One of the top risks for contracting the coronavirus is travel, and for EMU’s cross cultural program, this has meant a lot of quick thinking and difficult choices. The students who planned on finishing out their semester in Guatemala and Columbia are now back home in the states. All international summer cross culturals have been cancelled, as well as the Fall 2020 Kenya and Ethiopia cross cultural.
I spoke with sophomore Julie Crouse on Sunday, a member of the cross cultural group that just came home from Guatemala. We spoke on the tail end of a week spent at their school in Guatemala after the Guatemalan president closed all airports and things were escalating. “No workers are allowed to go to work currently in Guatemala so we have been here alone for the week,” Crouse said. “We made a schedule of who is cooking meals and cleaning and doing dishes everyday. We have tried our best to stay entertained with yoga, games, singing, and other activities.
The group tried not to let circumstances dampen their spirits, Crouse said. “We are lucky to be together and in such a beautiful place for the week. The school has a garden to hang out in, and the weather has been amazing, and we have managed to cook some really fantastic meals on our limited supplies.”
Their plans had remained fairly intact even when the coronavirus hit the U.S. However, things progressed quickly in South America and Columbia closed their borders, so the group was going to stay for the rest of the semester in Guatemala.
On March 16, everyone had been split into small groups and were traveling to different areas of the country for their service week. “As we were on our way to our placements, the organization we are hosted through decided it was unsafe to have us all spread out across the country, so they brought us all back to the school we have been studying at,” Crouse said. “Since Monday a lot of things have happened really quickly. We all decided it would be best to cancel our free travel plans.”
And just as the decision was made to have the group return home, “the Guatemalan president closed all airports,” she said. “Our leaders were in contact with EMU’s president, provost and the director of the cross cultural program. Together they all contacted Virginia government officials as well as the U.S. embassy here in Guatemala. We were put on a list of U.S. citizens in Guatemala who were trying to leave. As of [Saturday], we learned of a flight that was leaving on Monday.” The group waited anxiously, as there were only a limited number of seats supposedly left on the flight. When I talked to Crouse, the group was tentatively hopeful that they would be flying to Miami on Monday. Fortunately, they were able to, and the group is all back safely in their respective homes.
I also spoke with Beth Good, director of intercultural programs at EMU. The past week has been a frenzy for her—between the executive committee at EMU deciding to bring the Guatemala cross cultural home and the Guatemalan president closing the borders, she and other administration had to figure out a way to bring them home, which they did.
On top of that, the summer cross culturals had to be cancelled, some of which included seniors who still need their cross cultural requirement. Good recognized this and wants them to know that a solution for this is top priority right now. “Right now we’re in discussion … We are 100% committed to making sure students have what they need to meet their requirements,” she said. The U.S. options for cross culturals, such as Ohio and D.C., have not been canceled yet, but discussion is in progress. “We’re looking at what’s happening, how we can anticipate things changing, and what we can do to offer the best thing for the students.” She said that everything is still in the works but they hope to come up with a plan in the coming week. Everything is up in the air, but the administration is hard at work to make sure EMU can give the best possible experience for all students.
