Although the holidays are over, it is always the season to give back collegiettes™. As Wake students, we can usually be found acing our rigorous academic classes, making time for our social lives, and even volunteering on the side, living up our “Pro Humanitate” motto. But why do Wake kids love volunteering so much and just where are our students getting involved on campus and in the Winston-Salem community? That’s what we plan to do here on our blog “Do Good, Do “Pro Humanitate” every week: to spotlight various volunteer opportunities and credit the awesome do-gooders on our campus. But – first – let us introduce ourselves!
My name is Ashley Millhouse and I am a current junior here at Wake majoring in History. I’m from sunny Moorpark, California where the cliché motto is “Life can be this good” – but, luckily, I broke out of the bubble to come here to the east coast for college. The transition at Wake, such a far place from home, was hard, but I really found my niche through volunteering. Last May, my roommate and fellow blogger Kelly and I had the opportunity to travel with VSC’s Mission of Good Hope to Zinkwazi, South Africa. With our amazing group of 12 students, we taught at a local primary school, Bongimfundo, and spent our nights bonding in our lodge on the Zinkwazi lagoon. Because my experience in South Africa opened my life to another world I had always been searching for, I decided to study abroad with NYU in Accra, Ghana this past semester.
Not many people know about Ghana and honestly, neither did I. As the self-proclaimed Cali girl and first to venture out of the country in my family, this was quite the culture-shock but in a totally amazing way. I took some interesting classes, but mainly spent my time working for BASICS International. The NGO works in Chorkor, Ghana, a poor fishing community on the coast who acts as an intervention center for children including former child laborers of the fishing industry. At BASICS, I taught Creative Writing and also created an all-female concert, Girls Speak Out. While I’ve never been the feminist type, I wanted to speak out on behalf of these girls, many of whom became pregnant at age 12. Needless to say, my time in Ghana shaped who I am today and although it has been hard to adjust, I am so happy to back in the land of Wake.
My name is Kelly Russo and I am also a junior at Wake. I am majoring in English and minoring in Women’s Gender Studies and Communication. I am from St. Petersburg, FL, a wonderful, little beach town outside of Tampa. Oh – and I just got back from studying abroad in Venice, Italy at Casa Artom. I came to Wake knowing that my main focus (after academics, of course) would be volunteer service. Throughout high school I volunteered with a local hospital, took care of underprivileged children at an outreach afterschool program, and worked closely with the Junior League of St. Petersburg (my mom is a past president!). So, it was only natural that when I came to Wake, service remained a big part of my life.
Although I consider myself a service-pro in the US, traveling to South Africa this past summer opened my eyes to a world that really needs our help. Many of the children at Bongimfundo are orphans that have lost their parents to AIDS, eat one meal a day, rarely have the opportunity to bathe, and come to school each day eager to escape the troubles of their homes. Yet, these children are strong. They are some of the most joyous, kind-spirited, hardworking young people that I have ever come across – a true inspiration to me. Also, being a WGS minor, I noticed the strong gender divides in the country and the lack of opportunities for women. This coming summer, I plan on returning to South Africa; this time, I hope to work with a women’s law group to promote the cause of women’s rights in South Africa.
I am so excited to partner with Ashley in writing this weekly service blog. We want to shine light on the women on our campus that are making a difference and hopefully inspire other women to get involved and make Winston-Salem and our world a better place!