CapeTown, South Africa B 09

At A Glance

Term – B 2009

Project opportunities – IQP

Housing – Shared furnished rooms in a local hostel

Director – Professor Jiusto

Preparation – 1/2 unit preparation activity

Application deadline – September 25, 2008 (before 1:00 pm)

LOCATION

Cape Town is located at the southern tip of South Africa and is one of the world’s most beautiful cities. Situated between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the Table Mountain range runs through the city and down the Cape of Good Hope. It is both a very cosmopolitan city with visitors and residents from around the globe, and a city dealing with problems of poverty and rapid urban growth that many developing nations face. South Africa is a culturally diverse country still very much creating a new future for itself in the aftermath of apartheid, the system of racial discrimination that dominated social and economic life in the country until the 1990s. Cape Town offers music, art and theatre, and is home to many important historical and cultural sites. We arrive just as the wonderfully temperate summer is beginning, and travel to some of the loveliest and most interesting landscape in Southern Africa. Students can visit parkland in the African bush to see wild animals, hike along stunning terrain, go surfing, enjoy great food, meet interesting people, and work on projects in some of the poorest and neediest areas of the region.

PROJECTS

Our projects focus on sustainable development in the informal settlements where many people live in shacks or other substandard housing with inadequate services. In 2007, our first year of operation, students worked with city agencies, local non-profit organizations and citizens groups on the following six projects:

•         Design and construction of a Communal Laundry Station in Monwabisi Park, Cape Town
•         Development of school recreational facilities
•         Communicating housing development best practices to build healthy communities
•         Accommodation of bus rapid transit in the Cape Town central business district
•         Informal trading infrastructure and management
•         Improving flood risk management in informal settlements of Cape Town

In 2008, we conducted an exciting set of integrated projects focused on helping one informal settlement realize the goal of transforming their squatter camp into a socially and ecologically sustainable “ecovillage.” Students worked closely with people in one community to begin envisioning and building toward a very different future. Future projects will address issues of housing, water, sanitation, health, education, environment and local employment, while encouraging students to think about how people from very different cultural and socio-economic worlds can work together to imagine and create more compassionate and sustainable societies. This is a project center for intrepid, hardworking students eager to help “make a difference” in South Africa.

ESTIMATED EXPENSES

Estimated Out-of-Pocket Expenses	$1,600 $ 150 $ 800 $ 700 $3,250	Round trip travel to site Local transportation on site (taxis) Dining and groceries Weekend tourist activities & incidentals Estimated Total Out-of-Pocket Expenses
Expenses Included on your WPI Bill	$1,700	Housing and program expenses
Estimated Total Expenses	$4,950	Tuition and WPI on-campus housing NOT INCLUDED

^* Subject to change due to fluctuations in exchange rate

NOTE:

In calculating the extra expense to participate in an off-campus project experience compare this figure to expenses incurred while living on campus: groceries or meal plan, entertainment expenses, transportation, etc.

Travel Dates:

Arrive on site: Friday, October 23, 2009
Depart site: Saturday, December 19, 2009
Housing is provided beginning and ending on the dates determined. Students who plan to arrive earlier or stay later will need to make their own accomodation arrangements outside of those dates.