it was a week before Christmas, and Wisconsin Senior, Alana Keusch, found herself staring over the mouth of the largest waterfall in the world… Ankles wrapped with towels and strapped into bungee-equipment! Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, exists in the midst of the exotic terrain between Zimbabwe and Zambia in Southeastern Africa. Spending a year in Sub-Saharan Africa, Keusch was on her winter break road trip down the eastern African coast. But surprisingly, this was not her first time staring over the falls.
The daughter of two doctors, Alana grew up traveling the world through her parents’ commitment to public health. She traveled to India, China, Bangladesh, and many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa as she grew up and began to share in her parents’ passion for serving the developing world.
“When we travelled to these parts of the world, we stayed in the places in which they served, and thus, I still feel a deep connection to these communities,” Alana explained. This upbringing certainly nurtured her interest in public health, and now, she focuses on expanding access to that healthcare, particularly through education among women and children. She sees the developing world as a place “filled with many opportunities to fulfill your responsibility to other people.”
Beginning here at UW, Alana is known by many for her commitment to sexual health and education. A volunteer for Sex Out Loud, Alana conducts educational programming for student groups on campus about everything from condom use and STI information to advice on sexual pleasure. She’s been involved in women’s groups ranging from her sorority, Delta Delta Delta, to the Campus Women’s Center and the LGBT Campus Center, promoting sexual education and empowerment among our women students on campus. This commitment to health and empowerment, combined with her curiosity for foreign countries led to her involvement with BRIDGE, Wisconsin’s international friendship program connecting foreign and American students. International and health programs, like these campus initiatives, have allowed Keusch to pursue her professional interests and personal passions on campus, serving her college community.
With all of this campus leadership, it was no surprise when Alana took Sub-Saharan Africa in stride. For the 2008-2009 school year, Keusch enrolled in a year-long study abroad program in Kenya, which would allow her to take classes and intern with an NGO of her choice each semester. The Wisconsin program, in partnership with the University of Minnesota, has an outstanding reputation among international development programs, the Kenya program particularly. After seven weeks of courses in Swahili, Kenyan History, and International Development, students are dispersed into an internship of their choice for academic credit. Thus, thrilled at this prospect, Keusch researched many opportunities in advance to find the perfect job to serve and empower women through public health. Upon her return to Africa, she did, however, have a few plans other than saving the world.
Strapped into the equipment, Alana stepped out onto the middle of the bridge overlooking the falls. The tourist agency explained that they’d count down from three, and then she would have to jump. If she didn’t, they’d do it again, but this time they’d push her because, as they joked, “she’d come all the way to Africa, and she needed to get her money’s worth.”
The men counted down. “I looked straight down, terrified at what I saw below, and then I looked across at the Victoria Falls Hotel, the same room I had been in 10 years earlier… And I jumped!”
Alana jumped off the 3rd highest bungee jump in the entire world. She said that the whip-lash was insane and that her “eyeballs nearly popped out of her skull,” but that it was the most incredible rush that she’s ever experienced in her entire life. She then went on to the other Falls Sports: the giant swing and the zip-line into Zimbabwe.
Aside from this exciting story, Alana’s year was spent volunteering with victims of sex trafficking, researching in United Nations Millennium Villages, and solidifying her commitment to spreading sexual education, public health services, and tools for women’s empowerment. Click on her different locations to hear her stories, and for more information about her travels and internship experiences, contact Alana by email at alana.keusch@gmail.com.
