Welcome to my South African adventure!

Hello, my name is Chris Moser and I am going to South Africa for the fall term of my senior year at Oregon State University. This blog is going to serve as a journal of my endeavors as well as a site for information on my experience and ways to get in contact with me. Please feel free to send me an email with questions not addressed on this page. Let's get down to it!


Where I am going:

I will be spending my first 5 weeks in Durban, South Africa. Durban is a large, fairly modern city with a population of between 4 and 5 million people. Durban has a warm, and very humid climate with the fabulous Indian ocean and great surfing! It also has a significant Indian influence, Durban has the largest Indian population in the world outside of India . It was the banning of the Indian indentured laborers from the purchase of land in Durban in 1922 that was one of the first laws to sow the seeds of the apartheid legislation that was to follow.

The last 5 weeks will be spent in Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town is the second largest city in South Africa, behind Johannesburg, with a population of 3.5 million. Cape Town was originally developed by the Dutch East India Company as a victualling (supply) station for Dutch ships sailing to Eastern Africa, India, and the Far East more than 200 years before the construction of the Suez Canal in 1869 (wikipedia). It is the largest tourist hub in South Africa and is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.


What I will be doing:

Simply put, I will be taking part in a medical internship. The rotation sites in Durban are more focused on public health issues and HIV/AIDS while the sites in Cape Town are more clinically-focused. Durban will experience a wider range of health facilities including rural health care, hospices, teaching hospitals and public and private clinics. In Cape Town, I will get to spend time primarily within two major urban hospitals and associated township clinics, getting familiar with the different wards within these two large medical systems. I will probably opt to spend most of my time in the Emergency and Orthopedic departments as these are my current top selections for medical school.


Where I will be staying:

I will be staying with different homestay families over the course of the internship. These are people that graciously have opened their homes to study abroad students, and the first family I will be staying with in Durban is a single mother household with three children. I am not sure of the second family I will be staying with, but will post that information upon receiving it.


When I leave and how long I will be gone for:

I leave for South Africa on Wednesday, September 24th, and will return to the United States on December 11th.


How to get in contact with me:

I can be reached either by email or mobile phone, but the number is a South African number and I recommend purchasing a phone card from www.nobelcom.com as it is much cheaper than normal cell phone carrier international long distance rates. You can also get in touch with my mom to call me, as she will likely have multiple cards. Due to the moving nature of the internship, I will not have an address to have things sent to, but feel free to send me yours and maybe you will hear back!

My email: moserch@onid.orst.edu
My cell phone: TBD
My moms email: Artzymom2@hotmail.com
My moms cell phone: avail upon request.

STAY TUNED TO THIS BLOG FOR FUTURE UPDATES! I WILL SEE YOU ALL IN 3 MONTHS!!