What Happens Here Matters
International Study in Africa
By Erin Rhoda from The Courier Gazette in Rockland, Maine
One 20-year-old from Warren, Maine is beginning a journey he will remember for the rest of his life.
On Monday, Declan Galvin, who just finished his sophomore year at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y., departs the United States for an eight-month stay in four African countries in order to learn about ethnic conflict and food security and to study Swahili and international relations. He will travel to the Republic of Kenya, the Republic of Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United Republic of Tanzania.
“I’m not particularly nervous. I know that despite the political upheaval, [the countries] are by and large open to tourism or to foreign people coming to their counties,” Galvin said. He added that the media’s portrayal of African countries is often negative and that, despite political, social or tribal upheaval, people often remain kind and open.
Galvin has had an interest in the continent since he was 3-years-old and watched a news program on the famine in Ethiopia and learned about Somalia refugees. From there, his intrigue grew. “From there, my interests have grown more historically and politically,” he said. “My interests lie in ethnic
conflict and food security.”
At Manhattanville College, Galvin retains a 3.7 grade point average for his self-designed ethnic studies major and three minors, in genocide studies, African studies and economics. He said his interest in mitigating ethnic conflict stems from learning about genocide. And, through education, he hopes to stop the cycle of unawareness on the subject and, therefore, instigate change.
“I suppose, in a greater context, I have the interests I have because I feel they are neglected. They are neglected outright…I don’t want to continue to feed into that neglect,” he said. Galvin’s first stop will be Kenya where he will stay for two weeks with the Maasai, helping to build a well near the Maasai Mara game reserve.
From there, he will travel to Musanze in the northern province of Rwanda to volunteer with Fair Children/Youth Foundation, an organization that teaches skills to children and mothers who are trying to rebuild their lives after the war and genocide. Many of the women are rape victims who were purposefully given HIV during the 1994 genocide, and many of the children are the heads of their households, Galvin said.
After a month in Rwanda, he will travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo for a month where he will hopefully work with refugees, he said, although plans with specific organizations are still being negotiated. Then, he will enter an intensive Swahili language course at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, earning six credits in a month. From there, he will travel back to Kenya where he will be a student at the United States International University at Nairobi for four months, primarily studying international relations and food security.
When Galvin was a freshman at Manhattanville College, in addition to interning at the Public-Private Alliance Foundation and the United Nations Association, he spent two weeks in Egypt and the Syrian Arab Republic from July 28 to August 12. He was one of nine college students from the U.S. chosen to take part in the American Mid-East Leadership Network’s first U.S.-Syrian Future Leaders Program, which was held in Damascus. The main focus of the trip was to use dialogue to break down stereotypes and media perceptions, Galvin said, especially since the media often exaggerates the differences between U.S. and Syrian people. Galvin met with the Grand Mufti, the Islamic religious leader of Syria, and talked with him about religion, Iraq, peace and relations between Syria and the U.S. “He was amazing,” Galvin said, describing him as open and progressive.
At Manhattanville College, Galvin volunteered at the Duchesne Center to bring presenters to campus to speak on ethical and indigenous issues. He was also an academic representative in the student government. Last December he organized a genocide awareness day on campus. He said it is important for people to understand that the Holocaust has not been the only genocide, nor was it unique. “Genocide is happening all around us and keeps happening,” he said. He emphasized that conflict can often be prevented or stopped and that the first step is education about the facts.
“What’s going on in ethnic conflict most times is reversible,” he said. “People often put up their blinders, which is counterproductive.” He said that when people consider an issue tribal-related, “it often negates the fact that these things are preventable,” he said. “At their very roots, they do not hate one another.”
Citizen diplomacy through outreach programs or social responsibility is important, he said. “The common folk can make a difference. Even if you’re not dealing with violence, having a cultural exchange will lesson people’s ignorance,” he said.
Galvin graduated from the Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield in 2006. After his undergraduate education, he hopes to pursue a graduate degree related to ethnic conflict or conflict resolution.