1. GSTEM South Africa The culture of public health. -Alexis Sykes

2. Background: About Me  Accepted by Gstem Spring semester 2014  Travelled to Cape Town South Africa Summer 2014  Rising Senior  I love to travel, make new friends, and always looking for ways to minimize my bucket list (YOLO)

3. Why South Africa?  Things I’ve heard  Public Health Program  Culture  Once in a lifetime opportunity

4. Cape Town

5. Cape Town Details Currency: Rand  Cheap food  Cheap cabs  10:1  Coins up to 5 Rand Culture: Post Apartheid  Segregated city living settlements  Townships vs gated homes  Rainbow nation  Global city (jeans, food from everywhere, same shopping centers ect.)

6. Coastal Region

7. Town Ships In South Africa, the term township and location usually refers to the urban living areas that, from the late 19th century until the end of Apartheid, were reserved for non- whites.

8. IES Abroad: Public Health Service Learning  Health Promoters  Red Cross Children’s Hospital  Retreat Day Hospital  Douglass-Murray Frail Care Facility Culture Learning

9. UCT Campus

10. Community Development As a supplement to our course Public Health and Community Development HL345 we were given the task to implement some way to make the community better before we left. (Pictured: map of Egoli)

11. Garden Route

12. Homestay in Gugulethu  Gugulethu is a township 15 km from Cape Town, South Africa. Though much more tranquil than it was under apartheid, Gugulethu is still a troubled area.

13. Jo-Burg: 1 Week Stay

14. My Research Interest  Pediatric public health  Universal health care  Socio-economic factors  Research Question: ‘Examining the health status of (20) black children living in informal (10) and formal (10) areas in Cape Town. Has their living environment contributed to them developing preventable childhood diseases?’

15. Research Supplemented by my Experience Egoli & Lotus River

16. My Findings  The children in the Egoli informal settlement are more at risk to sicknesses that those in Lotus River do not come into contact with. Children in Egoli do not have equal access to health care professionals.

17. Results & Conclusions  Public Health education can make a difference!  Greater attention on poorer neighborhoods because they suffer from more severe illness

18. GSTEM + IES final thoughts  Expenses paid stay and program  Research added to resume  Amazing opportunity to meet new people and see new places  Everyone should apply  You are expected to do research and engage in experiences abroad anyway, it’s the Spelman Way!

19. Are you thinking about becoming a GSTEM Scholar?! Please talk to any of the previous GSTEM Scholars to learn the real in and outs of your country of choice! -We are here to help (: