University life

Slowly but surely my university life at UCT is getting started. Semester start here is something quite different from home, where we can sign up for classes online and have a time table ready before lectures start. To sign up for courses you have to approach the professor/ lecturer in charge of the course to get approved, but the academic staff are of course swamped with work and are not always very easy to get hold of. Times or venues are not set before the first lecture to make sure that everyone attending the course can fit it into their time table. On top of this you need to stand in long cues to get administrative matters like student cards and passwords sorted, so whenever I meet other exchange students they seem to be running around like headless chickens from office to office to find the right people to talk to. But hey, maybe that’s the way exchange students feel when they get to University of Oslo??

Even though the admin at UCT is not the very best the academic part of it seems really promising so far. I’ve joined a sociology course on public health issues to get some background information for my master thesis and both that and my information systems course seems interesting and challenging. The courses are quite a lot smaller than I am used to with only 6-7 students in each and they also seem more work intensive than back home with continuous assessment and no exams. I’ve been given a work space in an office with a few other master students where I have my own desk and computer plus a fridge, microwave oven and kettle. All kitted for those long hours of studying...

UCT’s unique location at the base of Table Mountain/ Devils Peak makes amazingly beautiful! I really enjoy strolling around campus looking at the nice buildings, the view of the city and the mountain. On saturday we (Espen, Kjetil- visiting from Oslo, some friends from UCT and myself) conqured Devils Peak, the mountain you can see behind UCT in the picture above. We will try to post some photos from the hike soon!

Pictures from South Africa

This post should have been made public some weeks ago, but better late then sorry, right?

Espen in the townships
(Click picture to view album)

The township pictures where taken on a trip we went to with my photo-class down here.
A very interesting experience.

19-25. Jan - Kruger Park
(Click picture to view album)

We went to the Kruger park together with Anne's parents. A very nice trip and we saw lots of animals!

Back to school!

After quite a long holiday I'm ready to start studying again. University started this week with a hectic orientation week with all the international students. Around 700 international students are attending courses at University of Cape Town. If you include students from other countries in southern Africa (like Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe etc.) the number is about 4000. The university has done a great job when it comes to welcoming us; we've had talks about everything from diversity and politics in South Africa to personal safety. We've also been on sightseeing around the Cape peninsula and on an excursion into the townships to look at projects organised by UCT students. We are a few European students, one Japanese girl and a trazillion Americans:)

During this semester I will be attending two classes. One is the course module for the students doing a master in information systems, the other one is a sociology course called "Human resource development". I met with my information systems class and professor yesterday. We are only 6 students so you really have to do your work here (no way to hide at the back of the class!) :) After an introduction lecture we had a function with food and drinks in the department bar (!) that we share with the accounting people. (Where are the department bars at UiO??) Met lots of nice students and staff. Proper lectures will start next week.

Gaborone, Botswana

When writing this I've spent almost a week in Botswana. "Why would anyone want to go there" one could ask... Well, as part of my masters degree at the University of Oslo I am going to be part of a project called HISP (Health Information Systems Program). It is a combined research and development project that aims to improve the quality of health information in developing countries by using a specific software. In many countries you find that information about health care (say how many children under 5 years has been diagnosed with malaria or how many people show signs of malnutrition in a certain area) are being reported several times to different projects/programs and authorities. To make a long story very short, this is what the project aims to improve. To keep all data regarding health services in one place makes it easier to access and the data are more likely to be correct and updated. The idea is that this will serve as a better basis for making good and informed decisions in the health sector.

Botswana is a quite large country (bigger than France) but with a population of only 1,8 million. It largely consisting of semi-desert and savannah. Major industries are cattle and diamonds and with excellent nature- and game reserves and they also attract a fair share of tourist. Botswana is relatively rich and politically stable country, but is severely hit by the HIV/AIDS-pandemic. It is estimated that over 30% of the population is HIV positive.

We, being myself, my supervisor Johan (to the right) and the local project members are based in the IT department at the Ministry of Health in Gaborone. Gaborone is the capitol, but not much of a big city. My guide book states that about 230000 people live here. It's got the atmosphere of a being a small town that has grown large very quickly. To quote my guide book again: "Due to it's phenomenal growth from an obscure village in the early 1960's to home to more than 230000 people in just 40 years, Gaborone has neither a long history or an established African character". The city is pretty flat, dry and there is not much to do.

Even though the city itself is not the most exiting, the people I have met here are fantastic. Most people are very friendly, inviting us to go with them, have supper etc. Johan has even been offered Batswana wives and cattle in a small village close to Gabs:) We have stayed at the University of Botswana in graduate student housing looking pretty much like a "studentby" in Oslo. There are five exchange students here (compared to about 4000 at UCT where I study!) and we've spent some time with them as well as local students. The picture to the right shows Lovely Daniel(yes that is his name), the local HISP worker and me having lunch outside the office building.

This week made me get a better grip on what the project is about. I've done work related to the software, attended a couple of meetings and visited a district office and a clinic that are part of a pilot project. I'll be back in Botswana in September and stay 2-3 months to conduct my field work.