Why Africa?
A piece of the holistic success for the Black leaders of tomorrow is a well-rounded understanding of the land from which they come. Africa as a continent has been exploited and depicted by the media in a poor light. Homegoing Trips would allow Black students to visit, learn from, and see the beauty in the continent of their ancestors. This will be a powerful tool to aid in their racial identity development.
This 8-10 day long trip expands Black students' view of the continent of their ancestors and piques their interest in learning more about their own lineage. We want them to see Africa for what it actually is- a vibrant land rich with culture, diversity, fortitude, and beauty. Our belief is that this will help Black students move further in the process of coming home to themselves as they grow socially and emotionally.
The racial identity development and heritage awareness that comes from a journey like this, helps shape who a person is. This impacts them, their families, and their communities. Our trip leader's daily debriefing will help them process what comes up for the students as the trip progresses. With keepsake trip photography and their own documentation and stories, they will be able to tell the stories of what they learned to their community. This also gives them a jumping point from which they can begin to dive into their own roots which we believe is a heritage for their own posterity.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia is the only country in Africa that was never colonized, we believe this to be an important spot on the continent to visit. With its own calendar, practices, and language, Ethiopia is a rare taste of life and culture left untainted for thousands of years. We will begin in Addis Ababa. We will be staying at the bed and breakfast of a local woman where we will also gain more knowledge about the culture. We will have day trips to Debre Zeit and the Blue Nile Falls. Before we leave, we will enjoy the cultural dinner theatre experience where locals perform dances and songs from different regions.
From there we will travel southwest with a local guide to the Omo Region.
With stops along the way, we will have the opportunity to interact with and learn more about the tribes of the South Omo Valley.
A trio trip that displays the stunning beauty of Central South Africa. We begin at Chobe National Park in northern Botswana; taking advantage of an eco-tourism group that uses a group of female-only guides which is rare to find for safaris. Spending time on safaris in the park grounds and Chobe River, students will learn about local life and some of the local initiatives. We then travel up to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe staying at a lodge and visiting the falls, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. We finish with a local tour across the border in Zambia to learn more about the villages there.
Botswana/Zimbabwe/Zambia
The Gambia
A taste of West Africa. We will head to the small but beautiful country of The Gambia. Beginning in the capital of Banjul where we will experience the local culture including a cooking class in the home of a local woman entrepreneur. Local guides show students around the markets and villages. Students will participate in a "Roots" tour as a local guide takes us to the Museum of Slavery in Albreda and Kunta Kinte Island to learn more about the slave trade history during the colonial era. From there, we travel to Jinsack Island to an eco-friendly lodge built in collaboration with the local community to take part in land and boat tours complete with dolphin spotting and other wildlife interactions.
After having experienced a genocide in the 1990s, Rwanda has done an incredible job rebuilding its country. We begin this trip in the vibrant city of Kigali with time at the Kigali Genocide Memorial to learn more about this tragedy and the ways colonialism set the stage for interethnic conflict. We then take a local tour through the vibrant city visiting places like the Niyo Arts Center. Students will go on a woman-led coffee farm trek and a trip to Lake Kivu. We finish with the incredible opportunity to do a gorilla trek in the northwest of the country.
Rwanda
