Summer globetrotters go off the beaten path

For College senior Lipika Goyal, the most striking thing about working with children in the slums of New Delhi this summer was not the poverty. Rather, it was the happiness. "The poverty's definitely shocking, but what's also shocking is their sheer joy of life. Of course, they have unhappiness in their lives, but they're wonderfully kind, giving people with a huge emphasis on family and friendship," she said. Goyal, a Biological Basis of Behavior major who plans to attend medical school, spent four weeks in India researching the effects of zinc deficiency in children under the age of 5. Goyal was one of many students who used her summer to explore the world outside West Philadelphia. During the past few months, Penn kids have worked in international clinics, done high-tech work in underdeveloped nations and a few took the more traditional backpacking trips around Europe. With grant money from Penn's University Scholars Program, Goyal interviewed doctors, nurses and social workers in the major government hospital of New Delhi and in the slums themselves. She is completing a paper on the results of her findings. Goyal always knew she wanted to be a doctor, but she first became interested in international health issues after arriving at Penn. Last summer she traveled to Ghana to conduct research on sickle-cell anemia and malaria, but her recent trip to India was particularly meaningful because of her Indian heritage. Her parents emigrated to the United States from India in the 1960s. "I'd been to slums in Ghana. But it's different to go to the slums in your own country," Goyal said. Goyal said she hopes to one day return to India as a doctor and continue improving international health care. "I just feel like I've been very lucky in my life. I think there are people out there that need us and need help, and we're in a position to help, so why not?" Engineering sophomore Jonathan Wanderer found himself in a position to help people this summer as well -- this time in Mali. Wanderer, along with 25 other Penn students in the Technology for Education program of the Engineering School, spent a month in Mali building a computer lab fully equipped with Internet access and instructing the local teachers on how to use it. In addition to the technological work,Wanderer traveled around the country, sightseeing and learning about the African nation. On one occasion, Wanderer spent close to a day driving into the countryside to visit a native tribe of Mali and watched as they performed traditional dances for the group. Still, Wanderer said the technology he helped set up "was definitely the best part of the trip, not so much the sightseeing but the helping people and getting to know them." Molly Selzer also said that meeting new people was an enriching part of her summer travels in Europe. Selzer, a College senior, took the opportunity this summer to travel around Europe, visiting cities such as Paris, Monaco, Venice, Florence and Rome. Unlike many Penn students, however, Selzer went alone. An English major who submatriculated into the Penn Law School this fall, Selzer wanted the time alone before jumping into the grueling work of a first-year law student. "I really wanted the time to just not have to think about anythingS to relax and just be on my own. It was definitely an escape," Selzer said. Her favorite part of this escape, Selzer said, was Venice. "It was like a fairy tale to see people making their way through the city completely by foot or by boat," Selzer said. "And the architecture is like noting I've ever seen in this country.