Bad Experience with CFHI Past Review
By Jeremiah R (Emory University) - abroad from 10/01/2015 to 10/30/2015 with
Child Family Health International (CFHI): Healthcare Challenges in South Africa, Cape Town
What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
I met some great friends. The people in Cape Town are really nice.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I have to be honest, I had a 'less than stellar experience' with CFHI. I am only writing this review to help others like me who are diligently researching programs like this and who want to get a firsthand review from someone who recently attended. 1) The program houses you in an area of Cape Town - 20-30 minutes from city center - in a neighborhood called Athlone. Ask anyone in Cape Town and they will tell you that, even for Cape Town, this is not a safe neighborhood. Feel free to look up crime statistics maps and you will see for yourself. 2) The driver that picks you up and drops you off is this older man who is unprofessional and grumpy. He gripes at you if you are even a minute late. Trust me, ask anyone who went about this. 3) Your home stay is a toss up. Unfortunately for me, my home stay left me to fend for myself for breakfast and lunch, while my other colleagues had their breakfast and lunch prepared each day for them. 4) I asked to be placed in a particular area of interest: HIV. This was never addressed, nor was I ever placed in an HIV clinic. I was put in an internal medicine inpatient ward of a hospital with about 10-15 other students, so there was next-to-no one-on-one teaching. You mainly walk around and observe. 5) When I addressed my concerns with the program administration in both Cape Town and their office in San Francisco, I was made to feel that my concerns were not valid. I found the staff to be unprofessional, apathetic, and unhelpful. The two ladies representing the program in Cape Town are nice and friendly, but they did little to address my concerns and feedback. 6) If you do not heed my advice and end up going on this, then at least spend the $400-$600 USD on renting a car. There is NOTHING to do in Athlone. No coffee shops or wifi, and your home stays generally do not have wifi. Do yourself the favor of renting a car. So, to say I had a bad experience, is only the half of it. When you spend close to $3,000 on a program like CFHI, you expect a little more out of the experience. I was severely let down by the experience and the program's response to my experience. Choose another program. Or, if you have the contacts, set up your own international rotation. |
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