News Archives - 2007

This semester there are eight Augsburg students studying abroad in Cuernavaca, Mexico through the Center for Global Education program. The two programs offered during spring semester are: “Social Work in a Latin American Context” and “Social Justice, Gender, and the Environment in Latin America.” Augsburg student Patrick Flood, in the Social Work program, shares some of his experiences.

“For four days we stayed at a home in Ixtlilco, Mexico. There we learned about rural life and how community organizations are trying to make a positive impact on their community. We visited a greenhouse where people grow tomatoes. The soil is so contaminated in and around the village, plants are unable to grow naturally. A major theme here has been about immigration issues and how that is affecting communities such as Ixtlilco.

Another stop was at the pre-Columbian ceremonial site of Xochicalco, where we learned about the different pyramids and structures throughout the site. It was interesting learning about the meanings of the hieroglyphs and having the different characters explained.

During free time, some of us went to Mexico City for the day visiting the Zocolo and other museums and art galleries. Another free weekend a group of us went to Acapulco for some fun in the sun!”

Augsburg students in the program are: Anna Brubak, Patrick Flood, Kirsten Hiemstra, Kelsey Olson, and Amy Silverbrandt from the Social Work program; and Anna Baker, Katie DeBoer, and Natalie Kempf from the Social Justice program.

Photo: Kirsten Hiemstra and Patrick Flood tour Mexico City.