Jake Riiska
Norfolk, Connecticut
While on an exchange in South Africa, Riiska met Bishop Tutu and made an unauthorized trip to a township, staying there overnight by himself.
Jake Riiska became interested in the history of South Africa after learning about the experience of a white dorm parent from his boarding school who had traveled around the country during apartheid in the guise of a black South African. Riiska pushed for his school to create an exchange program in South Africa, and was one of the first students to experience this six-week trip.
While in South Africa, Riiska got the chance to meet Bishop Desmond Tutu, a friend of one of the trustees at his school. Another powerful part of the exchange for Riiska was his unauthorized overnight stay in the Langa Township. Despite many warnings about the violence, poverty, and isolation of the slum, Riiska spent a night there without supervision.
“I tried to go in free of the fears others had attempted to instill in me,” he says. “That allowed me to soak up the culture of the township. I was able to experience the vibrant community that Langa possessed—a community whose energy gives hope that the poverty of the township is not a permanent ailment.”
Riiska, who plans to major in Political Science, hopes to return to South Africa for his junior year abroad. “I really want to be involved with the post-apartheid economic revitalization of the townships,” he says. “The government is doing some amazing things, but much more needs to be done.”