Looking Back: ISP Reflections
by LaShae Adams | originally posted on Jan 31, 2010
I’ve had the opportunity to travel on two International Study Program trips with The Brotherhood/Sister Sol. I went to Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic in July 2008 and Brasil in July 2009. The trip to Brasil had a lasting effect on me. While visiting certain parts of Brasil, I saw homeless street children begging for food and money. It brought tears to my eyes and my heart went out to all of them. Being away from home helped me to appreciate the beauty and strength of other cultures, as well as all the things that I have in my life.
While in Brasil, I also had the opportunity to spend a week in a quilombo. A quilombo is an area of land that was founded by Africans who escaped enslavement. Many who live in the quilombos today practice many of the traditions used by people who lived there hundreds of years before. Staying at the quilombo was like meeting a piece of my history and finding a piece of myself I never knew was there. Brasil is one of the countries of my ancestors. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to travel there.
The experiences we shared traveling abroad with the International Study Program are ones that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. Below, three former ISP members reflect on what their journey meant to them.
Reflections From Past ISP Members
In all honesty, ISP trips changed my worldview, and helped me to see my role in the international struggle against the oppression of people of color. How can two trips do this? It is because by traveling you begin to witness the oppressions that do not only exist in the U.S. They are based in systems of white supremacy, among other problematic ideologies, and these views are propagated worldwide. This is a depressing realization, and trust that I went through a lot in the process during which I traveled. But in this process I found a love and appreciation of peoples of the African Diaspora and a desire to work toward solving our problems. After traveling to Brasil in 2006 and Ghana in 2007, I realized that there were many different places I could call home, and while none of these homes were exactly like mine, the aura, the foods, the dances and the faces were similar enough to excite a butterfly-like fluttering in my stomach, a hastening in the beating of my heart and unrestrained emotions that always occur when I am on my way home.
I absolutely loved my ISP experience. I cannot ever fully proclaim how much they’ve changed, because attempting to explain emotional responses and month-long experiences that change your life in many unspoken ways is a task that I am not yet equipped to do, and often words are not my forté. Even so, my life and my identity have been greatly affected by my ISP experiences. I am a Haitian Brooklyn girl and always will be. To this foundation, I’ve grown to add organizer, photographer, dancer, and writer, among other things. I was reintroduced to my love of artistic expression through international travel. I was introduced to a world of pan-African appreciation, and a passion for travel, too. I will be traveling back to Bahia as a part of my university’s study abroad program, which I will be doing in January. Ghana birthed my dream of traveling to 50 countries in South America and Africa. Through traveling, I have found an inexplicable calmness, a quest for understanding, and a love of diverse groups of people. These have all influenced not only my future plans but my daily life.
My biggest wish is that more and more people travel with ISP. Live, learn and fall in love in and with another country; it is truly a process of awakening and a chance at building across seas, across differences and against the powers that wish to separate us all. - Marsha Jean-Charles, ISP 2006 [Brasil] & ISP 2007 [Ghana]
Brasil was a beautiful place. It was sad to see the disparities and children my age sleeping on the streets and begging for food. As a homeless teen in America, we have much more help and services, whereas in Brasil the people don’t have the help that we have. This trip to Brasil was a trip that brought tears to my eyes and joy to my heart. - James McMichaels, ISP 2009 [Brasil]
I really enjoyed the trip to Brasil. I think it’s a wonderful opportunity that should be seen as a great honor to be a part of. - Kailani Capote, ISP 2009 [Brasil]
LaShae Adams is a senior at Richard R. Green High School of Teaching. She is also a member of the Liberation Program and the Media Team. In years past, she attended the International Study Program to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Brazil. This year she will be traveling to Ghana.
Looking Forward: ISP 2010: Ghana
by Anthony Keller | originally posted on Jan 31, 2010
In the summer of 2010, the International Study Program of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol will travel to Ghana, in West Africa. During the month-long study there, students will share in a variety of physical experiences in order to better understand the history and culture of Ghana. Often what we learn about history in school is unbiased and not the truth. So the information we will learn will give us a true understanding of a place that is often stereotyped. Ghana is filled with diverse culture, much of which is not shown or taught in schools. Ghana is also the place where one of the largest markets of enslaved Africans existed. This chance to study overseas will give us an opportunity to experience firsthand what most people can’t - what it’s like to live in another country. The wisdom gained can be used in life. In school the knowledge learned can be used to provide context and deepen our historical understanding. The experience can be shared to widen others’ knowledge.
To be accepted to the International Study Program, all potential applicants must write a 300-word essay. They should also include what their talents are that would help on the trip, their goals and what they plan to learn, as well as reasons they would like to attend. After the group is decided from the applications, they begin taking one class per week for the 6 months leading up to the trip, starting in January and ending in June. The classes cover information about the country’s history to current events that could affect our stay. They will learn the native languages and what they will be doing while in Ghana. During this time, the attendants must apply for and receive their passports and other requirements such as shots before the trip. Although the trip is fully paid for by The Brotherhood/Sister Sol, students must fundraise during the planning months to offset the cost of food, lodging, transportation and other costs.
When they return from the trip, students are required to write a report on their experience during the month-long trip. This includes what they liked and disliked, their observations, as well as what they learned. After written, they present it as an oral presentation for the Summer Liberation School participants. Overall, the International Study Program is an experience is unlike any other. From the places visited to the daily workshops, you are given not just a better appreciation of what’s available to you in America, but it can also broaden your view on the world.
Anthony Keller is a sophomore at Bread and Roses High School. He is also a member of Liberation Program and the Media Team. He will be studying abroad in Ghana with its International Study Program in summer 2010.
Bro/Sis Photo@Random
