In this issue:

Gap year sends university students to top of class
Excerpt borrowed from September 18, 2007 article in the Sydney Morning Herald

SCHOOL-LEAVERS are often encouraged to spend a year working or backpacking before starting university on the grounds they will benefit from extra experience, maturity and independence.

Now economists have demonstrated that taking a "gap year" translates into better marks at university. A study by two economists at the University of Western Australia, Elisa Birch and Paul Miller, found students who took time out scored an average first-year university mark 2.3 per cent higher than those coming straight from school.

The study found the positive effect of a gap year on academic performance was strongest for males who were underachievers: these students scored 3.7 per cent more if they took a gap year.

Jarem Sawatsky, Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at CMU, says that he has noticed the same thing in his classes. He says:

Outtatown has a knack for awakening students to the sufferings and to the hopeful possibilities of the world. It holds them in a place of disorientation long enough that they also discover their ability to compassionately engage with the world. One Outtatown alumni, recently shared such a story in a paper for Introduction to Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies. She wrote about how her life and time - even on Outtatown - was quite self-involved until she was taken by Outtatown on a tour of a Guatemalan city dump. There she found people living in the dump and making a living based on what they could find there. In "a moment of grace" she was "awakened from apathy." She devoted her studies to equipping herself to return to these people. As a professor, it is such a wonderful gift to have such awakened and engaged students - students who know why they want to learn and know enough not to settle for easy answers.

The power of a smile
By: Rebecca Aplin (Outtatown alumni 06/07)

While living in Guatemala in the winter of 2007, I spent every Wednesday afternoon working, at Obres Sociales Hermano Pedro Hospital. It was there I met a young child who changed my life forever. Through one little boy I learned gratitude instead of guilt; that we should never limit a person’s potential and one smile really can change a life.

Leonardo, a 2-year-old Guatemalan child, had been abandoned at the hospital when he was only a few months old. According to the nurses, Leo had never smiled and he spent the majority of everyday staring off into the distance. It was as if he was waiting for someone to return. When I first went into the hospital nursery, I caught sight of his gorgeous eyes and begged for a chance to hold him in my arms. I just wanted to see him smile. The nurses hesitantly allowed me to pick him up but warned me that I was wasting my time. “This child doesn’t respond to contact” or “ He has lost his happiness, he will never smile again,” were words that the nurses would often say to me. During my frequent visits to Leonardo, I would spend the best part of my time rocking him in a chair and staring into his gorgeous, brown eyes. I spent a lot of time thinking about how unfair it was that he had such a sad life and I had a relatively good life. I felt guilty for all that I was blessed with. One day while Leo was crying, I attempted to comfort him in ways that my mother used to comfort me; I sang to him and walked with him, I rubbed his back and stroked his hair. During that time I thought about the fact that Leo would probably never have a mommy who would comfort him like this; a blessing that everyone should be entitled to. But as I held him while he cried I realized that I shouldn’t be upset because he has a sad life but rather be grateful that I have so much; I have a family that loves me, friends that surround me. These are all things that I know I take for granted on a daily basis. Through his tears Leonardo taught me that I have so much to be thankful for; I need to give myself permission to be happy with my life and I must use my happiness to bless others who are in need. I learned gratitude instead of guilt.

Week after week I would return and visit Leo and week after week nothing changed. . I felt I had failed my mission and I started to believe the nurses were right; maybe he really couldn’t smile. On my very last day there, I took Leonardo into the hospital playroom and gave him a red ball. Immediately the biggest smile I have ever seen came over the face of this young boy. Suddenly his eyes shone with a brightness that I never believed could happen and Leo began to laugh uncontrollably. And just as suddenly in that small playroom, I realized that we should never limit a person’s potential. Leonardo had never smiled before, but that did not mean he never would. Nothing is impossible and people really can change.

Before I began my travels a good friend reminded me to smile when I had nothing to say because a smile could speak any language. My final moment with Leo was when this truth t became a reality to me. I had been so discouraged that day because I wasn’t going to get another chance to make a difference in this boy’s life. . When he smiled he not only brightened up the room, he brightened up my heart. At last, Leo and I were able to communicate, for truly, a smile is a smile in any language. That is a moment in my life, I will remember forever, not because I got Leo to smile but because Leo made me smile.

South Africa I.Q. test
Borrowed from the Site 3-South Africa blog

Questions (answer true or false)

1. Africa is often referred to as “The Cradle of Humankind”.
2. The first people to live in South Africa were the Portuguese explorers who landed at the Cape of Good Hope.
3. The Dutch East India Company set up a "refreshment Station" in the South for ships to stop in.
4. 1948 was when Apartheid began in South Africa.
5. Nelson Mandela was the third President of South Africa.
6. South Africa is known as the “rainbow nation”.
7. South Africa will host the Olympics in 2010
8. Kruger National Park is home to many animals in South Africa.
9. Our group is getting very excited to be in South Africa very soon!

Answers

1. True. Some of the earliest forms of civilization are found in Africa including cave art from African Tribes some 28, 000 years ago!
2. False. There were many tribes of Africans such as the Khoisan, San, and other Bantu people groups. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to land in South Africa in 1488 CE.
3. True. It was the beginning of the Dutch colonization of South Africa and the birth of the Afrikaner people and the Afrikaans language.
4. True. Apartheid means “Apartness” and became an official political system in 1948. This segregation separated South Africans on basis of race and skin colour and lasted until 1994.
5. False. Nelson Mandela was the first elected president in the new Democratic Republic of South Africa in 1994.
6. True. South Africa is a beautifully diverse country with many people groups and 11 official languages.
7. False. South Africa will be hosting the FIFA World Cup Soccer tournament in 2010. Vancouver, BC will be hosting the Olympics.
8. True. Our group will be going on a safari drive there to see some of Africa’s spectacular animals including lions, elephants and zebras, to name a few.
9. True! In less than 2 months we will be enjoying South African summer.