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When she graduates, Katherine Melhado ’08 (Boulder, Colo.) plans to attend medical school and work as a doctor in South Africa. She got a head start on that goal by studying public health abroad during the spring semester.
Melhado, who is pursuing a B.S. neuroscience and A.B. with a major in English, traveled to South Africa through the School for International Training, which sends students all over the world. The cornerstone of the program is the integration of field-based study with classroom instruction.
For the first three months of the semester, Melhado took classes in Zulu language, public health, and field research. She then conducted independent study research over the last month on emergency rural health services. She shadowed doctors and nurses who work in the emergency room at LadysmithHospital in central South Africa, gathering data from interviews with doctors, nurses, paramedics, and orderlies and through observation.
“Ninety percent of the patients in the hospital had HIV and/or tuberculosis,” says Melhado. “I witnessed many accidents that were unique to a rural area, including farming accidents, paraffin inhalation, dog bites, and shambock assaults. I stayed in the nurses’ home during this period and became very good friends with all the nurses and doctors at Ladysmith.”
Melhado arrived in South Africa with 19 other students from colleges and universities across the U.S. After a weeklong safari, they moved into individual home stays in Durban on the country’s east coast. Melhado lived with a Zulu family in Cato Manor, a township on the outskirts of Durban, and with a family in the rural village of Amanticulu.
“Living with these two different families was a great experience, and it showed me two aspects of South African life that not many people ever get to experience,” says Melhado. “Both of my families were so kind and made me feel part of the family. I helped [the Cato Manor family] cook traditional Zulu meals. My host mother in the township was the breadwinner of the family as she sold sausages from her home and made beautiful curtains for her neighbors. It was very interesting to live within the Zulu culture because it is so different from the American culture. My rural host mother was part of a poverty relief project and made beaded jewelry to sell in the cities. She attempted to teach me how to do the beadwork, but I can safely say that my host mother could finish in 10 minutes what took me four hours to complete. Her work was admirable.”
Melhado also visited Cape Town, where she participated in the Two Oceans Marathon on her 21st birthday.
“It is known as the most beautiful marathon in the world, and it definitely lived up to that expectation,” she says. “The day before the marathon there was a 5K friendship run for all international runners. Runners from over 50 countries ran through the streets of downtown Cape Town carrying their respective flags. It was an amazing experience.”
Although spending the semester in South Africa was difficult, Melhado believes she not only learned about a different culture, but also about herself.
“This experience challenged me everyday, but I wouldn’t have traded it for the world,” she says. “South Africa is a dynamic environment. This experience taught me not only how to do field research, but to respect other cultures and attempt to understand them. It taught me that to truly understand issues in a country, you have to investigate the people’s culture, government, history, and ways of life.”
Melhado is a writing associate with the College Writing Program, and a member of the cross country and track and field teams. She plans to conduct honors thesis research next year and volunteers at EastonHospital. She also is a member of Delta Gamma sorority.