Martha Norales Leiva '26 has discovered it's hard to take American privilege for granted while sitting in the dark.
Founded in the late 17th century, Stellenbosch is the second oldest town in South Africa. It's situated at the foot of the Stellenbosch Mountain and along the banks of the Eerste River. The popular tourist town offers spectacular views during the day, but at certain times during the night, there's nothing but darkness.
South Africa has endured widespread national power outages since 2007, when the government-owned national power utility had officially burned through its power reserves. For 18 years, load shedding has been a way of life. Martha says electricity will be shut off for two to four hours per day, sometimes multiple times per day (editor's note: she used her phone to Zoom for this article and chatted in darkness during a late-night power outage). It's somewhat unnerving living on an unfamiliar continent and unsure when power may be restored. But that's just the sort of situation Martha went looking for.
"I wanted to be uncomfortable. I didn't want to go to Europe. I didn't want to go to a Spanish speaking country because I speak Spanish. I didn't want to be in a program with 20 other Siena students, because it would be too easy to stay in my comfort zone. I wanted to use this once-in-a-lifetime experience to push myself to the limit."
The AIFS Abroad program in Stellenbosch is open to all majors and connects students with service opportunities, which is also a factor Martha desired. The sociology major will spend time in underprivileged classrooms working one-on-one with students. Back at home, Martha has never been concerned about rolling power outages, but she does know what it's like to struggle.
"I didn't have the foundation that so many other children have. Neither of my parents graduated from high school. I was fortunate that my community helped me quite a bit. I relied on neighbors and social workers. If I lived outside of the United States, I don't think I would have had the support system that helped me get to where I am. That's why I wanted to volunteer in a school outside the U.S."
Martha grew up in New York City and is thriving in Siena's Higher Education Opportunity Program. She'll rely on her own life lessons when working with South African students, but first, she's learning a lot in her own classroom before stepping into another.
"I'm sitting in lectures right now where they're teaching us the right approach with the students. We need to make sure we don't have biases before we interact. We're not saviors. We're not here to flex. We're taught how to be empathetic. For so many of these kids, school is their safe place. We need to recognize that."
Martha says her South African experience, in just one month, has already changed her outlook. All she needed was to be uncomfortable.
"Honestly, I was tired of being comfortable. I needed to go far away - and this was far! I'm already a more empathetic person than I was before. I just love it here. I love the people. I love the culture. My Siena roommate went to Dubai last year, and she convinced me to go on this adventure. She said I wouldn't have any regrets, and she's right - no regrets!"
