While most university students spend their summers working to cover the costs of post-secondary education, one Milton student has chosen to volunteer in Tanzania.
Rebecca Rothwell, 21, who’s studying sociology at Brock University in St. Catharines, will be working at a Christian Camp for Children with abandoned or orphaned children after their parents died of AIDS in Arusha.
For three weeks, she’ll be volunteering six hours/day, five days/week, educating and caring for the children, aged six to 12.
She expects it will be a moving experience.
“I think I’m going to be really attached to the children,” she said. “I guess I’ll just have to deal with it.”
During her time off, she hopes to go into the main city where she will have some access to internet so that she can contact her parents, who she said are worried about her heading out on her own to Africa.
She’ll be near Mount Kilimanjaro, so she also wants to visit there. In addition, she’d like to go on a few safaris.
“My biggest worry is getting from the airport to the hotel,” she said, adding she’ll be by herself for a few days before arriving at the hotel.
Her volunteer efforts are also expensive — the program itself is $490, but the flight is $3,000. Rothwell said her dad helped her out with expenses, thanks to the use of his Air Miles.
She’s also grateful to her part-time employer in Milton, Boston Pizza, where she’s worked five days a week for the last three summers, for allowing her the time off work.
“They know me and they’re proud of me,” she said. “They didn’t think that I would do it on my own.
“I can’t back out now…there’s just under 40 days left to go,” the E.C. Drury graduate laughed.
Still on her to-do list are several inoculations, required before she can gain entry to Africa.
Rothwell said volunteering in a third-world country is something she’s been interested in doing since high school. Her world issues class, taught by Tania McPhee, inspired her, she said.
She’s also prepared for tough days ahead when she arrives back home on August 12. Reading about the experience, she found many experience culture shock.
“I’ll probably be really angry for a bit,” she said. “There’s jet lag, culture shock and it can be overwhelming.
“It will probably take a couple of days to adjust.”
She expects the experience will make her more conscientious — especially with energy.
Rothwell said she also hopes to volunteer at an animal sanctuary in the future, given her choice of studies at Brock, where she’s concentrating in Critical Animal Studies.
