Dangerously Beautiful Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The academic experiences I had on this program were amazing. I love the experiential approach to learning that SIT does. That said this program was borderline pseudoacademic. I was only handed back one assignment during the entire program. And they lead you to think you’re going to get good grades, but they really just end up choosing abstract numbers with no paper trail. Professors are extremely knowledgable, but sometimes out of tune with the students. French was okay, but should really be teaching everything in french.

On-site administration of your program

Disorganized, everything was tentative until it happens, that went on the back of out t-shirt.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Host families are a huge part of the experience here. I loved all of them, just get used to not having a lot of personal space for a while, but also be prepared for them to change your life in ways you never expected.

Nutrition was absolutely terrible. So was sanitation. Everyone got sick. You will get sick. I got med evac-ed to South Africa at one point because of the sanitation here. Everyone fought for food, even when we ate with the program, there wasn’t enough food. Bring lots of bars and protein powder, it will feel like gold when your there. Being another suit case of nutrition if you even hope to stay healthy there. Seriously you can barely have vegetables or salad because they have parasites (unless you have carrots with Vinegar), and the meat they buy sits out in the market all day with flies, and there are things that can’t get killed in there just by cooking it. Just be careful, especially with the meet and fresh salad.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Amazing. Loved getting to know the malagasy students and culture. Have some experiences that are so so beautiful and made connections that will last the rest of my life.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I’m an Advanced EMT and a Wilderness EMT, and was actually the only trained anything. None of the staff had uo to date first aid cerrtifications and I ended up taking care of most people (staff were coming up to me and asking to use MY first aid kit, that I brought from home) the program had a nonexistent first aid kit though this may have changed. Outside of the program we had a great doctor that was incredibke when I was med evaced to south africa, but she no longer works with the program as they have moved to antalaha.

I have been to developing countries before. Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Palestine. This was NOTHING compared to Madagascar. Just be careful and don’t take the same kind of risks you would in the states. Everyone came back alive.

Even though I was concerned for everyone’s safety, I would never take back these experiences. They will change your life.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

Spoke to most malagasy in french. French is slower and more learn-ed here.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Americans

• ISP
• Nature
• Host Family

• Grading (Super abstract, they don’t like adademic risks)
• Safety
• Healthcare/Nutrition

The Nearly Native or Trail Blazer