study abroad | Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership

Gracious, Honduras!

September 6 2016September 6, 2016

By: Amanda Bush
Mt. Gilead, Ohio
agricultural communication
senior

Last May, a group of 26 students and faculty from Utah State University and The Ohio State University traveled abroad for 16 days to Honduras for a Community Development and Agricultural Outreach Education Study Abroad program with the supervision of Dr. Jamie Cano, Tyler Agner, and Emily Wickham of Ohio State and Dr. Gary Straquedine of Utah State University. Our host family, Larry and Angie Overholt are also native Buckeyes who took care of us throughout the trip. While in Honduras, we accomplished many great things and was able to see several incredible places and sights.

Each day was a new adventure. We never really knew what we were getting into until it was happening. Whether it be cooking with the people of the villages to prepare a meal for the kids in school, helping serve the food to the children in the school, helping build an outhouse for a family with teenage girl who has never had bathroom facilities, or making and pouring concrete at the Vocational schools for various projects the needed done. Whatever the task was, we all came together to make it happen – even in the 100+ degree heat.

However, we did not always work. Some days we would take tours of the cities around and all they had to offer such as the “Mercado” which is essentially a supermarket where the Hondurans go each day to get their food while also visiting a sugar cane processing plant, a milk processing and packaging plant and visiting several vocational and public schools in the area.

A few things learned on this study abroad trip to Honduras was not just hard work and determination to see the job through – it was much deeper than that. A sense of respect and assurance that no matter how bad we think we have it some times, we truly are blessed to live in this country and have the freedoms we do. This experience allowed us to open our hearts and minds to the truths of the world and uncover a passion for international development and positive change for which we all say, “Gracious, Honduras!”

This blog was originally posted on the CFAES Student Blog. Visit u.osu.edu/studentblog for more posts by CFAES students.

Dear Leah…study abroad?

July 12 2016July 11, 2016

Q: As an incoming student to CFAES this fall, I have been looking forward to college and was curious about the study abroad opportunities. I was wondering what all study abroad trips would be available for me to do, and if it’s worth it to spend that much money? I’m also concerned that studying abroad would make me graduate late because I would be taking time away from school to travel. Any advice?

A: As a senior this fall, I have studied at Ohio State for three years. Cheered on three winning seasons of Buckeye football. Taken three different psychology courses. Eaten three times my weight in Raising Cane’s chicken tenders. Had three different jobs. Had three different roommates. And traveled abroad to three countries.

The dream of studying abroad was one of the major reasons that I was so excited to move away to college and experience the world. I came from a small farm town in Ohio where I was fairly sheltered about what the world and global community had to offer. Ohio State was the perfect avenue for me to get out and culture myself.

For me, studying abroad has been one of the most beneficial and influential things I have done since moving to Columbus. The summer after my sophomore year I went on a two-week study abroad trip to England and Scotland that was primarily focused on agricultural communication. We spent time learning about the culture of the United Kingdom, eating their foods, talking with locals, admiring architecture, visiting various agricultural newspaper and magazine companies, and comparing their agricultural practices to our own.

This past spring I traveled to Brazil with fourteen of my peers where we spent six weeks immersed in Brazilian culture. Alpha Zeta Partners, a professional agricultural honorary fraternity in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, takes students to Brazil every January to learn about their fast growing agricultural sector. What I learned and experienced while in Brazil taught me more than I could have ever imagined.

Although I can’t speak for everyone, my best advice to incoming and current students is that if you have the opportunity to study abroad and see the world- DO IT! Take the leap. The programs are designed to fit with your class schedule so that you still receive course credit and can stay on track to graduate. There are also programs that you can do where you study abroad during summer break, winter break, and even spring break if you would rather not travel during the school year. Financially, I can almost guarantee that you won’t find a better price point to travel and do everything that is included in the programs. Although they can be somewhat expensive, they are relatively cheap in comparison to doing the exact same trip on your own. There are also scholarships available to students who wish to study abroad, and the College works very hard to financially help out every student that wants to travel. Throughout CFAES there are many trips abroad that focus on agriculture and environmental sciences, but there are also countless programs within the University as a whole that can take you anywhere around the world.

College is the place where you go to learn, and what better way to do that than by traveling and immersing yourself in other cultures? Diversity and cultural awareness are highly sought after in any workplace, and the skills and lessons you learn while abroad way exceed what you can learn in a classroom in Columbus. So my final advice is: get your passport, pack your bags, and go explore all that the world has to offer!

A Brazilian bull at a breeding facility.

The agricultural school we studied at in Brazil.

“I love Brazil”

One of the best parts of Brazil: a steakhouse.

Our Ohio State group and Brazilian student Alan at the National Cathedral.

Posing with a bagpipe statue in Scotland.

O-H-I-O at Stonehenge.

To learn more about study abroad opportunities within CFAES, visit Agricultural Administration Room 100, or email Kelly Newlon at newlon.7@osu.edu. For study abroad opportunities for all of Ohio State, visit the Office of International Affairs.

The “Dear Leah” column is written by agricultural communication senior Leah Schwinn. You can submit a student life related question at schwinn.8@osu.edu

Honduras Study Abroad: Leche Rio Grande Tour

June 20 2016June 16, 2016

As a part of the Community Development study abroad trip to Honduras, students toured Leche Rio Grande, a facility in Choluteca, Honduras that packages milk and produces cheese. Students were able to see the process from start to finish as milk arrived at the facility from local farms until the cheese was pasteurized and then sampled.

Honduras Study Abroad: Vocational School Work Days

June 14 2016June 14, 2016

While in Choluteca, Honduras, students from Ohio State and Utah State completed projects at the Choluteca Vocational School, which included a connector sidewalk, entry way, and weight room floor. In the time we were allotted, projects were completed from start to finish, with the concrete pour for the weight room floor finished after we left.

Study Abroad to Honduras

May 9 2016May 9, 2016

The Community Development study abroad to Honduras arrived this afternoon in Choluteca, Honduras. Students from the trip will be blogging at studyabroadhonduras2016.wordpress.com.

Throughout the 17 days abroad, this blog will occasionally be updated with pictures and information. Day to day recaps are available at the link above!

The entire group of Ohio State and Utah State students prior to leaving the Atlanta airport.

A small group waits to trade money once we have arrived in Honduras.

The sign we drove under when we made it to the Choluteca city limits.

Dear Brazil, Obrigada

March 18 2016March 17, 2016

AZP Class 17, Day 1 Columbus, OH

By: Mary Siekman
Delaware, Ohio
Agricultural Communication
Junior

On January 4th myself and fourteen of my peers stood with bags packed in the Port Columbus International Airport as we waited to depart for what was to be the biggest adventure of my life – a six week study abroad experience in São Paulo, Brazil.

This six-week experience is a trip students look forward to every January. Each year a new class of students is inducted into Alpha Zeta Partners, an honorary fraternity in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. Traveling to Brazil is one of four seminars the newly elected class of AZP members participate in together. The other three focus on personal leadership development, understanding diversity and a seminar in Washington D.C. highlighting organizational change.

While my class was abroad in Brazil we were enrolled in classes at the ESALQ campus of the Universidad De São Paulo focusing on economics, agriculture and the history of Brazil. Not only did we learn about Brazilian agriculture in the classroom, but we also experienced it first hand during the two weeks our class spent touring different farms and agricultural companies around the south eastern part of Brazil.

As part of our final grade each of us was expected to keep a daily journal to record our thoughts and experiences in throughout our trip. Below is a journal entry I wrote during a layover in the airport as we traveled home:

Dear Brazil,

Obrigada – “Thank you.”

Thank you for welcoming us. One of the first things I noticed way back in January when we stepped off our plane in the São Paulo airport was how immediately I felt welcomed. Throughout the entire six weeks we lived in Brazil I rarely met someone who did not go the extra mile to make me feel welcome and comfortable. The Brazilians we met and tried to communicate with (even with the English/Portuguese language barrier) often tried their hardest to listen, understand and communicate with us. Instead of ignoring us or laughing behind our backs (although we did look funny on many occasions!!) they made an effort to include us, learn about us and teach us about their culture…especially in some of the restaurants we visited often. We were welcomed in and treated like family when we went out to eat dinner, which made saying goodbye difficult to do.

Thank you for immersing us in your culture and opening our eyes to the world around us. Traveling to Brazil was the first time I had ever been abroad and completely submerged in a culture different than my own. Not being able to read the street signs, understand the waiter at dinner or know how to act in different social situations challenged me to focus in and think in a different way. During our time abroad my classmates and I challenged each other to embrace this new culture every chance we could and as a result were able to begin to understand the differences between our cultures and learn so much more about the country we were living in.

Thank you for friends and family we will have forever. Before we departed from the Columbus airport more than six weeks ago we were just a group of classmates who hadn’t spent much time together and didn’t know much about each other. However, through the spontaneous adventures we went on, the intentional conversations we had and through all of the experiences we shared we learned to appreciate each other and became closer. The group of classmates that had left the United States together six weeks ago were not the same students that came back home. But instead, the students that landed in the Columbus airport on Friday are a group of great friends, teammates and family. We all have Brazil to thank for bringing us together and tying us closer.

– Not only did we return home knowing we have new friendships in the United States, but also knowing we will always have great friendships and families in Brazil. During our time abroad we met and grew close with many individuals and families and will hold onto the relationships until next time we return back to Brazil.

Obrigada por tudo, Brasil – “Thank you for everything, Brazil.”

Until next time,

Mary

AZP Class 17, Day 38 Piracicaba, SP, Brazil

For more of Mary’s experiences visit: http://marysiekman.wordpress.com

This post was originally shared on the CFAES Student Blog.

A New Reality – Nicaragua Study Abroad

January 25 2016January 26, 2016

By Abby Motter
Mansfield, Ohio
Agriscience Education
Freshmen

Driving into the Peñas Blancas Mountains of Nicaragua you might first recognize the breathtaking mountains covered in colorful foliage, the muddy dirt road, or the homes and buildings scattered across the countryside. However, after spending time there you will realize it is the people that will stick in your memory.

Just last week I spent two nights in the rainforest with a Nicaraguan family that belonged to a Coffee Grower’s Community and Cooperative. I was fortunate to have this opportunity through signing up for a First Year Experience Study Abroad Program at orientation through the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. Part of the experience involved splitting into small groups and completing a home stay with a local family. The families we stayed with spoke little to no English, worked full time as coffee farmers, and did the best they could with their low income that required countless hours to earn. These farmers will harvest every day from October to February, at the end of the harvest season they will receive one paycheck that must last for an entire year.

My family lived in a beautiful valley with potatoes, coffee plants, banana trees, chickens, geese, and mountain hillsides with tropical flowers everywhere. Although my group and I were able to communicate in some Spanish, both cultural and lingual barriers still existed. It was through the youngest daughter, an eight year old named Katalina, we were able to form the strongest connection. Just like many eight year old girls in the United States her favorite color was pink, she loved kittens, and her favorite princess was “Nieve Blanca” or Snow White. When we presented the children of the family with a brand new bouncy ball, we had the whole group of us playing. Later that evening the older boys of the family asked if we had “tarjetas” or cards, they soon were teaching a new game similar to Rummy. We shared pictures of our families and helped our host mother make tortillas over the open wood fire. When our host father put up our mosquito nets at night we were there holding the hammer and nails, just like a child would with their father in a rural Ohio home. We may live completely different lives, but we had so many similarities.

Staying with a family of a different culture, socioeconomic status, and completely different language was a humbling and perspective changing experience. We may have walked up a muddy hill to an outdoor latrine, showered with a bucket of mountain water in the open air, shooed chickens out of the kitchen, and witnessed a spider larger than my hand; but our host family lived with incredible dignity and expressed continual happiness. In our country too often we associate personal fulfillment and contentment with the amount of material possessions we own, the house we live in, the car we drive, the job we have, and the friends we keep. Instead, in the quiet mountains of Nicaragua this family was happy for companionship, the beautiful scenery all around them, good food to eat, and a sturdy tin roof over their heads. I am grateful for the chance to learn about another culture, and the reminder of all the things we have to appreciate.

This post was originally shared on the CFAES Student Blog.

FFA Honduras Study Abroad

October 20 2015March 17, 2016

By: Ellyse Shafer

Bellville, OH

AgriScience Education
Freshman

This summer I had the opportunity to travel to Honduras on a week-long adventure with Ohio FFA and the Ohio State University. While we were there, we toured three different schools that had agricultural programs. The schools we visited include: El Sembrador School, Manuel Bonilla, and the Choluteca Vocational School. I enjoyed observing the varying differences between the three facilities. El Sembrador School is a boarding school where wealthier families can send their sons to go to classes and learn hands-on at the school’s working farm. At Manuel Bonilla, the children attend regular classes such as history, math, and writing until their last year where they are taught agriculture. The Choluteca Vocational School focused more on developing hands-on skills so each student can specialize in one trade and then enter the workforce.

Our focus in Honduras was to take our knowledge in agriculture and implement ideas and practices in a hands-on fashion alongside the students. Although the Hondurans believed we were making an impact on their lives, perhaps they were leaving a bigger impact on ours. Experiencing the Honduran culture was an incredible, eye-opening experience that I will continue to look back upon my whole life. Entering my first year here at Ohio State, I was not confident in my choice of major. After traveling to Honduras and experiencing the diversity in agriculture education, I now know I have made the right choice for my future.

I am so thankful that Ohio FFA, World Gospel Missions, and Dr. Cano and Mr. Agner took the risk to put together the first ever international study abroad experience for high school FFA members. I believe that this experience will be beneficial to me later on in the classroom. I highly recommend taking advantage of any of the study abroad trips here at OSU.

Cooking in the Barrio, Honduras Style

October 1 2014September 3, 2014

Carla Jagger
Mount Gilead, Ohio
Agricultural and Extension Education PhD student

Our trip to Honduras was by far the best abroad experience I have had the opportunity to attend. I loved that Dr. Cano and or other coordinators treated the trip more like a service learning experience, which allowed us to interact with the community and Hondurans more so than any other time I have traveled. One of my most memorable moments, was the day we spent in one of the local barrios (small village) working alongside the women making 400+ tamales that they then sell for a small amount of income that goes to any woman that comes and helps with the process.

I’m all about the food when I travel anywhere so getting to observe and help with the whole preparation of what became our supper that evening was amazing! Even though I couldn’t understand the words they were saying all the time I could usually pick up on what they were trying to communicate which I was happy about. I know there were times that they were definitely laughing at me and not necessarily with me, but I was absolutely fine with that because I was having just as much fun! They were so welcoming and genuinely just wanted to share their expertise with all of us, which I absolutely loved and tried to indulge in. And I would say I definitely over indulged in the treats they kept presenting us with! Overall this experience reminded me that although our cultures may be different, and we may not speak the same language, we can always find ways to positively communicate with one another.

We also had the chance to tour some of the agricultural commodities in Honduras including sugar cane production, a coffee plantation, and a milk processing plant. Like I mentioned before the trip was more about service than touring, which I believe allowed us all to learn so much more than just see what they produce in Honduras. We were continuously working on projects for the community including, building hoop houses for small gardens, building a chicken coop, working on the gardens at a local vocational school, developing curriculum for the vocational school, plus several others. I will never forget the experiences we had on this trip, I loved every minute of it and enjoyed taking in the Honduran culture.

Thanks Carla for sharing about your experience on the Community Development study abroad trip to Honduras!

Forever Changed

September 4 2014September 3, 2014

Amy Jo Frost
Bloomingburg, Ohio
Agriscience Education
2014 Graduate

We are each a unique portrait of different experiences and circumstances.

Some experiences are more influential than others and leave deep, lasting imprints on our canvas. I graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in agriscience education and the very next day boarded a plane bound for Choluteca, Honduras with a group of strangers. After just two weeks in Honduras and the experience of a lifetime, my unique portrait was forever changed.

In the weeks leading up to my graduation, I found myself burnt out on school, work, relationships, and life in general. I had become so bound to the schedule I kept that I forgot to enjoy life and allow myself the freedom to experience new things and relax. I was so focused on being involved, being productive without end, and scheduling my life minute for minute that the joy and passion I once exuded had almost disappeared. As I close one chapter of my life and enter a brand new one, being in Honduras allowed me to gain perspective on where I want to go and what I want and need to do.

One of the days we arrived at the school for a special program and I sat towards the front. As I watched the program, a little girl sitting behind me began playing with my hair and before I knew it, she’d braided it all down my back so it wouldn’t get in my face. She tucked pieces of hair behind my ears and wrapped her arms around me as I watched the program and for a moment everything seemed to stop… I saw the love the little girl was showing me.

She didn’t know me at all and had no obligation to show me any sort of attention, but she did anyway. For a moment, I looked out across the room filled with Honduran children and fought tears. In that moment I realized that all these people truly want is love and my heart is filled with love that I want to give them in any way that I can. Although we didn’t speak the same language, she still spoke to me and she did so through love and care. I’ll never forget the small act of love she showed me and will strive to show others the same love.

As an American and as a college student, it’s so easy to get caught up in work and earning money and basing success on both of these. While these things are important, they shouldn’t be our goal and definition of success.

When I allowed those to become my measure of success I felt burnt out and empty. The little Honduran girl reminded me that even if you have nothing else, you have a heart filled with love to give. You never know how that love may impact someone else, just like the little girl may never realize how she impacted me. But it’s selfless gifts such as this that fill us up and define true success, which is making an impact.

As I reflect on all that the trip meant to me, I see my love of relationships, passion for international agriculture, appreciation for relaxation and reflection in my life, and my desire to continue growing and bettering myself. I am in awe of all that this trip has meant to me. It’s meant developing friendships, discovering more about what I want to do with my life, and learning from the excellent role models that I’m blessed to be here with. I know the impact of this trip will stretch further than I can ever imagine and I hope my work with this isn’t finished. As I approach the next chapter of my life in graduate school, I hope this is only the beginning of my work in international agricultural education in Honduras!

Because of this trip, my future has been forever changed.

Thanks Amy Jo for sharing your experience on the Community Development study abroad trip in Honduras. Photos taken by Shelby Faulkner.