CALS Ambassadors visit Egypt
An adventurous group of UF students experienced one of the world’s oldest cultures on the first-ever CALS Ambassadors international trip. Seventeen members of the group visited Egypt May 6-18, along with CALS Dean Kirby Barrick and Director of Student Development Chris Vitelli.
The trip, which was largely funded by the Ambassadors, offered them a chance to meet with high-school and college students who represent the future of Egypt’s agricultural community.
“The most rewarding part of the trip was just watching our students acclimate so well to such different surroundings and a different culture,” Barrick said. “They were very involved in learning as much as they could about the people and the agriculture of Egypt.”
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Many of the students had never left the United States before, he said. The group stayed primarily in Cairo and Luxor, visiting Fayoum University, Cairo University and a vocational high school focusing on agriculture. They also saw historic sites including the Sphinx, pyramids at Giza, Valley of the Kings, Nile River and Red Sea.
The event included a reception for Sanaa Haroon, a CALS alumna who’s currently a professor of nematology and biotechnology and dean of the faculty of early childhood education at Fayoum University, Vitelli said.
Ambassadors who made the trip say it’s an experience they’ll never forget.
“The people at Fayoum University were especially welcoming,” said Amie Taylor, a senior from Alachua majoring in agricultural education and animal sciences. “They wanted to take pictures with everyone and they were excited to show us everything they were doing.”
Trevor Smith, a graduating senior who’ll be attending UF’s College of Medicine in the fall, agreed.
“We spent a lot of time (at Fayoum University) walking around the campus, talking to the students about their everyday lives,” he said. “They experience many of the same things we do at UF.”
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Smith, who hails from Plant City and plans to pursue international work with Doctors Without Borders, said the trip made him more interested in other cultures.
Erica Der, a junior from Plant City majoring in agricultural communications, said the Egyptian college students’ curricula is based more on production and research than studies at UF.
“When I explained my major, that interested them because agricultural communications isn’t common there,” Der said. “It was a neat way for me to be able to explain a little more about our university to them.”
For Barrick, the trip had a second purpose – he leads one of three teams in a four-year project where UF and other U.S. universities help improve educational opportunities at several Egyptian institutions.
In that position, Barrick has visited Egypt numerous times and works with five Egyptian universities to improve their capacity to train students. Some of his responsibilities include efforts to improve curricula and teaching methods, create advisory committees, and establish relationships between universities and the business community.
The project is part of the Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities, or MUCIA, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development. Though UF is not a formal member of MUCIA, it was asked to participate because Florida’s agriculture and climate closely parallel those in Egypt.
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