Fort Valley State University News March 9, 2011 FVSU student given award to travel to Africa A February Friday morning Spanish class held an unexpected surprise for a Fort Valley State University junior. Donovan Hicks was reviewing the day's lessons with fellow students in Spanish class, when his professor, Dr. Erica Oshier, asked an unusual question: "Does anyone here have a passport?" Hicks, who still had his passport from a high school cruise to the Bahamas, was the only one to reply, "Yes." "Fantastic," she replied. "Would you be interested in travelling to Senegal next week?" Although taken aback, the mathematics student and Cooperative Developmental Energy Program scholar jumped at the opportunity for a two-week long, all-expenses-paid trip to the African continent. Hicks visited the republics of Senegal and the Gambia, in West Africa. The trip was provided by FVSU's Dr. Stanley E. Rutland Globetrotters Study Abroad program, established by university alumnus Tommy McMullins, owner of Fantasy Tours, Inc. To qualify, students needed a U.S. passport and hold a 3.0 grade point average. Participants were also required to clear absences with professors, make up missed assignments, and then give a presentation before students at a forum selected by the committee. "We chose Donovan because of his academic standing and because he was internationally prepared," said Victoria Dubriel, who co-chairs FVSU's study abroad committee, along with Dr. Joyce Jenkins, chair of the English and foreign languages department. During his stay in Senegal, Hicks rode a ferry from Dakar to the Ile de Goree (Goree Island), where the young man visited the Maison des Esclaves (House of Slaves) Museum. The spot, built in 1776, served a Dutch holding point for slaves before they were transported to other countries. Hicks visited the "Door of No Return," which was the last point that slaves were held before leaving the continent forever. "It was a surreal feeling looking through the door, and trying to imagine Africans being separated from their homeland and their families," said Hicks. "It was not like an out of body experience, but it was surreal." The student, along with their tour group also visited twenty different market places. At every location, African vendors surrounded the tour bus, hawking food, trinkets and merchandise. On some roads, Hicks saw young street children, called talibé, begging for money. According to Hicks, some children were students earning a living to study the Koran with Marabouts (teachers of the Koran). "I had an excellent time, and if I had the chance to go again, I'd take it," Hicks said. "I learned that we take education for granted in America, because there are so many children who might not get the chance because their parents might make them work in the fields." For further information about the study abroad program, please contact Victoria Dubriel, (478) 825-6678, or Dr. Joyce Jenkins, (478) 825-6392. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 Skype:sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.