São Tomé Cultural Understanding & Language Proficiency (CULP) 2016 with Durham Police Officer, Pam Donley

During May and June, Durham Police Officer Pam Donley was deployed to São Tomé and Principé (STP) Africa as a Team Leader with the Army ROTC CULP (Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency) program.  Through the CULP program, ROTC Cadets are immersed in foreign culture learning about how others around the world view the U.S. and, in the process, learning more about themselves.  The Army recognizes the need for young leaders to develop more cultural awareness and foreign language proficiency skills.  An overseas immersion exposes Cadets to a different culture with a vastly different lifestyle, economic standing, and world perspective and intensifies language study, which helps produce commissioned officers who possess the right blend of language and cultural skills required to support global operations in the 21st Century.

São Tomé CULP 2016 was made up of 20 Cadets from 19 different universities - from Texas to Vermont.  We taught English to members of the STP military and conducted humanitarian service at a local orphanage and middle school.  The Cadets also spent time learning about the social, cultural, and historical aspects of the country.  STP is a relatively poor country with a cash and barter economy where indoor plumbing is rare.  The Cadets all expressed a new understanding about how much they had taken for granted growing up in the U.S. and a desire to continue to give back through volunteer efforts within their local communities.