essays and engaged in an interview process, according to city Director of Youth Services Christina Noble, who was one of two chaperones. The other was Atlantic City Youth Services Program Specialist Elizabeth Trigg.
Mayor Marty Small Sr. said he plans to send at least 10 students on A Leadership Journey’s trip planned for next year to Senegal using ARP funds.
Lloyd has said he started A Leadership Journey seven years ago to help young people participate in mental and emotional health activities and wellness education, with a focus on learning more about social justice.
Lloyd was “one of my kids at the Boys & Girls Club” in the early 2000s, Small has said.
“We taught kids how to play kickball, an American game,” Tran said. “I’m a Vietnamese immigrant who came to America, learned a game and went to South Africa and taught kids to play kickball. That’s three influences on three continents, which I think is great.”
For more information, visit aleadershipjourney.org.