Publication Date: Wednesday Oct 15, 1997

An African adventure

As college students and later as teachers, Rebecca Ziegler Mano and Jeannette LaFors had long vacations, free to go where they pleased. That meant many opportunities to soak up other cultures. When they noted how valuable their international experiences had been, they thought, "Wouldn't it be great if we could provide the same experiences for kids who don't normally get to travel?" And so the Zimbabwe Educational Exchange Program (ZEEP) was born. On July 16, ZEEP sent nine Carlmont High School students to Zimbabwe with LaFors to take classes at Zengeza High School and travel. The students, seven of whom are from East Palo Alto, were all a part of Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), a college-prep program for students from low-income backgrounds.

LaFors was delighted to see her students return with "a fresh new outlook" as a result of their cross-cultural travels.

"Traveling through my own eyes doesn't mean as much as traveling with kids and living vicariously through their excitement," she said.

Some were skeptical about organizing a costly trip when there are problems here in the students' own communities, but LaFors said ZEEP allowed nine kids who never expected to travel to gain perspective and appreciate what they have here.

"They were fantastic. I can't say enough about their attitudes and their openness," she said, adding that the students miraculously adjusted to latrines and school uniforms without complaint.

"Most of us changed our views about things," Tavita Sosa, a sophomore from East Palo Alto, told the Sequoia High School District board at a presentation about the trip earlier this month. "It was something none of us expected to participate in. To most of us it seemed impossible, but it was possible."

The ZEEP participants lived with host families for three weeks in Chitungwuiza, a suburb of Harare, Zimbabwe's capital. Their Zimbabwean "partners," who will complete the exchange by coming to California in April of next year, face the same problems of living in an urban area as the Carlmont students.

The travelers found attending a suburban high school in Silicon Valley is different from going to high school in Zimbabwe in one major way--technology. A few months ago, Zengeza had only a few personal computers and about one-fifth the number of books in Carlmont's library.

Thanks to donations of laptops from the Just Think Foundation, a technology access group, services at Zengeza are improving. Soon the Carlmont kids will be able to respond by e-mail to the 100-some letters they have received from their Zimbabwean friends.

The Just Think Foundation also raises money for ZEEP to mail books to the African school.

During their trip, the students also spent three nights in a more traditional, rural community, where kitchen huts are separate from living spaces and extended families are the norm. They saw Victoria Falls, went on a safari, visited ancient ruins and met with the Zimbabwean parliamentary representative for Chitungwuiza's district. Along the way, they each kept a journal for class credit.

The students noted cultural differences between the two nations. In Zimbabwe, for example, young people must have respect for parents and other adults, they said.

"People over here, compared to people there, are mean," said Carlos Hernandez, a junior from San Carlos who was a ZEEP participant. "It made me realize I should just chill back a little when I'm with my Mom."

In addition, the students realized that the real Africa is not what they had envisioned based on television documentaries.

"All the stereotypes (about starving children) went away," said Ricardo Sanchez, a junior from East Palo Alto.

The Carlmont students were chosen for ZEEP after a rigorous process of family meetings, personal interviews, essays and presentations. LaFors wanted to ensure that the students who eventually went were motivated, dedicated to the program and mature enough to cope with problems while away from home.

LaFors and Mano, who now lives in Zimbabwe with her husband (an alumnus of the exchange high school) developed a prospectus for the program in October 1996. They soon found a sponsor, the International Development Exchange.

The students also raised a large portion of the ZEEP budget through an Africa Night and other fund-raisers, LaFors said. While they were required to provide their own spending money, passports and immunizations, the rest of the trip was funded through donations and fund-raisers.

However, ZEEP still lacks about $13,000 for the reciprocal trip, which includes incidental money that must be provided for the Zimbabwean students. Because of the country's economy, it would take them twice as long as it took the American students to save spending money, LaFors said.

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