Professor
chosen to join Rwandan peace mission
By
Jamie Rowe
On-line Forty-Niner
A
Cal State Long Beach faculty member will
be traveling to Rwanda as part of the Fulbright-Hays
Group Project Abroad seminar.
Nancy
Strow Sheley, an assistant professor in
both the English and liberal arts departments,
was chosen to be a part of the 14-member
team going to the African country from July
6 until Aug 10.
“Our
group’s purpose is a cultural exchange
and will stimulate discussions on conflict
resolution and peaceful solutions to living
in a country so devastated by genocide,”
Sheley said.
To
become a part of this program, Sheley had
to write a proposal on how she would use
the information she learns while on the
trip in her classroom.
“There
was an announcement about the planned proposal,”
she said. “I wrote my proposal to
the person who would be the director. I
didn’t know I was in until March.”
Sheley
said she plans to use her experience in
two ways.
“I
teach an advance writing class for students
in the elementary teaching program,”
she said. “I will write while I’m
there, and use my experience as a model
of the personal narrative.”
She
also wants to set up communication with
a teacher who has elementary age children.
“We
currently have a penpal in Georgia, and
they get a lot out of that. I’d like
to try something international now,”
she said.
She
said she is excited about the trip, and
also a little overwhelmed.
“This
isn’t a pleasure trip,” Sheley
said. “The country dealt with genocide,
which affected families and the community.
I am interested to see how it plays out.”
This is her first trip to Africa.
While
in Rwanda the group will visit different
organizations and groups, see the courts
in action, meet government officials, see
schools and orphanages and stay in the homes
of Rwandans. The group will be near the
country’s capital, Kigali.
“We’ll
take trips out to see the national sights
and parks. I’m interested in meeting
with the personnel at the schools,”
Sheley said.
Each
participating member must attend four pre-trip
workshops in Sacramento.
“We’ll study the culture, the
history and the language,” Sheley
said. “We’re doing a lot of
reading. It’s a great learning experience.”
Ernest
Uwazie from Cal State Sacramento is the
director for this trip. He has taken other
groups to different countries in Africa.
Eight hundred thousand Tutsis and moderate
Hutus were killed in 1994.
Uwazie
is in charge of the Center of African Peace
and Conflict Resolution at CSUS.
“He
has set up different contacts in Africa,”
Sheley said. The current group will be associated
with the University of Rwanda.
The
project is sponsored by the U.S. Department
of Education and the CSUS Center for African
Peace and Conflict Resolution with the Center
for Conflict Management at the National
University of Rwanda. According to the U.S.
Department of Education, the program provides
short-term study and travel seminars abroad
for U.S. educators in the social sciences
and humanities for the purpose of improving
their understanding and knowledge of the
people and cultures of other countries.
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