Collaboration is fundamental to advancing health and wellness and delivering high-quality coordinated service for individuals and communities. Students in the UAB School of Health Professions Department of Occupational Therapy can experience this on a global scale through the South Africa Education Abroad Program.
Through this faculty-led program, students expand their understanding of health, disability, and rehabilitation as they learn with and from local partners in the South African capital Cape Town and surrounding areas.
“UAB’s South Africa education-abroad experience offers our Department of Occupational Therapy students a rare, relationship-centered learning opportunity,” said Rachel Ashcraft, who co-leads the program alongside Dr. Jewell Dickson-Clayton. “Building on longstanding partnerships with South African occupational therapists and community leaders, students engage in authentic learning that is grounded in mutual respect and shared knowledge. Students gain a broader, global understanding of occupational therapy while developing cultural humility and deep respect for community knowledge. They come home with a stronger connection to one another and a renewed commitment to practicing occupational therapy in ways that honor people, place, and lived experience.”
The experience supports the UAB Department of Occupational Therapy’s mission to prepare skilled, compassionate practitioners who will challenge barriers to access to services and strengthen their communities.
While in South Africa, students contribute to community-driven service experiences, support locally led programs, and learn in a wide range of environments, including schools, disability organizations, community centers, and rehabilitation programs. Students also participate in cultural excursions. These experiences deepen students’ understanding of global health and sharpen their clinical reasoning,
“The beauty of South Africa was seen everywhere we went in the landscape, the conversations, and the people,” said student Anna Kate Adkins, who participated in the 2025 trip. Every person and organization we met welcomed us with incredible generosity and taught me so much about what it means to be in community with one another, and how occupational therapy can fit into that space. This experience has expanded my knowledge of what occupational therapy is and what it can be, and it is something I will remember forever.”
Department of Occupational Therapy Chair, Dr. Gavin Jenkins, said students consistently describe this trip as one of the most transformative experiences of their graduate education. It broadens their global perspective and introduces them to the historical parallels between the Southern U.S. and South Africa. This ultimately clarifies their professional role and equips them with a greater sense of how humility, equity, purpose, and awareness should impact their future practice.
“This trip has further broadened my view of the profession of occupational therapy and the many ways we can work to empower society on individual, group, and community levels,” said student Allie Claire Meeks, who participated in the 2025 trip, “I will always hold with me the impact CIPLA, Athlone School for the Blind, and Grandmothers Against Poverty and Aids have made in the many lives of those living in South Africa. This trip is one I will look back on often, and I am grateful for this experience.”
Students witness CIPLA’s innovative approach to increasing access to pharmacies and healthcare in Africa’s townships and rural areas.
Grandmothers Against Poverty and Aids (GAPA) is just one of the organizational partners students interact with in South Africa. Students often say serving here is one of the most meaningful experiences of the trip.
“The grandmothers who are beneficiaries of our organization were in great awe, and they felt seen to have these students come back once more to share their expertise, their help and to show solidarity and support,” said Mzwa Mzwamadoda Mondi, manager of GAPA.
