Madeleine McCormick | Assistant News Co-Editor
This January, an interim trip that has been offered for seven years at Buena Vista University (BVU) is being postponed until interim of 2016 due to the response from recent Ebola outbreaks in that region.
Students were planning to take a trip to the eastern part of South Africa to learn about Zulu culture, the history of the British and Dutch settlements in South Africa, visit a world famous national park, and see the amazing animals that inhabit the African plains. The trip would have cost students $5,800 and given them one credit hour for the following summer’s tuition.
Unfortunately for these students, the trip is being postponed until January of 2016 because of the response from the Ebola virus that is infecting many all over this region of the world.
Ebola, or Ebola Fever, is a generally fatal disease that causes severe internal bleeding and is spread through the contact of human body fluids such as blood and sweat. More than 5,000 people living in West Africa have died from this disease with an additional 13,000 infected.
This threat would pose a severe health risk to the students and faculty who would potentially be going on the trip. Dr. Rick Lampe, Mark Kirkholm, and Dr. Melinda Coogan are the BVU faculty and staff chaperones for this trip.
Coogan, Associate Professor of Biology gives reasonable cause to postponing the trip.
“Whenever we are traveling with a group of students, it is important to consider unusual circumstances. For example, if one of our students had developed a fever from any common virus while traveling in Africa, the potential for being asked to stay behind in quarantine may have been a possibility. Dr. Lampe, Mark Kirkholm, and I have traveled enough with students to realize that this is something we would obviously want to avoid,” Coogan said.
Coogan said the students who were signed up for the trip were disappointed; however, with reasonable cause to postpone the trip until the chaos concerning Ebola quiets down, the Eastern South Africa trip will be offered to students still interested for interim of 2016.
As for now, Coogan said that she will keep students and parents updated on the Ebola issue.
“The South Africa trip is an amazing experience, but our first consideration will continue to be the safety of our students,” Coogan said.
Graphic by Justice Gage
Nicole • Nov 6, 2014 at 9:39 am
I would like to bring attention to the fact that, as of yet, there are no reported cases of Ebola in South Africa, neither are there cases in any of its neighbouring countries. It is ironic that the same cannot be said of the United States. Furthermore, European countries such as Spain (in which cases have been reported as well) and Italy are much closer to the outbreak than the majority of southern African countries. I understand the concern for the safety of students however it saddens me immensely to see that some people fail to realise that Africa is a continent comprising of a large number of countries. Countries who have not been affected by Ebola but are being treated as such. Countries that rely heavily on the tourism industry for a large portion of their GDP and who’s economy is declining as a result of unjustified discrimination toward African countries. At present there is a larger risk of contracting Ebola in New York than there is of contracting it in Johannesburg (my home town). I hope this has shed some light on the Ebola epidemic from the perspective of a young, white female South African. Ngiyabonga (that means ‘thank you’ in the zulu language).