Georgetown Qatar Student Groups Tour South Africa

Doha, July 10 (QNA) - Two groups of students from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar travelled to South Africa recently to obtain hands-on experience in the areas of economic development and post-conflict peace building.
The trips, which took place in late June, were part of two different SFS-Qatar administered co-curricular programs that couple theoretical study with real-world application, the university said today in a media statement.
Eleven students participated in the first SFS-Qatar trip to South Africa this summer, as part of the university s Community Engagement Program (CEP).
This year’s programme was on the theme of sustainable economic development and introduced students to different economic development models in addition to elements of microfinance.
During the trip, students visited Johannesburg where they met with important local authorities in key organizations such as the South African Institute of International Affairs, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and the National Planning Commission. These meetings were accompanied by lively discussions with community leaders and daily interactions with local residents on the city s streets.
Outside Cape Town in the township of Mfuleni, Georgetown s students joined hands with local students as part of Habitat for Humanity s National Youth Build, which was organized in partnership with the University of Stellenbosch. Together, they helped construct ten homes in a settlement near Stellenbosch.
In the second SFS-Qatar trip to South Africa this summer, 14 students in the Zones of Conflict Zones of Peace Programme (ZCZP) focused on the theme of post-conflict peace building.
Following in the tradition of past ZCZP trips to Rwanda, Poland, Germany, Cyprus, Bosnia, and Northern Ireland, ZCZP students spent the semester preparing for the trip through a series of lectures and courses focused on the theme of conflict management and resolution.
This ten-day trip was designed to supplement students theoretical training with practical experience, in order to give them a better understanding of South Africa s Apartheid era as well as the challenges the country faces today.
Students visited Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Cape Town, where they met with representatives from government, academia, international, and non-governmental organizations in order to gain a multidimensional perspective of South Africa. (QNA)