A Blog about Education Abroad

Author: mgebisaley

  • Janco at Maastricht University, The Netherlands

    Janco at Maastricht University, The Netherlands

    Pre-departure:

    Pre-departure arrangements generally run smoothly with Maastricht University. Once they have approved your exchange application, they will send you a detailed PDF on information that they need from you to apply for your visa and residence permit on your behalf, i.e. they do it for you. Just make sure you thoroughly provide them with exactly what they ask for. Once it is approved by the Dutch Immigration department, they will send you an email saying that your visa has been approved and you can go fetch it at the Dutch Consulate in Cape Town. You should then make an appointment at the consulate through a link Sarah will send you, and go hand in your passport, with your flight tickets and insurance. It takes about 5 business days for them to insert your visa into your passport and then you can go fetch it.

    Maastricht has a really cool website portal which you can select the courses that you are interested in. Take your time to ponder on the ones you want to end up taking. Put them in PDF (there is a function for that) and if you struggle to decide, ask one of your lecturers what they would recommend.
    When it comes to buying flight tickets, they recommend you not to buy anything before they approve your visa. The thing is just that flights then do become expensive. The chances are really high that nothing will go south if you provide them with exactly what they ask. So, start looking for flights early. Some of my friends who bought flights early got them for half the price I ended up paying because I was too scared to buy before visa approval.
    In preparation for Maastricht, I would recommend getting really warm and thick socks along with waterproof and warm shoes. At least one Rain Jacket and maybe 2 warmer jackets and a pair of long johns/leggings and a thermal T-shirt. Also, if you have to buy these things new, look at the prices at Decathelon and see if it isn’t cheaper in Europe. I bought a lot of cheap but good quality at this online store. When packing, also make sure you pack stuff that you definitely will wear. I packed way too much clothes to be rather safe than sorry, and ended up not wearing a lot of them even once.

    One of the best decisions I made regarding my exchange is to go au pairing in Spain from June – August. I earned some euros and got to see a new place, make life long friends and truly experience a new culture. It did mean that I had less time with family at home before leaving, but it was so worth it. I used Au Pair World to arrange it. I chose au pairing, because it means your food and accommodation is paid for, whilst if I were to do an internship, I would have to cover that myself.

    Experience at the Host University:

    I loved the academic programme at Maastricht University. The Problem Based Learning (PBL) system worked great for the subjects I took. It’s really nice to use for subjects that requires the sharing and debating from different perspectives of knowledge. I had Business & Politics in Europe, Management of Organisations, Comparative Management, Global Supply Chain Management and the skills course I took was Introduction to Web Programming with PHP. All of the subjects were really interesting, although Global Supply Chain Management could improve in the learning material provided, and the Skills Course was really bad – would not recommend it. Overall, I also felt that a lot of the material is very Pro-EU biased. I think Stellenbosch provides more unbiased material.

    The standard was really do-able. I did better there than I do here in Stellies. You don’t necessarily work more (content), but more frequently and consistently throughout the period to stay up to date with the content in order to participate in PBL classes. Classes are +- 10-15 students from different nationalities. You get graded on an essay/exam, as well as participation (hence you have to prepare for each class) and facilitation/presentation (you will be in a team and be given a session where you lead and facilitate the class). This really teaches you cool skills to manage a group and overcome nervousness with public speaking.

    Don’t expect to receive lecture-like input from the tutors. They do sit in the sessions, but hardly contribute. Questions are asked to the whole class and not to them, so your learning is dependent on yourself and your tutorial group. But students that lead the sessions usually do a pretty good job to cover all the examinable content.

    I had 8 hours class a week: 2 hours per class and 2 classes per course per week. You will only do 2 courses for a period and write them off after completing an exam. This allows you enough time to go through the material for the next class and prepare for it. I loved having only 2 courses at a time, because it means you can really invest in the subject and master it without trying to juggle too many tasks as is the case at SU. The subject I had didn’t use textbooks, but all of them made use of a selection of articles for each class.

    Other than learning, I spent my time with other exchange students that have become close friends. We did a lot of things in Maastricht, like picnics or biking to nearby tourist attractions. I also made a lot of local friends in the local church, Redeemer Maastricht, that I attended. This was also I highlight for me. The people were warm and loving and like a family away from home. They arranged a lot of social activities like beer tastings, picnics, thanksgiving dinner, Christmas activities and other parties. The church probably played the biggest role in my exchange being so memorable. I often had dinner or travelled with the friends I made in the church.

    Janco and friends
    Janco and friends

    I also travelled a lot while I was there. Maastricht is quite central in Europe, and the last station of the Belgian Railways (Belgian public transport is cheaper than Dutch). So you can travel anywhere in Belgium by train for €8.20 one way. I travelled in Belgium a lot with the other IB South African exchange students. We would meet at someone who lived central and travelled together as a group – would highly recommend trying this. I had my exchange highlights with these travels.

    I also visited some of the Dutch cities. Ask around for tips to save money. NS Flex is really cool to adjust your needs for traveling. You can save a lot of money if you use it well.

    Lastly, I also visited Krakow in Poland, and I loved it. Look at Ryan Air and Wizz Air cheap flights and plan your travels in advance. I had a 5-day travel to Krakow, and it only cost me €100, all flights, food and accommodation covered for the 5 days there and back. So, plan and enjoy.

    Janco and friends picnicking
    Janco and friends picnicking

    Return to Stellenbosch:

    Returning to Stellenbosch has been really interesting. Difficult actually. At first there is this sense of euphoria to see all your friends and loved ones again, but when that is over, I started missing it. Also note, it differs a lot from person to person. I have friends, single and dating, who couldn’t wait to come back and are super happy to be back. And then there’s others, like me, who really miss it and can’t wait to go back.

    I realized how free I was abroad, and felt like I can really be myself and accepted and embraced that way overseas like I’ve never felt in SA. I’m still trying to figure it out, but I think it’s got to do with our social norms and cultural traditions that makes me feel caged in. I did luckily develop a ‘screw it’ attitude and am fighting hard not to lose the person I have become overseas. I also became very independent and confident in making my own decisions and dealing with the consequences. That itself was super freeing. I used to be really scared of making mistakes, but not anymore. Spontaneous travels also gave me a sense of adventure and living life to the full that I didn’t have before. I was content with routine and boring days, but now I have a hunger to explore and experience. I also couldn’t cook one meal before I left, having eaten at Res in Stellies. Coming back, I am confident in the cooking skills that I was forced to learn to survive. I was taught by exchange students from all over the world how to cook those dishes and that is another great skill I brought home.

    The Stellenbosch bubble that people use so much as a cliché has become more apparent to me. You feel like an outsider who sees how thickly it clouds people’s perspectives. South Africans like to complain and share their negativities with everyone, and everyone must know about it, and if you didn’t tell someone in particular then that person is offended etc etc. Small things get people worked up here and the pettiness of it is quite annoying.
    The challenge now is not to be prideful or arrogant because you have been so ‘enlightened’ by your exchange experience, and not to make others feel like they have not yet seen. I feel like we have the responsibility to share and teach this to other people who maybe don’t or won’t have the opportunity we had to go abroad.

    I am really hoping to do a Masters degree overseas, if I can get a bursary to provide financially for it. For example, I learnt that you don’t need an Honours degree to study a Masters in the Netherlands. It’s something that I will pursue determinedly as this is my biggest desire now. I would love to go back. And I am daily left with this sense of gratitude for the opportunity that came my way and the fact that this experience did happen, and no one can take the memories and experience away from me. It was amazing. It goes faster than you think. Don’t waste time missing home. Go and live it fully.

  • Jeanne at Maastricht University, the Netherlands

    Jeanne at Maastricht University, the Netherlands

    Pre-departure:

    Going abroad can be very exciting but also overwhelming. However, preparation and planning can help reduce any uncertainties that you might face. Try to prepare everything that you can from this side, but do not worry if you don’t have everything figured out before you leave for your exchange semester – you will learn a lot while you are there and that is part of the experience. Some important things to have sorted out are your visa, your accommodation, flight tickets, insurance and the subjects you want to take. Maastricht University does the visa application on your behalf. They will communicate to you which documents you must send to them and they will then apply for your visa. They will inform you once your visa has been approved and you then need to make an appointment at the Dutch Embassy to collect your visa. Applying for your visa is therefore not difficult and the university makes sure to start with the process early enough to ensure that your visa arrives in time before you leave. Finding accommodation is also an easy process. One can go to Maastricht Housing’s website to see what options they have available. There you can see pictures, prices and locations of the different accommodation options, and you can book a room through the site. Flight tickets are also not complicated to sort out. I chose a direct flight with KLM from Cape Town to Amsterdam. Book your tickets in advance since they are much cheaper than booking it two months before you leave. I would recommend having medical insurance for the duration of your stay. This is just to give you peace of mind should something happen – hospitals and doctors are very expensive in Europe. I arranged my medical insurance through a travel agent that gave us advice on what the best cover option is. Once I arrived in Maastricht the Dutch Bank that I used while there, ING, recommended that I get insurance for any accidents and property damage. This insurance was cheap and since you will be cycling a lot, it is good to be covered against any accidents that might happen while you are cycling around.

    Maastricht University has a lot of information available to exchange students on the SBE page. You go to the exchange page and there you can find information about the university calendar, accommodation, insurance, where to hire a bike, subjects, etc. This is the link: https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/education/exchange/sbe. Most important is that you find course information through their course data base. Here you have the list of courses you can choose from, their descriptions and their prerequisites. This was very helpful in selecting courses. Make sure to register for your subjects before the deadline. Maastricht will inform you about the deadline.

    If you have these things sorted before you leave, you will be more than prepared when you arrive there. The rest of the things such as creating a bank account, getting a bike and university related stuff will be sorted out as you arrive. The university is very helpful and organised.

    Experience at the Host University:

    Jeanne with classmates sightseeing
    Jeanne with classmates sightseeing

    Maastricht University’s business school, SBE, is a triple accredited school. The way of teaching is very different from Stellenbosch since they make use of something called PBL – problem based learning. This means that learning takes place through problem solving and discussion of problems. Classes take the form of tutorial sessions where there are a maximum of 15 students in one tutorial group. Some subjects, for example subjects that involve mathematics, may combine normal lectures as we know it with these tut classes, but most subjects only make use of the tut classes. In these classes there is a tutor that facilitates the session and ensures that everything is covered, but the students lead the discussion. This means that you have to prepare for every class and actively participate in each class by asking questions and contributing to the discussions. Sometimes you are divided in groups and each group then gets a chance to present a section of the work. Giving presentations is the norm at SBE. The PBL system definitely challenged me in a lot of ways, but I learned so much. Getting out of my comfort zone and having to contribute and participate in classes helped me to understand the content of the work better and also delve deeper than just the textbook theory.

    At Maastricht University the semester is divided into three periods – period 1, 2 and 3. In the first period you have two subjects and at the end of the period there is a week of exams and you complete the two subjects. In the next period, period two, you have another two subjects and also write exams at the end of the period. Period three is a skills period where you have one subject for two weeks. This subject is a skills subject, for example presentations skills, interview skills, excel for finance, etc. Although the courses are intensive, it is nice to only have two subjects at a time and not six as we are used to.

    Maastricht is a beautiful city. There are a lot of cafes, restaurants and shops. Getting around is very easy, since you can use your bike or the bus. Maastricht’s location is also ideal for traveling since it is very close to both the Belgium and Germany borders. I spent a lot of time exploring the city itself, as well as nearby cities. Doing day trips to other cities is easy with the trains that are available. Understanding the Dutch language was not a problem for me since my home language is Afrikaans, which is very close to Dutch. Most of the people can speak English. Furthermore, in Maastricht you will not only encounter Dutch people, since the university is a very international university and people from all nationalities fill the streets of Maastricht. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the city and would choose Maastricht again if I could.

    Jeanne sightseeing in the city
    Jeanne sightseeing in the city

    Returning to Stellenbosch:

    I was excited to return to Stellenbosch. The exchange was a wonderful experience, but after five months it was time to come home to my family and friends. Coming back and getting into routine in Stellenbosch was not a challenge for me. It was nice to come back and share my experiences and stories with my friends. It was also nice to hear the stories of my fellow International Business students’ exchange experience. I am excited to apply the things I learned in Maastricht to my studies at Stellenbosch. I love the student life of Stellenbosch and am looking forward to this year.

    Something that I realised is that South Africa is not as behind with certain things as most people think. For example, our awareness of waste and sustainable living is higher in certain areas, and Stellenbosch’s facilities are just as good as Maastricht’s facilities. However, we still have a long way to go with transport infrastructure and we can learn a lot from the Dutch system. Another thing is that the cost of living is much lower in South Africa than in Europe – it is very expensive over there. So another plus point on returning to South Africa is that everything is much more affordable.

    I have definitely grown a lot while being abroad and it is an experience I will never forget. I will also encourage students to go abroad if they have the opportunity to do so. Although I loved the experience, for now I am planning to stay in Stellenbosch and complete my studies here. In the future, I might go abroad to work for a year.

  • Bongumusa at Raleigh Fiktin Memorial Hospital, Swaziland

    Pre-Departure:

    Swaziland, one of the smallest countries in Africa, is situated in Sub Saharan Africa bordered by South Africa and Mozambique. It is landlocked and is ruled by King Mswati III under absolute monarchy. The country is mainly divided into four regions namely Lubombo, Shiseleweni, Hohho and Manzini. The capital of Swaziland is Mbabane however the most densely populated city is Manzini which was once the capital before 1968 when Swaziland gained independence from the United Kingdom. The total population of Swaziland is roughly just above 1.3 million. Swaziland is classified as a lower to middle income country and its economy is pegged to the South African Rand.
    Swaziland has a quadruple burden of disease namely HIV/AIDS, TB, NCD (Sugar diabetes) and mental illnesses. It has one of the highest rates of HIV infected people on the continent with a study conducted in 2002 citing almost 28% and the WHO stating approximately 64% of deaths in Swaziland are HIV/AIDS related. 38.8% of woman in pregnancy tested positive to HIV/AIDS. In 2005 the country declared to be in a humanitarian crisis due to the number of people infected with HIV/AIDS and a major shortage of healthcare workers with approximately 16 doctors per 100 000 people and most facilities located in central Swaziland reducing healthcare coverage by almost 80%.
    Raleigh Fiktin Memorial Hospital (Is partially owned and run by the Nazarene Church, a Christian mission group that settled in the country and also opened a nursing college) is situated in one of Swaziland’s most populated cities, Manzini in Central Swaziland. Due to the health structure in the country one cannot clearly distinguish at what level of care it provides but from working there for four weeks officially and one week unofficially one can gather that it’s mostly functioning as a level two hospital with a lot of services missing which are then transferred to Mbabane Government Hospital which is the National Hospital and should be able to provide almost all the essential needs however that is not always the case.
    It has approximately 80 in-patient beds, 5 in trauma and 4 private rooms. There is an X-ray department, a lab that can do basic tests and 2 basic theatres which are normally reserved for emergencies. There is also a Gastroscopy/ Endoscopy lab. There is no CT scan, MRI, or any other imaging modalities.

    Experience at Raleigh Fiktin Memorial:

    Nestled in between two countries, Mozambique and South Africa, land locked Swaziland has been dubbed the friendly country. With a very modest population and an economy heavily reliant on its neighbours Swaziland shares so many problems with its much bigger neighbours but unfortunately lacks so much when it comes to combating those problems unlike some of its neighbours. Like most under developed countries the state of healthcare is nowhere near a standard fit enough to aid and alleviate most of the burdens of diseases its stifled with. For most doing an elective here would not necessarily be their first pick but with me, it was challenge accepted.
    The only way to really effect any amount of change in Africa is to go to the places that need it most. The abandoned places where basic healthcare has become a luxury no one can afford. It’s at the war stricken deserts of Sudan, the many refugee camps scattered in East Africa, the heavily burdened Sub Saharan Africa with HIV and the many parts of Africa that are struggling as a result of climate change. It’s there where real change can be effected and I personally want to do my bit to equip myself with the fundamental skills like language, cultural sensitivities, empathy and zeal to work in such hostile places. It’s not romanticising poverty and playing the super hero role, no its just being human and understanding that there’s more to this degree than what meets the eye.
    Professor Dempers words still resonate deep within me. It’s making the tough choices that earn us the big bugs and put those letters at the end of our surnames on the wall. The decision to leave the comfort of your bubble and put yourself where you not even bound to get the highest of accolades but deep down you have offered so much to so little. It’s the decision to sincerely play your part wherever you may be and doing your utmost best not for the article in Time magazine but for the person sitting across your consultation table or lying on that stretcher en-route to ICU.

    Return to Stellenbosch:

    It is with that spirit that I did my elective in Swaziland. Yes, I am well acquainted with the country. Half my ancestry is from those shores but it became much bigger than that when whilst working there that the bigger picture dawned upon me. Africa needs to help itself and it starts with every one of us. I am privileged to be in an institution that is equipping me with skills such as Quality Improvement and being a change agent. An institution that is making sure that at the heart of my training the country I am in and continent will benefit the most. The only other thing left was for me to expose myself to these places and further my learning and taking responsibility in equipping myself with the necessary skills.
    That is why I chose to do my elective in Swaziland and it has not only been an eye opener but I sternly believe has contributed immensely, in a psychological manner, the grit and guts necessary to expose yourself to these harsh realities and still offer the best that you possibly can with very little to so many.
    Rural medicine, I believe, is still the most powerful tool we have to offer to our communities. Urbanization is taking place drastically and as a result I personally feel like we are now abandoning these communities to deal with the influx into the cities. It’s all upstream- downstream. Get a hold of the stream at the top and you won’t have much to do with the downstream. Africa has real African problems and unfortunately, we still heavily reliant on solutions very far from out continent. Sharing knowledge and getting advice from others is very important and paramount in our quest to achieve the healthcare goals on our continent but we also need to be innovative as we are the ones experiencing these problems and ultimately, we are the responsible ones.
    I am very privileged to be in an institution that is very focused on creating doctors for South Africa and equipping us with skills for South Africa. I feel this is important to really aid in combating that which is continuously crippling us. African doctors for Africa!