06 May 2011

International: defined

I'm in between exams on my last day of exams, and the internet is finally working in my room again. How convenient. But even though I'm left with just one more exam and four days of chill before I leave Bots, I'm still learning new things.

Take yesterday for instance.

I stopped by the SRC offices the other day, as I so often do, and was invited to attend a meeting between the SRC and international students. One of the mainstays of the platform of the new SRC was that they wanted to create representation for international students - and eventually a cabinet position for an international student representative - so that their voice could be heard as well. Nobly, I had Kourtney create a facebook event and tried to get the word out to other international students, but I had little hope that anyone else would come. As expected, when 2 o'clock came around I found myself the only non-SRC person in the office. But then people started coming in. They weren't the "study abroad" international students I knew or expected. Not a single one of them hailed from Japan, Germany, or the United States. They were Africans. In that room we had representatives of Uganda, Madagascar, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, DR Congo, and many more. I was astonished. I had never really thought about it before, but my definition of "what makes an international student" was anyone who wasn't an African. And that was exactly the complaint that these students had to lodge against the University.

"We're not treated like normal students, but our specific needs as international students aren't recognized either."

They discussed the large fee they are charged on an annual basis just to study here as internationals - a fee that is supposed to pay for the services they receive: help with immigration and residence permits, pick-ups from the airport, etc. Services that they have never seen, but which were given to all of us coming in through ISEP, ACM and other programs. Furthermore, many of the international students had been DENIED accommodation in the recent listing for next year. Where is an international student supposed to stay? They don't have relatives, they already have to pay a lot to get to UB, and they don't receive a government allowance or any other sort of income while they're studying like national students do. And don't forget that rent in Gabs is out-of-this-world expensive. As a student on the ISEP program, and the other largely-western exchange programs UB has agreements with, I was guaranteed accommodation. UB keeps expanding how many students they are accepting through these programs, and it is at the expense of true, long-term international students who need accommodation.

Needless to say, it was a very educational experience for me, and I left with a lot more questions in my mind than when I came. I wish I had met these international students sooner, and had this new mindset sooner, so that I could get to know them and understand their lives and struggles as the real international students of UB - the ones who are studying here for four years and actually doing it for the education instead of the experience. If you're studying abroad, or going to study abroad soon, think about this and realize how much of a tourist you are, for however much you try not to be.

The main difference between the study abroad student and the average tourist is that we just happen to stick around longer.

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