Nelson Mandela University

Yeah, the university... The first weeks felt like vacation and a class trip, but slowly you realize that it's about something else. Here I am taking four regular university modules and a module called Community Service Learning. More on that later. In Mainz, we were advised not to take more than four courses, because a lot is demanded during the semester here. There are almost weekly quizzes or assignments in addition to the exam phase, which will be in November.

The first two weeks, we could try out all the courses that interested us and then drop them if we wanted to. For me, 'Literature of Africa' and 'Romanticism' are the ones I can count towards two of my literature seminars in Germany, 'Afrikaans for Beginners' and 'Introduction to Communication Studies'. I also looked at 'Creative Writing for Drama, Radio and TV' because I was hoping the course would take a journalistic direction. Unfortunately, it's actually about writing plays. I have Mondays and Fridays off, which is quite a luxury, especially if you want to go away for a long weekend. Generally, you're rarely at the university if you only have four courses, but as I said, there's a lot to do on the side.

Hanging out with Madiba

Community Service Learning is a module where we come to a social project once a week for two hours and work there. Of course, there are many projects involving children, but there is also one involving adults with disabilities and one involving penguins. I chose the SOS Children's Village in Port Elizabeth. I will spend every Wednesday afternoon in the same house there. There are eight children with a house mother in one house, who spends 24/7 with the children. For the first hour, I do homework with the children, although only two girls attend regular school. The other children are a bit behind in their development due to abuse and therefore don't have real homework. After the study time, we can play outside with the children. It's amazing to see how quickly the children trust us. Our volunteer work is accompanied by workshops and small self-reflections that are supposed to help us deal more consciously with everything.

In general, we were advised not to walk alone outside - that also applies to the way to the university. It's about a half-hour walk, those who were quick enough had the luck to borrow a bicycle from the dormitory. Unfortunately, they are all gone now. In bad weather, we also take an Uber, a kind of taxi from private individuals that can be called through an app, which is also very cheap and safe here.

The campus is located in the middle of a nature reserve, so there are also several hiking trails around where you can even see zebras and antelopes with a bit of luck. On campus, you also often encounter monkeys, which you should also be a bit careful with.