ALVINE

World Link Volunteer For: Cameroon

International Experience: Home country is Cameroon

Languages Spoken: English, French, Fee Fee, Basic Spanish & Italian

Program of Study: 3rd year PhD in Experimental Astroparticle Physics

I decided to come to Canada to study and at Queen’s University in particular because of the famous Experimental Astrophysics group of the physics department.

I was pleasantly amazed that like in my home country Cameroon, here in Canada people are friendly, easy going and always ready to provide their help in case of need. Another thing that I found surprising is the casual relationship between people of different ranks. You call your supervisor or your professor with his/her first name and greet him/her with “hi”.

What I missed the most about my country are the people, the spiced food and the weather. Coming from a tropical country, Fall and Winter are pretty rough.

One of my positive extra scholar experience at Queen’s is when I decided to attend the   “Cultural Skills for the Canadian Context workshop series” at QUIC. It made me realized that the language or cultural difference should not be barriers for us to enjoy people or make friends with people of different backgrounds.

The difficulty I had at the beginning was the language barrier and the perception I had from other cultures. Thank GOD I’ve overcome them!

I will encourage 100% other students like myself who wish to come and study at Queen’s University because it is a great place that favours interculturalism and so everybody can

easily fit in. I will advice them to be open minded and to not look at difference as barrier but to look at it as sweet flavor that makes people unique and special!

     FAISAL

World Link Volunteer For: Botswana, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia

International Experience: Volunteered in Botswana, Born in Pakistan, Lived in United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia

Languages Spoken: English, Urdu

Program of Study: Biochemical Engineering with an Environmental option

I wanted to go on a development-based work experience abroad because I feel like that’s the best way to open your eyes about the issues faced by our world. Its one thing to learn about the complexities of international development in a classroom but you don’t completely appreciate and acknowledge the issues until you see them for yourself. The other reason is because such opportunities to travel don’t come by everyday and the university years are the best time to take them.

What surprised me most about Botswana was how unbelievably friendly and calm everyone was. In the 3 months I was there this past summer, not once did I meet someone who came off as unwelcoming or aggressive. Another pleasant surprise was the natural beauty of the country with its varied landscape and incomparable wildlife.

I personally did not face too many challenges or difficulties in adapting to the culture or my new home. The only minor blip was adjusting to the workplace environment where workplace behavior was vastly different from what I was used to.

The bush camping was definitely my highlight. We had made it a goal of ours to see as much of the country as possible during our free time but had little money as students. The cheapest option was to buy a tent and use that for accommodation wherever we went and our plan worked a charm. There were some nervy moments like the time our campsite was overrun by baboons in the middle of the night, but that just added to the overall experience.

If it were possible to bring one thing back with you, what would it be? The entire Okavango Delta. The Okavango Delta is one of the world’s largest inland river deltas and its one of those things that just captivates you. For miles and miles around there is just crystal water, vegetation and more elephants than people.

I would advise other students to make sure you do enough research about how the country functions before travelling to Botswana. Even the most minimal language training can go a long way in the beginning. The most important piece of advice I can give is that you must be prepared to be flexible. Things don’t necessarily happen on time and when it comes to public transport, buses will run only when the buses are full, not when they are scheduled to leave.