Basic Information

Full Name: Alexandra Hengge

UC Email: henggeab@mail.uc.edu
College: Lindner College of Business
Major: Operations Management
Title of Project: GO Trip to Cape Town, South Africa
Thematic Area: Global Studies
Expected Project Start Date: May 22, 2015
Expected Project End Date: May 31, 2015
Project Information
1. Provide a detailed abstract of your proposed honors experiential learning project.
Where do you go if you have given up on the idea of Church, but not on the idea of God?
Crossroads is a Community Church with multiple site locations all in the greater Cincinnati area.
They are a modern Church with auditoriums, free coffee, and live music. They want to engage
Christ-seekers who otherwise wouldnt be connected to God by being sacrificial givers, obsessive
includes, and fearless workers. I grew up with a Catholic background. I went to both a Catholic
grade school and high school and would go to Mass on Sundays with my family. I still consider
myself Catholic. However, I couldnt connect with God during a regular Mass. I found myself
having a hard time focusing and getting the message from the Homily. My older brother
suggested Crossroads for my family when I was in the 8th grade. I went there on and off
throughout high school, alternating between that and my Catholic Church from grade school.
When I came to UC, I decided to dedicate my time to Crossroads.
Everyone says, Once you start travelling you get the travel bug. Well, I already have
the travel bug. I knew I wanted to go on some kind of trip in the spring. I also went to a
Summer Camp for 8 years of my life: 4 as a camper, 2 as a staff member, and 2 as a counselor. I
love being around children, teching them things while they teach me things. When I heard about a
trip that would result in me more connected with God, Crossroads, and travelling as a whole that
consisted of interacting with children, I thought where do I sign. I expect to learn from the
community about a culture and way of life I would otherwise have no exposure too. I anticipate to
learn from my fellow-travelers who are also Christ-followers and have a deep love of others and
travelling. I aim to learn perspective and appreciation for what I have and what I can do with that
to impact others lives.
The aim of this trip is to combine forces with a partner Church in South Africa called
Orchard Church. With their help, the goal is to become aware of the poverty and HIV-stricken
communities and to reach out and help them. My team (which includes 30 people in total) and I
will be interacting with students at a local preschool and share the Bible in a way that they can
connect to and understand easily. Based off of past trips, the students truly enjoy the interaction
and inspiring messages. While at the preschool, we will be learning local community dances,
songs, and other cultural specialties. When we are not interacting with the school kids, we will be
interacting with the community. This consists of visiting clinics, serving food, meeting families,
praying with locals, cleaning dishes, picking up trash, etc. It is really encouraged to make
connections and form relationships. Crossroads truly believes that taking action and forming
relationships is the best way to make an impact and see God.
Trip (Rough) Itinerary:
May 22: Depart from the United States and travel to Cape Town, South Africa
May 23: Meet Partner Parish and go over Itinerary in detail. Travel to nearby Village.
May 24: Visit a Preschool and run a Bible School for the children.

May 25: Engage in the community through cleaning the streets, meeting families, and serving
food.
May 26: Lead Bible School at the local preschool
May 27: Engage in the community through cleaning the streets, meeting families, and serving
food.
May 28: Lead Bible School at the local preschool
May 29: Engage in the community through cleaning the streets, meeting families, and serving
food.
May 30: Lead Bible School at the local preschool
May 31: Leave Cape Town, South Africa for Cincinnati
2. Connections to Learning Outcomes within the Honors Thematic Area
I will be focusing on the thematic area of Global Studies.
a) Interact with Individuals from different cultures and express a sensitivity, appreciation
and respect for the complex range of experiences of diverse peoples:
- Luckily, this trip is centered on the people of the community that we are visiting.
We will be engaging with people of all ages. At the preschool we will be
volunteering at, my team and I will be able to hear about their lives, culture, and
experiences. When we get involved with the families in the community, I will be
able to expand my interactions with people of all different kinds of ages and past
experiences. Ill be able to ask them questions about their lives and gain an
understanding about a life that is completely different to me. I can learn about
their history, values, and culture. Itll open my eyes and help me realize that this
is just one of many ways of life that are completely different than mine. That
doesnt make it any worse or better, just different. Im excited to immerse myself
in a culture that Ive never experienced before.
b) Participate in a global society and understand the role of a global citizen:
- I talked about immersing myself in the culture, but how will I do that? My
participation will be eating their local food, learning their cultural dances and
songs, visiting homes, volunteering, walking the streets of their town, and finding
every detail that I can find that makes them unique to the global cultures of the
world. This appreciation of a new, diverse population with intensify my alreadyexisting desire to discover all different kinds of cultures. This will be the window
to my future endeavors as a global citizen. I will practice respect, consideration,
humbleness, and thoughtfulness while being in a new part of the world which
will transcend to my other travels in other global societies.
3. Connections to Goals and Academic Theories
a) I 100% believe that this trip will develop me personally, and professionally. Through
this trip, I know I will become a better personally. My faith will become stronger
through seeing other volunteers share in Gods love and share that with others. It will
strengthen through seeing young kids with completely different backgrounds and
cultures also experience God through his stories in the bible. My faith will be
fortified and renewed through this trip.
I will develop professionally. Im a business student and hope to travel for my job.
This hopefully will be the first of many experiences where I must travel and connect
with a group of people who are much different than me. I aim to be focused on
people, no matter what my job turns out to be. During this trip, I am going to solely
be focused on other people and how to build into them and make their lives better.
good training for the future.

b) In order to be prepared academically and have an appropriate background for the trip,
I will be conducting research leading up to the trip. I will begin by reading A History
of South Africa by Leonard Thompson. This book provides a detailed history of
South Africa from when humans first inhabited the area up until the present. This will
give me a deeper understanding of their past. I also plan on reading South Africa Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture by David Holt-Biddle.
Ive learned that different cultures have different customs which includes basic
manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. I dont want to offend anyone that
can result on ignorance on my part and plan to take every precaution to prevent this
from happening.
4. Initiative, Independence, and/or Creativity
Even though I have never been east of the Atlantic Ocean or taught a Bible School, I have
unique skills, and experiences that I can contribute to the trip. I was a Camp Counselor at
Camp Ernst in Northern Kentucky that was affiliated with the YMCA. With being a
Counselor, I was around kids a lot, have experience teaching them new things, and am
used to connecting God with different situations while adding fun. I also have been
connected with Crossroads so I have a good understanding of their mission and attitude
towards others. Finally, I have travelled to Guatemala for a service trip when I was a
junior in high school. We built stoves and water purifiers for underprivileged families. I
was fortunate enough to be able to interact with the families and experience a culture
unlike my own. I believe these skills and experiences will allow me to be involved in the
trip in a unique way.
5. Reflection
Being immersed in a new environment, new culture, and new people can be intimidating and
overwhelming. In order to reflect properly and take in everything that I can, I plan on keeping a
daily journal. I will use the notes app on my laptop to type a journal entry every night before I go
to bed. What did I do today? What did I teach the school kids or locals? What did they teach me?
What shocked me? How are our cultures similar? What is important to them? How do they
respond to teachings about God and in their daily life? How can this experience affect my future
ambitions and career goals? What made me smile today? I also plan on taking numerous pictures
throughout the day of my activities, the people I met, and the places I visited. At the end of the
day, I will go through these pictures and write down how these pictures make me feel. Through
these questions and this overall journal entry, I plan on taking advantage of my unique
opportunity in South Africa in order to apply what Ive learned and experienced in my future
endeavors.
6. Dissemination
I plan on sharing my experiences with the world through numerous methods. The first
method includes my journal. I will take my already-typed up journal entries and put them on my
honors portfolio for everyone to see. This can be a tool for other students and will be a way for
others to see what I learned, who I met, and what I experienced through my trip. I will also
include a slide show of pictures taken from the trip on my honors portfolio to provide visuals for
my readers. Another way to display my insights, reflections, and overall experiences will be
through a video. Crossroads is famous for their videos. Whether its goofy videos, promotional
videos, or inspiring videos, Crossroads value their members to reflect how GO trips helped open
their eyes. I will create this video, send it to Crossroads to share with their Community and also
post it on my honors portfolio. Lastly, I plan on taking a lot of pictures that will be able to
describe my trip without using any words. I will post this on Facebook for everyone to see. This

will show all of my friends and family what I went through and encourage them to ask me
questions about my trip and/or contemplate going on a trip of their own.
7. Project Advisor
My Project Advisor will be Lena Tome. Lena Tome was a 2014 graduate of the University of
Cincinnati, was in my Business Program, and in my sorority. Like her, I am starting out as an
Operations Management major, but am interested in Entrepreneurship and Non-Profit. To say that
we are alike is an understatement. Lena is in charge of running the Crossroads at Clifton
campaign geared towards college students, and her father is the head pastor at Crossroads. After
having lunch together, she told me that she was leading a trip to South Africa with UC Students
and was wondering if I would be interested. She is intelligent, faithful, goofy, and a fantastic
leader to look up to. I truly believe she will help me on my professional, spiritual, and personal
journey. She can be contacted at ltome@crossroads.net.
8. Budget
The total budget for this trip is $3,000. The breakdown of the budget is as follows:
total airfare and transportation expenses: $2,000
room and board in Cape Town: $750
food: $200
supplies for community engagement and bible vacation $50